Alameda Runners – Get After It!

It wasn’t long ago when golf and tennis were the most popular sports among Silicon Valley executives and uber rich snobs.  A recent Reuters article however, notes a continued trend I’ve seen (and fully support) over the past few years: the rise of popularity in endurance sports among executives and snobs.

There is a stereotype that all nerds are out of shape couch potatoes — and that may be true in many cases — but more CEOs and tech executives are turning to cycling, running, and other endurance activities to stay fit.

Image courtesy of mtc.ca.gov

“It is usually not a six- or seven-hour day, so part of it is, you probably want something to keep you mentally and physically in shape,” said Enrique Salem, Symantec COO, in an interview with Reuters.  “You want to do something that is challenging, that isn’t about running a business.”

The rest of the article can be found after the jump. Read more… »

Running is an activity that some people don’t enjoy because of the stress it puts on the body.  Doctors and physical therapists often times recommend the sport of cycling as a healthy, less physically stressful activity that still provides major health benefits.

This recent Women’s Health article (published on Active.com) lists the reasons why riding a bike is a great alternative to driving, running, or walking around town.  A lot of people who haven’t tried commuting around town by bike don’t realize how easy it is to burn calories even if they’re not dropping the hammer down during a tempo ride.

Christine Mattheis lists the following reasons why pedaling is a great way to get in shape and stay healthy:  It burns calories, you can do it “on go, tones riders all over, helps boost energy, save joints, and provides a full body workout.  I agree with the points she makes, and hope the article helps convince a couple of people to spend some time in the saddle.

I’m currently working on developing my base miles for a journey up Mt. Shasta in early August, and enjoy the physical challenges of cycling.  After a couple of hours of riding, I burn calories slowly but without injury – and recovery is much faster than after a hard run.

The sport of professional cycling continues to battle organized doping and the use of performance enhancing drugs in the pro peloton – an uphill battle that the anti-doping agencies believe they’re winning.

I know it’s extremely confusing and difficult to figure out all of these medical terms related to the drugs and methods behind cheating – and why these practices are banned.

Before I became a cyclist that wakes up every morning at ungodly hours to watch the Tour de France, I honestly didn’t care about the drugs these guys pumped into their bodies.  As my fascination with cycling continued to grow, I began to study the secretive, yet effective art of doping.

To help avoid going through the trouble of trying to explain it, and risk making a mistake, I’ll provide several online resources that are worth reading.  This Wall Street Journal blog goes into detail related to blood doping/transfusions, EPO, steroids, HGH use, and so-called “genetic doping.”

After the jump, I also provide links to a couple of different articles related to cheating…
Read more… »

You remember that interview I published last month with the friendly crew from Athletes HoneyMilk?  If not, here is a link to the interview.  The small company is close to launching several new flavors I hope you’re willing to try out if you’re looking for a recovery drink after a workout.

The “undercover AHM” staff member has struck again — and there is a sneak preview of the new flavors athletes can expect in the immediate future.

I’m especially looking forward to the chocolate flavor, but will try out the Acai-Pom, Coffee, Vanilla, and Honey flavors (for an upcoming HoneyMilk review).

If you are comfortable with running and lower paced runs, it  may be time to add some speed work into your routine. I know how a lot of you like to go out and run as fast as you can every time you run. I always say “slow down and take it easy.”  Today I am going to tell you to pick up your pace.

Today I did a 4 mile run at 10k pace. That means I ran 4 miles at a pace where I would race 6 miles. The 4-mile run today was very painful. I had a few gears left and could have gone a little faster but I was spent at the end of the run. The best way to find your 10k pace is to go run a 10k race. Wearing a heart rate monitor also helps to gauge your overall effort level.  I have been running for 15-20 years and I still wear a heart rate monitor. You should only do this once a week.

Another speed workout I do is called pickups. I tell most people who are new to running to walk from one telephone pole to the next, and then jog from one telephone pole to the next. Alternate this for a few miles. Running speed work is very similar to this except the heart rate monitor is important here. Jog until you get to your medium range heart rate. When you get there, find a telephone pole and go flat out until you get to the next pole. Jog until your heart rate goes back down to the target then repeat. I usually do this routine for about 4 miles and my sprints spread out more and more as the run progresses. My heart rate for this routine is 145 – 155. Near the end, I tend to cheat and pick up the pace slightly as my heart rate gets close to 145. To punish myself for that sloth, I just take off at 147 or where I catch myself cheating. Do this routine no more than once per week.

These two techniques will help you build speed and strength, but remember to recover after these hard workouts. If something hurts, take it easy and skip the higher intensity workouts for the week.

The Tour of California recently ended with an HTC-Columbia victory for Michael Rogers. The new tour dates gave us a surprising level of support for the event.  I’m curious to see what kind of ratings Versus gets from viewership compared to past events, with the ToC reaching its highest point in popularity.

It’ll still be some time – if ever – before the ToC is able to transition to a full grand tour (think Giro d’Italia, Tour de France, and Vuelta a Espana)… but that doesn’t mean it won’t be a future success for American cycling.  Even though Lance Armstrong crashed out of the race, fans still lined the street and mountain sides to support their favorite riders.

A look at the ToC start list shows how big of an event it has turned into — Andy Schleck, Fabian Cancellara, Tom Boonen, Lance, Levi Leipheimer, Mark Cavendish, George Hincapie, and a collection of ProTour teams made the jump across the pond.

Image courtesy of Casey B. Gibson (http://cbgphoto.com)

Even more important was the success of domestic cycling teams during the event, as Team UnitedHealthcare, Team Type 1, and other smaller teams attacked, made it into breaks, and tried to get maximum exposure for their teams.

Team Type 1’s Thomas Rabou (a Dutchman that transferred over from Rabobank) captured the King of the Mountains jersey during the ToC, which is a major victory for the upstart Team Type 1 cycling program.

It’s likely you watched some (or all) of the Tour of California cycling coverage on Versus, but didn’t bother visiting the official Amgen Tour of California website.  It’s understandable if you never thought to visit the site, especially with the commentators being so great at updating us viewers with information.

UnitedHealthcare, which had a strong presence during the race with Rory Sutherland and Marc De Maar constantly in the mix, also offered 12 healthy tips for visitors to the ToC site.

Here’s an introduction to the UnitedHealthcare tips:

Adopting healthy habits in your lifestyle may not always be easy, but we’re here to help. That’s where these tips come in, to give you inspiration and to provide you with some of the basics for healthy living, including important information about health and wellness, exercise, fitness and nutrition. And we gladly support your efforts to reach your health goals by providing tips that can help you live a healthier lifestyle.

Most of the tips are nothing new for athletes, but you’ll find various health tips related to “health and wellness” and “exercise and fitness.”  Even if the tips are fairly basic, you may still pick up some useful tidbits of information.

I am not a big fan of the hot-cold gels.  There is something about putting a chemical on my legs to make them burn that just seems wrong.  The stuff works so I don’t care if it seems wrong.

Biofreeze comes to me with a high recommendation from Dr.  Nejad (chiropractor).  He uses it on my overused muscles all of the time.  He explained how muscles knot up from overuse and how to help speed recovery by massage and the gels.  My younger son has the touch to find the knots and massage them out.

As we get older, our bodies don’t recover from the abuse as well as they did when we were younger.  It helps to do everything we can to help speed recovery.

A massage (more of a rub) on the knots using Biofreeze as a lubricant helps a lot.  The Biofreeze goes on warm and then gets cold when the massaging stops.  For me it gets so cold that I put on sweats after the session.  My legs were sore from the accumulation of this week’s runs.  I was in pain until I got my massage.  Now my legs are just cold and my sinuses are clear from the menthol smell.

I find the sore spot myself, so it can help figure out how to make it feel better.   The person who massages me will apply the gel and find the knots by my reaction to the pain.  After a little while, novice massage people can find knots by looking at the muscles and by feel.  The better your conscripts get at massaging, the better you will feel.  The instructions say “massage not necessary” but it sure does help.  Massages are a bit expensive.  If you don’t want to pay for a massage, get a tube of Biofreeze and a conscript.  Your legs will thank you.

Editor’s Note:  There are different types of Biofreeze products available… we’ll have some things cooking in the next couple of weeks.

Welcome to all of the new people from around the East Bay who have met us on the trails lately and visited the site. We met up with the MPstriders and Lake Merrit joggers and striders.

By popular demand, I have added a contact us block in the header. If you want to contact us, you may either click on the link above or reply to a post.

This blog entry is my review of the French Vanilla Clif Shot Recovery drink that I recently tried out.

The powder smells good.  Mixed with 8 ounces of water, it is drinkable but hard to hold down.  I tried it again the next day using milk instead of water.  It tasted better and was a lot easier to hold down but it was way too sweet!  I carried a sugary after taste in my mouth for the next hour.  Maybe I will try it again with chocolate milk someday.

I don’t mind the calories or sugar except for the taste of the sugar but I wish it had more potassium.  It tastes less bad than most recovery drinks but I have tasted better.  The taste and texture put the Clif Shot into the long duration recovery drinks (Whey protien, Amino acids & BCAA’s)with qualities of a short duration drink (Electrolytes & glutamine).  I leave it with a final vote of OK but I think I can do better.

The mix contains 150 calories, 19 grams of sugar, 12 g of carbs, 230 mg of sodium and 135 mg of potassium.

You could give it a try, but there are better alternatives.