Team Sports Bistro

2011 Rock n Roll Las Vegas Race Report and Year End Summary

2011-12-31T21:26:00.005-05:00

By Mike

If you've been following my posts this year you'll know that this has been one horribly inconsistent year. While the triathlon's I've done have been more for fun than for competition, I've had a few good runs including a 15K PR and a half-marathon PR. With only about 2-3 hours a week to train, I decided to focus my season largely around running given the low-maintenance nature of it (especially when compared to triathlon!). Despite the challenges I saw some gains and some potential so I decided to run a marathon to cap off the season--the 2011 Zappos Las Vegas Marathon to be precise.

After my successful 15K in late October, I felt confident that I should be able to smash my old marathon PR of 3:29. I had a nice and easy week of training the week following the race with plans finish off with two more solid weeks of training following by a peaking period (taper) leading to my December 4th marathon. I was targeting a 3:10 or lower. Unfortunately my last good day of training ended up being November 8th and I never really got back into solid training mode after that. I went from being confident of crushing my marathon record to being really unsure of what my fitness was. Still, I had my flights and hotel booked and the race was already paid for so I figured I'd still go and give it a shot hoping my fitness from the summer and late fall was still with me. Plans of a 3:10 went out the window but I still thought that a conservatively run race would still lead to a slight PR. Lindsay wasn't racing but planned to come with me as well so if nothing else it would be a weekend in Vegas. :)

Race Day
If you're not familiar with the Zappos Las Vegas Marathon, it's actually a night race, with the last ~13 miles being run up and down the strip. The race started at 4pm which meant plenty of time to wake up, eat and make it to the start in a nice leisurely manner. It can get cold in Vegas on a December night but the weather on December 4th was possibly the best you could hope for (low 40s and sunny at 4pm) so I had that going in my favor. Lindsay accompanied me to the start so having her there gave me a chance to wear warm clothing up until the final few minutes before the start gun.

After a speech by some random celebrity and the national anthem, the gun went off and so did we. The first few steps felt surprisingly tough. Despite trying to keep an easy and conservative start my shins started to feel very tight and painful almost from the get-go. My first two miles came in at a ~9:00 pace (definitely not 3:10 or even 3:29 material). I stopped, massaged my lower legs and mile 3 felt much better. I settled in at a conservative 160bpm heart rate for miles 3-8. In my past marathons I raced a few bpm higher with a very even split so I knew this was a conservative target HR. Unfortunately my pace at this heart rate was about 0:45 to 1:00 min/mile slower than desired. In terms of perceived effort it also felt like 166+ bpm and not 160 bpm. By mile 8 I was feeling more tired than I felt at the end of my 15K just over a month ago and that was over 1:00/mi faster and at a much much higher heart rate. It was clear from the beginning that "something just wasn't right" and now at mile 8 it was painfully obvious that things were going downhill (and I don't mean a nice gradual descent to the finish line). My legs were starting to run out of gas and while I could have pushed hard for a few more miles I asked myself why. I definitely didn't need to finish another marathon. I wouldn't get any satisfaction from a finish--just a much slower recovery process post race. I decided to stop pushing and just took it super easy with plans to exit the course when it looped back to the start area at mile 13.1. Found Lindsay at the half-way mark and told her that I just wasn't feeling right. Got my stuff from the bag drop off area and we just went to dinner instead.

Race Review
While I only did half the race, I got a pretty good impression of the whole course and event. The race was pretty well organized--registration, bag drop off, packet pickup, etc all went smoothly. Despite the very large race size (some 40K registrations) it was easy and hassle free to get to the starting corrals. The corals were surprisingly uncrowded too. Water was evenly placed but the sports drink was not available at a most of the aid stations (at least within the first 13 miles). On course port-o-potties were extremely sparse and located at unpredictable spots. Many male participants decided to turn random walls, posts and fences into bathrooms as a result. The first half of the race was also on rather desolate terrain going through miles of dark, quiet residential neighborhoods and a small section of highway and then past a factory at one point. There were maybe 2-3 bands playing but that's it. Also the race is often described as being a pancake flat course but the first half (with it's various onramps, offramps, overpasses & underpasses) is anything but. While I didn't do the last half, I am familiar enough with the strip to confirm that it is quite flat so that's probably where its flat course reputation comes from. The strip was also far more lively than the first half of the course too. One other thing I would change is the timing of how the half-marathon race and marathon race intersect. In 2011 they had the half-marathon start 1n hour thirty after the marathon with the last half of the marathon course being the same as the half-marathon course. This lead to hundreds, maybe thousands of marathoners running right into the back end of the half marathon field. While they tried to keep each race in it's own "lanes" it didn't quite work that way but I could see what they were trying to do. All things considered it was a "OK" run race though it does leave some major room for improvement with regard the half-marathon/marathon timing and the on-course aid station & port-o-potty availability.

Post Race and End of Season Thoughts
Las Vegas Marathon was an inconsistent race to end an inconsistent season featuring both PRs and PWs. Inconsistent schedules lead to inconsistent training which lead to inconsistent results. Surprisingly, my chronic right hip problem definitely didn't benefit from this type of training either. :) I'm currently going through some physical therapy and hope to find a good ART specialist in the Seattle area as well. At least part of reason I had a strong year last year was due to a blend of consistent training (steady ~8 hours a week) and frequent preventative trips to my ART specialist Dr Bochner in NYC. Work schedules aren't always predictable but I can at least make time for preventative maintenance like ART and applicable strengthening exercises. Sounds like the makings of a New Years' resolution. Happy New Year everyone!

Magnuson October 15k Race Report

2011-10-30T20:24:00.003-04:00

By Mike

Ran this race on October 29, 2011 as part of my marathon training. I wasn't too sure how I wanted to pace it since I was just coming off a minor injury (or major inconvenience) and I haven't been running too much (~20 miles per week). Part of me wanted to try a marathon pace effort and the other part of me wanted to do a true race effort.

The morning was a nice 50 degrees and partly sunny. Gun went off and I tried to pace by my watch. My watch kept reading 7:10 pace with a very high heart rate though... oh crap I recalibrated the watch on the treadmill and it didn't seem to correspond to actual running outside. Not only that but the mile markers were way off... my first mile came in at the 8:30 mark with my watch reading 7:10ish. At the very start of the race, my heart rate was also picking up some other peoples' watches too.

Realized I just had to go by feel at least for the very beginning. It was around this point that I decided to just race it. The race was somewhat crowded at the start with the 5k and 10k racers starting at the same time as the 15k runners. Rather than pace off the incorrect mile markers or my poorly calibrated watch I just decided to pace with some of the faster folks (most of whom I suspected were doing the 5 or 10k). That definitely helped.

Aid station situation was not ideal. I didn't get any water during the except for a tiny half sip at the 5k mark. They didn't set up the water table properly.. there were no volunteers handing them out and the many of cups were empty. I had a half filled cup at 5k and I drank nothing at the 10k mark. I didn't bring any gus with me either since I wasn't planning on taking this "race" too seriously. I was really starting to feel it after 10k and the only thing that kept me going was this one other 15k racer. She passed me passed me at the 4-5 mi mark and dragged me along for a few miles. I drafted her for 2 miles, then ran shoulder to shoulder and then made my move to repass her at the 7 mi mark. It was sort of a 2010 IM Macca moment. I could tell she put out a big effort to catch me in the first 4 miles because she started slowing down a tiny bit at mile 7. With ~2 miles left I just decided to go all out and try to catch the one other 15K runner ahead of me. Even though there was a nice out-and-back section, I wasn't sure if he was 1st place or not since the course was now intermixed with 10k runners.

There was a short while when it seemed I might be able to catch him but he seemed to have the same idea as I did for the last 2 miles (accelerate hard). I didn't catch him but I had a strong finish with slightly negative splits for each 5k. My finish time was ~1:02:50.

Plugging in a 1:02:50 yields a 3:08:30 marathon assuming similar course (I think Vegas will be harder). It's short of my goal of 3:05:00 for a BQ so I'm going to try and get two more hard weeks of training and see if that does it. In any case, I feel confident about beating my marathon PR of 3:29:38 but I don't know if I'll be strong enough to BQ at Vegas.

TriRock Seattle Race Report

2011-07-17T17:40:00.004-04:00

By Mike

Prologue
I ran the TriRock Seattle Olympic race today with Lindsay (not exactly an Olympic but close -- 1500M swim, 23mi bike, 6mi run). A few days before the race Lindsay asked how I was able to do a 1:35 half marathon last Sunday (the 10th) on so little training (10-15 miles a week for last 5-6 weeks or so). I don't remember my exact answer but I do remember saying I was paying for it this week. It's hard to recover from a race or near-race effort with so little training, especially with so little intense training. I was thinking I might just take it (intentionally) easy this race so as to not risk sacrificing any training.

Swim
First race with the new wetsuit. The swim was a 3-segment triangle. Started off and felt pretty good on the first segment. Found some feet for most of first segment but some person came out of nowhere with a washing machine style kick and threw me off my rhythm. Lost my feet but caught on to this person instead. Was tough to stay on but I managed. Don't know what my time was at the first turn buoy but I checked somewhere along the middle section and my watch said 11:12. Thought I was making some great time even though I didn't feel all that strong. Did some rough math in my head and thought I could come in like ~27-28 minutes which would be pretty good for me. I lost my feet for a quick second and drifted back though still had the swimmer in sight when I popped my head out of the water. I just couldn't accelerate back up however. Was really starting to feel it and swam much of the 2nd leg solo. At the 2nd turn buoy I glanced at my watch and saw 20:50. Was really starting to feel it now. Struggled the last section and came out of the water in 33:xx. I started strong but just faded.

T1
"Wobbly" experience. Took me a while to get stable. Not my finest T1.

Bike
Started off and noted how my heart rate just stabilized around 139bpm. Definitely very low for me. Just felt flat... couldn't put out anything more with the exception of a few hills where I pushed a bit harder. Dropped my chain around mile 15 just before one of the climbs (so knew it was going to happen too). Unlike 99.9% of the time I couldn't get it back on with just a simple chainring upshift. Had to get off the bike and reset it and then go back for the climb. Got passed by a whole mess of people. I was averaging around 19-19.5 mph which again is just plain slow for me... it was quite impressive given the hills and low 140bpm heart rates... we're talking sub-IM pacing here. Started to feel a little better around mile 18-19 but decided to keep the effort levels mostly constant and not bury myself and sacrifice another week of training and possibly the Seafair race the following week. Came in around 1:09 off the bike.

T2
Brief and uneventful. Wasn't trying too hard by this point though.

Run
Started the run glad to get off the bike and wondering if I could match my half-marathon pace from last week (sub 7:20). Started mile 1 with a low 7 pace. Thinking to myself it might be possible since I felt pretty good and my heart rate came up nicely to the 160s. The effort started to feel harder and harder though. About 100m after mile 1 my left calf and shin started to really hurt BAD. It was like I had just done the half-marathon yesterday. Slowed to a walk and then to a complete stop several times in miles 2 and 3. My leg "warmed up" a bit mile 4 (maybe it was the endorphins killing the pain) and felt like I could push again but decided to just keep it easy instead. Mile 5 came around and decided to give it one final push. Run time was ~50:xx or so for a 8:13 pace.

Overall time was a 2:37... horrible race but solid training day (well minus the stopping and walking parts). 2011 will need to a be a rebuilding year. I haven't done much of anything until June and it's been hard to start a normal training program in the middle of race season. I have a race next weekend but I probably won't go full force even if I do recover. I'd like to complete 4 solid weeks of training at 8+ hours a week before I start thinking about truly "racing".

Race Report: Ocean Shores Half Marathon

2011-07-10T18:16:00.010-04:00

By Mike

Coming into this race it was very hard to predict how I'd do as I had just began my training program a few weeks back. I did a 5K (21:03) a month ago on June 12 (was effectively my training kickoff) and was quite happy with how well I did given the lack of training. I did a disappointing 45:21 10K the following week and noticed that I just wasn't ready to put out heavy efforts on so little effort. I pulled way back on my training intensity over the following weeks and focused more on nice easy steady consistent efforts with the goal of eventually ramping up to 10 hours a week of training (not there yet) before adding intensity again. Actually I've been feeling weak on recent workouts... struggled to hit the higher intensities and higher heart rates.

Race Course
This race (Ocean Shores Half) was flat however (perfect for a PR) and I knew I had strong underlying fitness but was very unsure how strong of an effort I could sustain for ~100 minutes. I did a bit of race recon the day before the race and was a bit surprised to see that there would be about 2 stretches of ~2.5 mile sandy beach runs. Was not expecting that and would not have brought my K-Swiss Blade Light shoes (they have holes in the bottom that pick up sand) if I knew any better. I was wondering if it would be worth it to take my shoes off after each beach stretch. The race day temp was expected to be mid 50s with low humidity and some sun and very light wind ~5mph... Great conditions on flat easy course minus the beach sections. All these factors combined with fitness, fatigue, etc made it tougher to really predict how I'd do. I made it a goal to ignore time and focus more on trying to put out a strong effort with high heart rate.

The Race
The race started about 6 minutes early so I barely had a chance to warmup and didn't have a chance to use the bathroom or take in a drink with my Roctane (decided not to take one at the start actually). There were maybe 30 people at the start (supposedly 200 registered) so either the number was off or a few people got caught off guard with the early start. Since it was chip timed, it was impossible to know if any fast people started behind us (Lindsay and I ran together).

The race started off fast with about 10 folks going out ahead of us... 4-5 of them women.. wow.. what a fast start. Lindsay and I decided to keep an easy pace as we figured they'd burn out and we'd reel them in later. Well we did reel some people in but only a few. Actually we started pacing together at in the low 7's... with me drafting the group for much of it... I think the other runners didn't "get" the benefit of drafting because they just let me hang on. We hit the sand shortly after 2 miles and it was annoying to say the least. After the soft sandy part though it wasn't too bad on the packed wet sand by the water. We even saw a baby seal on the beach.. can't say I've ever seen that in a NY race.

At the half-way point a woman came up from behind us and was running hard. I accelerated (from ~7:15 to 6:45) and latched on and so did another male runner in our group. We went from a group of 5 to a group of 6 for a short while to groups of 3 and 3. The 6:45 pace didn't last however and we slowed to about 7:05; however the group was already split by this point. The other male runner started breathing heavily.. I could tell he wasn't going to last and he eventually dropped off at around mile 9 before the second beach section. The beach was no more fun the second time around :) but I was happy to keep a nice strong pace. I stopped drafting her on the beach (I should have continued) figuring it was close enough to the end to try and pull off, test my legs and run along side the other female runner. After we hit the 4th and last soft sandy section on the out part of the beach there were ~2 miles left and I decided it was time to accelerate. I dropped her quite easily but she didn't stay that far back. With about a mile to go however I made a wrong turn on a poorly marked section (actually there was a volunteer but she was in her lawn chair eyes down, half asleep, reading a book)... I lost a few seconds here but it was enough for the other runner to bridge a big part of the gap I opened up. I decided to let her catch up to me and then accelerate again once she caught on (like Macca did to Raelert. My legs were starting to burn but I did manage to open up a small gap again. I won this mini race on gun time, but she did win on net time since she started a bit later... ugh! I came in 10th overall and 6th male overall... got chicked x4... this was one tough women's field! Lindsay finished soon after me.

Results:

Mile Splits/Paces:
7:16
7:15 (1x Roctane here)
7:37 (sand!)
7:40
7:21 (mostly out of sand)
7:16
7:05
7:05
7:07 (1x Roctane here)
7:23 (sand again!)
7:28
7:13 (mostly out of sand)
6:54
1:05 @ 5:57 pace for 0.18 miles.. course long
Total: 1:35:45 @ 7:17

I averaged 167 bpm for the full effort, which was only about 3bpm below what my theoretical max (fully tapered, rested) would have been for a ~100 min effort. I was happy with that! It happened to be a PR for me by 3 minutes as well which was also pretty sweet... my previous PR was on the much hillier course of 2+ loops of Central Park, NY. Really I'm quite happy with this as I had almost no expectations today. This bodes well for some future races where I'll hopefully have a bit more fitness and some more rest. I'm getting close to that elusive sub 1:30! May not happen this year but I'm definitely gunning for it regardless.

Race Report: Pleasant Prairie International Dist. Triathlon

2011-06-30T15:01:00.005-04:00

Race Report: Pleasant Prairie International Dist. Triathlon
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin

by: Sarun T.

Final time was 2:09:59. 12th place overall. 5th person in my Age group, but 2 of the top 3 overall were in my AG so the 3rd AG award rolled down to me.

Swim:

Time: 23:41

Rank: 27/607

Swim started and bunch of guys just took off. I thought I'd be able to swim them down eventually but that was not the case. I tried not to feel too disheartened but it was a bit of shock to see a group of guys just disappear like that- especially considering how much time I've been spending in the water.

I stuck to my game plan of going relatively easy on the swim - no redlining and no attempts to close up gaps. This is the first race in awhile where I didn't find feet. Coming out of the water I felt pretty good, but I had no idea what my time was going to me. When I saw the results I definitely was very pleased. I've never broken 25 min before, and to go 23:41 without redlining is a huge improvement. I'm going to keep my swim volume at 15000 yds a week and hopefully by November I'll be down in the 22:xx.

Bike:

Time: 1:03:11

Rank: 19/607

Pace: 23.55mph

Watts: 243 NP

A pretty flat course and a ton of turns. I started passing a bunch of people who started in the wave before me right at the start of the bike. Then about 15-20 min in, I'm pretty much riding alone. I get worried about missing one of the many turns. The course isn't marked very well, though there are cops at every turn. Unfortunately they just stood there and didn't really point out what the right turn was. Fortunately, I didn't make a wrong turn.

I didn't burn a single match on the bike. I kept my pace in check at all times and at some points, tried to relax. This may have ended up lowering my wattage a bit but it set me up for a good run.

I put less effort on this race's bike leg than any of the other races I've done so far this year but in retrospect it's probably the right pace for an olympic distance. Again, the idea was to start the run with good legs, so that goal was accomplished.

Run:

Time: 40:33

Rank: 22/607

Pace: 6:32 min/mile

After a disastrous run in my last race, this was exactly what I was hoping for. I knew I could come close to breaking 40 min and this race confirmed it. My legs felt good for most of the 10k but it did start to feel heavy towards the end. No cramping issues at all. I'm now convinced that all my prior cramping issues had to do with going out too hard on the swim. It has taken me 4 long years but I've finally figured out how to pace an olympic distance triathlon.

Running down the finishing chute I saw the time say 2:22:52. I knew that I had started 13 minutes after the gun went off so I realized that I had a shot of breaking 2:10. I dug deep, started my kick (hurt sooo good) and managed to cross the mat at exactly 2:09:59 :)

Conclusion:

This is probably my best executed olympic distance triathlon yet. As I mentioned earlier, I'm now convinced that for me, redlining the swim results in cramps. Now that I have that figured out, I should no longer have cramping as an excuse for any future races.

Tomorrow starts my first week of interval and threshold work. If I can already do a 40:33 10k off the bike with just base and hill training, I don't think it would be too wishful to aim for a 38:30 by the time the Thai National Olympic Dist. Championships rolls around in November.

Boston Marathon Race Report

2011-04-19T08:59:00.000-04:00

After qualifying, registering, and deferring for the 2010 race, it was my time for 2011. I qualified in the 2009 New York City Marathon on my second try with a 3:33 (needed a 3:40 or under). Boston is every marathoner's goal race and I was happy and privileged to be able to do it so soon. Incidentally, it was also my first marathon outside of New York City, which I have now finished 3x. Here's my recount of the weekend:

Friday night: Greyhound bus from NYC to Boston. My parents live outside of Boston so that made this trip logistically (and financially) pretty easy.

Saturday: After a good night's sleep, we headed downtown to the Number Pick-up and Expo. On the way there I walked through the finish area and across the line. The whole Back Bay was already getting ready to shut down for the race. People were everywhere, taking pictures. It was a fun atmosphere. Got my number (13262), bought the requisite finisher's jacket (before the race, I know, but I didn't wear it!), and took a tour of the Expo. My parents always get a kick out of these. My dad is a novice/aspiring runner, at 61!, and my mom is just an awe of all of it. We made a lunch out of sampling sports nutrition products- my parents loved the PowerBar Energy Bites and went back for seconds!- saw Ryan Hall, lots of shoes, etc. The expo was mobbed and I think I was the only one who left without spending more than $100 on merchandise. Adidas must have cleaned up! The good thing about having the race on a Monday is that I felt more comfortable spending time at the Expo as I knew I still had a full day to relax and rest up.

Sunday- Rest day. Stayed at home, ate well, rested. I planned on doing an easy 3 miles to get things loose after the bus ride and Expo day, but such as my luck I got about 3/4 of a mile away before I got drenched in a downpour. I ran back, quickly!, and just did some stretches and strides in the garage. The rain stopped a few minutes later and I went back out for another mile.

Monday- Race Day! Woke up at 6am, in the car by 6:30. The drive to Hopkinton was about an hour away and we pulled into the State Park around 7:30. From there my parents dropped me off and I took the school bus down to the race start.

I thought Boston was a monster race with lots of logistical issues to deal with. Don't forget the only other marathon I'd done with NYC which is a huge mess getting to the start line. As it turns out, getting there at 8am was about 2 hours too early. I didn't need or want to go to the Athlete's Village, it was a 1.5 mile round trip walk and I had brought my own food and beverage. Unfortunately, I wasn't meeting up with any friends either. My wave (2) was set to go off at 10:20 and we didn't even get into the corrals until 10:10, after the first wave went off. So, at the start line I sat for 2 hours. Having this be painless is a huge positive for the race, but I wish I had known and could have slept in longer! Met a man from San Antonio doing his first Boston as well, but his 10th marathon. The idle chitchat calmed the nerves.

I got into the 5th corral and off we went at 10:20. I wasn't that nervous for the start, which is a refreshing change, and I just went with the flow. The first few miles are extremely crowded, it's a narrow 2 lane country road. And being in the second to last corral of the wave, I had about 7,000 people directly in front of me. The good thing is the first 3 miles are mostly downhill, so I was able to go easy yet still maintain a decent pace. First few splits were all about 8:00.

My goal for the race was to finish with a smile on my face. 2 of my last 3 marathons had not ended well and I did not want that to be the case for Boston. As such, I threw out my initial plans of a sub-3:30 PR and just would to go by feel. It's a special race and I wanted to enjoy it. However, the first few splits of 8:00 put the 3:30 back in my mind. The weather was perfect, mid-50s, sunny, and a significant tailwind. I didn't want to push my luck, but was thinking if I can keep this up, I'd be good.

In order to avoid a blowup, I decided to run based on HR. The first few miles, being downhill, were super low and eventually I settled around the low 160s. This is very much a maintainable rate for me and I worked hard to keep it there. Of course, over the next 10 miles or so this was creeping up to 168, 170, 172 but there I stopped it and actively controlled my pace to stay within this zone. I knew pushing upper 170s before I even hit the hills, and with 2 hours to go, would be very problematic.

However, as I maintained this HR my pace dropped a bit. 8:10, 8:15, 8:07. 8:20. Perfectly decent paces, but I was definitely falling off the 3:30 goal pace. I couldn't hit 8:00 miles and keep my HR as low as I wanted to. Therefore, my heartrate won and I continued to run based on that, and let the pace be what it was. I think this was the right move, but it was a bit painful to see my stretch goal slip away. However, the last 5 miles are all downhill so I said I'd kill them if my HR plan worked and I still had gas left in the tank.

I like to break up marathons into 10 mile, 10 mile, and 6.2 mile sections. I don't like to consider myself halfway done until mile 15 or so. At 10 or even 13.1 miles it's just too early, almost everyone feels fine and is going strong. Problems at this point would be VERY bad, so it's important not to get cocky. The first 10 miles were just cruising, mostly downhills with some flats and short rises. The course was crowded. The crowds were intermittent, at every major intersection but not on the 1/2 mile stretches between them. I did write my name on my jersey so I got far more call-outs than I was used to, which was nice.

After running past the Wellesley girls, which I'll admit was a bit disappointing as there weren't nearly as many as I'd expected (they were just in one section one one side of the road), I hit the 13.1 mile mark in 1:46:xx. That was great, even though the 2nd half had all the hills I wasn't too far off 3:30, especially if I could nail the last 5 miles. My hopes renewed, I picked up the pace a bit back under 8:10. The crowds were getting better as we were in bigger and closer-in towns.

The next 4 miles were important as they were the last flattish ones before the Newton Hills. Torn between banking time and saving my legs, I toed that line carefully. I kept my HR low, 172ish, and was able to maintain a solid 8:10-8:15 pace. I didn't feel any problems and thought I was finally getting there. I was mentally preparing for the hills, taking in my Gu Roctane and Endurolytes salt tablets strategically so I would be well nourished and hydrated for the hills. I also made my only pit stop for a brief respite (which unfortunately added almost a minute to my time).

The Newton Hills are 4 hills within miles 16-21, including the (in)famous Heartbreak Hill at mile 21. The first 3 were totally fine, I was ready and cautiously attacked them. The biggest mistake I made is that I thought Heartbreak was at mile 19 so when I saw a riser there I was up and over and then thought I was done. Feeling pretty good, I picked up the pace (it dropped to around 8:30 on those few miles) and really let it go a bit on the downhill. Turns out I was wrong, Heartbreak was yet to come and I was running as if the rest of the race were flat and downhill. So despite making up a slight bit of time, it wasn't a great move. Heartbreak came and I was actually able to go up in pretty well, getting a lot of cheers as I passed a number of people, but then I really felt it on the steep downhill on the other side. Ouch! Quads were now on fire.

So at mile 21 it feels like the race is over, the hills are behind us, but there's still 5+ miles to go. Even though it's an "easy" 5 miles, I finally understood all the warnings about the downhills. My quads were absolutely shot and I was pretty fearful of cramping and having to walk, like last NYC marathon. Yikes. Ironically, my cardio felt great, my HR was still low, my nutrition/stomach were perfect, and I was mentally stable (not always the case if I get dehydrated or tired). If it weren't for the quads, I really feel I could have run the last 5 miles well. Even though breaking 3:30 was out of the question, too many miles around 8:20-8:30 made it impossible to make up, I was still looking at a decent time and had a chance of PRing.

However, my legs just weren't having it. It wasn't really a blow up, I didn't go above 8:45 min pace, but I was losing time with every mile. And every mile felt REALLY long. Are we there yet? As usual, I wished this was a 22 mile race. But it wasn't. The crowds finally got really good along Commonwealth Ave (props to BC) and we were almost there. I tried to pick it up just to finish well, but couldn't budge my mile splits. Oh well. I finished in 3:37:14, and felt decent crossing the line. That was my goal, and it was almost exactly halfway between the 3:30 I hoped for and the 3:45 I'd tolerate in order to have a fun and good race.

Post-race I (slowly) got my goody bags, medal, cape, etc and met my parents. We had a mile walk back to the car, which I was able to make and probably was good to walk it off. Other than the quads I felt fine with no other aches or pains, which was good.

The Good- Easy start, well-organized, good aid stations
The Bad- I was underwhelmed by the over-promised crowds. NYC wins this competition hands down. More music and more people! If Boston is this highly touted, I'm nervous that every other race must be desolate. Spoiled by NYC I guess.
The Ugly- My quads. Ugh. Need to run more miles!

SHOES!!! Natural v. Minimal v. Barefoot v. Traditional.

2011-02-24T13:31:00.006-05:00

As the flames of the barefoot/minimalist running "revolution" continue to blaze, giving rise to a plethora of new shoe options, runners are left scratching their heads in confusion. Team Sports Bistro's Ryan Heisler, a connoisseur in the shoe industry, discusses the merits and flaws of the popular shoe fits on the market.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 18 months, you've probably heard quite a bit about running barefoot, and the advantages it has for the body. How we were born to run barefoot, and how shoes are the enemy of your feet.

There's just one small problem with this theory: it's wrong.

The running barefoot crowd doesn't seem to realize that we were not made for such wondrous objects like pavement or concrete, nor does it account for such sharp objects that tend to litter a large city's landscape. Catastrophic foot injuries are on the rise, including stress fractures of the metatarsals, ruptured plantar fascii, and Achilles tendonitis, to name a few.

But this is not to say that the technique of running barefoot is a bad thing. Incorporating light barefoot work into your running repertoire helps to develop a shorter, more efficient stride, and can help teach you to be lighter upon your feet. The thing is to incorporate this technique into your everyday running shoe. So how do you go about manufacturing such a technique into your training shoes?

The simple answer is, to steal Nike's thunder: just do it. Remember that your shoes are dumb objects. They can't tell your body how to move through the gait cycle, and they can't dictate how you will land in your footwear. So the idea that you should be going out and buying different shoes right out of the gate (as advocated in this book) is absurd at best, and downright dangerous at worst.

How can it be dangerous? Well, let's think about this as if you have been happily heel-striking your way through miserable miles. You've been transmitting the majority of the shock through initial impact through the heel, which brings that up through to the upper part of the leg, causing more strain on the knee and quadriceps. As you start to move towards midfoot, the Achilles' begins to lengthen slightly, and the strain begins to be placed on the calf. You then utilize this muscular grouping through the rest of the gait cycle. So simply, you've got two different groupings taking care of the three phases of the gait cycle: heel/knees/quads for the initial impact, then calf/Achilles/foot for the transition and propulsive phases.

When you midfoot strike, though, you're changing the emphasis to more of the latter, and a lot less of the former. Much like the first few weeks when you hit the gym, you'll be sore as all hell. The problem that seems to be coming up, though, is too much emphasis on the Achilles/calf. This usually happens because people are landing too far forward on the foot, avoiding the heel entirely. We're designed to use both systems; why else would we have them?

As such, there are four main categories of footwear on the market. It doesn't help that a lot of the companies that are making shoes don't seem to be able to come to a consensus as to what to call it all. So, I'll do them a favor, and do it for them.

Natural: Natural running shoes are not necessarily minimalistic running shoes. Instead, natural running shoes attempt to put your foot into a similar position as if it were barefoot. However, as covered above, most of us do not have the bone density to be running on pavement every day barefoot. As this is the case, these shoes tend to have cushioning along the same lines as a traditional training shoe. Look for less heel-toe drop in the shoe (under 6 mm, give or take), but plenty of substantial cushioning to protect the foot against the elements. Who it's for: runners who have converted to a midfoot strike with no issues; former track runners who have maintained a forward technique; neutral runners looking for a true "flat" for racing. Examples: Saucony ProGrid Kinvara, Newton Gravity, New Balance Road Minimus (available 3/1/11).

Minimal: Minimal running shoes are merely stripping away at the cushioning underneath the foot. They are trying to providing much more feedback as to the surface you are on. Some would advocate that this teaches you to be lighter on the foot. Your results may vary, but my experience is that these are for people that don't like much shoe underneath them AND have a pretty good bone density. A lot of minimal shoes will still have a pretty high heel-toe drop, though, and will let you land on your heel if you decide to. This is where most "racing flats" these days fall. Who it's for: runners seeking as much road feel as possible; runners seeking a short-distance racer; a runner looking for a speedwork shoe. Examples: New Balance MT101, Brooks T6 Racer, Nike LunaRacer, Nike Free Run.

Barefoot: Zip. Zilch. Nada. Nothing going on under the foot outside of maybe 3-4mm of foam. There's really only two things that fit into this category, no matter what shoe companies will try and tell you. Most people will never be able to use these as their primary footwear solution; however, again, results can and will vary depending on body weight, surfaces used, impact force generated while running, etc. Who it's for: someone looking to begin incorporating barefoot technique into their repertoire, but want something to actually protect the foot in the process from sharp objects; trail runners.Examples: Vibram Five Fingers (KSO/Sprint/Flow for off-road; Bikilafor on road), Merrell Barefoot Collection

Traditional: Big old wedge shape here. Not that it's a bad thing, but will tolerate higher load-stresses on the heel. You can still wind up getting relatively lightweight here as well, but not quite to the same degrees as the categories listed above. Remember, though, that weight only matters when your foot is working efficiently. If in this category, it'll be imperative to get fitted for the correct amount of pronation control (such as this fine-fitting institution). Oversupporting the foot can be just as poor as undersupporting it. Who it's for: heel-strikers; midfoot/forefoot strikers who are running into Achilles and calf issues; those who don't want to change how they run period. Examples (ranging from least pronation control to most): Brooks Launch, Mizuno Wave Rider 14, Saucony ProGrid Guide 4, Brooks Adrenaline GTS 11

So, armed with this information, where do you go now? Start with the light barefoot work and see where it takes you. Listen to what your body is telling you; it will give you the keys as to which of these four categories you will best fit into.

And remember, have fun out there!

*******************************************
Ryan Heisler has worked in the running industry for 5 years, and currently works for Maine Running Company in Portland, ME. He has helped thousands of people via footwear and running technique. Ryan is also planning on earning his USAT Level I Coaching certification. He is training for two half-iron distance triathlons this summer. His musings on training, footwear, and other rantings can be found on his blog, Crashing the Boards (http://crashingtheboards.blogspot.com) and Twitter (@rrheisler).

Introducing Team Sports Bistro 2011...

2011-02-22T13:32:00.009-05:00

Sports Bistro is proud to officially present our sponsored athletes for the 2011 season. These committed athletes have amassed an impressive list of strong finishes across an array of endurance sports endeavors. Through their excellence, they've demonstrated they understand how important it is to
"Fuel Smarter, Play Harder".

Good luck on an amazing 2011 endurance sports season!

Paul Aldeguer - Overland Park, KS
Chris Anderson - Chicago, IL
David Callahan - Nashville, TN
Donald Chapman - Lawrenceville, GA
Matty Cusack - Spokane, WA
Tina Eakin - Huntsville, AL
Carl Elgin - Ann Arbor, MI
Britta English - Indianapolis, IN
Ryan Heisler - Portland, ME
Megan Marion - Tacoma, WA
Ryan Ottem - Winsor, CA
Stephen Pedone - South Elgin, IL
Ben Pulley - Winston Salem, NC
Richard Straub - Northville, MI
Drew Streip - Chattanooga, TN
Sarun Teeravechyan - Chicago, IL
Laurie Timko - South River, NJ
Rob Timko - South River, NJ

For more info on Team Sports Bistro, visit Sports Bistro's "coaching" page:
http://www.sportsbistro.com/coaching/

Early Season Sports Nutrition

2011-02-15T20:42:00.003-05:00

By Mike

I can't believe we're already into the second half of February -- the year has been flying by. As I ramp up my training volume for the 2011 season I wanted to share some thoughts about early season sports nutrition for those of you in the same boat as me.

Diet Keep calorie consumption in line with your energy expenditure. Most of you will likely need to increase your intake but don't over do it. Stick with whole foods and regular meals and reintroduce sports nutrition gradually. Stay away from sugary foods or simple sugars as they may "train" your body to be a "carb burner" vs "fat burner."
Hydration Make sure you hydrate - cold winter weather can dehydrate you just as fast as hot / humid weather. You'll be surprised how much water you'll lose just from heavy breathing in the cold. Your body's natural thirst mechanisms may not function as well in cold weather which could further compound the hydration problem)
Sports Nutrition - Hydration / Electrolytes Start with electrolytes first (this goes with the above point on hydration) Hammer Endurolytes, SaltStick, and Succeed! S Caps are good options. Take these before and during your workouts lasting longer than 1 hr. If you want a sports drink try something like nuun for the early season workouts.
Sports Nutrition - Recovery / Post Workout Introduce recovery drinks (e.g. Fluid Recovery, Recoverite, Hammer Whey, Gu Recovery Brew) into your post workout routine, especially after your tough and challenging workouts.
Sports Nutrition - During Workout Try to delay using high carb fuel sources like Gu Gel, Clif Shot Bloks, Hammer HEED, PowerBar Gel until you get to the point where your workouts become longer and more intense. This will train your body to rely on fat stores for energy. Challenge yourself to do longer and longer workouts without the carbs. Your performance will suffer but the early season is not about performance -- it's about efficiency! Eventually you will need to use the gels, energy chews, and sports drinks during your workouts but dedicate at least a month of solid training with little to no use.

Keep in mind the rules change slightly as you get deeper into your training plan and especially as you start preparing for races. Take a look at the article on Nutrition Periodization for Triathletes for some more tips for the full year.

New nuun flavors forthcoming!

2011-02-06T16:08:00.004-05:00

I'm actually super excited about this: Nuun is finally releasing new flavors! I like the lemon+lime and all, but I'm excited to mix it up. Here's the new lineup, coming in April (as eloquently described by nuun):

Lemon Tea: The satisfying palate of tea, mixed with the just right amount of lemon and sweet. A refreshing alternative to high calorie drinks, it’s chock full of balanced electrolytes and nice little zing of caffeine
Fruit Punch: a fruit medley with a Nuun twist. Subtle berry and fruit notes hydrate with that clean Nuun finish)
Tropical: an orchestra of mango, pineapple and coconut flavors flirt with the palate while hydrating the body
Grape: the Nuun interpretation of grape – subtle and smooth. Crisp like white grapes and packed with electrolytes
Strawberry Lemonade: ideal for hydrating under that hot sun, strawberry lemonade finds the perfect balance between a sweet strawberry and ice-cold lemonade - minus the sugary mess

I think the Strawberry Lemonade sounds the best and can't wait to try it.

For the uninitiated, nuun is an electrolyte tablet you can throw into a water or sports drink bottle. With no carbs, it's light and refreshing and good for when you need some extra hydration without the sugar or calories of regular sports drink. It's what I take on my offseason trainer rides and when I am trying to stay hydrated throughout the day.

First Runs of the Year

2011-02-06T11:03:00.006-05:00

By Mike

Last week (Saturday) I had my first run of 2011. I've been doing trainer rides just fine but it's been very tough to get out and run due to the weather conditions. I ran for about 4-5 miles last Saturday and it felt quite awkward. Everything starting hurting and aching. Getting back into training or a specific type of training (running in my case) after a long break is always tough.

The last 9 days or so have been good though. They've consisted of 4 runs (4.5, 2, 2, 6.5 mi), 2 gym workouts (mostly legs and core), two trainer rides (1hr each), and a day of snowboarding. Today's 6.5 mile run felt quite good. It was slow but it I didn't feel any randoms aches. Yesterday's snowboarding session felt pretty good too - my legs felt quite strong considering it was my first day out - perhaps a credit to some of my other cross training activities.

It was also interesting to see many people taking Gu Gel on the slopes. I think there may have been someone giving them out because the people taking them seemed confused on how to eat them. Whereas a sports nutrition veteran would likely have finished a packet in 5 seconds, this one particular person was taking a good 3-4 minutes and I don't even think he managed to eat the whole thing. Still it's interesting to see the idea of winter sports nutrition start to take off; I think it's long over due.

So despite a slow start in January, February is starting off well. It's also time I make some final plans for the season. I'm still planning on an early season (April-May) marathon but that may change. My big race of the 2011 season is likely to be a Half-Iron race again but I am not sure which one I'll do or where. Right now I'm thinking about breaking 3:10 on a marathon, ~1:26 on a half-marathon, some new PRs on 5-10K races, and going well under a 5:00 on a Half-Iron. I'll likely have firmer plans in the next 30 days.

Some Thoughts on the Off-season

2010-12-07T21:42:00.003-05:00

By Mike:

With the marathon over and no plans for another race for the rest of the year, I've been getting a ton of questions about what I've been up to for the last few weeks. I've been taking it pretty easy and many folks have been surprised by that. Easy's a relative term however so to give you an idea about just how easy is easy I did a Turkey Trot 5K at a pace slower than my recent marathon.

The off-season (for me at least) is a time to recharge and to explore other things I like doing such as strength and conditioning work in the gym or snowboarding or just plain downtime. To make sure I don't lose too much fitness, I do some maintenance work such as easy runs or trainer rides with a good DVD or TV show. I know some people will preach that there is no off-season but if you're like me you may want to allocate time for other non running/cycling/triathlon things as well and this is a perfect time to do it... well at least for the folks on the northern hemisphere! Unless you're a professional though it's hard to imagine going through multiple back-to-back seasons without some sort of respite and even then most folks probably still need some sort of "vacation."

But anyway... there's no right or wrong answer... fundamentally I think it comes down to the priorities in life.

Like Father, Like Son

2010-12-05T12:59:00.008-05:00

By Ton:

Today, December 5^th, is Thai National Father’s Day, so this post is in honor of Mr. Pongsatorn C. (aka “My Dad”) for proving that age is but a number. Refusing to be outdone by his son’s racing endeavors this year, Mr. Pongatorn put in the training and finished his very first 10k race in Bangkok a couple weeks ago. CONGRATS!

Next up… his first half marathon before turning 60.

Here's to inspiring each of our loved ones to find their own finish lines in 2011. Their achievements fulfill us much as our own. Cheers!

NYC Marathon Race Report, Nov 7, 2010 - Ton C.

2010-11-14T14:24:00.025-05:00

By Ton:

2010 ING NYC Marathon Race Report, Nov 7, 2010 - Ton C.

For those of you who are aware of my history with the marathon, you’ll know that it’s my trickiest event by far. In my two previous attempts, I failed to hit my sub-4 hour goal, something that many people, including myself, are surprised by based on my (perceived) level of fitness. It's been like an annoying monkey on my back. This year, I was able to string together 6 personal records in triathlons and running events at various distances, including a 2:24 olympic distance triathlon, a 5:24 half ironman, two 1:38 half marathons, and a 4-miler at a 7:06 pace. One would naturally believe that, especially now, I should be able to confidently go out and snag a sub-4 hour marathon… riiight?

Well, that’s the problem with “should” (aka, the bastard child of “could” and “would”). An elusive goal haunts you even more when you’ve thoroughly convinced yourself that you are capable of attaining it (regardless of whether you truly are). This is especially the case when there are other people who you believe are less fit than you who have accomplished this same goal on their very first try. I believe every athlete, at some point in their racing career, will struggle with the concept of “should” with varying degrees of frustration.

Anyways, on to the race report…

What a beautiful morning for a race. A bit cold (in the 40’s) and windy but the skies were clear on this nice fall day. I was fortunate enough to have a good friend who lives literally 5 minutes from the race start offer me a couch to crash on the night before. Whereas I had to wake up at 4:15am the year before and stand out in the cold in Staten Island for 3 hours, I didn’t actually wake up til 7:00am this year and didn’t leave for the race start until 8:30 am. Most importantly, I didn’t have to endure the pre-race porta-johns. AWESOME. My breakfast consisted of some toast with peanut butter and bottle of GU Electrolyte Brew.

Gun goes off for my wave at 10:10 am, and we’re off!

Nothing to report from the first 13 miles of the race other than that I was in complete control. I held my heart rate in the mid/upper 160’s and was pretty much gliding. My mile splits were pretty consistent, and I had a lot left in the tank.

At the half-way point, I looked down at my watch and it showed a 1:52:xx and I thought “I’m feeling great, and I know I can cruise to a 3:4x marathon finish.” Then I thought to myself… how far away is a 3:3x marathon?!” knowing very well that this would require negative splits in a race with a much tougher second half.

At mile 15/16, as I cross the Queensboro bridge heading into 1^st Avenue in Manhattan, where the crowd support is simply insane, and I decide to ramp up the effort. I’m at about 170 BPM average at this point and decide that I will stay at this effort until I hit Central Park at Mile 23. The crowd is roaring and I get amped up when I see the Chilean miner up ahead. The crowd is going wild for him! I pat him on the back, and say “good luck!” before I pull off. (He looked like he was hurting BAD, but he would eventually finish the race in 5 hours and 40 minutes with ice wrapped around both knees.)

At Mile 19, Rachel (my girlfriend) and Alex (my friend and former roommate) jump in and run with me. I’m so happy to see them! I utter these words:

“I’m a few minutes off of a 3:40 finish. I’m going to try to maintain this pace and then go for broke when I get close to Central Park. Whatever you do, don’t let me slip slower than this pace!”

In hindsight, this was way too tough a goal, but I was feeling too amped to realize it. I would’ve had to make up 3 or 4 minutes in 7 miles, meaning I would’ve had to average slightly below 8 minute miles during the toughest part of a race, whereas I had been averaging about an 8:30 pace up until then.

At mile 21, Alex pulls off and I’m running with Rachel. Less than 200 yards later, I suffer a really bad right hamstring cramp that pulls me out of the race for a couple minutes. (I had dropped my SaltStick tablets at around mile 12. Damnit!) Not sure what was more painful – the cramping itself or seeing hordes of people pull away, along with marathon goal. I start to panic a bit and stand up, only for my hamstring to re-cramp and send me back to the ground. Rachel runs to get me a bottle of water from a spectator nearby. I take a drink and say to her, “We have to keep going!”

For a while, we walk as I shake out my leg. Then we start to jog lightly. We hit the next mile marker, and my heart drops to the floor when I see the agonizing 11:10 time split for mile 21. OUCH!!!

* Ouch!!!

It’s at this point that I really started to panic because I knew damned well what was on the line. I knew I would not be able to return to an 8:30 pace again, and maybe not even a 9:00 pace, but…. what was the slowest pace I could afford to maintain to break 4?! Clearly, I had to pick this up, but… when? How? And would I cramp up again?! So many thoughts racing through my mind that everything around me seemed to disappear. What a complete mind screw!!! To go from chasing down a 3:40 to risk not even breaking 4:00!

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!

The next few miles felt longer than the entire race leading up to that point. I decided that my mind was too scrambled to do any more math on pace and predicted finish times, and I simply had to coast along as fast as I could while staying just a twitch below cramping. The only thing I can think of to describe this experience is walking a tight rope. Anything that triggers another cramp will effectively end my day and put me through the LONGEST off-season ever. I had to hover below that cramp threshold.

My only source of comfort at this point comes from Rachel running beside me, encouraging me to push on. I stay silent the entire time, and she knows I’m hurting.

At mile 23, Rachel pulls off and I’m running by myself. The thought of not breaking 4:00 (AGAIN!) really struck a lot of fear and anxiety in me that I began to cry for a moment. (In hindsight, I’m quite surprised at how emotional I become out of nowhere. I guess I just knew I couldn’t bear the disappointment.) My heart rate drops significantly, down to the mid/low 160’s, and I’m upset that my muscles won’t let me hammer a 180+ BPM effort. Cardiovascularly, I probably had enough capacity to be smoking a cigarette at that point, but my muscles were shot.

At the beginning of mile 25, I make a decision to make one final push, praying that I wouldn’t cramp within a couple hundred yards of the finish. (I’ve heard stories of this happening all the time at marathons, but I never thought that it could be me!) I hadn’t looked at my watch in a few miles and decide at this point, I don’t want to know my time because it's too late to do anything about it. The last 400 yards felt like an eternity. I let out a scream and finish strong, not letting anyone pass me in the final dash…

Finish Time: 3:53:36

YEEEEEEEEEEEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(HUGE sigh of relief.)

Tears in my eyes, I’m practically ready to fall to the floor. I walk over to the medals table, waving off this dude trying to give me my medal, saying “No! I want HER to give me my medal!” (pointing to the girl wearing a sash that says “Miss New York 2010”). Alas, as this girl puts the medal around my neck, I’m already thinking about Rachel, who’s waiting for me at the steps of the Museum of Natural History about half a mile away. I relish every moment of my “Walk of Pride” to see her, all the while feeling very light, especially with the sub-4 hour marathon monkey finally off my back.

Summary
Avg HR: 167 beats per minute
Time: 3:53:36 (vs. 4:02:40 in 2009 and 4:12:36 in 2007)
Pre Race Nutrition: Toast w/ Peanut Butter, 1 bottle GU Electrolyte Brew, 1 Gu Roctane packet (Blueberry Pomegranate).
During Race Nutrition: 1 Gu Roctane every 5 miles, 2 SaltStick tablets (until I dropped my pouch at mile 12), Gatorade Endurance at each aid station.

The holidays are here! Gu Vanilla Gingerbread Review

2010-11-08T08:49:00.001-05:00

There are a few ways to tell if it's nearing the end of the year:

1. It's the offseason (yes, as of yesterday)
2. It's dark before I leave school at the end of the day (definitely)
3. Gu Energy releases their special holiday flavors!

Yes, Gu Vanilla Gingerbread and Mint Chocolate are now available in the seasonal 6 count boxes. While Mint Chocolate was made a regular flavor this year, in my mind it just goes with the winter months. It's thick and creamy and I really really like it! I don't think it does well in the August heat, but it is great for a winter run.

Vanilla Gingerbread remains a holiday-only treat. It comes out in November and is usually sold-out by the end of December. It's totally different from the other Gu gels. I think it actually has a bit of a kick from the gingerbread flavoring, as crazy as that sounds. So it's tart and a bit savory, which is great for those who think the other Gu flavors are too sweet. It is also caffeine free (Gu Mint Chocolate has only a little bit of caffeine).

The packaging is festive for the holidays, they make a great gift for a coach, teammate, or loved one in their stocking.

Mike's 2010 NYC Marathon Race Report

2010-11-07T15:38:00.008-05:00

By Mike

Pre Race Babble
Wow. What a race. In my earlier blog posts you may have seen that I predicted a 3:10 for NYC Marathon this year. In July I did a marathon check-in and felt that I was close with several months of training to go. I was really happy with how things were going. Then in late August things fell apart and I didn't find my running legs again until October with just weeks to go to the marathon. I gave up on any predictions and just figured I'd go out and do what I could.

Well if things couldn't get any worse they did. I went home early on Thursday (3 days pre race) with a migraine and some early cold/flu symptoms. Friday was slightly better and Saturday was slightly worse. On Sunday morning (marathon morning) I woke up with a progressively worse sore throat. I considered bailing on the marathon altogether. Still I got up, had some breakfast and hot tea and felt a little better. Bought some cold medicine and took a dose at about 6:15am (race start 9:40am) and another at about 9:00am--felt better. Standing around a cold race start for a good 1.5 hours too (NYC Marathon logistics are a pain!) didn't help though. I decided this would likely be my last NYC Marathon for a while -- not a fan of the cold at all! I took my pre-race Gu Roctane with 20 minutes to go, downed it with some water and prepped for the race to come.

Race Start
The 1.5 miles on the Verrazano were cold and windy. My feet felt like frozen cinder blocks about to smash in pieces. Luckily it was sunny out. Things improved once off the bridge and onto the upcoming "flat" section. Felt surprisingly good despite the cold and sore throat and pace on the flats came out to a comfortable 7:40-7:45 range. But by mile 8 I started to feel that the pace was unsustainable. Legs felt tired and heart rate kept dropping well below target. I took my third Roctane at mile 9 (previous at mile 4) and had to put in a lot of mental effort to watch my pace and heart rate and to motivate myself to make sure I didn't slow down too much. Not a good sign with not even 25% done. It felt like it was the cold taking its toll.

Still, I managed to keep a good solid pace. I clocked in at about 1:43:xx at the half but struggled to go up the bridge leading into Queens. I was definitely starting to fade and was just hoping some mental toughness would get me through the day.

The Queensboro Bridge was a slog (as expected) ... the downhill part was no relief either as my ankles were really starting to kill. Shortly after I turned onto 1st ave I felt something unexpected... someone jumping on my back and stepping on my shoes at the same time!?!?!? My left shoe nearly popped off and I almost hit the ground face first. I saw the guy who did it and I started to yell at him with some pretty severe expletives. He had nothing to say in response... not even a sorry. That could have ended my race right there but luckily my mildly "ninjistic" balance skills kept me on my feet -- whew! :)

With my legs starting to feel even more fatigued I decided I would take my next Gu Roctane a mile early (mile 18). Amazingly within a few minutes I felt this surge of energy. My average heart rate went up a few bpm and the perceived exertion went down a bit. This stuff works (note to self- take them every ~32 minutes next time). For the next few miles up first ave I managed to keep a low 8:00 pace. I slowed down in the section in the Bronx (everyone does) but brought it back to a low 8:00 pace upon re-entering Manhattan. I realized I was dangerously close to not breaking 3:30 and realized I needed to up the pace and give it all I had in the last 5 miles.

So that's what I did. I pushed myself to my absolute limit knowing I'd be incredibly frustrated with not breaking 3:30 two years in a row. It felt good to pass the other runners and only motivated me further. With 800m to go and a sub-3:30 within reach I imagined myself running a Yasso 800 interval. It worked. I crossed the line at 3:29:38! Then the wave of pain came over me.. aching ankles, left plantar fascitis pain, tight right hip flexors... it's amazing how you can block all of that out during the race... though you pay for it 10-fold post race. It felt impossible to even walk properly right after crossing the line. Still... pretty happy all things considered.

Summary
Avg HR: 159 (158 in 2008 and 161 2009)
Time: 3:29:38 (3:43 in 2008 and 3:30 in 2009)
Pre Race Nutrition: 1 can redbull, 1 Gu Roctane packet, and about 20 oz of Gatorade Endurance, as well as some light breakfast about 3 hours prior.
During Race Nutrition: 1 Roctane every 4-5 miles, ~5 Hammer Endurolyte tablets total, water and Gatorade Endurance at each aid station (almost every mile)

One more week!

2010-10-30T12:38:00.000-04:00

One week to go! The 2010 New York City Marathon arrives next Sunday. I'm ready. Although I've been going through the requisite self-doubting during this taper period, there's nothing I would have done differently. I've done about 20% more mileage than last year. My race pace feels nice and easy. I've maintained 5x a week running routines. I've had 2 sports massages. I'm resting well.

So what's next? The last week is always the hardest, what to do? Here's my plan:
Saturday: 10 mile run. Ideally race pace (7:50 minute miles)
Sunday: 3 mile recovery run. Foam rolling, stretching, ICING!
Monday: 5 mile run. Race pace. Roll first, ice after.
Tuesday: 6 mile run. Race pace, icing!
Wednesday: Off day.
Thursday: Last real run. 5 miles.
Friday: Hit the expo, pick up number and get a small t-shirt (they go quick!). Wear comfy shoes! Water bottle with nuun tablet for hydration. Then dinner with the family who came in for support. Ideally a pasta/meat dish for some carbs and protein.
Saturday: Rest, rolling, light run (<4 miles). Nuun water bottle. Dinner a light mix of carbs, protein, and veggies.
Sunday: RACE DAY! Early wake up (5am), get to the race, and go!

Here's my nutrition plan for the race:
Breakfast: Bagel, orange juice.
Pre-race: 1 Gu Roctane Blueberry Pomegranate, 15 min before (in corral)
Mile 5: Gu Roctane
Mile 8: 2 Succeed! S! Caps
Mile 11: Gu Roctane
Mile 12: 2 S! Caps
Mile 16: Gu Roctane, 2 S! Caps
Mile 20: 2 S! Caps
Mile 22: Gu Roctane
Mile 24: 2 S! Caps
plus alternating sips of water and sports drinks from the aid stations (always taking water with the Roctane).

Post race: immediately take 1 water bottle of Fluid Recovery Drink (I will give a water bottle with the mix to my family so I can add water and take at the finish).

The Beauty of Sports Massage

2010-10-21T20:05:00.002-04:00

Ah, the taper. I'm now 2.5 weeks out from my marathon and am immensely enjoying my taper. I'm cutting back the miles and will be running every other day, more or less at race pace (7:45-8 minute miles). I've done a lot more miles than in the past, but I looked at prior years' data and realized my long runs were actually slower than year. Hmm. I still feel in much better shape so I am just doing the runs now at race pace to make sure I know what that feels like and to train my legs and HR to peg there.
Another critical aspect of the taper is to make sure my body stays well enough to get to the start line in perfect shape. I've done the training, now it's time to go after those nibs and nabs that rear themselves in every marathon training cycle. For me, I've been blissfully injury free (knock on wood), but I do get calf issues when the mileage creeps up. Tightness on the inner calf, especially on my left leg, has been the bain of my marathon training. I've more or less been able to train through it, but last Thursday I thought my legs had just about had it with me!

So the next few weeks are all about foam rolling, icing, stretching, and getting the muscles back into race form. Yesterday I went for a sports massage with Betsy. It had been my first massage since I started training for the marathon (I had two over the summer in Seattle during triathlon season). But I knew I needed it- badly! It's 60 minutes of blissful pain.

I told her in advance about the calf issue and she focused on the legs for most of the session. Some spots hurt when she works them, but I think it's good because that means she's finding areas that need work and can focus there. She could feel exactly what I had described and was able to get some of the tension out. I'm taking it a bit easier the next few days to allow the muscles to heal from that "'trauma" (which, yes, deep massage can be) but hopefully they'll be looser as a result.

I already have a follow-up session scheduled for next week, 9 days out from the marathon, to be sure my muscles are good and ready. For me this makes a world of difference and if I could afford a massage every other week I would do it! There's a reason the pros get them so frequently. And, of course, it's relaxing and the 60 minutes tend to fly by!

NYC Marathon - 4 weeks to go

2010-10-13T14:03:00.000-04:00

by Lindsay

The NYC Marathon is fast approaching on November 7. Personally I'm thrilled that the race is no longer held on Halloween weekend! It also gives me an extra week to train (not really, but it feels like it).

So far, I've kept up my training plan pretty well. I've got a good routine with running before school starts in the morning and doing my long runs on Saturday mornings to get them out of the way so I can enjoy the rest of my weekend. With 4 weeks to go, I am up to 40 miles per week and a long run of 17 miles. My average pace has been around 8:30 min/mile for the longest runs and 7:30 for the shortest ones. My goal pace remains around 8:00/mile, for a 3:30. If I can get down to 7:45 that would be ideal, but maybe not realistic.

What gives me hope is that I have not yet mentally burned out. I've suffered from this in the past as I try to up the mileage and time right at the end of the season when I need a break most. My forced break at the end of the summer following my bike fall perhaps let me start this marathon season fresh, both mentally and muscularly. But the fact that I am not dreading my runs and just wishing the marathon were over is a huge improvement over 2008 and 2009.

I've also put on a lot more mileage this fall. I am up to 238 miles since August 1. With an expected 120 miles to go (45 and 50 the next 2 weeks, then a 2 week taper), I should have 358 pure training miles for this marathon. In contrast, I only did 264 in my training last year. So I'll be up 35% over last year, and for marathons the miles is the most important part.

The thing that worries me are weather and nutrition, as usual. I plan to stick to taking Gu Roctane every 45 minutes, taking sips of water and sports drink (alternating at every fluid stop), and taking Succeed S! Caps electrolyte tabs liberally throughout the race. This is usually just enough for me. But I've never run a marathon in heat and after Chicago (again) I am a bit nervous. The good thing with a later marathon is that heat is less likely to be a factor.

I have a 19 mile run this Sunday (Saturday doesn't work this weekend). I'd like to run it a bit faster, around 8-8:15, and still have it be conversational. At that point I'll really know where to pinpoint my final goals for the race.

Sports Drink Review: A Comparison

2010-10-10T09:01:00.003-04:00

Reposted from SportsBistro.com

In this article I’ll be reviewing and comparing some of the most popular sports drinks on the market including old favorites such as Accelerade, HEED and Perpetuem as well as some of the newcomers on the market such as Gu Electrolyte Brew and PowerBar Ironman Perform. I’ll also throw nuun into the mix as an ultra low-calorie sports drink option.

Why take a sports drink over just plain water?
Water has its place for certain workouts (30-60 min / low intensity); however, once you start cranking the intensity or duration you’re going to need something a little more “heavy duty.” Sports drinks include calories + electrolytes which are critical for endurance athletes. The electrolytes will help you in absorbing and retaining water (preventing dehydration and hyponatremia) while the calories will help you go the distance.

What about protein in sports drinks?
Research results are inconclusive; however, here are some general guidelines. Taking a protein-carb sports drink during a workout can reduce performance for that workout but may improve your ability to recover from that workout. In effect it starts the recovery process early but can sacrifice current workout performance. That being said, protein in sports drinks is probably a good option for training, but a bad option for racing. The one exception may the long course races (ultra-distance running and Iron-distance triathlon). Your best bet is to experiment and find what works for you.

Chocolate Milk?
While there is some research that shows chocolate milk can serve as a good recovery drink alternative, there is very little evidence to support that it works as a sports drink. It is low in electrolytes, has risk of spoilage, and doesn’t sit well with most athletes while exercising.

Sports Drink Comparison Table

Accelerade
Pros: Great taste, mixes well. Has protein to assist in recovery and endurance.
Cons: Low in electrolytes. Uses whey protein concentrate which is not as effective as the "whey protein isolate" variety.
Ideal For: Long endurance (3+ hr) workouts.

HEED
Pros: Low in sugar. Kosher certified. 80 serving tubs are a great value!
Cons: Stevia taste may turn off many athletes. Low in electrolytes
Ideal For: General purpose sports drink, those looking for low-sugar option. Lack of protein makes it ideal for racing.

Perpetuem
Pros: A blend of carbs, protein, and fatty acids make this a great option for ultra endurance type events. Very high quality ingredients. Kosher Certified. Cafe Latte flavor is caffeinated.
Cons: An acquired taste. Tends to “spoil” if left unrefrigerated or if left in the heat for more than a few hours. Slow to be digested when compared to other options so it may not be a good option for most races*.
Ideal For: Long endurance (3+hr) workouts as long as it can be kept cold or in powder form.

Gu Electrolyte Brew
Pros: Light taste that goes down easy. Kosher. Blueberry Pomegranate flavor has 2x the electrolytes.
Cons: Doesn’t dissolve as easily. Tip: mix the powder initially in bit of warm water until it dissolves. Then pour in cold water whiel continuing to mix.
Ideal For: Racing. Take the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor if you’re susceptible to cramps or other effects of dehydration.

Nuun
Pros: Low calorie option with lots of electrolytes. Tubes are amazingly convenient to carry—turn any water source into a sports drink. Kona Cola flavor is caffeinated.
Cons: Lack of carbs mean it’s not the best option for longer workouts or races. Some people may be turned off to the taste.
Ideal For: General purpose exercise / fitness or rehydration.

Ironman Perform
Pros: High sodium sports drink with great light taste.
Cons: Could use more potassium or other electrolytes.
Ideal For: Long distance workouts or races, especially where warm temperatures and high humidity conditions are expected.

Summary
Hopefully this comparison shows you there's no "one best sports drink". It largely depends upon the event or workout. Personally I like Gu Brew as my main sports drink for most races and workouts. I use nuun for most of my off season training or for shorter workouts. Ironman Perform appears to be a great option for it's namesake races and other hot weather / long course events. If you like the taste, I think the Hammer products are great choices as well though I am confused why they are light on electrolytes. I think Accelerade needs a "product update" to replace the cheaper whey-protein concentrate with whey protein isolate. Keep in mind that sports drinks with protein are not necessarily going to result in better performance, but may aid your ability to recover and take on tougher future workouts.

*If you’re competing in an ultra distance event or multi-day where a major concern is “will I finish” then this is a great option. It's hard to recommend it for other types of races and I haven't seen any published research on it. Each circumstance is different so please consult your coach for further guidance.

Finding my running legs again

2010-10-09T10:39:00.005-04:00

By Mike

The NYC marathon is only 4 weeks away and I'm due for another check-in on my training. In my earlier posts I mentioned I was targeting a 3:10 and was in about "3:20 shape" and some point in the summer with months of training still ahead.

The last few weeks have been tough though. Training has not gone well since the end of August. Up until then it was great. I had absorbed about as much training as training as I could have and was due for 2 weeks of rest leading up to my half-iron race in Sandusky, OH (Rev3 Cedar Point). The only problem was that I had to move my apartment. We hired movers of course (no way I was planning on doing that kind of physical labor during my taper) but as luck would have it, our movers were shall we say... less than competent. I ended up doing 9 hours of physical labor on a Friday two weeks before a half-ironman. Needless to say I was completely fried. My legs felt like dead weights and I was unable to complete even basic recovery workouts for the 12 days that followed.

I still had a great half-iron (5:06) but it was about 10 minutes slower than I planned, losing most of that time on the run (actual 1:41 vs planned 1:32 run split). What seemed to kill me was my ankles... there was just no bounce or spring in my step. With each step I felt like my foot would "stick" to the pavement. I felt like I was at risk of falling on my face if my back foot would have taken just a millisecond more to come forward and support my forward body lean.

Since then I've been trying to get back into running... to find my running legs again. Of course getting sick with this cold/flu thing that's been going around has not helped. I ended up having to back out of a half-marathon tune up race I was planning on doing last weekend. I've probably done no more than 30 miles since Rev3 (4 weeks ago), with ~8 of those miles coming from today's "long run". I had to stop and turn around at about mile 4. My legs couldn't take it any more and the 4 mile return trip was a definitely a slog.

Yes, I admit the last 6 weeks have been tough. The positive thing is that at least my heart rate was low (relative to pace) during these last few runs so I don't think I've lost much cardio fitness. I've just been unable to maintain an effort higher than zone 2 or do anything more than 4 miles without great discomfort. I have 4 more weeks so who knows what will happen but I am very doubtful of my achieving the previous goals I set for myself.

I'm probably going to just continue training by feel and trying to put on as much mileage as my legs can comfortably handle rather than following any sort of training plan. We'll see what that translates to come race day so at this point I won't be making any predictions.

Ironman... now in 5150

2010-10-06T21:27:00.007-04:00

So the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC), owner of the Ironman brand and Ironman and Ironman 70.3 race just recently launched a new race series... the 5150. The 5150 represents 51.5km which is the cumulative distance of the very popular Olympic distance triathlon. They've already branded a number of popular races with the 5150 moniker including the following:

US Domestic Races - 2011
March 13 Miami International Triathlon (Miami, Fla.)
May 1 St. Anthony’s Triathlon (St. Petersburg, Fla.)
May 15 5150 New Orleans (New Orleans, La.)
May 22 Memphis in May Triathlon (Tunica, Miss.)
June 19 Washington D.C. Triathlon (Washington, D.C.)
June 25 5150 Provo (Provo, Utah)
July 10 Boulder Peak Triathlon (Boulder, Colo.)
August 7 Nautica New York City Triathlon (New York, N.Y.)
September 4 Hy-Vee Triathlon/5150 U.S. Championship (Des Moines, Iowa)
September 11 5150 Lake Lanier (Gainesville, Ga.)
October 2 5150 Lake Las Vegas (Henderson, Nev.)
October 23 5150 Galveston (Galveston, Texas)
November 12 5150 Clearwater/5150 Series Finale (Clearwater, Fla.)

International Races - 2011
June 5 5150 Frankfurt (Frankfurt, Germany)
June 12 5150 Klagenfurt (Klagenfurt, Austria)
July 9 5150 Zurich (Zurich, Switzerland)

Seems like a brilliant business move on the part of the WTC (which itself is owned by PE firm Providence Equity Partners) to take advantage of the growing sport of triathlon. It's the latest in a series of steps the WTC (and Providence) has taken to leverage the value of their investment and Ironman brand. Just this summer they teamed up with Powerbar to launch a new line of sports drinks and recovery drinks--this on top of countless other products bearing the Ironman brand. It seems smart that they didn't actually combine the words Ironman with 5150 for fear of diluting the Ironman brand with a shorter and "easier" Olympic race format--as an Ironman finisher I'm actually quite glad they're keeping the terms separate.

Hopefully the move won't affect race fees as they're already rather expensive for some of these races and that the races continue to be run in a high quality manner. More information is available at http://www.5150.com

Does stretching prevent injuries?

2010-10-03T18:28:00.013-04:00

By: Michael Donikian, NASM-CPT, USA Certified Triathlon Coach

The short answer is no. There has been a great deal of research on the subject including a rece nt study conducted by USA Track & Field (USATF). For the most part, these studies show that a pre-exercise stretch routine provides no injury-prevention benefit (nor does it cause any harm).

Does this mean you should stop stretching? No, for two reasons:

1) The USATF study showed that athletes who had a stretch routine but were then randomly assigned into a "no stretch" group for the purpose of the study were more likely to develop injuries than those who did not switch regimens. The study implies that any drastic changes in routine can lead to injuries (not surprising at all). When starting any new training program be sure to gradually build up to it.

2) It depends on the type of stretching routine used. Most studies use a static stretch routine which is considered the least effective type of stretching. In addition they use a very broad stretching routine that targets all muscles equally whether they need stretching or not. I see stretching as a precision tool designed to be used on tight muscles or muscles with limited mobility not as some sort of generic warmup. You know that saying.. when your only tool is a hammer you tend to see all problems as nails.

I would like to propose a study as follows. Create three randomly assigned groups. One group will be assigned the "no-stretch" warmup, one group is assigned a generic stretch routine as a warmup, while the final group is assigned a coach who will design a custom stretch/warmup protocol for each athlete using a combination of dynamic stretching, PNF* stretching, and light cardio warmups. The athletes in the latter group will also conduct regular check-ins with their coach who will modify the warmup protocol over time to meet the stretch needs of the athlete. The coach will provide no other guidance.

The aim of my proposed study will be to not only show the merit of stretching vs non-stretching but to also show the merit of a targeted stretch/warmup protocol designed by a trained coach.

Absent this proposed study, my general recommendation for injury prevention is to begin every workout with a light cardio warmup and some foam rolling. I then like to throw in some dynamic stretching or other dynamic warmup drills before beginning my workout. I like to end all workouts with a light cooldown followed by some icing. Avoid heat as it promotes inflammation, which will only further aggravate any injury. As always please consult your coach before making any change to your workout routine.

*Dynamic Stretching and PNF Stretching are two types of more advanced stretching protocols that involve movement through the stretch. Both these types of stretching have extensive research searchable on www.pubmed.gov

Rev3 Cedar Point Half-Rev Race Report - Sept 12, 2010

2010-09-26T17:28:00.006-04:00

By Joe:

Rev3 Cedar Point - Half-Rev (1.2mi Swim, 56mi Bike, 13.1 mi Run)
Sandusky, OH
Sept 12, 2010

Taper
Heading into this race, I was taking a few risks with an atypical taper. I was still doing hard intervals on the bike and swim (not on the run though, since this year I didn't do run repeats, except for the one time I did a 10x800 yasso). All other workouts were either short or very easy. On the three days heading into the race I biked, ran and swam once per day to make sure that no rust stuck. 9 workouts total for Tue, Wed, Thurs before driving out on Friday. I prayed that it wasn't overkill.

Pre-Race
I was careful to not over eat heading into the race. As much as I wanted to execute a good carbo-load, I didn't feel confident enough that I knew how to do it well, so I opted to just eat enough to keep my glycogen supplies topped off and no more.

There have been very few races that I've tapered so carefully for, and executed the lead-up so well. As a matter of fact, I've NEVER held back on eating on account of a race... this was the very first time I made that sacrifice. There were no lingering injuries and no loose ends. In my opinion, I had made no mistakes and was lucky enough not to get hurt or sick in those last few weeks. I've seen how a well executed swim taper can result in massive time drops at pool races, but I've never truly experienced that kind of physical leap on a triathlon taper. This race was about to change that for me.

Swim
34:21 (58/591 overall)
Nutrition: 2 Gu gels and an S-cap tablet

I found feet early and stuck to it past the two turns. The guy didn't have a beautiful swim style and I had to slow down every few strokes in order not to run into him. As a result, I kept an eye out for other feet to switch off to. Finally as we started to head back towards the finishI saw another pair of feet about 15 yards up and I made the decision to try to surge onto them.

30 seconds later... not really much closer.
1 min later... arms getting a bit of lactic acid... still not much closer.
2 min in... breathing a bit harder now.... wtf... why is that guy still 15 yards away?!

I start mentally beating myself for abandoning my original set of feet, when that dude cruised up along side me! I said a prayer of thanks to the open water gods and slid back behind my familiar flailer. The rest of the swim was relatively uneventful for me. Behind this guy, I was able to pretty much swim a cool down pace the rest of the way. I knew it was risk I was taking by not going harder, but I figured that I'll be as fresh as anyone coming out of the swim. This IS a Half Ironman after all.... which means the swim is nothing more than a footnote. :)

Overall I'm slightly disappointed with my time, but I think the relaxed swim allowed me to get on the bike fully charged.

T1
Felt great coming out of the swim. Didn't notice the Team Sports Bistro super-fans until I was right up on them... but yea, they were screaming! :) It was awesome.
This is the one section of the race I didn't win.... Sports Bistro Ton beat me by 10 seconds!! And I was flying through transition...

Bike
2:28:25, 22.64 mph (11/591 overall)
Nutrition: 540 calories from Perpetuem. ~ Gu Gel. ~45 ounces of water. 3 S-caps.

The start of the bike was a bit gnarly. The road wasn't perfect and I was worried that my bottle on the aero hammock was going to fly. It was a bit tense for awhile, but the good news was that my legs felt great. Right off the start I passed this guy in EVO team gear. He re-passed me pretty soon after that and barreled down the road. (We'll get to him later.) Soon I got into rhythm and stayed at a draft legal distance behind a guy in a Team Canada jersey. We were blowing by a ton of athletes doing the Ironman distance race, and my wattage remained relatively steady around 200-250, and my legs were feeling great. The only thing I was worried about was of getting a flat. Deep down, I felt that everything was going too perfectly. (The thought of Sports Bistro Chris getting 2 flats at last year's SBR sprint triathlon gave me chills.)

The other thing that I really focused on during the bike were the signs/directions. After my last experience of missing turns at the Bangs Lake Triathlon, I knew that this race would not be as forgiving... nor would I be if I made that mistake again. I was surrounded by athletes doing the Ironman distance race, and I realized if I blindly followed people into turns, I may end up going 112 miles.... which would be a nightmare. As a matter of fact, I got so nervous at one point that I considered riding up to Team Canada and ask him if he was doing the half-Ironman distance race as well. We finally passed the half-Ironman split off, I felt a bit of relief, only to realize later on that we would converge courses with Ironman distance athletes again. Ughhhh...

I remember hitting the halfway point (mile 28) right around 1:13. I knew I was killing this bike course!! If I kept this pace up I would come in under 2:30, which would be much better than I expected.

At some point I ended up behind the EVO guy again. Somehow I had managed to reel him back in. I remember feeling sprinkles and looking up .... not a cloud in sight. Then I looked forward to see that guy with one leg up off the side and pee spraying out. I immediately surged past him and told him he got me pretty good. That was the last I saw of EVO, at least on the bike leg.

With about 10 miles to go I realized that I was feeling absolutely fresh. I picked up the pace a bit and was able to move up the overall position by a few spots in the last few miles. No cramps, no hunger, not breathing hard, legs felt strong. Everything was just right heading into T2.

Best thing about the bike was that I beat Sports Bistro Chris's split. :) He got me pretty good at our last race (the Evergreen Triathlon in Illinois) so this was very satisfying indeed.

T2
I leaped off the bike to the screams of the Team Sports Bistro Super Fans. :) T2 was blitzing, and I was able to take this 'event' from Sports Bistro Ton because he had to stop and pee.

Running out of T2, I saw that the Team Sports Bistro Super Fans had made their way from "Bike In" to "Run Out" and were waiting for me. They're at opposite corners of the transition, so I was being somewhat surprised to see them there before me... especially because I was BOOKING it through transition. Either way, they were already lying in wait cheering me on. As I ran past Sports Bistro Rob, he said something to me that sounded awfully like "You're in 7th place... OVERALL". I was a bit confused because that was, in my mind, quite impossible.

Run
1:33:44, 7:09 min/mile, (19/591 overall)
Nutrition: 2 Gu Gels, 5 S-caps, 1 cup of water every station. Lots of Team Sports Bistro support!

Right away, I set off to a steady pace. This was it. To me this WAS the race. My whole race strategy was based on getting to the run as fresh as possible. My whole training was geared towards building that fitness. I've executed everything perfectly till now, it was just a matter of seeing if the plan would work out.

I passed two guys right out of transition, and saw no one ahead of me. That made me a bit nervous but I kept my head down and focused on my turnover. I knew my feet and lower calves were the weak links for me, so I kept my strides as light as possible. I finally caught sight of a guy far ahead. I was hoping to reel him in, but was never able to. (After the race I found out that he ran 7:07 pace, which was 2 seconds per mile faster than me... thats why I always saw him from far off). There were parts of the race where he'd disappear and I was running alone on empty city streets. Even though I knew I was on the right course, the fact that there was noone in sight, ahead OR behind me, made me feel very uneasy. I couldn't wait until the course looped back on itself so that I could see other racers. That happened around mile 9 I think... and boy was it refreshing. A lot of the people passing the other way were incredibly supportive, cheering me on. At that point I think I was in 7th ot 8th place. (I had asked some volunteers earlier what position I was at, and they said 7th, so I knew what I heard from Sports Bistro Rob was correct).

Unfortunately, I started to feel the beginnings of a cramp at around mile 11. That's when EVO and another dude passed me. I tried to pick up the pace but my quads tightened up immediately. Deep down I realized those positions were out of my reach. I decided to just dig in and maintain my pace until the finish. And boy, was the finish chute something. We ran through the back of a trailer or some alley way to get to it... I had to admit I was a bit disappointed at first, then as I turned around the corner I saw the glory of the Rev3 finish chute. People were cheering and clapping, there was a jumbo-tron, but right away I was able to hone in on the Sports Bistro gang cuz they were SO MUCH LOUDER than everyone else. :)

Overall, I was very happy with the results. I've been planning for this race since last winter, and I've put a lot of effort into making sure the pieces come together on race day. With a bit of of luck, I was able to get through the race unscathed. This whole experience has allowed me to shore up one of my weaknesses- endurance. Next year the goal is to work on my 10k run speed and getting down to a 22-23 min olympic swim, in preparation for Team Sports Bistro's first international showing… The Olympic Distance Triathlon National Championships of Thailand!

Final Result: 4:38:15 / 10th Overall / 4th place Age-Group

Marathon Training: Weeks 3 and 4

2010-09-06T20:56:00.000-04:00

Week 3 got off to a good start with a 4 miler, 6.2 miler, and 5.9 miler Monday - Thursday, but unfortunately that ended up being it for the week. I moved apartments on Friday and after that marathon session (no joke) spent all day Saturday cleaning, unpacking, and setting up and Sunday was a deserved day at the beach. So much for a big training week- I only got 16.1 miles in over 3 runs! As a side note, moving is tough work, but a great quad exercise!

Week 4 I got myself back on track. The heat and humidity were killer last week and I was NOT used to this after having spent the summer in Seattle (unlike my NYC teammates who are more than accustomed to working out in the oppressive conditions). That said, Monday I got in a 5.6 mile run and then Tuesday did my first bike ride in over a month. Wow, have I lost a lot of biking fitness! It's amazing how the two sports are so different and fitness (other than cardio) really doesn't translate that well. But I was happy to be on the bike so that was a good day.

Wednesday and Thursday were two harder 7.7 and 5 mile runs. Friday was a planned off day then Saturday morning I set out for my 11 mile run. 7.7 miles was the longest I had run since mid-July so I didn't want to push it. I ran an out and back along the Hudson River path and the first 5.5 miles were at a super easy pace. When I got to the turn around I felt great, but didn't want to be out there forever. I picked up the pace about 1:15/mile and just ran home. End time: 90 minutes for 11.2 miles. I was very happy to have finished so easily, with no residual soreness or fatigue.

I had planned on running an easy 5 miler on Sunday but I woke up late, did stuff around the apartment, and had to run out the door for brunch. But that's okay because I had hit my goal of 30 miles for the week so now I am back on track!

Goals for the coming week:
Last first week of classes ever! I get back on a routine so this should help my training. My plan is 35 miles over 5 runs with the long run of 13 miles. With classes not starting until 2:15pm 3 days a week (and Fridays off!) there should be no excuses...

Our Team is Looking to Expand!

2010-08-26T17:06:00.000-04:00

Sports Bistro is looking to sponsor 10 non-professional athletes for the 2011 season. We don't care if you've done a dozen events or a thousand! If you have a passion for your sport and are a regular user of sports nutrition, you could be a great fit. Runners, cyclists, skiiers, swimmers, mountain bikers, triathletes, hikers, etc are all welcome to apply. You are free to choose from any of our products and we will never force you to use anything that doesn't work for you. We carry all the major brands (Gu, Hammer, PowerBar, Clif, nuun, Succeed!, Pacific Health, Fluid, and SaltStick) and can help devise the right nutrition package for you.

Sponsored athletes receive benefits such as:

1 - Discounts on www.sportsbistro.com
2 - Quarterly store credit grants
3 - Store credit bonuses for placing well at qualified races
4 - Free coaching/advice from Team Sports Bistro coaches and athletes
5 - Other flexible benefits (financial and other) to be discussed with each athlete

In return, we expect that sponsored athletes will:

1 - Represent Sports Bistro well at all times and serve as an ambassador to your respective sport(s) and to Sports Bistro
2 - Provide helpful advice on how Sports Bistro and sports nutrition has helped you in your athletic endeavors
3 - Be able to intelligently discuss the benefits of sports nutrition with fellow athletes/enthusiasts
4 - Wear the Sports Bistro team uniform during training and racing
5 - Maintain an online presence and write a blog (or join ours!). Posts should mention what sports nutrition you use, how you use it, and how it has helped you.

If you are interested in becoming a part of Team Sports Bistro as a sponsored athlete email us at info@sportsbistro.com for more information and an application. Our deadline for receiving applications is September 30, 2010.

NYC Marathon Training - Week 1

2010-08-22T13:14:00.001-04:00

This past week I did (almost) exactly what I planned to do, which is all I can hope for. Daily results:

Tuesday- 4 mi in 30:30 (7:37 pace)
Wednesday- 5 mi in 37:30 (7:30 pace)
Thursday- 4.3 mi in 31:00 (7:12 pace)
Friday- OFF! Last day of work, celebrations, dinner, etc
Saturday- 7.4 mi in 1:02:35 (8:27 pace)
Sunday- nothing, all day travel

I had planned on doing 8 miles on Saturday and would have liked that to be 30 sec/mi faster, but I got lost, had a lot of traffic lights, wandered around, had my watch stop, etc etc. I'm not concerned this far out, but this is the only thing that didn't go as planned this week. Other runs were just fine. I don't need much more speed, but certainly need to increase the mileage! I am just very cautious about doing too much, too fast. The week's total of 20.7 miles is a 13% increase over last week.

Nutrition on the runs: nothing, but I did take a Gu gel before the 7 miler (my only breakfast) and always followed my runs with a Fluid recovery drink (it was warmer than usual in Seattle and felt I needed the electrolyte replacement).

This coming week I am back in New York (after spending the summer in Seattle)! Most of my runs were in Myrtle Edwards park, along the water. I will certainly miss the view! And with the water temp around 50 degrees and the wind off the sound, it was like natural air conditioning. I'm excited to be back in New York, but will certainly miss the running in Seattle. Luckily the heat wave seems to have broken back east, since I am NOT acclimatized to that!

Goals for the coming week:
25 miles, including 10 miles as the long run next weekend.

Marathon Training: the plan

2010-08-19T01:10:00.002-04:00

I am just beginning my training for the 2010 New York City Marathon, to be run on November 7. This is my third time doing this race and it might be my last for awhile so I want to make it good.

I have the dubious luck of being able to focus solely on my running now because I hurt my arm in a bike accident (see previous posts) and am unable to bike or swim. So this gives me 12 weeks of continuous, uninterrupted run training to prepare for the marathon. I have no interim races planned (though I may add a few shorter running races in just to mix it up) so this should be a very dedicated training block.

Until recently I didn't really have a goal for the marathon. I have already qualified for Boston (from NYC Marathon last year) and there is no major time threshold that I am near. I consider myself a competitive runner, but I am nowhere near elite and so going for a top place isn't remotely realistic, even within my age group (I was 196th in F25-29 last year). But to train without a goal is hard for me, so here it is: run a 7:45 pace (3:23 finish time), negative split (run the 2nd half faster than the first), and feel GOOD doing it. I also have a not-so-secret wish to take the Team Sports Bistro crown at the marathon distance. 6 of us are competing for it this fall!

So let it be known that I am in full-on marathon training mode. I will check in here weekly, if only to keep me honest. I'll also be experimenting with some different sports nutrition so I'll review that as well. I'm starting fresh (I had 2 weeks exercise-free in recovery from my accident) and am still building mileage and speed, but I know it will come quickly enough. I want to run 18, 19, 20 milers, get up to 50 miles per week, and complete a few trials of Yasso 800s. Let's see how I do!

Plan for this week: 21 miles, including a long run of 8 (hey, I said I'm still building up!)

Clif Shot Bloks - Product Review

2010-08-17T00:00:00.000-04:00

I recently got the chance to try Clif Shot Bloks while in training (bike and run). Part of Clif's Shot line of products (including Shot Roks which are a protein recovery bites), Shot Bloks are chewable 33 calorie cubes meant to be taken during exercise. The are like a semi-solid gel and quickly dissolve in your stomach to release carbs and electrolytes (sodium and potassium). While I don't mind the texture of gels many athletes don't like it and find energy chews a more palatable choice. In addition, energy chews like Shot Bloks allow you to monitor your caloric intake even more finely, so you don't have to take 100 calories all at once like you do with individual gel packs.

I tried the Cran-Razz flavor which is caffeine-free (Black Cherry and Orange have 50mg of caffeine). The flavor was good- not too strong or sweet but definitely there. On my bike rides I took one cube every 15 min or so an hour into the ride and coupled with my regular sports drink they lasted the duration of my 2.5 hour ride. The chewing was easy (I hate when I have to chew something forever) and the Shot Roks went down easily with gulps of water. I didn't notice an energy spike with these but neither did I crash, it was just a constant release of energy. The only downside is I had to remember to take them frequently, as I am so accustomed to taking gels every 45 minutes. I have to remind myself to keep these readily accessible so I can consistently take them.

I particularly liked the tube ("fastpak") rather than the regular square packages which made getting the chews easier to get out of the packaging. They fit will in a bike jersey pocket, but might be harder to fit in pockets on running shorts or tops. I have a hard time running and chewing so I stick to gels while running, but these will make their way into my bike nutrition rotation, especially when I just get sick of gels and need some new textures and flavors!

Changing Race Priorities

2010-07-28T01:06:00.001-04:00

by Lindsay J

I have a Half Ironman triathlon coming up in just under 3 weeks, Lake Stevens 70.3 I'm out in Seattle just for the summer and really wanted to try the premier race out here. I've only done one other Half Ironman- Timberman 70.3 last summer, but Team Sports Bistro is making this distance our team priority for the year and I really wanted to be competitive at Lake Stevens. My not-so-secret goal was to hit 5:15 and be top 5 in my age group. This is what I accomplished at Timberman, but Lake Stevens is supposedly a harder course so I felt it would be a successful if I got the same result at Lake Stevens.

The training had been going decently, but I will admit I am now not prepared to hit my goals. The race is a 1.2 mile swim. 56 mile bike ride, and 13.1 mile run. However, I have not been able to do more than 2 rides over 50 miles (55 and 60 miles) and my run hasn't gone longer than 10 miles yet. And this isn't back to back! I've also only swum once, but that's to be expected. I can't pinpoint where my training plan went awry. I guess things came up here and there and all of sudden the race came up and I'm not ready!

I know I can finish the race, my longer runs and rides have felt comfortable and I had been adding more hill work in recently (a necessity for Lake Stevens!). But I don't like to just finish events- I like to race and compete. If I'm not able to do what I know I was capable of then that will feel like a defeat. I also don't want the day to turn into a predictable sufferfest due to undertraining.

Adding to my woes is that I had my first topple on the bike this past weekend, midway through my 60 mile ride (but luckily was less than 2 miles from home). I was swerving to miss a car turning left across me, but as I was veering right to miss them the lane I was traveling in ended and I went into some unused railroad tracks. Down I went, predictably. I literally ran myself off the road!

The good thing is the tracks were off the road and not in use, so it was mostly dirt and grass (not even gravel, thank goodness). I didn't hit my head, went down at fairly low speed, and got right up. So no big deal. Or so I thought. I bumped and scraped my right knee, shoulder, and elbow pretty good. The knee and shoulder are bruised but fine, but unfortunately an x-ray confirmed that I put a small fracture into my elbow. While no surgery or cast required, it will heal itself in 6-8 weeks, it is just one more thing I don't need right now. Swimming is out until I get more mobility in the arm and of course I have to be super careful biking, lest I fall again or put too much pressure on it in the aero position. Today I thought I'd go for a light jog and my knee is still swollen for that to feel good so I stopped. So now less than 3 weeks from the race I am not able to do any of the 3 disciplines!

Clearly Lake Stevens is not likely to end up how I intended it to. But that's okay. I'm now just looking forward to enjoying the race, regardless of time or place. I know I can finish it, so why push it only to hurt myself? It's actually a bit of a relief to not have to stress about the race. I can enjoy the triathlon for what it is- a great Pacific Northwest race! Game on :)

Marathon Check In

2010-07-25T20:34:00.004-04:00

By Michael Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

A while back I made a bold statement.. 3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon. I thought it was time to make a post about how that's coming along. In short, it's coming along. I was a little bummed about my very recent run performance at NYC tri where I ran slower than last year, despite improved fitness. Ok. A LOT bummed. But there were good reasons for that and I take it as just a one off.

Today I did a brick which included an 8 mile run. Within the run, I chose a hilly 10K section to attempt to run steady state at about marathon pace. I ran it at a pretty steady 7:24 pace (a little slower up hill / a little faster downhill). I maintained roughly the same average heart rate I did in NYC marathon last November despite the 93 degree temperature today so I think it's a good preview of what's to come. Assuming I maintain the same pace, that's puts me at about a 3:13... so I'm not terribly far off and I still have many weeks of training ahead.

Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem Review

2010-07-19T22:52:00.007-04:00

By: Chris

I have a little confession to make: I haven't drank an official sports/energy drink in over a year. After a couple of bad experiences with Gatorade that left me in bad shape, I swore off all pre-mixed drinks unless I made it myself. In preparation for some longer races, though, I've been rethinking this and looking for something new.

I picked up Hammer Nutrition's Perpetuem Orange-Vanilla last week and tried it out in a couple of training runs as well as an Olympic-distance triathlon. My first impression (and I've continued to think this every time I've used it) is that it has a very mild flavor. I was surprised when I took my first sip at how under-powering it is, which I found very refreshing. Not only does it go down easily, but this also allows you to mix concentrated bottles for long rides without the taste becoming a problem.

It has a mixture of carbohydrates, electrolytes, protein, and a little bit of fat that are perfect for long endurance sessions. I probably should have looked this up before I bought it, but Hammer recommends Perpetuem for workouts lasting longer than 2 hours. For events lasting less than that, something like Hammer Nutrition HEED or Accelerade may be a better choice. The electrolytes minimize the amount of supplements you have to take during the event, the protein aids in rebuilding muscle for a quicker recovery, and apparently the fats kick-start your body into burning it's own fat stores for energy.

I found this to be true during my 2 1/2 hour triathlon this past weekend. Not only was it a good source of energy during a very hot bike, but I feel like this was one of my quickest recoveries ever. Now I'm planning to drink it exclusively during the bike leg of my upcoming 70.3. I'll be mixing a concentrated batch of it in one bottle and combining with additional bottles of plain water received throughout the race.

Overall I'd recommend this for long rides, runs, or races, so if you're looking for something to sustain you through the grueling hours, give it a shot.

Seattle Seafair Sprint Triathlon - Race Report

2010-07-18T18:50:00.000-04:00

by Lindsay J

I moved to Seattle for a summer internship and wanted to get in touch with the local racing scene here. I've signed up for Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens, about 45 min north of Seattle, but I wanted a tune up (and fun!) race to do in the interim. The Seafair Sprint is that race. With almost 1,000 local racers, both elites and beginners, it's the race for Seattlites. And it's only 7 miles from where I'm staying- being able to bike to the race is a huge bonus!

The race is short- 1/2 mile swim, 12 mile bike, and 3.1 mile run. But that doesn't make it easy- you just have to go harder! There is an elite wave, but I wasn't sure how competitive I would be and signed up for age group to be safe. I wasn't going for any particular time or place so it didn't really matter. Looking over prior years' results, my goal was a 1:14, which is generally good enough for top 3 in my age group.

I woke up at 5am, got down to the race site at 6, and sipped some Accelerade and ate bits of a Clif Luna bar to get the juices flowing. The race started at 6:55 am, but my wave didn't go out until 7:20. Transition was closed and I was standing on the beach waiting when I realized I forgot to grab my go-to race nutrition, Gu Roctane energy gel. I thought one of these babies would be enough to kick start the race and last for the 1:15 duration. I wasn't planning on any nutrition other than sips of water in transition since the event was short and it wasn't hot out, and I wanted to minimize weight on the bike (no bottles). However, starting with nothing was not my plan and I just reminded myself to take the Roctane on the bike with me to take then.

My swim was so-so. I was hoping for close to 13 minutes but I got out of the water at 14:19. Although better than previous races, I still struggle to find good positioning at the front and I never seem to find decent feet to draft. I clearly need to do more open water swim training (or just swimming at all- last time was the Harriman Olympic in May!). More work to be done here.

Tripped and fell coming up into T1, awesome, I hope Brightroom Photo caught that. Transition was not speedy, but no major issues. 2 min ish. I remember to take my Roctane, but not a water bottle to wash it down with.

The bike course was pretty flat, with lots of open sections. It was a bit windy, but I don't feel it slowed me down at all. We had the now familiar route of up Lake Washington Blvd and then over the I-90 bridge (and back), although this time I got to use the express lane and not the bike lane! Luckily I didn't have problems with congestion and all of the slower people were diligently staying right; perfect! I only got passed twice and caught one of the guys back. I took my Roctane right at the start, but really wish I had a swig of water as I could feel it sitting in my throat and stomach. Time was 34:30ish, catching up what I "lost" in the swim.

My run was both great and terrible. I felt pretty good starting out and was in the mid to uppers 6s on the first mile, which for me is a very solid pace. After seeing no one from my age group all race, I finally caught a girl about a half mile in. I could tell I had the stronger pace as I caught her, but she saw my age on my leg and tried to stick with me. I was worried about being neck and neck throughout the race, but luckily I broke her pretty quickly and that wasn't an issue. I was still running solid, seeing no one else in my age group. I figured the top places must be well ahead of me (or I was first, which I didn't think was possible since I saw a lot of people beat me out of the swim). Just past the 1 mile mark I started getting stomach cramps- I took water in transition and now the Roctane was starting to digest, just when my HR was sky high and my stomach just wasn't having it. Drat- this is what I was afraid of, and why I wasn't planning on mid-race nutrition. But I only had about 15 min left so my intent was just to push through. The run was flat and pretty and I was passing people, so otherwise I was doing great!

And then I turned a corner. Oh wait, we're not just doing a flat circumference of the park, no we're going to got STRAIGHT uphill! Noo! My stomach, legs, and mind were not ready for this. My HR was already uncomfortably high on the flats (I was pushing it, assuming I had 1.5 miles of flat left) and I was forced to slow to barely a run going up. It was pretty bad. I crossed the 2 mile mark almost at the top, so at least I knew that the last one mile would be downhill and flat. But that 1/2 mile or so up was pretty brutal. At the turnaround I saw a girl quickly gaining on me, and sure enough she flew by me on the downhill with a 28 on her leg. Damn. But she was really moving and even at a good pace for me I couldn't keep up.

The last mile was fine, felt good, looked ahead and saw that girl pulling away but otherwise no one (female) and just cruised in, 5K time 21:39. But then I see that one of the people who finished just ahead of me was girl with a short haircut, with a 29 on her leg! Nooo!! I totally could have caught her, and would have had this been a 3.2 mile run. So I knew I was at least 3rd in AG, possibly lower.

It turns out I was 3rd. The girl with the short hair beat me by 5 sec (and had a 2 min slower run- she's a fish who I should have caught) and the 1st place winner was the fast runner who ended up about 20 seconds ahead. It turns out she just did IM Coeur D'Alene 2 weeks ago (and qualified for Kona there) so I don't feel so bad giving up the win to her. But to be so close! Final time, 1:13:45, right on schedule!

I finished racing at 8:35am, but the awards ceremony didn't go off til after 11:30! A full hour after they said they would, and even that would have been a long time. Plus it was really cold, we were freezing waiting around, and the only ones left were the ones who won awards. I liked the race, but this was a major downer.

So in general I am happy with my bike and run, but learned I really need to switch focus to hills!! On both the run and bike (wasn't tested on this course, but will be at Lake Stevens). And I am going to hunt for OWS opportunities, or at least find a pool. I'm not so secretly hoping for a top 5 age group finish at Lake Stevens and can't afford to give up 5 min on the swim (or have to walk the run)!

Mike's 2010 New York City Triathlon Race Report

2010-07-18T15:40:00.005-04:00

By Michael Donikian, USAT Certified Triathlon Coach, NASM-CPT

Pre Race:
Coming into this race I had two weeks of hard training followed by a week of recovery. My goal time was sub-2:20 (almost 5 minutes faster than last year). I knew I was way fitter than last year but I'd also been struggling with some intense tightness running along my right leg and had not been able to schedule my usual ART sessions/treatments. I was hoping my improved fitness would be enough to hit that 2:20 but I was really worried I'd have an awful race experience like I did at the duathlon (2010 Long Branch Pier Du) where I backed out of it mid ride. NYC Tri was only a B race, but I was still nervously rolling and icing the day before until the evening before the race... it's never fun to suffer through a race for reasons unrelated to the race course. At one point I just decided there was nothing else I could do and I might as well enjoy the movie I was about to watch (Inception). The movie was AWESOME and put me in a pretty positive mood for the next day. Drank an extra 24 oz of nuun before going to bed and woke up feeling pretty psyched, well hydrated and not as tight as imagined. Walked over to the race area, got my gear on, drank another full nuun, took my Gu gel and headed for the start.

Swim:
While waiting in the holding area for our wave to start I could feel the intense current wanting to shove us downstream. I knew this would be a fast swim...perhaps close to last year's. The gun went off and I sorta struggled in the opening moments with a) getting over the rope and b) hyperventilating until I got my swim breathing pattern under control. I have a tendency to forget to breath out under water especially in the chaotic first few minutes of the swim. Regardless after a few breast strokes I got in under control though lost my chances at "finding good feet". For much of the swim I was not drafting until maybe the last third where I found some feet and got my rhythm. I got out in about 18:07... and was totally pumped!
Nutrition: 1 Gu Gel & one water bottle with nuun (24 oz) immediately before
Time: 18:07 (last year 18:27 with a faster current)

T1:
Ok, I made the mistake of not taking off my wetsuit during the ~400m runup to transition. It made the run a bit harder than it should have been though 99% of people made the same mistake except for Sports Bistro co-founder "T1 Ton." Once in transition I see Ton so I knew he was barely a minute ahead of me. Sadly I forgot to take my wetsuit off before putting my bike shoes on (d'oh) and lost a few seconds there. NYC has a technical start to the bike course so most opt against keeping their bike shoes clipped into the bike.
Time: 4:39

Bike:
Ok where's Ton, where's Ton... he was barely ahead of me and now I can't see him. I figured that I'd catch him pretty quickly given how close he was and my typically stronger bike leg... though this race was different. I knew Ton's bike had improved dramatically this year...ironically it was probably due to the more advanced training I had suggested for him. Ok... so no Ton but I see my friend and co-leader from the NYCC A-SIG Classic Jeff Terosky... we trade spots a few times but still no Ton. Unfortunately one of my water bottles had popped out early on the course so I had to make due with only one on this scorcher of a day. I come upon the Henry Hudson bridge (~1/3 way of course) where I figured I would catch Ton but still no sign. I come up to the Moshulu parkway and finally see him on the out-and-back section (~mile 11.5). My calculation was that he was about 1.5-2.0 minutes ahead of me... wow!!! He was putting some serious time on me today as I don't think I left more than a minute behind him. I was so wrapped up in trying to catch Ton that I didn't really notice right away how low my heart rate was this whole time. I was struggling to break 160bpm for most of the way and was often in the mid 150s. (I typically race Olympics in the low 160s) I decided it was on now and I had to push it a little harder if wanted any chance of catching Ton by T2. I had a few good stretches in the 160-163bpm range but annoyingly it kept dropping back to the 150s. My right leg was fighting me the whole way and I wouldn't say it was winning but it was putting up a really good fight. I end up not seeing Ton again until the second out and back section by ~55th street (mile ~23). I calculated he was about 40 seconds ahead of me here so I was happy I gained a little time on him... but still frustrated I couldn't catch him given the fact the bike course was almost done... Oh well... time for the run.
Nutrition: 2 Gu Gels & one water bottle with Gu Electrolyte Brew (24 oz)
Time: 1:12:43 (vs 1:15:13 last year though on a 0.6 mi longer course due to transition area)
Avg HR: 156 bpm (typically 162 bpm for an Olympic)

T2:
Ok... so I was behind Ton by hopefully less than a minute but I also really REALLY had to go to the port-0-john by this point. I was also annoyed someone also took the my spot on the bike rack and was barely able to get my bike in there. I also decided to run without my race laces today given some prior issues I had with them on this particular pair of run shoes so I wasted some time tying laces. Needless to say, this transition was not my best.
Time: 2:26

Run:
Ok... here's my strength and after a year of training my run was even stronger. This is where I usually put time on some of my competitors. I was on the run course at about the 1:38 mark and knew I was within striking distance of my 2:20 target if I could do a sub 42 run. Compared to last year, the bike leg was shorter but the run was longer (again due to different transition area I fell in) so I knew I had to be much much faster to make it within the time limit. Felt some tightness on the run like the bike but it didn't seem to affect my heart rate too much... though my heart rate easily could have been artificially high due to the high heat (80+ degrees now) and the lack of hydration I had on the bike. I didn't know what to make of it as I was running about 40-60s per mile slower than planned... and Ton was still NOWHERE in sight. Finally I see him at around mile 3.5 and he seems to be jogging along quite slowly. Now's my chance to blow by him and make my statement. I decide not to look back either and figured I left him behind though little did I know that Ton picked up his pace to match mine (I wasn't exactly running that fast). Shortly after mile 5 I look back behind me to confirm he's not there but I was shocked to see that he was maybe 20-30 yards back. I decide to pick up the pace and open up a larger gap--admittedly I was sorta lollygagging by this point knowing that I wouldn't come anywhere close to breaking 2:20. I figured if I could open up 100-150 yds it would be the end of this little chess match. Then on the last half mile right before one of the big downhills I hear Ton say something to the effect "let's see who's the better descender". Damn! He's literally right next to me now even though I picked up my pace. I decide to take a risky bet at this point and burn another match figuring that Ton probably burned a few himself to catch me and was perhaps redlining it at this point just to stay with me. It could easily have backfired though since if he passed me at this point I'd probably be too spent to chase. At the bottom of the hill there was a sharp right turn leading into the final 1/4 mile. I used this turn to look behind me and try to spot him to make sure my plan worked. It did. Ton was well behind me now and looked like he was losing ground with each step. I eased off the throttle again and just tried to glide into the finish as there were no records to be broken today. I came in at 2:25 or so. I barely beat Ton... just 16 seconds separated us. Wow. One false step by me and he could have taken it today.
Nutrition: 1 Gu Gel & drinks of on course sports drink at each mile (Ctyomax?)
Time: 47:30 (vs 43:26 last year though on a slighter shorter (by ~.2 mi) run course)
Avg HR: 164 bpm (typically 168 for an Olympic)

Total: 2:25:23 (vs 2:24:08 last year)

Summary:

The Good:

Swim was faster than last year even though I think I had a slower current this year.
Faster bike leg at a lower heart rate--considering the course was slightly longer for me last year, it's only marginally faster but the HR was much lower.

The Bad:

Couldn't maintain target HR on the bike.
Gotta find a new pair of shoes that work better with my race laces as my current pair just doesn't "feel right."
What happened on the run? I just fell apart it seems.
Need to do my ART sessions more consistently. It works great, but it only works if I go.
About 1:15 slower than last year. Both races were B races but it seems I was just more prepared last year.

Hot Weather Sports Nutrition Tips

2010-07-06T02:46:00.000-04:00

Reposted from sportsbistro.com

Now that summer is upon us (at least in the northern hemisphere), it's time to start adapting sports nutrition intake accordingly. This article will help you determine if you need to make a change in your nutrition and will provide some guidance on how to implement it.

Warning Signs You May Need More Hydration and/or Electrolytes

Muscle Cramps (especially calves) during workouts
Night time cramping
Elevated heart rate relative to your current effort level
Sloshy stomach
Fatigue
Irritability, confusion, vomiting, dizziness or low blood pressure (go to the medical tent!!)

Some Quick Tips

Drink a minimum of 1 L of sports drink per hour of activity. Up to 2 L per hour may be warranted for very hot/humid weather and/or extended (3+ hr) training/racing.
Practice increasing your fluid intake slowly. Don't start at 2 L per hour right away if you're only used to sipping small drinks at a time.
For workouts greater than 2-3 hours, don't drink just plain water as you may risk a serious condition known as a hyponatremia (water poisoning). Use sports drinks like Gu Electrolyte Brew or Hammer Nutrition's HEED or drop in a nuun tablet or Endurolytes powder to supercharge any other "regular" sports drink.
If that still doesn't do the trick, or you suffer issues with muscle cramping or sloshy stomach consider using an electrolyte supplement like SaltStick (vegetarian friendly), Succeed S! Caps, or Hammer Endurolytes.
Choose SaltStick or S! Caps if your cramps or sloshy stomach is especially bad. Hammer Endurolytes are less concentrated and appropriate for more mild cases.
If you suffer from night time muscle cramps or calf cramps, take one electrolyte tablet prior to bed time with plenty of water and see if that resolves it.

Don't Forget The Basics
Water and electrolytes do not contain any energy (calories) and is not a replacement for your usual intake of energy gels or chews to continue going strong on longer workouts.
A good sports drink containing electrolytes and calories and should satisfy most needs for moderate workouts in mild weather. Follow the aforementioned tips for hot weather.
An average 140 lb athlete should target about 250+ calories per hour for intense endurance workouts or races.

Some Myths
There are also a couple of myths out there about how much you should or shouldn't drink. I've heard some people say to not take in electrolytes/sports drinks and just use water because most people already take in too much sodium during their diets. Unfortunately it doesn't work that way. The body doesn't "store up" extra sodium for use during workouts1. If you just take water to replace it then you end up diluting your blood to the point where you might trigger hyponatremia (hypo = low & natr = sodium). In cases like this I like to fall back on the Sports Bistro Methodology where we draw a distinction between your daily diet (the foundation) and the performance fuels you take as part of your workouts. Excess on one cannot compensate for a deficiency on the other. The right answer is to take in a low sodium diet as part of your regular meals and then take in extra sodium/potassion/magnesium (electrolytes) before/during/after warm weather workouts/races.

Exercise Science and Women

2010-06-30T22:04:00.004-04:00

There was a NY Times blog posted today titled "Phys Ed: What Exercise Science Doesn't Know About Women." It refers to study done by Dr. David Rowlands, a senior lecturer with the Institute of Food, Nutrition and Human Health at Massey University in New Zealand whereby he attempted to replicate the results of certain studies traditionally done on male athletes on women athletes. The results of this new research were quite stunning. In short, his research showed that women did not benefit from protein after exercise the same way that men did... perhaps showing no benefit at all.

In the case of men, the benefits (improved power/endurance, lower fatigue, etc) of taking of a protein-carbohydrate drink after exercise seem to come after a day or two. Many studies have reconfirmed these results in men. Dr Rowlands showed this may not the case for women. Since this is the only study of its kind, it's unclear really how much post-workout protein women should take and what effect it will have and how quickly the results will manifest themselves... it's also unclear if this one study was just a fluke.

One thing is for certain: the scientific community needs to devote more time and energy into studying the effects of certain exercise and nutrition protocols on women... not just men. My hypothesis is that the new studies will show that men and women are more alike than they are different, but that when it comes to maximizing performance in trained athletes all bets are off... I await the results!

Metlife Duathlon Race Report

2010-06-27T18:55:00.006-04:00

By Joe

MetLife Duathlon, Tinley Park, IL 2 mi run/11 mi bike/2 mi run

Heading into this race, the plan was to not lose too much time to the runners on the first run leg, hammer on the bike with the aim of coming into T2 first or second (hopefully with some breathing room) and try and hold on for a top 3 finish in the final run leg. I knew I could get in the top 10, probably top 5, but I did feel that coming in top 3 was possible if everything went right.

The wait at the starting line was a bit nerve wrecking. I looked around and there seemed to be a lot of runners in the front group. Don't ask me why I thought that, but it just seemed like they were all runners and I knew the run was where I would be losing time.

The gun went off and a group of 5 shot out ahead. Within a few minutes they were at least 20 yds ahead of the next 'group', I had initially hoped to be in that crowd, but reality hit and I had to hang back a bit. I snuck in at position #8, behind two guys from the same club. It was working out great cuz we were running into a head wind, and it was helpful to have a wind block. Half a mile in, a couple guys passed me and my wind blockers. I knew that I couldn't afford to lose any more positions so I moved around to hang on to those guys. Unfortunately, they were too fast for me and I watched as they gradually pulled away.

At the turnaround mark I see the leader- he's this young kid, probably no more than 20. His form seemed perfect and effortless. I think he had about a 1 minute on me. I was falling a bit behind schedule... I had hoped to get into T1 no more than 90 seconds back. I decided to turn it up a notch to keep within striking distance of the leaders. There were no more position changes in the run.

While unracking my bike in T2 I hear Maggie yell "2 minutes and you're 9th!!!". So I was pretty close to where I predicted I was going to be at this point in the race. I got a bit more good news as I pulled out of T2. A guy yelled out that I was in 6th position. That means I gained 3 spots in transition... SWEEET. I took my time putting my feet into my shoes. Got a good slurp of power gel from my gu flask, downed a gulp of water and I was ready to roll.

I started picking guys off pretty quickly as I moved into 5th position, 4th position, 3rd position, 2nd position. Then heading into a turn I saw the young kid at the lead. I passed him and looked down at my computer - 6 miles in. 5 miles to go. I was in the lead way earlier than I expected. That was good news since it will allow me to (hopefully) build in more time. This was when I first noticed my police escort on a motor bike. That made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :)

Heading into the last turn I looked back to see a guy right on my tail. He was legally spaced behind me, but I had no idea anyone was so close. When he realized I saw him, he turned it up and passed me. We were about 500 yds from transition so I slowed down to slip my feet out of my shoes. He heard my free wheel spinning and he turned around to see what I was doing. When he realized it, I saw him unstrap his shoes... which to me was a bit wierd. I had no idea what kind of clipless pedals he was using but it was a rather odd action. I took that opportunity to push pass him and get into T2 as the leader.

In T2, he was racked literally 2 bikes to my side. I saw him throw his bike on the rack and run off. So THAT'S what it was. He was biking in his running shoes. I ended up leaving transition about 10 yds behind him. Within 500-600 yds, I had closed up the gap to a few yards. For the next mile, I ran right on his shoulder. When the turnaround cones came into sight, I picked it up the pace a bit and passed him. I started pulling away at the 1 mile (halfway point) turnaround. About 150 yds after the turnaround, I pass the young kid running the other way. He's in 3rd, with a guy in a red jersey right behind him at 4th. I recognize the both of them as superior runners to me.

I decided that this was it. Do or die. Lift knees, relax shoulders, and GO. The last mile was a blur. I had a lot of people running the other way wishing me good luck and telling me good job. I wasn't trying to ignore them but I was in a world of my own. Form, form, form, form. I saw the final right turn and for the first time I realized that I had a shot at winning the race. That moment of epiphany was like another shot of adrenaline.

At this point I was running close to all out. 400 yds out from the finish, my bike escort looks behind and tells me that I'm in the clear. That there's no one behind me. I think he just wanted to let me know that I didn't need to keep killing myself. :) For a split second I considered slowing down, but the concept seemed too foreign. I have never crossed a finish line easy before, and I probably shouldn't start now. Besides, I have the end of my pain in sight. I cross the finish line first in 53:xx, and everyone's cheering. The moment was absolutely surreal.

Epilogue: After I got home and checked the official results online, it turned out that the guy who came with me into T2 was from the prior wave (2 minutes behind). He ended up beating me and getting 1st overall by about 80 seconds (which is a pretty big margin for a 50 minute race). Either way, I'm very happy with my 2nd overall. Originally, I wasn't planning to do this race next year, but now I may have to come back and try avenge the loss.

Race Nutrition:
1 Powerbar gel + 1 S! Cap 15 minutes before race
1 Powerbar gel on the bike
3 S! Caps on the bike
1 full bottle of water

Big Day Training

2010-06-27T17:56:00.002-04:00

By Mike Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

Today I scheduled a really tough workout--one of those workouts that just goes above and beyond what you're normally used to. In some circles they're called "Breakthrough Workouts" while other people refer to the concept as "Big Day Training". There are some slight variations in the two definitions but the goal is the same: gain a dramatic increase in fitness without taking on a huge risk of injury.

Here's what I did today, broken down by the Sports Bistro Methodology of "Before, During, and After".

Before:
I slept in a little bit and had a good breakfast. I wanted to make sure I was ready for the day ahead.

During Part I: 40 mi Ride:
I rode 40 hilly miles in two 20 mi segments separated by a 10 minute rest stop for fluids (and an espresso). During the ride I drank a total of 20 oz of water and 40 oz of Gu Electrolyte Brew sports drink. I also took three Gu gels spaced evenly throughout the ride. The entire ride took 2.5 hours.

During Part II: 5K run (with some extra weight):
I got home and drank some more fluids and changed for a run. I took my hydration backpack filled it with 70 oz of Gu Electrolyte Brew and stuffed my swim gear, lock, cell phone, keys and money into the pack's pockets. It was heavy! I also stuffed some gels in my tri top pockets and then took off on a hilly 5K run to my gym. I took one gel early on in the run.

During Part III: 25 min swim:
When I got to the gym I took another gel, changed and completed a 25 minute moderate paced swim.

During Part IV: 5K run (with slightly less weight):
I then changed back into my running gear, took my final Gu gel and ran another hilly 5K back home. I also made sure to finish my entire hydration pack before I got to my front door.

After:
I weighed myself at the end only to find I had lost 6 lbs as a result of this workout despite my best efforts of keeping hydrated. I quickly took my Fluid recovery drink as soon as I was done, had lunch, relaxed a bit and then took another Fluid recovery drink later in the evening.

All in all it was ~3.5 hours of training spaced over ~5 hours. The little bits of rest in between workouts was critical to making sure each workout was a quality effort. It also helped reduce risk of injury that could be caused by fatigue compromising my form and technique.

Fluid Recovery Drink

2010-06-20T21:26:00.002-04:00

We first became familiar with Fluid when they were a sponsor of a women's road cycling racing clinic in Central Park. One of us was fortunate enough to score a free tub of the Berry Treasure flavor after the race and we tried it as a new recovery drink. This drink is for real! The taste was actually quite good- not too sweet and they got the berry flavor pretty close. The contents were solid- gluten-free, no artificial colors, ingredients, or sweeteners and the right 3.5:1 carb/protein ratio. And perhaps just as importantly, the powder mixed extremely well in a bottle of cold water (rather than the clumpiness we see with a lot of powdered sports and recovery drinks).

Fast forward one year later and we still use it as a premier recovery drink. Take it immediately after a hard or long workout (anything under an hour and it's probably not necessary) to help your muscles recover for the next day's training. Fluid was originally created as part of a senior project at Cal Poly State University, San Luis Obispo. In its first year on the market, Fluid was awarded the Best Nutrition Product of the Year and Best Sports/Recovery Drink of 2008. Not that there are a ton of recovery drink products debuting each year, but it's certainly a feather in Fluid's cap. A bonus is that they really understand and support the endurance sports market and we find that very appealing.

The downside of this product is its name. It's hard to Google "Fluid" and I think they may have trouble with the branding going forward as it gets more and more popular. But these are nits, and if you are still experimenting with recovery drinks, Fluid is one to add to your list. And it's now 10% off at sportsbistro.com!

Rev3 Quassy Half IM Distance - June 6th

2010-06-10T14:47:00.015-04:00

Posted by Ton

I had a pretty good week of rest coming into this race. Work was busy as usual, but I was able to maintain a fairly regular sleep schedule while eating pretty well. Most importantly, I was conscious of rolling out my problem areas and visited my ART practitioner on Friday morning.

Morning of the race (Sunday, June 6th) –

Woke up at 4:45am after about 7 hours of sleep. Felt pretty rested. Ate a sandwich with peanut butter and nutella and started drinking a bottle of GU Electrolyte Brew at the hotel, and then we were off to transition. Realized I wouldn’t have heart rate for this race. Long story short… my Garmin had run out of juice. I happened to have my Polar on me but forgot to bring the strap. With about 10 minutes left til transition close, I decide to bolt over to the vendor tent, and as luck would have it, there was a lady there that happened to have an extra Polar strap. (What are the chances?!) She graciously lent me her strap and I ran over to the swim start, where I had just missed the swim warm-up as they were calling the athletes out of the water. Doh! I put on my wetsuit and decided that I needed to take it easy since I hadn’t warmed up. I took a GU Gel (Vanilla Bean) and followed with a couple of sips of my remaining GU Electrolyte Brew. I find Mike, who looked like he had just come out of the water for a quick warm-up.

The Swim –

Gun goes off and my wave is pretty big. It’s a clockwise loop, so I’m towards the right side of the start to minimize distance. I immediately find feet in what must’ve been less than 50 yards and proceed to hang on to the SAME guy for the entire 1.2 miles. In hindsight, this was probably not the best decision as there were times when I wanted to shout… “C’mon, man! Let’s go faster!”… but after the halfway point, the group surrounding me had lulled to a similar pace so there were no other feet to latch on to except for the occasional swimmer from the next wave flying by, but then of course those guys would be too fast. In hindsight, maybe I should’ve pushed my pace a bit til the first buoy and latched onto someone around then, after the weaker swimmers had dropped back. I came out of the water fresher than I have for any race I’ve ever done, and for a half IM, that’s actually not a bad thing. Overall, I don’t think I lost that much time at all.

Time: 38:39

Average HR: 154 BPM

Previous PR (Timberman 2009)

Time: 38.18

Average HR: ???

* About the same swim performance as Timberman, but definitely an easier effort.

T1 –

Nothing to say here, other than I’m pretty sure I left transition before almost all of the guys in my “block” that had already been there before me. I remember thinking to myself… “What do you guys need with all this time?!”… as I hopped on my bike with my shoes already clipped in, and I’m off.

** Official race results say that I passed a total of 40 people in T1 alone, including 4 people in my age group. For the record, for the rest of the race, other than Mike, only one other person in my AG would pass me.

The Bike -

Truly a KILLER bike course. Toughest one I've ever raced. Despite that, I think this was actually one of my better bike performances in terms of pacing and effort. I set the Polar to start beeping once my HR hit 160, so I was pretty much “in-check” most of the way. Unfortunately on the tough climbs, it’s really hard not to go above that, but at least I was counting the times I pushed it and was careful not to light more than my allotment of “matches” for the race before I hit the run.

Coach Mike passes me at mile 16, and he’s looking pretty strong. This is where my mind begins to play tricks on me. I remember thinking a number of thoughts to myself, like… “Wow, I figured I would at least get to mile 26 before he passed me. Either I really messed up the swim, or he’s riding super strong…” as well as “Damn, maybe there’s something wrong with my equipment? I haven’t used a Polar since last year, and this is someone else’s strap. I’ve been feeling pretty damn fresh so far. Perhaps I’m riding too conservatively?” I then picked up the pace a slight bit for a couple miles with Mike still in sight before reminding myself that I’m playing a dangerous game. I would rather err on the side of too conservative than make a rookie mistake. There’s nothing about my bike training (and results) this year so far that would indicate that I’m capable of holding the same pace as Mike for 56 miles, and I back off, but only slightly. At about mile 40, my old friend Mr. Piriformis Pain comes for a visit and stays for the rest of the ride. I keep him in check since I never really put out too hard an effort. I see Mike heading into the run course as I have about a mile left on my ride. At that point, I remember estimating that I’m less than 10 minutes behind, which at that point I was.

Bike Nutrition: 4 GU Gels (Chocolate Outrage) + 2 GU Electrolyte Brews + 2 Water bottles + 3 Salt Stick tablets.

Total Time: 3:09:32

Average HR: 153 BPM

Elevation Gain: 5200 feet

Previous PR (Timberman 2009)

Time: 2:57:02Average

HR: 156 BPM

Elevation Gain: 3600 feet

* Pretty happy with this bike performance. 12 minutes slower than Timberman, but with 1600 feet more climbing at a lower average heart rate. Nutrition was pretty spot-on.

T2 –

In and out. No problems.

Run -

As soon as I run out of transition, I head straight for a porta-john. Had been holding it for quite a while, and I think I must’ve lost a good 60 seconds in the stall. I come out and bolt onto the course. Immediately I see our good friend Bob Cowin who snaps a photo of me. My legs are actually feeling pretty good despite the brutal bike course, a testament to my indoor brick repeat workouts in the gym over the winter/early spring. At that moment, the sun decides to come out and it gets really hot really fast. I remember thinking to myself “Damn, I wish I had brought some more salt tabs on the run” and made a mental note to drink at every stop. I maintain a heart rate of between 165bpm and 170bpm for the first 5 miles. (Official race results say 9:14 pace for the first 5.4 miles, inclusive of bathroom stop.)

THIS RUN COURSE IS BRUTAL. Completely insane. You never quite find your legs and can never “coast” – it’s either up or down. There were parts where I recall collective sighs of “You CAN’T be serious!” amongst the runners around me as we turned the corner to another hill. At the halfway point, as I resolved that Quassy was a one-and-done for me, I had to start digging deep to push forward. I begin to pass a number of broken, walking souls who had pounded too hard on the bike (unfortunately none of them in my AG), meanwhile plotting my final balls-to-the-wall push in a couple miles. But then mile 8 came… and my “oh shit” moment began. Suddenly feeling dizzy, my pace drops, and I began to scan my head of all the things I had done during the race that could’ve lead to this. “I don’t get it… EASY swim, followed by a controlled, well-nutritioned bike leg…” and as I came to a fluid station and waved off yet another person trying to offer me this isotonic drink I had never heard of called “Cerasport” as I was drinking my umpteenth cup of water on the run course, the obvious answer somehow didn’t quite dawn on me. (It certainly would in the medical tent after the race.) With about 5 miles to go, I begin to do the math and I realize that if I don’t maintain my pace, I won’t break my PR from Timberman last August, and that was not sitting well with me at all. I hadn’t failed to break a PR all season, and despite this being a much tougher course than Timberman, I wasn’t about to break my string. The last few miles took every last ounce of me – I literally had to push harder than I ever had this year. In the last half mile there was yet another very big hill and I begin cursing the hell out of the evil race directors who thought it was a good idea to put this damn climb here. And yes, full disclosure… I have to admit… as I was about to hit the top of the hill… I had to walk for a bit. I was defeated. My head was spinning and my body was toast. As the course flattened out towards the end, I gave it one last push. I would like to describe the finish, but unfortunately… I don’t quite remember it. No, that is not a lie or an exaggeration.

Run Nutrition: 3 GU Gels (Vanilla Bean) + Water at every stop

Total Time: 2:03:50

Pace: 9:27min/mile

Previous PR (Timberman 2009)

Time: 2:17:54

* Ah, the fruits of my off-season run focus. 14 minutes faster on a vastly tougher run course. To this moment, I have no idea how Mike managed to pull off an insane 1:45. Of the 25 minutes he beat me by, approx. 18 of it came on foot. Wow, I'm humbled. Other than the blood pressure problem, I can't say I really had a "bad" run per se, considering how I came into the run leg feeling pretty springy. This kid is dangerous.

The aftermath –

I found Mike in the recovery area getting some post-race stretching, but I don’t remember what I said to him. We walked over to towards transition, where I plopped down in front of my bike and felt a dizzying nausea. Walked over to Mike and told him I didn’t feel well, and then he helped carry me over to the medical tent. 97/56 blood pressure. I refused an IV as I lay in the stretcher, and they handed me a cup of Cerasport. (Oh, the irony!) After about 4 or 5 cups, my blood pressure begins to go up. I stayed in the tent for quite a while longer. Mike goes over to grab us some food, but I knew I would not be able to ride my stuff to the train station and endure the trip home. And, the rest is history…

Words cannot describe how sore I was the next couple of days. But it was worth it. I’m proud as hell for fighting harrrrd... harder than I have at any race this year. In total, I end up beating my Timberman PR by a “whopping” 2min 21sec. But boy did I have to dig deep for this one. :)

Harryman Olympic Triathlon - Race Review

2010-05-28T10:28:00.001-04:00

by Lindsay

Last Saturday Ton and I (and our trusty driver and superfan Rob) headed up to Harriman State Park to compete in the Genesis Adventures Harryman "Olympic" distance triathlon. I say "Olympic" because it was actually quite a bit shorter than that, but more on that later. Unlike the previous years, the weather is gorgeous for the race. Mid-60s, going up to the 70s, and sunny. The weather had been even warmer the week before so the water had warmed up a bit from its usual low 50s to close to 60! That's very warm for Lake Welch in mid May! Unfortunately, the notorious hills are still there.

The race had a very humane start time of 10:30 am so we left NYC at 8am, armed with Thai bagels spread with peanut butter and Nutella. Arrived just before 9, checked in, and racked our bikes (first come, first served!). We were both in the 2nd wave, only because we had signed up later than 1/2 of the participants. The waves were not by age or gender, as is customary. This is a bit annoying because people you may be competing against in your age group could start 3 minutes ahead or behind you, so it's hard to know out on the course who is really ahead.

The race was small so there weren't as many logistical things to do and we ended up killing time until 10:10, when we got our wetsuits and made our way down to the lake for a warm up swim. I take my first Gu Roctane. At 10:15 we hear rumors that the swim has been canceled. Huh? Prior to our race there was a Half Iron distance race that went off without incident and the weather is still beautiful so this comes as a (late) surprise. We go back to transition and hear rumors that not enough lifeguards showed up and had they realized this earlier the Half participants wouldn't have been allowed to go off (oops). So we're running 1 mile instead. Instantly worried that this will be fast and make me hot and tired before the bike even starts, not to mention make the bike course that much more crowded with everyone starting within 5 min of each other, I start warming up. At 10:30 we are lined up at the race start for our one mile run when another announcement is made that there will now be a modified swim (800m out and back), and the race will start at 11.

WTF! I had finally gotten my mind wrapped around running a duathlon, now I have to switch gears again. And I wasted a Gu :) At the suggestion of a participant, they decided to make the swim and out and back (rather than triangle) so they didn't need as many lifeguards to watch everyone. Go back to transition, get the wetsuit, and start over. This time they mean it, and at 11:03am I am in the water. I get off to a terrible start and end up 3 back from the starting line. I'm not the world's greatest swimmer, but by triathlon standards I do alright and this is not the positioning I want to be in. I struggle to find good feet and draft and feel like I am in a fishbowl the entire 800m, it just never clears up. Frustrated, I get out of the water only about 20 seconds ahead of Ton.

Ah, Bodyglide. How I missed thee. I ran out and forgot to get more before the race. Big mistake. I could not get my wetsuit off for the life of me. I had to sit on the ground and struggle with the legs, Rob gleefully taking sequential pictures. Not funny. Ton beats me out of transition by about 10 seconds. Losing 30 seconds to someone in transition is just unacceptable! But I move on.

I hope on the bike and quickly catch Ton and Cameron, a friend from the Columbia tri team. We take the long, fast descent in a line, not really able to advance or fall back. I take another Roctane. We hit the u-turn at the bottom, which I was prepared for but the girl I was passing was not. She slams on the breaks and goes hard left, forcing me off the road. Great, I'm clipped out, at the bottom of a steep hill, with racers going by so I can't get in. Finally find a break, get on the bike, and get into the proper gearing for the mile plus climb. Climbing is my relative strength so I am annoyed to have gotten such a lousy start. Ton and Cameron are long gone at this point.

This is the worst part of the bike course because racers are still coming down the other side of the road that we are going up. At the same time, cars in both directions are trying to get by, leading to general chaos. I just push through, and attempt to get up this thing as fast as possible, saving my legs be damned. I pass as many people as I can, and catch Ton and Cameron. This is where I wanted to make up most of the time, and I think it worked. Just push through, I can recover on the flats. All the while I am sipping Accelerade out of the one bottle I brought for the course (wanted to minimize weight and risk of overdrinking). I often get a sloshy stomach on the run so I wanted to drink as much of my water bottle in the first half of the bike leg, to let it digest a bit. The rest of the bike I took hard- an Olympic should be pretty close to all out effort. Don't save yourself for the run, just hang on! I leapfrogged with a lot of participants, including Cameron who I eventually lost in the last few miles. I saw Mike on his New York Cycle Club SIG Graduation ride, which was fun. The course was rolling, but shady and a bit confusing even though on the map it looked like a straight out and back. I came back into transition at 1:04, for about a 19-20mph pace. My goal is always to have the fastest female bike split- which I didn't but was close.

At this point I can't tell exactly where I am in the race, but there weren't many bikes in transition so I know I wasn't too far back (plus I started in the later waves). I grab my final Roctane and some Endurolytes (just in case as the sun was high over head) as I head out on the run and after about a half mile or so I feel good. No sloshy stomach- this is probably the best I have managed my nutrition! The run is not flat and the varying mile times prove that. I pass one woman but otherwise just see a few guys. I do like the modified course, it's mostly on back roads, shady, and scenic. I feel good but decide not to push it until I'm at least at the half way point. It was an out and back so I can see the leaders and everyone ahead of me. I could one woman, then another not too far back. That's it! I'm in 3rd. I passed #4 and she was slowing so I felt safe in my positioning and honestly eased up a bit, what was the point of blowing myself up? Not the best racing strategy, but given that I was secured a podium spot it didn't really matter.

Finished the run now int he heat of the day, for a final time of 2:13. Good enough for first in my age group and 3rd overall. Some controversy over the 2nd place female as she appeared to have messed up the bike course and ended up doing the big hill again (and still managed to come in 2nd? hmm....) but no one can prove anything so it's done. I'm happy with my performance on an early season, tough course! Lots of kinks to be worked out, but the race course was good- I'd just prefer they reverse the bike course so we aren't all bunched on the downhill then uphill. And I thought my minimal nutrition worked great, so happy to not have any issues there.

Best part- a woman yelling out "I want your abs!" while I was finishing. Ha!

Gu Brew Review

2010-05-19T13:17:00.001-04:00

by Lindsay

Very recently I ran out of Accelerade, my go-to sports drink, and switched to Gu Energy's Electrolyte Brew. Formerly known at Gu2O, Gu Brew is an up-and-coming sports drink looking to compete against Accelerade and Hammer Nutrition Heed. I've used Heed in the past and while I think it is a very good drink with no artificial flavors or sugar, I find the taste to be a bit lacking. Gu Brew, on the other hand, I found to be GREAT tasting! For a powder mixed with water, you know how unusual this is. I've been drinking the Lemon Lime flavor and it is ultra-light, yet still sweet enough to be tasty. The directions say use 2 scoops per 16 oz of water (about a regular sized water bottle), but if I were going by taste alone I would have easily put in 3-4 scoops, it's that light. This is great for people who gag at Gatorade, Accelerade, or other more strongly flavored drinks, and stays refreshing even when your water bottles get hot during a long day.

However, the best thing about Gu Brew isn't it's taste, but what's in it (or not). It has far less sugar than Accelerade, Cytomax, Gatorade, or Clif Shot. Only Heed has less among the major electrolyte replacement drinks. It has a healthy 250mg of sodium per 100 calories, for ease in digestion and dehydration prevention. If you are looking for even more sodium, perhaps for an exceptionally long or hot day, try the Blueberry Pomegranate flavor which has twice the amount. Gu Brew also contains potassium and carbs for fuel. It does not contain protein, which differentiates it from Accelerade or Perpetuem. For some, this may be a negative. It depends on what your stomach is used to and what your workout calls for that day.

I'm a big fan of Gu products and use Gu gel during all of my longer workouts (and Roctane for races). I've tried the Recovery Brew and was a fan of its more carbs, less protein than other drinks. Gu Electrolyte Brew, meant to accompany Gu gel before and during your workouts (saving the Recovery Brew for post-workout), lives up to the Gu Energy standards. If you are looking for something very light tasting but sweeter and generally more palatable than Heed, I strongly encourage you to give Gu Brew a try. And at only $0.42/serving it's very cost-effective!

Pier Duathlon- a day of firsts

2010-05-16T19:16:00.000-04:00

Team Sports Bistro traveled down to Long Branch, NJ for the Pier Duathlon (a 2 mile run, 9.5 mile bike, then a 3 mile run). Rob, Lindsay, Mike, and Ton spent the night nearby in NJ and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 5am to make it for the 7:30 start. No trip to Jersey is complete without a WaWa's pit stop, but after that we were on our way.

The race was decent sized, about 350 competitors, but it felt very local and friendly, from packet pickup right before the race to an easy transition area (first come, first served!). Rob saw his friendly competition from the office, and learned he came from a competitive track & field background. Gulp. We got our chips, racked our bikes, and barely had time for a 100m warmup before the start. It was a mass start with no starting chip mat--hen the gun went off that was when your race began!

We lined up in the second row of competitors, about as close to the start as we felt comfortable. Ton took a Hammer Gel, Rob popped a Gu, and Lindsay took her Gu Roctane (it's race time!). As the gun went off, Mike took off, with Ton and Lindsay letting him go but keeping him in their sights. The out and back allowed everyone to see their position relative to everyone else. Mike's 12:33 set the new Team Sports Bistro pace record (6:16), albeit for only 2 miles. Lindsay and Ton finished in a 6:40 pace and Rob ran into T2 at the 17 min mark. The race was on!

Mike fumbled in T1 (transition from the run to the bike) as he chose to go without race laces and forgot to unpack his cycling shoes (oops!), but he was still the first team member on the bike. Ton showed off his transition prowess by beating Lindsay out of T1 by more than a few seconds (even though they entered together) and it took her almost 2 miles to catch up on the bike. It was Rob's first multisport race and he learned just how frantic transitions can be!

The bike course was 1 loop with a lot of 90 degree turns. Clearly more practice is needed in cornering and powering through! Mike started strong but around mile 3 felt a familiar stiffness in right hip and leg which made moving difficult. Unfortunately these symptoms just started yesterday on his brutal 80 mile bike ride (no tapering here!) and had not abated. It was clear injury was not too far away and he decided to do the smart thing and stop racing, soft pedal the rest of the course, and bow out of the race. Unfortunate, as this was Mike's first DNF, but with bigger races coming up the risk was not worth any reward. Even still, it took until miles 7-8 for Lindsay and Ton to catch up! Mike is one to watch this season!

Lindsay caught and passed Ton around mile 2, but Ton kept her in his sights. The roads weren't closed so there were occasional cars to deal with, but the course was flat and otherwise flat (except when facing the strong Jersey shore headwind!). Lindsay passed 3 women on the bike and moved into 4th place. The bike is her strongest leg and she was determined not to disappoint. And props to Rob for completing his first ever bike race, after starting riding only a few weeks prior! And for beating the co-worker on the bike! The nutrition for the Team was half-filled water bottles of Gu Brew, just enough to stay hydrated on the short race.

The second run was the same out and back as the first, just longer. It was flat and fast, right along the beach on the pier. People were much more spread out now. 1 guy had the victory locked up at this point and 2 women were battling it out for their first place (and $500!). Lindsay was in 4th place for the women, but another woman was only about a minute behind her and gaining. This was the last place guaranteed to take home prize money, so she wouldn't give up, running just under a 7 minute pace to pull out a 30 second victory over the 5th woman. Ton was fast gaining on Lindsay too, but couldn't close the gap and finished about 40 seconds back. Rob realized the difficulty of running off the bike, and the importance of brick workouts, and struggled to find his running legs. A very familiar feeling to every multisporter. Alas his co-worker passed him around mile 2 and ultimately claimed victory for the office, but Rob was happy to have taken the bike leg!

This was a race of firsts for Team Sports Bistro, The first duathlon for all, the first multisport/bike race for Rob, unfortunately the first DNF for Mike. There were reason to celebrate too: Lindsay took 4th woman overall (and $100!) and Ton earned his first ever trip to the podium for 3rd in his age group and a nifty trophy. Congrats Team Sports Bistro and all Pier Du competitors- we'll be back!

Team Sports Bistro to battle at Pier Duathlon

2010-05-15T15:22:00.000-04:00

Finally, tomorrow will be the first race in 2010 where Team Sports Bistro (East Coast division) will have some friendly intra-team competition! Just this week, Rob from NJ found us the Pier Duathlon in Long Branch, NJ. Put on by the Sandy Hookers Tri Team, this flat course features a 2 mile run, 9.5 mile bike, and 3 mile run along the Jersey Shore. Even shorter than our normal sprint triathlons, this race will be a "balls to the wall" all-out effort. We've mostly been training for long distance races (Half Ironman Triathlon, Half and Full Marathons, 100 mile bike rides) so this speed won't come easy. The kicker is that none of us have done a duathlon before so pacing and strategy will be made up on the fly. And in a race this short, the winner is usually whoever screws up the least!

Look for Mike to set a new Team Sports Bistro running pace PR, Ton to show off his blazing fast transitions, Rob to beat his buddies from the office, and Lindsay to compete for some women's prize money. Good luck Team Sports Bistro! Be sure to check back tomorrow to see how it all goes down...

Energy Chew Review

2010-05-04T19:31:00.002-04:00

Reposted from SportsBistro.com

By Michael Donikian, USA Triathlon Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

It seems like energy chews are all the rage for sports nutrition these days. They are a welcome alternative to energy gels, especially for those who don’t like the consistency of the gels but still want something easily digestible (i.e. not bars) for workout and race nutrition. In terms of effectiveness / performance there really isn’t much of a difference between the two – personal preference for taste and consistency are the primary differences.

That being said, energy chews have some benefits in terms of “convenience.” Firstly, the semi-solid chews prevent the messy “goopy” packet problem of regular gels. Secondly, the small bite size servings (usually 20-33 calories each) give you finer control over your nutrition intake.

The big question now is… which energy chew should you take? Today I’ll try and provide some insight by reviewing and comparing the three most popular energy chews out there: Gu Chomps, Clif Shot Bloks, and PowerBar Gel Blasts. In addition I’ll compare it to your standard fare Gu Energy Gel

Gu Chomps

Gu has four flavors of Chomps out made primarily from Tapioca Syrup, Cane Sugar and Maltodextrin. In addition each serving has a Gu proprietary blend of amino acids similar to Gu Gel. The Strawberry and Cranberry Apple flavors have caffeine while the Blueberry Pomegranate and Orange flavors do not. Strawberry is by far our best selling flavor. Personally I like the Cranberry Apple a little better in taste. The Blueberry Pomegranate was also quite tasty but I was unhappy it had no caffeine.
Selling points: Amino Acid Blend; 100% Daily Value of Vitamin C & E and good amount of electrolytes (55mg sodium and 40mg potassium) per 30g serving.
Cons: Not much caffeine per serving (only 20mg per 30g serving). I would have liked a high caffeine option.

Clif Shot Bloks
Clif has 9 flavors of Shot Bloks out made primarily from Brown Rice Syrup, Cane Juice and Brown Rice Syrup Solids. The ingredients are largely organic.
Selling points: So many flavors with different combinations of sodium (70 or 210mg) and/or caffeine (0, 25, 50mg) per 30g serving. Made with organic ingredients too!
Cons: No amino acids or antioxidants. Not enough studies out there to say if this is good or bad but it definitely differentiates it from the Gu Chomps.

PowerBar Gel Blasts
PowerBar has two flavors of its energy chew (Gel Blasts) and takes a slightly different approach. They’re a little harder (more chewy) on the outside but have a gooey liquidy center. They’re made from sugar, glucose syrup from wheat, and invert sugar.
Selling points: Made with Powerbar’s C2MAX carbohydrate blend (2:1 ratio of glucose to fructose), which may result in higher performance. They also come in a resealable packet!
Cons: No amino acids but again there aren’t enough studies to confirm the benefits.

Comparison Table

Summary
As far as taste goes… no complaints. I liked all of them especially the weird tasting Margarita Shot Bloks (yum!). The triple sodium is also a definite plus with that one too. On the whole, I actually like the taste and convenience of chews a whole lot better than gels but yet I’m still going to stick with gels… why? This may be weird but I found that I constantly had to burp while taking these, especially the Gu Chomps. The gels just seem to sit better with me. Most people seem to have no issues whatsoever though – in fact most seem to have more issues with gels and thus turn to the chews. Only goes to show that you need to train with these (under race conditions) before you race with them.

The Incredible Experience of Escape from Alcatraz

2010-05-02T18:30:00.009-04:00

Posted by Ton:

Wow, I'm not quite sure what to say. Other than... THAT WAS ONE INCREDIBLE RACE. Although it was an extremely intense race in that all the elements from the water temperature, varied terrain and multiple surfaces (grass, sand, trail, steps, etc.) culminate to unexpectedly throw people off their game - an explanation to follow in my race report - yielding very humbling average paces.

Alas, the course was so fantastically gorgeous that you sometimes get mesmerized and forget you're racing. This was definitely more about the experience than just the result.

More details to follow. Time to relax in a tub of ice and soak this one in. And yes, if you must know... the medal will be joining me.

Reporting Live from Escape from Alcatraz 2010...

2010-05-01T12:13:00.010-04:00

Posted by Ton:

Arrived yesterday in beautiful San Fran, and the weather is amazing. Sunny, high 60's, clear skies. Perfect conditions for this year's Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. Alas, the water temp will be a chilly 55 degrees when all 2000 athletes plunge into the water just off of 'The Rock' at 8am tomorrow. Brrrr! I've got my wetsuit, hoodie, and neoprene socks ready, but I still expect to get hit with an unforgettable jolt.

There's not quite a race like this anywhere in the world. First off, the course itself (1.5mi swim + half mile run to transition + 18mi bike + 8mi run, including a beach run and a 400-step sand ladder) is a little unusual. Not the kind of race where you can necessarily benchmark against your last olympic distance PR! Secondly, as a qualification-only race, the competition is definitely going to be tougher than your normal regional tri. So, while I plan to race hard at a heart-pounding pace, I'm definitely going to remember to soak up the sights -- which includes, as I'm told, rolling onto my back after about 10min into the swim to catch the view of Alcatraz and the Bay Bridge against the rising sun.

I'm also told that the toughest part of this race is the notorious sand ladder, at about mile 5 of the run portion. It's a steep climb from the beach that includes a combo of sand and 400 uneven log steps. Truth is... there's no real way to train for something like this, and in watching the race videos, there are plenty of professional athletes who choose to do a briskly paced walk up this segment while hanging on to the ropes on the side of the trail. Me? I've decided to attempt a Spiderman-inspired fast crawl. We'll see how that goes. :)

Alright, off to the mandatory athlete's meeting to pick up my race number. There's a palpable energy in the air in town right now. Just yesterday, during my run along Marina to the Golden Gate, there were plenty of knowing looks/nods from athletes around the world, each as if to say "I'll see you in the Bay on Sunday". I made it to the end of my run just in time to catch the sunset.

Breathtaking inspiration for Sunday.

Featured blog on Goodtri.org!

2010-05-01T08:10:00.001-04:00

Team Sports Bistro's The Podium is one of the featured blogs on goodtri.org, a custom search index specifically for triathlon related information. Thanks guys, and check them out!

http://www.goodtri.org/blogs/

Mistakes and Strategies for Long Workout Recovery

2010-04-25T13:38:00.009-04:00

By Michael Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

Training this week has been tough and not because the training itself has been tough but because my recovery has been poor. I've had a few late nights, some happy hours and events and the usual early mornings. By the time Saturday morning came around I was pretty beat though I still had a 75 mile ride 4000 ft of climbing scheduled as part of the NYCC A-SIG Classic ride series, for which I am a ride leader. Not the kind of thing I could just skip, shorten, or modify at my own discretion.

After some coffee and a bagel I rode a short 3 miles to the meet up location. My legs felt like they were still asleep but I was cautiously optimistic they'd "wake up" after 20-30 miles. The major hill came at around the 35 mile mark and decided this would be a opportunity to test my legs. I started off going hard at a pace I knew I could sustain for the 2.5 mile climb under normal circumstances. I quickly fell apart though... the pace was not sustainable under my current condition. Instead I chose to hold back and go at a much easier pace and hopefully have something left for the remaining 40 miles. After some regrouping at the top of the hill, we had a quick briefing about safety and took the descent on the backside of the hill. We didn't even go a quarter mile when we came upon a mess of ambulances, fire trucks, and flashing red lights. I hoped it wasn't our people but it was. It appeared that two of our riders got hit by a car making a left turn. They must have been going 30 mph or more on that downhill. They got taken away by ambulance (as of Sunday they're recovering well but won't comment more out of respect for their privacy).

Needless to say the group took it pretty easy for the rest of the ride, especially on the descents. Despite the easier pace, I was still pretty beat by the end of it. I wish I had taken extra recovery nutrition post ride but was stressed for time once I got home and just couldn't fit it all in. I would pay for this mistake!

By Sunday morning (today) my legs felt like bricks. I had a 9 mile run scheduled today, which I dropped down to about 5. I then swam for about 20 minutes. To help facilitate greater recovery I structured my run to follow the Western Australia One-Day Carbo Loading Protocol. I then proceeded to eat unusually large amount of carbs (700g given my body comp) such that I could be back to normal (or better) come Monday. As of right now I'm maybe only 300-400g in but still working on it.

Tips for making the protocol work
In the past, I've had great success with this protocol though it is quite difficult to follow. One of the easiest ways to make it work is by making super concentrated drink mixes of Hammer HEED. If you get the 80 serving container, it's actually quite cost effective (less than $0.59 per 100 cal serving). Gu Recovery Brew is another great choice since it's got a 7:1 ratio of carbs to protein... unusual for most recovery drinks, but ideal for these types of applications. You can mix it up with fruit in a blender and make yourself a custom smoothie. People usually don't think of Hammer HEED or other high carb sources as being recovery drinks but if used properly they can have amazing results.

Pre-Race Checklist

2010-04-25T11:59:00.001-04:00

It's that time of year when training is well underway and racing is just around the corner. Since it's likely to have been a few months since the last race (or your first time!) here's a race checklist reminder, for whatever you're racing. If I forget anything, let me know!

Running Specific
Dry-wick shirt
Race number (attached)
Running-specific shorts
Running shoes w/ chip attached
Run-specific socks
Visor/Hat
Vaseline/Body Glide
Pace bracelet
Fuel belt (if needed)
Warm clothes for post-race

Cycling Specific
Cycling kit (jersey/shorts/bib)
Race number (attached)
Arm warmers/ legs (if needed)
Cycling shoes
Cleat covers
Street shoes
Helmet
Bandana/Hat
Sunglasses
Cycling Gloves
Saddle bag w/ tire levers, extra tubes, CO2 cartridge + inflator, multi-tool
Pump
Degreaser/lube
Chamois creme

Cue sheet (if needed)
Casual shorts for post-race

Triathlon Specific
Tri top/shorts/suit
Wetsuit
Body Glide
Goggles
Cap
Race Belt with number
Sunglasses
Helmet
Bike Shoes
Bike
2 water bottles
Small Towel
Running Shoes
Race laces
Socks (optional)
Sandals
Saddle bag- tire levers, extra tube(s), CO2, multi-tool
Pump
Dry clothing

General
Sunscreen
Cinch backpack
ID/Money/Phone
Heart Rate Monitor & Strap
Foam Roller
Nutrition (gels, chews, bars, salt tablets)
Pre-race water bottle with sports drink
Post-race water bottle with recovery drink/bar

Hum-bled

2010-04-18T00:15:00.002-04:00

Wow. That's all I have to say about today. For the abridged version, my performance was subpar, by my own standards and definitely compared to the competition. I wish I could blame it on the weather, but alas we all faced the same brutality from Mother Nature.

Day began with a 6am wakeup. This is possibly the latest I've woken up for a triathlon (that usually start at 7am or even earlier) so I was definitely feeling refreshed. Packed the trucks, drove to race site, got there around 7. The sky was just lightening up and there was no rain, but boy the wind was bad. It was probably in the 40s with winds around 20mph, gusting to 30. It felt COLD. We had a long, meandering walk over to transition because the original parking area was flooded (and we had to cross gushing water between two lakes to boot). When we arrive at transition they are making announcements that the water is 54 degrees (warmer than outside!) and the swim has been cut in half from 1500m to 750m. Darn, I was really hoping for a duathlon! And it hurt our team because we have a super-swimmer (who was first female out of the water anyways!). But whatever. Get the chip, bathroom, usual transition stuff. This time we couldn't take the bikes out and no one was going to warm up in the water so there was a lot of standing around, freezing. 15 minutes before race start, I took the first of 3 Gu Roctanes.

Race started at 9, with 10 waves every 5 minutes. Each collegiate team had up to 7 men and 7 women and the top seeded male from each team goes first, then top seeded female, second seeded male, etc. I was going as the second-seeded female, in deference to our super-swimmer. 9:15 and I was off. The wetsuit and neoprene cap really helped, but my feet were freezing! Plus the water was really choppy and I've never had a worse swim start. Everyone was on top of each other, I swallowed water, had to come up twice, got scared around the buoy, etc. It was nothing short of a disaster. It was only 9.5 minutes (the swim was shortened further to 500m) so I didn't lose too much time, but was way in the pack of the pack.

T1 could have been my worst split. 4 miles to find the bike, struggle with socks, put on a jacket, attempt to get on bike, etc. My feet were ice and just not working. I had already resigned this to being a training race so I was ready to sacrifice my transitions for comfort on the bike and run, but it was just too much (and didn't help anyways).

Onto the bike. Once clipped in we had a pretty steep uphill. Even though only the "fast" people were supposed to be ahead of me, I saw a number walking up (it wasn't that bad!). The bike felt okay and the jacket really helped me stay warm, but my toes were completely numb and functionless. The bike course was essentially a square such that we were headed into all cardinal directions at some point. That meant that we faced the wind from both sides, the back, and the front. So speeds were all over the place! One section it was blowing from left to right and I literally had to get out of aero, grip the bars, and lean left just to stay upright. It was like anything I had ever experienced- true Texas plains wind! There was absolutely nothing to block it from whipping across us. I was honestly more than a little scared of toppling over. I couldn't even reach for the water bottle (Accelerade) and once I was able to get it I had to hold it in my hands for a few minutes until I could find a place to put it back without falling over. But, once we turned and the wind was at our back, I was flying! I passed a lot of people on the bike (including our super-swimmer, who had never done more than 18 miles at a time) and was only passed by 1 female so I thought it went well (relatively, of course). Came in at 1:25, but it was only the 60th best female time of the day, way below my expectations. Took another Roctane mid-way through.

After a quick T2 I was off on the run. I could not feel my feet- they were just nubs. I had to stop twice in the first half mile and actually took off my shoe and rubbed my toes to get some feeling. Someone ran by and yelled ""just run, they'll get better!" Tried that, but still was scarily numb. I even asked a ref who repeated what the runner said. So I just kept going. I didn't have the run setting on my watch, there were no mile markets, and I was so concentrating on my feet that I had no idea what my pace was. Just going by feel (or lack thereof). Gupled down my final Gu Roctane but it was not settling and my stomach was sloshing and I got a bad stomach cramp. I think it's because I had to take my entire water bottle on the second half of the bike, rather than space it out to aid digestion. I was paying for it now- but I knew how to change my breathing and was better by mile 2. But it was too late, my run was shot. The 1.5 mile loops felt like forever and I just never got a rhythm. Was passed by an MSU guy but was able to keep him within 20 feet for the rest of the race so at least I was consistent. 49:02- yikes! Worst 10K in a very long time.

Race ended around noon but we had to wait around to 2pm to get our bikes from transition, after the sprint race ended. By the time we got back, packed the bikes, showered, etc it was time for the awards ceremony. Useless for our team, but good sportsmanship and a great way to see 1,000 collegiate athletes all together. It's amazing how strong and united a lot of these teams are!

On that note: collegiate triathlon. Very few of the races I do have any >24 participants I just don't see the younger racers. Maybe it's geography (almost all of the teams were from big schools in the South, Midwest, and West)- there were only 2 New England schools represented (MIT and Keene State in NH). If I raced in CA or CO maybe I would see them. On the other hand, maybe there are only 1,000 or so racers but they all come to this race- it's like their Kona. For the biggest and best teams, they train together all year (and they can in Palo Alto, San Diego, and Boulder) and this is the end of their season. They are trained and tapered, whereas we are just starting outdoor training. But these are excuses- the truth is they are FAST. And not just the single-sport stars I thought they were. I am very impressed, and can't wait for the next few years when they enter the AG ranks. If they are the future of triathlon in the US, it looks very bright.

All in all, this is a forgettable race, except that I never will. However, it kick-started my season. Since I came in 381st and only 20th female grad student- far below my goals- I realize how much work I have to do to get back into racing form. I am now pumped to get my bike back where it belongs and to get the run down. May will be that time when I'm between school and work.

A Wash Out in Lubbock

2010-04-16T17:45:00.000-04:00

by Lindsay

Day 2 of USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Lubbock, TX. Also day 2 of non-stop rain. While none of the epic hail of last year, this rain is causing some concern. The ground here is all clay, meaning that it does not absorb water quickly enough. The roads are all flooded with inches of water and even cars are having trouble getting through. How will we?

The day started at 7am when the team awoke to get used to an early morning start and do get a good run in. Plan was foiled immediately as it was absolutely teeming and still pretty dark outside so we decide to take turns on the hotel gym's treadmill instead. Breakfast of cereal and bagels and peanut butter followed and I distributed all of the sports nutrition donated by Sports Bistro to the team. Final checks of the bike and a quick tutorial on how to change a flat (we couldn't get the CO2 to work though) and then we were off to tour the race site. We drove 18 miles through absolutely nothing to get there. I'm from the midwest and have seen my fair share of flat, uninterrupted land before, but this feels different. There was no vegetation, no plants, no buildings, just miles and miles of wet clay with a few power lines and overpasses dotting the landscape. Lubbock is a small city of 200,000, but it sure doesn't feel like it!

The race is held at Buffalo Springs, which also hosts an Ironman 70.3 triathlon. We swim in a dammed lake then run 4 miles out of the park, with some decent hills, then it's all flat for 10 miles as we skirt around the Lubbock backroads. The roads were entirely flooded mind you, so I don't know how things will look tomorrow. Even without the rain, you are out in the open and it's easy to see how the winds can strongly affect the bike ride. No shade either, although that won't be a problem tomorrow! Amazingly, we saw a number of teams getting a warm-up swim in. With temps in the mid-50s both in the water and out, and choppy waves, it didn't look to appealing but kudos to them for getting in there!

After a course viewing- which was the first time I had done that before a race and feel much better about the race after seeing it- we returned to the hotel and grabbed some burritoes for lunch (small, healthy ones!). The rain wasn't letting up but we had to get on the bikes just to test everything out. Sure enough, every one of us found something that was the wrong height, not tightened enough, or just plain backwords. Even though it was just a cruise around the parking lot it was the most productive thing I did today! Now it's time for some relaxing and showering before our team meeting and then a pasta dinner hosted by Texas Tech. We've seen a number of teams around the hotel but this will be our first good taste of the competition. The southern and western schools tend to have the advantage at these races as they are able to train all through the winter and spring as a team, but maybe the cold and rain will give us northerners the upper hand. UC San Diego won't know what hit them!

Fingers crossed for a dry evening and morning, but either way, we race at 9am! Good luck everyone!

Triathlon Collegiate National Championships- Day 1

2010-04-16T00:20:00.000-04:00

by Lindsay

For those of you who don't know, over the past few months I had been agonizing over whether to run the Boston Marathon (on Monday, Patriot's Day) or compete at the USA Triathlon Collegiate National Championships in Lubbock, TX. I had qualified for Boston at the 2009 NYC Marathon and signed up immediately- this was the race I had been training for. When Nationals came on the horizon about 2 weeks later, I told my team I would be unable to go because I was committed to Boston (props to the guy on our team doing both!). I had taken Monday off, my parents had taken the day off, and I was going to run that historic race that I was so privileged and lucky to qualify for.

Fast forward a few months to late February. My marathon training was, well, sub-par. My longest run to date had been an 8 miler and the marathon was only 2 months away. I was facing down a punishing school schedule, a full 8 days off from training while on Spring Break in Japan (no complaints there!), and I still had to work up to and add 20 mi/week to my training schedule. Frankly, it wasn't going to happen. Also, I've struggled with injuries when I build up too quickly and knew this would put my and my knees at high risk. The straw that broke the camel's back was that the tri team put out a last minute request for female competitors as they did not have enough to field a full team. So with about 6 weeks to go before the races, I made the switch.

I had worked up to a full half marathon so I felt confident in my running for the Olympic distance triathlon (which ends in a 10K/6.2mi run). However, I hadn't swum since late August and had put less than 100 outdoor miles on the bike. That had to change, FAST! And it did, and I enjoyed the shift in training away from just running. While I'm nowhere near peak, I think my bike and swim are now up to acceptable levels, for an early-season race anyway.

So here I am in Lubbock, Texas. Never been to Texas before and I don't imagine this is the best city to start, but oh well. It's done nothing but rain and that's not expected to let up all weekend. The city/town is nothing to speak of but the hotel is nice enough. I've enjoyed getting to know my new teammates and am sharing a room with 3 of the girls. We have enough to field a full team on both the men's and women's side and I'm looking forward to seeing how competitive we will be. There are a lot of tough teams here from triathlon hotbeds like CA and CO, but there are other northeastern schools who also deal with the reality of a harsh winter. Today was just a travel day and putting our bikes back together, but tomorrow we get more info on the race and do some running and cycling tuneups. Then we wait... until the big race on Saturday! I'll be blogging each day to let you know how it goes, and more on the collegiate triathlon scene, which really is the future of this sport.

Knee/hip pain? Could it be IT band syndrome?

2010-04-13T21:16:00.004-04:00

By: Mike Donikian, USAT Certified Coach, NASM-CPT

As the weather gets warmer, I've been hearing this concern/question a lot lately. It comes in many different forms:

"What do I do for knee or hip pain?"
"What do I do for IT band syndrome? (ITBS)"
"The outside of my knee hurts and it hurts while running but not cycling"
"It hurts for running AND cycling"
"What does it mean if my knee/hip hurts but my MRI shows nothing?"

If you have some of these symptoms, I wouldn't rule out ITBS. The iliotibial band (IT band) is a tendon that runs along the outside of your thigh. It originates at the hip and inserts at the top of the tibia (lower leg). I also find that knee pain is also overdiagnosed as ITBS so please make sure you see a specialist and try to not self-diagnose either. This is not meant to be medical advice -- I'm not qualified to do that especially through a blog :)

Anyway, let's assume you've been checked out and have ITBS. You can certainly do some foam rolling (http://www.tptherapy.com) to try and get rid of it but depending on the severity you'll only get some temporary relief. I like to attack the root cause which tends to be a weak gluteus medius muscle. Without getting overly technical, one of the roles of the glute med is to keep your leg "aligned" when your foot makes contact with the ground during the support phase of your run. A weak glute med will cause your leg and knee to adduct (come inward) and can stress the IT band to the point where it becomes irritated, inflamed, and excruciatingly painful.

The plan of attack it to strengthen that glute med. One of the things you'll actually want to avoid is stretching that glute med as chances are it's "overstretched". I'm talking about that stretch where you cross your leg on top of your knee in "figure-4" pattern. Yeah I know it "feels like it's a good stretch" but chances are it's just causing more trauma. Yes, I'll repeat that: "stretching can actually make an injury worse!" Stretching the glute med to solve ITBS is like using a hammer to remove a screw... it's not the right tool. I'd say there are equally as many "bad stretches" as there are good stretches... frightening isn't it?

The most basic of glute med strengthening exercises is the hip hike. Start by standing on one leg or by standing with one leg on slightly raised surface like a step while not allowing the other leg to touch the ground. Pick the leg that is the same side as the hip/knee pain. Then raise the opposite hip while supporting yourself on that one leg. Keep your shoulders level. Continue to raise and lower the hip allowing the "dangling" leg to move up and down while you support yourself on the other leg. After a few repetitions you should feel some fatigue. Try the other side and you may notice that it doesn't fatigue as quickly. That's a good indicator that you've found the underlying cause. Perform 3 sets of 15-20 on the affected side at least twice a week and you may find that the pain is gone. Oh yeah and no more of that cross legged hip stretch either.

With the hip hike alone, some people have seen results in as little as one week. Some people may need to work with a personal trainer or physical therapist to do some more advanced exercises and stretches. You may also need to change the way you sit at your desk or in your car. Minor lifestyle habits can result in major injury when you combine it with the stress of a training program. If you haven't already, definitely get yourself checked out.

It's all downhill from here

2010-04-11T15:59:00.003-04:00

I just completed my longest run before my first marathon and now have an idea of what the actual race is going to feel like: PAINFUL, yet amazing. Now I just have three weeks of tapering to go before race day, so all the hard work's done! It should be a breeze from here, right?

Before I go on, here are a few stats from my training log:
# of weeks: 15
# of runs: 62
# of miles: 387
# of injuries: 1
Time spent on the running path: 56 hrs, 30 minutes

I also managed to fit in an average of 1 bike and 1 swim per week, so my first triathlon shouldn't be a total bust.

First of all, my marathon goal: to have the best marathon time on the SB team. To date my only record on the team is for the most number of flat tires in a single race (2 flats during a sprint tri!!), so I'm really looking forward to having the fastest time on the team. Even if it only stands until the fall, I'll still have 6 months of bragging rights.

Today was a chance to pull together all of my training and practice my race prep, hopefully to minimize the possibilities something will go wrong on race day. This meant a number of things:
-Eat a pasta dinner the night before.
-Get a full 8 hours of sleep.
-Get up 3 hours before and eat my race-day breakfast (bagel with peanut butter, wishing I had a banana around too).
-Drink Heed over the next couple of hours to top off my glycogen stores.
-Follow my nutrition plan for the run: 1 bottle of Nuun w/ dextrose per hour, alternating Gu Just Plain and PowerBar Tangerine Gels every 35 minutes. Total calories today: 900
-Break the run up into 3 manageable chunks and pace it at increasing splits. Today was 8/8/4, but the marathon will be 10/10/6.2. The first chunk will be slightly slower than my goal pace, the next will be slightly faster than my goal pace, and the last will be even faster. This was thanks to Mike's article on Sportsbistro.com, so I'll blame him if I crash and burn at mile 22.

This spring I switched from eating Clif Shot Bloks as my workout food of choice to Gu and PowerBar Gels. I like the taste of Shot Bloks much more, but it's harder to carry 2-3 of them on a long run than it is to carry a bunch of the gel packets. So far I haven't noticed a difference in performance and most of the gels don't make me gag (except you Tri-Berry Gu, Damn You!!), so I'll probably keep using them throughout tri season.

The other thing I've started drinking in my water is Nuun. I've recently realized that the empty tubes are the perfect size for 1 tablet + around 90 calories of Dextrose, so I just bring these along with me for refills on the go.

I won't go into the details of the run, except to say that the last 2 miles were TOUGH. I'll save the rest for my race report on May 1st. At this point all the hard work's done, though. I've put in the training miles, skirted around a mild calf injury that took me out for a few weeks, have my nutrition plan, have my pacing plan, and have put it all to the test. Like I said: it's all downhill from here.

Product Review: PowerBar Energy Bites

2010-04-08T10:41:00.013-04:00

Had a chance to try the new PowerBar Energy Bites in training this week, and DAANG... IT'S FRIGGEN' DELICIOUS! In fact, I just mentioned to some of the other Team Sports Bistro folks that if I hadn't been told this was an actual sports nutrition product, I would've happily been chomping away at them at the movie theater like candy.

PowerBar has done a fine job of combining the dense consistency and taste of an energy bar within the convenience of bite-sized pieces for athletes on the go. In my opinion, the flavors (currently available in Oatmeal Raisin and Chocolate) are a welcomed alternative to the tangy-fruity tastes you get from other products in the "Energy Chews" product category like Clif ShotBloks, Gu Chomps and PowerBar Gel Blasts.

PROS: Love the taste. Contains 5 grams of protein per 4-bite serving (for those of us endurance athletes who believe that taking a bit of protein during training speeds the recovery process). Re-sealable packaging helps keep the bites fresh and dry on long training days.

CONS: A bit higher in sugar content than other "Energy Chews" products. (Contains 16 grams /150 calories per 4-bite serving as compared to GU Chomps' 11 grams sugar / 90 calories per 4-bite serving.) Despite the re-sealable package, some will find it not as convenient to eat as the tube-style wrapping of Clif ShotBloks, especially during races.

Conclusion: Alas, I'm a die-hard gel-only athlete during races (for speed of digestion purposes), so this product is not likely going to replace Roctane as my go-to competition product. However, it's definitely going to make its way into my weekend long-ride rotation. Heck, it'll probably make its way into my afternoon snack rotation too.

Hammer Nutrition Chocolate Recoverite Review

2010-04-08T09:16:00.001-04:00

I must admit- I didn't get off to a great start with Recoverite. I had heard so many good things about Hammer Nutrition's products and had been reading that in particular their recovery drinks were superior to their competitors' because of the reduced sugar, no artificial ingredients, and right amounts of protein and carbs. I thought I'd give it a try so last spring I bought a 60 serving tub of Recoverite in Subtle Citrus. After a hard workout I dumped 2 scoops into my water bottle, shook it up, and took a nice long gulp. That was a mistake. Some of Hammer's drinks have a love it or hate it taste. We saw this at Sports Bistro's recovery drink tasting bar after the New York Cycle Club's Escape New York Ride: Recoverite was either people's hands down favorite or they couldn't stand it. Unfortunately, I was in the latter category. The minimal amount of sugar didn't help, and perhaps the subtlety of the flavor was just too little for me. I was used to taking Fruit Punch Endurox and this was very different. In any case, I now had 59 servings left and I couldn't bear to just get rid of it. Over time I got accustomed to the flavor and managed to finish that entire tub, but I wasn't loyal to the product and cheated with other recovery drinks like Fluid, Gu Recovery Brew and Endurox now and then (shhhh).

Fast forward to this spring. I was lucky enough to get some single serving packets of Recoverite in their new Chocolate flavor. As you can tell from prior posts, I had started taking their Chocolate Pro Whey mixed with milk and really liked it. Despite my previous experience with Recoverite, I decided to give the chocolate flavor a try. And it was great! I cannot believe this is the same drink that comes in Subtle Citrus. It tasted a lot like the Pro Whey in that the chocolate was fully flavored and only slightly more bitter than regular chocolate milk (although Recoverite I mix with water). In all honesty I really liked it and went through my single serving packets in a few days. I'm actually very relieved because I wanted to like Recoverite, but just didn't. Now that I've found a flavor that I like, this will be a no-brainer for me.

I will continue taking the Pro Whey when I just need calories and muscle fuel, like after a short but intense hill or speed workout. But Recoverite is better after the long workouts, like my 3 hour bike rides or a 10 mile run. I've lost electrolytes, I'm out of fuel, and my muscles are tired. Recoverite helps with all of that and it's easy to take the minute I get home before I get in the shower and have time to find real food. This is what a great recovery drink should do, and finally I've found the best one in a flavor I like.

Spring has sprung!

2010-04-02T13:27:00.001-04:00

I don't know about the rest of you, but I am sick and tired of winter! We've had a few nice (50s+) days here and there, but they are always followed by periods of exceptional wind, rain, and cold. Ton was even able to snowboard last weekend! The southern part of the country is well into their triathlon, running, and cycling season but we in the upper climes are just dusting the cobwebs off of our equipment. Hopefully indoor training went as well as possible, but there's nothing like stretching your legs in the warm sun of spring.

Finally, here in New York, spring seems to have arrived. The next week looks to be sunny and above 60 so we can't complain anymore. Yes there will be more rain and cool, windy days, but I'd wager that the worst is behind us and I can confidently start planning my workouts to all be outdoors again. I find trainers and treadmills mind-numbing and though it's still not open water swimming weather yet, that to will come. I am really starting to look forward to my upcoming race, long training rides, and my annual cycling weekend in the Berkshires, that all seemed so far away not too long ago.

Happy Passover, Easter, and Spring to all, and to all some good training! Lace up your shoes, pump your tires, and get out there! And welcome back, sun. We've missed you.

Product Reviews- Hammer Nutrition's Montana Huckleberry Gel and Chocolate Pro Whey

2010-03-31T13:58:00.001-04:00

As I prep for my first Olympic distance triathlon of the season on April 17, I wanted to test some new nutrition products on a tough workout. I had been training for run distance and now I'm looking for speed so Yasso 800s were in order- a good combination of speed and distance work. But it's a tough workout so I needed nutrition and thought this was a perfect way to test out some new products- Montana Huckleberry flavored Hammer Gel before the workout and some Chocolate Pro Whey after for recovery.

I do most of my workouts in the morning and until recently had been going out sans-nutrition; just wake up and go. However, as my workouts are getting both longer and more intense this wasn't going to cut it anymore. Dinner (and, since it's me, dessert) had long since passed through the system and I can't go on empty. So I've started taking nutrition products before I leave to give the body a kickstart. Today was Hammer Gel.

Montana Huckleberry is a new flavor introduced this year. Hammer Nutrition is based out of Whitefish, Montana where huckleberries are the favorite local fruit. We've seen an increase in berry flavored products so this fits right in with the latest fad. But Hammer Gel isn't a fad- it's a great product for sustained endurance and performance. Although this flavor has no caffeine for a quick hit, it has plenty of easily digestible yet long-lasting carbs (Maltrodextrin) with just a touch of sugar. Yet this flavor is quite sweet, much more so than Gu's new Jet Blackberry. It almost has a blueberry-like taste. I'll admit my ignorance to what a huckleberry tastes like so I can't tell if this product is true to the flavor or not, but I liked it. The consistency was easy to get down and I felt it sustained my run and never let me crash ($14.55 for a 12 pack at www.SportsBistro.com).

Post-workout, I decided to pass on my usual recovery drink and try a Hammer Pro Whey Protein drink instead. I've never been into protein shakes since I thought they were only for body builders, but I was wrong. They are great for anyone who's destroying muscles during their workouts (ahem runners, cyclists, swimmers, rowers) and wants to build them up for faster recovery and greater performance. I think they are especially appropriate after really grueling workouts like the one I did. But it wasn't too long of a long workout so I didn't get dehydrated and didn't need any special electrolytes afterword. Just some protein for my screaming legs. Enter Pro Whey. I tried the new Chocolate flavor and mixed it with 12 ounces of skim milk. This is like a high-powered chocolate milk. The taste was much better than I had hoped- I was expecting chalky bits in my drink. Instead it was smooth and surprisingly tasty; just a tad less sweet than Nesquick or Yahoo. The calories in this lasted me for a few hours until lunch and I will find out tomorrow whether my muscles are able to perform again (I have a hard bike workout scheduled) but this was a great first try of Pro Whey protein. For tough workouts that aren't overly long and dehydrating, this is my new recovery drink of choice. ($36.95 for 24 servings at www.SportsBistro.com)

Recovery Drinks- what to take?

2010-03-28T13:47:00.001-04:00

I am a religious taker of recovery drinks, when appropriate. I say that because even I know not to take them after a 3 mile recovery run or in the winter when I'm just doing base training and following nutrition periodization (more on that here). But for runs and rides over an hour, or of extreme intensity, I always follow up with a recovery drink right afterwords. I'm not a nutritionist or a scientist, but here's why I think they work for me:

It's ideal to get some good calories, carbs, and protein in your system as soon as possible after a workout. The exact ratios and timing differ by study, but the premise is pretty well proven. When I return after a long, hard workout, the last thing I want to do is make a sandwich, shake, and salad. I'm too tired for that! Recovery drinks are simple to make (mix with water!) and I can start recovering immediately.
I can't take solids while working out or immediately after. This may be unique to me as others have no problem having a ham sandwich and a banana in the middle of their rides, but I can't. It sits there like a rock. I also can't eat solids for about an hour after I stop working out, after my systems calm down. But I'm starving and my body needs recovery fuels. This is why the drinks are perfect for me- they go down easily when other foods won't
They help me feel better the next day and for the next workout. Period. My training intensities and distances have increased and I've been mostly injury free in the last 2 years when I became serious about my sports and started on a sports nutrition regimen. Whether they meet all of their advertised claims I don't know, but they work for me.

Now the question is, what to take? I've taken 4- here is my assessment (a more scientific and comprehensive analysis by Sports Bistro's team coach can be found here).

Endurox R4- This was my first foray into recovery products. The taste is very easy for first-timers (it won our Sports Bistro taste test at the New York Cycle Club's Escape New York ride festival), but the downside is that there is a lot of sugar in it. But it has the 4:1 carb to protein ratio so I know it's got good stuff in it. It really helped in my recovery and I like the Fruit Punch and Lemon Lime flavors the best.

Fluid- A bad name for a great product. I first was introduced to this product when I won a tub of it at a local bike race. It has less sugar but I still like the taste just fine. I love the story that this product came out of an academic thesis, and although it's only been around since 2006 a lot of serious athletes swear by it.

Gu Recovery Brew- This is my newest favorite. I am taking the Orange Pineapple flavor and have to say it is the best tasting of them all. It doesn't have much sugar and has good glutamine, but it has less protein than the others. Perhaps better for a medium workout.

Recoverite- By Hammer Nutrition, this is the gold standard. Although it has a love it or hate taste (it grew on me, but I must admit it took awhile and some can't take more than a sip), it has very low sugar and virtually no additives or things you don't need. You can buy it in giant 60 serving tubs so it can be cost-effective.

If you have another favorite I'd love to hear about it! I'm also looking forward to trying Gatorade's new foray into recovery drinks as well.

Another Shamrock Shuffle 8k Race Report

2010-03-22T17:46:00.002-04:00

This report starts off on Saturday morning. I wake up to snow and freezing rain. By midday it’s starting to look like a blizzard and there seem to be no signs of stopping. I tell my friends that if this keeps up I may not race tomorrow. I don't mind being cold and miserable but I'm not going to run in slush because that's what got me injured last year.

Fast forward to a cloudy Sunday morning. No snow/slush accumulation on the ground and barely any rain! Woohoo!! It's on!! I downed a banana, did a series of dynamic stretches, drank some water and took a long, hot shower. By the time I was all done my muscles were nice and supple. My legs felt a bit off for some reason, but I wasn’t concerned- I was sure I'd get them back by racetime. I met up with Chris at the train and had a Gu on the way down, spilling a bunch on my jacket (dammit!).

We got to our corral with about 15 minutes to spare. Even though it was a bit chilly, our jog from the Redline warmed me up a bit. I was starting to feel pretty good. The roads weren't that slippery and the wind wasn't bad at all.

The gun went off and about 30 seconds later, we passed the starting mat. The race was on! The crowd started off at a decent pace. My plan was to go right under the pain threshold until the last half a mile. This pace happened to be just slightly faster than the group around us, but not by much. I didn't have to do much weaving, but I was slowly passing people. As I hit the first mile mark I looked down at my watch. 6:34. Perfect. Then I hear a voice to my side "What’s the time??". I turn around and was surprised to see Chris. I'll be honest, I didn't think he was up for this pace. I yell back "six thirty!!!"

From then on, I would notice Chris popping up on my shoulder ever so often. Unlike the 5k race in 2007, I didn't surge or try to drop him :) The plan here was to keep an even pace until the end. I felt that I had the right pace locked down from the start and any deviation (i.e. going faster) would result in me blowing up before the finish.

Mile Two: 13:20... did quick math in my head... around 6:40. Cool beans. I missed mile three, but caught the 5k mark- about 20:30. My previous 5k PR was 20:38, so I was pleased to see that I beat that time as a split in my 8k run. The next milestone for me was the 4 mile mark. I know that the Sports Bistro guys in New York have done a lot of 4 mile races, so I wanted to see how my time compared. Last year Mike had a statement 4 miler - 26:46. That was the number I had in mind as I approached the 4 mile mark. I hit it on 26:28. Take that, Mike! :)

I was starting to feel good with less than a mile to go. I had broken my 5k PR and the Sports Bistro NYC 4-mile PR with just splits in this race, the only thing left to do was hold Chris off.

Heading into the last mile, I had no idea where Chris was but I had the feeling that he was probably still stalking me (what a creep). I saved up my energy for the Roosevelt bridge and managed to storm past a bunch of people on the uphill run. At that point my legs were starting to burn. I turned into the final straightaway and I see 32:14 on my watch. I had a shot at breaking 33 minutes!! I put on the nitro, pushed down the bile, locked away the pain and went for it.

A painful 40 seconds later I crossed the finishing mat in 32:54. A 1 min 45 second PR for the 8k (34:39 was my old PR).

Shamrock Shuffle race report

2010-03-22T15:05:00.002-04:00

The Shamrock Shuffle's an interesting race, which I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with. It's the first real running race of the season in Chicago, so it always has a huge turnout. On the other hand, it's always in the middle of March, so the weather is wildly unpredictable. For instance, last year it was 32 degrees and we had 6 inches of slushy accumulation on the roads through the entire course. It was easily the worst race I've ever done. I've also injured myself at this race repeatedly by not preparing well enough for it, so I'm always a little nervous.

On top of all that, the last 4 weeks have been up and down with a strain in my right Soleus muscle (yes, Mike, it was confirmed to be my Soleus this morning by a physical therapist). I've been training for my first marathon for the last 12 weeks and got a bit of an overuse injury from the jump in mileage. I was finally able to do some runs over the past week, though, and have been feeling more confident. On the other hand I haven't been doing ANY speed work this year, only long runs for the marathon. I've always read that increasing your mileage will translate to faster short races, but I really didn't know what to expect.

All this anxiety for an 8k!

2009 time: 36:00
2009 place overall: 804/13,399
This year's goal: 34:30

I decided to go for my 10 mile run the day before, knowing that it may hurt my race time a bit. I got 3.5 miles into that run when I hit an open area of the lakefront path that was going to extend for a while. I met 18 mph winds blowing sleet into my eyes, and I immediately turned around and went home. So...it turned out to be only a 7 mile run, but now I was afraid that if the weather stayed bad I wouldn't be able to hit my goals.

I woke up on Sunday morning to find a nicer day, no accumulation, and best of all no more sleet! Did some stretching and rolling, ate some toast for breakfast, and then met Joe on the train. Ate some Cliff Shot Bloks on the way down there (much less messy :) and drank some water.
We got to the race in plenty of time and waited around for the race to start, stretching out some more and trying to stay warm.

Once we crossed the start line, I decided to pace the first mile to Joe and see how I felt. I hadn't been able to find my Garmin that morning, so I was completely guessing on my pace and going by feel. At the 1 mile marker I called out to Joe for time and could tell he was a bit surprised to find me right on his elbow. 6:30 for the first mile (turned out this was a little slow, which threw off my times for the rest of the race).
I was feeling pretty good at this point and knew I could keep up with Joe for a while. I paced with him for mile two, which we did in around 6:45. During the third mile I was starting to lose track of my times, but still held onto him. I'm always amazed at how well other people keep track of their splits and compare to other races/racers, because my brain starts to get fuzzy and I just focus on holding on.
Mile 4 is always my toughest mile, and knew that if Joe was going to beat me it was going to be here. Sure enough, I lost about 20 seconds off my time and did the fourth mile in 7:05. I slowly lost sight of him, but ended up right behind a guy running in shorts, a tank top, and Vibram FiveFinger shoes. I couldn't let this guy drop me, so I picked the pace back up the last mile and did it in around 6:30.

Finish time: 33:21
Overall Place: 665/25,559

I couldn't have been happier with my results here. I beat my goal by over a minute and last year's time by 2:39. It also reaffirmed that I was on track for my marathon goals and showed me I can improve my short races by doing long runs.

Now...I just have to make sure I don't get injured over the next 6 weeks. Illinois Marathon, here I come!

New York City Half Marathon - PR!

2010-03-21T20:08:00.001-04:00

Today was as a good a day as I could have hoped for. The weather at the start of the race was 55 and sunny with little wind. I was not expecting to be able to run in my Sports Bistro tri top and shorts for a March race! I had a one mile warm up on the jog over to the race start on Central Park's East Drive with Ton. Felt good, no pains or cramps or residual soreness from the week.

Got into the corral at 7:10, race started at 7:35. I hate waiting around for so long, but I tried to move around and stay limber. Downed a Blueberry Pomegranate Gu Roctane about 10 minutes before the start, hoping the caffeine would kick-start my race. The gun went off and so were we. First mile came in about 7:45, which I was pleased with for what felt like an easy effort, plus the usual congestion at the beginning of the race. For the first loop of Central Park (6 miles) I maintained that pace, never deviating from 7:40-50/mile, even on the Harlem Hills. I actually felt pretty good, but wanted to hold back a little from my target pace of 7:30 because I was afraid of going out too fast and knew I could open it up on the flats and downhills of the last 6 miles. I took another Gu Roctane, Pineapple this time, at mile 7. I was also sipping water and Gatorade Endurance formula at every other aid station. At mile 7 I catch up to Andy and pass him at mile 8.

Once we rounded the park and got onto Broadway, I was starting to feel a bit tired but knew the terrain would help me. I think my favorite part of any course I've done is the 2 miles down Broadway and onto 42nd St. Even though the crowds aren't as big, for me this rivals going up 1st Ave in the NYC Marathon. I feel that this is my city and I can own this course. Pace picks up accordingly and I enjoy it.

But coming off 42nd St around mile 10 I am really starting to feel tired. HR is high and my legs are starting to hurt. I know I have to maintain the 7:20-30 pace I have been keeping in order to meet my goal of a sub 1:40 (ideas of crushing that time are out the window). I figure it's just 3.1 miles (only a Turkey Trot!) left so let's get this over with. It's flat and fast at this point so no excuses. But my lack of recent training (last long run was 11 miles 3 weeks ago) shows itself and those last 3 miles are getting more and more painful. I muscle through them and am proud that my pace didn't really drop, but man they hurt. If this were a 14 mile race I would have been in trouble.

But it wasn't and I finished in 1:39:30, significantly better than my 1:47:57 previous PR (which I knew I could beat). I know I still have time to shave off this, but it's a good start to the season. Alas I was not the Team Sports Bistro winner as Ton finished about a minute ahead but I am happy with the results.

Next up: ??? I was going to do the Boston Marathon but my training has been so sub-par and it's only 4 weeks away that I am considering bailing and doing USA Triathlon Collegiate Nationals the same weekend. Decisions, decisions!

Getting race ready

2010-03-14T22:29:00.001-04:00

My first race of the season is next weekend! I, along with others from Team Sports Bistro, are running in the NYC Half Marathon on Sunday, March 21. I am using this as a tune-up for the Boston Marathon in April and it will be a great time to test out the race gear for the season. Since I'd like to PR the race (not all that hard since my previous 2 attempts at this distance are well below my capabilities, in my opinion), I will be racing it and so it is a crucial day for me.

Nutrition-wise, I plan on taking my staple, Gu Roctane (one packet 15 minutes before the race, another one 30 min in around mile 4 and a final one at 1:15 or approximately the 9 mile mark). Since this isn't a hot and humid race I don't anticipate needing any salt tablets and should be fine with the sports drink and water on the course. And I'll take a free Powerbar gel at mile 9 too (for later). I will also put a water bottle with Gu Recovery Brew powder in my bag so I can just add water and have a great recovery drink waiting for me at the end.

The bigger question I have for the race is what to wear. As of now, the weather looks to be around 50 with a 60% chance of showers. Not bad for a March race, but not great either. Running while wet can make me cold and my socks and shoes soggy and heavy. I don't have racing flats (yet) so there's not much I can do to prevent that. This is where triathlon-specific shoes might come in handy! I'd like to wear a jacket for the rain but fear I'll overheat. But a singlet will be too cold. Hmmm, any suggestions for this? If the rain clears out this will be perfect weather for a long-sleeved tech t-shirt and running shorts.

Finally, perhaps the most important aspect is my pacing. I've only done a handful of long runs and embarrassingly few speed workouts, so this could be my biggest problem. I'd like to hit around 7:30 miles once the crowds clear (for a 1:40 finish time) and I think that is within the realm of possibility, but by no means guaranteed. I'd like to be cautious for the first 4 miles, which are the only real hilly ones of the course and then open it up from miles 7 onward. I do all of my long runs on the path alongside the West Side Hwy where the course is so it will be familiar and I like having a sense of ownership over a course, the same way I feel with the NYC Triathlon run course in Central Park. These are my training grounds, so let's do it!

The cyclists' achilles heel

2010-03-07T10:57:00.007-05:00

If you could collect as much data as you needed on every club or competitive cyclist, analyze it and determine what everyone's weakness is, what do you think it would be for most?

My hypothesis: "mid-range power". As I see it, most folks with little cycling background can easily ride for hours (think charity century rides). This is what we call endurance and is on the low-range of the power band. Most riders (especially those under 30) with some experience can accelerate to and maintain a high speed for a short time period. This is top end power which is achieved anaerobically. But that middle range where you need to sustain a hard effort for 60 minutes (CP60) to up to 3 hours (CP180) remains elusive for many. This power range is important even if you're doing 4+ hour rides as this is what will allow you to comfortably respond to changes in pace and incline.

Part of the problem may be mental -- you can feel it's hard but maybe you're not aware that you can actually sustain this for much longer than you think. As a result I think many people don't train at this level and don't develop the underlying physiological adaptations to make themselves stronger in this power band. It becomes a feedback loop which further reinforces the weakness. The other potential cause of this weakness is nutrition -- within the CP60 to CP180 power band you're burning a mix of carbohydrates and fat. The metabolically efficient will obtain a higher percentage of their energy from burning fat, while the inefficient will rapidly burn through their glycogen stores and then "hit the wall". If any of this sounds like you I'm going to give you a few suggestions on how to begin to address both sides of this.

Workouts are intentionally simple and designed for folks without heart rate monitors and/or power meters. One could make these more quantifiable if you had one or both.

Workout A:
After a thorough warmup, ride for 20 minutes at a comfortably hard intensity. Effort level similar to what you might do if you were pulling the group (except you maintain for 20 minutes). Recover and cooldown afterwards at an easy pace for another 20 minutes.

Workout B:
After a thorough warmup, attempt three 6-8 minute intervals at a slightly higher intensity than in workout A. Imagine you had to bridge the gap with another group of cyclists a half mile away but didn't want to go all out. Recover for 3 minutes in between. Can be done on a flat course or a slight incline. Recover and cooldown like in workout A.

What not to do:
I would generally recommend against max-effort hill repeats on a short/steep incline. I see too many folks doing this without having done multiple workouts similar to the ones above.

Nutrition Suggestions:

A simple fix is to make sure you're taking in enough carbs during your rides. A mix of energy gels (one every 45 minutes) plus sports drinks (20 - 40 oz per hour) should keep you going strong for miles and mile and miles. If you sweat more than the average rider and/or have issues with leg cramps, make sure to also supplement with extra electrolytes too.
The other solution is to become more metabolically efficient. It's a pretty advanced topic so I'll just give you a simple recipe to "try at home." Attempt a few 1.5-2 hr rides (on the trainer) with no carbs and at pace enough to cause a "bonk". Continue to hydrate with electrolytes and drink plenty of water. Don't experiment on a group ride as the last thing you want is to end up bonked and stranded 20 miles out. After a few of these rides, you'll notice that you'll be able to a) go longer b) at a higher intensity and c) without the bonk effect. At this point, reintroduce carbs and watch the magic. It would be akin to adding a high octane fuel to a sports car that has been running on regular -- immediately noticeable power increase.

Address both aspects (training and nutrition) and after a few weeks you'll find that you have more mid-range power and can easily hang on to the group/peloton even through the various surges and changes in incline. The key is to have enough excess power to comfortably respond to those surges aerobically rather than relying on fatigue inducing, top-end anaerobic power.

The Uncertain Season

2010-03-05T15:27:00.000-05:00

I must admit, I'm feeling a bit anxious about this upcoming season. For better or for worse, triathlon races can fill up very quickly and thus I always feel the need to set my schedule a year in advance, especially if I want to do any high-profile races. But this year, I only have the NYC Half Marathon, the Boston Marathon, and the NYC Marathon on my schedule. Not one race from May-October, and not one cycling or triathlon event. Sheesh.

Needless to say I've been focusing on my running for the upcoming events, but I am itching to get back on the bike (once the weather finally turns). I haven't swum since the Timberman 70.3 Half-Ironman triathlon and with no triathlons on the horizon it's hard to force myself into the pool. I need something to light a fire in this belly!

One of the reasons my season is so up in the air is that I am back in school and my finances, time-off, and even location for the summer were unknown for so long. I just decided that I will be spending the summer in Seattle so that at least allows me to start making some decisions. Do I stick around an extra weekend and try for Ironman 70.3 Lake Stevens? Travel with the rest of Team Sports Bistro to attempt the Rev 3 Half-Distance race at Cedar Point (Sandusky, OH) in mid-Sept (once school starts again, ouch)? Or do I just do some local Sprint and Olympic distance triathlons in and around Seattle? It's very hard to train when there are no races or goals on mind, so now I need to come up with a schedule. I'm watching my teammates formulate their season, training and racing plans, and set some goals and engage in friendly smacktalk. I want that!

If there are any suggestions for good races in the Pacific Northwest, I'm open to them!

3:10 or bust for NYC Marathon

2010-03-02T23:15:00.000-05:00

There I said it. Publicly.

As an added twist, within team Sports Bistro we're having a little friendly competition on who can run the fastest marathon in 2010. I can't predict whether I'll win this fun little game, but I can predict what a reasonable finish time for me is.

So you might be wondering how I came up with 3:10. During my experience as both a competitor and coach, I've come up with a number of ways to predict and validate run performances. I'm going to share some of these methods and assumptions with you and use myself as an example as I walk you through the steps. It requires some physiology background, but if you get the science behind it you can then use a similar set of steps to make your own prediction.

#1 Do the training appropriate for the distance and the goal time. Sorry no way out of this one. I can easily write myself a training program that gets me there. The hard part is finding the time to actually execute it! Big assumption -- but I think I can pull it off.

#2 Use a run race predictor to predict the result of a future race based on a previous one. You can find many of these online with some simple searching. The more similar the two races, the better the validity. I'm going to use my PR on a hilly 4 miler (26:46) which predicts a ~3:20 for me. Admittedly, a 4 miler is not close to marathon, but the underlying fitness potential is still there. I also very recently ran this 4 miler in a time of 29:19 at a comfortable (non-race) pace. Cutting 2.5 minutes would not have been hard if I went all out. 3:20 is a good starting point but it's not 3:10 so...

#3 Factor in some improvement from your starting point. (otherwise what's the point of training?) 10% is a good amount. My belief that an athlete should be able to improve by about 10% if he/she follows a well structured training plan for the course of ~26 weeks. This assumes that the athlete is not already near the limits of human performance or the absolute limits of his/her own ability... otherwise you might be lucky to get 0.5% better. One can estimate absolute performance ceilings through a VO2 max. A 3:10 (on a flat course) roughly equates to someone with a Vo2 max of 50 ml/min/kg. With a personal V02 max of 60+, I have enough headroom to know I'm not nearing those limits. Since my lactate threshold is also quite high, I have to assume that mechanical efficiency is my limiting factor. 3:10 is also well within 10% of the 3:20 predicted time (see above). It's actually only 5%.

#4 Cross check this goal time with your zones. I use Joe Friel's system predominantly. A 3:10 marathon (7:15 pace) is roughly mid-zone 3 effort. I can check my heart rate at goal pace and see if it lines up in the middle of zone 3. Today that ~7:15 pace I need is more of a zone 4 effort. Hopefully with some improvement I can drive it down to zone 3. I will need to continuously monitor the relationship between my paces and zones as training progresses and see if this goal is still realistic.

#5 Fuel efficiency? What percentage of your energy comes from carbs vs fat at any given intensity level. If you're a carb burner you're very likely to run out of fuel and bonk mid race even if you choose an appropriate zone/pace/intensity. This is a problem I know have -- I've been tested on the metabolic cart and can see how I switch to carb burning mode at even moderate intensity levels. While I could circumvent this problem on race day via carbo-loading the day before and taking sufficient gels and sports drink I probably wouldn't survive the training plan that gets me there; I'd be constantly tired and exhausted. This constant tiredness has absolutely plagued me in the past. I recently started following Bob Seebohar's nutrition periodization protocols in hopes of making myself more fuel-efficient. I will try to get myself retested on the metabolic cart and see how well it worked!

OK - that's A LOT of assumptions! But none of them are that far fetched. I'll post some regular updates and let you know how it's going.

Ever wanted to try nuun?

2010-02-25T12:04:00.000-05:00

As I am finally crawling out of my mid-winter base base training, my runs are getting longer and faster. Great! I'm also starting to venture out of my bedroom (where my trainer is permanently set-up) and onto the roads for some real riding (of course, 7 inches of snow today will push me back insides). I really try to follow nutrition periodization and do not take much sports nutrition during the winter, forcing my body to use fat. However, as my workouts get longer and more intense, this just isn't feasible anymore. I've started to throw down a Gu before runs (okay- must admit- I LOVE the new Jet Blackberry flavor) and take recovery drinks after my workouts.

However, I'm realizing the water I've been using during my rides is no longer sufficient, yet I'm not quite ready to switch to my full-on sports drink (Heed or Accelerade). The happy medium seems to be nuun. As Mike says on the Sports Bistro review, nuun is a great choice if f you're looking to cut sugar but still take a sports drink with electrolytes during your workouts. Nuun also has a good amount of sodium (360mg) and potassium (100mg) per serving.

If you haven't tried it, I'd highly recommend it. A tube is pretty cheap, and very portable. Plus, if you place an order from Sports Bistro now, they'll throw in 3 free tablets for you to try (while supplies last). What do you have to lose?

Building a "ridiculous base"

2010-02-23T14:59:00.002-05:00

The topic of base training has been on my mind a lot lately. For this season 2010, I want to focus on the half-iron distance with a minimum of two such races. I also want to do another marathon. Such a race calendar requires a strong base of fitness. But what does it mean "to have a strong base?" You'll often hear things like "oh he ran faster because he had the stronger base." Is this correct? Well maybe... but probably not. I don't think base fitness has much to do with speed, performance, or race results. Base fitness is like the foundation of a building. A strong foundation is an absolute requirement for a tall skyscraper but no one would ever confuse the foundation with the building itself. So what is base training then?

My personal definition of "fitness base"
It's the ability to endure repeated bouts of training and racing. Note my definition doesn't speak of speed or performance. It's mostly about surviving or getting through it -- day in, day out.

Base training thus is the process one goes through to achieve the base necessary for their target race or season. In my experience, many athletes tend to either do too much base or too little. When just starting out, I think most individuals will run at a pace and for a distance that is higher/faster/longer than appropriate for base training. This tends to lead to injuries, burnout, and just a string of bad news.

Enter base training
Base training can solve the aforementioned problem by reducing intensity and increasing frequency. I recently saw one article about doing 30 runs in 30 days (FYI - this is an advanced training approach and not for all) to build a huge base. It's a good read and it sort of sparked some fresh ideas for my own training. A solid base will help you get through a rigorous training season, avoid injuries, and do race after race with quick recoveries in between. While, advanced athletes may be able to get away with a "30 day" base, typically much longer base periods (with more rest) are required for everyone else.

The base training trap
After a couple of months of proper base training you might find yourself actually enjoying training now that you're injury free and that you can complete a workout and not be destroyed the next day. Great news! Just don't get caught in the base training trap of doing this forever. Guess what happens during your race when you train exclusively with base training? (Hint: Reread my definition). Exactly - you end up "just surviving" the race. This goes back to my previous analogy with buildings... the base is not fitness but rather the foundation for fitness. After weeks or months of base training, athletes get used to the slower speeds and intensities and have difficulty (physical or mental) reaching their previous medium or high intensity zones. I see it all the time in marathon runners who run the same pace for a 5K, 10K, or marathon. People seem to lose perception of the various exercises zones / intensities. They become extremely efficient at that one pace and are uncomfortable with anything else, especially with the higher intensity workouts that will actually develop the fitness they are looking for.

So as you go about and build your own "ridiculous base" (I know I will), keep in mind that this is only the first step. What you do after those initial "30 days" or X months will be what actually gets you to your goals. As always, feel free to reach out to us if you're looking for help achieving your goals.

The Recovery Week

2010-02-22T10:59:00.013-05:00

It's late Feb and many of you are probably in the early parts of your training cycle. Others with early season races might be later in their training cycles. In either case, it's important to schedule recovery as part of your training. For the athletes I coach and for myself, I typically schedule a recovery week after every three-four weeks of training. This gives the body a chance to recover and solidify in some of the fitness gains you've made over the last few weeks of training.

How to Design a Recovery Week
For the self-coached athlete, knowing how to design a recovery week is key. And even for those of you that have coaches that schedule your own workouts, it's important to note that recovery takes precedence over any scheduled workout. Don't lose the big picture (recovery in case you missed it) in going out of your way (missing sleep, skipping meals, etc) just to get in that 4 mi run your coach scheduled for you. So here are some things to include when designing your recovery week:

Make sure you quality sleep (8+ hours if you can)
Maintain workout frequency but cut intensity and especially volume. Cutting activity all together could result in detraining!
Take a mental break by pursuing some other activities or sports you like. Just watch the intensity--don't go play 2 hrs of pickup soccer for the first time in 4 months.
Eat proper meals. Less time to work out means more time to eat right. No excuses.
Skip workouts if your heart or mind just isn't in it. You'll feel better the next day for it.
Find time to nap! Take a lesson from your kids or pets. (P.S. This is my personal favorite method of recovery)

How will you know it worked?
The best timed recovery weeks come just before you feel achy and sore and feel like you're losing fitness and motivation. By the middle to end of your recovery week, hopefully those aches and pains have subsided and you're itching to get back out there and train. Good! This keeps the motivation to train high and highly motivated athletes do better. It might even be quantifiably better. It's not unusual to go out there post recovery week, and find that you can run/bike/swim the same courses in less time with less effort (as measured by heart rate or perceived exertion). You might be scoring new critical power records on the bike. Fitness gains are typically not linear... they come in sudden spurts after days or weeks of plateauing.

Some Advanced Topics
How long is a recovery week? For the truly fit, you might find that you only need 5 days instead of 7. Play this in your favor by training hard through the previous weekend and then taking 5 "easy" days. Then schedule some "B" races during the upcoming weekend. You might be surprised how well you do.

Climbing Out of the Off-season

2010-02-16T11:38:00.022-05:00

Shortly after the holidays, I stepped on the scale and discovered that I “accidentally” gained 8 lbs in as many weeks during the off-season.

WHOOPS!

Yes, I did read nutritionist Reyna Franco’s article on Off-Season Nutrition and Exercise. (Says Reyna: “We are not bears who hibernate and need the extra fat to keep warm.”) Though somehow between my third helping of Thanksgiving turkey, my second helping of Christmas ham, and sixth glass of New Year’s champagne, the thought of cutting calories never quite crossed my mind. Not discouraged in the least bit, I’ve since made a few simple changes (other than not eating and drinking like rock star) during my pre-season phase, aka “base training” period, that have done wonders:

Low calorie electrolytes. Instead of drinking very sugary isotonic drinks (like the kind they throw on winning coaches at the Superbowl), I’ve been dropping Nuun electrolyte tablets in my water bottle during training. 360 mg of sodium with only 5 calories. Seems to be working beautifully.
Keeping a food journal. I got this idea from an article by Lee Gottheimer, who lost 70 lbs with simple healthful changes in his lifestyle. Somehow I feel more accountable for what I put into my body when I write it down. I shudder to think what my journal would’ve looked like through the holidays. (Wed, Dec 27th: “Bacon Cheeseburger + 2 Beers + Chocolate Cake… for brunch!)
Fruits, vegetables, and tofu. I’ve been going to town on the greens and legumes. The tofu has also been giving me a good source of light protein. Plus I feel like I can actually workout within an hour of eating.
Afternoon snack. I munch on a Clif bar at about 3pm every day. It keeps my energy levels consistent through the rest of the day and prevents me from bonking if I go for a run after work. Equally as important, it also keeps my hunger in check, which prevents me from eating too much at dinner.

End result: I’ve already lost 2 lbs in the last 10 days! Looks like I’ve plenty of time left to get back to race weight well before the racing season begins. Perhaps I’ll celebrate with a beer! Uhhh… or not.

Got any good tips for dropping off-season weight? Please do share.

Good running form examples

2010-02-15T12:12:00.009-05:00

Many of you have independently asked me about running form, stride length, cadence, etc in the last few weeks or days. I went out to try and find some good screen shots of what makes up good form vs bad.... specifically around stride length since that's been hot lately.

Good example: Scott Molina photo at Gordo's Blog
What's good:

Body lean... his center of gravity is practically ahead of his front foot
Front knee bend... lower leg is almost parallel to the ground
Knee height... look how high he gets his knee up. Increasing the height increases stride length

Gordo Byrn (blog author) happens to be a world class triathlete himself... his blog is lengthy but has many valuable tidbits. Scott Molina is one of the triathlon greats. I like the quote "True running technique is what you are left with when you're wrecked. "

Not so good example: sadly the runner on our homepage
What's not good:

Body lean: very little
Overstride: huge stride... such a stride should be accompanied by a high lean
Front knee bend... by the time that front leg hits the ground, it will create a large angle with the perpendicular, thus acting as a "brake"
Back leg position: it shoots backwards whereas it should be tucked under her body more

Admittedly this runner could be going for a finishing sprint in the 100m where form takes less importance... but it seems unlikely from the context.

Maybe we should offer a Sports Bistro prize (like store credit) for anyone who can get a photo of someone with awesome running form wearing a Sports Bistro team kit.

What kind of sports nutrition do I take during a run?

2010-02-15T11:08:00.006-05:00

This is such a common question, I figure it deserved its own article. Freshly published on sportsbistro.com. In the article I discuss not only what to take, but how often. I also give some examples for common run distances people do. Here's a snippet:

Example 1: 2-hour run
0:15 min before: take one gel and some water/sports drink/nuun
0:30 min in: take one gel and some fluids
1:15 min in: take another gel and some fluids
2:00 min in: take final gel and finish off the fluids

The one final gel is a little known secret for improving recovery. After a workout, you have a limited recovery window of about 30-60 minutes where the body will quickly replenish muscle glycogen using all available fuel sources. Taking that one extra gel will aid your recovery especially if you can't get to your recovery drink in time.

Example 2: 10K race
0:15 min before: take one gel and sme fluids
5K into run: take one gel, fluids and keep pushing harder

The initial gel will kickstart your system. Taking one in the middle will give you an extra boost so you can push even harder in the last 5K. For races of all length I also recommend taking the uber-gel Roctane.

Why is it so hard to ride the trainer?

2010-02-13T16:17:00.005-05:00

Does anyone else have this problem? It always feels so hard to push the pace on the trainer. I did what felt like a HARD workout this morning but when I looked at the data I straddled zones 1 and 2 for most of duration. I hit a few minutes of zone 3 and it felt like sprint triathlon race pace... just plain brutal. Had I done the same workout outside while maintaining the same perceived exertion I probably would have averaged more of a mid-zone 3 workout.

Everyone seems to report the same feeling (though perhaps not quantified by zones, power outputs, etc). Why is there such a mismatch between the perceived exertion of riding the trainer vs riding outside? I have a few theories as to what contributes to this disparity but I want to hear your own too.

Motivation and focus - When you ride outside it's probably either with a group or maybe on a path/road that has other riders. Riding with others seems to add significant motivation. You end up focusing on things like catching that rider or keeping pace with your friends. When you're alone riding the trainer you have almost nothing to focus on but yourself and your own pain.
Highly repetitive motion - When you're locked in that trainer, there's no steering, there are no bumps, and there's no need to navigate around obstacles, react, or switch positions. You're just stuck in that one position doing that same motion over and over. You start feeling every single imbalance... a weird feeling in your hip, a tight quad muscle on one side but not the other, tight calves, etc. The repetitive motion and static position seems to amplify the effect of these conditions.

So tell me... what do you think? I want to hear your thoughts.

Gu Jet Blackberry Review

2010-02-10T23:02:00.007-05:00

Jet Blackberry? What's that you ask? No it's not a new phone... it's something better! It's a new flavor of Gu Gel.

It has the same basic nutrition as any Gu flavor except that it has double the caffeine, much like the coveted Espresso Love. Caffeine is one of the most proven and most effective performance enhancing aids you can get so it would naturally make sense to add another double caffeine flavor to the Gu line up -- I suppose not all people like the taste of espresso after all. The standard Gu flavors have 20 mg of caffeine so one can assume this has 40 mg or slightly less than a half cup of coffee. It would also make it about equal to Gu Roctane's caffeine dosage of 35 mg.

So enough with the boring science stuff... how does it taste? and does it work? It actually tastes quite good... subtle and not overpowering. I normally just use vanilla Gu since I generally don't like taking anything with a strong taste during my intense workouts or races. This seemed like something I could race with though I would still need to put it through an actual race to test it.

So does it work? As part of an informal test, I also used it on a recent trainer ride (nearly feet of snow on the ground in NYC as I type this) . I normally try to do my off season rides without any gel so I definitely could feel the difference of just taking "something." I took one Jet Blackberry gel before my ride and was able to ride one gear higher than I normally do without feeling like I was putting out any extra effort. I realize this is about as unscientific as it gets but who cares... I thought it worked great. My normally slow and boring trainer ride actually felt a little more interesting as I was able to push harder and get my heart rate up a little higher. Next test will involve using it during a 10K race.

Until then, preliminary results are in and I think we have a winner. Give it a try, especially if you've been looking for an energy gel with extra caffeine and don't like the taste of coffee flavored gel.

At long last...

2010-02-06T18:12:00.000-05:00

Finally! Team Sports Bistro now has a blog. We send 100s of emails amongst ourselves talking about our training and racing milestones, failures, favorites, and advice. Embedded in these pearls of wisdom are questions, humor, and some great stories about 5 endurance athletes making their way in these crazy sports. Please feel free to comment, ask questions, and correct us as we go. Enjoy the ride!