Many times as athletes we spend our seasons in a continual effort to become faster runners, stronger cyclists, more aerodynamic or a bit little more lean. With this continual effort there is a constant stress and strain placed on the body. These stressors can be both mental and physical and either way we are continually digging holes and very infrequently do we take the opportunity to fill those holes back in. Just like a race car has a chassis designed to handle the stresses that the motor can place on it but also the courses that it will race on so too we must prepare our bodies for the training and racing that we intend to do. Now is the time to improve the platform that the rest of this year will be based on and we feel that there are three places you can begin. In the coming weeks we will focus on filling the holes including stretching, structural maintenance and strengthening.
Whether you are a seasoned athlete, a weekend warrior or a first time endurance athlete there is continual room for improvement. Some improvements might be small and some are large but now is the optimal time to monopolize on one or many of these areas to improve. We break these areas down into three key aspects of your training. Planning your future, Intensity vs. Volume and Increasing the accuracy of your training. Building a strong foundation – Just like a house your training has a strong foundation. Most athletes have a beginning, typically where you are right now, and a finish, which most would view as their big event(s). Much like a house has a blue print your training has a plan. Houses and buildings tend to start with the architect that designs the structure to be beautiful and what the final result will or shall be.
Once the spires and ornate fixtures are designed and drafted then the engineers step in and figure out how this beautiful new building will be able to survive the stresses and loads that will be placed upon it. Much like the architect, you design you design what you want your year to look like and then the structure is added to help you stand when event day arrives. Don’t be the building that collapses due to poor design, instead plan now for what your event will be. H.I.T. for fit – We often read articles about winter is the time for volume and hear myths of training in the winter or cold weather will “burst capillaries,” however, we recommend you think about the reality of this. Nordic skiers are the first example that comes to mind. These athletes perform in the coldest conditions possible yet have the highest VO2 max values recorded and prove all the crazy rumors wrong! So rethink your winter training, are you going to do your standard low intensity training in high volume amounts or is it more realistic for you to try High Intensity Training to push your limits and challenge yourself for this winter season? Analyze and realize – Clearly by now you know that the science of training is important
to us, heck it is in our name! Not only do we consider the “science” to be based on the body’s physiologic response to training but we also care greatly about the importance of training devices in your training. We do not make them mandatory for our athletes but we do feel that they offer a great benefit to the accuracy of your training. Whether you use perceived exertion, heart rate, pace or power the key is understanding what it’s strengths are and what the pitfalls of your desired training device are. A greater understanding of these devices and how they relate to you results in one thing…greater accuracy in your training which means greater results! Whether you think you are lacking in one of these areas or all three remember that you must start somewhere. Take time to analyze what you have done previously, see what those actions resulted in and then evaluate how you should handle the future. If you don’t feel confident in this contact us at [email protected] and remember that often the best coaches have someone else coach them. Over years of experience we know that often we are biased, over analyze ourselves and that most importantly someone who has a different point of view can be very beneficial to furthering athletic success!
For many athletes world wide the summer means warmer weather, kids free from school and most importantly vacation. Vacation for so many is a time to relax, spend time with family and most important have fun, however, for many it can also be a bit of a stressor. As an athlete, no matter the caliber, your goals can take a very large precedence in life. You spend hours a week pushing your body to limits that most consider “insane,” you cut calories to either lose weight or maintain weight and you sacrifice family time and sleep to train and race. Often times, the last thing you want to do is take time off out of a fear of de-training or over eating and gaining back that weight you have worked so hard to lose. Step back, take a deep breath and enjoy your time! I know, this is very hard for you type A athletes out there (which is probably most of you), however, a little time off is good for you physically as well as mentally. In fact, for many athletes the time off allows them to come back and handle more physically than what they were capable of previously. Still not buying it? Yea… I still struggle with it too so here are some recommendations to help you get a bit of physical activity and keep all of that great quality time with your family! Plan a vacation with activities involved: I have been blessed with a wife that loves to hike. Not only does this mean our entire family gets to spend quality time together but I also get to be outside and active. It is never super high intensity but it is enough to curb my exercise apetite and see things that you would never see from a car. Also consider things such as snorkeling, a bike tour (not le Tour) or even kayaking/white water rafting. Swim: It might not be your swim workout but you can splash around chase your children or do a cannonball contest. One of my favorite childhood memories from vacations was swimming/playing in the pools with my dad, mom and sister! Stairs: For those of you that these simply won’t cut it then one of the best and fastest workouts is stairs. Almost every hotel has atleast two flights of stairs which will give you everything you need. This is guaranteed to get your heart rate up, have you panting and with how hot stair wells usually are you are guaranteed to work up a good sweat. Most important of all, keep it fun and remember you have made a lifestyle change to better yourself. Just don’t forget that it is possible to work vacations into your training. This is something that we do daily for our athletes and it allows them to place their priorities where they feel they should be. Learn how one of our coaches can help you better fit travel into your training programs. Schedule a consult today or sign up for on of our many coaching packages!
This years TdF has started off with victories from first time stage winners. Today’s Stage win from Jan Bakelants was not only his first Tour de France Stage win but his first sizable win since 2008 when he won the Tour de l’Avenir.
With a career plagued in injury, misfortune and close 2nd and 3rd place finishes it was certainly a well deserved day. Today was no exception for his quality of performance, Bakelants appeared to be one of the strongest riders in the break and did his fair share to help a tough day turn out to be a success. With a hard charging Peter Sagan, Jan Bakelants was able to hold on until the finish line for not only a 1 second victory but also the opportunity to spend Stage 3 in the yellow jersey. The day was not so enjoyable for many people though. The second climb of the day, la Col de la Serra, lead to a great deal of riders dropping of pace including stage twos victor, Marcel Kittel. Even though the yellow jersey will not rest on Kittel’s shoulders for day three he will still be given the honor of spending day three in the coveted green sprinters jersey. With a surprise filled first two stages the remainder of this Tour proves to be nothing short of exciting!
Today’s stage began with a very low key start to the day with Cousin, Lobato, Boom, Flecha and Lemoine off the front early the peloton was at ease to allow them to set the tone for the day. With 45km remaining in the stage, the five man break was all but done with only 90 seconds of a gap between the break and peloton. Within the next 5km the fate was sealed as Saxo-Tinkoff headed to the front and began to push the pace. Quickly to move their GC riders into safety BMC and team Sky moved to the front to take part in the pace setting. With just over 20km remaining the sprinters teams took over the helm and Omega Pharma, Orica-GreenEdge and Lotto Belisol went to work positioning their sprinters.
In the closing kilometers word came to the peloton that some moron stuck his giant Eurobus underneath the start finish line and that the finish would be shortened to the 3km mark. Within seconds the carnage began when a toouch of wheels ended up with Hesjedal meeting the pavement. He and another athlete gave chase as the Cannondale team kept the pace blistering for Sagan. To add more chaos to the mix, the bus was moved and the finish was relocated back to the original finish line. A bonehead move at best, that resulted in even more catastrophe and carnage. With so many on the pavement an unlikely win came from German sprinter, Marcel Kittel, who took his first Tour de France win ever and first leaders jersey.
Involved in the carnage include the likes of Alberto Contador, Mark Cavendish and Peter Sagan. A rough start to 21 days of racing and we can hope for tomorrow to bring some sanity and peace to such a large race.
Wow it has been quite awhile since my last blog post. Here is to a better consistency of updates on my race season. Well last weekend I finally felt like I was back in action with my first Xterra since May of 2012 over 13 months ago! Which race you ask? 2013 Xterra Curt Gowdy!I know what you are thinking were in the world is Curt Gowdy. That my friends is a fabulous question! Curty Gowdy State Park is a hidden gem in midst of the wide open spaces of Wyoming, sitting between Laramie and Cheyenne. To give you a small glimpse of what real wide open spaces look like, here is a shot of the drive to the park race morning.
Race day was absolutely beautiful, not a cloud in the sky and temperature were moderate to warm, much better that they were supposedly last year when the race took place a month later in the year. I was actually nervous for the swim for once as I have only had about 8 swims under my belt since my last triathlon. But luckily working hard the last two to three weeks must have paid off. A couple of Honey Stinger Waffles and chews and I was on my way. I ended up coming out of the water in 1st place with a time of around 16 minutes for a 1200 meter swim. Not a bad start to the morning that is for sure.
Now on to the fun part, the mountain bike! The bike course was rated as a 2009 IMBA Epic Trail system. Basically, that means you better get your butt up here and ride this place because you are missing out on some great singletrack. That also means they have created the trails for mountain bikers by mountain bikers, leading to a fantastic segment of trails to ride on race day. I don’t know what I was most excited about riding my mountain bike fast or getting to try out my new GIRO Helmet and Oakley sunglasses!
I know that words don’t do the course too much just, so here is a snippet of what the course map and ride profile entailed.
After only riding for 67 minutes the bike course was over, quite a shame too as I was just starting to have some fun. However, it was time to wipe the little kid grin off my face and get to the run. Luckily, I had a solid bike with the 2nd fastest time overall and came into T2 in second place only a little over a minute down from 1st.Now for the not so fun part, the RUN! I was a bit worried about the run because I haven’t spend that much time doing actual running. Mainly just riding my mountain bike and having a good old time. That being said I buckled down and hit the first mile hard hoping to wake my legs up from the 13 month hibernation.
The rolling terrain, lack of shade, and the sun beating down on me started to take its toll. On the uphills I tried to just keep one foot in front of the other. However, having a vast array of slick rock incorporated into the singletrack truly made this one of the more exciting runs I have ever done. I just tried to take off and let loose on the downhills and keep my pace up as high as possible. I was pleased to hold off everyone on the run. This my friends is a milestone and step in the right direciton. Because usually I try to just minimize the damage and count the people that are flying by me like I am sitting still. Not today though folks came in at 2nd place overall! This was definitely a great start to the race season and has really recharged my batteries to get some good training during Emma’s nap times.
Big thanks to some of the great folks that are supporting me this season, and helped me through my first race of the year. Honey Stinger, Osprey Packs, Big Agnes, BAP, Oakley, Giro Sports Design, LifeProof, The Adrenalin Project!Next up………….Xterra Mountain Championships in Beaver Creek, COFollow Coach Patrick Here!
Science of Speed, Newton Running Company and Capital City Runners are joining up to provide Tallahassee with a FREE premier running form clinic. Proper running form can increase performance and greatly reduce overuse injuries. Oh, and did we mention that Ironman Texas Female Champion Rachel Joyce will be in attendance. So what will the night entail? Capital City Runner’s owner Kevin Sullivan will discuss how a shoe that is fitted to an individual’s biomechanics can reduce overuse injuries by placing the foot and ankle into the proper alignment. When the foot and ankle are placed into the proper alignment, the knees, hips and back are placed into a better alignment as well, reducing angular stresses at those joints which can lead to many overuse injuries. He will briefly discuss the differences between a traditional running shoe and a minimalist running shoe and the difference between a neutral and stability running shoe. Following a discussion on shoe mechanics, Science of Speed’s Alex Smyth will assist Stephen Pifer from Newton Running Company in taking the group through Newton’s Run Form Clinic. A running form clinic put on by Newton focuses on three things; Posture, Position and Cadence.
Posture: Find your proper posture by standing straight and tall, relaxing your shoulders, and looking to the horizon.
Position: Level your hips and slightly flex your knees and ankles. Relax your arms and bend them 45 to 90 degrees at the elbow.
Cadence: Run in place, with your feet landing as close to your body as possible. Notice how you land relaxed and use your whole foot. Your stride will lengthen as you increase speed, but your cadence should be between 170 and 190 steps/minute for most running speeds. Stride lengthens with improved core strength and stability.
To conclude the evening’s festivities, there will be a Q & A with Professional Triathlete and Ironman Texas Female Champion, Rachel Joyce. Bonuses:
Raffle for a FREE VO2 Max or Lactate Threshold test from Science of Speed.
Raffle for a FREE pair of Newton running shoes Capital City Runners and Newton Running Company.
Demo pairs of the Gravity running shoe from Newton Running Company to try-on and use during the form clinic.
Free food and drinks
So who are these companies? Science of Speed is a Tallahassee based endurance coaching and exercise testing company that uses human physiology and research proven training to personalize and individualize each athlete’s training. Newton Running Company is “a company that exists to inspire the world to run better.” They are a company of runners, teachers, philanthropists and much more. Newton has researched and designed their shoes to provide responsive cushioning and ground-feel to help runners rediscover and strengthen their natural running motion. Capital City Runners is Tallahassee’s premier running store that uses human biomechanics and video analysis to properly fit everyone in the shoe that is right for them. They strive to support, educate and challenge people of all ages to adopt a healthy life style and experience the satisfaction that comes with it.
This past weekend, SoS Athlete, Colin Osborn Raced in Falun Sweden and here is his race Recap!
Wow! What a sweet race! I was already having an awesome time in Stockholm, riding and and sight seeing, but the racing has been really fun. Partly aside from the adventure it was a welcome to return to racing and feeling as good as I did back in March, where I was able to perform how I felt I should. The course it self was really cool, pretty much 3, 20km loops at the Falun ski mountain in Northern Sweden of really fast, fun, twisty and technical mountain biking. The last loop was my favorite, having the most climbing and also single track. The last 2km actually reminded me a lot of riding in Breckenridge and Snowmass, Colorado. In pre-riding I was really enjoying how fast everything and was curious to see how it was going to be in racing.
Race day came, and was off fast with some gavel road sections that kept everyone in a pack for quite some time. In the beginning it was a lot like a road race, people jockeying for position and also trying to keep the pace high. Luckily I was able to stay out of trouble and keep decent position. Once we got off the roads I was struggling to pass people, but was able to move up a pretty good amount. I really went deep in the race, but did feel better and better as the race progressed. On the last lap I really tried to turn it up and go all out in an effort to make up more places and came away in 23rd. I was hoping for a top 20, but, for hopping off a 16hr plane only a few days before and still having some jet lag, I’ll take it. I love racing in other countries and seeing what they have as their race courses. being from Colorado I feel we have a wide variety of terrains and courses, but always fun to check out other ones. Plus, after years and years of watching ski events here at Falun, it was petty cool being able to race here myself, even if it was on my bike 😉
Next up it’s off to Germany for the start of Trans Germany, or Bike Four Peaks as it’s been renamed this year. Up up up! Follow Colin on his blog here!
The general population puts the majority of focus on weight numbers but as endurance athletes our goal is to make our bodies effective and efficient machines. We already push ourselves physically and mentally and many focus on the effectiveness of our weight and bodies’ composition. Power to weight is a great example of this efficiency, making each pound productive in reaching a final goal. As athletes, one of the hardest things can often be maintaining weight during a taper or transition period when volume and/or intensity is low. During these times it becomes more important to utilize many of the tools that are at our disposal including: testing, heart rate monitors, power meters and especially a 3 day nutrition log.
Calculating Your Burn Rate
Resting Metabolic Rate (RMR) is a measurement of what our body would burn calorically if we were completely sedentary. This number is what it takes our body to simply sustain life. There are several things that can alter this including age, weight, body composition, supplementation, medications and stress. Your numbers for RMR can be estimated with many online calculators, my personal favorite being at shapeup.org. If you are looking to personalize it for yourself you can do a resting metabolic rate test, which we offer at Science of Speed. This test gives you precise data that is specific to your own bodies needs and adds a much greater level of accuracy.
HR monitors and power meters can be a good way to gauge our total calories burnt. Heart rate can have it’s inaccuracies, however, it can help you track your trends in training with your weight and allow you to become proficient at estimating your needed calories. If you are looking to add an even greater level of accuracy power meters are an amazing tool for tracking caloric burn through kJ, which correlate roughly 1:1 into calories. Tracking these numbers with RMR, and a calculated estimate of your daily activity can give you very reliable numbers for your overall needs.
Tracking it
By far the most successful thing that I have found for my own personal weight maintenance and many of my athletes’ success is completing a nutritional log. It is certainly something that you can do daily but it can take a fair amount of time. Doing a three day period, including one weekend day, monthly or bi-monthly gives a realistic gauge of consumption vs. burn. I have found two great apps that have lead to great success for many of my athletes. Trainingpeaks.com’s mobile app helps track training and nutritional data and makes it a one stop shop for all of my athletes to see their schedule, upload training files and input their dietary intake. Not looking for something quite so detailed? Another very useful app is MyFitnessPal. It is free, very user friendly and has many great features. With both of these you get the ability scan barcodes, create your own meals and most importantly get a breakdown of calories as well as your percentages of carbohydrates, fats and proteins that you consume.
Maintainence or Loss
Each day’s nutrition can vary drastically. From the long training sessions that lead to high caloric burn and the rest days that result in very low caloric needs so too will your caloric intake needs vary. Much like training, tracking our nutrition can be a very good thing to help take you to that next level but it can be taken to the extremes. A safe approach to weight loss is moderate weight loss (1-2lbs/wk ¹) over an extended period of time and by properly monitoring your nutrition and workload with the above listed tools you can track this very precisely and effectively reach your own weight loss goals. So, take that next step and begin tracking your nutrition. Don’t track the days that you know are your “good” days, instead get a realistic snapshot and take a critical look at it. If it is overwhelming to track your own training progress, nutritional progress and everything else that is involved we are here to help you bring the science to your training and help you make it to whatever your next level may be.
So many people dream of that flat stomach and a shredded six pack and do thousands of crunches trying to improve their core strength. There is one fundamental flaw for this thought process however. Many people spend their days hunched over their computer at work, slouching in the chairs we sit in and for triathletes and cyclists alike, spare time is spent laid out over their favorite bike. This routine leads to the rectus abdominis (abs) being worked frequently and many other important stabilizing muscles neglected. The problem with this neglect is that it leads to an imbalance of weak stabilizing muscles and an underdeveloped core. So what? As endurance athletes our core is what stabilizes the rest of our body to do the work that we are constantly demanding of it. Whether you are on the bike, running or in the pool your core is providing a platform for the extremities to work from and if this is weak we limit our performances before they ever begin. The important part is to remember what all your “core” is composed of. Not only is it the muscles of the stomach but also the back, neck, obliques, hip flexors, glutes, erector spinae and hip abductors/adductors that are in need of attention and strengthening as well. There are many workouts that have been designed to help target these specific muscle groups but the sample workouts below are focused on a handful of them that will work the majority of these groups. Try these strengthening exercises after your next workout and begin becoming a more well rounded athlete Plank– Laying on your stomach lift your body off the ground and support your weight with your elbows and forearms. body should remain straight with knees on the ground. Hold for 30 seconds each time.Supine Glute push up- Laying on your back with your feet on a medicine ball lift your hips off the ground while keeping your shoulders in contact with the floor.Rotational crunch- Assume the standard crunch position with your feet flat on the ground. Raise shoulders off the ground until torso is at a 45 degree angle to the ground. Rotate upper body 45 degrees to each side (hands should go from one side of body to the other.Side bridge- Laying on your side, Support your body with your forearm and elbow. Be sure to keep body in a straight line.Bicycles- Laying on your back in a standard crunch position, raise your feet off the ground by bending at the hips. Make a circular motion in the air with your feet like you are pedaling a bicycle. -Brady IrwinSubscribe to our mailing list
