Red Bull Biking Competition

This was filmed with a GoPro camera attached to the biker. It is amazing. I guarantee this is a sport I won't be attempting anytime soon.

Improve Your Triathlon Times!

In the book, "Faster: Demystifying the Science of Triathlon Speed", the author uses scientific research from studies done around the world to help athletes go faster in triathlons without taking out a second mortgage.

This will be a three part series. Also - interested in predicting your IM finish time? Go here.

For the swim there are two methods that cost little or nothing to go faster.  During the race draft off another swimmer, staying to the side and about mid-body (your outstretched hand should be equal to their armpit).  You need to be within about 1.6 feet of the other swimmer if in open water. Your drag is reduced about 40% using this method, which saves considerable energy.  During a race it can be difficult to stay consistently within 1.6 feet of another swimmer, but even if you can stay within 3 feet you will save 20% of your energy. Studies show in a 750 meter swim this will have your heart rate 10 beats a minute slower and save on lactate acid building up, a significant advantage when you change to the bike phase.

Two, try and swim at 80-90% effort, not 100%. Studies show swimmers at 85% are faster in the run phase than those swimming at 90-100%. Those athletes who swim at 85% finish about 1:45 faster than the higher effort swim group. (p.33).

If you are spending money, a wetsuit decreases drag by 10% for most triathletes. Swimmers with better form swim faster with wetsuits that are sleeveless, pokey swimmers like me need the buoyancy from having sleeves and the loss of flexibility doesn’t matter as much as being higher in the water. With a wetsuit the stroke cadence decreases by 14%, lactate by 47% and heart rate by 11%, which improved cycling efficiency by 12%. (p. 37).

If you must spend money to try and swim faster, spend it on learning better form by taking lessons and buy a lower cost wetsuit, not the most expensive version you can find. 

Gourley, Jim. Faster: Demystifying the Science of Triathlon Speed.  Velo Press. Boulder, Colorado. 2013.

Another List

The Sals team is very fond of lists. If I could stay awake long enough I would watch Letterman just for his top 10 list every night. Here's a list my siste sent me. You might see yourself in one or 20 of them.

Adult Truths

1 Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

2. Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when you realize you're wrong.

3. I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

4. There is great need for a sarcasm font.

5. How the hell are you supposed to fold a fitted sheet?

6. Was learning cursive really necessary?

7. Map Quest really needs to start their directions on # 5. I'm pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

8. Obituaries would be a lot more interesting if they told you how the person died.

9. I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind-of tired.

10. Bad decisions make good stories.

11. You never know when it will strike, but there comes a moment at work when you know that you just aren't going to do anything productive for the rest of the day.

12. Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

13. I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my ten-page technical report that I swear I did not make any changes to.

14. I keep some people's phone numbers in my phone just so I know not to answer when they call.

15. I think the freezer deserves a light as well.

16. I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Light than Kay.

17. I wish Google Maps had an "Avoid Scary Neighborhood" routing option.

18. I have a hard time deciphering the fine line between boredom and hunger.

19. How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear or understand a word they said?

20. I love the sense of camaraderie when an entire line of cars team up to prevent a jerk from cutting in at the front. Stay strong, brothers and sisters!

21. Shirts get dirty. Underwear gets dirty. Pants? Pants never get dirty, and you can wear them forever.

22. Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, finding their cell phone, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time, every time.

23. The first testicular guard, the "Cup," was used in Hockey in 1874 and the first helmet was used in 1974. That means it only took 100 years for men to realize that their brain is also important.

Barefoot Jesus?

Please tell me this isn't our own Pete Leonard from Spencerport, New York? Oh, wait, this man couldn't have been Pete, he only made it 11 miles, Pete would have finished. Plus this runner has much more upper body muscle than our Pete.(kidding).

John McEnroe?

I hated watching John McEnroe play tennis. Hate may be a strong word. I enjoyed watching when other players beat John because he was such a snot out on the court. Screaming at umpires, linesmen, his opponent, himself, it was always quite a show.
Sunday I turned on the television coverage of the NYC Marathon and who was one of the announcers? McEnroe. For running. Now John has become an excellent tennis announcer, but marathon running? Really, are we the only sport that needs outside assistance to be relevant? Fifty thousand people in the race isn't enough? I think out of 3 hours on television maybe 30 minutes was actually devoted to seeing the elite racers. 

Thoughts on the Common Cold

I am not a “good” sick person, at least at home. I whine, moan, make Jan get my medicine and water while I lay on the couch huddled under a blanket with the electric heater making the room 80 degrees. Despite rumors to the contrary, I am able to still use the remote control quite well.

Ten Things about a cold;

1. My three month emergency supply of Puffs tissues ran out in four days.
2. The cold medicine coupons I cut out of the paper expired a week ago.
3. My 28 day streak of exercising ended.
4. Coming home from work and having hot tea with honey is soothing.
5. I make loud noises blowing my nose which disgusts me and probably anyone within earshot.
6. I no longer feel like a runner after having to take 3 days off.
7. For some reason I’m eating like a horse even though my taste buds are basically shot.
8. Last week I thought how great it was I hadn’t been sick in a year and how amazingly healthy I was for someone of my advanced age, even though everyone around me seemed ill.
9. Jan doesn't think me sleeping with tissues stuck out of my nose to prevent dripping is sexy.
10. It’s good practice for being on an airplane when I sleep sitting up hoping I can breathe through my nose a little. 

Maybe a shot of Bourbon tonight will clear everything up?

Gravity- Good or Bad?

Top Ten Things About Gravity

1. It keeps me grounded to earth, this is really good, except when I run and would rather float like a Kenyan.
2. Gravity is responsible for my face sagging.
3. Sandra Bullock is still…well… Sandra, and that is a good thing.
4. Watching the movie Gravity I learned it was good I never entered the space program. (claustrophia, motion sickness)
5. Gravity pulls my legs down in the pool. Maybe it’s my lack of core muscles too, but gravity is easier to blame. Can’t fight gravity, or is that Can’t fight Mother Nature?
6. Type Gravity into Google and the top 8 hits are for the movie. What does that say about society?
7.  I am skeptical Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple dropped on his head.
8.  Did Einstein really discover a second rule about gravity or was he looking for the perfect bagel? Maybe the Black Hole was “discovered” when Al punched out the middle of some dough to make the first bagel?
9. Sandra was the fourth choice of an actress to star in the movie. Clooney – second. She spent up to 10 hours a day straight inside her “capsule”.
10. I learned all I know about gravity from the Big Bang Theory tv show.