The ups and downs

I picked up my hillwork this week, with no running for a couple of weeks I was interested to see what the impact was, in the end there was a four minute difference compare to the beginning of the month, which could be attributed to heat, Tuesday was 20 degrees cooler than Monday and was still 91f!

A warm up, three sets and a cool down and I was done in an hour…my target is to be able to crank 10 of these out, so the plan is to add one a week. It’s 52 days to PCTR Pt Mugu which is basically 5 hills; 5km up and 5km down 5 times!

Tuesday’s fun

My quad is not liking the downs much so I am babying it when I can, my pace is for shit but I am moving forward and that’s what counts right!

QuadCast Episode 39; Running again

So this week I am back out on the road…running! Yes I seem to be out of the woods with my leg and you join me during a 3 hour long run. I’ve been pretty much on the bench for two weeks and I would never recommend to anyone to do that but I kinda (hopefully) knew that I could pull it off and I kinda sorts do!

I discuss my training…that takes about 10 seconds and give you a quick equipment run down. I also reflect on actions or beliefs talking louder than words, it’s all good stuff! Oh and an ice bath!

My what did you eat blog can be found at http:i8this.blogspot.com

Intro and outro music is Dirty Devil by The Otherside and the main track is Vertigo by U2

Please feel free to leave any comments on this shownotes site and I would really love it if you would post a review on iTunes.

You can listen to the podcast through iTunes by clicking here or download it by clicking here.

Thanks for listening!

15:1

That was the plan for yesterday’s long run…yes run! No running for 10 days and basically absolutely nothing for the last week allowed me to finally shrug off my quad thing and so the plan was to basically run for three hours and see where it took me. The 15:1 strategy was run 15 minutes and walk 1 minute…and basically it worked out pretty well; at least until the sun came out! For fuel I had done bad runner math and had planned an hour out an hour back then 30 minutes out and 30 minutes back, but stupidly (of course) there was no-one at the hour out mark to replen me so I was dry for an extra 20 minutes until I hit a gas station and topped up with Gatorade, not ideal but better than nothing.

I got back home and refilled with proper sports drink turning around for the next hour without incident. Despite starting running at 6:15am, the sun was high by 8:30am and by 9:00am is was just plain hot, this weekend was a bit of scorcher, (the mercury in our garden thermometer topped out today at 135f, that’s gotta be wrong right!) and I was forced to walk a little extra in the closing 20 minutes to cool off!

When the three hours finished I had a little over 19 miles clocked up, so all things considered it wasn’t a bad effort and the strategy paid off pretty much, mentally I could have gone on some more.

Yeah it’s not pretty but it’s done!

My heart rate and zones where up in the air but that’s not surprising…any way the long and the short of it is that I may be bumping the sides a bit but I am back in the training groove!

Review; Clif Crunch

A ways back, I wrote to Clif asking them for a free sample of Clif Shot for a hydration review (to follow) not only did they send me some Shot they threw in a bunch of Crunch bars in various flavors. Having eaten my way through them, if you have been following my Daily Food Photo Diary you will have seen me post my fair share of them, it’s time to post a review and better yet give some away!

So in time honored fashion from Clif’s website:

CLIF CRUNCH ® is a new line of crunchy granola bars offering classic and original flavors made with all-natural and organic ingredients.

In addition to classic Peanut Butter and Honey Oat flavors, CLIF CRUNCH ® is first to make crunchy granola bars with creamy chips, and is bringing two all-new flavors -- Chocolate Chip and White Chocolate Macadamia Nut to the crunchy granola bar category.

I am sure you must have heard of Clif I am not going to get into a long description about Clif, you can find a ton of information on their website here and fellow Blogger Donald from Running and Rambling has actually been to Clif HQ in sunny Emmeryville, specifically to Crunch there is an excellent FAQ section on Clif’s website.

And so on with the review…it’s probably best to start with the entry level flavors and work our way up.

Honey Oat;. This is crunchy, naturally sweet with a really nice texture kind of flaky but with a hearty oaty taste, they actually go down really well dunked in tea (British tea that is)!

Peanut Butter; this is very similar to the oat flavor but has a distinct peanutty flavor, I am not a fan of things made to taste of other things, so peanut butter is ok and peanut butter flavor less so, but that’s my issue

Chocolate Chip; Similar to the Honey Oat bars taste this is sweetened by the chocolate chips rather than the honey, a nice compliment and a little bit of luxury

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut; if Chocolate Chip was a little bit of luxury then this one is a truckload! Simply delicious and without going overboard this is really, really good!

Nutrition wise they do vary from bar to bar, this is driven, obviously by the ingredients, this is a nutritional label from the Honey Oat bar:

Available in boxes of 6 through Clif for $3.49 or from other on line sources, I have seem the in Whole Foods and I am sure you’ll be seeing them permeate out into the marketplace in due course.

Now for the giveaway I have two boxes of mixed bars, that is one of each flavor to give away.

This is a nice easy win for someone and it’s simple to enter. So all you have to do is follow the following and you’ll be in the running for the prize which I will draw next Friday, there are several ways to enter and the more you do the better the odds:

Like, follow, become a fan of or whatever they’re calling it this week on Facebook of Clif

Follow them on Twitter gets you one entry

Leave a comment on this post gets you one entry, tell me you have done the above will get you one or two more, that’s three so far.

Finally all you folks on Twitter tweet the following will get you one more entry per day, this contest runs for a week so between now and next Thursday, that’s seven more for a possible total of nine, I will pick a winner.

I just entered the win a box of @clifbar Crunch giveaway on the @quadrathon blog

Pretty simple really, watcha waiting for? Oh and after you’ve eaten them all, why not write a review…that seems only fair right?!?

These products were provided free of charge by Clif. See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Mix1 Giveaway Winner

Lot’s of entries for this one…67 from 29 people!

And without further ado; drumroll please…….Frenchie!

Commented, Liked, Followed and Tweeted…who says social media is a time waste!

Thanks to Mix1 for their generous donation, Frenchie email me at quadrathon@gmail.com with your mailing address for shipping.

Check back tomorrow for a Clif review and giveaway.

Exercising or Exorcising?

I am not sure I should write this, yet alone post it! Not that I am suspicious or anything really!

After nearly two weeks I think my faux injury has gone! I mentioned it in the past, it’s been in my left quad, intermittent pain; literally one or two big Big BIG throbs (that’s three but you get my point) and then it would stop, it throbed when I was running, walking or even standing still! No swelling, no bruising and no identified cause. When I poked it didn’t hurt, I elevated it, rubbed in Flex Power, did Yoga, foam rolled it, iced it, even electrocuted it with my new Compex muscle stimulator and the thing that probably did it the best…time and rest!

So the last two weeks training have been a bit of a bust, two weeks ago I peaked at about 48 miles running and 45 miles on the bike; last week was 9 miles, lot’s of yoga and a solid 40 mile bike ride, this week I dialed it back even more to really shake it off and spent my morning running time at work arriving at 6 or 7:00am. Fingers crossed it seems to have worked…I am shooting for a long run this weekend, so we’ll see. I have two weeks to Long Beach Marathon and one 20 miler under my belt…well 10% undertrained is better than 2% over right does that work for 25% undertrained?

Coincidently it’s this time last year I wrecked my left quad at 100 in the Hood…maybe I should be exercising and exorcising my demons!

Lube-a-Palooza!

They won’t make you look younger or remove your crow’s feet, they won’t make you glow or radiate, they will however, stop you from burning, chaffing, spiking or aching! Here are four things that I liberally and frequently smear over various body parts!

Mission Sun Cream – designed by athletes for athletes, doesn’t make you smell you have just been delivered by 1800 Flowers, doesn’t sting like a mutha, when it runs into your eyes, goes on evenly so you don’t look like a pink and white Twizzler and a company that gives money to charities, isn't too expensive and really, really works! About $8 a tube.

Buh-Bump – if, like me, you’re obsessed with Heart Rate data this is essential, just like you need a good connection to get a good picture when you’re doing an ultra sound you need a good connection when you strap on that heart rate strap. This gets it right about 90% of the time and you won’t have to look like a nutcase licking your strap before you put it on! Cheap, fragrance free and it washes straight out of your shirt no problem! About $7 a tube.

Flex Power – yeah we’ve all got those aches and pains and we all wish we could leap out bed and hit the roads with an 8 minute mile…well now you can at least get rid of the pain and get some blood flowing at the same time. Rub this on and feel your muscles slowly warm up and those aches ease off. Not oily or greasy it has a pleasant nasal clearing smell but it doesn’t take the top of you head off like Tiger Balm etc. About $15 for a big tube.

Body Glide – what’s to say that’s not been said! Any athletes essential, got two bits of your body that rub together rub some Body Glide in between and you’re good to go, zero chaffing, zero smell and zero left on your clothes. Also good around the collar of your wetsuit, when trying to get a stuck wedding ring off or for sliding out your kids head from between the railings! Kids will be kids right!! About $7 a tube.

I have added links to these in the Amazon widget in the right hand border and if you buy through that I get about 12c back towards my new bike fund! Thanks in advance!

BTW these all make excellent stocking fillers; there’s only 94 shopping days to Christmas!

So there you go, four things I have in my running bag…what’s in yours?

PS only three more days to sign up for the Mix1 contest!

QuadCast Episode 38; Run and Bike

Join me for this two part episode. The first part is after a 20 mile run, I had intended to record on the run but failed to so you get a car-cast instead; apologies for the poor quality! The second part is recorded on my bike…which is now fixed and I babble on about bike maintenance my training and this kinda sorta injury that I have! Fun times!

Music this week is Naked Kids by Group Love

As always you can email me with comments or questions please feel free to drop me a line a quadrathon@gmail.com or follow me on twitter.com/@quadrathon.

You can listen to the podcast through iTunes by clicking here or download it by clicking here.

Thanks for listening!

Saturday Silliness…

Let’s plat Feud!

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE MY ANSWERS!!!!!!
Copy and paste message to a new post.
Erase my answers and fill in your answers.
If my answers are dumb, it's because the person before me had the good ones lol!!!!!
1. Name something you use in the shower? Radio
2.Name something a football player wears under his uniform? Deodorant
3.Name something people hate to find on their windshield? Bird poop
4.Name something a man might buy before a date? A calendar
5.What is another word for blemish? Spot
6. Something you cook in the microwave? Rice
7.Name a piece of furniture people need help moving? Four Poster Bed
8.Name a reason a younger man might like an older woman? Cheap Insurance
9.Name something a dog does that embarrasses its owner? Crap on someone's lawn (not the owner's)
10.Name a kind of test you cannot study for? Morals
11.Name something a boy scout gets a badge for? Astronomy
12.Name a phrase with the word home in it? Home is where the heart is
13.Name a sport where players lose teeth? Full contact dentistry
14.Name something a teacher can do to ruin a student's day? C- or worse
15.What is a way you can tell someone has been crying? Mascara to their knees
16.Name a bird you wouldn't want to eat? Eagle
17.Name something someone would wear with a hole in it? T shirt, they're really tricky to put on without holes...think about it!
18.Name something that gets smaller the more you use it? Tire

Wanna play? Answer below, post on your blog and/or link back…just have some fun with it!

Friday Freebies!

Last week I reviewed Mix1 protein drink, you can read the review here. I really liked it and I think you will too! Now the good folks at Mix1 want me to share the love and I have a mixed flavor case (12 bottles) to give away to one lucky reader!

This is a nice easy win for someone and it’s simple to enter. So all you have to do is follow the following and you’ll be in the running for the prize which I will draw next Friday, there are several ways to enter and the more you do the better the odds:

Like, follow, become a fan of or whatever they’re calling it this week on Facebook of Mix1

Follow them on Twitter  gets you one entry

Leave a comment on this post gets you one entry, tell me you have done the above will get you one or two more, that’s three so far.

Finally all you folks on Twitter tweet the following will get you one more entry per day, this contest runs for a week so between now and next Thursday, that’s seven more for a possible total of ten, I will pick a winner and post next week’s giveaway!

I just entered the win a case of @mix1 giveaway on the @quadrathon blog

Pretty simple really, watcha waiting for? Oh and after you’ve drunk it, why not write a review…that seems only fair right?!?

A screw loose…well two actually!

Remember this post from last week…a slight mechanical failure. Well I dropped my bike of at the LMS (local maintenance shop; they don’t sell them just fix them) and explained the problem;

“Won’t shift properly, throws the chain at the front, won’t freewheel backwards,maybe been knocked over by the kids?”

The mech puts it in stand and tinkers a bit…“rear derailleur looks ok and chain is dirty but ok…we’ll double check everything though”, then he goes to to take it down and says “oh this could be it” and shows me the crankset…

The highlighted bolts that are missing…not in this photo

Three bolts missing and the remaining two loose! Hmm now I am no grease monkey but I think that could have something to do with it! Anyway I will pick it up at the weekend, it’s really put me in a frame of mind to get the new one purchased, there are a couple in the running…any cyclists out there (Robyn, Groover and Zanne I am looking at you) input needed, not for racing but comfortable long rides.

Cannondale Synapse 3 2010 Biycling Plush winner

BMC Road Racer SL01 on price alone this is a steal

Specialized Roubaix comes with the name and the price tag!

Cervelo RS serious drool but so expensive!

Biachi Infinito dripping in history from the world’s oldest bike makers!

The list is ever growing but these usually are in the Top 5

Specificity!

This weekend I was determined to up the ante on my long run; a disappointing distance two weeks ago and being forced onto my bike last weekend with a niggly quadriceps issue which still hasn’t gone away have left my long runs have not ramped up as quickly as I had hoped and the spring in my step over the long distances somewhat lacking!

After a couple of chores I headed to a familiar location, the beach path along Santa Monica beach…not quite the burly trails of choice but with Long Beach Marathon in 33 days it was time to get to get some long runs completed.

So the objective was pretty simple; 20 miles in Zone 2 and a goal pace of 8:45. I staged my car as an Aid Station and had planned to do two 5 mile out and backs but I went two extra which was four extra for the round trip and by the time I got back to refill I was dry and thirsty…another lesson learned the hard way! It was also the opportunity to wear test what I am planning to wear on Marathon day, specifically my Sugoi compression shorts and VitalSox compression socks. The other good thing was that it was a good simulation of the marathon course which follows a pretty flat path around and through Long Beach.

My run, yes some of it is below sea level!

The first hour clicked by pretty easily as did almost the next, by 1:52 I had clicked off the first 13 miles, after this I stared to slow down and my cardiac drift was on the up. I eased of the pace in an attempt to drop back into Zone 2 (below 148) I was in the mid 150s. I took a minute’s walk break at the start of miles 16, 17, 18 and 19. I hit the 20 miles mark in 2:58:32 and then kept going for a nice 3 hour finish with 20.21 miles in the bank.

 Cardiac drift, occurs because dehydration causes a drop in blood volume, which means less blood is pumped with each heartbeat.

All in all a solid run, I spent 24% in Zone 2, 40% in Zone 3 and 26% in Zone 4  the last of which is too high and I an left wondering if I was dehydrated…something to consider on the next long run. Now I just need to sort out this quad issue, it’s been lingering for 10 days or so, to that end my wife is out of town through Friday so that’s going to check my running options and I am aiming to get some treadmill miles at lunchtime along with some good fashioned old yoga and ice.

Hopefully the downtime this week will allow my leg to bounce back and I can repeat last weekend this weekend with a little more staying power!

QuadCast; Episode 37

In case you’re wondering what this is I also have a podcast which, while recently having had a bit of a hiatus, is back up and running (excuse the pun). I am migrating the show notes to this blog for the sake of ease and my sanity so every week or so you’ll see a post like this pop up, don’t panic though it won’t impact my usual written ramblings

*******************

In this episode I head out on my bike for a wee ride around the neighborhood. I bump into a mechanical issue but it's not too much of a drama and I ride on through the rest of the ride. I talk about the difference between training in Zone 2 and Zone 3 from a recovery perspective and the after effects of last weeks long run on this weeks training.

This week I also had an encounter with a Hellerwork practitioner which was...interesting!

As always you can email me with comments or questions please feel free to drop me a line a quadrathon@gmail.com or follow me on twitter.com/@quadrathon.

You can listen to the podcast through iTunes by clicking here or download it by clicking here.

BLDing not Blogging…

Well I am a week into BLD and so far so good! Willy Wonka has not lured me with his fare and the M&M machine has been avoided, the scales are happy to report a 3lb loss, not bad for just not eating candy! Photographing everything is certainly keeping me accountable although it’s bit of a pain with multiple Blogger accounts and the like. One thing that has struck me is that there is little variation, I pretty much have the same thing for breakfast and lunch during the week every day with some interesting things thrown in at the weekend!

I added a photo feed of my meals to the side bar but if you are reading this in a reader you won’t see it.  Stephanie from A Trail Runner and Barb from KelownaGurl Tris have joined in as well as Penny from Planet Ynnep , the more the merrier I say, if you want to partake let me know. If you want to look at thing in more detail the food log blog is here.  In the meantime here a few of the more interesting things I have had!

View Full Album

Stop salivating and go and sign up!

Review; Mix 1

So a while, in fact a long while back the folks at Mix1 contacted me…you know how this goes! So usually I get one or two this time I got a case (part of the reason for the slowness) to review. And so on with the show, from their website:

…"we started mix1 with the following mission: to create the highest quality all-natural products that promote health, wellness and performance through truly functional nutrition. mix1 products deliver all-natural balanced nutrition with multiple benefits in a convenient way. We use the right balance of ingredients, at efficacious levels, to provide the maximum benefit to your body”.

The have a very good website with lots of mini videos of about a minute long, I really liked these series of pages which explain about the protein, carbs, fat etc there is also a blog; the latest post is a Leadville 100 race report from a member of their advisory board…that’s means someone who does what I do believes in this stuff! There is some FAQs and pages devoted their sponsored athletes, of which the really nice thing is most of them I have never heard of…i.e. they’re not the superstars who everyone wants to sponsor! Here a video from their YouTube site.

They’re on Twitter and Facebook where they have a contest to give away four cases every month! As you can see they are very social media savvy! Dig into the website and there’s a whole series on who works at the company etc, you can clearly see that they are all about the fun and don’t take themselves to seriously.

So how does it taste, well here’s the results:

Berry – strawberry flavored, not to sweet and not tart, smooth to swallow, really nice when chilled but not so good over ice?

Tangerine – sharp and a little tart but enough to make you want to drink more, thicker than OJ, really makes your taste buds pop

Blueberry & Vanilla – I am not a fan of blueberries (yeah hate me) but I found this to be a great base for using in the blender with frozen fruit to get that Jamba Juice style drink

Lime – my least favorite, lime is not really a drink flavor in my mind, it’s something that should be there in the background, this always tasted a bit off

Mango – want a hula dancer on your tongue, refreshing and clean flavored, I only got two bottles of this one and it was gone in a flash!

AntiOxidant Orange/Carrot – really drinkabale just like a think orange juice but with the sharpness from the carrot

AntiOxidant Dark Berry – my favorite, really berry flavored thick and luxurious, I mixed with ice in the blender to get a super chilled ice slushee!

They are all filling and tasty less the comments above, no bloating etc that I have had from other recovery drinks and this is how they position themselves. It’s not juice but a balanced recovery drink that happens to have a really good flavor…that’s a step up on some the competitors in my mind, I’ve written several times about the appalling flavor of some recovery drinks. All in all a thumbs up.

Available on line through their website with an Amazon checkout you can get a case (12 bottles) for between $20-25 depending on flavor, now the beauty of Amazon is that you can pre order multiple packs and save 15% and get free shipping so it nets out at $1.63 a bottle rather than the usual $2.00 per bottle you would see in a store.

Finally a big thank you to Mix1 for supplying this product to test.

These products were provided free of charge by Mix1. See previous gear reviews in the sidebar on the right. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Mechanical Failure!

I was supposed to have a long run today but I put that on the back burner, my left quad was sore; more on that later. So I hopped on my bike and headed out, I had 3 hours and no sense of direction except following my nose.

I headed around a well worn loop and then decided to venture further afield looking for some pleasant scenery and trying to reduce some traffic. I had a nice warm up through the rolling part of the ride around mile 16 started to first climb. I dropped down at the front promptly throwing my chain off…ugh! I put it back on but it wouldn’t sit on the ring and kept dropping off, so I finally got it back onto the big ring and there I stayed for the next 29 miles! Through the ups and the down, joyfully listening to my chain being crossed. I arrived home and found myself liberally covered in grease, fingers to gloves to nose; transference is a wonderful thing!

It looks like my crankset is somehow bent? Maybe something happened in the garage that I don’t know about? It’s pretty busy in there with the kids bikes the washer/dryer and all the usual junk you find in a garage. Anyway it looks like it needs a good service anyways so off to my LBS I’ll be going…that being said I am on the verge of a new bike.

I had promised myself a new one a few years ago and never got round to it so maybe this is a sign? It's most likely a sign I don't need a triple but something more than a 7-speed would be nice!

I hate David McQuillen!

It’s nothing personal really but he is the producer of the Sufferfest cycle training videos. This week I was a little short on time (this week only right!!!) so Thursday night was when I managed to turn to my Cross Training, it was late and so a quick spin on the trainer seemed the right thing to do. Revolver is a sprint video, after a warm up you get a series of one minute 10:10 effort sprints followed by a one minute 3:10 effort rest, along the way you’re treated to some great footage from officially licensed UCI track racing (Track World Cup in Manchester), cyclocross (World Cup in Hoogerheide and Koksijde) and road racing (Road World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland) then a 4 minute warm-down featuring the final Ks of the Col du Soler descent. What’s not to like…well you be the judge!

Available for the wallet busting price of $9.99 you to can can you ass kicked from here to kingdom come in the space of 45 minutes…don’t believe me here’s the trailer.

B.L.D.

I have two nemeses at work! I work in IT, trust me the image of coffee, Red Bull and candy are true…well mostly, my company does provide some healthier options but on the whole there are plenty of crap treats available. Most recently there are two major culprits.

Willy Wonka Chocolate, multiple bags; temporary, but ongoing for a week now	M&M…free! This bowl is about 16” in diameter; permanent, I pass it abut 6 times a day

So here’s the deal, I will post a photo of my breakfast, lunch and dinner every day for the next month and probably a few snacks in between. Now if I show you mine you can show me yours. If you want to play let me know and I will give you admin rights to the contest blogsite, iPhone users can use Blogrium; it’s what I used in Hawaii and San Diego, Blackberry users can try this or upload a photo directly, if you wanna play just send me an email, there’s no prize, just the pride is staying on the straight and narrow, personally I hoping to the tune of 8-10lbs!

Day 1 is posted you can see it here.

Trust me you will be sick of the sight of oatmeal by the end of September!