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Mixing your own might sound complicated, but it’s easier than you think, a lot cheaper, and works better. Let’s start with the reasons why you should, and then we’ll talk about how easy it is. The first reason is cost. My favorite commercial sports drink is $25 per container, and each canister will make 25 servings, for $1/bottle. I can mix my own for ~10 cents/bottle. Consider that I went through 5 bottles yesterday alone, and you can see that it doesn’t take long for the savings to add up. Homemade sports drink will...
read moreSpeed laces have several advantages over traditional laces. Let’s take a look at a few of them, and also the drawbacks. First, your shoes are faster to put on with speed laces, as one might expect. Obviously. But there are two other bonuses you might not have thought about. With speed laces, it’s impossible for your shoes to come untied. Stopping to re-tie your shoes takes time and is intensely frustrating. Plus it can be dangerous if it happens in a crowd; easy for your lace to get stepped on, and really hard to find a safe place...
read moreLast year’s Christmas book list was popular, so we thought we’d do another. Chrissie Wellington and Craig Alexander both published autobiographies this year, an although I’ve not read them, I have to think they’d be perfect for the triathlete. We recommended The Feed Zone Cookbook last year, and if you liked that Thomas and Lim have a follow up book, Feed Zone Portables. Since some of their original portables just got me through ironman, the new book is on my “to-read” list. For the serious runner, the...
read moreThere’s a vast gulf between “competing” and “completing.” That one “L” makes a world of difference. I have the utmost respect for anybody that competes, irrespective of their finish time or preferred distance. I have little tolerance for people who complete an ultra-endurance race and mock those who compete in shorter races. This isn’t just “long = bad and short = good.” Some people are more suited to longer events, and a race like an ironman or marathon can certainly be a true...
read moreAn article in the San Antonio Express News reported that Tim Duncan lost 20lbs over the off-season by cutting sugars and bread from his diet. I typically don’t harp on diet, and one of the main reasons is that endurance athletes can have serious body image issues. However, there’s both a timely reason and a deeper reason I want to share some thoughts this week. The first – it’s the holidays, and people tend to put on weight. Second, as our population continues to enlarge, and endurance sports become more popular, weight...
read moreSave money, improve the flavor of your coffee, cut calories, and add a range of health benefits. Although it sounds too good to be true, it’s not. Cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and even clove can be added to your grounds when brewing. There’s no startup cost here, as the spices should already be in your kitchen. Of course, pumpkin pie spice would work too, as it’s a mixture of all the above, minus cardamom. Often the extra flavor means no need for sweeteners, so it’s an easy way to cut the worst kind of...
read moreMixing Up Your Racing Last time we talked about specificity from a triathlon training standpoint. This time I want to look at it from a triathlon racing standpoint. There are 3 ruts that triathletes tend to get caught in. Rut #1, Not Racing Enough Cyclists tend to race too much, and triathletes, especially long course triathletes, tend to race too little. You get good at what you practice, and racing is no exception. If you want to be good, you need to be racing at least once a month. Period. There is no substitute for pinning on a number...
read moreUse Your Gears I can’t help but laugh when I hear people say silly things like “I never use my small ring because I live in Texas” “I’m too fast for a compact crank,” or “you can’t compete with junior gears.” Why do I bring this up? Well the guy that did the entire ride in his 53×11 made me laugh. Seriously, what’s the point? The gears are on your bike for a reason – use them! We all have a range of cadences where we are comfortable and effective. Work on widening that range in training, but use your gears to stay in...
read moreUsually the Saturday group ride is a bike race simulation for me, but last week I was just looking for a moderate training day, and I went with a different goal and strategy in mind. How often do you tackle a normal ride in a different way? In the past I’ve recommended mixing things up and doing a new and different ride, but there’s another way to add some variety to your cycling life. In all the groups rides I’ve ever done regularly, all the regulars ride the same way, week in and week out. If you’re a sprinter, odds are you play the...
read moreWe’ve all heard and read that specificity is key. Heck I’ve said it before in this column. But I’m beginning to think that the majority of triathletes have taken this a little bit too far. Which is kinda like saying your local radio station played “Achy Breaky Heart” a few too many times in1992. Recently I had a triathlete tell me that he didn’t want to swim any stroke other than freestyle, because that’s all he’ll be doing in his race. Seriously? Are you really so Type A that you can’t consider that something other than...
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