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Archive for September, 2008

DZ Nuts Review: Pt. 1 – Unboxing

Saturday, September 27th, 2008

Unboxing my DZ Nuts that I just got in the mail – cycling chamois cream from pro rider Dave Zabriskie.

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What, wouldn’t YOU trust a man with a porn mustache like this with your goodies?

According to the site, they also use as free trade and organic ingredients whenever possible, which is pretty respectable. So it isn’t just good for your taint, it is socially responsible too. You have to respect that.

What do you value?

Friday, September 26th, 2008

Religion has never been a constant in my life. I’ve always been varying degrees of spiritual, but always in slightly different ways. Like waves, each time comes and goes, but each one brings something just slightly different from the last. I’m just now realizing the trend, but I kinda like it. Each time it comes and goes, learn a little bit more about myself.

Maybe I’m just listening to too much ZenTri.

I heard this story the other day, and It really got me thinking about priorities, life and training.

A young man once asked God, “What is a million years to you?”

“A million years to me is just like a second in your time.”

Then the man asked god, “What is a million dollars to you?”

“A million dollars to me is just like a single penny to you”

Then the young man stood up and asked, “God, can I have one of your pennies?”

“Certainly, just a second.”

As simple as the story is, for whatever reason it got me thinking. Thinking about what really is important to me. Thinking about what we often value the most is what we have the least control over.

I could probably make a lot more money if I took another job that was boring and lame, but it wouldn’t make me any happier and ultimately that is a lot more important to me. I’d rather focus on making sure that the time I’ve got is spent well.

Time ultimately is a much more valuable currency to me. It isn’t guaranteed, and I will never know how much I have left, but I am the only one in control of how I actually spend it. Every day is a brand new 24 hours that I can use to take me anywhere I want to go.

Which brings me back to training. With as much time as I spend in triathlon, training, planning, racing, judging, calculating, sweating, I realized that I have never seen one second of it as a waste. Even after the most miserable bike workout trying to out pace oncoming rain clouds, I have trouble finding many things that I would have rather been doing.

Maybe it is because of how much time triathlon sucks up, and how little left it leaves me, that I’ve started to value time so much more. Making every minute with my family and friends really count. Doing my best to not take any of them for granted. Appreciating the aches and pains, PRs and bonks.

How has training changed what you value?

Tags: Triathlon, zen | Posted in Life, Triathlon | No Comments »

Fall Spinning Workout: Race Simulation

Wednesday, September 24th, 2008

Now that I’ve been an a real bona-fide spinning instructor for a year not, and have leeched a few killer workout mixes from Bree Wee, I feel like I’ve finally gotten a whole lot more comfortable making my own workouts. I have even been having a lot of fun making new ones.

With a little help with from my twitter friends for some new songs, here is my latest workout that I designed. It is a “race simulation” workout, so it has an extra long and easy warmup, but then a kick-ass 40 minute pain fest, staying above about 80% of your max for the the majority of the workout.

I tested it out on my class tonight and it seemed to go over pretty well. I saw a lot of pain in some faces.

At the end of the warmup I even had the class stop pedaling, the only time ever durring a spin class, to burst out of the “gate” to give it more of a race feel, which was pretty fun.

Enjoy!

Warmup
Smashing Pumpkins – Cupid De Lock               Easy Spin – Warmup – 60%
After the Fire – Der Mommissar            4x :30 sprint @ 75% with :30 rest 1:00 soft pedal
Race Start
Muse – Map of the Problematique                     2x :60 @ 85% w/ :60 rest
Red Hot Chili Peppers – Hard to concentrate     4 x (:30 seated climb – :30 standing climb)
Foo FIghters – Breakout                                    3x (:15 rest :45 sprint) @ 80%
Speed Up                                                          3x (:30 rest :30 sprint) @ 90%
Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American                    :60 standing climb :60 rest :60 standing climb
Britney Spears – Break the Ice                            3 x (:30 easy, :30 medium :30 hard)
Third Eye Blind – Tattoo of the Sun                   1:30 flat – :60 running – 1:30 flat
Imogen Heap – Whatever                                  1:30 sprint – :45 rest – 1:30 sprint
Finger Eleven – Paralyzer                                  climb – :30 sit – 1:00 stand – :30 sit – 1:30 stand
Black Eyed Peas – Anxiety                                :60 sprint – :30 rest 1:30 sprint
Arcade Fire – Keep the car running                   5 x :20 sprints all out – :20 rest
Race End
Cool Down
John Mayer – Gravity                                        3x (:30 sprint @ 75% – :60 rest)
The one that you love                                     Cool Down
Incubus – Aqueous Transmission                      Stretch – Clean Up

Tags: spinning instructor, spinning workout | Posted in Cycling, Spinning, Triathlon | No Comments »

A Lesson In Barefoot Beach Running

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

When you are really excited to do some beach running during the weekend while visiting your friend’s beach house, only to realize that youre membered everything except for your running shoes, it sucks. Bad.

After getting mentally psyched up for a nice change of scenery, I finally decided to suck it up and realized that I probably didn’t need shoes anyway. Sand is nice and soft, right?

Early Saturday morning I walked down to the beach at low tide, stretched out a little and headed down across the shore. I quickly realized that running without shoes was completely different. If I slowed down too much and started striking with my heel first, my whole body rattled. With every stride it felt like a hammer being taken to my skull as the shock traveled all the way up my leg directly into my head.

Weird. I guess I was getting an impromptu lesson in fore-foot running.

Once I focused on running on the front of my feet and down closer to where the waves were crashing, I felt a lot better. Wet sand is a lot friendlier on the legs than the dried up stretch of sand higher up on the beach.

While it was only about 2 miles, it was probably my favorite run of the year so far. No heart rate monitor. No shoes. Blue skies. Cool breeze. Watching the surfers paddle out and ride back in on the surf. I even had that “chariots of fire song” going through my head as the waves came in and crashed around my feet. It was perfect.

My calves were definitely taking an extra beating from going shoeless and having to absorb all of the shock normally taken by my shoes (I wish I had my compression socks…). I decided to just stop at one lap down the beach (about 2 miles). The balls of my feet were even starting to feel pretty raw from the sand. It wasn’t until the walk back up to the house that I realized I was starting to get blisters all across my toes. Who gets blisters when they aren’t even wearing shoes? Seriously?

Once I got home, I popped ‘em all and wrapped them up in athletic tape to hopefully dry them out.

The “taper” for my last sprint next weekend may be a little longer than I would have hoped unless these clear up quickly and I can get back on the road. Even knowing what I know now, I still would have ran on the beach on Saturday. The relaxation was well worth a few days of limping around. But now I’m back at my apartment and getting back for another work week of the daily grind. At least I’ve got a sprint on Sunday to keep me going through the week.