I just received the new "toy" on Monday. It's a ISM Adamo Racing saddle that is supposed to prevent numbness in man parts. The saddle looks rather exotic or tri or at least not very good, but after hearing only good about this saddle I had to give it a shot. So my Arione had to give way to the new kid at least on a trainer and this Adamo will be my designated TT saddle on my Norco. To make things even better, this saddle is pink. My wife named the saddle "pink taco"...
I'm still adjusting the saddle, but after the first ride it feels rather comfortable and definitely less numbness than with Arione or SLR in trainer use. The saddle feels bit weird because all the weight is on sit bones and the boys are hanging loose. So far I'm quite impressed and it should be even better on TT bike compared to other saddles.
keskiviikko 27. tammikuuta 2010
tiistai 19. tammikuuta 2010
State of the sport (in smaller communities)
So this tends to grind my gears...
Small community sport scene is really suffering. I would use our dear Manitoba/Winnipeg scene as an example even if it may upset some people. This is the only scene I have a real insight at the moment so I can't really comment anything else.
Some seem to think that you can buy sporting events, but in smaller communities like Winnipeg's, it just doesn't work that way. Well at least not at a reasonable cost. Or actually the reasonable cost varies between individuals. The problem is, that in smaller communities, the willing payers' group isn't enough to make things roll. Since there is no way to make sport consumerism happen in Manitoba, there needs to be volunteers to keep racing scene going. Or you could buy sport events, but the cost would be something completely different than current $10-20 entry fees.
If things seem rosy to you, there are minimum standards set for all the organizers to meet. This again is all good, as long as there would be organizers to meet these standards. I was just wondering where the organizers will come from since breaking even will be extremely difficult. Standards will effectively block all the hopes of organizing long loop races under MCA. It almost seems that those, who laid out these standards, have never organized a road race. Maybe there hasn't been any input from the people who have organized road races. Just saying...
Well see what happens...
I should add that the other smaller cycling communities are facing the same issues. Many of those have even greater challenges with increase in traffic and more difficult permit processes etc. While the external factors are making race organizing more difficult, the internal factors are adding to the issue. Finding volunteers must be more or less a global challenge and if consumers are not willing to pay enough to hire course marshalls etc. the challenge might become a problem.
Small community sport scene is really suffering. I would use our dear Manitoba/Winnipeg scene as an example even if it may upset some people. This is the only scene I have a real insight at the moment so I can't really comment anything else.
Some seem to think that you can buy sporting events, but in smaller communities like Winnipeg's, it just doesn't work that way. Well at least not at a reasonable cost. Or actually the reasonable cost varies between individuals. The problem is, that in smaller communities, the willing payers' group isn't enough to make things roll. Since there is no way to make sport consumerism happen in Manitoba, there needs to be volunteers to keep racing scene going. Or you could buy sport events, but the cost would be something completely different than current $10-20 entry fees.
If things seem rosy to you, there are minimum standards set for all the organizers to meet. This again is all good, as long as there would be organizers to meet these standards. I was just wondering where the organizers will come from since breaking even will be extremely difficult. Standards will effectively block all the hopes of organizing long loop races under MCA. It almost seems that those, who laid out these standards, have never organized a road race. Maybe there hasn't been any input from the people who have organized road races. Just saying...
Well see what happens...
I should add that the other smaller cycling communities are facing the same issues. Many of those have even greater challenges with increase in traffic and more difficult permit processes etc. While the external factors are making race organizing more difficult, the internal factors are adding to the issue. Finding volunteers must be more or less a global challenge and if consumers are not willing to pay enough to hire course marshalls etc. the challenge might become a problem.
keskiviikko 13. tammikuuta 2010
My Winter Training, Part 2.
Now that I managed to get sick again and have to take a bit of a training break, I need to battle the old nemesis, that is weight/fat/lard.
In winter time the activity level goes down quite a bit and you spend more time sitting on a couch with a fridge just couple of steps away. And many will get sick too. Add smaller training volume to the equation, because most can't spend more than 90min on a trainer, and going out to ski or snowshoe in -30 temperature, just to keep your weight down, is not too appealing either. This whole mess tends to do terrible things to your waist line. This sure as hell is demanding time for me, but I've found couple of tricks that should help.
These are my 7 P's of weight control.
1. Planning (Eating Schedule)
I know I know...It shouldn't matter when you eat, only the total energy intake matters. Eating schedule helps with this though because you won't be eating snacks all night and you have a plan laid out. Extra energy is easy to take in at night and not eating all those extra snacks may well make the difference between gaining or losing weight. Big breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and light supper tends to work pretty good for me.
2. Proper Diet
Don't eat sugar. Especially if most of your training is on a trainer and you get 10h/week at best. You just don't need too much carbohydrates to keep you going and I would hazard a guess that most people eat way too much bread, pasta, rice etc. in winter time. Also don't eat animal fat. Animal fat has over twice as many calories per gram than carbohydrates.
3. Phunger
This gets bit tricky. I need to be hungry pretty much all the time in winter to lose couple of kilos. This is very personal though because some have better genetics and don't need to torture themselves to keep the weight in check.
4. Peer
Yeah...about that. You can't have beer if you want to slim down. Beer has more energy than rocket fuel, but usually beer is consumed in such circumstances that minimal energy is required. Other alcoholic drinks are no better but beer tends to be the most regularly consumed alcohol beverage. So don't drink beer, wine etc
And actually, don't drink soda, energy drinks or other sugary goo either. Well, why would you drink that stuff anyway?
5. Palance
You need to eat enough to keep your metabolism going. If you try to starve yourself, your body will switch to energy saving mode and that's not good.
6. Pregular Training
Another used-to-be-beneficial mechanism in human body is atrophy. That is the ability to start breaking down the not-used cells after 24-72 hours. Nowadays you don't need this ability but evolution is a slow beast to change these things. You need to train regularly all the time to keep things going. You don't want your body to turn the energy saving mode on. This is why it's better to train in blocks of 2-3 days and have adequate rest every week instead of Soviet style 3+1 system where you train hard for three weeks and rest for one week. And seriously, how many non-pro guys with full-time job and life outside of cycling, can plan and execute such a long training schedule?
7. Protein
If you're hungry all the time like I am, you may want to do something about it. No I don't mean cigarettes to suppress the hunger, I mean whey protein isolate. 30g of this stuff takes the hunger away really well but doesn't have too many calories. Some people like to drink diet soda but I think that the protein works better.
Now I just need to do what I need to do and that's the hard part. My aim is to be 73kg by the time of nationals at the end of June so we'll see.
In winter time the activity level goes down quite a bit and you spend more time sitting on a couch with a fridge just couple of steps away. And many will get sick too. Add smaller training volume to the equation, because most can't spend more than 90min on a trainer, and going out to ski or snowshoe in -30 temperature, just to keep your weight down, is not too appealing either. This whole mess tends to do terrible things to your waist line. This sure as hell is demanding time for me, but I've found couple of tricks that should help.
These are my 7 P's of weight control.
1. Planning (Eating Schedule)
I know I know...It shouldn't matter when you eat, only the total energy intake matters. Eating schedule helps with this though because you won't be eating snacks all night and you have a plan laid out. Extra energy is easy to take in at night and not eating all those extra snacks may well make the difference between gaining or losing weight. Big breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and light supper tends to work pretty good for me.
2. Proper Diet
Don't eat sugar. Especially if most of your training is on a trainer and you get 10h/week at best. You just don't need too much carbohydrates to keep you going and I would hazard a guess that most people eat way too much bread, pasta, rice etc. in winter time. Also don't eat animal fat. Animal fat has over twice as many calories per gram than carbohydrates.
3. Phunger
This gets bit tricky. I need to be hungry pretty much all the time in winter to lose couple of kilos. This is very personal though because some have better genetics and don't need to torture themselves to keep the weight in check.
4. Peer
Yeah...about that. You can't have beer if you want to slim down. Beer has more energy than rocket fuel, but usually beer is consumed in such circumstances that minimal energy is required. Other alcoholic drinks are no better but beer tends to be the most regularly consumed alcohol beverage. So don't drink beer, wine etc
And actually, don't drink soda, energy drinks or other sugary goo either. Well, why would you drink that stuff anyway?
5. Palance
You need to eat enough to keep your metabolism going. If you try to starve yourself, your body will switch to energy saving mode and that's not good.
6. Pregular Training
Another used-to-be-beneficial mechanism in human body is atrophy. That is the ability to start breaking down the not-used cells after 24-72 hours. Nowadays you don't need this ability but evolution is a slow beast to change these things. You need to train regularly all the time to keep things going. You don't want your body to turn the energy saving mode on. This is why it's better to train in blocks of 2-3 days and have adequate rest every week instead of Soviet style 3+1 system where you train hard for three weeks and rest for one week. And seriously, how many non-pro guys with full-time job and life outside of cycling, can plan and execute such a long training schedule?
7. Protein
If you're hungry all the time like I am, you may want to do something about it. No I don't mean cigarettes to suppress the hunger, I mean whey protein isolate. 30g of this stuff takes the hunger away really well but doesn't have too many calories. Some people like to drink diet soda but I think that the protein works better.
Now I just need to do what I need to do and that's the hard part. My aim is to be 73kg by the time of nationals at the end of June so we'll see.
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