After much chiding, I finally relented and signed up with Strava. ‘Another online social network…really? Really…?’ Yes. And if you’re like me, and a bit frayed around the edges with already trying to keep up with Facebook, Linked In, and Twitter (maybe others), then adding yet another place to log into and catch up on probably isn’t what you’re looking for. I know I wasn’t… But, here’s the thing. I ride, and if you’re reading this I assume you do as well. If you ride like I do and you’re already tracking your ride data (me via Garmin) and uploading it to an online website, like Garmin offers for free, then maybe you’ll be swayed like I was to move over to Strava.

Now, I’m a total newbie, and I haven’t spent a bunch of time looking into everything Strava has to offer, outside of Ken’s article, which he posted awhile back on the Strava App, so if you want a detailed breakdown feel free to read it, or visit the Strava site. But, from a top level, the basic idea of a social network that helps motivate you by linking you within a network of other riders who track data is appealing to me. I can see who else rides where I ride, and I can compete with them based on my GPS data (I use a Garmin 500, but these days you can also use an Android or iPhone – could it be any easier?), which sounds like a lot of fun. I can track all my training data, and see the training data of others, peers/adversaries, and pros from around the world – in fact Tim Johnson is my first follow (appropriately enough it was a tweet Tim put out on the weekend about Strava that finally got me to take the plunge). Plus you get virtual awards, so ‘virtuawards’! I’ve already been awarded the 6th fastest time up Gallagher Hill. Of course, I was doing steady-state repeats on that hill when I logged that time, so as soon as the snow melts a bit, I’ll go back and rip up it and try and take first place. Knowing I’m in 6th, what other option do I have? So, you see, for a guy like me, who rides, trains, tracks data and loves to compete, Strava could be, where it’s at.

Hope to see you on there.

Related posts:

1. Strava Cycling App

Motivation – in the off-season we’re all looking for it. Without it, we’d never get off the couch. If you’re talking about just ‘riding’, finding motivation can be pretty easy – riding is a blast, and all about fun! Personally, I’m up for going for a ride pretty much anytime. But, if we’re talking about getting on the bike for training purposes, that’s a different story… Training is mostly about hard work, and if you’re training hard, there usually isn’t much ‘fun’ to be had. So, we need another motivator, or at least I do – something that is going to get us into the gym, on that stationary bike, or out on that winter ride. For me, it’s results. I’ve found that I respond to results really well, and I know I’m not unique in that, but I admit, I am a bit surprised just how pumped I can get about training, when I can actually measure and see the results of that effort. And it’s training with POWER that gives me those metrics, that keep me coming back for more.

During the race season, you always have the benefit of that direct feedback. If you train hard, eat and rest well, then you’ll race well – you’ll see your result. If you slack, you’ll see the result there too. A race performance is always going to be the ultimate measure of our performance, because that’s when and where it all matters. But, when the race season is done, in my opinion, (PE) perceived effort training can only take you so far. I can’t really tell if, week after week, my training program is working, if I’m training too hard, or too little… It’s all a guessing game. Sure you can set some loose metrics attached to PE, but it’s all too vague for me, and certainly not much of a ‘motivator’… Now, give me a measurable number like watts/kg, that I can track and see improve, and now you’re talking.

I’ve had a POWER TAP for three seasons now, but it wasn’t really until this off-season when I started using the ‘Real Rides’ video series from Vision Quest, that I started to really understand how to train with power. The videos give you a visual dashboard that displays the vitals of the riders, like VQ founder Robbie Ventura, showing his cadence, heart rate, perceived effort, and power, the whole time. As you try to follow along as Robbie and his VQ crew grind up real climbs, or race in a real race, and you record your own efforts, you get a ‘benchmark’ for yourself. It’s this benchmark, your average power, your peak power, etc… during these sessions that give you an accurate picture of where you’re at, fitness-wise. You also get to know yourself, and your own PE zones, using these videos. You get to know what a 5 out of 10 feels like, versus a more sincere 8, or 9/10, which is where you spend a lot of time in the Real Rides videos. You’re being asked to put in honest efforts, and in doing so, you’re registering honest power data, that you can measure yourself against, ride after ride, week after week. And let me tell ya, seeing your numbers go up is a great feeling. So much of the guess work is gone. You know your training program is working. You know you’re getting stronger.

For me, the results were speaking for themselves, but I still wanted to better understand the training with power concept, so I did a little digging around, which of course raised some questions. I was about to do some more digging, but then it occured to me, who better to answer my questions than pro US Postal Service team member and Vision Quest coach, Robbie Ventura himself.

Q & A with Robbie Ventura:

Outside of actual race performance, is power the best metric for assessing your progress, and the effectiveness of a training program?

Yes – if your power is going up at a given intensity, or duration, then you are improving and what you are doing is working.   If your power starts to go down for given effort then it may be time to take a rest.  On a daily basis if you train consistently you can see changes in power and determine your training direction based on them.  You still need ‘how you feel’ to play a big role in the process.  If you feel great and the power is high, then all systems go – if you feel bad and power is high,  that is OK too.   If you feel bad and power is low, then you need to rest.  How you feel and the power you are putting out are the two most important pieces to solve the training puzzle.

Do you find power to be a motivator, at all levels of racer, Beginner, up through to Elite?

For sure.  The key to motivation is improvement.  If you can see measurable improvements it motivates all athletes.   Getting stronger and measuring that growth is the reason we train.   We work with so many levels of athletes and one thing is consistent –  as your power goes up, so does your motivation and feeling of excitement about our sport.

What are the drawbacks, or pitfalls of relying on power?

When you measure something there is always the chance your power will go down.   This is depressing at times since we work so hard to grow.  Chances are, though,  you just need rest. If you train hard and rest you will get stronger, that is a fact.  However sometimes at the end of a big training block we get tired and our power suffers – this is hard mentally for you because you just busted your butt.   You have to believe in your plan and understand that you cannot grow without rest and when your power starts to drop that is a signal that you may have gone a bit too far and you need a rest.   Also, sometimes knowing that you have to be at a certain wattage to be competitive, and you cannot get there, is tough, but the reality of power is something that makes sense when you’re considering your goals and what makes sense for you in the short term.

What are your thoughts on power profiling? Is it an effective way for coaches and teams to identify what kind of rider a person is, and how best to train them to maximize their natural ability?

I think that it makes sense to some degree but I think it is always skewed with the athlete’s training.  I think you need to really train all the systems for a while before you really figure out what you are best at.  I think when you take an untrained cyclist and do a power profile you may not be getting a great picture of what the athlete’s true energy systems look like. I say you work the entire aerobic system for a while before you start focusing your efforts on what the profile says you’re best at.

So far, I’ve found all the VQ Real Rides videos are really good. (I use RACE DAY, CLIMB and FORCE). They’re nicely filmed/produced, and interesting enough that I haven’t become bored with them (which happens for me with most vids). More importantly though, I’m finding that they work – I’m seeing improvement. If you’re looking for some new vids to mix it up, and get you going again in the New Year, I’d recommend them.

For more information on Vision Quest’s Real Rides videos, and training services, check them out at visionquestcoaching.com

Training with a Power Tap vs. Heart Rate

Watts per Kilogram video with Dr. Allen Lim & Robbie Ventura.

For more information on training with power, I also found these links useful:

Power Profiling

 Training Strategies

Are you interested in getting a powermeter? Here is a detailed article from Cycling Tips:

Powertap vs. Quarq

Related posts:

1. Ryno Power Supplements
2. The Secret of Un-Training

Just like you, I’m busy. Sometimes I have to work late, sometimes I have to mow the lawn, sometimes I’ve got to look after the little lad… The list is seemingly endless. Oftentimes, this barrage of commitments limits my ability to plan and coordinate group rides – I’m not lamenting this fact, it’s just life. But when life gives you lemons, you still have to go riding… And sometimes that means riding alone.

While Strava can’t help you interact with real live people, injecting some friendly competition into your rides is the essence of what makes Strava different than many of the other fitness tracking tools out there.

The heart of the ‘competition’ lies in Strava’s “segments.”

Most climbs of consequence are automatically classified as segments, but Strava also allows you to create your own – Like a flat stretch of road that lends itself to a TT type effort for example. On each segment you’re instantly pitted against every other rider who has ridden that stretch of road or trail – Including past versions of yourself ;-) Based on your performance, there are a couple of awards up for grabs:

• PR Awards – These compare you to you, and from what I can tell, they record things two levels deep
• KOM / Overall Awards – These are awarded for any given segment, awarded to the leader (KOM/QOM) and subsequent leaders (going 10 levels deep, from what I can tell)

Another fun element that Strava offers is the Suffer Score^[1] – A judgement of the ‘epicness‘ of your ride based on heart rate and ride data measurements.

Though perhaps not a 100% scientific… It would amount to cool bragging rights, especially for somebody like Smart, who’s usually suckin’ wind more than most out there – His suffer score would be off the charts on every ride ;-)

The Suffer Score is one of a few features open only to ‘Premium’ members. The full premium account gives you access to:

• Segmented leaderboards – Allows you to filter leaderboards by age or weight class to get a more accurate purvue of how you stack up against the rest of the field
• Heart rate analysis – This is effectively the Suffer Score
• Advanced power analysis – Capture your work done, find your best efforts quickly and easily and track how much time you spend in different power ranges (I don’t have a power meter, so I took that description from the site)

Strava also offers a pretty solid iPhone/Android app. The app itself is super easy to use, displays a really nice synopsis of your rides and a nice breakdown of the segments/climbs on the ride. I really only have two semi-gripes about the app:

• The app doesn’t sync with the rides you have online (it only catalogues the rides you’ve recorded on the phone).
• I find the GPS on the iPhone a little less accurate that my Garmin 500 – I don’t really imagine this to be an artifact of the app, but more-so the phone itself. (I’m still rockin’ the iPhone 3G as well)

Outside of the main features Strava is doing a lot of the little things right as well… From categorizing the climbs (ie. Cat 1, 2, etc.), allowing you to catalogue equipment and measure the mileage on each bike, to displaying the grade of the elevation as you hover on your ride’s elevation profile.

The layout is clean and easily understood and the climbs and kilometer waypoints are clear on the map overview. Even Garmin Connect doesn’t highlight some of these things as well as Strava… Heck at least with Strava I can upload my data from Chrome.

It even has a nice way to embed your rides into your blog (see below), or effortlessly posting to Facebook or Twitter.

Ultimately, I haven’t been tracking my training nearly as closely as I used to, but Strava definitely pulls together a really compelling socially competitive offering. At a minimum, it’s nice to compare my rides to past performances, and if I’m really wanting to get into the details, Strava’s segments provide a nice way to break rides down into manageable chunks.

Now that Strava has removed their upload limit, and offer unlimited uploads for free, there’s nothing holding you back. I’d definitely recommend giving it a go, if nothing else you can tour all the features ;-)

Related posts:

1. Yes, I’m Now On Strava
2. Cycling Las Vegas
3. 2011 Ultimate Cycling Gift Guide

Ah, Las Vegas… The land where dreams come true.

Admittedly when I think of Vegas my first thoughts are of slot machines, exotic clubs and empty bank accounts, cycling definitely wasn’t first on my mind. As Sheldon and I prepared for a mutual friend’s bachelor party however, it was something we thought we should look into.

A quick search led me too Escape Adventures and we organized a self guided tour around Red Rocks – “This scenic one-way park road loops and winds around the hilly valley of Red Rock Canyon, past the coral mounds and along the base of the Wilson cliffs.”

We knew that if we were actually going to make this happen it needed to be early in our itinerary, before our partying exploits got too out of control… Unfortunately, Vegas has a way of catching up with you. Despite scheduling the ride on our first morning and some time spent “purging the demons” from the night before, Sheldon pulled the plug and I was left on a solo mission to conquer Red Rocks.

Thankfully my walk down the strip in full kit was done at 8:00am… The only other people were either people coming to start their shift, families getting an early start or ladies doing the ‘walk of shame’ in last nights party dresses – For all the ‘interesting’ people in Vegas, walking the strip in full kit will definitely get you a few stares.

Mark (the guide) from Escape was great. He sympathized with Sheldon’s situation and indicated that it wasn’t the first time something like this had happened… The ride started about 40km outside of town at the Red Rock Canyon Scenic Loop. We got the bike fitted up, loaded with water and ready to roll. I bid my tour guide adieu and was on my way.

The loop starts with about 8km of moderate climbing. I probably would have been more comfortable spinning it out on my compact crank, but didn’t really have too much trouble – other than the odd belch that allowed me to re-live the cocktails and McDonalds from the night prior ;-) The climb was a nice warm up and forced me to keep my pace in check and soak in the scenery.

After the initial climb the real fun began – The roads… Oh, the roads. They were unlike any I’ve seen… Buttery smooth and completely devoid of any debris… Combine that with the fact that the road was one-way, capped at 35mph and it was a Tuesday – It felt like the course had been closed specifically for my delight. The few cars that I did see would even slow down and wave at me through the window… Where was I?!?!

As I leisurely made my way around the loop I stopped at almost every scenic outpost to check things out… For an Alberta boy, the views of the desert and mountains were stellar – I was just out enjoying the ride and wasn’t in any real hurry. But the end of the loop ended up coming much too soon… I was just starting get a feel for things. After brief deliberation and restocking my water supplies at the info center I pointed my wheel uphill and decided to do it all over again.

This time there was no stopping. After grunting up the initial climb (much easier the second time) I proceeded to string curve after curve together. Not needing to stop to admire the scenery allowed me to focus on rolling through apex after apex of the winding loop. It was likely as close to flowing singletrack as you ever get on a road bike ;-)

By the time I finished the temperature had gone from a manageable ~35°C (95°F) to a cookin’ 43°C (109°F). I’d been out there for just under 3 hours and had taken down 4.5L of water… The one thing they don’t tell you about riding at 43° is that your water gets hot. Not just warm. Literally hot. It felt like I was drinking tea. I really had to force myself to choke it back ;-)

Talking to Mark when on the shuttle back to my hotel, he was mentioning the that mountain riding in Vegas is pretty good as well. Sheldon and I had opted out of this, because we weren’t looking for a guided tour, but that may be on the books should we return. Vegas has a pretty strong cycling community so if you’re looking for a way to jump-start your season, or prolong it, I’d definitely recommend checking out the riding there. As far as blasting out 70k in the heat of summer? Though thoroughly enjoyable, you may stay away from this one unless you *really* like the heat.

No related posts.

Well truthfully, I need $10,650, a month off work, a round trip ticket to France and somebody to convince my wife this is a good idea.

The 14 affluent friends are optional.

While I have been slowly reacclimatizing myself to life without the Tour, I wondered – What could be greater than soaking in all this mainstream cycling coverage, coming into the office and enjoying water cooler chat about crashes, personal favourites and predictions for upcoming stages… What could be better, indeed?

Perhaps riding the Tour itself?

To good to be true you say? Perhaps not.

Enter Rêve… Led by cycling photog Michael Robertson of VeloDramatic and directeur sportif Wilfred de Kruijf, Rêve (French for “dream”) pulls together essentially the most epic recreation of the Tour de France an average rider like me is ever likely to imagine.

Now, don’t be fooled – This isn’t just some fluffy French wine tour, this is the real deal. Every kilometre, every meter of elevation, every drop of sweat, every ounce of fatigue, every mountain stage, every time trial – And although you leave a day before the pros take to the tarmac you will essentially be riding the Tour de France.

It doesn’t come cheap, but for around $10k it’s probably one of the most magnificent cycling adventure you and 14 others could dream up. Departing one day ahead of the Tour itself, pretty much everything but the flight to France is covered:

• Hotels – June 30th through July 22nd
• All transfers between stage starts, finishes and hotels
• All meals – Including a celebration dinner in Paris
• Snacks and riding nutrition – Energy drinks, fruit, sandwiches, and most importantly, a constant supply of Nutella
• Rêve Kit – 1 team helmet, 1 team jersey (black), 1 team jersey (lt. blue), 2 pr team socks (all members are expected to wear the kit – This is a team, it should look like one)
• Documentary photography – Including a two-volume hardcover set of books
• Unlimited tubes, C02 cartridges, and sunscreen
• Mechanical service, bike wash station, lube and shift tuning as needed daily

Every member of the 15 person team is expected to take their training seriously. Rêve will supply training advice if needed and there is a private team forum to promote swapping training adventures and help gel the members prior to departure.

Outside of the experience itself, one of the best parts of this experience has to be the fact that you have a professional photojournalist following your efforts everyday, and will have two hardcover volumes to re-live your team’s journey through Le Belle France. I can’t imagine how great it would be to have a photographer there capturing all the toughest moments, all the camaraderie, all the times you would wish had grabbed your camera, but hadn’t.

You can explore the full offering on the Rêve site, check out their blog, or even preview some of the past photographic volumes here and here.

Would you be up for it? Could you handle the rigeurs of the Tour? Answer the poll to the right should you fancy it.

And, um… Yeah. If you’re interested in sponsoring my 2012 Tour efforts just drop me a line ;-)

No related posts.

Ever since the New Year, I have embarked on a new type of training… A secret type of training… Untraining.

The secret of untraining is not to simply stop training… That would be to easy. Rather, the secret lies in the delicate balance of attempting to valiantly uphold your training goals while admittedly allowing other priorities to trump your time on the bike.

Now. Read that sentence again… It’s important ;-)

There are always going to be times when life trumps cycling. Sometimes it’s a weekend. Sometimes it’s a week. Sometimes it’s a season. It happens. It’s been happening to me… The important thing I’ve found is not to dwell on the fact that your not riding, but rather to really enjoy the times that you do.

I’ve found the key to managing is not to completely disregard your training goals and toss your hands up in frustration, you simply need to modulate your goals accordingly.

This summer, my “A” race was going to be the Furious 3. After putting in a pretty good showing at the TR3 last year (29th), I had grand plans for smashing Fernie into submission. But, as winter turned to spring, and spring to summer, it was apparent that the only thing likely to be *smashed* was me…

Now, with that said, it’s not like I haven’t been on the bike… I have. I’ve been commuting to work everyday and even squeezing in a ride here and there on the weekend. I’ve been *riding*, but I wouldn’t call it *training* – At least not the way I had hoped to be training.

Initially I pondered selling my registration… But I knew that was something that I would regret – Especially since I had no other big riding on the calendar for the summer. Rather I simply re-calibrated my goals a wee bit. Rather than *smashing* things in Fernie, I think I’ll now be content to finish in the top of the bottom 1/3. I wish it were otherwise, and maybe I’ll surprise myself. But probably not. There’s no point in setting an unrealistic goal and frustrating myself.

Now – Coming back to untraining… As I mentioned, during the untraining period, it’s still important to reach for those initial goals and train as much as your other priorities will allow… There will come a time (at least I’m cautiously optimistic there will) when the stars will align and life will once again balance itself in a way that rather than having all your other priorities trump your time on the bike, that time will become a priority once again.

You need to be ready. I know I will be.

Related posts:

1. Rapha – Victoria’s Secret
2. Training With Power!

We all know the deal. We all know what we should be carrying on the trail. But let’s be honest… Sometimes things just don’t go according to plan… Or for that matter, even according to the backup plan.

Brought a spare tube? Good for you, but if you’ve flatted on the way up and torn a sidewall on the way down, you may have ended up needing a little trail-side MacGyver magic!

In the spirit of everybody’s swiss-army knife totting hero, I’ve curated a small compilation of emergency trail-side fixes:

• Should you find yourself in the backcountry fresh out of of tubes or a patch kit, one option is to stuff your flat tire with grass and leaves. You might laugh, but I have actually tried this myself. It’s not a comfortable ride and it will truly blow your mind just how much grass you can actually stuff into an empty tire. It takes forever to fill.
• Another option I’ve run across is to tear/cut the tube at the point of the puncture and then tie the two pieces into a knot. Inflate the tube as moderately as you dare, and limp back to the trailhead.

• If you’ve torn your sidewall and still have healthy tube, it’s a simple matter of covering/protecting the hole. The real debate comes withwhat you’re going to use to patch the hole… Ideas include dollar bills, powerbar wrappers, duct tape, or, in desperate times even a portion of your insole.

• If you haven’t completely taco’d things, there’s usually still hope – At least hope to make it back to the car. For small warps you can usually bring things back with a spoke wrench, but for larger bends more drastic measures are in needed… You’ll need to find something solid to rest the hub on, probably against a tree, or on a log so you don’t trash your hub (though I have done this successfully using a rock as well). Once you feel the rim is resting securely you can use your arms (and/or body weight) to push the rim back into shape. It’s not going to be perfect, and chances are your rim is garbage, but with any luck it’ll be rideable at a slow speed.

• Believe it or not this has happened to me twice and both times I’ve ridden back to the trailhead without a seat. A far from pleasant experience to be sure. Although I would recommend against splinting a broken seat post, if you’re able to find a piece of wood that will fit into the bottom of your seat-post and your frame that may do the trick, but if you do employ something like this it’s likely wise to stay out of the saddle on anything other than the flats, or non-aggressive declines/inclines.

• Some times, depending on how badly you’ve thrashed your derailleur you have two options available to you:
  • If the derailleur won’t shift (ie. you’ve snapped the cable, or broken the mechanism) it’s possible keep the derailleur on the bike. You should be able to adjust which cog of the cassette it will sit in by adjusting the limit screws and leave the rest as is (just get rid of any loose bits). The nice benefit of this is that you should still be able to use your front chainrings… Making the ride home a little easier.
  • If the derailleur is completely destroyed, your best bet is to remove it (if a branch or rock hasn’t already done that for you) and take your steed down to singlespeed status. To do so, thread the chain through the middle chainring and the middle rear cog (so the chain is in a straight line). Remove as many links as are needed to ensure that the chain won’t skip off the rear cog.

• If you’ve got a crescent wrench or a multi-tool with a long piece of metal, you can attempt to bend the chainring back into place using it as a lever. In times past, my multi-tool didn’t provide me enough leverage to make this work, but I found that strategically bashing the chainring with a rock can get it back into rideable shape. Either that or render it into a mangled piece of metal.

• In a final, truly epic and fortunate fix, a cyclist used the a pair of branches and the bungie cord of their hydration pack to splint a broken leg! (via @DC Ranch Cycling)

No related posts.

This time the last two years, I felt very different. In the spring of 2009, I’d been on the indoor trainer and in the gym for months, working hard in prep for my bid for the full Transrockies. In 2010, coming off a solid race season, I enhanced my ‘off-season’ training with 2 outdoor rides per week putting in at least 10%+15% more training time overall. I’d emerged from winter with the base I needed to be a faster racer - I felt confident, strong, and fit going into that season.

This year, 2011, not so much. With the introduction of fatherhood, reduced sleep and increased hours at work, I haven’t had the energy or the drive to train. Back a few months ago, I knew things were going off the rails, so I made a pledge, publically, that I was going to pick it up and bear down, dropping from my peak winter-weight of 174lbs down to 160lbs, and increasing my watts/kg up to 4.0. Sadly, I haven’t made any significant headway. Though I’m down to under 165lbs, this is mostly due to watching my diet, not training. My watts/kilo were actually lower last month than the previous… Ouch…

So, at this point, I want to say to any of you who’ve also fallen off your training goals, it will be what it will be – don’t sweat it. At least that’s what I’m telling myself. I don’t get paid to ride – I pay to ride. I need to remind myself of that. So, it shouldn’t be a source of anxiety, or frustration. In fact, it should be the opposite. I’m looking over at my 2011 race license right now, and instead of crying over how many workouts I’ve missed, how much slower I’ll be this year, or how much I’m behind my pals and how I’ll be rounding out the back of the field, I’m thinking about just getting out there with everybody, pushing till my guts ache and my legs scream and having a good time. What’s the point of getting all glum about it? We’re just talking about riding bikes here. Just enjoy it! How Zen…

Then, I watch a cool video like this for Leopard Trek with Fabian Cancellara, and I think, forget it! I’m going to train my ass off now, and somehow I’ll get back into shape and tear it up! haha…

No related posts.

Train Smarter. Sounds good.

Marcel Laponder doesn’t have a degree of any kind, just a self-professed, ‘immense interest in Sport Science’. And, that’s what his blog ‘train-smarter.blogspot.com’ is about – challenging and questioning, not just the dominant pedagogical training paradigms we all know and love, but also the ever-immerging fringe theories.

Personally, I am always looking to find ways to train ‘smarter’, which to me means, training for better results in, yes, less time. I’m not looking for the magic bullet, or a cheat exactly – I like to work for my gains. The work (training) is part of the fun. But, I do want to know that I’m not wasting my time, logging ‘junk miles’ when I’m trying to get fitter and faster in the fixed amount of time I have to train.

On that note of getting fitter and faster, I recently read Chris Carmichael’s book, ‘The Time Crunched Cyclist’.  This post isn’t about that book, but I do want to bring it up because, in a nutshell, it offers exactly what an amateur cyclist like me, is looking for – the opportunity of increased fitness and speed, in less time, replacing the traditional long sustained distance (LSD) hours on the bike for shorter, much more intense training sessions. This is a break-away training concept on its own, and after reading the book, it made tons of sense to me. What more could a married guy and father of a 4 ½ month old baby, who works fulltime ask for? I think the book is for sure worth a read.

BUT, now I digress. Back to Marcel’s blog, which my pal Sarns sent me a link to, suggesting I should read up on something called LBP (lactate balance point) and the work FaCT Canada has been doing. Without getting mired in the details for this post (I’ll let you delve into the research and in-depth docs yourself) here is a top-level run down of what I’ve gleaned as the 5 core beliefs that make up FaCT’s LBP theory:

1)   There are 3 trainable systems in the body: heart, lungs, and muscles.

2)   In each of us, FaCT refers to these systems as MCL (maintainer, compensator, limiter)

3)   One of these systems will always be our ‘weak link’, or ‘limiter’.  You can only work as hard (go as fast) as your ‘limiter’ system will allow, even if you overload it by forcing your other, stronger systems (‘maintainer’ and ‘compensator’) to compensate. So, in order to get faster, you need to know which of the 3 systems is your limiter, so you can spend time focusing on it and strengthen it.

4)   The weakest link, whichever system it is, will reach its weakest state at what FaCT calls your LBP (lactate balance point), aka LT.

5)   Training above LBP will not provide gains to your ‘limiter’ system, only to your ‘maintainer’ and ‘compensator’ systems. Constantly overloading your ‘limiter’ can even result in a reduction in its performance capability, lowering your overall performance.

So, if you want to train effectively as you can, FaCT suggests focusing on your ‘limiter’ system MOST of the time. This theory, like Carmichael’s, also seems to make sense to me. And, according to Sarns, more and more top-level athletes are moving to this kind of training, including notable Canadians like Geoff Kabush, and Ryder Hesjedal - certainly no slouches there.

I suggest you check out the Train Smarter blog and the posts I’ve tried to summarize here. He goes pretty in depth, but makes it easy to understand.

Shoot me your thoughts on it. It’s totally new to me so I’ll be really interested to get into a dialogue on it.

Related posts:

1. The Secret of Un-Training

Reaching new heights, is not always a good thing… Especially when you’re talking about body weight.

Like last year, I find myself standing on the scale in January staring down at an all time high for me. Discouraging? Yes. Surprising? Not at all. I’ve been slackin’ for months and eating terribly. Well, actually, as a new parent, I shouldn’t go too hard on myself, but that doesn’t change the fact that’s I’ve been off the bike since end of Cross Season  almost completely, and I haven’t been doing anything else to replace it really. Sure, I’ve been getting a token workout in every now and then, a ride here, a ski there, but given the way I’ve been eating, let’s just say, I’m losing the battle of the bulge.

I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t, in a small way, actually excited about the fact that I am once again fatter than I’ve ever been. Why would I be excited about that? Well, for the challenge of battling back! It is a new year, and I’m feeling rejuvenated – ready to get back to a workout routine, and with the temptations of the Holiday Season behind me, I will bring my diet back in line now as well.

Motivation for me is going to be a key factor while my hometown still sits buried under freezing temperatures, snow and ice, not to mention darkness much of the time. So, to combat that and help keep me motivated, I’m going to commit to posting my progress each month publicly, here in the comments section of this post. My starting point is my current weight of 173.4 lbs (15lbs heavier than I was just a few months ago, back in September). And I’ll measure my current level of fitness in watts/kg, which is currently 3.37watts/kg. I’m basing this on a 5 min time interval.

My Goal:

• Target Weight: 160lbs
• Target Watts/kg: 4.00watts/kg
• Target date: June 1, 2011

Feel free to call me out, razz me, and belittle me if I don’t live up to the deal.

No related posts.