05 December 2009
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!
04 December 2009
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.
Wisdom of Coco Chanel
"A girl should be two things: classy and fabulous." – Coco Chanel
Fabulous. Check.
Now classy... hahahaha.
Fabulous. Check.
Now classy... hahahaha.
Happy Friday, friends!
03 December 2009
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.
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.
2000-2010: Science
I'm expecting that we'll start reading a lot of top 10 lists about the past decade. (BTW, Wow. That was fast. And let's not even think about what any of us thought we would and wouldn't be doing in 2010, back in 2000.) Today, I tease you with the Smithsonian Magazine's science blog's Top 10 Great Moments in Science.
10. Hurricane Katrina track forecasting
9. Gene therapy
8. Solving the Poincaré Conjecture
7. “Intelligent design” struck down in a Pennsylvania court
6. Evidence of water on Mars
5. Clinical trials show hormone replacement therapy (HRT) has problems
4. Climate change research wins a Nobel Peace Prize
3. A spacecraft maps the remnants of the Big Bang
2. The discovery of “Ardi,” our ancestor
1. The sequencing of the human genome
Check out the link for more info on each of these scientific achievements.
02 December 2009
Yesterday was World AIDS Day.
I wrote this little blurb and then didn't post it yesterday. It doesn't seem particularly mind-blowing, or interesting. But, let's face it, neither is the majority of the shit I post anyway. And since most of my readers are my friends, ya'll are a smart bunch of cookies anyway, (nom nom nom I love cookies) and know that AIDS is a big fucking deal. So here you go... some stuff that you already know, but I'm telling you again anyway, because it was on my mind on World AIDS Day.
----------------
HIV+ people can live healthy, wonderful lives for a long time, given proper treatment. And this is good, very good. (The cost, and world-wide availability of this treatment is another topic entirely.) Regardless, existing drug therapies that limit the impact of the virus makes me optimistic for a true cure. That cure does not yet exist and people die from AIDS.
Get tested and be safe.
Trash sucks. Four options.
Trash sucks. Trash is something that is unusable and is an indication of an inefficiency.
Yes. It is inefficient for a manufacturing process to create substandard products that don't make it to market and end up as waste. It is inefficient to throw away food products that have rotted or are undesirable. E-waste - all of our old electronics that are either broken or outdated - an inefficient use of materials.
Still, trash happens. Not all of it has to sit in a landfill, though. We've gone through the four Rs before. Reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose.
Let's review reuse and recycle, then look at two other ways of dealing with trash.
1.Creative reuse, or just plain reuse. Denim scraps (an inefficiency in the process of making jeans) can be used to create insulation.
2. Recycling. We're familiar with this - glass, plastic, metal, paper. There's a lot of energy that goes into recycling - sorting, hipping recyclables all over the place, then processing the post-consumer goods into a usable raw material for manufacturers. Then, of course, re-manufacturing that material into something that's hopefully really effing useful. And something that can be re-recycled, if needed.
3. Compost. Organics have this neat element called carbon. Ooooh. Carbon. It means that it can decompose and turn into fertilizer. And we need that to grow stuff. Way better for our planet than using nitrogen based fertilizers. Yay! Industrial composters can take all sorts of things, like waxy cardboard, used pizza boxes, bones, shellfish parts... But there's a big NIMBY issue with the collection, transport and processing (composting). Augh. That sucks.
4. Burn the shit. Yep. W2E, waste-to-energy. Burn trash and make heat. But, what about all the pollutants that are formed from burning the shit that should have been recycled (like plastics)? I mean, styrofoam burns super hot (a W2E'er called it "jet fuel"), but do you want that in your air? Fuck no. But... is it worse than the by-products of coal fired power plants? This article says that W2E is better than coal (check pg 3 for a graphy-graph)... and on-par with natural gas to create heat (not electricity). I don't love it, but I think it's better than having it sit in a landfill, releasing methane gas (sucks more than carbon dioxide, from a GHG perspective... and yeah, it can be captured and recovered from landfills, but it is not always done).
Thoughts?
01 December 2009
update:
the guy that i went dancing with a few weeks ago? out until 3:30am without a phone number? yeah, through the wonders of facebook (i finally ponied up and sent him a friend request) turns out he's "in a relationship." that explains that.
one online guy left - we went out once last week and will potentially go out again this week. nothing to snark at. he recently moved back to the bay area to live closer to his family. awww.
new boy stuff? meh, nothing too interesting to discuss. a potential crush and we may have already gone on a date. the biking date. always tough to decipher, but pretty much guaranteed to be fun because it involves a bike ride. i dig dudes who ride.
the end.
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