Alameda Runners – Get After It!

When it comes to grocery shopping, you should never believe the hype!  There once was a time (right before I started running, of course) when I would go to Safeway and purchase whatever food, drinks, and snacks I wanted.  I slowly realized how difficult it is to burn calories and fuel my body properly while eating nothing but junk food.

The hardest part for me was going into Safeway and not purchasing all sorts of sugary, unhealthy drinks every time I went shopping.  Let me clarify:  I’m still eating occasional junk food and soda, but it’s much better than it was one year ago.

This article published by Men’s Health (thanks to David Zinczenko and Matt Goulding) shows the best and worst “health” drinks that you’ll find in your local grocery store.  The authors also include “health” drinks that you should absolutely avoid, and why you shouldn’t drink them.  Instead of just listing a bunch of unhealthy products, they also were kind enough to offer up a few healthy choices we can enjoy.

Worst water:  Snapple Agave Melon Antioxidant Water.
Alternative:  Smartwater

Worst bottled tea:  Sobe Green Tea
Alternative: Honest Tea Green Dragon Tea

Worst meal replacement drink:  Right Size Skini Vanili
Alternative: Slim-Fast! French Vanilla

Worst functional beverage: Arizona Rx Energy
Alternative: Glaceau Vitamin Water 10 Revitalize Green Tea

Worst frozen fruit drink: Krispy Kreme Lemon Sherbet Chiller
Alternative: Very Berry Chiller

Worst “health” drink in America: Smoothie King Peanut Power Plus Grape
Alternative:  High Protein Banana

The article lists why these are the worst drinks – and why the alternatives are better – so I’d urge you to give it a read.

The Oakland Raiders, the NFL team we all love to poke fun at, has stepped up to offer $200,000 that will be used to upgrade East Oakland’s Sobrante Park.  The City of Oakland will match the generous $200,000 offer to ensure the field only undergoes one major construction job to make all necessary changes.

it’s great to see the Raiders organization make an effort to help rejuvenate a community that is seemingly in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons.

As part of the park upgrade, the Friends of Oakland Parks and Recreation will oversee installation of a synthetic turf field and upgraded drainage system.

“The Sobrante Park football field restoration symbolizes the 50 year partnership of the Raiders and the Oakland Athletic League,” said Michael Moore, Oakland Athletic League Commissioner, during a recent press event.  “The ‘Commitment to Excellence’ for the youth of Oakland insures that the next generations of young ladies and young men have beautiful places to learn the virtues of ‘Victory with Honor.’ The OAL appreciates the commitment of the Oakland Raiders to student-athletes of the Oakland Unified School District.”

When finished, the new field will cater to an estimated 14,000 city youth — and the Sobrante Park Elementary School and James Madison Middle School — along with organized flag and tackle football teams.

FINIS is a company well known to swimmers and triathletes, as a company that specializes in performance clothing, equipment and gadgets aimed at people who play in the water.  Alameda Runners recently contacted the company to learn more about the company’s products, outlook, and future in the swimming market.

I previously reviewed the FINIS SwiMP3v2 MP3 player for MyCE — a tech site I write for — last year, and am currently working on a review of the FINIS XtreaMP3.1G MP3 player for Alameda Runners.

“With today’s technologies creating an MP3 player is easy, but waterproofing that player and also integrating new sound technologies such as ‘Bone Conduction’ is another story,” Finis recently told us during an interview.  “Our engineers have worked hard to develop our current players, make them extremely durable, and have them be completely waterproof. Their successes only give us more confidence to dive into future electronic devices for swimming. In the end, waterproofing electronics is certainly not easy. ”

Many triathletes who participate in open water swims use wetsuits to help stay warm and increase swim performance.  Some have questioned why FINIS hasn’t branched out to offer wetsuits.

“There are very good technical wetsuit suppliers who focus specifically on their market, and we have close alliances with several of them. However, we have made a conscious decision to focus on our product development strengths in the competitive swimming arena. Ultimately we will look to bring our businesses closer together with other wetsuit suppliers, so that FINIS does not get directly involved with wetsuit production.”

FINIS also outlined its goal in the swim market which, not surprisingly, focuses on creating the newer generation of products designed to increase comfort and performance.

“Our goal is to be on the leading edge of swimming development, and our focus has always been to create products that help people swim better. Swimsuits and goggles are the most common products swimmers purchase, but when they want to improve their technique, they look to FINIS.”

You can read the rest of the interview after the jump. Read more… »

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.