Kids, Keys and Car!

It’s inevitable really no sooner do I put something down in writing then my plans change! Sometimes it’s for the bad this time it’s for the good! I think I mentioned my in laws are in town from England, their annual trip albeit this year a little shorter at about 8 weeks, it’s all good though. Through the power of iChat they’re not strangers to our kids and they’re now at the age (3 and 6 years) where my wife and I can leave them with their Grandparents with no concerns, so it is a case of here are the kids, here are the house keys and here’s a car to ferry them around…seeya in a week!  And that’s just what we are doing! So come the weekend of the March 6th I will not be running the PCTR Malibu Creek race I will relaxing here:

Shame about the silly looking handrails!

This is going to be followed by a week spent Bryce Canyon and Zion National Parks, some hiking, some relaxing and some quality time sans kids with Ms Q!

Thor’s Hammer

Zion Canyon

Yep sometimes things do change for the best! Although the weather forecast is not so great; snow storms are expected so we may end up seeing a lot of this:

Oh well, that’s why they invented Gore-Tex!

Review: Eyes Wide Open; the making of Cyclepassion 2011

Some time between Christmas and the New Year I was trawling through Twitter and Markus from Cyclefilm, who I follow, threw out the request for reviews of Eyes Wide Open…I was on that like a fly on honey, a week or so later the DVD arrived. Cyclefilm provide some of the footage for the Sufferfest Training Videos that I have talked about in the past, and who produce some wicked cool cycling videos of their own including the Recon of the L'Etape 2010 - The Road to Tourmalet and Liz Hatch; Come ride with me!, Recon So what’s the premise well Cyclepassion well it’s best described as what happens when eight elite women pro-cyclists trade in their lycra for latex, lace & leather to pose for the 2011 Cyclepassion Calendar. I think the appeal of this movie is best summed up by the founder of the Cyclepassion, Anke Wilken ;

“…cycling involves gear and technology, to us women it’s a mystery how men can admire bit’s and pieces of their bikes for hours”

Now that being said there is more to it than watching some very talented women pose with bikes, each photoshoot provides somewhat of an insight into these athletes psyche, their background in the sport and their training. Interesting there are some really candid moments where they talk about insecurities and fears in their chosen sports. Drawn from across the raft of cycling, including Cyclocross, MTB and Road you get a glimpse of what goes on behind what is perceived to be the glamor of being a professional bike rider. Glamor and glitz it aint!

In no particular order the riders are:

Willow Koerber (USA) - Trek/Subaru - MTB
Heather Irmiger (USA) - Trek/Subaru - MTB
Liz Hatch (USA) - Lotto Ladies Team - Road
Veronica Andreasson (Sweden) - Lotto Ladies Team - Road
Julie Krasniak - (France) Look - Road
Fabienne Heinzmann - (Switzerland) BMC - MTB
Mona Eiberweiser (Germany) - CentralPro - MTB
Hanka Kupfernagel (Germany) Road/Cross

Here are a couple of sneak peeks from the Cyclepassion Website

The Making of Cyclepassion from markus ★ cyclefilm.com on Vimeo.

The Making of Cyclepassion II from markus★ cyclefilm.com on Vimeo.

The wall calendar has long since sold out…go figure right but there are some desk ones left and of course you can pick up the Eyes Wide Open which is now on sale! Trust me the miles slip by on the trainer watching this!

This DVD was provided free of charge by the good folks at CycleFilm. 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.

‘bout halfway!

Well I am about halfway through the first three months of the year…time flies right. And I thought it would be an opportune time to check and see where I am on my New Year’s resolves. I have nearly almost, finally, kinda, shaken off this horrible cold/cough thing, I occasionally splutter but pretty much I am back to the norm. I took a week off but I am not too fussed as I am not really training.

So this week I restarted the Natural Running Transition and I paid attention to the book’s intervals and had so far managed to avoid shredding my calves! Always a bonus! So far this week Monday through Friday I have alternated stretches and core strength with pylometrics, lots of running on the spot and my jump rope skills are getting better. There’s also some really short but fast speed intervals, we’re only talking 200m or so but at 6:00 min mile pace, I could go a bit faster but the treadmill can’t! But don’t let me lull you into think that it’s easy some of these things are nigh on impossible, here’s a good example, go on try it, go on I’ll double dare you!

See, told you! Sorry about the poor photo.

So looking back at the To Do list, definite progress!

Started the transition to forefoot running – Check!

Lose 20lbs – well I am down about 10lbs, so that’s half down – Check!

Doing the good stuff; foam roll, yoga, stretch – Check(ish)!

No new kit in Jan, Feb or March! – Well other some awesome stuff on it’s way to review, I slipped off the wagon just a little, but hey needs must!