Alameda Runners – Get After It!

The individual time trial is known as the ‘race of truth’ for a reason, with each rider needing to face his own weaknesses and overcome all challenges without the help of teammates in the peloton.

Some riders seemingly can destroy the ground beneath them while riding a time trial, while other riders can’t generate the watts needed to find success.

The Tour of California’s 19.6-mile individual time trial (ITT) finished with a brutal 1.7-mile, 950’ climb in San Jose, averaging a brutal 10.6 percent.  Driving up Metcalf Road before the riders came through yielded a steep, long intense uphill that each rider would suffer up.

Tejay van Garderen completely blew apart the ITT by winning in 48 minutes, 52 seconds, which was 23 seconds faster than Vacansoleil-DCM’s Lieuwe Westra and 28 seconds faster than Garmin-Sharp’s Rohan Dennis.

van Garderen is the true US cycling talent of the future, as he has all around cycling skills, a great personality with the fans and press, and is the first generation post-Lance fall out.  While most of the well-known US riders have either tested positive – or were strongly implicated in doping – van Garderen can give us hope.

German veteran Jens Voigt is a cycling legend, attracting swarms of fans wherever he races in Europe or North America.

I’m glad to see Californians greet him so warmly, with spectators and media alike trying to get a few moments with him.

The 41-year-old won a stage of the 2013 Tour of California, and has been on the attack a few different times.

It’s funny to see his response about causing a split in the peloton during the stage he won:  “To cause chaos and mayhem isn’t that a good enough reason?”

I’ve been a fan of Voigt since his early days at Team CSC, and always appreciated his ability to suck it up, grind it out, and sacrifice everything for his team.

Voigt picked up his first win of the 2013 season during stage 5 of the Tour of California, where his RadioShack-Leopard Trek teammates helped destroy the peloton in the wind.  From there, Voigt attacked – which he has done throughout the Tour of California – and

I just posted an article about going from being a desk jockey to running a 5k the other day.  Today, I found a similar article from active.com in my inbox.  Their article is similar to mine.  We both encourage you to get out and do it.  Do not overdo things.  There is no shame in walking.  Slowly build up to the 5k distance.

I am a firm believer in getting multiple opinions and making your own decisions.  It is amazing how many things work well one day and not so well the next.  Read up on things and draw your own conclusions.  Do your best to not come up with excuses to rest.

Acitve.com is a great place for articles.  They are like the Microsoft of event management.  They reign supreme but they know there a lot of options available.  To stay relevant, they have an online magazine and wordpress style blog.  Their blog is excellent.  The articles are well written and pertain to most sports for all levels.  They are a “for profit site” but I have never noticed a bias in their writing.  I give them kudos for keeping the bias out.  I have people send me stuff to review and it is so hard to not cheer on the little guys who are just starting out or the people who contact me.

If you are not a member of active.com, I encourage you to browse around their web site.  It is a good idea to sign up for their service and have your credit card on file.  Some of the events we do sell out quickly.  It is good to be on record when you sign up for these events.

Note: I have no affiliation with Active.com

Getting healthy is hard but it does not need to be painful.  When you lead a comfortable sedentary lifestyle, it can be really hard to get started.  If you make it painful, the chances of you repeating the effort decrease dramatically.  Getting started is the biggest hurdle.  Once you start, take it easy.  You will get stronger as time progresses.

• Do it – Get out the door and take that first step.  Decide when you are going to train and do it.  It is amazing how many excuses we can come up with to skip a workout.  I am currently training for a triathlon.  I am training for more than 15 hours per week and I still look for reasons to skip a workout.
• No pain – I know about the old saying “No pain, no gain”, but that is not always true.  If you get a pain in your side, do not suck it up and keep going.  Relax; there is nothing wrong with slowing down or walking.
• No huffing and puffing – If you are having a tough time breathing, slow down or walk.  There is nothing wrong with shuffling along and getting it done.  You are training to get stronger.  When you are starting out, moving is the primary goal.  Get out and do it.
• Start easy – When I started running the telephones were about 100 yards apart in my area of rural Pennsylvania.  Paradise, Pennsylvania to be exact.  I would run from one telephone pole to the next, and then walk to the next pole.  I would make it about 3 or 4 poles then I would start walking a little bit early then start running a little bit late.  After a couple of weeks of this, I would run for 2 poles then walk one.  Before the summer was over, I could run 3 miles without stopping.
• Distance before speed – Do not worry about your speed.  Work your way up to a distance of 2-5 miles then work on speed by using the same telephone poles.  The same thing happens when you are working on speed as distance.  Working on speed can bring tears to your eyes.  Know the difference between lung pain and body pain.  If you are not sure, assume it is body pain and slow down or walk.  Injuries mess things up.

I know these tips are general in nature.  The idea is for you to find tips from a lot of sources and do what works for you.  Take it easy, have fun and don’t get hurt.  I excel at the having fun part but I am not too good at taking it easy and staying healthy.

Thanks for all of the phone calls and e-mails voicing concerns for my safety.  I did not run the Boston Marathon this year.  As all of the readers who know me can attest, I love running and I love people.  I can’t comprehend why someone would want to harm anyone for any reason.  It makes me sad to see people getting injured.  A lot of my friends have been making comments and asking me questions about peoples reactions and how I would have reacted if that happened to me.

Here are my responses to some questions regarding the bomb blasts at the 2013 Boston Marathon.

Did you see what happened at the Boston Marathon?  First of all, I did not watch the coverage of the bomb blasts.  When I saw it on the news, I turned it off or turned to something else.  It breaks my heart to see senseless violence.

What about the guy who got knocked over by the blast then got up and kept going?  My response is, marathons are hard.  When you get to the finish line after 4+ hours of running, the only thing on your mind is that finish line.  The first two hours of a marathon are easy.  The third hour becomes more difficult because you worry about  your preparation.  The fourth hour is hard.  The excitement from the day before is starting to take its toll on you.  The lack of sleep from being in a hotel and getting up early are starting to wear on you.  The fourth hour, of a four hour marathon is pure hell.  When you are that close to the finish line (a couple hundred yards), the only thing in life is the finish line.

Would I have stopped to help people?  I am not a medic but I am trained in first aid.  I do not know if my training would help, but I would have stopped to make sure everyone was okay.  If I did stop, I would have done my best to help and stayed until released by the authorities.  After I was released, I would have finished the race even if I had to crawl to a finish line that was taken down.

Would I have been upset if I was told the race was cancelled when I was at mile 25?  I would have been devastated.  You have to qualify about a year in advance for Boston.  That means most people have to invest more than two years of training to run the Boston Marathon.

At mile 25, you have been through hell and are running on determination and the promise of almost finishing.  You immediately know you have to stop.  A bomb blast is entirely up to the imagination.  The implications don’t really sink in for a few hours because the body is so fatigued.  I don’t know how I would feel if that happened to me.  I imagine that every thing about it feels horrible for the poor people who were out on the course.

I will stop here because it hurts me to imagine how the people involved feel.  I hope something like this does not happen again.
Mike’s Thoughts:  Sorry to hijack Ted’s post, but I share a lot of the same thoughts … it’s such a tragedy that three people lost their lives, along with those injured in the bomb blasts.  They are all in my thoughts as they face a difficult and painful road to recovery.

I think this would be easier to just share via the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition:

BART will be conducting a weeklong pilot March 18 through 22 to test ending the ban on bikes onboard during commute periods. If the pilot goes well, staff may ask the Board to vote on lifting the bike blackout permanently!

You can help make the pilot a success:

+ Board only if there is ample room for you and your bike. If a train is crowded, wait for the next train.
+ Keep aisles and doorways clear by leaning your bike against the wall. Stack bikes to conserve space.
+ Take care to keep your bike from bumping into others.
+ Yield seats to the elderly and disabled.
+ Be ready to exit before your stop arrives to keep trains on time.
+ Be especially courteous and respectful to other passengers.

During the pilot, bikes will not be allowed in the first three cars during commute periods. As usual, bikes are not allowed on the first car all other times. This allows bikeless passengers the option to ride in a car with no bikes, if that is their preference.

The SFBC and EBBC are looking for station volunteers during the pilot. Please volunteer here:
SFBC: https://www.sfbike.org/bikesonbartvol
EBBC: https://www.ebbc.org/bobvolunteer

There has been great press about the pilot. Please see editorials below.
Oakland Tribune: http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_22621571
SF Chronicle: http://www.sfgate.com/opinion/editorials/article/Bikes-on-BART-a-worthy-experiment-4321914.php

More information from:
BART: http://www.bart.gov/news/articles/2013/news20130214.aspx
SFBC: http://www.sfbike.org/bart
EBBC: https://www.ebbc.org/BikesOnBART

Let’s make this pilot a success!

Bike riders need to be held accountable to bring their bikes onboard BART as safely as possible — and I like that BART and the bike groups have open dialogue — so I want to support both parties.

Here is an old post from October of 2010.  The alamedarunners.com site crashed and took some effort to get it back up and running.  While I was deleting files, looking for the offending file that crashed the system, I found this article.  I liked the magazine.  Most of the article still holds true today.  I think Todd Hellings moved on but one of his early articles was great.

Vincit Magazine is a local Mixed Martial Arts magazine that is local to the San Francisco area, primarily in the East Bay.  It is a new bi-monthly magazine that is that is distributed mostly in the Bay area.  It does not seem like a magazine that would interest runners and triathletes, but I like it.  I will start out by saying that I don’t like MMA fighting but magazine is good for all athletes, especially those in of us in the bay area.  The people featured in the magazine are mostly local and if you are active in the local athletic community, there is a good chance you will run into them.

The magazine is a bit raw and very edgy that caters to a young audience.  It seems that most of the people involved in MMA are are young and a bit raw and edgy too.  I will add that every time I am around the MMA people, they are very nice to me.  I really like the articles and the format of the magazine.  Todd Hellings has a good section on supplements.  He is very blunt but he answers our questions honestly.  When I review supplements, it is mostly on taste and how well I can hold it down.  My reviews are mostly for older, endurance athletes where these are mostly for strength and bulk.  It makes me want to try some of the pre-workout supplements.

Jenna Castillo has a section for workout tips in every magazine.  She is a cute young lady in person but there is nothing cute about her workout routines.  I didn’t know she was a fighting machine until I saw her picture in the magazine.  I am checking out my garage now trying to figure out a safe way to make a TRX setup.  It is also a good idea to take some yoga classes to help you understand the language of the magazine.  It is ironic to think that all of these scary MMA fighters probably do yoga.  I guess physical fitness equates to breathing and strength in any sport.

I thought it was odd having a pretty girl photo shoot in the magazine but the young guys at work seemed to like it.  In fact, they seemed to have looked for the girls first when I broke out the second magazine.

Over all, I like Vincit magazine.  It is a bit short but I all of the articles are interesting and readable for people from any athletic background.  It puts things into perspective when you see high level athletes on TV.  Every one of those athletes put in a lot of time at the gym.  Most of them put in a lot of hard times just getting to a high level in the sport.

SALT LAKE CITY– January 30, 2013- From conception to execution, Utah-based entrepreneurs, Amiigo, developed a Bluetooth low-energy fitness device that will take an ordinary workout experience to the next level. Amiigo, a sweat-proof fitness bracelet and shoe-clip, identifies what exercise is being performed, and details your body’s physiological response. Amiigo soared past its initial funding goal on the crowd-funding site, Indiegogo, and is available for preorder now.

“Athletes are always working to enhance and elevate their workout experience. We wanted to develop an easy-to-use device that helps people personalize their workouts, share data, and even compete with friends,” says Dave Scott, co-founder of Amiigo. “Our fitness bracelet and shoe-clip does it all, and we’re confident you’ll work out better and harder with it. Push yourself and be great with Amiigo.”

Full release available after the jump: Read more… »

We had an early season ride with the SFTri club today. It was officially called the “Season, Kick-Off ride”. I just love having the season kick off ride in January. We had a great turnout of close to 60 people at the start area. With that many people, we were stretched out all over the place. It was a lot of fun to be out riding with people with so many different riding levels. The ride leaders did a good job keeping us all herded together and not getting lost. As people started signing up, the leaders started adding more information to the ride log. The weather was perfect and the company was great.

I rode along with some people from the PacWest triathlon club. They told me about their masters swim program at the Mill Valley High School. I may join them for a swim some day but I don’t think they have a lane slow enough for me.

I stopped at Bicycle Odyssey in Sausalito to replenish my supplies and fix a flat. Tony the alleged owner was great. He did not have to be so nice to someone who is spending $40 to replenish a bike pouch. He told me what kind of rim tape to use, removed the packaging and lent me a pump to fill my tire. The CO2 bottles cost $4.00 each and are made of metal that has to be recycled. Regrettably, I did not take any pictures of the inside of the store. I will take some pictures, the next time I visit them. It is a truly awesome bike shop. We get so used to the big box stores, we forget about the cool shops that are run by great people who sell things at competitive prices.

Full blog post available after the jump:

Read more… »

If shopping for energy gels, the majority of athletes immediately think of Clif and GU, and disregard other products available. I understand the reasoning behind this decision, as gels are typically expensive and athletes often are creatures of habit.

If you’re willing to mix things up and give a new product a try, we may have found something of interest for you.

Vitalyte is a company that you may not have heard much about, but it’s a well established company with products ranging from energy gels and electrolyte supplements to chia seed bars. I recently tested out the Raspberry Vitalyte Chia Surge energy gel, and want to share my initial thoughts.

Full review available after the jump:  Read more… »