Supplements

This a tricky topic for athletes. Unless you are an athlete sponsored by a supplement company, it can be difficult to stick with a specific product or find one that works best or even works at all. I often wonder if most of the products just help you with psychological warfare. I mean, does drink mix A help you on the bike more than drink mix B? Or does recovery drink X work better than recovery drink Y? I know that when I was a bodybuilder, I tried all kinds of supplements. Eventually I'd settle on a protein mix or fat burner and spend tons of money on them. After years of experimenting (with LEGAL products), I hit my stride and made some awesome gains although I was never sure which products did the trick. All I knew was which one mixed the easiest or tasted the best or cost the least. But now I am a lot wiser with my money and a lot more skeptical of supplement company's claims. When I started cycling, I used to buy the fancy-town drink mixes all of the time but eventually I questioned if it was worth it. I now mostly use Gatorade and eat protein bars for recovery or normal food. I still use HEED here and there, or Emergen-C and I also take Endurolytes when I think I may need them. But will I be that much better if I use Powerbar or Hammer mixes all the time? I know that I will always eat the assortment of Clif bars...I am an addict!

The reason I am thinking about this, or the reasons, is that I now have a hook-up on supplements through Smoothie King so I plan to get back to specific 'during' and 'after' mixes. Also, while Drew was staying with us this past week, I noticed that he was using Dedicated Athlete products, so we engaged in conversation over this topic. I am super curious about their EP-NO product as well as their energy and recovery drinks and their "athlete" multivitamin. Does the EP-NO truly boost red blood cell levels? Will I notice an improvement in performance? I think it is worth trying. The testimonials on the website are encouraging as are the scientific studies, which I have read in regards to what supplements have what effect on your body and when is the best time to take them and so on. This info is always all over the place in the fitness world. I also posted a thread on the mtbflorida forum asking about DA's products, like who uses them and do they work. I am curious to see the responses.

So if and when I start taking different products or find ones that work, I'll be sure to post something. Until then, I'll keep logging the miles...

Monday Morning Quarterback

So the Tour is over and Carlos Sastre held on in the TT for the win. Cadel got 2nd and Vandevelde got 5th. With the way Sastre and Evans finished, I won the little bet amongst the boys. Some brew should be headed my way...maybe...one day... Anyhow, I was totally impressed with Vandevelde and expect him to podium next year. Garmin-Chipotle needs to add another strong climber to help him in the mountains though. It always kinda sucks when things like March Madness, the NFL Playoffs and the Tour end....

Saturday I saddled up for another solo century on the road bike. I felt pretty good for the first 3-1/2 hours but started feeling kinda rough around hour 4 and then hit killer cramps as I got close to 5 hours. I'm pretty sure I went into this ride not fully hydrated and not fully recovered. Another lesson learned. I managed to ride through the cramps and finished a bit slower than last week, at 5 hours and 30 minutes. I'm still not sure why I enjoy these rides and why look forward to them when they come up...

Sunday was the First Coast XTERRA at Hanna Park. The race was a half mile swim in the ocean, a 13 mile mountain bike ride on the trails and then a 5K trail run. We had lots of friends doing the race this year so it was pretty exciting for me as a spectator. Char did very well, holding 2nd though the swim and bike but a wrong turn in the woods during the run lost her a spot, so she finished 3rd overall and first in age group. She busted her a$$ and made me very proud none the less. She also secured her spot in Nationals at Lake Tahoe so the worry over us booking the flight and hotel is now over. The guys race was super competitive for the top 3 overall. After chasing down the top swimmer on the bike in the woods, local XTERRA phenom sbc knocked out some ultra fast bike laps and held off pro mtber (my coach) Drew. Sean had a good lead over 2nd and 3rd going into the run but unfortunately the out-of-town-swim-stud ran like a gazelle, as did Drew. Drew took the overall win in his first XTERRA and sbc took 3rd. Damn awesome race fellas!

Next weekend I have the Trail 2 Trail race in Lakeland FL held by Red Trail Racing. This race is really cool because it is a hybrid mtn bike race/road race. The race starts in the trail on the mtn bike, transitions into a road race on the road bike and then goes back into the trails. I am super excited and super motivated to do this race and to do well. I did it a few years back as a sport rider with no road race experience and managed a top 10. I plan to top that this year....

Old Folks

Its funny how I tend to really get moving on the trainer when I'm watching the Tour and the final sprint comes...

So...who dis?

I was catching up on the sports news this morning and I saw that the Detroit Shock of the WNBA signed 50 year old hall of famer Nancy Lieberman to a short contract. And she even got some clock last night. Man, this lady played ball for the US Olympic team in '76 (I was 1) and was the youngest player to ever medal at age 18. Not only did she play in a women's pro league (WBL), she also played pro men's ball (USBL) and also played for the Washington Generals. You know the Generals, right? The team that always took a whoopin' from the Globetrotters back in the day. Anyhow, I seriously hope I'm still cool at 50...

Alps

The Tour hits the Alps again today for the 3rd and final day in the brutal mountains. The Alps are sure to shake up the field and bring the true contenders to the top of the standings. Team CSC has dominated these climbs by usually having 3 -4 riders in the yellow jersey peloton and has carried Frank Schleck to the overall lead. All of the favorites have pretty much been sticking together in the mountains but during yesterday's stage there were a few guys who fell back a little. Christian Vandevelde lost some time yesterday due to a minor crash and now sits in 6th place, 03' 15" back. Today's stage is brutal- there are 3 HC (uncategorized) climbs, with the finish at the top of the infamous L'Alpe-d'Huez. I can see the climbing studs from CSC (Sastre, the Schleck brothers, Voigt maybe...) shaking up the favorites with some attacks today. If Cadel Evans can minimize the damage today he will stay in good shape for the overall title because there is still a time trial in stage 20. Cadel can seriously get his TT on! Alejandro Valverde needs a 2006 Floyd Landis type breakaway today to get back into contention. The same can be said for Vendevelde and Russian Denis Menchov.

The scene from yesterday's stage 16. The stage began down in the valley...DAMN!


One exciting thing about yesterday's stage was the incredible ride by the youngest rider in the Tour, 21 year old South African John Lee Augustyn from defunct Team Barloworld, who was first to the highest point ever in the Tour (Col de la Bonnette-Restefond elev- 9192 ft) and then proceeded to ride off the side of the mountian on the descent and lost his bike. The dude could've won the stage!

The profile of today's stage 17...

Slight chance of hot...

Finally got on the mtn bike today for a 2 hour spin at Hanna Park. I need to start getting more time on the dirt. I also need to get my front fork and rear shock rebuilt- they are a total mess. Bike maintenance can be annoying sometimes. Anyhow, I felt really good when I got started in the trails even though I thought I'd be hurtin from my solo century yesterday. BUT, after I really picked it up on my 2nd lap and rolled with my heart rate in zone 5 for half the lap, my 3rd lap turned into pure suffering. I was overheating bad. I finished that lap, stopped in the parking lot to grab a bottle, drank an extra water bottle and then poured some cold water over my head and back. Ahhh- felt better immedialtely. From there I did 2 easy laps with Char and called it a day. Man, it was like a damn rain forest- damn hot and mad humid! At least the road bike offers a constant breeze...

Burnin rubber...

I just got done with my ride today and as I was taking my helmet and whatnot off in the garage I smelled burning rubber. It took me a second to realize what it was- it was my road bike tires. Not that I was going fast or anything but I decided to turn my 4-1/2 hour ride today into a century. Once again it was very hot out and there was no cloud cover. It took me 5 hours and 22 minutes to cover 100 miles, while the average temperature from 9:00 am until 2:30 pm was 92 degrees and I burned over 4500 calories. I felt good because I was well rested, hydrated and I took in a good amount of fluids and food. I lost 5 pounds on that ride but trust me- I will find all of it later tonight...

Ok, so back to that sprint triathlon... Last weekend was the last sprint triathlon of the BFAST series in PV. Char did the whole series while I was a spectator but this last one I did the team relay with her brother Damien. Dmy's family stayed the weekend with us as did Char's older brother Al and his family. Packed house, good time... Anyhow, I was hoping to have a smoking fast time on the bike even though I have not done any high intensity training in quite some time; I've only been doing low intensity high volume. Once the race started, I had to hang out in the transition area for around 40 minutes while the swim portion got underway. This killed my warmup. As soon as Damien got back from the swim I ran out and hopped on the bike and started to hammer. I already knew that I would start out in a slight headwind so I figured I'd go about as hard as I could the first half and when I turned around to head back with the tailwind, I'd pick it up. Negative. I went a little over 24 mph up and a little over 24 mph back. Bummer. I was disappointed in my time until I saw that my time was on par with the rest of the top triathletes/cyclists at the race. Another thing that sucked was that when I finished the bike, I had to jump off of it with my heart rate at about 180 and I was not able to do a cool down spin. The bikes cannot be moved from the transition area until the race is over. Oh well. From there Damien had a very good run and we finished the race in 2nd place. Damn, that was exciting! It was a cool event because we had so many friends and family at the race- all a racin' & a cheerin'! Big props to Char for her 2nd place finish in AG and to my man SBC for nailing his first sprint win in AG!

And again...

Stage 13- in the books.

One sick Brit!

Team Columbia's 23 year old British sprinter Mark Cavendish took stage 12 today of the Tour for his 3rd stage win. Call this dude 'butter' cause he's on a roll!

On a Rampage!

Man, this story got my attention...One of my favorite MMA fighters from the UFC, Quentin "Rampage" Jackson, decided to take his monster truck for a ride around Orange County and smash things up. Rampage has to be one of the most likeable sports figures around these days and has an awesome personality. Plus he was the UFC and the Pride champ. He just recently made so many new fans from The Ultimate Fighter. But he must have been on some serious stuff for him to smash things up in a monster truck with his name and picture on it and then run from the po-po's. Athletes provide so much entertainment on and off the field...

Faarrv-ra

So the Tour has hit the mountains and now the contenders and pretenders are starting to be separated. I am really surprised to see American Christian Vandevelde from Team Garmin-Chipotle sitting in 3rd place, only 38 seconds off the lead. I am eager to see how he holds up over the next few weeks. Cadel Evans, who is the favorite and currently wearing the maillot jaune, is looking strong and can hold on for the win if he stays safe and on form. After an exiting stage 10 in the mountains yesterday, today is a well deserved rest day.


I plan to recap this past weekend's activites in a later post (maybe tonight) and add a few pictures from the triathlon Saturday. I'll say now that it was a great weekend...

Oh- Brett Favre...man, what a mess! Retire. Unretire. Forced to retire by the Packers before the draft. Asking to be released. Not being released. I don't know what to think because I can see it from both sides. Now the mystery is whether he will play and if he does, will it be starting for the Pack or for somebody else? He will only play if he is named the starter but Green Bay needs to move on and groom their next quarterback, Aaron Rodgers. Didn't I post something earlier this summer about athletes not being able to let go? Favre is 38 but I think he actually has quite a bit in the tank. Oh well- it should make camp interesting this summer...

Are you serious?

Dude, cocaine? Come on Matt Jones, what are you thinking? I'd think his days as a Jaguar are over. Another 1st round draft pick by the home team turns into a solid bust...

Le Tour

Man, the Tour is fun. Even if you are not a cycling fan, watching the end of a stage and seeing the drama unfold is cool as heck. Seeing these dudes battle over 3 weeks or seeing them suffer in the mountains or even seeing the tactics take place is addictive and exciting. What's also cool is that there are 2 US teams in the Tour this year, Team Columbia and Team Garmin-Chipotle. Both teams have represented well thus far. I like the Garmin-Chipotle team not only because they have cool kits, but they have 3 Americans on their team and 2 former bad ass Gary Fisher mountain bikers, Ryder Hesjedal and Trent Lowe. They should do well overall but I don't expect too much from them with David Millar as their GC guy.

Team leader David Millar sporting some fly kicks...


American Christian Vandevelde representin the red, white & blue...


Team Columbia has a good GC guy, Kim Kirchen, who is doing very well. They also have old man Hincapie, a solid young rider in Lovkist and sprinting stud Cavendish. These guys are and will continue to make some noise over the next few weeks. I'm eager to see how Kirchen holds up over the long haul and also eager to see Big George get a stage win.


Every year me & the boys bet on the top 3 Tour finishers, with the winner taking home a beer prize from all participants. This year my top 3 goes- 1. Cadel Evans 2. Carlos Sastre 3. Alejandro Valverde. So far all of them are doing ok, especially Evans, but the truth teller will be the mountain stages. We also picked dopers this year since the last few years have focused as much on doping as the actual final podium finishers. I can't remember who I picked but hopefully this year we'll all be able to enjoy the race for what it is and not have to hear about the never-ending doping scandals. Cycling really needs a clean Tour and this one promises to be a good one with all of the unknowns and the wide-open field.

Vive le Tour!

Racing

So its already July and it's getting awful close to football season...AND the fall race series! The Florida State Championship Series in the fall is the main focus of my annual training and racing plan. The schedule for this year's series has changed somehwat, with a few new additons and one key race missing for me, Hanna Park here in Jacksonville. There are also a few races that I want to do before the series starts in September. Its hard to plan to do a lot of these races so most of the time I will do them if they fit into my schedule just right. After doing the bike leg of this Saturday's sprint triathlon in Ponte Vedra, the next race that I would like to do is either the Trail to Trail (mtn bike-road bike-mtn bike) race on August 3rd at Loyce Harp Park in Lakeland or the the Georgia Series XC race in Macon, Ga. From there I will do the Jacksonville Cycling Classic the weekend of August 9th, which is a downtown criterium on Saturday and a road race on Sunday. I may hit the next Trail to Trail race the following weekend at Santos Trails in Ocala, Aug 17. My last race before the the fall series will be the 8 Hours of Labor endurance race on 08/31 at San Felasco in Gainesville. I look forward to that race to see where my endurance is at and to kick start some fitness for the fall. I have done a couple of 6 hour races in the last few years and even though I totally suffer, I have experienced a decent bit of personal success.

The fall series, which I plan to do the whole thing for the 3rd year in a row, looks like this:
#1 09/14 Gainesville, FL (Haile's Trails)
#2 09/28 Fernandina Beach, FL (Ft. Clinch St Park)
#3 10/12 Tallahassee, FL (Tom Brown Park)
#4 10/26 Lithia, FL (Alafia River St Park)
#5 11/02 N. Miami, FL (Oleta River St Park)
#6 11/16 Alva, FL (Caloosahatchee Park)
#7 11/30 Alachua, FL (San Felasco Trails)
#8 12/14 Ocala, FL (Santos Trails)

Char and I also have a trip planned for the XTERRA National Championship on October 5th in Lake Tahoe. We plan to ride the course the 1st day, her race and then me ride the 2nd day, and then we are going to stay for a few days and hit more trails between there and Reno, which is where we will most likely stay.

So I have a full plate coming up but I hope to find that this year's hard training and the addition of coaching will soon pay off. If, for some reason, I don't fare better than last year's final standings (10th overall in expert), I may have to re-evaluate my focus and start looking into doing (possibly) some sprint triathlons, XTERRA off-road triathlons, and even some running (5K's, 10K's, marathon?)...

Go shorty, its your birthday!

Happy birthday to my nephew Lukas, who turned 1 today! Tear up some cake, little man!

Fireworks at the beach...


Char and I had a pretty good time for the 4th. After spending some time at the pool, we rolled down to Jax Beach to watch the fireworks. Afterwards, we jumped back on the beach cruisers for more drinks, appetizers and laughs at Sean & Steph's pad. I tried not to drink too much or stay out too late because I had a long ride on the 5th. Well, we stayed out a little late and I ended up getting started on my long road ride about 4 hours later than planned. Not that this is a bad thing, but at 11:30 in the afternoon, it was already awful damn hot!

Leaving for my journey...


After staying up late consuming oat sodas, eating bad all day Friday and it being hot as hell out, I think I bonked about 3 minutes after this picture was taken. Considering it takes me forever to warm up, I kept thinking I would come around once I got going. I felt like crap at 1 hour, then at 2 hours, then at 3 hours but I kept pedalling. I was going through 2 bottles every hour and a half and I had a hard time eating anything. I was riding rather slow in order to keep my heart rate in check considering this was an endurance ride. I kept thinking that I would come around considering that last Saturday's 4 hour and 10 minute ride felt absolutley great! But no, I felt like dog-poo from start to finish. I averaged 1 mile an hour slower than last Saturday's long ride. I ended with 84 solo miles in 4 hours and 40 minutes, while burning over 3900 calories. The average temperature during my little spin was 96 degrees and almost all of it was in the direct sunlight- really no tree coverage and NO clouds. Beautiful beach weather... Anyhow, from here I spent the rest of the day parked in the living room watching the Olympic Trials and the Tour de France with Char, who was also spent from a tough afternoon brick workout.

Sunday we got up and headed to Panera for breakfast with Mayfield. From there we took her to Dogwood Park to let her run loose with all of the other dogs. This park is HUGE and is totally sweet for dogs! She had such a blast and we had just as much fun watching her run around with all of the dogs as she tried to figure out who to play with next. She ran her little heart out...


Made some new friends...


...and was ready to bounce as soon as we said, "Let's go!" When we got back home we eazed back into "chill mode" and turned the Olympic Trials back on, which we had recorded. By the way, did anybody watch this? Man, watching the track events and then the pool events in HD with all of the crazy cameras and angles is downright amazing! We couldn't turn it off! We also took a little time to catch up on the Tour, which I also have recording on the DVR. Its nice to be able to watch these things, whenever, so much faster when they are recorded. Anyhow, bad weather rolled in and even though I tried to wait it out, the rain never let up so I missed a ride that I was anxious to do. I really wanted to ride, but I had no desire to hop on the trainer in place of the real thing. I try to limit my trainer time in order to avoid burn out...

Happy 4th!

Ok, I need a good post with pictures. I just got done washing my X in the blistering heat so I think I'll cool off at the computer and give the ol' blog some love...

Mark and the gang left for Louisville this past Monday. We had an excellent time while they were here. Thursday night we headed to Clark's Fish Camp for dinner. Clark's is a mandatory visit for all of our guests. Its set back on a creek and has wild turtles and gators to feed off the deck. Inside offers a taxidermy heaven- almost every animal known to man is stuffed and on display. They have a crazy big menu with everything that comes out of the water is deep fried. Ok, they have a few other things too but its a great atmosphere and always a good time!

A few shots of the gang waiting outside for our table...

Friday we loaded up and went to the water park at Adventure Landing. It was a hot day and the water slides were awesome! I'll have to be sure to get back here before the summer ends...

Saturday was a bike day at Hanna Park. Since they all brought their bikes we needed to show them the trails at Hanna. Mark and I hadn't been to Hanna together in ages. We parked under the trees along a creek at a picnic area and hopped on the bikes for some trail action. We had a good time but was rushed out of the park by yet another storm.

Saturday night- oh boy, Saturday night. After a week of doing things with the kiddos, the adults needed a little time out on the town to let off a little steam. After getting the kids situated with a babysitter, we rolled up to Harmonious Monks in Mandarin for some adult beverages, some music and some dancing. HM is a cool little spot that usually has a band that is totally interactive with the crowd. They also allow the girls to dance on tables, which is always a good time! Anyhow, we had a solid blast! Um, I'll let the pictures speak for themselves...

Yeah, Mark and I got hammered and spent Sunday paying for it. While we slept it off, the girls went to the beach. Afterwards, we ended the week with a trip to Tijuana Flats for dinner followed by some Rita's. Rita's kicks ass!

This week was a short week at work but a long week for riding. I have close to 14 hours of saddle time to get done this week, including a 4-1/2 hour ride tomorrow. Sunday would be a great day to hit some trails, so maybe I can get down to San Felasco or up to Ft. Clinch for a 2-1/2 hour spin. Speaking of Felasco and Clinch, the fall series schedule just recently came out and both places are in the series. There are a few new places, including some trails down near Ft. Myers. I'll put up a schedule of my remaining races for 08 in a later post.

Tonight we plan to meet up with Sean and Stephanie at their place and hop on our beach cruisers and zip down to the beach for fireworks. This'll be the 3rd year in a row that Char and I have done this with them. Its always a pretty fun time- a few beers, the beach and fireworks...good friends and a good girl to share it with always makes it memorable!

Next weekend Char's brother Damien and his family will be staying with us as they make their rounds before heading to his next Army post in Italy. Char's other brother Al, who lives in Gainesville, and his family will be in town for the weekend as well. Should be a packed house but will no doubt be fun. That Saturday is the last Beaches Fine Arts Series sprint triathlon. Damien and I will be doing it as a team. He'll do the swim and run and I'll do the bike. I have a little pressure on me to have a stellar time on the bike. We'll see how it goes...