Archive for January, 2009

If you’re like me at the moment and have managed to catch one of the various coughs, colds or flus doing the rounds, then fear not, as this handy guide should foil those preying germs in the future.

I find it so frustrating when these head colds come about, they’re never quite serious enough to make you bed bound yet for me I tend to feel a touch lethargic when it comes to training. It was hit and miss as to whether I should have attended Wednesday’s running club, however I’m pleased I did and funnily enough felt better for it too.

Colds and flu occur when viral bacteria make a home inside your body. There are some simple practices that could mean you foil the germs’ intentions. One is simply to avoid high-risk environments, which can be defined as large numbers of people in closed spaces during the winter months. I was talking to one of the club runners about this very topic whilst out on the run the other night and he’d actually given up using public transport during the winter months to try and evade the dreaded bug fest on the buses and trains.

Another useful measure is the practice of germ hygiene. Most people think that airborne bugs are the leading cause of infection. Actually it’s self-inoculation, because when you grab a germ-infested doorknob and then slyly pick your nose with the same hand, the germs pass on. The good news is that this self-inoculation is largely avoidable; just keep your hands away from your nose and eyes, and wash them frequently. I can sometimes get a little neurotic when it comes to the washing of hands. When using public conveniences or opening doors etc in shopping centres/outlets/malls, restaurants, I’ll make sure not to touch the door handles with my bare hands. I’ll try to use a paper towel or jacket sleeve to make a barrier between myself and any germs. Some people may call it an OCD, however I just don’t trust that the person who went in front of me washed away those bugs. Why plan and train so hard throughout the year only to be set back a couple of weeks because you’ve picked up some germs whilst out shopping?

Flu shots are the simplest of all ways you can foil germs. Here’s an immunity boost you can quantify; flu vaccinations are 85% effective and even when they’re not they tend to lower the severity of infections. Once only recommended for the weak and elderly, they’re now advised to most, however October is the ideal month to get a jab. A bit too late in the day to get one now, however bear this in mind for Autumn.

When you do get sick you have two real objectives; recovering quickly and minimising lost training time. There’s loads of research about in text books that suggest that training with cold symptoms is not a problem. Head colds do not necessarily hamper exercise performance and exercise does not increase the duration or severity of colds. When symptoms move into your chest and lungs, be cautious. Take a precautionary day off and follow up with a test training session to determine how you feel. If you feel awful, give it miss. When you have flu symptoms such as fevers and body aches, do not exercise at all (like you’d want to exercise anyway) and do not resume until a day or two after the symptoms have passed. Seek medial advice from your GP if you are unsure whether to exercise or not.

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The club run was never intended to be a pure training ride, it’s a social event really and that’s exactly how it should be treated. All ride at the same pace and the strong help the weaker and everyone has a good time. So when do we actually train then? On the turbo during the week of course, as this is where you’ll ‘keep strong’ by doing short interval based strength and power sessions.

Bike strength and power training might seem to be one of the same but they are not. Strength is muscle strength, using the legs, or mainly the muscle groups below the waist for endurance cyclists. Power means aerobic power using the respiratory muscles groups, the diaphragm, lungs and heart. We need to look for a good balance of muscle strength and aerobic power and what no better place to train it than on the turbo.

Either of these can be performed on open roads during the warmer/lighter months.

How do we train strength and power?
Quite easily, just a couple of fairly short sessions a week is all you need to do through the winter. A note of warning though before you begin. If you have current knee or back problems don’t attempt to do these sessions as they will definitely aggravate the injury.

Strength training is done in very short explosive flat out efforts lasting between 5-10 seconds maximum in a massive gear/resistance with long recovery periods of 2-3 minutes in between. The resistance and gearing must be far bigger than anything you would ever use during normal training on the road and you must ‘explode’ into each interval. Maybe do 3 such efforts the first time you try it and add one each week until you are eventually doing 7-10. Too much to soon will be counter productive so stick to 3 initially. Also never hurry the rest period, 2-3 minutes may feel to long, however your muscles will need the recovery in order for you to go again at full tilt. The 5-10 second effort should be ‘anaerobic’ here and isn’t long enough to drive your heart rate too high

The power intervals are done in a big gear but only a couple of sprockets bigger than you feel comfortable with and NOT massively over-geared as with the strength element. Intervals here last between 2-4 minutes with equal rest, i.e. 2 mins effort 2 mins rest. You should feel like you’re working quite hard in these intervals. Your heart rate may be 10-15 beats above your anaerobic threshold meaning you should feel a fair degree of breathlessness but nothing like racing. As with the strength intervals, start off with maybe 3-4 of these intervals and gradually build the number of reps as weeks pass.

Short and sharp is the key to the success of these sessions. All done within an hour including a warm up and cool down. Warm up well and spend plenty of time cooling down in a small gear otherwise you’ll have stiff legs the following day. Remember to train like this in full race position as this brings the race specific muscle groups into use.

Finally remember to consider your own level of fitness and current injury state before testing yourself with either of these strength or power sessions.

Happy training!!

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I’ve had my Garmin 305 for about a year now and I just worship it. The device allows me to train specifically with the various functions available; especially the user definable data entry fields of speed, distance and heart rate functions. As I’m currently training for a marathon I never have the Garmin off my wrist as more often than not I’m required to complete a specific session at a required pace.

The Garmin training centre software that accompanies the unit allows you to hook up the device and plots your session via GPS onto a map. Little did I know that you can also view your sessions through Google Earth.

How amazed was I when I took a look at one of my session via Google Earth. You can drill down into the route where it takes a 3D perspective and see your various marker settings that you’ve configured on your device. I guess it depends how interested you are in what you’re doing as to the lengths you’ll go to see what you’ve just done.

Personally, I find this feature useful to remind myself of terrain for out of area events, whether I’m competing in road races, duathlons ot tri’s.

Screenshot of the Garmin Training Centre software.

Screenshot of a route of mine plotted on Google Earth.

You can download Google Earth free here. It’s so straight forward to get going that it doesn’t require an explanation from me.

If you’ve got a Garmin give it a go, if nothing else it’s free and you can have a good look about the area where you live!!

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I’d decided that this year was going to be a little different from the usual for a couple of reasons.

Firstly, I’d been talking to this guy I work with back in October, who kept going on and on about being accepted to run the Edinburgh marathon. Now I’d just been dumped from the London Marathon ballot for what feels about the 10th consecutive year, so you can appreciate me feeling a little frustrated. So during a short period of frustration, disappointment and reflection, I thought ‘what the heck’ and also decided to participate in this historic Scottish marathon.

The second change to alter my training cycle is that my wife is entering her 1st half-marathon this year as she’s been accepted for this September’s Great North Run, so I intend to part train and race with her.

This changes my usual training schedule for this season, not that I’m complaining too much as it feels quite good to be going back to my running roots! I already have a schedule planned which has been in place since the turn of the year to cater for my marathon on 31st May. I’m aiming for 3hrs 15 mins (or better) come race day, albeit being able to train injury free for the training period.

I only intend to run train every other day and have longer rest periods where necessary following my harder sessions. Included within the schedule will also be the odd road race (and duathlon) to keep me race sharp. Interspersed between my runs will be cross training bike sessions (either ‘the commute’ or endurance rides) to maintain my cardio fitness and leg strength. I may even throw in the odd swim session to keep ticking over. There was me saying that I was looking forward getting back to ‘just running’ again!

Once the marathon is over I’ll start to pick up the training with my wife, however I will revert some of ‘my own’ run focus back to swimming in order to participate in a couple of triathlons August and September. That will take me up to the Great North Run and just about another year done!

I intend to log as much of this years training and racing activities as possible here so you can see how I’m getting on.

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For one week ONLY, Evans Cycles are offering you 10% off your next order!

Following the outstanding popularity of their post New Year offer, for a limited time only they’re giving you the chance to save 10% on your next basket full of the latest cycling goodies!

As if 10% OFF were not enough to tempt you back on to your bike this month, they have a whole host of new and exciting products from the biggest names in cycling. So, whether you’re looking for a brand new 2009 bike, sporting the latest technological innovations, some flash new clothing to fend off the current cold snap, or the very latest cycling accessory or component, now is the perfect time to make the investment

Hurry! - This is a limited time offer for one week only, so get browsing online now to take advantage of this tantilising offer!

To claim your discount online simply enter promotional code JAN10 on the basket page and the discount will be applied at checkout.

This offer is valid from Friday 16th January 2009 to Friday 23rd January 2009 inclusive. The discount excludes items already reduced in price. Cannot be used in conjunction with any other offers, discounts or saving schemes.

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Have you ever really thought about what effect the foods you eat have on your blood sugar levels? Do you ever remember feeling sleepy after your lunchtime baguette, or feeling like your tank is empty whilst training? Looking at what you eat and when you eat it could help prevent such issues. Ever heard of the Glycaemic Index (GI) and wondered what it’s all about? Well, here’s the lowdown.

To describe more accurately the effect different foods have on your blood sugar levels, scientists developed the Glycaemic Index (GI). It is a ranking of foods from 0 to 100 based on their immediate effect on blood sugar levels, a measure of the speed at which you digest food and convert it into glucose. The faster the rise in blood glucose, the higher the rating on the index. The GI of foods is very useful to know as it tells you how the body responds to them. If you need to get carbohydrates into your bloodstream and muscle cells quickly, for example immediately after exercise to kick start glycogen replacement, you would choose high GI foods.

The GI of a food is worked out by the amount of food containing 50g of carbohydrate. For example, to test baked potatoes you would eat 250g potatoes, which contain 50g carbohydrate. Over the next couple of hours a sample of blood is taken every 15 minutes and the blood sugar level measured. These figures are then plotted on a graph via a PC programme and compared with the reference food (glucose)and a GI figure for the food is then given. The GI of baked potatoes is 85, which means that eating baked potatoes produces a rise in blood sugar which is 85% as great as that produced after eating an equivalent amount of glucose.

The GI of more than 600 foods is known so for me to list them all would take forever, however I have listed a few below. Even the GI values of the food may differ slightly on the various GI tables available, but the food type should still be within the same GI category (low, medium or high).

Most values lie somewhere between 20 and 100 and most people find it more useful to classify foods as High GI (60-100), medium GI (40-59) and low GI (less than 40). This simply makes it easier to select the appropriate food before, during and after exercise.

In a nutshell, the higher the GI the higher the blood sugar levels after eating that food. In general, refined starchy foods including potatoes, white rice and white bread, as well as sugary foods such as soft drinks and biscuits are high on the glycaemic index. For example, baked potatoes (GI 85) and white rice (GI 87) produce a rise in blood sugar almost the same as eating pure glucose!! Less refined starchy foods like porridge, beans, lentils, muesli, as well as fruit and dairy products are lower on the glycaemic index. They produce a much smaller rise in blood sugar compared with glucose.

The effect on blood glucose from a high versus low glycemic index carbohydrate

Foods only appear on the GI index if they contain carbohydrate. This explains why you won’t find foods like fresh meat, chicken, fish, eggs and cheese in GI lists. However, you may find some processed foods like sausages or chicken nuggets in a GI list because they contain flour!

Low Glycaemic Index foods (55 or less)
Include some of these foods in each meal or snack, but go for low-fat choices where possible, such as skimmed milk. If you want to lose weight, you’ll also need to watch your portion sizes. That means sticking to small servings of pasta and noodles, limiting yourself to two slices of bread with a meal, and having only a couple of squares of chocolate or a small handful of peanuts!

Low GI Foods

Roasted and salted peanuts-14
Low-fat yoghurt with sweetener-14
Cherries-22
Grapefruit-25
Pearl barley-25
Red lentils-26
Whole milk-27
Dried apricots-31
Butter beans-31
Fettucine pasta-32
Skimmed milk-32
Low-fat fruit yoghurt-33
Wholemeal spaghetti-37
Apples-38
Pears-38
Tomato soup, canned-38
Apple juice, unsweetened-40
Noodles-40
White spaghetti-41
All Bran-42
Chick peas, canned-42
Peaches-42
Porridge made with water-42
Lentil soup-44
Oranges-44
Macaroni-45
Green grapes-46
Orange juice-46
Peas-48
Baked beans in tomato sauce-48
Carrots, boiled-49
Milk chocolate-49
Kiwi fruit-52
Stoneground wholemeal bread-53
Crisps-54
Special K-54
Banana-55
Raw oatbran-55
Sweetcorn-55

Medium Glycaemic Index foods (56 to 69)
You may include a few of these foods each day, but again limit portion sizes if you want to lose weight.
Moderate GI Foods

Muesli, non toasted-56
Boiled potatoes-56
Sultanas-56
Pitta bread-57
Basmati Rice-58
Honey-58
Digestive biscuit-59
Cheese and tomato pizza-60
Ice cream-61
New potatoes-62
Coca cola-63
Apricots, canned in syrup-64
Raisins-64
Shortbread biscuit-64
Couscous-65
Rye bread-65
Pineapple, fresh-66
Cantaloupe melon-67
Croissant-67
Shredded wheat-67
Mars bar-68
Ryvita-69
Crumpet, toasted-69
Weetabix-69
Wholemeal bread-69

High Glycaemic Index foods (70 or more)
Swap these foods for those with a low GI value or eat them together with a low GI food. Having a jacket potato with baked beans, for example, will lower the GI value of that whole meal.

High GI Foods

Mashed potato-70
White bread-70
Watermelon-72
Swede-72
Bagel-72
Branflakes-74
Cheerios-74
French fries-75
Coco Pops-77
Jelly beans-80
Rice cakes-82
Rice Krispies-82
Cornflakes-82
Jacket potato-85
Puffed wheat-89
Baguette-95
Parsnips, boiled-97
White rice, steamed-98

Next time we’ll have a look at how the GI can help your performance.

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It’s not exactly a ‘new concept’ design bike for 2009 as this beauty was about in 2008. However, it does rival the ‘bigger’ bike brands for spec versus cost and does look amazing!

Bike of choice for Craig Alexander, 2008 Ford Ironman World Champion. The Ordu difference is easy to see – unique headtube shaping that reduces frontal area, a bottom bracket design that settles airflow under the bike and tube profiles that slip through turbulent air.
These features are the result of feedback from athletes like Hunter Kemper, Greg Bennett as well as Craig Alexander, along with wind tunnel evaluation by Orbea’s award-winning design team.

The complete bike build (from allterraincycles) directly below will set you back £5671. Pricey? Yes, however when you look at the second bike build (from epic cycles) at £2599 you just know you’ve got a good deal. The frameset alone retails at £2000 and with the additional build cost of £599 you know you’re on for a winner.

£5671 - allterraincycles.co.uk
Stem: ZEUS CARBON CAT-III
Levers: CRONO SLBS79H
Brakes: SHIMANO DURA ACE Derailleurs and brakes
ZIPP 808 CLINCHER Wheelset
SHIMANO DURA ACE 12-25 10S groupset
MICHELIN PRO3 RACE Tyres
SELLE ITALIA SIGNO T1

£2599 - epic-cycles.co.uk
Shimano Ultegra 10sp groupset
Mavic Cosmic Elite aero wheelset
Schwalbe Ultremo tyres
Profile T2 Wing Base Bar
Profile T2+ Aero Bars
Profile Quick Stop 2 brake levers
Selle Italia NT1 time trial saddle

Check out the ‘pimped up’ verison of the Ordu below. I wounder how much this beauty would set you back? I came across the image on a forum, but there wasn’t a price tag with it.

I also managed to find this short promotional video of the Ordu on Youtube. It gives you a good view around the frameset.

With the current economic climate you never know, you may just land yourself a real New Year bargin if you go out hunting for one of these animals!!

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Post run and cycle stretching is something we all mean to do when we ‘remember’ and ‘have the time’. The trouble is, many of us only find the time once every few months.

There are three very good reasons why you should stretch, and they are;

1. Tight muscles, tendons and ligaments restrict motion, particularly in the ankle and hip. This will shorten your run stride and restrict the full pedal revolution range of movement when cycling so that you use more energy when overcoming the stiffness to maintain a given speed. Regular stretching will counter act that improving running efficiency and cadence technique.

2. It’s quite obvious that regular post exercise stretching can be linked to a reduced chance of injury, particularly in the knees, hips and ankles.

3. Research indicates that stretching stimulates the passage of amino acids into muscles and speeds up repair. So stretching after training will help your muscles repair themselves quicker.

In recent years one particular type of stretching has been hailed as very effective, yet it’s one many people have never heard of . Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) has been shown to improve flexibility by 10-15% more than normal stretching and despite its complex name, PNF stretching is simple to do. In fact, PNF stretching is made even easier to do because its best done with a partner.

Your four step guide to performing a PNF stretch
1. Relax and let you partner gently push you into a stretch as far as is comfortable.
2. Stay in this position for 10-20 seconds – don’t bounce or tense up.
3. Push back gently (approx 10-15% effort) against the pressure of your partners weight for 10 seconds.
4. Relax again and let you partner re-apply the stretch for 30 seconds (and increase it if you feel comfortable).

An example PNF stretch on the Hamstrings.
Stretcher – Lie on your back with your arms by your sides. Lift one leg off the floor as far as you can, keeping the knee as is comfortable.

Partner – Kneel behind your partners raised leg with the back of their calf against your shoulder. Place one hand on the thigh, above the knee. Gently lean forward so your weight increases the stretch on the hamstring. Perform the PNF sequence as above, then repeat on the other leg. Try to complete three full rounds of the stretch.

How not to stretch.
1. Don’t stretch cold muscles. Stretching before a run has been shown to increase the risk of injury. Perform a few functional movements such as gentle ‘walking lunges’ or ease into every run with about 5-10 minutes of walking/jogging.
2. Don’t over-stretch. Extreme flexibility is no real use to triathletes, so there’s no need to force a stretch. Over doing a stretch to the point of pain, shaking or extreme tension can cause injury just as easily as twisting your ankle.
3. Don’t bounce. It might be what you see certain professional footballers do, but trust me, it’s a sure route to damaged muscles.
4. Don’t just stretch. If you hurt yourself whilst out training, stretching will not make a bad muscle good. It’s a preventative measure not a quick cure.

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A reminder that the Ampleforth Leg Warmer triathlon on 04 April 2009 has been announced to replace the cancelled Northumberland Festival back in September 08.

Anybody still wishing to qualify for the ETU Triathlon European Championships in Holten, Netherlands on 05 July 2009 is encouraged to race at this event.

This event is the final qualifier for the British Triathlon age group team for the European standard distance championships 2009. The event is an ideal early season warm up race for athletes of all standards. It will comprise of a 750m pool swim, 39k bike and 10k run.

You can enter the event online here. To date there are 106 entries out of the 300 limit. Registration for this event closes 27th March 09.

Further information regarding the qualification process and the number of allocated places per age group can be found here.

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We all work better with targets to aim for. Having a run-based challenge towards the end of your base preparation phase focuses your energy and gives you an immediate goal before racing starts.

You can pick an organised event or just work out something that’s a personal challenge for you. Be careful if you select a road –based long distance event, because they’re often very competitive and potentially damaging if you give them too much priority when your real races are later in the year.

Preferably find an event where merely competing the distance is the aim. This then adds to your bank of endurance mileage rather than testing out race fitness, which isn’t fully developed yet.

Something like a point-to-point run, or an ascent of a mountain gives you the chance to push your endurance but not worry about your speed.

Some points to note;

Doing something like this will inspire you to dig a little deeper in training to accomplish the challenge and your success will be measured by simply completing it in good shape rather than achieving a PB or position.

The type of event to choose should be pitched at a level that you couldn’t achieve when starting your base programme but one that is attainable at the end. The event and pace should be highly unlikely to injure or tire you so much that the remainder of the season is compromised.

Happy training!!

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