General Fitness

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Apple Nano & TikTok + LunaTik – coolest watch ever?

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

For a geek like me, running gadgets are hard to resist. GPS watches, heart rate monitors, running belts, iPhone in armband, earbuds… I own them all and not surprisingly, I’ve run with them all… at the same time.

iPod Nano and Nike+

TikTok LunaTik band, multi-touch iPod Nano 6G & Nike+

Maybe it’s the barefoot craze and the notion of going lighter, I’ve talked about going lighter in the past, but never did anything about it. Well this season I put my robo-cop runs behind me and the only gadget I need is my Nike+ and iPod Nano 6G.

I’ve been running with my wrist-mounted Apple Nano for about a month now and can only find a few drawbacks. First, I like to overlay my runs on maps from time-to-time (especially when I travel) and without a GPS (or an iPhone equipped with GPS and an application like NaviGadget) I’m not sure if it’s possible. If anyone knows of a way to do this please leave a comment! The second drawback is that I’m forced to wear headphones when I run. With my iPhone I can put it in my armband upside down so the speakers face upwards. With the volume turned-up, it’s perfectly loud enough to hear without the need for headphones. There are very small speakers out there, but the current designs are not ideal and anything smaller would probably not be able to generate the volume needed.

For my purposes, the good outweighs the bad and there are plenty of features the Nano and Nike+ offer that replaces the need for multiple gadgets. For instance…

  • The Nano has a built-in FM radio that works remarkably well
  • The Nano has a built in Pedometer to track your movement all day long
  • The Nano allows you to listen to Podcasts (which I love for longer drives)
  • The Nano has a very simple interface that makes it easy to retrieve run data at the push of a single button

Beyond the benefits of the Nano as a running device, coupled with the stylish LunaTik watch band (starting at $79.95 USD*), it also makes a great everyday watch. I’ve received numerous compliments and have persuaded more than a handful to buy their own. The TikTok bands are nice enough to wear when you’re dressed up and they have recently introduced new models like the Black version (which I totally want). Speaking of colors, the Nano allows you to alternate between a black or white watch face to match your outfit – hopefully one day they’ll add more colors!

* The TikTok models are also very sporty and start as low as $39.95

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced running watch, look no further than the iPod Nano 6G with a TikTok + LunaTik band and the Nike+ system. It’s a light, easy-to-use and stylish set-up that will track all your runs and more.

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CEARead: 2 mins

One-third of U.S. consumers plan to purchase fitness technologies in 2011

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

A new study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA)® “Getting Fit With Consumer Electronics” reveals that approximately half of U.S. online consumers used a fitness technology in the past year, and 37 percent anticipate purchasing a fitness technology in the next 12 months.

That fitness technologies help keep us motivated probably isn’t news to many of my Bitness.com brethren, but according to the study, 76 percent exercise alone (without the guidance of exercise professionals), and 74 percent of consumers exercise at home. Those are both good reasons to use technology to help assess fitness levels, set realistic and achievable goals as well as track the amount of daily physical activity. Our gadgets also help us to monitor calorie intake, track progress on fitness goals and ultimately help make the journey more fun and engaging.

“Fitness technologies can play a significant role in motivating consumers,” said Rhonda Daniel, manager of market research at CEA. “Compared to consumers who are not using fitness technologies, consumers who use these devices view exercise more positively, and are more likely to enjoy exercising and to view it as important to their health.”

CEA’s “Getting Fit With Consumer Electronics” presents the findings of an Internet survey administered to an online national sample of 1,303 U.S. adults between July 26 and August 5, 2010. The study was designed and formulated by CEA Market Research, the most comprehensive source of sales data, forecasts, consumer research and historical trends for the consumer electronics industry.

Source: Full release

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Read: 6 mins

Heart Rate Training

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Reading Time: 6 minutes

Okay, let’s just see a quick show of hands… How many of you already own a heart rate monitor of some description? Okay, quite a few of you. Alright, keep your hands up if you know how to use your HRM?  Hmmm, okay, a few hands went down. Quizzical looks on a lot of faces are telling me that a lot of you sort of know how to use your HRM, but are not sure.

Okay, one more round of questions, then: How may of you know about heart rate training zones? Okay, quite a few of put your hands up. Now, keep your hands up if you know about your heart rate training zones, as in your Max HR, your Aerobic Endurance zone, your Tempo zone, and so forth.  A few hands went down, but some more quizzical looks on faces.

You see, the problem is that, before I go and recommend which heart rate monitor you should buy for your training, I have to acknowledge that there is a lot of confusion and margin for error in this whole area of training with heart rate zones, which is why most of us buy an HRM.  So, I am afraid I feel the need to bore you with some explanations, in an attempt to clear up some of that confusion and reduce some of that margin for error. Then, we’ll get to the gadget stuff in a few minutes.

Heart rate training zones
If you read some of the web sites, magazine articles, books or HRM owner’s manuals, it sounds like heart rate training zones can be calculated fairly quickly and then you can head off to do your exercise, confident that you are targeting a specific type of fitness. But, they’re not so easy to calculate accurately and most calculations that don’t involve a scientific test (usually something like a VO2max test) are going to be prone to a lot of error. Problem is that a VO2max test can be expensive ($100-200 or more), can be time consuming (about an hour in total), and require specialists to conduct them. It is sooooo much easier just to follow the “typical guidelines” and then get started than it is to find the time, money and appropriate specialist to do a VO2max test.

But, let me give you an example of how badly you can get it wrong if you follow some of the “typical guidelines”. Many will tell you to take the number 220 and subtract your age if you want to estimate your Maximum Heart Rate for running. So, a 45 year-old guy like myself should have a maximum heart rate of 175 beats per minute (bpm). Except, my Max HR was tested on a treadmill last year (need to get another test done this year, sorry for the old numbers) at 188 bpm. So, if I follow the “typical guideline” and decide I want to target a tougher training zone for intervals on the track, they tell me I should train at 80-85% of my Max HR, or a Tempo training zone of 140-149 bpm. Which would be completely wrong for me, because I found out last year that my Tempo training zone is 151-161 bpm (80-86% of Max HR). The 140-149 bpm zone would be totally counter-productive for me – not hard enough to be improving my speed or power, but too hard to develop aerobic endurance, and I would not see the kinds of fitness gains I had hoped for if I followed the “typical guidelines”.

So, if you want to take this stuff seriously, then get a VO2max test done by an experienced professional and get more out of your training and your HRM.

The other approach you could take would be much less expensive, much more time-consuming, require you to listen to your body, and won’t give you any useful numbers for a while. You could use a heart rate monitor and write down your heart rates at key points in your work-outs (you’ll have to talk to your coach about this for more specific details), and then after several months of regular recording of your numbers, alongside your pacing and Rates of Perceived Exertion, then it might be possible to estimate your personal heart rate training zones.

Heart Rate Monitors
Well, the good news is that you don’t need to go out and buy the latest and most expensive HRM on the market. Of course, the latest and most expensive HRM on the market might have all the features you’d really like to have in an HRM (GPS mapping for speed, distance and route maps, downloadable to your computer, totally waterproof, extended battery life up to 20 hours, perfect for iron-distance triathletes…), like the Garmin Forerunner 310xt pictured to the right there ($300-400). But, there are also plenty of lower priced heart rate monitors that do a great job and cost about 1/4 the price.

So, what would I say are the most useful minimum set of features that an HRM needs to have?

  • Measuring heart rate reliably (well, duh!)
  • Stopwatch with lap counter (total number of laps depends on what you’re doing, really, but the more the better for long-distance people who might want to know their mile splits on a marathon, or perhaps their lap splits for a long track session)
  • Interval or count-down timer (useful if I say, want to do some fartlek with a burst of speed for 100 strides every 4 minutes, or something)
  • Waterproof to 50m (for those of us who also like to time our swims in the pool, not necessarily with HR, but still handy to be able to use the stopwatch with lap counter fully submerged in the water)

My favorite heart rate monitor in the “entry-level” category, that fits all the criteria mentioned above, sadly, is not made any more. It is a Nike Triax C8, it cost me about $80 five years ago, and it still works brilliantly to this day. Sadly, Nike seems to be more focused on footwear and watches that make fashion statements and I could not find any new HRMs currently available that I would recommend.

However, Timex do make some HRMs that are very reasonably priced and seem to have all the features mentioned above. I owned an Ironman-branded Timex watch before I had the Nike Triax HRM and it was very good value for money (but it was not an HRM) and lasted through my first 3 years of triathlon training in all kinds of water, weather and conditions. The Ironman Race Trainer model, pictured to the left, seems to be a very good one with all the features you might need to get started (and it can cost a lot less if you buy it on Amazon).

Garmin also do some very good models that are not as expensive as the 310xt. For example, I own a Forerunner 305 (the one pictured at the top of the article on my wrist) that costs about half of what the 310xt costs and is great for long runs. It is not water-proof, so I can’t wear it when I swim, and the battery life is only estimated for 8 hours, so I can’t use it for iron-distance training or racing situations. But, it has been so useful to have GPS distance and speed measurements available for the lower price.

More information, advice and selection
There are still a lot of other factors you may want to consider when buying and HRM. Is the heart rate strap compatible with your turbo trainer? Your treadmill? Your cycle computer? Will it work with Nike+ and iPod accessories? Other gadgets you might use in your training?  How does it feel when you are wearing it (the Garmin HRMs shown here in this article are very bulky and uncomfortable)?  These are also important questions to think about, and don’t make your purchasing decision any quicker or easier, but can make your usage of the HRM a lot more beneficial in your training.

HeartRateMonitor.co.uk is an excellent resource for people in the UK, and HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com for people in the US, who want to learn more about heart rate monitors, features, and objective product reviews, alongside an impressive range of products for sale on their web sites.  So, check them out, too, and get as much information as you can handle before making your purchase.

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Powerstrap_350Read: < 1 min

Orca PowerStrap powers your gadgets when you need it most

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While Wonder Woman’s Amazonium bracelets were useful for deflecting bullets, they won’t charge an iPhone or a Nintendo DS. It’s because of this simple fact that we recommend the Orca PowerStrap in lieu of the bullet blocking power coveted by the Amazon women of Paradise Island.

The Orca PowerStrap is a battery pack disguised as a watchband. It has a USB plug that will let you charge an iPhone, iPod, Nintendo DS/DS Lite/DSi, PSP and mobile phones from Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Nokia, Blackberry, LG and other devices through a USB connection.

To illustrate the amount of power provided, the Powerstrap (which reportedly takes five hours to fully charge) can provide up to 3 hours of talk time, or 8 hours of audio playback. It has four LED indicators that let you know how much battery capacity remains.

While it’s expected to be available in a number of colors (including red, yellow, green and blue) only black is currently available as far as we can tell. You can purchase it through IWOOT for $65USD for your favorite power-hungry gadget geek (or amazon) this holiday season.

Posted by: Lawrence

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stopwatchRead: 4 mins

Sports nutrition tips – when to eat

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Okay, you can see the article below with tips on what to eat, but perhaps the toughest part is figuring out when to eat. It’s tough because it’s going to be more personal and there are fewer general rules for you to follow. You really need to listen to your body to get it right in this area, and it may take a lot longer to get it right for you. But, let’s see if we can give you some good guidelines to get started…

stopwatch

Eat something about 1-2 hours before exercise

Probably the biggest and silliest mistake made by most people I have coached is not eating enough to fuel their activity. Maybe they got into triathlon or other sports because they want to lose weight and so they think, rather simplistically, that they should eat much less and exercise much more. It sort of makes sense on paper, but if you wonder why you are dragging your ass around at the gym or on the bike or in the pool, then it’s probably because you can’t perform well on an empty stomach. Simple as that.  You need to eat. Just eat well.  See the article below “-what to eat”.

If you are exercising later in the day, then work backwards from your planned training time and get in a decent meal – not a huge meal – so you have enough food to fuel your session, but make sure that your stomach will be comfortable by the time you exercise. Some people will need more time before exercise than others. And allow for whatever digestive responses may occur when you eat something substantial, so that you are not always left feeling desperate to find a toilet in the middle of your training session.

If you are really serious about your training and you are training early mornings, then make it a part of your routine to get up at least an hour earlier to eat something.  It may not always be easy or convenient, or possible, but you might also be surprised to see how much of a difference it can make if you try it out some time. A little advanced planning can really help, too. I like to soak some oats, yogurt, fruit and honey all together in a bowl over night, so when I get up early the next morning it’s ready and waiting for me.

It also depends on what sort of exercise you plan to do and when. For example, if I am going out for a long bike ride early in the morning, I find that my stomach can tolerate a lot more food intake closer to the time of setting off on the ride than, say, if I were going off on a long run or a hard swim session.

Drink something 15-30 minutes before exercise

This is true throughout the day, but especially true if you are in the habit of getting up early to train first thing in the water bottlemorning. It’s just as silly to train on an empty stomach first thing in the morning as it is at any other time of the day, but I’m not going to preach too much at you and say that you need to get up at 5am to eat breakfast every time you want to run at 6am. Perhaps you can get up just 15 minutes earlier and have something to drink.

Smoothies, yogurt drinks, milk, chocolate milk, soy milk, fresh-squeezed fruit juices, or sports drinks are all decent drinks to get in you, and can provide some of the nutrients you will need for your exercise.  Again, make sure you are well-hydrated, but also make sure you are not over-doing it and bursting for a pee in the middle of your session.

Drink while you are exercising

Any activity that you do that elevates your heart rate and has you sweating, even a little bit, will be aided by continuously drinking throughout. Little sips and often. Not waiting until you are thirsty. You know the drill (if you don’t, then read the article below). And, if it is a reasonably high intensity session, then you probably want to drink more than just water. A sports drink or anything with a little sugar in it and some salt will do. You need to replenish energy stores and lost salts and minerals as much as you can while you are training.

One more thing: you need to drink even when you’re not aware that you’re sweating. For example, I sometimes see people swimming quite hard or long swim sessions without anything to keep them fuelled up during their session. People! You do sweat when you swim, you just don’t notice it! And, if you are training in the winter time when it is cold out and you are not sure if you are sweating, you probably are. So drink then, too.

Eat and drink when you are done

Your muscles will thank  you, your joints will thank you, and you will aid your body’s recovery if you can get some carbohydrates to replace lost energy stores and some protein to help rebuild muscle tissue. Despite what some may claim, there is not yet any scientific basis for a specific ratio of carbs and proteins (4:1, I’m talking about you) or an “optimal window” of recovery (that whole 30-minute business is anecdotal, which is perfectly fine, but not scientifically proven).  The only thing that has been scientifically proven is that you should eat “some carbohydrates and some protein” after exercise to aid recovery. So, that must be why I always crave a peanut butter and nutella sandwich after a training session. On wholemeal bread, of course. With some soy milk. Yep, that’s my favorite post-workout snack.

The longer your activity, the more you will need to replenish your body and keep eating and drinking steadily. Not eating a huge meal, and not using a long tough session as an excuse to binge on chocolate and potato chips and ice cream.  Just keep eating well, little and often.

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smallmealsRead: 5 mins

Sports nutrition tips – what to eat

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Right now, I have a lot of triathletes I am working with on their Annual Training Plans and laying out their training and racing goals for the year. Pretty much everyone has been asking me about what they should or shouldn’t eat and when they should or shouldn’t eat it. So, let’s see if I can answer most people’s questions in one go.

Tips for good sports nutrition are pretty much the same tips people will give you for healthy eating in your normal, day-to-day life. But, if you are planning some special sports activities or training plans, then there are a few extra points to bear in mind. Let’s start with the basics:

Several little meals throughout the day are better than one or two big meals

Big meals will often lead to over-eating, bloating, feelings of lethargy and sluggishness. Big meals are harder for your stomach to process and harder for your body to absorb all the nutrients you are feeding it. They are also sending your brain and body the message that every meal should be “super-sized” and you might end up only feeling satisfied when you over-eat. Small meals are easier to digest and absorb, and will leave you with less feeling of being bloated and sluggish.  When you are training well and regularly, you will probably need to eat more to fuel your work-outs, so you should try to do that by eating more often in small quantities rather than eating much larger meals.

Drink little and often
Drink water, people, water – not beer or wine or vodka.  This is basically the same thing as the statement above, but applied to drinking. Again, if you take small drinks throughout the day, little sips when you are working out, it will be much easier on your system. For example, let’s say you follow a generic guideline that you should be drinking about 500ml of water every hour when you are running, do you think it is better to (a) take little 100ml sips every 10-12 minutes or (b) drink all 500ml in one big gulp?   This leads on to Tip #3…

Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink, don’t wait until you are hungry to eat
Thirst is typically a sign of dehydration, which means if you wait until you are thirsty then you are already a little too late, and you’re playing a difficult game of catch-up. Once you are dehydrated, your blood is starting to get thicker, it is transporting nutrients around your body less efficiently, your muscles may be more likely to cramp up, your joints may be more likely to ache or swell. It takes time for that water to get into your system, and it is basically the same thing for food. Hunger is a sign of not having enough nutrition to fuel your activity. So try and think in advance and follow those rules above.  It is hard to get it right all the time, and it will require that you really listen to your body, make small adjustments over the course of several months, perhaps years, in order to try and get it right more often.

Get at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day – every day

Hell, go for 9 portions a day, just to be sure. Honestly, how many of you out there eat enough fruits and vegetables, anyway? How many of you think that ketchup on your fries counts as 2 portions of veg?  Sorry, potatoes don’t count, and you knew ketchup didn’t count, either. And fruit juices made from concentrate don’t count. And jam on your toast or an apple pastry doesn’t count.  Smoothies, they’re pretty good.

Dried fruit is not bad (but, be careful, a lot of them have a lot of added sugar). Salads are great.  Soups can be good (again, be careful as many prepared soups have a lot of added salt). Of course, fresh fruits and vegetables are the best. Carrots as a snack, celery, cut-up pieces of broccoli, cauliflower, or other raw vegetables are really, really good. Cooking vegetables, unfortunately, does drain some of the nutrients out of them, but they are better than not eating any vegetables.

Try to cut down processed carbohydrates

If there are any “paleo diet” people out there, I’m not going to get into the whole murky business of carbohydrates with you. My understanding and personal experience is that carbs are an important food group and you need them in your diet, especially if you are training regularly. Whether you agree with that statement or not, at least we can probably agree that the less processed a carb is, the better it is for you. Less processed carbohydrates will be slower-burning, have less of an insulin spike associated with them, and have a little more of the other things you need, like fibre, vitamins, minerals and protein.

So, brown rice is better than white rice, wholemeal/wholegrain breads are better than white breads, wholewheat pasta is better than the more processed pasta.  Sometimes the differences aren’t huge, but usually they’re noticeable.

But, remember, just because it looks brown doesn’t mean it’s always better for you – some brown bread is often just white bread with something added to change the color, so look for wholemeal and whole grain breads, not just brown bread.  Brown sugar is often just white sugar with molasses added to it, so just don’t put so damn much sugar in your coffee or on top of your healthy Weetabix/Shredded Wheat/muesli/oatmeal/yogurt.

Go for lean protein sources
Probably the leanest sources of proteins (depending on how you cook and eat them) will be vegetable-based proteins like soy beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, pulses and other types of grains (quinoa, for example) not mentioned in the carb section above. Dairy is a pretty good way to get protein, too, with even whole milk only containing 4% fat (watch those fatty cheeses, though).  Tuna is a very lean source of protein, depending on how you eat it (not if it is drenched in mayonnaise in a tuna salad, for example). Chicken and turkey are good, too. Lean cuts of beef, pork and lamb are good, too, and contain other vital nutrients, so don’t interpret all this as me telling you to go and become a vegetarian (or one of those infuriating people who say they’re vegetarian, but eat chicken and fish…?!?!?).  Just look more closely at what you buy. Some sausages, for example are only 45% meat, while others are 85% meat. Some ground beef contains 22% fat (chuck), but some only has 5% fat (sirloin). Read more labels.

Follow the 85% rule
If you are careful about what you eat 85% of the time (say, roughly, 6 days out of every 7), then you can cut yourself some slack the other 15% of the time. Food is enjoyable, food is fun. Every great culture has acknowledged the importance of food in social interaction, celebration and the enjoyment of life. So, enjoy your food, but don’t mindlessly stuff it down until you can’t possibly stuff any more in.  And think about it a little more, but don’t obsess over it all the time, either.

With all these tips here I am certainly not saying that you should be a purist or a health nut.  I think you’ll find that these tips I have given you are mostly common-sense tips, nothing terribly dramatic required of you to follow them and get yourself on the way towards eating well and fueling yourself properly for good exercise and training routines.

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yurbudsRead: 2 mins

Yurbuds: Performance Enhancement Earphones

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

I’ve always marveled at how small retired NBA basketball and now actor John Salley’s ears are. Truth is I have small ears too – not as disproportionate as Mr. Salley’s who at 6’11” has ears the size of nickels, but small nonetheless.

Having small ears was never a big deal back when headphones were worn over the ear, but most headphones today (and Bluetooth headesets) are of the earbud variety and for people like me and JS, keeping earbuds in your ears, particularly when sweaty from working out, is damn near impossible.

Yurbuds™ have an earbud system that caters to people of all ear types and is specifically designed to keep the earbuds in your ear even through intense physical activity. Yurbuds are two soft rubber ‘boots’ that fit over the provided ‘Apple-style’ earbuds, but can be used with other earbuds or headsets as well. The Yurbud has a small funnel of sorts that fits into your ear canal and the outer-ridge of the Yurbud is grooved, helping them stay in place – even when sweating heavily.

When you order your Yurbuds you submit a picture of quarter placed just below your earlobe. This helps them determine the size of your ear and fit you correctly to Yurbud for your ears. In all my tests of the Yurbuds – running in near 80F+ degree heat for an hour, the Yurbuds never moved and never bothered me. I also got caught in a thundershower on a run (never fun) and again, the Yurbuds hung in there and Mishka kept signing me up the hills and back to my home.

Because Yurbuds are comfortable over long periods of time and stay in place even while sweating, they’re perfect for runners, bikers, and amateur athletes who are looking for a headphone solution you barely even notice.

Priced a very reasonable $29.99, Yurbuds are the perfect solution for anyone looking for headphones that stay in your ears regardless of how much you sweat or for anyone just looking for a more comfortable earbud from prolonged use.

Posted by: Lawrence

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cwx-tightsRead: 5 mins

Recovery & Reflections

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It’s coming up to the 4-week mark after my first iron-distance triathlon and I’ve had a lot of time to reflect on the recovery phase after a big race. 4 weeks feels like about the right amount of time to recover from a long-distance race and get back into training again at some point.  I didn’t do everything I was “supposed” to do these past 4 weeks, but I’ve done a few things right and learned a lot in the process.  It all goes back to some things that I did differently on race day that have helped me to recover quickly…

During the race

cwx-compression-socksOn the run, I wore compression socks.  I think that made a huge difference (not to my running speed, obviously, as there were snails over-taking me on the run), if only because they helped make sure I didn’t get any blisters that day. I think the nylon “Kinesio-Taping System” or whatever they call it helped keep my feet dry (better than cotton socks ever would have) and my legs well-supported.  WARNING: if you have never worn compression socks before and you wear them with shorts, you WILL look like an idiot, or at the very least like an old man worried about varicose veins.  They are not flattering, you will probably want to crop your legs out of the race photos at the finish line, but I believe it is a small price to pay for stronger, healthier legs.

I also took Endurolyte salt and electrolyte tablets during the run (about one tablet every 30-40 minutes).  They were recommended by a friend who did the same race last year and they seemed to help me avoid any significant cramping on the day. That may also have been due to the excellent support provided by Race New Forest on the run section or the fact that I ended up walking about half the run course, but they sure seemed to help keep me going on the day of the race. I imagine that the dehydration would have been a lot worse without the Endurolyte tablets.

Right after the race
As soon as the race was over, I kept drinking water and sports drinks throughout the rest of the day.  I also started eating as soon as I could (stretching, shower, more stretching, clean clothes, then buffet dinner laid on by the organisers). I kept stretching and drinking water in the car on the drive back to London (about 3 hours). Then, I got a really good night’s sleep and prepared to fly to the US the next day.

cwx tights When I got up the next day, I put on my CW-X compression tights, underneath my running trousers, to wear on the plane.  And, I gotta tell you, as I walked downstairs to put my bags by the front door and get some breakfast, my legs were INSTANTLY feeling better. I mean, I’ve done dozens and dozens of races over the past decade, triathlons, everything from 5k up to ultra-marathon, and my legs are always aching the day after a challenging event.  But, I have never worn compression tights the day after a race before, and this time my legs felt 90% recovered!!!!!  It was a revelation. It meant that they didn’t hurt very much on the flight going over, I could walk normally, and I felt like I could even start training again that same week.

Walking. That’s always a really good thing, too. Lots of walking. When my legs are tired and aching and sore, sometimes the last thing I feel like doing is anything that involves my legs. Maybe some swimming. Maybe some light cycling around town. But, I usually don’t feel like walking and I certainly don’t feel like running. But, I have discovered that walking can be the best thing for your tired and aching legs after a race. Light but brisk walking. Lots of it. Keep the blood moving, use the muscles in small ways, get the body used to some activity again. Lots of walking.

The weeks after the race
Do as much or as little as you feel you can. Don’t push too hard, avoid higher impact, higher intensity stuff. But, do some exercise and get your blood moving again.  Just don’t over-do it. Remember that most fitness adaptations take place during the Rest and Recovery stage. That’s right, you gain more fitness when you are recovering than when you are doing the actual exercise. While you are resting, your muscles and blood vessels are adapting and growing in new ways to allow you to do even more next time. 

Do you know when your body secretes the highest levels of growth hormones to repair the muscles and make them stronger?  When you are sleeping. So get lots and lots of sleep. My guess is that, in the lead-up to any big event that you have been training for, you probably got less and less sleep as you got more and more excited about the race coming up. So, now is the time to catch up on your sleep.

This is probably where I made my mistakes: I started training again too soon. In my defense, I was running a training camp in the Berkshires for the first time and was very excited about being out there in such beautiful surroundings. So, I got a little carried away and did a lot more training than my body was probably ready for. But, I had a blast and the only real down-side is that I have had another 2 weeks of really excessive tiredness, so I’m taking it easy now. I don’t have another race for another 2 weeks yet, and my next A race isn’t for another month, so I’ll be fine. I’ve just learned the hard way what happens when you get over-eager and return to training too soon (very, very tired, and very, very slow).

Obviously, the amount of recovery time will vary for each person, and you can only listen to your own body to know when you are ready to get back into your normal training routine. Some people need a month to recover from an Olympic distance triathlon (especially their first one), some are back on their feet within days.  Don’t follow any “standard guidelines” and listen to your body.

In the weeks that follow a big challenge, also take the time to reflect on your race results, think about what you did well, what you would like to do better, and how. Get some objective advice on those topics, too. Write a race report, share it with other people, read race reports from other people who did the race, if you can find them. Put it in perspective, savor it, enjoy it, and then move on to the next big challenge.

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rob popperRead: 7 mins

Forestman 2010: Sandy Balls, New Forest, Hampshire, England

Reading Time: 7 minutes

Short version:

No official times or splits available yet, so this is what my stopwatch said

  • Swim (probably not the full 3.8k/2.4 mi): 1 hour
  • Transition 1: about 7 minutes
  • Cycle (180k/112 mi): 6 hours 20 min
  • Transition 2: about 12 minutes
  • Run (26.2 miles): about 5 hours 5 minutes

Total: 12 hours 44 min

Someone said they thought I finished in the top 40 out of a field of perhaps 200. So, that’s not bad. I’ll see what the official results are when they put them up. I was disappointed with some aspects of my performance, see that there is a lot of room for improvement next year. But, I enjoyed the race thoroughly and have a lot of respect for racing at this distance.

Long version:
Lovely small event, well organized by the people at Race New Forest (www.racenewforest.co.uk). It is not an official Ironman event (i.e. licensed by the World Triathlon Corporation to use “Ironman” in the event name, or as a qualifier for Kona world championship places), but still a great iron-distance race with a lot going for it.  There were only about 250 signed up to this race (compared to the thousands who might sign up for an official Ironman race), which I think gives a nicer, more local feel to the race than bigger races.  And the organisation was superb all throughout the day, right through to the buffet dinner laid on for all of us at the finish line.

Start

rob popper

I think that's a mixture of being tired, nervous, and just wanting to get started.

The swim takes place in Ellingham Water Ski  Lake just on the west side if the New Forest, near Ringwood.  3 laps around the lake for a total of 3800m was the plan.  However, the start was delayed by 25 minutes due to very thick mist settling in on the lake and visibility being very poor (literally, not being able to see more than 20 feet in front of you).  The organizers decided to change the swim course to make it 4 smaller laps, bring the buoys closer together so it would be easier to see them through the mist.  They probably shortened the course, in the process, although they said they would make it as close to the full 3800m as possible.

By 5:50 am, we are all slipping into the unbelievably warm and crystal clear waters of the lake. I have never seen lake water so clear and clean. And the temperature of the water made it so relaxing, it was the exact opposite of most early-morning, bracingly cold open water starts I have experienced. It really put me in a good mood and totally relaxed me right from the start.

Swim
Basically, aim for that first buoy over there, the one you can barely see, and then aim for the next one and the next one (which you’ll barely be able to see), then turn right and aim for the next one and then turn right again, then 2 more, then turn right and that’s one lap. Then repeat it 3 more times, and swim straight out to the exit ramp, which you probably won’t be able to see until you are right on top of it, but there should be some kayakers to guide you in.  Huh? What? Which? Where? Oh, whatever.

When you can’t see the marker buoys to make sure you’re on the right course, just follow any other swimmers you can see in front of you and hope they’re heading in the right direction.

Very disorienting, very surreal. It was sometimes easier to see where you were going by looking under the water (see the cables that tie up the buoys from underneath) than by looking above the water.

I settled into a very smooth, very steady style of swimming early on and really enjoyed the whole experience thoroughly. At the end of the first lap, I found someone who seemed to be swimming very straight and at a pace slightly faster than mine, so I got on his toes (drafting off of a swimmer in front of you is sort of like drafting on a bike, in that you can get pulled along in their slipstream and go at their pace with less effort) and stayed there for 2 laps.  Lovely!

I came out of the water bang on the 1 hour mark, which must mean that the swim was shortened significantly. 1 hour 15 minutes was my target time, and I am pretty sure I didn’t swim that much faster on the day.

T1
Sandy transition area, taking my time trying to dry off my feet, get some socks on, cram some spare tubular tires into the back of my trisuit. Oh, yeah, don’t forget the Endurolyte salt and mineral tablets Kev recommended! And sun cream, put on lots of sun cream. Okay, enough faffing, off I go!

Bike

Didn’t get a chance to check out the course the day before. Usually a big mistake not to check out the course. Usually means that I will go around the first lap, feeling my way around, unsure of how to pace myself, trying to hold something back for the other 2 laps of the course to follow, but still somehow get the pacing wrong. Yes, that’s pretty much what happened.

I found the two biggest challenges of the bike ride to be boredom and discomfort.  A small race like this means that you will rarely see other cyclists as you cover 112 miles of road, going round and round and round the New Forest. Not like going for a long ride with Kev, Roz, Lance, Avi, Guido, Naomi or Becky and having someone to chat with. I also learned that my tri-suit didn’t really have enough seat padding to keep my butt from getting sore on the ride, and I probably should have worn some proper cycling shorts.

I had hoped to complete the bike course in under 6 hours, but wasn’t too upset with about 6:20 on the bike. Note to self: always check out the course before the race and wear proper cycling shorts next time. Also, find ways to cope with boredom, or else do shorter races next year.

T2
Cycle into Sandy Balls Holiday Village (I kid you not), dismount, run with the bike into a new racking area, and then run into the changing tent where I pick  up my run kit (they give everyone a separate bag that is marked and waiting for you, since the transitions take place in two different places). Sit down in a chair and get fanned by some volunteers. Very nice, chatty, relaxed, friendly. Volunteer reminds me to put lots of sun cream on my shoulders and I missed a spot on the back of my neck. Pull on the compression socks and joke with the others that we have 8 hours to get around the course before we have to be worried about the cut-off time, so it should be an easy run today! Hah! Yeah, right!

Run
I could go on and on about the run, but I won’t. I’ve probably gone on and on in this report enough already. The run was brutal. It was mostly a trail run along sandy, dusty, gravely, hilly, exposed terrain. The weather was hot, there was not a cloud in the sky, and at least half the trail had  no tree cover.  It took me a little over 5 hours to run this marathon. I can usually run a marathon in 3.5 hours, and I have done a fair amount of trail running and races this past year, so I did not think it would be this tough.

In some races, there is a point where you see your targeted, ideal finishing time disappear from sight. You try to bargain with the targeted time, like, “If I can just dig a little deeper and pick up the pace again, get some inspiration from somewhere, then maybe I could make it.”  Then, you re-set your sights on some new targets, like, “Okay, 12 hours is out of the question, but you can still stay under the 13-hour mark.”  Then, sometimes, you reach another point, a slightly more dangerous point (from the view of racing performance), but a much more liberating point, where you say, “You know what? Just get me across the finish line in one piece. Don’t let my daughter see me crawling, crying, or stumbling into the medical tent to be hooked to an IV.”

And, so I finished the trail run on just over 5 hours, and ran slowly but steadily to the finish line. My daughter jumped over the barrier at the end, took my hand and ran with me across the finish line. THAT was the highlight of my day!

Epilogue

It is the next day and I often judge my race-day performance, on how quickly I can recover. I have a family, work commitments, travel plans and a life to get on with. Triathlon training and racing is important to me, but the other things in my life, ultimately, are more important.  When my daughter says to me, “Dad, am I going to be late to school because you’re hobbling around, walking like an arthritic turtle, after your latest marathon/ultra-marathon/triathlon?” it reminds me that I have a responsibility to the people I love, and life goes on when the race is over.

Today, I feel surprisingly good. My legs were really killing me yesterday and I thought I might be hobbling around for a week or so. But (largely thanks to my CW-X compression tights) today, I am feeling pretty good and walking almost normally. And, Ella got to school on time this morning! Much more important to me than finishing under 12 hours.

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finis-swimp3Read: 5 mins

Sounds I Like

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Reading Time: 5 minutes

Swimming

The sound of zipping up your wetsuit early in the morning.

The small ripples you make in the water when you get in. The splashes other people make when they get in.

They squeal and make high-pitched noises, but you have done this so many times before in much colder conditions, you just sink into it quietly and don’t make much noise. Warm up slowly, get the blood moving gradually.

The even steady rhythm of hands entering the water, good catch at the front, full stroke all the way through, relaxed hand and high elbow recovers to the front.

There is a tiny drip-drop sound that droplets of water make as they drip off your hand when it recovers back to the front and then you smoothly, purposefully place your hand back in the water.

Your legs don’t make much noise when you kick steadily and smoothly. It’s more like a percussive beat in the background.

The sound of your breathing, quick strong inhale, slow steady exhale.

Your ears might be covered by your swim cap(s) and you are cut off from the rest of the world.

Consistent breathing every 3 strokes, sometimes every 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 strokes.  At the very beginning and at the very end, maybe every 2 strokes.

Your heart beating in your ears. The hands, legs, breathing, heart all fall into synch with each other.

How is it that people get bored when they are swimming? How is it that they say they don’t have enough to occupy their minds and ears?  As cool a gadget as it seems, I can’t imagine wanting to get the Finis SwiMP3 player, myself.  There is more than enough for me to listen to. Maybe when I start swimming more than 5k I’ll think differently…

Cycling
Cycling shoes clicking into pedals. When you can do it without looking down, when you know the feel of the shoes and the pedals and you’ve done it 100 times before and all you need to do is listen for the right sort of click sound. (There is a wrong sort of click sound that sounds like the right sort of click, but isn’t exactly the same.)

The sound of fully inflated tires against smooth pavement. Whizzzzzzz along early in the morning, going off to meet some friends for a long ride, or maybe just head off on your own.

The clean, well-oiled chain as it zips around the rear cassette up towards the front chainring and back around through the rear derailleur.  Smooth and nearly silent. When the morning is quiet enough and the streets are empty enough, you can hear it.

The clacking-buzzing sound of the freewheel, when you stop pedaling and the back wheel keeps spinning and it makes that sound of freewheeling.

The steadier, slower rhythm of pedaling uphill. Move the bike, not the body, keep driving down and all the way around on the pedals. Steady, maybe slightly uneven rhythms. But it’s your rhythm, and when you feel good, you own that rhythm.

Up out of the seat and harder on the pedals, picking up the pace on the hills and pushing a little faster.

The sound of your breathing getting heavier on the hills. Most of the time you don’t notice the sound of your breathing, not like you do when swimming or running. But, on the hills you notice.

You don’t need to look at your heart rate monitor to know how hard you’re pushing, how much longer you can hold it like that. When you’ve done it 100 times before, you just know. And sometimes you push harder, sometimes you hold something back for later. It’s your rhythm, your choice.

When you go really fast downhill and stop pedaling, you probably can’t hear it any more. The wind is rushing through your ears, your helmet, your clothing so fast that all you hear is fast-moving air.

You take a drink on the downhill and re-fuel for whatever comes next. The sound of a bottle that is almost empty, liquid sloshing around audibly. Needs to be switched with another bottle you brought or one you’ll get at an aid station.

Brakes touching the rims. Slowing down slowly, steadily or abruptly.  Metal rims sound different than carbon rims.

You can hear when your brake pads are getting too worn out, feel when the cables need a little tightening.

You can hear when your wheels aren’t true and the spokes need tightening.

You can hear when the brakes aren’t in perfect alignment.

You can hear when the derailleur needs a little adjustment.

You can hear when cars are approaching from behind.

You can hear around corners, sometimes, approaching cars from the sides or up ahead.

Not always, but sometimes you can hear another cyclist come up behind you.

Those guys with the disk wheel on the back, you can hear them coming a mile away. It’s like a noise Darth Vader would make if he were riding a bike, like some hellish, basso profundo, voof-voof-voof sound that is coming to get you and you are helpless to escape.

Who on earth would want to listen to music on a bicycle?  There is so much to listen to, to listen out for.

Well, maybe on the turbo trainer. Yes, I will admit to making playlists and listening to music when stationary. But, never when I’m out on the road.

Running
Pulling on compression socks, for a longer run, strapping on a heart rate monitor or a GPS to tell you how far, how fast, how hard. Small sounds, maybe the occasional electronic beep to tell you something is activated or there’s an error message.

I can understand people wanting to listen to music while running. Most people seem to run because they feel they HAVE to run – maybe it’s the cheapest, easiest way they can think of to lose weight or stay in shape. But, if you LOVE running, then it’s different. There’s plenty to listen to without music in your ears.

The sound of your feet hitting the ground. You can tell a lot from the sound your feet make, if you listen out for it. Pronation, supination, heel strike, fore-foot strike, strong ankles, wobbly ankles, short stride, long stride.

The surface you run on makes a big difference, too. The relative flat sound of running on streets, up and down sidewalks. The gravelly sound of running on paths. The crinkling, crunching sound of leaves and twigs and grass on a trail.

Your breathing is much more pronounced when running. Your heart rate will probably be more elevated than in the other two sections.

You can hear it more in your ears, feel it more in your whole body, your breathing, your heart pounding.  It’s more like it was on the swim, but now the sounds from all around you are part of it, too.

Early in the morning, you can tell the changing of the seasons, predict the weather for the rest of the day by listening to the birds around you, even in the densest most crowded cities.

Need to listen out for cars, too. Hybrid cars have the unfortunate distinction of being the toughest to hear coming, so you need to be specially careful about them.

There’s always music playing in my head. Not full songs, but usually my favorite bits that I keep playing over and over again.

The bass intro to “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder, up until “Very superstitious writing’s on the wall.”

The intro to “Back To Life” by Soul II Soul, up to “Back to life, back to reality.”

The chorus of “Sex on Fire” by Kings of Leon, as well as the line “Hot as a fever, rattling bones.”

Who knows what will play in my head next time. Something I heard on the radio this morning, something I heard 25 years ago at Danceteria (“A E A E I O U U, and sometimes Y-ii”? oh, no!), something my daughter played over and over again last week (“promise I made, promise I made, started to fade, started to fade”? hmm, okay…). I know I can’t sing worth a damn. But it always sounds great in my head.

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meditationsRead: 3 mins

Meditations on 5:30am

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

As a triathlete, you kind of have to get used to early mornings. Most races will start pretty early, and you’ll probably find you have to get up at ridiculously early times to get to the races on time (but, like, how do you get a decent night’s sleep when you have to get up at 2am for a race?). It’s also generally a good idea to try and fit in your longer training sessions early in the day, so you get it out of the way and still have time for the other people/things in your life.

On top of that, as a triathlon coach, I am still getting used to the fact that people mostly want to be coached either very early in the morning or later in the evening.   Getting up at 4-4:30am 3 days a week so I can do my job still takes a lot out of me, especially when you add 20 minutes up to 1.5 hours travel time each way to coach these sessions.  But, it’s still my favorite time of the day.

I know it’s not just a triathlon thing, I know lots of people like to get up early to catch the good waves, the fresh powder, the greens that have not been trampled.  But, here are some of my observations and meditations:

  • I LOVE riding around the streets of a big sprawling city like London or Chicago or Beijing when they are empty and you feel like you own the place or you are the star of post-apocalyptic movie (without the zombies or robots)
  • Foxes live in a lot of the parks in London, and the only time you will see them is in the very early hours of the morning , and they are surprisingly shy and tame-looking
  • The sight of rabbits darting into the hedges, scurrying across a field, or just plain running away as you approach is probably THE most enchanting sight I have ever seen
  • Geese and swans, however, can be vicious bastards if disturbed in the middle of their early morning rituals
  • There are still a surprising number of electric milk floats working all over London
  • People who get up and go to work in the early hours of the morning tend to be the most chilled out and approachable people, everywhere I have ever been (US, Europe and Asia)
  • Getting up early in the winter time, on a dark and cold morning, is especially awesome, because even fewer people do it, and you feel like you belong to a very elite club

  • If you are not a fan of sun-rises, it’s probably because you haven’t experienced enough of them, so force yourself to get up and out that early some time and you might just surprise yourself with how much you enjoy it
  • I like to be reminded that once I was the sort of person who stayed up until 5:30am and then came home from fantastic nights out, and now I am seeing it from a different side

I guess that’s the part I like the best about 5:30am: the chance to see things from a very different perspective, maybe surprise yourself, maybe experience something really unique. While you avoid the broken glass and drunk drivers.

Please feel free to add your comments and meditations below.

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EA SPORTS Active 2.0Read: < 1 min

EA announces wireless gadgets as part of EA SPORTS Active 2.0

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Reading Time: < 1 minute

EA has announced EA SPORTS Active 2.0 (working title). Scheduled for release this fall, EA SPORTS Active 2.0 is expected to offer a wireless heart rate monitor, arm and leg accelerometers for use with PlayStation 3, Wii, iPhone and iPod touch.

Users can track exertion in real-time with an onscreen display and also share workouts with other EA SPORTS Active users online. Sharing fitness results, interacting with workout groups and sending messages to other users is expected to keep users inspired and engaged.

PlayStation 3 users will also benefit from the ability to download new workouts and exercises to their internet-connected consoles. Other online features include EA’s’ total body conditioning’ workouts, progressive exercises in a three-phase, nine-week program intended to help provide a fitness road-map while motivating users to stay on track with their fitness goals. An EA SPORTS Active personal trainer can help walk users through a workout and provide continued encouragement with feedback to ensure an optimal workout experience.

Posted by: Lawrence

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Read: 9 mins

Winter triathlon training, part 2: Cycling

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Reading Time: 9 minutes

Okay, it’s cold and dark and wet out there, if you’re living in the northern hemisphere and it’s what we call Winter time (not that bullshit they complain about in Florida when they have to put on a sweater or something). You don’t want to ride your bike, you don’t think it’s safe out there, you don’t want to get up early in the morning before the sun is up, and you have a hundred excuses to stay warm and cozy in bed. I get it. That’s me, too, on most days.

This is the toughest and possibly the most dangerous time of the year to fit those long rides in. But this is also exactly the time of year when you most need to fit in those long rides. You need to build aerobic endurance right now, so you have that strong base to build on later. That means keeping the intensity low and steady while building up the miles gradually until you are over-achieving your target race distances (maybe not for running, though, because of the higher impact and greater risk of injury) in your aerobic endurance heart rate/intensity zone.

If you are a triathlete, then cycling is probably the most time-consuming discipline to train for of the three, since it tends to be the most time-consuming discipline in any race – unless, for example, you are a really, really fast cyclist and a really, really slow runner.   For your longer endurance sessions that probably form your key sessions each week, time spent on the bike can be as much as 2-3 times the time spent running and 5-6 times the time spent swimming. For example, if you are training for Iron-distance races, then you might want to build up to doing:

  • about a 90-minute endurance session each week, gradually getting to the point where you can swim 4000 meters continuously;
  • one long steady distance (LSD) run somewhere around 2-4 hours each week, where you can run about 20 miles steadily and continuously;
  • one long ride of 8-10 hours each week.  Yes, 8-10 hours. Build up to the point where you can cycle about 120 miles on a single ride. At aerobic endurance pace, that means you might not go much faster than 13-15mph.

Not starting right away, not proving how tough and macho you are, when yesterday you were doing 5-mile runs and 25-mile bike rides and tomorrow you’re going to tag along for a 20-mile run or a 100-mile ride. Building up to these steadily and gradually with about 10% increase in volume each week so that, come race season, you have slowly adapted to these longer distances and hopefully avoided injury or burn-out or both.  But, you can see how the cycling part of that picture is the toughest to fit into a schedule that may already include work, sleep, a social life, and a significant other in your life who likes to spend time with you when you’re not snoring or wolfing down food in between training sessions.

So, Winter tends to be a time you need to get creative, add some variety, and find every possible way to get in the training on the bike.  Here are a few tips that have been working for me, so far:

Minoura Mag 500 Turbo Trainer

Get a turbo trainer
There are a few great things about turbo trainers:

  • They don’t have to be outrageously expensive. The Minoura Mag 500, pictured left, is a very good entry-level trainer I bought on sale a few years ago, and I saw one on eBay the other day for less than $100.
  • You attach your bike, via the skewers on the rear wheel, and spin away indoors, in the warmth, safety and comfort of your own home (or in the relative safety and comfort of the back garden, in my case) as long as you want, any time of the day or night.
  • You get to spend more time on your own bike, adjusting and getting used to the set-up on your bike for optimum performance (e.g. so much easier to get the saddle position just right when you are using a turbo trainer). You can try new things out (like the first time you buy clipless pedals and need to practice clicking in and out, or the feeling of being on your new aero bars) on the turbo in relative safety before you take it out on the road.
  • You can do interval sessions with pretty precise control in a way that you can’t always get on the open road. For example, if you are on the road in the middle of a 3-minute higher-intensity interval and you reach a busy intersection with a stop sign, then you have to stop, whether you’ve finished the interval or not. You won’t have that problem on a turbo trainer.
  • You can do many technical exercises and drills on a turbo that you might not be able to do on your bike on the road, like single-leg exercises or hands-free exercises.
  • Some people love to sit and spin on their turbo trainer for hours and hours, watching TV or listening to music. You can even buy some DVDs that connect to your turbo trainer in a cool sort of virtual reality kind of way (if you buy a pretty high-end one, like the Tacx Satori pictured above, right).

The down-sides of having a turbo trainer, that I’ve seen so far:

  • I find them excruciatingly dull, in much the same way that I find running on a treadmill excruciatingly dull.  I enjoy cycling and running because I enjoy getting out and about and seeing things, exploring places, even familiar places, at different times of the year. I can’t, for the life of me, find a way to spend more than 60 minutes on a turbo trainer without feeling like a hamster on one of those exercise wheels, going absolutely nowhere in pointless repetition.
  • You won’t learn much in the way of bike handling skills on a turbo trainer. You may be getting very fit on the turbo and it may be a great way to tackle specific fitness development, but you won’t be learning anything about braking, cornering, ascending or descending on the bike. Triathletes already have enough handicaps in their bike-handling skills, especially if you are only doing non-drafting races or if you spend a lot of time on the aero-bars. We need to get out on the road and ride for real as much as we can to get those very important bike-handling skills.
  • You will sweat like a pig in a steam room on the turbo.  When you are cycling out on the road, the air rushing past you tends to dry you off as you sweat, most of the time. When you are cycling on the turbo, there is no air rushing past you since you are sitting still, and you are going to create an enormous pool of sweat beneath you very quickly. Even in the middle of January sitting out in your unheated back garden.  So, put something under your body to catch all that sweat.

Go off-road
When snow and ice become an issue on the roads in the Winter, then think about going off-road. I bought that bike pictured above second-hand for less than $100, cleaned it up, changed all the cables and pads, plus a new chain and cassette, for a total of another $100 or so, and now I can ride all over the place, whatever the weather. London is not used to seeing much snow in the Winter-time and so it tends to freak people out here, but not me. For me, it means that the streets are less congested and I still get to cycle all over the place.

Here are the things that I like about riding my mountain bike at this time of year:

  • It’s much heavier, clunkier and much less efficient than my road bike or my TT bike. Yes, I think that’s a good thing, because it makes my legs stronger.  With the front and rear suspension on that monster, I estimate (with no scientific basis whatsoever) that every mile I ride on that bike is like riding 2 miles on my sleek, efficient TT bike.
  • I can go places on that bike that I can’t go on my road bike. I can get out there and just have fun, go exploring and play in the mud.
  • Off-road riding tends to give you much better bike handling skills in many areas than road riding does. Having to negotiate puddles, icy patches, trees, tree roots, ditches, leaves and all manner of fun obstacles is a great way to learn how to handle your bike. Come Spring-time, I will be much less scared of puddles, wet leaves, and unevenly paved corners on the road.
  • I live near a part of London that is good for off-road riding (Hackney and Walthamstow Marshes along the Grand Union Canal is fairly flat but lots of little places to go off the beaten path and splash around), and not too far from some even better spots for off-road riding (all around Epping Forest). So, it’s easy for me, maybe not so easy for other city dwellers.

See and be seen

Be safe, be seen. Wear things that are bright and reflective, invest in some good lights, maybe a few lights that will help you see on a totally pitch black morning, but definitely some lights that will make people look at you and notice you. And make sure you have spare, fresh batteries for them.

Above is the Cateye Hybrid, which has a solar panel that claims to give you 6 hours of ride time (so that probably means 2 hours to you and me, in real practical terms) and batteries for up to 30 hours (claims like these usually fall short). I haven’t tried this one out, but I’d love to. I love the idea of anything that is solar-powered.

Above, you have the basic Cateye pair of lights for urban-noticeability. I like these because they have lots of blinking settings, they are a little bit bigger than other typical bike lights, and they can be set up either vertically or horizontally, which is kind of cool.

Another choice is the Exposure Joystick Maxx light, that comes with a helmet mount and handle-bar mount. I like the helmet mount because then I can use that light on any bike I ride (I have 3 right now) and don’t have to re-mount it on different handlebars if I use a different bike.

Stay warm and dry

  • Gloves should be keeping your hands warm and dry, and have some padding specifically for cycling if you plan on being on the bike for a long ride.
  • Tights should keep you warm and probably be bib tights like those shown above, so they don’t creep down while you are riding.
  • Overshoes should keep your feet warm and dry, too.

It’s also a good idea to have a helmet cap to keep your head warm.

On very cold days, I will go as far as the wear under-gloves or a second pair of gloves under my winter gloves, as well as a face mask (or just tie a bandana around my face) to protect the one part of my body that is still exposed.

I once forgot to bring my overshoes on a long ride, so I stopped in at a shop and asked for two plastic shopping bags. Then, I took my feet out of my cycling shoes, put the bags around my feet and then put the shoes back on. Presto! A cheap way to keep the feet warm. They got very sweaty, looked ridiculous, were not very comfortable, but my feet sure stayed warm.

Sometimes the hard work is its own reward

Join a club, find a friend with similar goals to yours, or just somehow find a way to make a promise to someone else that you will do the ride, and then you may find it’s so much more difficult to change your mind and back out at the last minute. Try something new. Get out there and ride when you can.

Make a list of things you like about riding in the Winter and put the list next to your bed. When the alarm goes off and it is still dark and cold and you feel like rolling over and going back to sleep, read the list first. My list of what I like about riding in the Winter looks like this:

  • I get to see the sun rise.
  • I get to ride the streets when they are pretty quiet.
  • I get to see things I normally wouldn’t get to see, like foxes, milkmen driving electric milk floats, and people wearing glittery party clothes as they stumble around the streets.
  • I get to drink as much hot chocolate as I like and never once worry about calories or fat or sugar.
  • I get to ride with some pretty cool people, chat with them for hours, and get to know them a little better. Sometimes I don’t feel like I am boring them to death with all my long-winded stories.
  • The journey is the destination. I love being out there on my bike, any time of the year, and it is always better to be out there than to not be out there wishing I had done it.

Posted by: Robert

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gps-cradleRead: < 1 min

GPS Cradle for iPod Touch comes loaded with extras

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For all you lucky recipients of an iPod Touch this holiday season, there’s a cool and useful accessory coming out later this year to keep an eye on. The XGPS300 iPod Touch GPS Cradle from Dual Electronics turns your iPod Touch into a fully-enabled GPS device. The XGPS300 includes a free turn-by-turn Navigation app NavAtlas, 0-90degree windshield mount and charging cable.

The XGPS300 is more than a GPS navigator, it is also a battery cradle and has an amplified speaker for real-time voice guided navigation. Check-out the video below for a quick demonstration of features and if you’re interested, request to be kept updated as to it’s availability. Expected price is $179USD.

Posted by: Lawrence

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Large Push ButtonRead: 3 mins

Don’t be a square, get a Yakima

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

Every car I’ve owned has had a roof rack. Even my old pick-up truck had a bed rack to hold and lock my mountain bike (which cost more than the truck). For my latest rack I switched to a Yakima rack system and I’m happy I did.

landingpad

Assuming I’d need a few hours for installation on my SUV, I skimmed the directions and dove right in. To start, I had some kind of brainchild and pre-assembled the Landing Pads by loosely fitting the nuts before sliding them into position in the the factory rails. This saved me any potential difficulty trying to line-up the bolts.

Next, I snapped the Control Towers into the Landing Pads, installed the Crossbars and tightened it all down – simple! Finally, I inserted the SKS Lock Cores and had the whole thing installed in under 30 minutes! My wife thought I gave up when I went back inside, so suffice it to say it was far easier to install than I expected (I worked at a ski shop for years and installed numerous square bar systems).

Two friends of mine have square bar racks from a competing manufacturer and recently asked me to help install them. The first rack we couldn’t figure out at all (to be fair we didn’t have directions, but I feel with the Yakima I could have figured it out). Eventually we caved and had a local bike shop do the install for $50. The other rack took ages to install (in a frigid driveway), but it was essential we got it done since we were all staying at his ski house in Vermont!

Large Push Button

As far as attachments, I’ve been using the Yakima StrapThang for surfing and love it. This past holiday weekend we headed up North and I easily installed the FatCat 4 which comes with universal mounting hardware to fit most applications. I also liked the large button to open the rack – easy even in clunky mittens.

Unfortunately, I have to remove the StrapThang to accommodate the FatCat 4 (a combination of the shorter 48″ crossbar and to have room for a wider surfboard), but attachments install and remove easily so no biggie there. Yakima sells crossbars in 48″, 58″, 66″ and 78″ lengths and the general rule-of-thumb is a crossbar can go as wide as the side-view mirrors.

I had to forgo the cargo box I own for another rack system. I think newer cargo boxes can go on either system, but mine is old and cracking so it’s just as well. It was more than a little cramped in the SUV with the wife, kids and all the gear, but the skis and snowboard were up top, so only soft projectiles were possible!

If you’re looking for a rack system you’ll find two camps – round and square. Both are priced competitively, have long track records and offer a variety of options (fittings and attachments). I read somewhere round structures are stronger than square, but I’d recommend the Yakima system for ease-of-installation alone.

Posted by: Lawrence

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