A friend of mine asked me a common question about leg strength, muscle loss, and what to do. After some research (which I have done mostly in the past for the same question) I answered in sort of a lengthy way. What I didn't include was research that was conducted on a tour cycling team. They actually recorded significant upper leg circumference size loss after a stage race. They concluded it was due to insufficient protein amounts which resulted in muscle loss. However, as you see below, there are advantages to the timing of the protein and even the source of the protein. Also, I loosely follow Joe Friel's strength training plan as far as weight training is concerned.
Question:
I am sure you have heard this before, it seems my legs actually get smaller after a hard race or towards the end of the season. I only supplement with some good whey powder and a accelerade/cytomax sludge (mix), wondering if you have any quick suggestions.
Answer:
Eat/drink something carb based before your harder and/or longer workouts. More importantly eat/drink IMMEDIATELY after your workouts (within 30 minutes after the workout). Then eat a regular meal within a couple hours. Some post workout drinks can be a meal if you throw a ton of stuff in there.
When making a post-workout recovery drink, make sure you are adding some sort of carbohydrate to the powder. Calculate the protein grams vs. the carb grams--this is easy--you don't need to be a chemist. The carbs should be 4 times the protein (4 to 1 ratio, 4:1). For example, if you have a low carb protein powder (which many are) that has 20 grams of protein per serving, make sure you are also taking in 80 grams of carbs. An easy way to boost the carbs in a protein drink is by stirring in some chocolate syrup (if you like chocolate milk) and/or some fruit. You can also get strawberry syrup. Protein alone doesn't do much for you--it needs 4x's the carbs for your body to process/metabolize it (that's why low carb diets seem to work--there are no carbs so the calories from the meat go right thru you). Also, the next time you buy protein powder, try a soy based one. I get mine from GNC, but there are others out there. I am not trying to push an animal-free diet, but there are significant benefits to soy and some possible harmful effects of too much animal based protein. Animal based proteins block/inhibit the absorbtion of calcium to your bones (that's why the FDA tells us to get so much calcium--because they know the average american diet contains a lot of meat and milk foods). If you are deficient on calcium because you're taking/eating in too much animal protein, your body will steal calcium from your bones to make up for it. And you can't just pop calcium supplements because they don't do much--better to get real calcium from real foods (many veggies contain calcium and we don't even realize it). It's speculated that some stress fractures (ie: from running) are related poor bone absorbtion of calcium. Athletes can't figure out why they get fractures because they drink so much milk and supplement with egg and whey powders thinking their bones are extra strong. Hmmm... You may be able to get a sample or one serving size packet of soy protein from GNC or a different nutrition store to try it out for taste. One jug lasts me a long time because I only take it a couple times a week. Sometimes after a workout I just guzzle a glass of chocolate soy milk (Silk brand & HyVee's store brand are great) or mix herseys syrup in regular soy milk. 12 oz of soy milk gets you around 10-11 grams of protein, 8 carbs, and the same amount of calcium as cows milk. Mix in 2 tablespoons of syrup for 20-25 more carbs. That's almost a 4:1 ratio. That will buy you some time to make a meal, but at least you have something in your body to start the recovery process. If you are out of town or at a race, you can take the milk with you to drink right afterwords--then chow the cookies, fruit or whatever they have.
One note-- protein from peanuts/peanut butter are great because they are excellent sources of proteins and good fats, but not right after a workout--you don't need the fats after a workout.
If all else fails and you are stuck without your recovery drink, take down a coke, gatorade, a candy bar--anything with calories is better than nothing as it starts the recovery process. Sounds bad, but you gotta get something in you.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
6 and Some other Stuff
And he, Cavendish, wins in Paris. Cavendish won 6 stages in the 2009 Tour de France (TdF); Contador wins yellow for the 2nd time time; Young Andy Schlech takes 2nd; Lance, in his 12th tour de France, took 3rd in the yellow jersey competition. I say 12 because I believe Lance road in 4 tours de France from 1993 thru 1996 (pre cancer). Then, post cancer, he won 7 consecutive yellow jersey's from 1999 - 2005, now this year taking 3rd makes for 12 TdF's. PLEASE SET ME STRAIGHT IF I AM INCORRECT. However, he did drop out of the 1996 TdF. He was never considered a contender for the overall prior to cancer. Cancer changed his body--it allowed him to rebuild himself in the shape of a climber and all-rounder, opposed to a powerful, but bigger cyclist as he used to be.
Most people only know of Lance Armstrong because of the TdF. They think he was just some cyclist before winning "the Tour" 7 times. To tell you the truth, I was strictly a mountain biker until around 2001. I had only heard his name a few time until he got cancer. Since then, its hard for anyone to not know stuff about him. However, here's some stuff you may not know...
LA was a rock star in both the tri world and the cycling scene before his 7 tour wins. Before bike racing, he was a professional triathlete--a pro tri-geek at age 16. His strength was cycling and he eventually took that route. His career was soaring straight up before cancer almost ended it. Before cancer (and the rest of the story), he was one of the winningest pro cyclists in America. Even won $1 mil in 1993 for winning a triple tour of races in a series: Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic , and the CoreStates USPRO Nat'l Championship. (remember when K-Mart was the 'Target' and 'Walmart' of the retail world?) Anyway, that year, 1993, he raced in the TdF and got his first TdF stage win. He also road in the Olympics in 1992 and 1996. Ok, that's enough random trivia about Lance.
Please add more about some of the big names in cycling if you can dig up some good stuff--no doping or negative stuff though.
Most people only know of Lance Armstrong because of the TdF. They think he was just some cyclist before winning "the Tour" 7 times. To tell you the truth, I was strictly a mountain biker until around 2001. I had only heard his name a few time until he got cancer. Since then, its hard for anyone to not know stuff about him. However, here's some stuff you may not know...
LA was a rock star in both the tri world and the cycling scene before his 7 tour wins. Before bike racing, he was a professional triathlete--a pro tri-geek at age 16. His strength was cycling and he eventually took that route. His career was soaring straight up before cancer almost ended it. Before cancer (and the rest of the story), he was one of the winningest pro cyclists in America. Even won $1 mil in 1993 for winning a triple tour of races in a series: Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic , and the CoreStates USPRO Nat'l Championship. (remember when K-Mart was the 'Target' and 'Walmart' of the retail world?) Anyway, that year, 1993, he raced in the TdF and got his first TdF stage win. He also road in the Olympics in 1992 and 1996. Ok, that's enough random trivia about Lance.
Please add more about some of the big names in cycling if you can dig up some good stuff--no doping or negative stuff though.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Thursday, July 23, 2009
le Tour de France Update (spoiler below)
Info taken from www.letour.fr :
Another Victory For Alberto Contador
The rider in the yellow jersey has increased his lead in the general classification. Alberto Contador is the winner of the 18th stage, beating the Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara by three seconds!
Lance Armstrong finished the 18th stage in 16th place but he’s back in the top three overall. The new top five in the general classification - which is dominated by dual stage winner, Alberto Contador - is as follows:
1. Alberto Contador (ESP) AST
2. Andy Schleck (LUX) SAX - at 4’11"
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) AST - at 5’25"
4. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) GRM - at 5’36"
5. Andreas Kloden (GER) AST - at 5’38"
Another Victory For Alberto Contador
The rider in the yellow jersey has increased his lead in the general classification. Alberto Contador is the winner of the 18th stage, beating the Olympic time trial champion Fabian Cancellara by three seconds!
Contador’s Victory At 50.10km/h (that's 31.13 MPH for us Americans).
Only two riders completed the 40.5 km (25.16 miles) course at over 50km/h. Alberto Contador is now 4’11" ahead of Andy Schleck in the general classification.
1. Alberto Contador (ESP) AST
2. Andy Schleck (LUX) SAX - at 4’11"
3. Lance Armstrong (USA) AST - at 5’25"
4. Bradley Wiggins (GBR) GRM - at 5’36"
5. Andreas Kloden (GER) AST - at 5’38"
Sunday, July 19, 2009
RACE WEEKEND RECAP: HOLT and the Good Neighbor 5k
Byron Good Neighbor 5k
Early Saturday morning I awoke with 'race nerves'. You know the feeling--stressed out because you have to get everything in line for a race, time out your breakfast, try not to forget anything, etc, etc. Ok, maybe some of you don't get like that, but my stress level is usually around DEFCON 2 or so. However, Saturday I was stressed for my son's race. Jace was racing the Byron Good Neighbor 5k. This was going to be his second 5k of the season. He raced a couple last year including the Good Neighbor race. He was pretty excited about the Mac Attack last month, but due to getting sick halfway thru, he walked the rest of it. For this race, there wasn't going to be any chugging of Gatorade prior to--which was the cause of his demise that day. Jace is very mellow before racing--he shows pre-race stress by not wanting to eat and just getting really quiet. Maybe he's not stressed at all...? He did eat a little breakfast though. Half a bagel and some juice (enough to carry him thru the race). We got to the race with about 30 minutes to spare. Getting an 8 year old to warm up is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but I pushed Sofia around for a bit in the jogger while Jace ran along side. He was warming up and didn't really know it. This was the first 5k that he was running without me next to him, so I was a little worried. However, my worries were for nothing when at about 22 minutes into the race I saw him coming down the path to enter the track area. All that was left was one lap of the track. He finished in 23:45 (7:39 pace per mile). He was 1st in the 8 & under division. Not sure of the overall as they don't have them posted yet. RESULTS
Heart Of the Lakes Triathlon
The Heart Of the Lakes Triathlon (HOLT)is one of the races that is one of my faves. It's just short of an olympic in all 3 sections and the bike and run sections are fairly flat. However, it draws the AG'ers and this year a lot of Elites with the podium in mind.
There were a few TRI-Rochester folks going, but nothing really organized for camping or meeting with the group except that Patti & Jeremy Ekman and I did end up camping. Patti reserved the sites at Olson's about 10 miles away from the race venue. I made the drive myself and met them there. Of course, I had to forget something--my sleeping bag. So, Target made $25 bucks from me on the way up. Camping was uneventful except for the domestic family problems of a drunk couple and sibling rivalry of 40 year olds. Then the M-80's or whatever they were. Timing is everything when you are going to disturb other campers. They waiting till precisely the time we turned in for the night to set off their explosives. Other than that, camping went fine.
At the race, I set up and did some pre-race running. The porta-potties always had lines so I jogged to the Holiday Station in town for their facilities. Ok, I jogged there a couple times.
As for the races, Jeremy and Patti had great finishes! Both improving their times from last year by over 10 minutes each! I only talked to Jeremy after the race for a bit. I'm sure they are pretty excited about their times. I never did see Patti afterwards. I was going back and forth packing up my stuff so I could head out right after the awards. There were several hundred people watching the awards and waiting for the prize drawings so I never found them again. I chilled out, almost napping, in the lawn while not hearing my name for the small prizes or the Zipp wheels or the bike : (
For my race, I was 1 min & 2 seconds faster than last year at 1:43:44 (faster swim and run this year, but slower bike). I dropped 1 spot in my AG from 2008 and finished exactly the same overall (45th / 450+). I felt like I worked harder on the bike than last year, however, by chance, the road in the first few miles of the race was really packed with what seemed to be small pelotons--as Jeremy called them. The first few miles of the bike course is shared by short course and long course riders so it was not good--very congested. The wave starts were huge so there were many people converging on the road and bunching up. I hit the rumble strips 3 times while passing people. I had to weave in an out, announcing "on your left" too many times to count. I should have just rode in the lane until things cleared. Running felt slower than last year and started with some stomach burn, but I ran a 6:13 pace so I was very happy in the end with that (6 seconds per mile faster than my '08 run). A guy that I caught at mile 3, who was also in the 35-39 AG as his number bib was one digit from mine, ran me down with about 200 yards to go. I looked back with a quarter mile left and he was about 100 yards back. I guess I relaxed a bit--next thing I know he was passing me. I had nothing left! He took 5th in AG 35-39--I was 6th. My swim says it all though. In my AG there were 42 guys. I was 27th in the swim, 1st on the bike, 4th in the run. One more day in the pool per week… Woulda, coulda, shoulda.. It was still a great race.
For the Elites, the field was much deeper at the top with 6 guys finishing under 1 hr 30 min--last year there were none that fast. Also, pro David Thompson won with a course record 1:25 and some change which ended up to be more than a 2 minute gap on the next guy, Devon Palmer. 3rd overall went to Sam Hauck, who won the Rochesterfest Triathlon (oly) two weeks ago. Only 14 seconds separated Palmer and Hauck.
Well, unless I add something to the schedule, HOLT was my last tri of the season. Couple runs and some du's left and it will be fall. Why'd I just say that?!?!
Early Saturday morning I awoke with 'race nerves'. You know the feeling--stressed out because you have to get everything in line for a race, time out your breakfast, try not to forget anything, etc, etc. Ok, maybe some of you don't get like that, but my stress level is usually around DEFCON 2 or so. However, Saturday I was stressed for my son's race. Jace was racing the Byron Good Neighbor 5k. This was going to be his second 5k of the season. He raced a couple last year including the Good Neighbor race. He was pretty excited about the Mac Attack last month, but due to getting sick halfway thru, he walked the rest of it. For this race, there wasn't going to be any chugging of Gatorade prior to--which was the cause of his demise that day. Jace is very mellow before racing--he shows pre-race stress by not wanting to eat and just getting really quiet. Maybe he's not stressed at all...? He did eat a little breakfast though. Half a bagel and some juice (enough to carry him thru the race). We got to the race with about 30 minutes to spare. Getting an 8 year old to warm up is not the easiest thing in the world to do, but I pushed Sofia around for a bit in the jogger while Jace ran along side. He was warming up and didn't really know it. This was the first 5k that he was running without me next to him, so I was a little worried. However, my worries were for nothing when at about 22 minutes into the race I saw him coming down the path to enter the track area. All that was left was one lap of the track. He finished in 23:45 (7:39 pace per mile). He was 1st in the 8 & under division. Not sure of the overall as they don't have them posted yet. RESULTS
Heart Of the Lakes Triathlon
The Heart Of the Lakes Triathlon (HOLT)is one of the races that is one of my faves. It's just short of an olympic in all 3 sections and the bike and run sections are fairly flat. However, it draws the AG'ers and this year a lot of Elites with the podium in mind.
There were a few TRI-Rochester folks going, but nothing really organized for camping or meeting with the group except that Patti & Jeremy Ekman and I did end up camping. Patti reserved the sites at Olson's about 10 miles away from the race venue. I made the drive myself and met them there. Of course, I had to forget something--my sleeping bag. So, Target made $25 bucks from me on the way up. Camping was uneventful except for the domestic family problems of a drunk couple and sibling rivalry of 40 year olds. Then the M-80's or whatever they were. Timing is everything when you are going to disturb other campers. They waiting till precisely the time we turned in for the night to set off their explosives. Other than that, camping went fine.
At the race, I set up and did some pre-race running. The porta-potties always had lines so I jogged to the Holiday Station in town for their facilities. Ok, I jogged there a couple times.
As for the races, Jeremy and Patti had great finishes! Both improving their times from last year by over 10 minutes each! I only talked to Jeremy after the race for a bit. I'm sure they are pretty excited about their times. I never did see Patti afterwards. I was going back and forth packing up my stuff so I could head out right after the awards. There were several hundred people watching the awards and waiting for the prize drawings so I never found them again. I chilled out, almost napping, in the lawn while not hearing my name for the small prizes or the Zipp wheels or the bike : (
For my race, I was 1 min & 2 seconds faster than last year at 1:43:44 (faster swim and run this year, but slower bike). I dropped 1 spot in my AG from 2008 and finished exactly the same overall (45th / 450+). I felt like I worked harder on the bike than last year, however, by chance, the road in the first few miles of the race was really packed with what seemed to be small pelotons--as Jeremy called them. The first few miles of the bike course is shared by short course and long course riders so it was not good--very congested. The wave starts were huge so there were many people converging on the road and bunching up. I hit the rumble strips 3 times while passing people. I had to weave in an out, announcing "on your left" too many times to count. I should have just rode in the lane until things cleared. Running felt slower than last year and started with some stomach burn, but I ran a 6:13 pace so I was very happy in the end with that (6 seconds per mile faster than my '08 run). A guy that I caught at mile 3, who was also in the 35-39 AG as his number bib was one digit from mine, ran me down with about 200 yards to go. I looked back with a quarter mile left and he was about 100 yards back. I guess I relaxed a bit--next thing I know he was passing me. I had nothing left! He took 5th in AG 35-39--I was 6th. My swim says it all though. In my AG there were 42 guys. I was 27th in the swim, 1st on the bike, 4th in the run. One more day in the pool per week… Woulda, coulda, shoulda.. It was still a great race.
For the Elites, the field was much deeper at the top with 6 guys finishing under 1 hr 30 min--last year there were none that fast. Also, pro David Thompson won with a course record 1:25 and some change which ended up to be more than a 2 minute gap on the next guy, Devon Palmer. 3rd overall went to Sam Hauck, who won the Rochesterfest Triathlon (oly) two weeks ago. Only 14 seconds separated Palmer and Hauck.
Well, unless I add something to the schedule, HOLT was my last tri of the season. Couple runs and some du's left and it will be fall. Why'd I just say that?!?!
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sofia's First Ride
I've been waiting 2 years, 3 months, and 15 days for this.
Out:
Out:
...and back:
She would have put on more miles, but she was a little tired from the lake swim she did just prior to this ride. Plus, she needed energy for the 10 mile run she did afterwards.
Monday, July 6, 2009
Two PR's and an FR
Ok, I don't know there is any such thing as an 'FR', but on the 4th of July, the family went to Blooming Prairie for the Awesome Blossom 5 mile and 2 mile races. (We also have relatives there so we hung out till the fireworks were done.) It was Carin's (wife) First Race ever so I called it an FR. I run, but am not up on the lingo so if there is a catchy abbreviation for someones first run, please let me know.
Carin and Jace both did the two mile race which started after the 5 mile that I ran in. Carin did her FR in 19:24--good enough to place 3rd in AG 30-39. She was embarrassed to go accept the medal and joked that there were probably only 3 in her AG (there were 7 though). Great job honey!
Jace PR'd his 2 mile time by 33 seconds with a time of 14:41. He was 17th of 61 and 1st in age 9 & under. His previous 2 mile time was 15:14 at the Fetzer in Rochester back in April. He would have been 15th overall at this one as #15 and 16 have the same time at 14:41. He was trying to pass them in the last 50 feet, but they decided to join hands and celebrate their finish. The finish line was the entrance to the chute so it was only wide enough for two people side-by-side. He told me he thought of going under their hands, but didn't want to crash into them.
For the 5 miler, I was 6th overall (0f 60) and 1st in the 30-39 AG with a time of 30:32. I PR'd my 5 mile time by 3 seconds (only did one other 5 mile race--last year at this one). If I wasn't wearing an HRM/watch, I don't think I would have hit that time as in the last stretch I knew I had to go hard to get under 30:35 (2008 time). The 5 mile winner, Jonathan Roberts, did it in a smokin' 26:15! What the...
Carin and Jace both did the two mile race which started after the 5 mile that I ran in. Carin did her FR in 19:24--good enough to place 3rd in AG 30-39. She was embarrassed to go accept the medal and joked that there were probably only 3 in her AG (there were 7 though). Great job honey!
Jace PR'd his 2 mile time by 33 seconds with a time of 14:41. He was 17th of 61 and 1st in age 9 & under. His previous 2 mile time was 15:14 at the Fetzer in Rochester back in April. He would have been 15th overall at this one as #15 and 16 have the same time at 14:41. He was trying to pass them in the last 50 feet, but they decided to join hands and celebrate their finish. The finish line was the entrance to the chute so it was only wide enough for two people side-by-side. He told me he thought of going under their hands, but didn't want to crash into them.
For the 5 miler, I was 6th overall (0f 60) and 1st in the 30-39 AG with a time of 30:32. I PR'd my 5 mile time by 3 seconds (only did one other 5 mile race--last year at this one). If I wasn't wearing an HRM/watch, I don't think I would have hit that time as in the last stretch I knew I had to go hard to get under 30:35 (2008 time). The 5 mile winner, Jonathan Roberts, did it in a smokin' 26:15! What the...
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