ProLine Sports, Nutrition and Equipment Blog

Juan Pelota Tears It Up

For those of you who aren't much into cycling or following cyclists or triathletes, but are still part of the sport(s), there's one name I'm sure you know: Lance Armstrong. He's quite the household name nowadays, well, ever since he started his comeback from cancer and tearing apart the Tour de France time and time again. But what some people may not know is his triathlon past. 

Having grown up in triathlon, being surrounded by the likes of Scott Tinley and Scott Molina, who at the time were more than ten years his elders, Lance has had triathlon steaming through his blood since before even his teenage years. He won is first event at age 13, and IronKids event. Eventually, in 1989, he made the switch to full-time cycling, and we'll leave that be that. Along with if you dislike him as a person. I don't care who you are and what you do, but you can't deny the athletic talent and vigor he has.

Jumping back into triathlon, and the nowadays since leaving cycling as a professional, he's taking his hand at triathlon again. And if you're not a heavy Twittter follower, or use Strava, you may not know Lance's alter ego, Juan Pelota. I'm sure it has mostly to do with people who only really want to find him to find him. Rather than following him just to follow sake, his pseudo name is more or less a stage name.

But the main reason for this article, is to talk about just how good he is. Ok, we all know he's going to be good on the bike. Probably leaps and bounds above most, and still better than the likes of Chris Lieto (Trek's uber biker) and Andreas Raelert (BMC Time Machine and current world record holder for the IM bike distance). 

After a few good performances and showings in his early 70.3 races, such as finishing second in his debut to Bevan Docherty at IM 70.3 Panama, Lance has found his winning stride. He also took 7th at the Memorial Hermann IM 70.3 and 3rd at IM 70.3 St. Croix. None of whic were easy feats. But coming into Haines City, FL and the Florida IM 70.3 race, he sure was something else. And we have the Strava Report from Juan Pelota himself to prove it.

Looking at just his bike split, he was cranking along at a mere 399W and 28mph average. To add insult to injury, he cranked out a 1:15:56 half marathon, best of the day as well. 

Now I don't know about you, but those are just the kinds of numbers most of us can only dream of. Maybe not pushing 400W in a single effort, but to push that for 2 hours is a whole different story. As well as doing 13.1 miles in 1:15, cruising over 10mph, is something else as well. Especially after having put out that much energy in a mind bending fast bike split. 

Does this mean we should crown him IM Champion right here and now? I don't think so, not by a long shot. Yes, he's the best on the bike, and he's good on the run and swim. But will he be good on the day. Too many factors weigh in on the day of the race for someone like Lance to be crowned before the race even starts. Take Craig Alexander this past year. Most likely counted out due to a weak bike. He came out of nowhere with an insane bike split, 2nd best of the day, and 2nd best marathon. Which proves you don't need to be the best at any of the criteria in the race, you just have to be the best at the race, on race day.

I wouldn't put my money on Lance taking the IM World Championship, but I wouldn't count him out either. He definitely has the personal drive to become the best. But let's remember how much drive guys like Raelert, Lieto, and Alexander have to win, too. They're not just some chumps. If anything, if Lance isn't on the podium, he's sure to have lit a fire under the asses of those in front of him, most likely leading to some more record-breaking performances along the way. He may or may not ever be at the top of the 140.6 distance, but he will definitely affect the sport as we know it.

-Dave

 

Back At It!

It's been just over four months since my ACL surgery, and things are starting to click more and more. I have been doing a little bit of running here and there, but, I think I'm nearly to the point where I can say I'm back to training full-time. My knee is healing up well, and I'm slowly getting better at my physical therapy exercises as well as some lifting and plyometrics. 

The running has been a long and slow process for me. Sometimes almost so infuriating I wanted to just call it quits. I had a few points where I felt like my knee was never going to get better after having done some really light jogging on it. A few days after, I felt like I was back at week six all over again. I was mentally drained from dealing with slight pains all the time, every time I wanted to take a jogging step.

But since that point, my knee has been getting stronger and stronger. And with the amount of biking I've been putting in, my cardio and heart strength is still high. My running muscles are another story, especially in my ankles and hip flexors, but those will come. 

Over the past two weeks I have been slowly building up my time and distance. I started off really short, just going out for a little over a mile of walk jogging. From there, I did the mile straight through without stopping or feeling any pain right then and none the next day either. A few days later I was able to get up to two miles. Then a few days later again, I bumped it up to a 5k, no problems.

I think part of the reason some of this running has been coming back nicely is that the first mile of most of my runs is all uphill. A slow, easy grade, but still all uphill. This takes a lot of the pounding out of landing. Added to that is the fact that I've been solely running in my Newton's. Again, taking pressure off my knee and getting my footstrike where I want it to be.

I have also been able to get associated with a gym just a couple miles from where my wife and I are living. They have some top notch equipment and some great treadmills. For some of my longer efforts, I have been going there to take all the banging I get on the pavement out of the picture and just focusing on form and getting in some quality run time. I was able to put in an hour straight this week. I honestly don't think I could have done that out on the roads. With the forgiveness of the treadmill, I'm able to go much longer and at a slightly quicker pace. Nothing too fast, but it just feels good an natural.

I'm hoping to be able to get into a race in the next few weeks. However, I haven't decided on the Sprint or Olympic distance yet. I've ridden the course, and either way, I know I have to crush the bike to have any sort of chance. Some pretty nasty hills, but very fun. 

I'll for sure have a post to recap when I do race. And I may be doing a TT this weekend should the weather hold. A couple of Category 4 climbs ought to really test my strength out! 

-Dave

On Wisconsin!

Ok, not really. But kind of. I'm still a Chicago sports fan. But I will take Madison over Chicago for lifestyle any day of the week. Anyways, a few weeks ago my wife and I decided we were making the move to Wisconsin for many reasons. But one GREAT reason was for the amazing training around the area. We're situated in the Madison area, and couldn't be happier. The amount of routes for training outside the city is astounding. But even within the city limits, you can find countless routes and people filling them. The amount of people being active is truly amazing. But the amount of bike lanes and room made for bikes is even better. You can't go a block without seeing someone on a bike. Whether they're just cruising around for fun, commuting to work, or grinding away at a training ride, they're everywhere!

I've only been living here a little over a week and already I'm in love with the area. I've seen Neil deGrasse Tyson give a speech to the graduating senior class of UW-Madison, tried out some of the local pubs for some beer and grub, and of course, tried out some of the training features that Wisconsin has to offer. 

My first ride consisted of an out and back loop to the Trek Bike Headquarters in Waterloo, WI. A nice, fairly flat ride with a little over 1,100 vertical feet and a slight wind out of the NE, this ride was great. There was a few nice rolling  hills along with some good climbs. But nothing to write home about.

I have been able to put in some running, slowly, and it seems to be coming along great as well. I got in a 3 and 4 mile run this week. The good thing about all the hills near where we're living is that going uphill running takes a lot of sting out of impact, so I'm able to go a bit further  or longer without putting as much stress on my knee in terms of recovery. It's been about 4 months since surgery, and my knee is coming along slowly, but, I've been given the green light for running as I see fit and comfortable. After a few bouts with some 10min/mi paces through 2.5 miles or so, I'm starting to see 8min/mi and I never thought I'd say this, but it feels great to be going so fast. Not my typical fast speeds, especially over such short distances, but for recovery, I'll take it!

              
(Above: Random wildlife around the route (left), Trek Headquarters (middle) one of countless hills on the IM course(right))

Finally, I took a big jump and hit up the Ironman WI loop starting from home and hit it hard. The course for the full IM is 2 loops, so I decided to just take on one and see how it went. This course is hilly! Nonstop hills once you get out of Madison and head West. None of them are so over the top that they crush you, but they just keep coming. One after another. There's no break points. Ok, so here and there you get a mile maybe of some flats. Instead of charging, however, I spent my time recovering and refueling in these parts. 

Overall, this move plays a huge part in the way my wife and I  want to live our lives. Madison is an amazing city, full of things to do. But it's not overwhelming or overly expensive. There is so much activity and so many great people we've come across already, that we're certain this is a place we want to be for a long, long time. We're still close to our families, but we also have the training and playing grounds right out our back door for the summer time and winter when we go skiing and snowboarding. And it's a perfect place to raise our baby on the way, too! 

-Dave

Bikes & Ignorance Don't Mix

I generally like to think that most cyclists out there have a good head on their shoulders. They know that biking is a healthy way to get some quality exercise, and it also has minimal impact, so it is sustainable for longer periods of time as well as longer into your lifetime. However, over the past couple weeks I have been noticing a bit of lack of knowledge, responsibility, and mostly just some straight up ignorance. Both on the parts of bikers and automobile drivers.

I highly recommend reading this article written by Enzo's which actually got me started on paying attention and eventually writing this one for myself. The group of riders in that article are much more skilled, seasoned, and faster than I am, but the story itself rings true all the way down to the beginner ranks. The main premise being that if you're biking, if you want to be treated equally as an automobile, you have to follow the same rules as well. Stopping at stop signs, signaling for turns, lining up at lights, and so on. If you're out there being a jerk, expect to be treated like one.

In comes my additions to the article mentioned above. On my big ride last weekend, I was about 30 minutes out from finishing, legs aching, just cruising down the home stretch. I came to a crossing where only the road I was on had stop signs, as the crossroad was a high speed, fairly busy road. I kind of wanted a break anyway, so as I pulled up to the stop sign, I unclipped and eased to a halt, planning to rest for a couple minutes and let a few cars go by before I made my cross. However, a lady on the crossroad had different plans.

Now I was completely stopped, both feet unclipped, and drinking some water from my water bottle. You couldn't ask for much more obvious of signs that I wasn't going to cross unless I pulled out a hammock and took a nap. Instead of just cruising on by, the lady decided to stop, in the middle of the busy road, slamming on her brakes and frantically try to wave me across. I merely shook my head and waved her along. Thought that would be the end of it as I finished drinking my water. NOPE! She persisted in waving me across, going as far as honking her horn as if I weren't getting the picture. After a few cars backed up behind her and a couple screeched in, the car that lined up next to me went ahead, and I clipped in and took off. I wanted to go over and knock on her window and say "Thanks for being courteous, but this is a bit much. I've been riding for over 4 hours, and am in no rush to cross such a busy road." I was too tired for this, so I just shook my  head at her and gave an apologetic shrug of the shoulders the other motorists waiting behind her.

The next three incidents all happened on the same ride I took two nights ago. The first being with another cyclist. As I was leaving my house to go out on a 90 minute ride or so, I saw another bike cruise by on the street just north of me. At first I thought, "Great to see people getting out on such a beautiful day". As I got up to the stop sign to jump on another decently busy road, with not much of a shoulder to speak of, I began to retract my previous thoughts. This guy was a sight to see. Probably about 6'2", big broad shoulders, no helmet, no shirt, and cranking his tunes. I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, so as I checked behind me and made my pass, I gave a courteous wave and a smile to a fellow cyclist. He was on a mountain bike in about the biggest gearing, so why he was on this road completely phases me.

As I'm approaching the four way stop ahead, I tuck in behind a car and take my place in line, acting like I am part of traffic, instead of avoiding it just to make it through faster. What's the point of putting yourself at risk when it takes an extra 30 seconds to wait for a few cars to get through from all the corners of the 4-way stop? As the car in front of me takes off for it's left hand turn, and I am about to follow as the other cars are about to go, what do I see? My big meathead friend in the left lane, not signaling, slowing down or giving any clue to the cars as to what he's doing. He makes a sharp left turn in front of the car in front of me and cuts it off. The car honks, as the man should have been hit, and I sit back shaking my head as shame has just been brought on to the cycling community.

I take my turn and continue to catch the man again, but this time, I'm not so friendly. I wanted to run him off the road and give him a full piece of my mind, but where would that get me? So instead I just give him a small tidbit saying, "You've gotta (expletive) kidding me dude, you're going to get yourself killed!" And I sped away, figuring he probably didn't even hear me through his headphones and large ego.

Simultaneously as this is happening, I had checked behind me to be sure I could pass him. I was clear, however there was a car coming, so I planned to make it quick. As I got about even with him, I could hear the car downshift and speed up. "You're kidding right?" Instead of maybe gently braking, or most likely just taking his foot off the gas, the car speeds up to prove a point and swerves around me. All the while this is happening in a no passing zone (bikes should be treated as cars, too). And as we crest the top of the hill, a car is coming from the other direction and has to veer off the road in order to avoid being struck head on.

Maybe a bit of this was my fault, but I truly feel I had plenty of time to pass, and the fact that the driver sped up instead of maintaining his speed speaks for itself.

My last bit is about another driver as I was coming down the long steady downhill about 5 miles from finishing the ride. I was tucked down in aero, cranking away pretty well around 29-30mph with pretty light feet and a fast cadence. Being in a passing zone and there being no cars I could see ahead, I gave myself an extra foot of space to my right as the only shoulder was a few feet of gravel then a large ditch. Seeing as how there was so much room to get around me, and being in a passing zone, I figured I was safe. However, some hick thought otherwise. Instead of just passing me at whatever speed he likes (I could care less), he decides to be sure he's right on my rear wheel before moving into the other lane and as he's just to my side, blares on the horn and takes off. My question to him is, "What are you trying to prove?" Do you honestly think I'm in the wrong here? Are you showing off to your girlfriend that you have more horsepower than I do? Or are you just trying to make me crash? I always wonder where the cops are when things like this happen to cyclists. Scaring a cyclist while you're driving is about the worst idea out there. It's one thing to pass us closely, but we're used to that. I wanted to catch the guy and ask him how he would feel had I gone down and got my wheels wrapped up under his car, injuring or possibly killing me? You don't see people passing motorcycles and blaring their horns, so what makes a cyclist any different?

All of these incidents only further my credo when I go out riding: never trust anyone else out on the road. Don't assume anything. And least of all, don't assume anyone is looking out for you. Unless you're out with a group of good friends riding. But even then, they may make mistakes.

Get out there, have fun, be safe, and please be conscious of what is going on around you. If you're head isn't ready and in the right place before you clip in, pack it up and get on the trainer. Save the road for another day when you're mentally ready.

-Dave

Honey Stinger

It's always hard to find nutrition that works for me consistently. But over the past few weeks I think I'm finding something that will work perfectly for me in both training and racing. I've been using Honey Stinger Ogranic Stinger Waffles, and they taste absolutely amazing!

I have usually been a PowerBar and GU/PowerBar Gel person. But PowerBars start to get old and the lack of flavor leaves me wanting more out of my nutrition. For what it's worth, you can't really beat what's inside a PowerBar in terms of endurance nutrition, but sometimes they're just not for me. Mostly on those colder days on the bike when they turn to a brick. Bring in Honey Stinger Orgranic Waffles, and my problems are solved!

On my big ride this past weekend, I took a few with me to see how they hold up in the colder air and how they nourished me on a long ride. I put in about 80 miles of tough riding through the steadily rolling hills of southern Wisconsin along with a good wind out of the East. About 90 minutes in I pulled out my first waffle and was ready to put it to the test. It wasn't the easiest thing to open at 20+mph, but I got it sorted out.

The waffles themselves are pretty slim, but they pack a good amount of carbs for only 160 calories of energy. The big complaint I have about these, though, is that there is 0 protein! I would have thought with Lance Armstrong as their front man, that Honey Stinger would have put together a perfect ratio of carbs to protein for the endurance crowd. Something along the lines of 4:1 is generally what I see and am used to. But to have 0 protein while breaking down muscles over the course of a training circuit or race, I am not totally sold on these just yet. However, they taste like candy! A nice break from the blandness that rules the endurance nutrition world.

I did have some Clif Bars with me on the ride in case the waffles weren't holding me over, and I did break one out to eat. I just don't think the Honey Stingers quite do it for me in terms of being the sole staple of my nutrition stash. However, I will definitely continue to load them up in my bag of goodies while I'm training as they're great tasting, pack a lot of carbs, go down easy, and taste great. But I will definitely need to pull something along that has a shot of protein as well.

-Dave

Big Ride Weekend

Building up to the weekend, I was somewhat optimistic on getting in some good quality riding. But during the week last week, I started getting nervous. I saw the temperature estimates for Saturday and Sunday and saw they would barely make the 50º range. Not bad for a shorter ride, but for anything over two hours, it makes me stop and think if it's worth it. Going out in the cold(er) weather and slugging away in the wind. Sunday looked to be better than Saturday at first. Saturday was calling for low 40's in the early morning, so I decided to call it in and put in a few hours on the trainer.

I strung together a triple set of The Sufferfest videos, to keep my effort up and keep me interested. So I lined up my water bottles and nutrition on my side table and took off, headed straight into the wind of my somewhat powerful house fan. I put together a decent ride of about 3.5 hours doing Local Hero, Hell Hath No Fury, and finished with Angels. But instead of maxing out in each video, I changed the scales of when the higher efforts would normally be achieved, and reeled them back down 5-10% in my HR zones so I wouldn't burn out early.

I started off kind of weak, having trouble getting my HR up, but as time wore on, I could feel my body wake up and I was able to push it. I also knew in the back of my mind, I had another big ride planned for Sunday, so I couldn't kill myself. I got up to about 75% of max HR a couple times, but never really felt things fall apart. I felt really good the whole way through, and never had any issues with my still healing knee from my ACL surgery. However, I did skip some of the cool down sections of the videos, and just jumped into the warm up sections and used those as a transition period from one hard session to the next. Otherwise I would have had about 15 minutes or so of really easy pedaling, and it would have pushed my ride over 4 hours most likely. Everything felt good when I got off the bike, and I was ready for a big healthy lunch and some time with my family while getting my feet up. I had a big day planned for Sunday, so I knew I needed to take it easy and get some good solid food in me as well. I did let myself have a Fat Tire beer as a little weekend treat. But that, I knew, would dehydrate me, so I stayed pretty rigorous on getting in plenty of water.

Then came time for Sunday Funday. And if you look at the elevation chart below, I think you can understand my idea of fun. For some, it may be torture. I got up in good time, around 6am to get things ready and fill myself up for the long haul ahead. I was a bit tired at first and was questioning my sanity for doing a big double up weekend, but I knew inside I really wanted to get it done. After slamming down four waffles, a banana, some berries and a cup of coffee, I was ready to get going. I got my hydration setup how I needed: two bottles (one with water and one with EFS), and my CamelBak Octane full of water. I also grabbed 2 Clif Bars, 2 Honey Stingers (amazing), and 4 Gu Roctane in Cherry Lime for nutrition. I threw on all of my gear, checked my tire pressure, and was ready to roll.

Within the first 3-4 miles I did stop twice to adjust my seat height, as I was riding my wife's Orbea Ora, and hadn't readjusted it after traveling with it. But once that was set, I was cruising and looking forward to a long steady ride.

The temperatures were in the mid 40's when I started, and did slowly climb as the day wore on. Starting just after 7am, I knew I might be pulling some of my layers off. But honestly, the only thing that came off was my arm warmers, which I had a compression shirt on under my jersey as well, so I was plenty warm. It was a bit chilly through the whole ride, with a steady wind that built up throughout the morning coming out of the NE. But, if I had to choose the wind coming out of any direction, that was probably the best I could get. For nearly the whole route North, I didn't deal with much of it, except when I got into an open field a few miles North of the town of Lake Geneva. I had to lean in a bit, but once I hit the corner at the top of a small hill, things were back to normal.

However, as I got further North and had to start making my turn East, I was not looking forward to the next hour or so of dealing with the chilly wind. It wasn't strong enough to stop me in my tracks if I wasn't redlining, but there was enough there to keep me honest, and it was very annoying. Dealing with wind for me is so much more mental than it is physical. How hard do you push? Do you ease up and just take it? Or do you man up, get low, and plow through? I did a little of both. When I felt I could push, I'd push. When I knew I'd lose the battle, I'd slow up and just take it for what it is.

The whole route has it's steady up and down, good size hills. More so when I cross the border into Wisconsin. But the champion part of the ride is the whole part North of Lake Geneva. Leaving the town, I dealt with a few mediocre hills, but it all came crumbling down on me after I took a hard right and what was perfectly described to me by my brother as a vertical wall of pavement (Thanks Ben). So I am heading down this steep drop and it somewhat camel backs in the middle, but instead of riding it out to the bottom, I take a hard right and literally see a vertical wall of pavement. The trees hanging over hide the top of the hill, but I actually had no clue how steep it was as I lead into in. There's a small drop just before to help with the first 10 feet or so, but that's it. Once I'm on the wall, I'm out of my saddle and laying down massive amounts of power. To be honest, I was laughing the whole way up with the ridiculousness of the hill. I have never ridden one so steep. Even when I reached the summit, and my HR was pushing into the 190 range, I was still smiling.

From that point on, not a single hill scared me. Even the long steady uphills. Once I beat 'The Wall', I knew I could get up the rest of the route. The rest of my route coming home was pretty nice. Some hills, but nothing compared to the northern section. I had to deal with the wind a little bit more when I would turn SE and E headed home, but for some reason, it really wasn't bothering me at all.

If you take a look at the elevation graph below, you can see just what I went through over the course of Sunday morning. When I was done, I was happy. But I'm honestly looking forward to doing another ride like this soon. But for now, it's a bit of rest and some good recovery nutrition and probably a solid recovery ride as well. ('The Wall' is right around mile 33)

-Dave

Bonk Breakers

The new official bar of Ironman, Bonk Breaker Energy Bars, are out on shelves, but I'm not totally sure they're going to be taking off or not. Like a lot of energy bars and other training supplements, it comes down to the consumer, and what he or she can or cannot handle. Some time was spent, so it seems, at Bonk Breaker to get a good balance of all the essentials and the right amount of flavor.

I got my hands on both the Peanut Butter and Jelly and the Almond Butter and Honey. Both of which have good flavor. In a head to head comparison, my vote goes to good old fashioned Peanut Butter and Jelly. The Almond Butter and Honey was a bit dry and cakey. Something I don't want on a hot day out on the race course or training ride or run. The PB&J has a layer of jelly through the middle, so when you bite in you get a good taste of jelly in every bite to mix in just like a classic PB&J sandwich.

I used both of these flavors on separate occasions during a couple of two hour rides. In terms of energy absorption, I seemed to get my gears firing about 10-15 minutes after eating a bar. Pretty standard for me. My body always seems to grab energy quickly, and respond rather well. With the amount of carbs (35g), sodium (170mg), potassium (175mg), and protein (8g), It seems to be a great combo for an endurance bar. Something of a 4 to 1 ratio in carbs to protein.

Now, I generally don't have much GI distress, so I cannot tell you these won't get your stomach churning in an undesirable way, but you do need some water nearby to help get it down your gullet. Even the PB&J likes to hang around in your mouth for a bit. Even though it does taste great, nobody wants to be trying to fork out some chunks hanging out in their mouth with their tongue while they're cruising along at a heavy effort. It just makes life that much more difficult.

This isn't a bar that I'm ecstatic about, but it is good. If you can find a place that sells them individually, buy a couple and give them a try. They taste good, but I'm not sure they're going to make it in my arsenal of nutrition. One last thing is that the packages aren't that easy to open. I'm still looking for that golden food to take on the bike that opens in an instant and goes down easy. Until then, it's back to the drawing board, to keep testing what works best for me.

-Dave

Throwing In The Towel

We all think about it. Some of us do it. But when is it actually the right time to pack it in and throw in the towel on the day? The answer isn't really something we can fully wrap our heads around. Most of it comes down to how your body feels, more than anything else. 

Let's say, for instance, you have been putting in a lot of work during the week, especially on the bike, and you have a long run planned on the weekend. You get up on Saturday or Sunday morning and get ready to pump out a 90 minute run. You've had some nutrition, coffee, water, or whatever you take in before your run, and head out the door to get going. After the first few miles, things aren't feeling so great. Your stride is lagging, and your pace is starting to fall off. Call it quits? I don't think so, not quite yet. Take some time while you're running and evaluate what is happening.

• Are your muscles tired or are they hurting? If they're tired, sorry champ, toughen up. If they're hurting, slow up, see if that changes things, then re-evaluate whether to keep going. If nothing changes, pack it in.
• Are you getting aches in your joints? More often than not, this should be an indicator that something isn't going right. This may be the best time for you to pull on the reins and head in to take care of the problem. Especially early in the season so you can avoid a season-long nagging injury that hinders performance.
• Are your times slowly falling off? Drop your ego. It happens. Especially after a big week of hard training. Even if you take a day off and get out on the long run, ride, or swim, the effects of hard training, day after day, are continually compacted. If it's a slow, endurance run, don't worry so much about your pace and pay more attention to heart rate and effort. If this was supposed to be a tempo run, and times are falling fast, you may be best suited to switch tactics on the day and hold off on the tempo run until you're more fully rested if you want any sort of speed results.

These are just a few factors that you need to weigh when you're debating throwing in the towel. Come race day, the only thing I can really see forcing you to throw in the towel should be the aches in your joints and muscles. Even at that stage, really evaluate yourself if it's your muscles. Sometimes getting in a big dose of electrolytes and hydration can loosen up your muscles and get you back to feeling normal. Or you can slightly change your stride or riding style to offset where the pain is.

For me, Tuesday was one of these days. I had taken Monday off to let my body recover from the past seven days of tough training on the bike and in the pool. As well as a solid weight training session on Saturday night. The hardest part for me is trying to flush out that lactic acid buildup when weight training sessions are sparce, and recovery time from them just isn't there.

I got in the pool nice and early, around 5:30am, and was pretty amped to put in another big day in the pool. I'm trying to get at least one of these in a week, while the others are filled in with some quicker/harder work at shorter distances.  I knew this was going to be a workout I would struggle with as soon as I started. The 200m warmup I went through of mixed strokes didn't seem to shake anything off. My triceps were tight and aching. My lats were fatigued and I could feel my full pull wasn't there. So I spent about 5 minutes stretching things out, hoping that would help and got into my sets. 

I started off with 5x200m with 20 seconds rest or so between. My goal was to pick up the tempo with each, getting my effort up high, and working on quick recovery. The first two weren't bad, but halfway through the third, I wasn't feeling it. Ok, evaluation time. Numbers 4 and 5, I slowed down, concentrated on form, and tried to stay positive. Again, not feeling better.

The next set was going to be 10x100m with 10-15 seconds of rest, at near maximal effort, probably going anaerobic on some. I got through the first two alright, catching the other swimmers as I chugged along (I like using points of reference, even if they are incredibly slow, it helps). But on the third, things just didn't want to work anymore. My arms were feeling like jello and hurting at the same time. The push through my hips wasn't there either. They were more or less just dropping down instead of thrusting my lead shoulder forward. This is where I thought to myself, "Okay Dave, put on your big boy pants and toughen up!" I put in the fourth, and the wheels fell off. The first 50 was decent, but as soon as I pushed off the wall, headed for 75, my body told me to knock it off. So, I listened. I pulled up after finishing off the 100, and called it a day at 1600m. Only half way through what I was hoping to do for the day. But I had nothing left. Even after a full day of rest. 

What I learned here was that I'll live to fight another day, and save the macho-ness for the race. I wasn't out there today to prove anything. I wanted some good distance in the pool, but it's only Tuesday. I've got three more days during the week to put that work in. Why push it when my body isn't responding properly? And I had a bike workout to get through later during the day as well as some homework to do for my Master's classes. 

At first I was disappointed in myself for not getting through the workout. But as the day wore on, I kept telling myself it's ok. Tomorrow is another day I can get in and try it again. If I'm hitting the pool 4 days a week, that's pretty good. I'm one to think that consistency in training is better than inconsistent, high volume. Four pretty good days in the pool are better than one monster day. So chalk the bad days of training up, put them in your back pocket, and know you've gotten through them, and lived to battle on. It's not the end of the world. If anything, it makes you a smarter and stronger athlete.

-Dave

A Week of Hell Training

Last week was a crazy week of training for me. Since I can't really run yet, the bike and swim are becoming my best friends, as well as enemies. I was a little out of my comfort zone, training while house-sitting for my sister since her family was on vacation. It was a welcome mini vacation for me, though. Since she actually lives closer to my work than I do. I found myself having more free time at night, and a bit more time to sleep in the morning. 

I put myself through a torture chamber on the bike during the week. I started off on Monday, doing a 2x20 workout, following along to Hell Hath No Fury, which grinds you for a full 75 minutes, including 2x20 minutes TT efforts as well as a 3:30 Team Time Trial to top it off. Full suffering here.

Next I went through The Hunted. This video is mainly built around a 20 minute climb, or another 20 minute strength TT effort. There's a very good warm-up leading in, with 6:30 easy, then a couple of 30 second sprints, and a 5 minute solo break away. But that is nothing compared to the 20 minute enduro climb/TT effort. After that you get a nice downhill for 4 minutes, then the kicker: 5 minutes of inverse intervals. You start off with a 10 second sprint, followed by 50 seconds of rest. Then 20 second sprint, 40 rest. All the way down to 50 seconds of sprint after 10 seconds of rest. Loads of fun!

On the third day, we rested. Not! I actually did take it a bit easier and did some small chain ring work for an hour in the morning, just watching a documentary on nutrition. Mostly working out the lactic acid and loosening up the muscles. However, each day I spent my lunch time at the gym, putting in at least 1600m Monday-Wednesday, and topped it off Thursday with a 4,000m reverse ladder. After a 200m warm-up, it goes like this: 1x500m (about half IM effort), 2x400m (1,000m effort), 3x300m (800m race effort), 4x200 (this is where it starts to hurt), 5x100 (anything left in the tanks, while still keeping form). I follow that up with a mix of strokes and distances to cool down and stretch.

That was it for Thursday, I didn't have much left for anything the rest of the day. But Friday, I put in another solid training day on the bike, following along with A Very Dark Place. Now, this video you need to be ready for. If you're not in the mood to put yourself through hell, don't bother starting this session. This is the day you chew your stem you're working so hard. It's not the longest workout, but it brings you to your knees, asking for the end (if you're doing it right). The goal in this session is to break through your VO2 max, and really push your limits. After a nice 5 minute warm-up and a few short sprints to wake your legs up, it's off to a series of 5x4:00 intervals. The basic goal here is to break yourself. I like these videos because they give you motivation and have good video timing so you can somewhat picture yourself chasing down the likes of Cancellara and the Schlecks. Each 4 minutes interval, you should be asking yourself, "how the hell can I possibly survive through another one?" And if you're not, you need to work harder. My favorite part is when your nearly through one of the intervals, probably looking down, chewing on your stem, they pop up a nice little reminder in the lower part of the screen: "If you're looking here, you're not going hard enough!" A friendly piece of advice that you truly have to suffer to get to that next level of fitness on the bike, to become the uber-biker you want to be. 

Finally, I wrapped up the weekend with two longer, easy rides to work on my base and some Z1 and Z2 efforts. Saturday morning was a nice 2 hour ride watching Hell on Wheels. And the same zones on Sunday, but for 3 hours. I put in some solid 5 minute efforts of climbing. Changing between sitting and standing with cadence between 70-80, but trying to keep my HR down. 

Another good week of training in the books. I think Monday is a good day to take a day off. But we'll see. 

-Dave

First Endurance EFS

So I know I've been talking about a few supplements and giving reviews the past few posts I've made, and I'm going to keep the streak going. This time talking about First Endurance EFS. There's a lot of things to like about this product, and honestly, not really anything to dislike. 

                                     

First off, the lemon-lime flavor is amazing. I think the best part about it, is that after mixing the powder in (1 scoop per 12oz water), I don't end up with a gooey mess. Comparing this type of drink to that of other premixed drinks, I feel there is no comparison. Something like Gatorade, I can literally feel the syrup stick to my throat as I'm drinking it. With EFS, it goes down just as easy as water, and the taste is just right. It's not so overpowering that it knocks you down, yet it isn't so watered down that the flavor is merely hinted. Bare in mind this comes with the proper scoops to fluid ounces you put in.

Next, I look at the Supplement Facts. For one serving of EFS, I'm taking in around 100 calories. And when I'm either out training or racing, having close to a solid round number is great. 100 calories in my drink, 150 calories in my bar or gel, makes for easy math so I can concentrate on the important things. EFS also hits a lot of the major nutrients, especially those lost during endurance training. Those mostly being Magnesium, Potassium, and Sodium (Mg, Na, K respectively). The body needs to replenish the electrolyte levels in your system so the system can keep firing on all cylinders. If you go to page 15 of the Research Packet, you will see the electrolyte comparison and a 'typical' amount of sweat loss during rigorous exercise. If you are like me, those numbers are a bit high. I'm a little larger than your average endurance athlete, and I sweat more than most, too. The numbers in EFS play into my favor rather well.

A few other points I like about the drink is the addition of key amino acids as well as Vitamin C. Vitamin C is known to help with the immune system and help ward off toxins. And when you're out there training, breaking down cells and using up all of the stored energy you have, that Vitamin C boost helps keeps things in check and your immune system fully supported. Throwing in some of those amino acids will also help your muscles as you break them down over the course of the race or training session. Replacing what is lost during exercise is a great practice to keep yourself fully functional.

That's about all the deeper I am going to dive into the complexities that make up EFS and why I feel it is a great tool to have in your bag. But, should you want to read more about it, read the Research Packet. It can answer just about anything you can think of about the line of EFS products that First Endurance produces. And as for flavors, I can only speak of Lemon-Lime. So don't hold me to it if you don't like one of the other flavors. I'm a Lemon-Lime guy through and through.

-Dave