Olympic lifting humor

Olympic lifts. They have funny names. There's the clean, the jerk... the clean AND jerk. And the snatch.

We do all of these at Crossfit. And while I can generally get through a clean & jerk workout without snickering like a 12 year old boy, it's a different story when it comes to snatches.

So when my coach told me today that, "You have to be patient with the snatch," you can really imagine my reaction. Luckily, my coach has a wonderful sense of humor, heard my laughter and added, "All kinds of snatches."

Just show up.

Just as much as I like a solo bike ride, swim or run (lately, I can't say the same for just going to the gym)... I also really enjoy coached track workouts, spin classes and Crossfit (starting back up again in a month!). You just show up and do whatever you're told to do... and, provided you put in your 100%, you get better. Of course, that's not to say that sometimes it's challenging to pick yourself up and GO, especially if you know it's going to be a tough workout.

From RoadBikeReview's newsletter -

Wicked Wednesdays

Every Wednesday evening, my bike club hosts an interval workout on a hill at the local university. The climb takes 5-6 minutes and we do it 6 times. Rain or shine. Darkness or daylight. Forest fire or student protest.

Our coach refers to these sessions as Level 5 or anaerobic threshold workouts. Even if you pace it perfectly -- negative splits, each interval faster than the last -- it hurts. I'm talking root-canal, tax-audit, "I-think-we-should-start-seeing-other-people" pain.

I begin dreading Wednesday evenings around bedtime Tuesday. By Wednesday lunchtime, I'm feeling nausea that has nothing to do with my midday meal of organic yam and raw kale from my Biggest Loser lunchbox.

Then I show up at the workout and scan the group to see what fresh dose of humiliation awaits. Last week it was the 65-year-old guy who dropped me like a tub of Grecian Formula. It was inspiring. Really.

A few weeks ago it was the one-armed dude. OK, he had 2 arms, but one was in a sling. He flew past me like a, um, person with fully functioning body parts.

Did I mention the 50-something mom? The 15-year-old lad who I swear was on training wheels last month? Both quicker than me. A fellow could choke on all this inspiration.

Why keep at it? Like most cyclists, I'm stubborn, masochistic and a little delusional. All this toil and trouble have to make us stronger, right?

Plus, I do eventually finish ahead of some people -- the ones who come to one Wednesday and never return.

I may not be fast, but I'm pretty good at one thing: showing up.

Comment

(If you enjoy reading Scott Martin, the eBook Spin Again contains 181 of his witty, sometimes wacky, and occasionally heart-felt observations on road cycling. Click here to enjoy 3 classic Spins again and place your order for instant delivery by download.)

Race report - Wildflower Long Course

I like reading race reports. This one is long, but it's for a long race...my first half-Ironman distance triathlon :)

Race: Wildflower Long Course Triathlon
Date: 5/1/2010
Course conditions: Not nearly as hot as it could have been. 80-85deg, sunny, some wind, some chop in the water.

Nerves: Very high in the week leading up to the race. Heck, high in the MONTHS leading up to the race. I figured I was in way over my head. Day of? Scared, but focused. THREE port-a-potty trips prior to the swim. Started on empty, as usual. Stupid stomach.

Wave start: Pros, then men, youngest - oldest, then women, youngest - oldest. My 30-34 age group started at 9:15am. So I knew I'd be biking and running in the heat.

Participants (finishers):
Overall: 1,727
Men: 1,268
Women: 459
Women 30-34: 104

My stats:
Overall rank: 634
Gender rank: 81
Age Group rank: 19

Swim: 1.2 mile lake swim, rectangle pattern. Comfortable (w/full wetsuit) temp. Well marked. Started towards the back on the inside. Minimal kicking/hitting, but I was in a crowd most of the time. I was overall pretty happy with my sighting and my pace seemed steady. The return was pretty choppy and I definitely swallowed some lake. Yuck. As I understand from later waves - and even the next day - it continued to get worse. 
Expected time - 45:00
Actual time - 40:33, pace 2:05 (I'm guessing that's 100 yds)
Overall rank: 1017

T1: 4:44
I have no idea what took me so long, but I know I wasn't rushing like I do during sprint or Olympic distance races.

Bike: 56 miles. Up. Flat. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Down. Some headwind on the second half. I'm surprised at how little of this I remember. I spent over two hours out there... what the heck was I thinking about? Anyway, I ended up riding mostly with 45+ y/o men, played leapfrog with a couple folks. Did not have aerobars on my bike. Might have used them during the flat section, but I'm comfortable in my drops and figured I didn't need to add something new to my already (fairly) new bike. Tried to hold back my speed a little to save energy for the run. Loved hearing cheers from my fellow SF Tri Club racers and spectators, as well as a handful of other friends out there. Encountered some stomach cramps, especially in the last 10 miles (luckily, after Nasty Grade & Polar Heart Rate hills) because I mixed my Cytomax too strongly. I kind of felt them starting earlier and ended up exchanging bottles twice and just got water, in effort to calm my stomach down.

Nutrition: 1.5 bottles Cytomax, 1.5 bottles water,  1 Clif Mojo bar, 0.5 Clif bar, 1 Clif Blox stick, 2 (?) Clif Gels. (Clif, if you find this, pleeeeeeeeeease be my sponsor.)
Expected: 2:30
Stretch Goal: 2:20
Actual: 3:21:53, 16.6 mph
Overall rank: 847

T1: 3:05
Totally passed up my transition area and had to go back to find it. Sprayed on some sunscreen. Stomach is pissed off at this point, did not drink any more sports drink or have a gel here like I normally would.

Run: 13.1 Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Up. Down. Sun. Over half of it was on trails, some which were very rocky. Found a coach from my gym and ran with him for a mile or two, shouted out to a couple of SF Tri Club members... pretty early on, another woman tell me to go chase after "pink shirt girl," who was in my age group (I did, about mile 8 or so and told her I had been chasing her. I meant it nicely - like she was fast, but unfortunately she had slowed down a lot and I don't think it came across too well. Oops.) Spectators make a big difference and helped to push me along. Unfortunately, some of the more challenging sections aren't really cheerleader friendly, so I had to just get focused and keep going. Managed to keep running the whole time, which I understand is kind of uncommon on this course. There's one uphill in particular where everyone just started to walk. I passed quite a few people there, despite my slow, laborious jog. Found that three of them did end up passing me after, but the vast majority did not. I remember wondering about this hill during my training weekend. Better to walk (hike, really) or run slowly? Regardless, I was scared to walk, because I thought that I wouldn't start to run again! My hips and knees were a little sore, but no major pain. Oh, except for about 2/3 of the run when I thought maybe I had asthma, I was breathing so hard.

Had a nice sprint finish. I had been running mostly with men, but then suddenly spotted a woman right behind me. She could have been in my age group, for crying out loud, so I took off. Have no idea where that energy came from. Oh right, I'm competitive. Mostly with myself, but I was not about to let her pass me at the very end like that.

Nutrition: Eventually, my stomach calmed down, though never enough to have a lot of Gatorade (on the course) or Clif Blox (in my pocket). I had Gatorade at 2 aid stations + water, 2 orange slices, 2 Clif Gels.

Goal: 2:00
Actual: 2:02:14, 9:19 min/mile
Overall rank: 473

Total:
Goal: 6:30
Stretch goal: 6:15
Finish: 6:12:29

After: Okay. Tired. Really out of it. Minor periods of lucidity and high energy. Thirsty. Really effing thirsty. Quads and hamstrings and hips very, very angry. Later... some more stomach cramping. And then later... enjoyed some beers and they were delicious.

I don't know what acylated ghrelin is, but it makes me hungry.

Last August, I posted a Time article about the science between exercise and weight loss, along with some of my own anecdotal evidence that more exercise does not necessarily mean more weight loss. Of course, I'm my own exception - I have lost weight while training for my half-Ironman. So, yeah. There's that. But that's been way more intense than your usual workout, so probably not a good example.

Anyway, just read another article along the same lines... basic idea is that weight loss occurs from eating less, but exercising is what will help one maintain that new, lower weight. That's cool. Lose weight and embrace a new lifestyle, one that includes exercise.

And, I also have science now to back me up as to why I am hungry for days after a tough workout. And also, as the author points out, another reason why life is unfair.

In it, 18 overweight men and women walked on treadmills in multiple sessions while either eating enough that day to replace the calories burned during exercise or not. Afterward, the men displayed little or no changes in their energy-regulating hormones or their appetites, much as in the other study. But the women uniformly had increased blood concentrations of acylated ghrelin and decreased concentrations of insulin after the sessions in which they had eaten less than they had burned. Their bodies were directing them to replace the lost calories. In physiological terms, the results “are consistent with the paradigm that mechanisms to maintain body fat are more effective in women,” Braun and his colleagues wrote. In practical terms, the results are scientific proof that life is unfair. Female bodies, inspired almost certainly “by a biological need to maintain energy stores for reproduction,” Braun says, fight hard to hold on to every ounce of fat. Exercise for many women (and for some men) increases the desire to eat.

Full article here

Another benefit of running...

Earlier this week, we were encouraged to drink wine (occasionally) to maintain our weight. Now we're supposed to keep on (or start!) running to have a more active sex life (at least according the the British study discussed in the linked Telegraph article):

One in ten joggers said that they have sex at least once a day and three per cent of joggers said they have sex twice a day.
Amongst non-runners one in four (25 per cent) said they had sex once a month or less.

nice stroke. heh heh heh.

Momentary feeling of pure awesomeness yesterday...
Recently started taking spin classes with my triathlon club at M2 Revolution, a local biking/triathlon training center that is owned by Michael McCormick, a former professional triathlete.

TWICE in yesterday's class he commented on my pedal stroke. First, he just stopped by my bike and said that my pedal stroke looked good and asked if I rode a lot. I, of course, was flabbergasted (and in the middle of a 10 minute interval) and mumbled something incoherent along the lines of "kind of." Then in our last interval, a strong 30 second push, he POINTED ME OUT in the class and said that I was showing a good example of a strong pedal stroke.

So, why did that feel so awesome?
Pedal stroke is a pretty big deal. Newer riders tend to just push down on the pedal. Eventually, you learn that you get more power when you also consciously pull UP as well (obviously this is when you're clipped into the pedals). The result is (and here's where I'm kind of talking out my ass here, since I don't know if I can visually tell the difference) a revolution that looks like a smooth circle, without the chop of the push/pull.

Hills are a great way to work on pulling up, since your cadence is probably a little lower and you're working against more resistance. AND you'll want every muscle working to get you TO THE TOP!

I've been considering getting a new bike. That session pretty much solidified it for me. I mean, if a professional triathlete (who, according to folks who have been in the class for a while, does not give out compliments too often) is going to say something like that, I'm due for an upgrade from my first road bike!!!


More bike geekery, from RoadBikeRider's weekly newsletter:

Cyclists come in all shapes and sizes. Here's a guide to the menagerie:

   Climber
Body type:  lung on a stick
Distinguishing bike characteristic:  single water bottle cage, no valve caps
If not a cyclist, would be:  runner, supermodel or loincloth-wearing ascetic
Favorite conversation topics:  weight in grams of cable end caps; long-forgotten taste of ice cream
In the peloton, likes to:  hide

   Sprinter
Body type:  quads the size of beer kegs, elbows sharper than a stiletto, multiple road-rash scars
Distinguishing bike characteristic:  11-tooth cog, shredded front-tire sidewall from sticking wheel into tight places such as others' cassettes
If not a cyclist, would be:  street fighter
Favorite conversation topics:  anything involving smack talk
In the peloton, likes to:  yell at everyone to "Close that gap!" but never takes a pull

   Time Trialist
Body type:  flexible enough to join Chinese acrobat troupe
Distinguishing bike characteristic:  aerodynamic frame, wheels, handlebar, water bottle, cable end caps
If not a cyclist, would be:  computer programmer or engineer
Favorite conversation topics:  drag coefficients, most recent visit to wind tunnel, slipperiness of skinsuit
In the peloton, likes to:  get on the front and ride, dammit

   Commuter
Body type:  N/A
Distinguishing bike characteristic:  grime
If not a cyclist, would be:  NASCAR driver
Favorite conversation topics:  carbon footprints, climate change, recyclability of objects not commonly known to be recyclable
In the peloton, likes to:  ring handlebar bell

   Ultradistance Rider
Body type:  all of the above
Distinguishing bike characteristic:  lights, handlebar bag and/or large seat bag, comfy saddle
If not a cyclist, would be:  institutionalized
Favorite conversation topics:  food, miles/kilometers ridden, food, extreme weather experiences, food
In the peloton, likes to:  "Peloton?"


----------
and in other news... re: boys. when it rains, it pours. but we all knew that already, right?

MotionTraxx.com

In my (potentially absurd, most definitely going to be painful and humbling) attempt to ready myself for the (unyet registered for, because I'm a pansy) Kaiser Permanente Half-Marathon, I ran 10 miles on Saturday.

It was, overall, an okay experience. Not because of the liter of fine German beer consumed the night before, but because of motiontraxx.com. I downloaded their half-marathon training mix, threw it on my beloved iPod nano and enjoyed a very steady 168 beats per minute for just over an hour. I'll definitely be checking out some of their other mixes, which range in duration and in bpm. Some look like they'd be good for intervals or speed work. Oh, FREE downloads - they're like podcasts in the iTunes store.

Where's that darn finish line?

Good advice to anyone who does endurance events, and especially to Audrey, who's racing the Goofy Challenge this weekend (half marathon on Saturday, full marathon on Sunday)... good luck, have fun, say hi to Mickey and remember this advice from a distance runner profiled by SFGate.com/

Be patient and remember: They don't move the finish line. Just keep moving and you'll make it.

Read the whole article here.

Fast forwarding....

I'm not into the holidays. Seriously, I think it's a great time to spend with family and friends, but it seems like it's also a magnet for bad stuff to happen. If we're talking holidays, let's fast forward to Martin Luther King, Jr day, what do you say?

So... fast forwarding brings us into the first couple of weeks of all of those New Year's resolutions. Yeah. Those. If you're looking for some fitness inspiration, check out these badass Crossfit chicks. Seems a little far off to me too, but also way better than looking to The Skinny Website for inspiration!

Oh, and here's the dude version of the women's Crossfit competition pictures. Sometimes a shirtless guy is also good motivation.

(No, I did not name those PDFs. And I don't want to hear about it, either.)

Crossfit video

Crossfit... I call it Ninja Training here, because, after describing my first class, G$ said, "Oh my god, you're doing ninja training."

I figured that I was the only one in this little, um, cult, that thought that Crossfit conjured up images of ninja-rey. Turns out, I'm wrong. Hilarious video making fun of Crossfitters... ff to around 3:15 if you just want to catch the ninja reference. As in "I'm going to hang rings up in front of my house and do muscle-ups... everyone will think a fucking ninja lives here."

Speaking of cults... marathoners are a little like a cult too. Good luck at CIM tomorrow, AM!

2010 plans

Races and events I'm considering for 2010. Happy to have company along the way.

Kaiser Permanente Half Marathon. (running) Feb 7. San Francisco.

Fight for Air Climb. (1,197 stairs) March 27. San Francisco.

Cinderella Classic and Challenge. (60 - 90 mi bike) April 10. Alameda County.

Wildflower Long Course. (half IM) May 1. Lake San Antonio.

Vineman 70.3.(half IM) July 18. Sonoma County.

Chicago Triathon. (Olympic) August 29. Chicago.

Nike Women's Half Marathon. (running) mid-late Oct. San Francisco.

Other stuff on my mind:

Bike ride around Lake Tahoe, ideally part of an organized ride since the road can be dangerous

Another Olympic distance tri, maybe Folsom again, or San Jose

10k running race, just cuz it's been a while

Levi's Gran Fondo road ride

Some other random bike century

Camping

TRAVEL! My poor passport didn't get used at ALL in 2009. So sad.

Intervals are your friend

This is a long post, cut and past from my weekly RoadBikeRider email. But, I want to be faster. And maybe you do too.

I also think this explains why my running performance was roughly maintained this summer, even though I only ran 1-2 times a week. One of those days was a speed - read: interval - day and the other was a longer run. Guess I should head back to the track again soon...


Does Interval Training Improve Endurance?

No doubt about it, according to a new study published in the November issue of the Journal of Applied PhysiologyGabe Mirkin, M.D., in his weekly ezine (available at http://www.drmirkin.com).

We're pleased because the findings underscore a training approach long promoted by RBR's Coach Fred Matheny. Here's an overview: and reported by cycling physician
 
Dr. Jens Bangsbo of the University of Copenhagen asked competitive distance runners to reduce their mileage by 25% but add 8-12 half-minute sprints 2 or 3 times per week. They also ran fast repeats of 0.6-0.8 miles (1-1.3 km) 1 or 2 times per week.

Meanwhile, a control group of runners continued what was basically long, steady distance training.

After 6-9 weeks, the control group showed no improvement. Runners in the intervals group, however, improved both their 3-km (1.8-mile) and 10-km (6.1-mile) race times by more than 3%. Half of them ran their best times ever, even though they'd been racing for more than 5 years.

That's remarkable improvement after only about 2 months of interval training.

Two years earlier, Dr. Mirkin reports, Dr. Bangsbo had done ground-breaking research supporting the theory that exhaustion of the "sodium-potassium pump" (not lactic acid buildup) is the major cause of muscle fatigue during exercise.

Now in his new study, Dr. Bangsbo shows how interval training improves a muscle's capacity to pump potassium back inside muscle cells during exercise. This helps athletes run or ride faster even in very long events such as marathons and multi-day bike rides.

Dr. Mirkin explains that a muscle can contract only if it has an electrical charge across the muscle cell membrane. This electrical charge comes from having sodium primarily outside the cell and potassium primarily inside the cell. These higher concentrations are maintained by the sodium-potassium pump in the cell membranes.

Dr. Bangsbo showed that during rapid contractions, muscle cells lose potassium so fast that it's doubled outside cells in less than a minute. The pump is overwhelmed. This reduces the electrical charge between the inside and outside, so muscle cells contract with much less force until finally they cannot contract at all. 

Now here's the good news. Repeated muscle contractions can increase the ability of the pump to put potassium into cells. The greater the force on a muscle during training, the more effectively the pump can do this. It's why a training plan that increases the number of intense efforts will give an athlete greater endurance.

How to Apply these Facts

You cannot gain maximum endurance just with continuous steady exercise, says Dr. Mirkin. It's also a message found in various RBR training eBooks written by Coach Fred, Coach David Ertl and Arnie Baker, M.D.

To improve your sodium-potassium pump, you need to put some serious force on your muscles. And probably the "easiest" way to do it is with interval training (although hard climbing and time trialing can work too).

Of course, Dr. Mirkin cautions, intense exertion can kill a person who has blocked heart arteries.* You should get your physician's permission before increasing hard efforts.

Once cleared, you can do intervals on the road or on a trainer. There are 2 basic types for this discussion:

---short intense efforts of 30 seconds or less

---long intense efforts of 2 minutes or more

"Intense" is for you to decide. It's possible to ride as hard as you can for half a minute, but the effort can't be quite as great when going longer.

Dr. Mirkin recommends 30-second intervals once or twice a week. Do 6, 8, 10 or more sprints during a session, then follow with a short, easy recovery day.

Because long intervals of 2+ minutes are more stressful, you can't do as many during a workout or do them as often. You may need 2 days of easy riding for recovery.

Rest Intervals

Athletes usually learn their ideal between-effort rest interval through experience, notes Dr. Mirkin.

You may want to rest until your pulse drops enough for you to begin to feel comfortable. Or until you're able to slow your breathing rate towards normal, or until your muscle discomfort begins subsiding. But don't wait for complete recuperation before going again.

Between interval workouts, if it takes longer than 2 days to recover you are probably riding too intensely, doing too many repetitions, or your rest intervals are too short.

Weekly Training Plan

In Dr. Mirkin's view, based on Dr. Bangsbo's research and his own cycling experience (he's 74 and a dedicated roadie), a weekly endurance training program should include a good amount of relatively slow miles, 1 or 2 workouts with numerous short intervals, and perhaps one workout that includes several long intervals. 


*I like how there's the "of course" part wrt getting killed by intervals. Thanks for throwing that in there, guys. Ok, fine. I'll finally find a physician and get a physical. However, if, after doing endurance sports with a fairly high level of intensity for the past 5+ years, it turns out I have something wrong with my cardiovascular system, I'm going to be seriously pissed off.

Four lines of snark, served up funky fresh, just for you, AB

So I forgot to actually disable my OKCupid account, as planned. Which turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I would have missed these gems from various guys who emailed me recently. 
AB - I think this is the snark you were seeking...


Actually posted under a photo of a guy water skiing -
This is a few years ago, but its my body I'm working hard to get back to.
Awww. I understand. Most of us have that pic from a while ago, but really? Points for honesty, but don't do that. Especially when the pic looks like it was scanned in - meaning, pre-digital camera age. 


Wanna beta test my apps?
Srsly?!?!? Actually, thinking back to his profile, he may have actually been talking about applications. But in this context, and just as a random last line to an intro email, this comment seemed to imply something else. Ew. 


I guess this is where I say something clever or witty.....
Um... yep. You could do that. Or, not, you know. Your choice. Oh, guess you decided to go with the not. Well, thanks for letting me in on the play-by-play of your thoughts, random dude.


...and that you are a triathlon athlete. You go girl!
Really? You go girl? I'm going to go throw up in my mouth a little. And I'm pretty sure I used the phrase "triathlete" in my profile. For a reason. Because that's what you call a person that does triathlons. 


Anyway, I'm done with that - well, except the two guys that I'm emailing. But nothing exciting to report there.
.........................

In non-mansafari news, Flo Rida's "Right Round*" is excellent for running hill repeats. 


Yes, I listen to fun, trashy hip-hop and pop when I run. And need some more recommendations. Higher beats per minute = better. 


*Which, as AF and I learned, at work, is about strippers. Not about other going downs that may make one head's spin. So sad (I mean, that this is the kind of stuff that I learn at work. The song's fab either way.).

Six.

1. I want someone to deliver Straus organic non fat plain yogurt, cottage cheese, bananas, chicken, celery, veggie burgers and Lara Bars to my door. Also, maybe something for dinner. (Yes, there's take out, but I don't actually want to call anyone, or wait for it. I'm looking for magic elves, or my non-existent mind reading boyfriend. Damn it, Edward Cullen, where are you?)

2. Bike ride today, because I  had the day off.

• I am blaming the shittasticness that is my riding speed and endurance on my 200 pound 3x deadlift yesterday and not on the fact that it's been about a month since I've gone on a ride.Yeah, I'm out of biking shape. But, damn, am I proud of that deadlift.
• On the second half of my ride, I encountered a kid who had a nasty wreck on the Sausalito bike path. Was going to call 911, since his head was bleeding, but enough of us assessed that he was okay - knew his name, was talking, pupils looked normal and he remembered his phone number. So I called his mom to pick him up. It looked like one of his pedal arms seemed to have fallen off his bike. OUCH!!! Poor kid. He was fine - bunch of road rash and bruises, but he also had a cut on his head and his helmet was there... but obviously didn't do the job. I see BMX kids riding around with their helmets unclipped all the fucking time. It's stupid. The helmet's not going to do anything if it's not properly secured to your head. I felt like an asshole, myself, because I stuck around for a little while, but then had to leave him with two other bikers because I didn't have lights on my bike and it was getting dark. And I don't want to tempt the irony gods quite that much.

3. In addition to elves, I'd also like a cleaning person. I am very seriously considering this one. Just 2x a month. I can't imagine it'd be that expensive, since my place is so small. It seems sooo bourgeois... but I really always come up with something better to do than wash my floors.

4. Did you know you have to floss the very back of your last tooth? Even though there's no other tooth next to it to trap anything in there, you're still supposed to run floss along it to help reduce plaque (or tartar?). I went to the dentist on Monday and came away with that fun fact. I'm pretty sure I'd gag myself if I actually had my wisdom teeth and had to floss all the way back there.

5. Oh, and hi blog stalkers! I didn't know I had so many silent readers. Hope I make you laugh sometimes.

6. I hope to see this band on Friday. Pomplamoose. Hilarious cover of Beyonce's Single Ladies. FF to around 1:55 for a little artistic license action.

Or, perhaps you're more into Michael Jackson, complete with xylophone? Oh yes.

Healthiness of food vs. cost of food

Stolen from my ninja training gym's Facebook page, who stole it from GraphJam.

Foot gloves

Kid from my ninja training gym has a picture and quote in SFGate.com/ today. Kind of cool - I was just working out with him this morning and then (electronically) open the paper and poof! there he is again. (Oh, and I think - like pretty much every other guy at my gym - he's married, so don't go all, why don't you go for him on me.) Anyway, the Vibram FiveFingers have been getting a lot of attention lately - they're the latest in barefoot running gear, kind of like the Nike Free was a few years ago. These have even *less* sole and let your toes really do their stabilization stuff individually. I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff and may try them out for some shorter runs this winter. We'll see.

For now... Vibram's FiveFingers foot gloves runaway hit

Caster Semenya - gender identity, physical gender

I've been interested in learning more about gender identity, gender chromosone disorders and other sorts of non-standard gendering, ever since a college friend was going M->F. Caster Semenya, a female track star from South Africa, has had her female status under fire since winning several high-profile international races. She's completely blown away her competition and looks a lot more manly than her fellow (already very ripped and lean) runners.

Poor girl is 18 years old and has always lived as a girl. Now she has just found out that she doesn't have ovaries or a uterus. Instead, she is a hermaphrodite and has internal testes, which are producing testosterone. Her testosterone levels are 3x that of a "normal" female. (But I haven't easily gathered how much more testosterone an average male has compared to an average female, which would be interesting.) Testosterone enough, I don't think, is adequate grounds for disallowing a female to compete in women's athletic events, but the physical evidence of hermaphrodism, does put Caster Semenya's athletic future in a tricky spot.

Article from the Australian Daily Telegraph here.

Inspiration!

Kick ass female athletes who rock their sports. And rock lil bikinis.

Check it.

The SNAP! and HR training

I subscribe to RoadBikeRider's weekly newsletter. Interesting tidbits, training techniques and biking news. Thought I'd share some with you today...
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Improve Your Snap

Good riders can accelerate quickly. We're not talking about race-winning sprints but rather the ability to close small gaps fast.

Ever find yourself off the back after the group rounds a turn or leaves a stop sign? A 15-foot (5-m) gap opens and it takes an inordinate amount of time and effort to close it.

Snap is what we call the ability to quickly shoot across small gaps to return to the shelter of the pack. Doing it well -- before little gaps become gulfs -- is crucial when riding with a group.

Snap is important on solo rides too. It's what you need to zip past threatening dogs or get through an intersection when the light suddenly turns yellow.

It's easy to improve your snap using a simple drill. Try this during any ride after you've warmed up:

---Shift to a relatively big gear (say, 53x15-teeth) and accelerate hard for 10 seconds. Don't stand, just stay in the saddle. The effort should feel about 90% of maximum. Use good form, pushing the pedals evenly and firmly. Keep your upper body steady. Resist rocking from side to side in an attempt to generate more power because this mainly wastes energy.

---Shift back to an easier gear and resume your normal cruising speed. After about 5 minutes do another hard acceleration, this time out of the saddle. Repeat every 5 minutes, alternating between sitting and standing for a total of 5-8 reps.

Do this little workout once or twice each week for a month. After that, you'll be snapping up gaps with ease.

Tip!  These brief accelerations also are great for waking up your legs in the middle of long rides. They'll actually help you feel fresher.

Kirby's tip: Do this every effing day when you're commuting. Seriously, I accelerate to make lights, to beat cars across a few lanes of traffic (when I start before them, of course) and after most stop lights. I'm pretty sure this helps me out when I'm on an actual road ride. If you're a bike commuter, give it a shot and see if it helps your overall fitness! Note to me... keep it up for 10 seconds. I'm guessing I'm doing more like 5.
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When we discuss heart rate training, as in last week's newsletter, we often warn against using the ubiquitous formula that says to find maximum HR by subtracting your age in years from 220.

Why? Because if it's right for you, it's just dumb luck.

Let's say you're 45. Using this formula, your max HR would be 175. But it could actually be anywhere from 164 to 186 (or even outside this broad range) because the formula has a standard deviation of 11.

So if you calculate training zones using the max HR produced by this formula, you'll very likely be training at intensities too low or too high.

Which begs the question:  How'd this flawed formula come to be?

The interesting answer comes from Gabe Mirkin, M.D., a doc we respect because he's a lifelong athlete who at 74 still rides 200 miles (322 km) a week. At his website, http://www.drmirkin.com, he specializes in making sense of new medical research that impacts health and athletic performance.

Dr. Mirkin says that "although this 220-minus-age formula is the golden standard used today, it is not based on science." Here's why:

"In 1970, a good friend, Sam Fox, was the director of the U.S. Public Health Service program to prevent heart disease. He is one of the most respected heart specialists in the world.

"He and a young researcher were flying to a meeting. They put together several studies comparing maximum heart rate and age.

"Sam Fox took out a pencil and plotted a graph of age verses maximum heart rate and said it looks like maximum heart rate is equal to 220 minus a person's age.

"A pencil mark has been the accepted formula for nearly 40 years. It has been taught in physical education and heart function courses . . . but the whole concept of maximum heart rate and this formula is ridiculous."

Dr. Mirkin continues, explaining that for cyclists, "Your legs drive your heart. Your heart does not drive your legs. Maximum heart rate depends on the strength of your legs, not the strength of your heart.

"When you contract your leg muscles, they squeeze against the blood vessels near them to pump blood from your leg veins toward your heart. When your leg muscles relax, your leg veins fill with blood. So your leg muscles pump increased amounts of blood toward your heart.

"This increased blood fills the heart and causes your heart to beat faster and with more force. This is called the Bainbridge Reflex that doctors are taught in their first year of medical school. The stronger your legs are, the more blood they can pump, which causes your heart to beat faster."

In Dr. Mirkin's view, you can forget heart rate for training purposes. His approach is much like the one we've been recommending for years at RBR.

Do the following, he says, if you're in good health and have no heart problems:

"Three times a week, never on consecutive days, either race or push the pace so that you are at your anaerobic threshold and then use bursts to exceed it to become short of breath. On the other four days, take it easy and do not put pressure on your muscles."

His "anaerobic threshold" is what RBR calls "lactate threshold." It's easy to find (although a bit painful). It's the point where a slight amount of additional effort turns steady deep breathing into shallow panting.

Whatever heart rate this occurs at is the heart rate that really matters when you are seeking serious improvement. No formula needed.
Kirby's comment: I've heard that the 200-Age for Max HR isn't totally accurate, but I didn't know that it came from a back-of-the-napkin kind of calculation. Crazy! The way that it was taught in gym class, you'd think that your heart would EXPLODE if you went over that Max HR. I think the concept that I highlighted in yellow holds some good ideas. Go hard, hard to the point of pain on a regular basis. But give yourself time to recover. Of course, what about a bike ride or run or gym workout that involved a limited (like say, ONE really tough hill or that very last set) amount of anaerobic threshold + excess? Could you do that again the next day? I'm guessing that it's the sustained efforts that require a day off, where short bursts are okay repeated. Of course, the fitness benefits are probably higher with the longer durations at those lactate/anaerobic/pain+ thresholds.
  

Performance. It's the name of the game.