Slow 2 Pro

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Signed up for the sprint tri at Joint Base Lewis-McChord up near Tacoma, WA this Saturday. Most likely my last race before heading to Army Basic training and OCS. Legs and lungs are feeling good. Definitely have a good chance of coming back with a win.

Its an interesting course with a 880m swim, 13 mile bike, and 3 mile run. This is the second race in the series and the previous winner came in at 1:05 which is a respectable time but something I believe I can do. If I can come out of the swim in the top 5-10 places I should be able to seal the deal on the bike. I will be riding my old Specialized I used back in mid 2008 since the Cannondale is gone. The bright green lunar-racers will be back for another round

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Older N.O. Xplode before they released the single packets

So I said I would discuss some of the supplements I listed during my last post. BSN’s N.O. Xplode is a pre-workout drink mix I have been using on and off since 2006. It has gone through a few iterations since then but it still does the same basic thing. The N.O. stands for Nitric Oxide. For the layman lifter/athlete, Nitric oxide causes increased blood flow making weight lifting ‘pumps’ feel more powerful. The ‘pump’ is the feeling of blood rushing or stuck in muscles that you have just done a workout in. Nitric oxide increases the amount of nutrients carried to the muscles when they are used during exercise. It is considered safe because if doses reach well above correct levels it will cause stomach aches or other short term (and noticeable) issues. N.O. Xplode also has roughly a gram of creatine (pretty small amount) and good amounts off caffeine. Between the caffeine and nitric oxide N.O. Xplode creates quite a pre-workout focus and readiness. It’s a great drink mix for normal workouts and especially weight lifting workouts but anything beyond a sprint triathlon I would not recommend using it unless you supplement a correct number of caffeine packed GU packets to maintain levels.

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Since the triathlon season is still a few months away in the NW I have been staying busy in the gym lifting weights. I am not trying to become a meat head but due to my body type, building muscle mass isn’t a huge task. That being said though I am always looking for things to help me reach my maximum potential. One way to do this is nutritional supplements. Here is a run down of what I take on a normal training day. This would also be normal for recovery days because you do not want the levels of creatine, vitamins, or available protein to drop. I know you may not understand what some of these are so I will be going over the various supplements over the next couple of weeks posts!

With breakfast-

1 scoop BSN’s N.O. Xplode

1 glucosamine/chondroidtin

1 Basic vitamin pill, I use costco’s Kirkland daily vitamin

1 scoop of Whey protein (roughly 24grams of protein) I prefer Optimum Nutrition

Post Workout- sooner the better once you have completed training

1.5-2 scoops of Whey protein

1 scoop of a Creatine multi-supplement such as BSN’s Cellmass or Anabolic Optimal Dose; not a steroid

plus an additional teaspoon (5g) of creatine monohydrate

During the day-

Lots of water!!

small snacks, something with a high protein content is great.

Before bed

1 scoop of Casein protein

1 scoop of creatine multi-supplement + 5 grams of creatine monohydrate

1 glucosamine/chondroidtin

1 Basic vitamin pill, I use costco’s Kirkland daily vitamin

and LOTS OF WATER

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I, like many of you have started doing base type run and bike workouts. After doing many long, slow workouts, I feel very efficient but also lacking that top end kick I’m used to. So I’ve started mixing in race pace, or slightly slower intervals into the middle and end of my long runs. Here is a basic break down of a work out like this.

20:00 - 70% race pace

05:00 - 80% race pace

12:00 - 70% x 2min followed by 100% RP x 1min

03:00 - 80% race pace

10:00 - 80% increase  4% every minute till you reach 100%

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Broadway bridge in Portland

Being a current and very lucky owner of a Seven Cycles fully custom Titanium frame I have a great attachment to this brand. I use my Seven for everyday riding and training miles. One of the things few people get a chance to do is to get a full bike fitting before and after ordering a bike. To start out you tell/show your local fitter, in my case River City Bikes, your current bike. They take geometry measurements along with you likes/dislikes of the bike and note them. Then they measure a ton of your body parts, such as elbow to wrist, knee to ankle, waist to neck, foot size, the list goes on. After that first appointment they send the work sheet with all that info to Seven. A short while later Seven sends what they believe will be the absolute best frame geometry for you. My fitter had an adjustable stationary bike frame and showed me what it would be like. I gave them the thumbs up and multiple weeks my new frame showed up. If you consider this was over 5 years ago it must have made a good impression.

to how this affects you, Seven makes some amazing pieces of art you can ride and they now make triathlon frames, along with some sweet cyclocross rigs. The Kameha SLX is their Tri specific model that will definitely stand out in a crowd. A bike like this has panache that a large brand doesn’t have. Hipsters and tri-geeks a like will give you the thumbs up

Granted you might be able to get a carbon bike that is ever so slightly faster but 20 people at your next 70.3 will have one. I have never seen a Seven like mine. Now thats a good feeling Check them out, http://www.sevencycles.com/triathlon/kameha_slx.php

Brave the rain and cold, ride

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Vuma Chrono

One look at these cranks and you can guess they will not be cheap or ineffective. They use outboard style bearings like most performance cranks do nowadays. In the sizing category they went a little crazy with 6 lengths. This is probably a great thing for a pro that has access to a very sensitive power output measuring device. Besides the very smooth exterior of the crank face the cranks feature a very narrow 146mm Z factor. This is great because it keeps your knees inboard and out of the slipstream your movement creates. The biggest surprise to me is that they don’t have a single chain ring design; something we will most likely see in the pro-peloton at grand tour TT’s.

Nevertheless get a little less than $1300 ready to hang this piece of bling on your bike

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I saw this on a mailing I get from Performance Bike and thought I would throw it out there. This is a great deal on a entry level bike; Carbon Frame no less. Compare the price to other bikes and you will see its a steal. Paint it matte black and you would have a killer commuter too.

GT GTR Carbon Expert

http://www.performancebike.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?partNumber=30-1675&catalogId=10551&langId=-1&storeId=10052&cm_mmc=Email-_-Direct-_-091029Th-_-Product&cm_em=kenae3@gmail.com

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This is the next generation of Shimano bicycles shifters.  Fully electronicaly controlled shifting. Its not going to be cheap. Also thats the testing of the time trial/triathlon set (Picture). The normal shifters have been tested during the last two years in the European pelotons. Remote shift buttons for TT/Triathlon aero bars are supposed to follow sometime next year. I haven’t seen any prices but will assume at least a $500 premium over the standard mechanical grouppo. All other components will come from the standard dura-ace 7900 series.

Shifters Bradly Wiggins used on the TT today in the Tour de France

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It may seem trivial but having name-plates is AWESOME

Hearing that the Vancouver PD is looking to hire new officers in the next few months got me motivated to sign up for the next local hosted Washington public safety evaluation test. It consisted of a written test followed by a physical test. The written was extremely easy as was the physical test. The - were the only event I didn’t get max points because the form they want requires you to completely touch the back of your head to the pad. I am still in Air Force PT mode where you just have to touch the backs of your shoulder blades/traps. So I did 50 reps but only 30 counted, lol. The run was total decimation. Out of the roughly 150 people there no one could match my triathlon fitness. The 300m sprint was the closest but the 1.5 mile run on a track left my closest competitor a good 300m behind and 3/4 of the field lapped. 

I’m hoping that I can get such a position to keep funding my motivation for triathlons. Off to the gym for lifting and swimming.

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FYI, we moved Slow2Pro.com to a new server. If you were trying to view it this morning you might have noticed a little bit of downtime. Please take a look around and let us know if there are any problems.

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Thanks,

Chris, Resident Propeller Head

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