April 30, 2010
April 26, 2010
Run4Hope 5k - Race Report
With the Run4Hope races being held by our triathlon club, Fletcher’s Meadows Cross Trainers, I made myself available before the race to do some set up work. This meant for an early morning start to the day but I was more than happy to assist as I was not able to attend in 2009 due to a work related trip. This year, my trip would start a day after the race so I made sure to be prepared in the days leading up to the event so that I could do as much as possible to help out.
When I arrived at Brampton’s Professor’s Lake Recreation Centre, I was a little early and was able to get a quick tour of the finishing area for the 5k from another club member, Richard Westwood, who was serving as the race director this year. When we wrapped up our walk around the little loop in the wooded area, the others were starting to file in so we quickly got to work on our tasks.
This race is a very important part of the Falcons’ community involvement so it was imperative that we had the race site as organized and user friendly as possible for the participants. This was the first year, in the six year history of the event, that it would be held at this location so we all wanted to make sure all the bases were covered. The turnout of club members, family and friends was amazing and it did not take very long to create the race course and staging areas that the organizing committee had envisioned through the many meetings leading up to this day.
As things appeared to be finalized with the set up, I was able to get my race kit and start my warm up with plenty of time to relax and get mentally ready to tackle my 5k distance. This is not a long distance but when you have an ambitious goal in mind, you have to visualize the game plan before trying to execute on the course.
I slowly jogged the back end of the course where more attention would be required as there’s a smaller loop added to the 3.3k asphalt path that circles the lake. I wanted to make sure I had all the little twists figured out because going through these areas blind can lead to confusion during a race. I have encountered this in the past and using your experiences is a major advantage when it comes to racing.
Being comfortable with the course, I made my way to the starting area and continued my warm up as the others found their spots on the starting grid for the mass start of 5k, 10k runners and 5k walkers that would make up the field. I knew a few of the guys from the sign up lists so I knew I would have some rabbits to chase out on the course. One of them was participating in the 10k and I wasn’t sure how he was going to attack the first loop of his distance so I wanted to make sure not to get caught up in his race.
As we all waited on the line, I talked to one of the young speedsters in the 5k. He told me that his goal was 16:40, much quicker than I would be attempting on this day but it was a good thing to know. I could tell by this gifted athlete’s warm up that he was more experienced than his peers so I wanted to make sure I kept him in sight to help me hit my goal of a sub-18 minute run. Many high school aged runners are very quick but they often lack the pacing and distance control so it is usually not wise to gauge a race based on their starts.
After the usual pre-race announcements and directions, we were set off on our little journey around Professor’s Lake starting with a few quick twists through the centre’s parking lot. The starting line was very crowded with many excited racers so I jumped out of the gate very quickly to find open room. I led through much of the first 200 metres before I dropped into a more manageable tempo and allowed four others to take the lead as we hit the asphalt trail. Among that group was the eventual 10k winner setting a blazing pace that I judged as a touch quick for me to follow. I was pretty sure the others that went by would not be able to hold their current rate of speed and assumed I would eventually move past them if I held a smooth tempo.
We rounded the lake in a counter clockwise fashion, hitting the first km marker along the way in 3:20. This was right on target and I was feeling very strong and confident in holding that speed for much longer than in the past. Usually, I get out of the blocks around this split time only to feel exhausted and watch the seconds tick away split after split. Hopefully, that would not be the case on this day.
Just after the first “k” sign, the young fellow I had spoke to before the race made his move up beside me and slowly began to pull away with a very smooth, efficient stride. With his calm and calculated start, I could tell he had enough running experience to hold this form and finish the race within his goal time so it was a matter of me keeping close. I jumped in behind as we slowly picked off the few runners starting to fade from their overeager beginnings.
We wound through the paths and roads (that were very well controlled and safe, thanks guys and gals!) making up the first three kilometres of the race. The leader’s gap was increasing but I did not feel that I was slowing much so I kept my focus and got ready to make the turn off into the short forest path leading out to North Park Road. I used all the awesome encouragement from the other Falcons along the course to keep motivated and pushed past the four km sign well ahead of my target. There were now only a few tight, quick turns through the walkways in the connecting neighbourhood to negotiate before rejoining the other racers, heading for home.
At this point, I was running alone in second and was very close to the finish area. I had enough in the tank to turn things up a notch and swiftly navigated through the gravel path in the forested area before hitting the parking lot, bursting into a final sprint for the line. I could not make out the “seconds” number counting up on the display clock but could see a seventeen in the minute column. I did not want to let off the gas as I appeared to have my goal in reach. After I crossed the line our race MC, Rob McCue, announced my time at 17:20 (along with a few other nice comments, Thanks Rob!). It was forty-five seconds quicker than my previous best at this distance and I was thrilled with my effort.
After taking five months off from racing, and missing Around the Bay, I was really itching to race and this was the first real opportunity to fit into my schedule. I was confident that my training had improved my running since last year but, when you are often running on tired legs during workouts, it is tough to know exactly what to expect on fresh legs.
Hopefully, this is a sign of many great things to come this season as I continue my preparations for the upcoming summer triathlons and my goal race at Timberman 70.3.
I would like to applaud the Falcons’ race committee for organizing a top notch event. You folks did a great job bringing the race to a new location and we able to continue the strong, growing tradition that is the Run4Hope. Congrats!
Also, the volunteers and Professor’s Lake staff did an amazing job all day and deserve a big round of applause for helping make this event a huge success. A running friend of mine, Sheldon Gragg (“Doonst” of runningmania.com fame) was very kind to set aside some of his Sunday morning and assist the cause so I would like thank him as well!
Great work folks!
When I arrived at Brampton’s Professor’s Lake Recreation Centre, I was a little early and was able to get a quick tour of the finishing area for the 5k from another club member, Richard Westwood, who was serving as the race director this year. When we wrapped up our walk around the little loop in the wooded area, the others were starting to file in so we quickly got to work on our tasks.
This race is a very important part of the Falcons’ community involvement so it was imperative that we had the race site as organized and user friendly as possible for the participants. This was the first year, in the six year history of the event, that it would be held at this location so we all wanted to make sure all the bases were covered. The turnout of club members, family and friends was amazing and it did not take very long to create the race course and staging areas that the organizing committee had envisioned through the many meetings leading up to this day.
As things appeared to be finalized with the set up, I was able to get my race kit and start my warm up with plenty of time to relax and get mentally ready to tackle my 5k distance. This is not a long distance but when you have an ambitious goal in mind, you have to visualize the game plan before trying to execute on the course.
I slowly jogged the back end of the course where more attention would be required as there’s a smaller loop added to the 3.3k asphalt path that circles the lake. I wanted to make sure I had all the little twists figured out because going through these areas blind can lead to confusion during a race. I have encountered this in the past and using your experiences is a major advantage when it comes to racing.
Being comfortable with the course, I made my way to the starting area and continued my warm up as the others found their spots on the starting grid for the mass start of 5k, 10k runners and 5k walkers that would make up the field. I knew a few of the guys from the sign up lists so I knew I would have some rabbits to chase out on the course. One of them was participating in the 10k and I wasn’t sure how he was going to attack the first loop of his distance so I wanted to make sure not to get caught up in his race.
As we all waited on the line, I talked to one of the young speedsters in the 5k. He told me that his goal was 16:40, much quicker than I would be attempting on this day but it was a good thing to know. I could tell by this gifted athlete’s warm up that he was more experienced than his peers so I wanted to make sure I kept him in sight to help me hit my goal of a sub-18 minute run. Many high school aged runners are very quick but they often lack the pacing and distance control so it is usually not wise to gauge a race based on their starts.
After the usual pre-race announcements and directions, we were set off on our little journey around Professor’s Lake starting with a few quick twists through the centre’s parking lot. The starting line was very crowded with many excited racers so I jumped out of the gate very quickly to find open room. I led through much of the first 200 metres before I dropped into a more manageable tempo and allowed four others to take the lead as we hit the asphalt trail. Among that group was the eventual 10k winner setting a blazing pace that I judged as a touch quick for me to follow. I was pretty sure the others that went by would not be able to hold their current rate of speed and assumed I would eventually move past them if I held a smooth tempo.
We rounded the lake in a counter clockwise fashion, hitting the first km marker along the way in 3:20. This was right on target and I was feeling very strong and confident in holding that speed for much longer than in the past. Usually, I get out of the blocks around this split time only to feel exhausted and watch the seconds tick away split after split. Hopefully, that would not be the case on this day.
Just after the first “k” sign, the young fellow I had spoke to before the race made his move up beside me and slowly began to pull away with a very smooth, efficient stride. With his calm and calculated start, I could tell he had enough running experience to hold this form and finish the race within his goal time so it was a matter of me keeping close. I jumped in behind as we slowly picked off the few runners starting to fade from their overeager beginnings.
We wound through the paths and roads (that were very well controlled and safe, thanks guys and gals!) making up the first three kilometres of the race. The leader’s gap was increasing but I did not feel that I was slowing much so I kept my focus and got ready to make the turn off into the short forest path leading out to North Park Road. I used all the awesome encouragement from the other Falcons along the course to keep motivated and pushed past the four km sign well ahead of my target. There were now only a few tight, quick turns through the walkways in the connecting neighbourhood to negotiate before rejoining the other racers, heading for home.
At this point, I was running alone in second and was very close to the finish area. I had enough in the tank to turn things up a notch and swiftly navigated through the gravel path in the forested area before hitting the parking lot, bursting into a final sprint for the line. I could not make out the “seconds” number counting up on the display clock but could see a seventeen in the minute column. I did not want to let off the gas as I appeared to have my goal in reach. After I crossed the line our race MC, Rob McCue, announced my time at 17:20 (along with a few other nice comments, Thanks Rob!). It was forty-five seconds quicker than my previous best at this distance and I was thrilled with my effort.
After taking five months off from racing, and missing Around the Bay, I was really itching to race and this was the first real opportunity to fit into my schedule. I was confident that my training had improved my running since last year but, when you are often running on tired legs during workouts, it is tough to know exactly what to expect on fresh legs.
Hopefully, this is a sign of many great things to come this season as I continue my preparations for the upcoming summer triathlons and my goal race at Timberman 70.3.
I would like to applaud the Falcons’ race committee for organizing a top notch event. You folks did a great job bringing the race to a new location and we able to continue the strong, growing tradition that is the Run4Hope. Congrats!
Also, the volunteers and Professor’s Lake staff did an amazing job all day and deserve a big round of applause for helping make this event a huge success. A running friend of mine, Sheldon Gragg (“Doonst” of runningmania.com fame) was very kind to set aside some of his Sunday morning and assist the cause so I would like thank him as well!
Great work folks!
April 19, 2010
5 Months feels too long...
It has been 5 full months since my last event (Egg Nog Jog 10.8k) so I am itching to get back into the game. I have been training quite a bit and am happy with many aspects of my overall fitness so it should be interesting to see how I do.
This weekend, my triathlon club (FMCT) will be hosting the Run4Hope races at Professors Lake in Brampton, Ontario. There will be 5k and 10k distances to pick from and I think I will start off at the 5k level for 2010. Given that Victoria's Duathlon in May will be a shorter, sprint style race, I want to let the legs go and see if I can break that darn 18 minute barrier. I only ran one 5k race last season and it was the X-Country event in Guelph last fall so the course was not too speedy and the other times I have run the distance lately have been in duathlons, so I don't count them (distances are not always true, effort is not maximum due to other stages of the event, etc.)
Check out the web site for details...
http://run4hope.com/
Also, I will be out in Vancouver next week for work. I will have a few mornings to run in Stanley Park so if anyone else is up at around 6am (west time) let me know and we can hit the park for a few km's. Email me if you are interested at larrybradleytoronto@yahoo.ca. I think I will be able to run Tues, Wed and Thurs (depending on time of flight). If anyone has an extra bike, maybe we could get a ride in instead...
This weekend, my triathlon club (FMCT) will be hosting the Run4Hope races at Professors Lake in Brampton, Ontario. There will be 5k and 10k distances to pick from and I think I will start off at the 5k level for 2010. Given that Victoria's Duathlon in May will be a shorter, sprint style race, I want to let the legs go and see if I can break that darn 18 minute barrier. I only ran one 5k race last season and it was the X-Country event in Guelph last fall so the course was not too speedy and the other times I have run the distance lately have been in duathlons, so I don't count them (distances are not always true, effort is not maximum due to other stages of the event, etc.)
Check out the web site for details...
http://run4hope.com/
Also, I will be out in Vancouver next week for work. I will have a few mornings to run in Stanley Park so if anyone else is up at around 6am (west time) let me know and we can hit the park for a few km's. Email me if you are interested at larrybradleytoronto@yahoo.ca. I think I will be able to run Tues, Wed and Thurs (depending on time of flight). If anyone has an extra bike, maybe we could get a ride in instead...
April 16, 2010
3 down, thousands to go...
This week, I finally took myself to task and pulled my lazy butt out of bed to start this morning workout routine I have been talking about for the longest time. The first morning (Tuesday) was a tempo ride so I was a little worried that I would not have the usual energy to push my limits. After a small warm up I actually got up to speed and had a very decent effort.
Unfortunately, I missed my planned lunch time workout due to work meetings so I had to move my schedule around and ended up getting in a run that night. I made sure to go for the run earlier than my old ways but it still seemed to affect the next morning as I squashed the idea of an early morning minutes before the alarm was to go off and enjoyed some more zzz's. I eventually put in a solid, lunch time swim but could not muster up anything that evening after the rest of the family turned in for the night.
Missing a second workout motivated me the next morning (Thursday) and I decided to fit in my track session at this point. A few km warm up to the track and then 10x400m was completed followed by a cool down back home, the long way. To be honest, the track workout did not go so bad. I am not sure that I want to do many speed workouts as my early workout but at least I am feeling better about the option. Only thing that really threw me off on this workout was the damn Garmin 405! So annoying when it gets wet. Add in a nice, controlled lunch time bike ride and then our club swim just after supper and I was looking for bed much earlier than usual which worked well for the next day.
I was amazed to wake up 15 minutes before the alarm and I was feeling ready to roll. I geared up and headed out to the great spring morning. It is the first time this year (that I have noticed) that it has been warm and fresh right away. The last few weeks have started out chilly (on my very short ride/commute to work), eventually getting warm by lunch time. This was a pleasant surprise as I was having issues locating my tech hoodie for under my helmet and did not want to waste time or wake anyone looking for the darn thing.
After yesterday's workouts, I knew I was in for a slower ride but I still wanted to put in some solid pushed along the way. Standing still, the wind seemed non-existent but it really seemed to be against me for the first portion of the tour. I kept rolling along into wind hoping I would benefit on the way home. Thankfully, it did and I was able to fly across the last few roads leading back to our house pushing up the overall average. I actually did not expect to hit that this morning so I was happy about the effort, without over doing it.
Now, I just have to keep things in order (no late night runs/rides this weekend!) and stay in the routine I seem to be settling into.
Just before I sign off, Best of luck to all those in Boston next week! Have a great race and enjoy the experience.
Larry
Unfortunately, I missed my planned lunch time workout due to work meetings so I had to move my schedule around and ended up getting in a run that night. I made sure to go for the run earlier than my old ways but it still seemed to affect the next morning as I squashed the idea of an early morning minutes before the alarm was to go off and enjoyed some more zzz's. I eventually put in a solid, lunch time swim but could not muster up anything that evening after the rest of the family turned in for the night.
Missing a second workout motivated me the next morning (Thursday) and I decided to fit in my track session at this point. A few km warm up to the track and then 10x400m was completed followed by a cool down back home, the long way. To be honest, the track workout did not go so bad. I am not sure that I want to do many speed workouts as my early workout but at least I am feeling better about the option. Only thing that really threw me off on this workout was the damn Garmin 405! So annoying when it gets wet. Add in a nice, controlled lunch time bike ride and then our club swim just after supper and I was looking for bed much earlier than usual which worked well for the next day.
I was amazed to wake up 15 minutes before the alarm and I was feeling ready to roll. I geared up and headed out to the great spring morning. It is the first time this year (that I have noticed) that it has been warm and fresh right away. The last few weeks have started out chilly (on my very short ride/commute to work), eventually getting warm by lunch time. This was a pleasant surprise as I was having issues locating my tech hoodie for under my helmet and did not want to waste time or wake anyone looking for the darn thing.
After yesterday's workouts, I knew I was in for a slower ride but I still wanted to put in some solid pushed along the way. Standing still, the wind seemed non-existent but it really seemed to be against me for the first portion of the tour. I kept rolling along into wind hoping I would benefit on the way home. Thankfully, it did and I was able to fly across the last few roads leading back to our house pushing up the overall average. I actually did not expect to hit that this morning so I was happy about the effort, without over doing it.
Now, I just have to keep things in order (no late night runs/rides this weekend!) and stay in the routine I seem to be settling into.
Just before I sign off, Best of luck to all those in Boston next week! Have a great race and enjoy the experience.
Larry
April 13, 2010
Plugging along...
Last time I mentioned that I was just getting in a bunch of workouts but not really sticking to a plan. It is a week later, and the work load from my daytime job is pretty high these days so I have not found time to sit down and design my plan of attack. Although, I kind of like being flexible, I also feel that I may be falling behind others who may be going through their proper periodizations and weekly routines. Sometimes my head just spins trying to think what is best for my goals this season.
Only thing I really know these days is that I want to get faster. Much, much faster! I am not sure what fuels it and I am not sure if it is always the best way to look at the sport but that is my current mental make up. I would love to just train for fun and race for fun but it is not how it plays out. I do not look at the people that can just enjoy it as a fun time any differently. I totally respect their direction and believe each person has their own agenda but something deep inside my head (if I had a brain I would have used that in place of head...) tells me to go fast, try as hard as possible, push. I guess that is why I have seen decent improvements in the short time spent in the sport (but may sit a little too close to the edge of the dreaded burn out)...
Sometimes, when I do get the opportunity to train with the group, or other friends, I feel I am trying too hard and hope they don't think I am showing off. It is just the way I ride, run, swim. There is always going to be an effort but I am still having fun so I hope nobody takes it the wrong way.
Love to hear anyone else's thoughts or suggestions for my game plan?
Take care,
LB
Only thing I really know these days is that I want to get faster. Much, much faster! I am not sure what fuels it and I am not sure if it is always the best way to look at the sport but that is my current mental make up. I would love to just train for fun and race for fun but it is not how it plays out. I do not look at the people that can just enjoy it as a fun time any differently. I totally respect their direction and believe each person has their own agenda but something deep inside my head (if I had a brain I would have used that in place of head...) tells me to go fast, try as hard as possible, push. I guess that is why I have seen decent improvements in the short time spent in the sport (but may sit a little too close to the edge of the dreaded burn out)...
Sometimes, when I do get the opportunity to train with the group, or other friends, I feel I am trying too hard and hope they don't think I am showing off. It is just the way I ride, run, swim. There is always going to be an effort but I am still having fun so I hope nobody takes it the wrong way.
Love to hear anyone else's thoughts or suggestions for my game plan?
Take care,
LB
April 7, 2010
Post Easter Update
Well, it has been a few weeks between blog updates. Mainly because I really have not had a heck of a lot of interesting news. I have been working a lot, hanging out with family and keeping up my training during the opportunities that pop up.
To start, I missed the Around the Bay 30k road race. When a race forces me to sign up extra early, I often forget the dates so many weeks ago, when my wife mentioned that she had a work related getaway, the weekend she stated didn't seem too important. The week before the race we discussed our upcoming plans and realized we had a conflict. I am not too SMRT.
As I was no longer going to run that race, I decided it was time to get serious about the bike. Since I was running so much during training (in order to break 2 hours at ATB), I was afraid I was going to be very far behind last year in terms of bike fitness. Thankfully, the speed is still there but I really have to work on maintaining the effort on the medium (40k to 60k) distances. Thanks to the great weather we have had in the Mississauga area, I have been able to abandon the trainer and experience the preferred resistance of the roads.
This is key for me as I never quite trust the resistance settings on the trainer or life cycles at the gym. Until you add the wind and hills, it just seems to be too much of a guessing game. In the past week the wind has really picked up and added some extra leg zapping gusts. In previous years, I would have been upset, thinking the wind was ruining my ride. Now, I have learned to use this element to push hard and battle to add even more blocks to my bike fitness.
Yesterday, for example, I wanted to gets some hill work in on the bike but only had a small window of time to ride. As the wind was blowing up a storm from the west, I decided to grind it out with a massive effort towards Milton. This 20k stretch is very flat but with the force of the wind I could use this road close to my home to work on some tough resistance training. I knew the ride back would be a piece of cake so I put in a very big push for the entire first half and my legs were cooking by the time I reached the halfway mark.
I then took a quick water break and then turned around with the aid of the wind. I did not totally relax. I am always trying to see just how fast the wind can take me so I hamered a solid ride home as well. Too add some extra miles, I zoomed around the Erin Mills portion of town and ended up with a nice 50k tester before heading home for supper.
With the triathlon season less than two month away, I really need to sit down and hammer out a strong plan as I have been free training on top of my run program I was working on. I know the basics of the plan but I need to get organized and stick to it, although, the flexible approach right now is not too bad as there have been gains and I am not lacking the effort in my sessions. The biggest component would be to add some more rest, if anything.
In an attempt to become more of a morning person...
If anyone is interested in an early Monday morning (say 6:00am) track session or short ride, please let me know. I need the motivation of another person to make sure I get out of bed. Right now, Monday (up until race season) is my best day as I do not have to get the kids ready for day care. If it is another day of the week, I would have to make sure to be home by 7:00am (sorry for the boring details).
Talk soon,
Larry
To start, I missed the Around the Bay 30k road race. When a race forces me to sign up extra early, I often forget the dates so many weeks ago, when my wife mentioned that she had a work related getaway, the weekend she stated didn't seem too important. The week before the race we discussed our upcoming plans and realized we had a conflict. I am not too SMRT.
As I was no longer going to run that race, I decided it was time to get serious about the bike. Since I was running so much during training (in order to break 2 hours at ATB), I was afraid I was going to be very far behind last year in terms of bike fitness. Thankfully, the speed is still there but I really have to work on maintaining the effort on the medium (40k to 60k) distances. Thanks to the great weather we have had in the Mississauga area, I have been able to abandon the trainer and experience the preferred resistance of the roads.
This is key for me as I never quite trust the resistance settings on the trainer or life cycles at the gym. Until you add the wind and hills, it just seems to be too much of a guessing game. In the past week the wind has really picked up and added some extra leg zapping gusts. In previous years, I would have been upset, thinking the wind was ruining my ride. Now, I have learned to use this element to push hard and battle to add even more blocks to my bike fitness.
Yesterday, for example, I wanted to gets some hill work in on the bike but only had a small window of time to ride. As the wind was blowing up a storm from the west, I decided to grind it out with a massive effort towards Milton. This 20k stretch is very flat but with the force of the wind I could use this road close to my home to work on some tough resistance training. I knew the ride back would be a piece of cake so I put in a very big push for the entire first half and my legs were cooking by the time I reached the halfway mark.
I then took a quick water break and then turned around with the aid of the wind. I did not totally relax. I am always trying to see just how fast the wind can take me so I hamered a solid ride home as well. Too add some extra miles, I zoomed around the Erin Mills portion of town and ended up with a nice 50k tester before heading home for supper.
With the triathlon season less than two month away, I really need to sit down and hammer out a strong plan as I have been free training on top of my run program I was working on. I know the basics of the plan but I need to get organized and stick to it, although, the flexible approach right now is not too bad as there have been gains and I am not lacking the effort in my sessions. The biggest component would be to add some more rest, if anything.
In an attempt to become more of a morning person...
If anyone is interested in an early Monday morning (say 6:00am) track session or short ride, please let me know. I need the motivation of another person to make sure I get out of bed. Right now, Monday (up until race season) is my best day as I do not have to get the kids ready for day care. If it is another day of the week, I would have to make sure to be home by 7:00am (sorry for the boring details).
Talk soon,
Larry
March 21, 2010
Buying Expensive Gear to Save Race Weight?
I have been reading a lot about new gadgets and gear lately. It is the Spring thing to do with all the 2010 Gear Issues out on news stands.
What has really hit me of late is the cost of these new pieces of equipment, usually re-designed to cut weight.
Here is my quick take…before you go out and spend an extra $300 to $700 to replace your stock brakes (just one example) to save 200 grams, consider what you are carrying in the first place.
Do you carry too much water or gatorade on your bike? Chances are you have filled up a few bottles (to the rim) for a sprint triathlon or duathlon. Remember that 1 litre of water is roughly 1000 grams of weight added to your ride ( http://health.howstuffworks.com/question227.htm ).
Since most races have water stations out on the run portion, you really should not need that much liquid on the bike, unless it is a super hot day.
What else do you have on your race kit that you really do not need that would save you weight before spending a small fortune?
What has really hit me of late is the cost of these new pieces of equipment, usually re-designed to cut weight.
Here is my quick take…before you go out and spend an extra $300 to $700 to replace your stock brakes (just one example) to save 200 grams, consider what you are carrying in the first place.
Do you carry too much water or gatorade on your bike? Chances are you have filled up a few bottles (to the rim) for a sprint triathlon or duathlon. Remember that 1 litre of water is roughly 1000 grams of weight added to your ride ( http://health.howstuffworks.com/question227.htm ).
Since most races have water stations out on the run portion, you really should not need that much liquid on the bike, unless it is a super hot day.
What else do you have on your race kit that you really do not need that would save you weight before spending a small fortune?
March 12, 2010
Friday Update
It's the weekend and, although they are calling for rain, the mild temperatures make it worth looking forward to. I also have the weekend away from hockey as the boys are on the road. This means lots of quality family time but also a few more hours to squeeze in some extra training. Hopefully, the roads will be in decent enough shape that I can pump out a nice, outdoor ride on Saturday. I really need to get the riding hours up soon and this may be the perfect time to start.
I took advantage of the great spring conditions all this week at lunch and my hour long rides are feeling strong so it is a matter of putting in some longer efforts, slowly leading into the larger distance races of mid to late summer. Looking at the competitors in the triathlon, I am going to need to build on last years bike times. This may be tough as I was up with the top age groupers last year, with the elites a few km/h ahead of us.
Since my swimming is bound to be slower than my rivals, it is very important to get faster on the bike and run even faster than last year. Thankfully, I ended up cycling and running beside many of these guys as I raced the duathlon. After the first leg of the du we all became mixed in with the triathlon event so I know what they have to offer. Unfortunately, for me, they are fast on the bike and on the run. If I want to stay competitve in the sport this year, I will have to really buckle down and train as hard as I am capable.
So now that I am finished my self motivational talk, I can get to the update...
At our weekly club swim last night, I was very happy with my training during our interval work. I picked a workout in the middle of the speed chart and was actually touching the wall early enough to enjoy longer breaks between intervals than expected. During this portion of the training we did 3 x 100m on 2:00, 100m easy, 4 x 50 on 1:00, 50m easy, 3 x 100m on 2:15, 100 easy, 4 x 50m on 0:55, 50 easy. I know this is slow to most but my splits were much quicker than I have been doing so, if this is a faster trend in my progress, I will be able to jump up a level and shorten the breaks.
Not bad for a guy that hit the water for the very first time in August. At least that is what I think. HAHA
Running has been very productive for quite a few weeks now and I am sticking with my plan for the 30k Around the Bay race a few weeks away. I believe I am where I need to be so it will be a matter of executing the game plan come March 28th. I know a couple of the guys in the club will be running quickly so we may all be sitting together in a group so I hope we can work as a team and push ourselves to the line in our goal time under 2 hours.
Cycling, as mentioned above, has not received the focus that I would like but I believe there is time. I have a great program I may use starting around 8 to 9 weeks out from Victoria's Duathlon. Very intense cycling on fewer days which may suit the extra time needed to swim. I have it on pretty good authority that this program can be manipulated into the triathlon plan but is only good for a few cycles (11 weeks per cycle) per year.
Well, that's it in a nut shell. Hope I see some of you out enjoying the mild weather this weekend!
I took advantage of the great spring conditions all this week at lunch and my hour long rides are feeling strong so it is a matter of putting in some longer efforts, slowly leading into the larger distance races of mid to late summer. Looking at the competitors in the triathlon, I am going to need to build on last years bike times. This may be tough as I was up with the top age groupers last year, with the elites a few km/h ahead of us.
Since my swimming is bound to be slower than my rivals, it is very important to get faster on the bike and run even faster than last year. Thankfully, I ended up cycling and running beside many of these guys as I raced the duathlon. After the first leg of the du we all became mixed in with the triathlon event so I know what they have to offer. Unfortunately, for me, they are fast on the bike and on the run. If I want to stay competitve in the sport this year, I will have to really buckle down and train as hard as I am capable.
So now that I am finished my self motivational talk, I can get to the update...
At our weekly club swim last night, I was very happy with my training during our interval work. I picked a workout in the middle of the speed chart and was actually touching the wall early enough to enjoy longer breaks between intervals than expected. During this portion of the training we did 3 x 100m on 2:00, 100m easy, 4 x 50 on 1:00, 50m easy, 3 x 100m on 2:15, 100 easy, 4 x 50m on 0:55, 50 easy. I know this is slow to most but my splits were much quicker than I have been doing so, if this is a faster trend in my progress, I will be able to jump up a level and shorten the breaks.
Not bad for a guy that hit the water for the very first time in August. At least that is what I think. HAHA
Running has been very productive for quite a few weeks now and I am sticking with my plan for the 30k Around the Bay race a few weeks away. I believe I am where I need to be so it will be a matter of executing the game plan come March 28th. I know a couple of the guys in the club will be running quickly so we may all be sitting together in a group so I hope we can work as a team and push ourselves to the line in our goal time under 2 hours.
Cycling, as mentioned above, has not received the focus that I would like but I believe there is time. I have a great program I may use starting around 8 to 9 weeks out from Victoria's Duathlon. Very intense cycling on fewer days which may suit the extra time needed to swim. I have it on pretty good authority that this program can be manipulated into the triathlon plan but is only good for a few cycles (11 weeks per cycle) per year.
Well, that's it in a nut shell. Hope I see some of you out enjoying the mild weather this weekend!
March 7, 2010
Chilly Half Marathon LeaderBoard
Wow, what a results board for todays Chilly Half Marathon in Burlington! Just looking at the first few pages, I can see so many great times by people I know, train with or have chatted with at some race over the past few months.
Seeing all the impressive times by the likes of Greg McNabb, Adrian Lawson, Tyler Lord, Marko Durbic, Mike Bosch, Brian Hastings, Jowenne Hererra, Richard Westwood, Bill Vieira, Jim Dalzell and Tommy Ferris has me wondering where i would have landed at this point in time. Great running everyone!
When I first looked at the results I was a little bumbed out that I could not run today, due to work. Also, I had been to the bike show earlier in the day and walked away from an amazing deal on a carbon frame for a road bike that would have stretched the budget these days and would not have been a smart spend at this time. House work (garage door) is priority right now and I really had to remind myself that the dog house is very cold at this time of the year.
There were so many other great deals to be had, even mid-way through Sunday. Even the Dura-Ace components in some of the booths were going for 75% off. So what if they are a year or two behind in the model number, to save that amount on quality parts to put on the bike you train with is quite a deal. As you can imagine, the "what ifs" of the day had me a little down at night.
Thankfully, I pulled myself off the couch and suited up for a solid, long run with hills. I ended up doing 22 km and even held the pace as my final 12km were into the wind and mainly uphill. The wind was pretty chilly at this point of the night so I am now just trying to warm up and relax enough to hit the hay.
Anyway, just wanted to say Congrats to all the solid runs put in today by those I know! Can't wait to read all the reports.
Keep up the great work!
Larry
Seeing all the impressive times by the likes of Greg McNabb, Adrian Lawson, Tyler Lord, Marko Durbic, Mike Bosch, Brian Hastings, Jowenne Hererra, Richard Westwood, Bill Vieira, Jim Dalzell and Tommy Ferris has me wondering where i would have landed at this point in time. Great running everyone!
When I first looked at the results I was a little bumbed out that I could not run today, due to work. Also, I had been to the bike show earlier in the day and walked away from an amazing deal on a carbon frame for a road bike that would have stretched the budget these days and would not have been a smart spend at this time. House work (garage door) is priority right now and I really had to remind myself that the dog house is very cold at this time of the year.
There were so many other great deals to be had, even mid-way through Sunday. Even the Dura-Ace components in some of the booths were going for 75% off. So what if they are a year or two behind in the model number, to save that amount on quality parts to put on the bike you train with is quite a deal. As you can imagine, the "what ifs" of the day had me a little down at night.
Thankfully, I pulled myself off the couch and suited up for a solid, long run with hills. I ended up doing 22 km and even held the pace as my final 12km were into the wind and mainly uphill. The wind was pretty chilly at this point of the night so I am now just trying to warm up and relax enough to hit the hay.
Anyway, just wanted to say Congrats to all the solid runs put in today by those I know! Can't wait to read all the reports.
Keep up the great work!
Larry
March 2, 2010
Is spring coming?
Well, we have had a little bit of every thing weather wise of late. Some snow, some sun, some mild temps and some cool temps. It was only 8 days ago that I saw so many riders out enjoying clear roads and plus 6 degree temps in our area. I had so many things on the go that week that I needed to focus on family so I passed on a long ride with the guys. Hoping last weekend would turn out similar, I was disappointed when all the snow came down leading into the weekend and spoiling the clean roads and ruining my riding plans. Oh well, it looks like we are in for some spring like weather here shortly.
Putting in all the training and seeing the run results (on the web) coming along has me itching to race. I am signed up for the Around the Bay road race at the end of the month but I would really love to get in a 5k run to see where I sit these days. I feel ahead of last yeat right now on my run and even on my bike, which is very nice considering I am also making time to swim. This is dipping into my time allotment and something I did not have to schedule in the past but I am really starting to enjoy the learning process involved.
I have talked about my running and swimming in the past few weeks but I am just starting to see some cycling comparisons. It may not be on the actual roads but between the trainer and the life cycle, it is looking like my sprint distance conditioning is a little further along at this point of the off-season. I am pushing more power on the life cycle (still have not built a budget for a power metre on my real wheels) in very comparable test year over year so it is now time to start building the length of the rides with sustained power. With a nice base in place, I am starting to get confident that my triathlon cycling speed will increase this season.
Well, time to get out and run. Sorry nothing too exciting to write about but just wanted to put a little pen to paper this week.
PS - I will miss Poni's class! He may have not been the greatest Leaf but nice guys like number 23 made work so much easier back in the day. Good luck Poni!
Putting in all the training and seeing the run results (on the web) coming along has me itching to race. I am signed up for the Around the Bay road race at the end of the month but I would really love to get in a 5k run to see where I sit these days. I feel ahead of last yeat right now on my run and even on my bike, which is very nice considering I am also making time to swim. This is dipping into my time allotment and something I did not have to schedule in the past but I am really starting to enjoy the learning process involved.
I have talked about my running and swimming in the past few weeks but I am just starting to see some cycling comparisons. It may not be on the actual roads but between the trainer and the life cycle, it is looking like my sprint distance conditioning is a little further along at this point of the off-season. I am pushing more power on the life cycle (still have not built a budget for a power metre on my real wheels) in very comparable test year over year so it is now time to start building the length of the rides with sustained power. With a nice base in place, I am starting to get confident that my triathlon cycling speed will increase this season.
Well, time to get out and run. Sorry nothing too exciting to write about but just wanted to put a little pen to paper this week.
PS - I will miss Poni's class! He may have not been the greatest Leaf but nice guys like number 23 made work so much easier back in the day. Good luck Poni!
February 25, 2010
I'm Running - Misstress Barbara w/ Sam Roberts
A new theme song for us runners?? Can't really go wrong when Sam Roberts is involved.
I heard this in the car on the way home tonight and it caught me right away.
Do you like?
I heard this in the car on the way home tonight and it caught me right away.
Do you like?
February 19, 2010
I'm Back ... with Team Running Free
Last week I received an email announcing that I had been selected again to participate with Team Running Free. I will be based out of the very handy Milton, Ontario location and look forward to working with Jane and all the other members of our team.
This will be my third year with Running Free. I had some amazing experiences during my first two years in 2007 and 2008 before taking last year off as I did not know which route I would travel and did not feel it was fair to the team to take up a spot.
Thankfully, Jeremy (team manager) found my past work valuable and he and Jane welcomed me back on the team for 2010. When I first started with Team Running Free, it was strictly a one store operation in Markham that sponsored 75 athletes from various sports reflecting the retail build of the store. Now there will be five stores with double the athletes supported through their very unique sponsorship program.
For local, passionate athletes that may not have the marketing pull of most of the pros, this programs allows us to afford many elements of our training (gear, nutrition, shoes, etc) that we usually would break our budgets on. Because of all the training we put in at the pool, the gym or on the roads, we tend to go through these products pretty quickly and it helps to have a great support system such as Team Running Free.
Click below to find out more about the team and our amazing sponsors and product suppliers!
http://www.teamrunningfree.com/
This will be my third year with Running Free. I had some amazing experiences during my first two years in 2007 and 2008 before taking last year off as I did not know which route I would travel and did not feel it was fair to the team to take up a spot.
Thankfully, Jeremy (team manager) found my past work valuable and he and Jane welcomed me back on the team for 2010. When I first started with Team Running Free, it was strictly a one store operation in Markham that sponsored 75 athletes from various sports reflecting the retail build of the store. Now there will be five stores with double the athletes supported through their very unique sponsorship program.
For local, passionate athletes that may not have the marketing pull of most of the pros, this programs allows us to afford many elements of our training (gear, nutrition, shoes, etc) that we usually would break our budgets on. Because of all the training we put in at the pool, the gym or on the roads, we tend to go through these products pretty quickly and it helps to have a great support system such as Team Running Free.
Click below to find out more about the team and our amazing sponsors and product suppliers!
http://www.teamrunningfree.com/
February 18, 2010
Great New Song from Alexisonfire!
I really like Alexisonfire (another great Canadian band) and crank the radio every time they get airplay. Although, I do also own all their cd's so I am not just stuck to their singles. The band is getting a little more main stream with Dallas taking over most vocals but I still like the screaming mix. Not for everyone that is for sure. Just ask my better half. HAHA
The Northern
The Northern
February 17, 2010
Why is Brunt Stealing my Blog?? HAHAHA
A couple days after my blog (one article below this) was posted Mr Brunt wrote a similar message. I guess I am not the only person writing a little on the negative side of the column these days. What he references from media around the globe is not the picture we were hoping to paint.
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=43691.html?cid=rssrsn
BTW - a few more days have passed and the games are not getting any better. The athletes are pouring their hearts out so it must be tough when everything around you is going wrong. I cannot believe how may errors, system glitches, officiating blunders, etc. are coming up at these games. I have never seen so many mistakes in top level, "organized" sport.
Go Canada Go!
http://www.ctvolympics.ca/news-centre/newsid=43691.html?cid=rssrsn
BTW - a few more days have passed and the games are not getting any better. The athletes are pouring their hearts out so it must be tough when everything around you is going wrong. I cannot believe how may errors, system glitches, officiating blunders, etc. are coming up at these games. I have never seen so many mistakes in top level, "organized" sport.
Go Canada Go!
February 14, 2010
The Olympics So Far...Thank goodness there is time to improve!
I am going to be totally open and write exactly what I think so far as I spend my weekend hoping things get better in Vancouver and area. I have been watching a lot of the coverage and the experience viewed from a far has been very poor. I hate to admit this, as I am super patriotic, but sometime we have to be brutally honest. I can't imagine that we have looked very good from the eyes of the rest of the world.
From the very boring opening ceremonies (only reason I kept watching was to see who would light the flame), terrible weather, tragedy on the luge course, broken ice surfacing machines for speed skating, the bad lip synching of the big musical guests at the ceremonies, the mechanical delay in lighting the indoor cauldron, the embarrassing ride of shame to get to the outdoor cauldron on the back of a pick up in the rain (Poor Gretz!), the idiot activists in Vancouver, the 18-0 womens hockey score, it has just been tough to say the games have been going as planned. I am sure there is more but this is just off the top of my head as I take a moment to blog.
Thankfully, our amazing athletes have performed well and keep me going back to watch more. I can only imagine the stress they are under and so far they have been trying their hearts out to perform to their bests. I know there is so much emphasis on medals but when you are putting in your top result against this level of competition, you have to feel they have done all they could to proudly represent themselves, their families and the country!
Let's cross our fingers for some better luck for the Olympics.
Larry
From the very boring opening ceremonies (only reason I kept watching was to see who would light the flame), terrible weather, tragedy on the luge course, broken ice surfacing machines for speed skating, the bad lip synching of the big musical guests at the ceremonies, the mechanical delay in lighting the indoor cauldron, the embarrassing ride of shame to get to the outdoor cauldron on the back of a pick up in the rain (Poor Gretz!), the idiot activists in Vancouver, the 18-0 womens hockey score, it has just been tough to say the games have been going as planned. I am sure there is more but this is just off the top of my head as I take a moment to blog.
Thankfully, our amazing athletes have performed well and keep me going back to watch more. I can only imagine the stress they are under and so far they have been trying their hearts out to perform to their bests. I know there is so much emphasis on medals but when you are putting in your top result against this level of competition, you have to feel they have done all they could to proudly represent themselves, their families and the country!
Let's cross our fingers for some better luck for the Olympics.
Larry
February 11, 2010
Gear Review - Sable WaterOptics 101MT
As a rookie swimmer, it is very important for me to have accessories that work properly so that I don’t have to worry about anything other than learning my stroke. When I first started my swimming journey in August 2009, I picked up a cheap pair of goggles from a big box retailer due to the convenience of its location. I knew I needed to start in the pool (I had just signed up for a triathlon that was less than a month away) as soon as possible to adjust from my duathlon ways and prepare for a 650m swim.
With the lower end eye wear, I struggled to find a rhythm in the pool as I was always stopping to adjust, tighten or dump water. I would fog up often and felt as though I was swimming blind through the tight lanes during busy lunch time length swims. I actually ran into two people during this period of darkness while trying to pass slower swimmers. Not cool!
When it came time to race, I actually became so frustrated with my goggles that I pulled them down around my neck and swam without anything over my eyes for 400 metres of the swim leg. I had a horrible time sighting in the small lake and was all over the course. I could not see the people in front of me and was very worried about being hit the entire time I was in the water. Thankfully, those days are over!
Knowing that I had ventured into the water, Syd Trefiak (my triathlon guru), offered up a pair of his Sable WaterOptics 101MT for my use. When I received the package in the mail, I immediately opened the protective carrying case and tried them on just to see what all the buzz was about. At first, the lenses were a little too close together but that was a quick fix thanks to all the adjustable nose pieces that Sable offers with this model. I quickly selected the one that fit best on my face and was amazed by the clarity of the vision. Next step, get them in the water…
That afternoon, I took my new goggles over to the pool to break them in. Right away I could see why so many top athletes are using these goggles. I could see everything in the water so much clearly and with a much larger peripheral scan than before. I started to take my first laps with my new gear and my confidence in the water grew exponentially in seconds. I could see all my fellow swimmers and now had the security in the water as I was no longer afraid that I was going to run into something or someone. After a few laps of my warm up, I noticed the other great thing, no fogging up on the lenses. Usually, when I stopped in the past, I would have to lift my eye wear to get rid of the painful pulling around my eyes and to wash them out to remove the condensation - but not on this day. I left my eye gear on while grabbing a quick break before getting back to business.
The comfort, clarity and confidence these goggles provide has definitely enhanced my swim training experience. It is one less thing I worry about when I visit the water and now all I focus on is my form and the targets ahead of me in the pool. I am extremely thankful that these Sable WaterOptics were recommended to me!
LARRY BRADLEY
With the lower end eye wear, I struggled to find a rhythm in the pool as I was always stopping to adjust, tighten or dump water. I would fog up often and felt as though I was swimming blind through the tight lanes during busy lunch time length swims. I actually ran into two people during this period of darkness while trying to pass slower swimmers. Not cool!
When it came time to race, I actually became so frustrated with my goggles that I pulled them down around my neck and swam without anything over my eyes for 400 metres of the swim leg. I had a horrible time sighting in the small lake and was all over the course. I could not see the people in front of me and was very worried about being hit the entire time I was in the water. Thankfully, those days are over!
Knowing that I had ventured into the water, Syd Trefiak (my triathlon guru), offered up a pair of his Sable WaterOptics 101MT for my use. When I received the package in the mail, I immediately opened the protective carrying case and tried them on just to see what all the buzz was about. At first, the lenses were a little too close together but that was a quick fix thanks to all the adjustable nose pieces that Sable offers with this model. I quickly selected the one that fit best on my face and was amazed by the clarity of the vision. Next step, get them in the water…
That afternoon, I took my new goggles over to the pool to break them in. Right away I could see why so many top athletes are using these goggles. I could see everything in the water so much clearly and with a much larger peripheral scan than before. I started to take my first laps with my new gear and my confidence in the water grew exponentially in seconds. I could see all my fellow swimmers and now had the security in the water as I was no longer afraid that I was going to run into something or someone. After a few laps of my warm up, I noticed the other great thing, no fogging up on the lenses. Usually, when I stopped in the past, I would have to lift my eye wear to get rid of the painful pulling around my eyes and to wash them out to remove the condensation - but not on this day. I left my eye gear on while grabbing a quick break before getting back to business.
The comfort, clarity and confidence these goggles provide has definitely enhanced my swim training experience. It is one less thing I worry about when I visit the water and now all I focus on is my form and the targets ahead of me in the pool. I am extremely thankful that these Sable WaterOptics were recommended to me!
LARRY BRADLEY
February 4, 2010
An Early February Update
Well, nothing too exciting happening in the cool, winter months this off-season around Mississauga. Work has been much busier of late so I have dedicated much more effort there. Also, my better half has been swamped with her job so I have tried to give her more time to concentrate on her work. Add hockey duties to the weekends and some longer training usually saved for Saturdays and Sundays has suffered but that is the balance act required when you are doing triathlon for the love of sport.
To keep things positive, since most aspects of my life are in that state these days, I thought I would quickly post a little list of my recent happenings...
- finally had a nice enough day to take my daughter skating (not too cold but cool enough to have ice outside).
- I have finally cut my diet cola intake in half. I used to drink the stuff exclusively. Added water and some tea (no additives) to the mix.
- I had some nice feedback from my swim coach last week. It is slowly coming but makes a lot more sense these days. I know what I want to do in the pool so it is just a matter of getting the body to do it.
- Syd Trefiak hooked me up with a great pair of Sable goggles which has improved my experiences at the pool. Thanks Syd!
- I have officially hit another level in my running. I looked at my training stats from last year at this time and I am consistently running the same effort around 30 to 40 seconds/km quicker in training. I am confident that I can go faster!
- We are only 52 days (or so) away from the Around the Bay 30k road race. Time to switch over from base training and start to get a little more specific for this distance if I want to go under 2 hours. Was 2:05 last year but a touch heavier and was concentrating on my marathon class.
- I will move into the second season of the 35 to 39 Age Group this week. Still in the lower half of this AG. HAHA
- With the help of my friends and teammates (FMCT), I am starting to enjoy the sport more for the social aspects and not just the competition. I will still try to do my best in each race (you still need to try in the event when you pay as much as we do to race) but missing a training element, or day, is not the end of the world.
- I have read some really good blogs of late so thank you to the others writing great pieces for me to read.
- I have had some amazing chats with some of the guys in the hockey industry about cycling. They even brought me back a wicked tee shirt from Lance's bike shop while they were between games in Texas.
- Using the weights in a smarter fashion this year and not putting on too much extra weight that I carried last spring into the season. I may have been a lot stronger (able to lift and push more pounds) but I was too bulky and heavy. Last year was my first time in the gym to train for multisports and I was watching the other guys and trying to do more than them.
-Just trying to improve one day at a time...I still have 40 more years of this sport to perfect it.
Keep in touch!
Larry
To keep things positive, since most aspects of my life are in that state these days, I thought I would quickly post a little list of my recent happenings...
- finally had a nice enough day to take my daughter skating (not too cold but cool enough to have ice outside).
- I have finally cut my diet cola intake in half. I used to drink the stuff exclusively. Added water and some tea (no additives) to the mix.
- I had some nice feedback from my swim coach last week. It is slowly coming but makes a lot more sense these days. I know what I want to do in the pool so it is just a matter of getting the body to do it.
- Syd Trefiak hooked me up with a great pair of Sable goggles which has improved my experiences at the pool. Thanks Syd!
- I have officially hit another level in my running. I looked at my training stats from last year at this time and I am consistently running the same effort around 30 to 40 seconds/km quicker in training. I am confident that I can go faster!
- We are only 52 days (or so) away from the Around the Bay 30k road race. Time to switch over from base training and start to get a little more specific for this distance if I want to go under 2 hours. Was 2:05 last year but a touch heavier and was concentrating on my marathon class.
- I will move into the second season of the 35 to 39 Age Group this week. Still in the lower half of this AG. HAHA
- With the help of my friends and teammates (FMCT), I am starting to enjoy the sport more for the social aspects and not just the competition. I will still try to do my best in each race (you still need to try in the event when you pay as much as we do to race) but missing a training element, or day, is not the end of the world.
- I have read some really good blogs of late so thank you to the others writing great pieces for me to read.
- I have had some amazing chats with some of the guys in the hockey industry about cycling. They even brought me back a wicked tee shirt from Lance's bike shop while they were between games in Texas.
- Using the weights in a smarter fashion this year and not putting on too much extra weight that I carried last spring into the season. I may have been a lot stronger (able to lift and push more pounds) but I was too bulky and heavy. Last year was my first time in the gym to train for multisports and I was watching the other guys and trying to do more than them.
-Just trying to improve one day at a time...I still have 40 more years of this sport to perfect it.
Keep in touch!
Larry
January 28, 2010
Look Out - Fat (me) Triathlete coming through....
My co-workers are having a "Biggest Loser" contest and they are going by Body Fat % loss as the main factor. I didn't think I needed another competition at this time so I stayed out but I did an initial weigh in just for Sh%&s and giggles.
To my surprise my Body Fat % is at the very high end of the healthy range of things for the 31 to 50 age group. How can this be? Obviously, the folks putting this guidleline in place are leading people to very unhealthy ideals.
If a 35 year old guy that does pretty well in his AG at races, trains 15 to 20 hours a week (at pretty high intensity) and eats a lot better than most of the population is just barely meeting the body fat target what does this mean?
Check out the charts-
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatpercentage.html
Also, if you look up the male triathlete range, I am way above the 5% to 12% bar so I guess all the triathletes they measured were pros cause I happily see all shapes and sizes out there at our local events.
Even on the Health Canada site, my Body Mass Index is only a fraction of a number off being overweight?
I think it is time they re-viewed these numbers and made them a little more realistic before they drive people to very unhealthy lifestyles.
To my surprise my Body Fat % is at the very high end of the healthy range of things for the 31 to 50 age group. How can this be? Obviously, the folks putting this guidleline in place are leading people to very unhealthy ideals.
If a 35 year old guy that does pretty well in his AG at races, trains 15 to 20 hours a week (at pretty high intensity) and eats a lot better than most of the population is just barely meeting the body fat target what does this mean?
Check out the charts-
http://www.sport-fitness-advisor.com/bodyfatpercentage.html
Also, if you look up the male triathlete range, I am way above the 5% to 12% bar so I guess all the triathletes they measured were pros cause I happily see all shapes and sizes out there at our local events.
Even on the Health Canada site, my Body Mass Index is only a fraction of a number off being overweight?
I think it is time they re-viewed these numbers and made them a little more realistic before they drive people to very unhealthy lifestyles.
January 25, 2010
Good Night Conan! Vroom Vroom Party Starter.
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