Braaap is another entry into an already crowded market for sports nutrition. I believe that every new entry into the sports nutrition market helps raise the bar for all of us. The Braaap is certified gluten free but they do not advertise as certified organic. I am more concerned about the organic nature of things than I am about Gluten but the bars are organic enough to make me happy. The bars go for about $3.00 per bar on amazon when purchased in boxes of 12.
The bars go down really well. The name of the game is digestion so this is a big deal for me. I prefer mine with chocolate milk or coffee. If you read my articles, you know I am big on balance. When I stop at a coffee shop, during a long bike ride, I am apt to eat just about anything that looks good. The Braaap bar is a healthy alternative. Anything that I carry has to be able to compete with the Bovine bakery. It does not have compete outright, it just has to be good enough for me to accept.
On to the bar; as I mentioned, they are certified gluten free. I don’t care about gluten. I think we are just switching our flour types from one type of empty calories to another. I may be wrong but I feel that people who are going gluten free to lose weight have to worry about gluten free calories just as much as people who are watching regular calories. A calorie is an energy measurement after all. I digress! The bar is nice and simple with about 10 ingredients. It is tough to make a simple product that has a long shelf life.
The good:
The Braap bars taste pretty good. I like the blueberry and cranberry ones the best.
They do not upset my stomach
The bad:
The marketing – Are the Braaap bars for athletes or sick people?
The price – $3.00 per bar is a bit steep for something that does not advertise the vanilla extract as pure.
The wrapper is not environmentally friendly.
The Braaap bar gets an okay rating from me. The marketing moves the Braaap bar from good to okay. When I see a product with “gluten free” and “natural ingredients” on the front of a package, I am cautious.
The Kling wire clip, officially known as the Klingg – Magnetic Earphone Cord Holder is a nice little head phone wire holder. It is primarily designed for athletes and earbuds but I assume it is handy for the weightlifters among us. The Klingg is nice because it has a magnetic back piece to hold the front piece on your shirt and a great wire gripper on the front. The Kling can be found on Amazon for about $20.
The wire grip section is different from any wire cord holder that I have seen. Most of the clips that I have used require some serious folding of the headphone cord to squeeze the wire through a small opening to lock the cord in place. The Kling has a straight holder that is made out of some siliconized, plastic stuff that acts like rubber. I have no idea what it is but it holds wires well. It takes a little practice to slide the wire into the holder but once you get the touch, you can feed single cords for one ear, both cords or the full cord without much effort. Once the cord is in place, it is easy to move the cord around to set the length.
When I first got the Klinggon, I wondered what I would do with the thing. I don’t like the idea of putting a magnet in the pouch with Ipod and earbuds so I put it on the side of my gym bag. I am a little too old and conservative to hang decorations from my gym bag but I like it there.
Pros:
The magnet works great for clipping to thin surfaces without damaging the material
They look good
I love the colors
It is easy to slide the clip around on any surface where it will stay
It works on swim goggle straps
The ability to position the head phone cord just about any place there is material just about eliminates the cord from sticking to my neck.
Cons:
The packaging is obscene but necessary for a borderline novelty item
The price is a bit high
It takes practice to get the wire into the holder. (this may not be fair as the cord has to be tight to stay in place)
The $20 price tag would normally put this into the upper edge of my price range for something like this but the ability to swim with it and keep my swim cord in place makes this a keeper that is well worth the money. It would make a great gift for the athlete who has everything.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) calls aspartame, sucralose and acesulfame potassium safe. They may be safe in small quantities but consider portion sizes. A portion is 8 ounces and you usually get 1 to 2 portions per day. How many soda drinkers drink 16 ounces of soda per day? Diet soda has a negative image these days. I did a Google search for “diet+soda” (see below for complete list). The top 15 items were mostly negative. 11 of the top 15 items were negative. I am not sure if the chemicals in diet soda are harmful by themselves but I would rather have the sugar over the chemicals. I don’t think soda is harmful if you drink less than 3 gallons per year.
1. Aspartame Facts – familydoctor.org?
2. News for diet soda
3. Sugar Crush: Why Diet Soda Sales Have Crashed
4. Artificial sweetener aspartame is safe in diet soda, European review says
5. Beer, Diet Soda Sales in Mystery Decline
6. Diet soda – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
7. 7 side effects of drinking diet soda – Health – MSN Healthy Living
8. Diet Soda Doesn’t Help You Lose Weight | TIME.com
9. Diet Soda Sales Lose Their Fizz | Video – ABC News
10. Does Diet Soda Really Cause Weight Gain? What Experts Say
11. Diet soda: Is it bad for you? – MayoClinic.com
12. New study is wake-up call for diet soda drinkers – CBS News
13. Images for diet soda
14. Diet soda news, articles and information: – Natural News
15. Diet Coke: Home
There are concerns and studies showing a correlation between diet soda and obesity, diabetes and heart disease. The Internet has amplified fears. Sometimes the raising the alarm is a good thing and sometimes it is fear mongering for attention. I do my best to eat and drink organic products but I am healthy and I can afford organic food.
The stevia plant is the current sweetener of choice by the diet fad gurus. Stevia is regulated by the FDA under “Generally Recognized as Safe” (GRAS) which means the rules of approval bypassed the FDA under the GRAS rules. Hmmm, we went from aspartame that was approved by the FDA to stevia that was not approved but is used under the GRAS provision. I can’t say which is better. I can say that if you have to choose between the two, moderation may be the best choice.
I am a regular reader of Slashdot. They were recently bashing diet pills that are approved by the FDA. I am a believer in things that are approved by the FDA. Congress and big business may push laws through that affect the FDA but I think the FDA does the best they can to look out for our safety and well-being. The diet pills are called Qsymia and Belviq and must be prescribed by a doctor. If that is what it takes to get you started, by all means, go visit your doctor and ask for a prescription and a weight loss program. Going from a dormant lifestyle to a healthy one has to start someplace. If it takes a pill to get you started, take that pill and get started on your way to good health. I am sure your doctor will want you to move to natural alternatives as soon as possible anyway. The cynical people will tell me the doctors want to make money by selling prescriptions but I think it is the patients that want to take a pill to solve their problems.
Don’t take my word for this. Read as much as you can to make informed decisions. It seems like life is a pendulum. If you are extreme in any one thing, you seem to swing the other way and be extreme again in something else. Do the Google search for diet soda and read the links. I am singling out diet coke because they made the list. Contact diet coke and ask them about healthy soda drinking habits. I bet they will give you good answers. They don’t want you to die; they want you to buy soda.
Research and moderation is key. Get started. There is no time like the present.
It is officially the off season for me. Since I did not plan on running a marathon in December, my off season began in October but I kept on training in hopes of another Rapha 500 challenge in 8 days event around Christmas. I tried the challenge two years ago and failed miserably but this year looks promising. I discovered both Rapha and Strava at the same time for that challenge and I am happy that I did. They are both good organizations and I owe to myself to complete the challenge.
Back to the off season training article. Most of us pick an event as our main or “A” event. Sometimes we do two “A” events in one year but we still have the same feeling when we finish our main event. It is a feeling of accomplishment. We achieved our goal or we did not achieve our goal. If we did not achieve our goal, we will either quit or dedicate ourselves to achieving our goal next year. My message here is for the people who achieved their goal and then asked “Now what?” It is a weird feeling when a mission has been accomplished and you have no follow up goal. Most of us find ourselves in this predicament at one time or another. I am bringing this up because I am in the “now, what” stage myself. Here is a list of things I do to keep myself ready for the next season.
Find next “A” event
Maintain core strengths
Lift weights
Swim a mile at least once a week
Ride my bike farther than 40 miles at least once per week
Run close to 10 miles per week
I also like to do a couple trail half marathons during the off season to keep my endurance up
Check your calendar for the last season. Did you get injured? What were you doing before you were injured? No calendar? Create a plan to track your workouts.
Pick your next event
Develop your training plan for the event
Decide what your fitness level should be when the training begins
Picking your next event is usually the most fun part of the process. There are so many events in so many locations; it can be hard to choose. If you are picking one of your first events, it is so exiting when you realize that you are going to be an athlete. I still remember my first race, when the race director raised his bull horn and said “athletes, gather around”.
Developing the plan is not easy. There is no plan that fits everyone. We all have to come up with our own plan. I recommend looking at other peoples plans to use as a reference for your own plan. I do the same thing myself. I can take my own plans from 10 or 15 years ago and tailor them to my current needs. As I get older, my recovery is not the same as it was 15 years ago. My nutritional needs are certainly different from 15 years ago. In fact, the grocery store is different from 15 years ago but that is another matter entirely. I encourage everyone to put at least one rest day per week in their training plans. I tend to be more prone to injury when I am training over 20 hours per week. I used to consider a 2 mile swim day as my rest day. That was not a good idea. Rest means rest.
Whether your “A” event was a couch to 5k or the western states 100, rest up, pick your plan and have fun.
I seem to have daily conversations with people who are ashamed of what they do. Don’t be ashamed of what you are doing. If what you are doing makes you happy, continue doing it. The idea behind life is to be happy. I am not really sure how a healthy life style relates to a long life. I do know that fit people can get from point A to point B faster and they can be productive a point B faster.
Here is a list of recent comments and my thoughts:
“I can’t run a mile, but I try.” All you can do is try. If you keep trying, you will get there. Do not overdo it. Plug away by jogging a few steps then back to walking. Before long, you will be jogging more than walking.
“I only work out 20 or 30 minutes a day on weekdays only.” That is great. Doing any type of physical activity is better than sitting at your desk all day moving files around.
“I want to lose weight.” This is probably the most common thing I hear. My advice is to start small by eliminating the fast food lunches a couple of days per week and bring in food that has not been processed in a factory. I am not sure of the health benefits of food that has been designed by scientists and use chemicals with names that I can’t pronounce but I do know that empty calories can help make you fat.
“I am doing the couch to 5k and now my (insert body part) hurts.” Take it easy. You can take a day off or walk more for the run/walk portion. All pain is not good pain. When in doubt, rest.
“I read on the internet that I should do this exercise, now I have a sharp pain here.” Rest the area that has a sharp pain. Ease in to the aggressive workouts. Do not trust any one source without asking questions. If you can get a personal trainer, get one. If you can’t get a trainer, read multiple articles before you try things. http://www.livestrong.com/ is a great resource. I go there regularly for training and dietary ideas.
Did you notice a pattern? Most people tend to overdo things and pay a price for it. I am no exception. I learned a lot of things the hard way. It is usually best to make small changes that you can maintain. Fad diets and workouts are great at motivating you for a short period but it is hard to maintain the enthusiasm for long. Take it easy and be satisfied.
Saint George, UT – December 9th, 2013 –ENDEVRTM , creators of the MyID medical bracelet and other health and wellness products, has launched their Dear Motorist campaign promoting cycling safety and driver awareness. The innovative brand has partnered with various sponsors, including Bell Helmets, Camelbak, and Shimano, amongst others, to help educate and create a more positive relationship amongst drivers and cyclists on the road. The initiative has been brought to life in a touching short film, which will be used to further highlight their efforts online and through social media.
Dear Motorist invites cyclists and motorists alike, to go to the dedicated landing page at dearmotorist.com, and share their experiences, by either: taking a pledge or writing a letter to be more aware of their surroundings on the road. The campaign also offers those who may have lost a loved one to a road accident the opportunity to share their story, leading up to the global event, Bike Week, starting on May 1, 2014.
Full release available after the jump: Read more… »
The Mizuno Wave EVO running shoes have a flat sole that is designed for a midfoot or forefoot strike. I have the Levitas style. Let me start out by saying that I love to take long strides and strike with my heel first. Although I am a neutral runner, by toes point out slightly. Striking on the outside of the heel wears out the heel quickly and creates a lot of stress on the outside of the leg. Between the stressed out legs and my capacity for over doing things, I am always injured. I took a chi running class that changed my running technique from leaning back to leaning forward. It seems to help. But I still want to strike with my heels. I was browsing around The Sports Basement one day when I stumbled on the EVO running shoes. I tried them on and they were very comfortable. They were so comfortable that I bought a pair.
My new shoes were nice and comfortable for my first run. I did notice that they seem to be about ½ size large. I am not sure if they are big or they feel that way because they are vastly different from regular running shoes. Without the heel padding, I tend to land more on the center of the foot. I did not alter my stride intentionally. It happened because there was no structure to encourage me to strike heel first. I don’t know if it is good or bad to land mid foot as opposed to landing on my heel. I do know that landing on my heel causes stress on the shin and outside of my leg where landing mid sole causes stress on the calf and inside of my knee. My non-scientific reasoning says it is better to work the calf because it is a larger muscle.
If you noticed my comment about landing on a different part of your foot works different muscles, you may be prepared for the consequences of working new muscles. I took my new shoes out for an easy 3 mile jog. About an hour after my run, my calves started to show their displeasure. Wow! I had a lot of sore muscles. I had sore muscles that I did not know existed. There are a lot of muscles below the calf and around the ankle.
I have been wearing the EVO’s for about two months now with no injuries and no worse for the wear. I am used to the long feel of the shoe and wonder if the shoes run big or it is the way I am accustomed to running shoes. My runs have been between 3 and 5 miles with no pain. I did push the pace on a 3 mile run with no adverse effects.
Things to note:
I am a neutral runner with high arches
I do triathlons and run the occasional marathon
I injure myself 2 out of 3 times that I train for a marathon
I replace my running shoes every 300-500 miles
Most of my injuries are running related
EVO’s are cheaper than regular running shoes
EVO’s are light
I love shopping at Sports Basement
If you try minimal shoes, start with easy runs
So far, I like the EVO’s and consider them a success. That may change when I get up to the 15 mile runs but I will remain optimistic.
I ordered a new pair of minimalist shoes to try out. They are still sealed in the garage. I forgot who made them but that is part of the fun for reviewing things. I hope they are close to Mizuno shoes for comfort and better for fit. Amazon has them for about $110 but you can find them for $80 at Road Runner sports. If you have not been to a running only store, I highly recommend it.
Locking your bike is important and should be done anytime you’re parking your bike in a public place. Unless there is a bike valet service – or pay-by-the-minute bike lockers – you’ll have to just lock it up outside.
Here is a quick video demonstrating the proper way to lock a bike:
Additional tips and links available after the jump: Read more… »
A friend recently purchased a 2014 Specialized Sirrus Sport Disc hybrid bike from the Mike’s Bikes of Berkeley store – and that enjoyable experience will come in a separate blog post. I wanted to briefly discuss the “Mike’s Bikes 5-Year Service Policy” that is available to customers purchasing a bike from Mike’s Bikes.
The 5-year service policy costs $150 and customers need to enroll in the program within 90 days of bike purchase.
There is a wide list of services covered, including a ‘Comp’ tune up (gear adjustments, brake adjustments, wheel truing, etc.), along with changing a flat tire, derailleur adjustments, brake pad labor replacement, and so on. It’s nice that labor charge for chain replacement, brake pad replacement, and other adjustments also is included in
Take a look at the full list of the benefits available here.
Some people will look at the program and not show any interest, while many of you probably would be interested in this type of service. If you are in the market for a new bike, I highly recommend inquiring if your local shop offer some type of similar program.
These are the types of programs that separate good bike shops from great bike shops – Mike’s Bikes, Sports Basement, and other reputable bike dealers should provide some type of follow-up support new customers can enjoy in the future.
There is a certain learning curve that beginner bike riders must deal with as they become familiar with riding, and fixing a dropped chain is one of those things.
Here is a short video that outlines three different ways to fix a dropped chain – two of which can be done while still riding – and is an important lesson for beginner bike riders:
After it happens a few times, and you become more familiar with your bike, it’ll be easier to quickly (and cleanly) put your chain back on. Keep pedaling and be safe!
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