Wednesday, April 29, 2015

How I coped with a 36 week Training Plan!

I have said many times that I get bored with training plans after 10-12 weeks. I tend to lose focus and get bored, the taper ends up being me simply stopping until race day. It’s self-sabotaging on the whole and obviously doesn’t lend itself to getting the best results. Not all training cycles have ended that way but is a noticeable theme

Therefore I was very surprised that I managed to go the entire 36 weeks that I outlined last August without having a mental breakdown. Admittedly the last 4 weeks were a bit fudged with the addition of an extra race and some challenges at work but overall the fundamentals were there.

image

So with that said here are some thoughts on how I broke it down mentally and physically.

The entire Training Cycle weeks was peppered with races. I broke it up into a very specific training cycles for the three key races

Santa Clarita Marathon, 13 weeks. (8/3 – 11/2)

Most of the time was on the road or treadmill as it was a road-race. This time was primarily building my running base transitioning from the bike and triathlon mode that I had been in for the first 7 months of the year. Race day was a solid race and while not a PR I had a goal of 3:43 and finished in 3:42.

  • Road 40 runs 335.75 miles
  • Treadmill 19 runs 113.94 miles
  • Trail 9 runs 95.88 miles
  • Elevation Gain 43,194’
  • Total 545.57 miles

Sean O’Brien 50K, (which become the Bandit 50k) 15 weeks. (11/3 – 2/15)

After Santa Clarita I raced the Paramount Ranch 30k Trail Race for fun, I actually came 5th. I missed the registration for SOB which turned out a wet and windy day, which would have been perfect really. Instead I registered for the Bandit 50k a week later which was at the other end of the spectrum with unseasonably high temperatures. This was my second 50k this year, the Calico 50K was cool and by comparison flat with Bandit throwing down the challenge of 6200’ of gain. High temps and big hills beat me down. Training was still primarily on the road and treadmill but I was transitioning to the trails and adding elevation.

  • Road 20 runs 187.03 miles
  • Treadmill 28 runs 172.57 miles
  • Trail 17 runs 258.64 miles
  • Elevation Gain 58,645’
  • Total 618.24 miles

Leona Divide 50m 9 weeks (2/16 – 4/18)

Full on trail mode, at least as much as possible with the inclusion of the Ahmanson 12k, lots of recon on the Santa Barbara Nine Trails course and then the race itself. Miles were down but it was a shorter span of time. Elevation and distance were the focus. 3 less trail runs and only 5 miles less overall distance. I accumulated nearly as much vertical gain as I had for the SOB cycle with 6 weeks less time! At the end of the day it didn’t come together as planned but no doubt had I done anything less it would have hurt a lot more!

  • Road 8 runs 69.73 miles
  • Treadmill 13 runs 75.49 miles
  • Trail 14 runs 253.76 miles
  • Elevation Gain 54,245’
  • Total 398.79 miles

Grand Totals;

  • 1562.79 miles
  • 156,084’ of elevation gain

I’m not a coach nor do I play one on TV, hell I don’t even have one! But I have been around the block a few times so hopefully breaking things down like this is helpful to someone. Here are five key takeaways;

  • Have an end goal, but pepper it along the way with milestones, this way you get a sense of achievement and an understanding of your development.
  • Focus on the day and the week. The month is too big!
  • Train the terrain, get out on the course if you can. This worked really well for me at Nine Trails. I had run the other races or routes before, the only time I hadn’t was Leona Divide and that came back to haunt me.
  • Training for a hilly race…run hills! Kinda obvious but often overlooked!
  • Find a plan and stick with it. Don’t get 2 weeks in and decide it’s too hard. Understand the ability you have to commit (factor in school, work, kids, your partner) and then commit!

There are a few others lesser ones but I am sure you see the picture here.

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

Skratch Labs Recipe of the Week; Raspberry & Chocolate Rice Cakes

I’ve missed a week or two but this is a good one to catch up with!

Ingredients;

  • 3 cups uncooked sticky rice
  • 4.5 cups water
  • 0.75 cup canned coconut milk (this is the canned version not the one you have on cereal)
  • Juice of one lemon (or other citrus fruit)
  • 1.5 teaspoons of coarse salt or to taste
  • 6 ounces semi sweet choc chips
  • 1 pint raspberries

Method;

  • Combine rice, water, dash of salt in rice cooker and let cook
  • When the rice is finished cooking transfer it to a large bowl and add the coconut milk. Begin adding the sugar. It should taste slightly sweet to you palate.
  • Add the lemon juice to give it some zing
  • Add the salt to taste
  • Once the rice has mostly cooled, spread half across a 9” x 12” baking pan and press flat, sprinkle in the Raspberries and Choc chips. Gently press the remaining rice onto the berries to create second layer
  • Let it set up, cut and wrap

image

I have made this a couple of times now and here are some thoughts.

  • Don’t overdo the coconut milk otherwise it never sets
  • Use whole coconut milk not “Lite”
  • Putting in the fridge for 30 minutes makes it easier to set and cut
  • Don’t make the rice layers too thick
  • Choc Chips are optional, it’s actually sweet and sharp enough without them

Ok your go…

Monday, April 27, 2015

Recovery Week

Post Leona Divide I mostly felt pretty good, with the race being on a Saturday I had Sunday to recover without work etc getting in the way. Monday I was back at work and had a no-workout day. I was back in the saddle on Tuesday, literally!

Tuesday; easy 45 minute ride on the Trainer

Wednesday; in prep for the coming 9 weeks of training for the Pactimo Sponsored Golden Gran Fondo I did a FTP test on the trainer. My FTP dropped from 214 to 206. Clearly not the right direction, but for 4 days after Leona Divide I’ll take it.

image

Thursday; an easy TrainerRoad ride for 20 miles.

Friday; an easy run. This was surprisingly hard and best described as “too soon!”

Saturday; off

Sunday; I had to keep an eye on the kids so with Becca out on a brick ride for 4-5 hours I was back on the Trainer and rode for another 26 miles basically in Zone 2 with some standing climbing for Zone 3 work

In preparation for the Golden Gran Fondo I am going to follow a TrainerRoad plan. I used the Advance Build I plan last year in preparation for the L’Etape du Califonia to pretty good effect. I was able to increase my FTP from 206 to 230 so hopefully I will have the same net effect this time around. This time I’m using The Advanced II plan.  Five rides a week. Two of three weekday workouts are 90 minutes. Additionally, the weekends now offer an extra intervals workout in place of an endurance/tempo ride, although I will be swapping out a weekend ride for actually get outdoor miles in. So it’s going to be a pretty full on two months.

image

In addition to the plan I’ll be focusing on my diet and trying to maintain the same weight that I have for the last month or so, 170lb but will be adding in flexibility, core and strengthening work too.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Leona Divide 50 Mile Run

So the dust has settled or at least been washed away and normal life resumes. With that in mind it’s time to put down my thoughts on what became a very long day.

IMG_4936

For Reference here is the data;

Garmin Fenix 3 and Garmin 910xt

As a reminder, (regular readers can skip this), after Vineman 70.3 the goal was to step up the running, focus more on the trails and work up to the 50 mile distance. The Leona Divide 50 Mile Run was the end goal. Along the way I clicked on several interim races including a couple of 50ks (Calico and Bandit) and the Santa Barbara Nine Trails 35 Mile Run. Some went well (Calico and Nine Trails) and others less so (Bandit). But throughout the 40 weeks of training the focus was on Leona Divide.

Before I get into the race report a word on logistics.

  • I divided the race up into sections between Aid Stations at Mile 8, 17, 26 and 39. The route was a T shape with two out and backs across the horizontal and the vertical was the from/to the Start/Finish
  • In the same way as I did at Nine Trails I had created ZipLoc bags which were a full replen of everything that I needed
  • I was wearing my new Garmin Fenix 3 as well as my 910xt and Vivofit. My Fenix3 was programmed with a 30 minutes time alert to remind me to eat something twice an hour and each item was between 120-150 calories
  • Each bag contained variation on; Raspberry Rice Cakes, Quick Crusts, Banana bread portions, PowerBar smoothies and 4 servings of Skratch Lemon and Lime. There was slightly less in the first two bags as the distances were shorter. I also had a full replen in my pack in case I missed Becca, and yes I was a Boy Scout
  • I wore my Ultimate Direction Wasp Pack full of ice/water and carried a UD Fastdraw Handheld that I would top up with water from my pack and add the Skratch too, this keeps my pack bladder clean. I also carried some Chapstick, Bodyglide, ibuprofen, SCaps and Ricola lozengers…oh and some TP, ‘cos well you know, I like my socks!
  • I was wearing Saucony Inferno shorts and matching Tshirt; the shorts are short and I like that. On my feet I wore Saucony Peregrine 5 shoes. On my head my Headsweats Loudmouth Trucker cap and a pair of Oakley sunnies.

Ok so with that said here we go. As the race was relatively local (approx. 75 minutes’ drive) I decided to stay at home the night before, trading off that a shorter sleep in a familiar bed is better than a longer sleep in an unfamiliar one. The previous day I had taken off work and spent time prepping my nutrition for the race. Primarily these were Skratch Portables as noted above. I opt for the sweeter side of the palette as that suits my taste. I had a reasonably easy day and managed a relatively early night.

IMG_4813IMG_4807IMG_4810
Raspberry Rice Cakes, Skratch Cookies and Banana Bread Pudding

Race Day morning Becca drove us out. The drive was uneventful, the best kind, and I finished up breakfast, rice pudding and coffee. We made it in perfect timing, I checked in and got my number. There was a lot of runners, over 400 had signed up although it transpired after that there were a fair amount of DNS’s. The field was made up of 50k and 50m runners and we were all scheduled to start at the same time; 6:00am. While some guy droned on the underpowered PA I shrugged off my sweatshirt and kissed Becca bye saying I would see her at the first Aid Station, around mile 8. The announcement ended and with a woot we were off.

IMG_4817IMG_4822
Busy at the Start and running out of Green Valley

The last time I raced this race was in 2009 (before that in 2008) and since then the Race Director has changed and so has the course. I hadn’t had a chance to run on the new course but I figured the Pacific Crest Trail was a fairly known concept and the elevation was significantly less than Nine Trails 8000’ vs. 11,000’. Of course there was the additional 15 miles to contend with.

From the start the first couple of miles were on Spunky Canyon Road out of Green Valley and up to Spunky Edison fire road. From here we turned right and were on the PCT. As there were so many runners I, along with most of the field, ended up in a convoy. There were a few places to pass but I was happy to sit in and follow. It was going to be a long day and there was nothing to be gained by going out too fast. The trail contoured the sides of canyons so you got a good view of the number of runners on the course. While I felt good I wasn’t having much of a fun time, someone behind me was constantly shouting “Ironman” as he caught sight of my MDot tattoo and generally yucking it up. I am all for having a good time and not taking things to seriously this guy was just pushing my buttons. I did my best to put him out my head. We topped out the first climb and then started the 4 mile descent into Bouquet Canyon to get to the first Aid2 Station. Here I would meet Becca who was running my Nutrition and Hydration program for me. Around mile 7 I stepped off the trail for a bio break and literally counted 25 runners run by me including Mr Annoying.

imageIMG_4834IMG_4835

As mentioned in the same way as Nine Trails I had created Ziploc bags that contained enough nutrition to keep me going between the Stations, the idea was that I could get to a Station, dump all my “empties”, pick up a new bag from Becca and go. Becca would also give me a new iced handheld which was full of Skratch and as needed I could add water from the Ultimate Direction Wasp pack. This was so I could avoid stopping at the Aid Station buffet and I was more in control of my own destiny.

Bouquet Canyon Aid Station was a zoo! 50K runners were turning around, 50m runners were being marshaled across the road to avoid creating an accident. It reminded me of my days commuting on the Tube (Subway) in London. I spied Becca and grabbed my handheld and didn’t stop. I had plenty of food still on me from the start and it was enough to get through the next Aid Station at mile 18ish.

After crossing the road I started on the 3 mile climb out of Bouquet Canyon. This was followed by a 6 mile and 1800’ drop to the first turnaround.

IMG_4849imageIMG_4851

IMG_4863IMG_4861

I was making good progress and I entered the Aid Station with an average 12 minute mile pace which had been my underlying goal and would net me a 10 hour finish. Same routine as before, new bottle new bag, emptied the dust out of my shoes and I was off again. In case you missed it the key words in the last paragraph; “6 miles”, “1800’ drop” and “turnaround”…so what goes down has to go back up. This was a long slog taking over 1:40 to get back up, I wasn’t the only one struggling but I was definitely going backwards in the field. I was passed by a lot of folks who I had either passed previously or who were just coming up from behind. I got to the top and I felt pretty crappy. My legs were starting to tap out and my energy levels seemed to be surprisingly low. My appetite had started to wane and despite having the time alert on my Fenix3 set to 30 minutes as a reminder I was ignoring it too many times and this was putting me more into the red.

image

I was fast approaching six hours on the course and was into the heat of the day, although it would get hotter still. The temperatures were well into the 80s and would top out at in the upper 90s around 1:00pm.

IMG_4878IMG_4879IMG_4886IMG_4888

I reached Becca who had zipped around from the turnaround back to Bouquet Canyon. I plonked down into the chair and was feeling pretty crappy at this point, I was overheating and had lost my appetite.

image

IMG_4891IMG_4892
Garmin Fenix 3 keeping track of all the important data for me

I chugged down some go-to Mexican coke (real sugar) and tried to cool off in the shade. I hung out as long as was polite and was off again. I wondered to myself did I really have another 20 miles or more in my legs. I had passed the half-way point and the next stopping point was in my mind at mile 39 some 13 miles away. Somehow I had missed an Aid Station at mile 33 in my planning!

IMG_4896
I had gone over and come back from the horizon…

So I hiked some and I jogged some. It was hot. It was uphill. It was unshaded and it was nearly 100f. Eventually the trail turned downwards and into some shade which made it all a bit more bearable. I was passed by a couple of people and as you often experience with ultras the runners were spread out everywhere. There was one out front that I would gain on and then I stopped to catch my breath and he would move on. Finally I saw him talking to Becca on the trail. She was telling him and then me that there was an Aid Station a mile or so away at around 33 miles…this totally threw my math. I was expecting it to be another 5-6 miles.

image

Becca ran on and I plodded on some way behind her. I finally got to the Aid Station. It was around 2:15pm and the cutoff was 2:30pm. Coke. Handheld. Kiss. Leaving. I had 7 miles to the second turnaround and had to be out of that Aid Station by 4:30pm. My focus changed to leaving the Aid Stations not getting to them. This combined with moving forward meant that I had to keep going. The bottom line is if you sit on the side of the trail no one is coming to get you. You have to get your ass out of there yourself.

The next seven miles were mostly rolling and mostly walked. Fortunately I can walk pretty fast and despite the ups and downs on the trails. I was averaging around 16 minute miles, somewhat down on my 12 minute goal but forward is forward. By my math and Garmin the turnaround was going to be at 39.5 miles…and it was! Becca was there and I actually felt in better shape here than I had the 7 miles prior, more Coke and this time Ginger Ale. I had to be out by 4:30pm and I was with 5-6 minutes to spare. Back along the rolling trail, the sun was waning and it was cooling off and while I was in no real shape to run I made my way along at a pretty brisk hike. The rest was all downhill, unfortunately not literally I still had the final 500’ of gain over the last 10 miles.

IMG_4902
Me: “take a photo of me, the next time I say I want to run 50 miles show me it and punch me in the face!”
Becca; “sure honey, but first a selfie”!

By this point I figured I was pretty much last or at least in the last few but DFL is better than DNF! The last miles rolled by and then I was finally passed by the last two runners who were making steady progress. I plodded along and was within the last mile when I came across one of the two who was trying to shake off a cramp or limping. I reached the turning onto the road, the same one I had turned off over 13 hours prior and walked the last mile down to the finish line, making sure to record my 100,000th step for the day!

IMG_4909
The thin line is the trail, taking me over and back again another horizon…

At the finish, which was pretty empty, Becca was waiting patiently for me and was very happy to see me as I was her. Keira the RD gave me my medal and I was done. 13 hours and something. The next 15 minutes were spent walking around the parking lot to get to 50 miles or closer to it.

So that’s the facts. Clearly not the race I planned. I am left feeling that I don’t really know what went wrong, I do think the heat was an underlying issue and was the thing that knocked my appetite sideways. As for the lack of go in my legs? Well I had a pretty short taper and think that was enough, was being on my feet a lot in the kitchen the day before but really could this be it? Who knows?

The bottom line is; I finished and that was what I set out to do. I’m no elite, I hold down a full time job and drive over 100 miles a day on my commute. I have a fantastic wife (who’s also a badass triathlete) and who supports my adventures, four crazy boys and three crazier dogs. There’s no point wallowing in the past. Like race day the best thing is to keep moving forward!

So up next in May is the Wings for Life World Run and The Born to Run 0.0km race. In June is The Golden Gran Fondo in Colorado and I am still chipping miles off the 2015 miles in 2015.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

LD50 Week 2

This was going to be a big stretch. My target was 70 miles over eight days! Sunday to Sunday.

Here’s how it went down;

Sunday; 18 miles road at 8:30 pace, followed by an hour on the bike

Monday; 8 miles on the road, this was a hard slow eight miles

Tuesday; off

Wednesday; 5 miles on the Treadmill at 9:00 pace

Thursday; 7 miles on the Treadmill at 8:34

Friday; 4 miles on the Treadmill at 8:00

Saturday; 11 miles on the Treadmill at 8:43

Sunday; 18.25 miles on the Tr…ails!!! Ran an out-and-back with Becca and then ran home, well nearly home! Pic say 19, I forgot to turn off GPS in the car!

image

So 71.25 miles and mission accomplished!

This week is a taper week, Monday off, 8 on Tuesday, 4 on Wednesday and 2 on Thursday!

Friday I am off work, prepping and feet up!

Saturday race day!

Some fun facts; since starting this journey last July 20th I have covered 1568.3 miles in 264:24:25 (HMS) and climbed 146,875’ as well as racing a 12k, a 25k, a 30k, a Marathon, a 50k, another 50k and a 35 miler.

Next week, post recovery, I am really looking forward to getting back on these…

IMG_2437IMG_7660IMG_4701

Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Trade up to a new Pactimo Jersey!

I can tell you until I am blue in the face how great Pactimo jerseys are, but at the end of the day, the best testimony comes 30-50 miles into a hard ride when you’re happy with how comfortable it still feels.

So, as a way to get you into their clothing…they are offering 50% off a new Pactimo jersey!

All you have to do is send in one of your old jerseys. Any cycling jersey, any brand; old, new, worn they will take it. More info is available here

It’s actually for a good cause too. All gently used jerseys will be donated to The Bike Depot in Denver  is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit community bike shop that supports Denver communities with a wide range of bicycling programs, services and products. They strive to foster the growth of bicyclists and bicycle communities through programs, education and access. One of their main initiatives that we will be partnering with is the Bike Rodeo. See what they did last year

image All the eligible jerseys are listed here, personally I’m taken with this stealth mode one…black is always in style!

Friday, April 10, 2015

#HeadsweatySelfie Contest

Headsweats are running this great contest and it’s an easy opportunity to win some free stuff!

I am sure you are all up on how to take a selfie etc so here are the rules!

1.  Take an awesome selfie in your favorite Headsweats
2.  Post to your Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram using the #HeadsweatySelfie hashtag
3.  Be entered to win a FREE piece of Headsweats headwear!

Yup that’s it…like all the best things in life it’s nice and simple!

At the end of each month, we will pick 2 #HeadsweatySelfie winners to receive the prize.  It’s ongoing throughout the year so set yourself a reminder!

Race, training, golf, beach, whatever…make it fun!

Not sure exactly what a HeadsweatySelfie is?  No worries – I’ll start you off!

[image%255B6%255D.png]

Tuesday, April 7, 2015

Skratch Labs Recipe of the Week; Skratch Cookie Mix

This is not so much a defined recipe but more of a base set of ingredients that you can add to to create your favorite cookies or bars!

Ingredients;

  • Skratch Cookie Mix
  • 1 egg
  • 1 stick of butter
  • Optional…anything! That said I used fresh raspberries in a mid layer

IMG_4569IMG_4570IMG_4571IMG_4572IMG_4578IMG_4584

Method;

  • Preheat oven to 350f
  • Mix the ingredients until they form a ball. I started with a hand mixer and ended up using my hands
  • Halve the mix and spread evenly across a 9” square dish, lined with Parchment Paper for easy removal
  • Throw in the raspberries and spread evenly, don’t squash! 
  • Add the second half of the mix, I actually rolled this out using Parchment Paper and rolling pin so I didn’t squash the raspberries
  • Cook for about 30 minutes, until knife comes out clean, I ended up under-cooking these a little but the end result is a super yummy sweet (and a little salty) gooey cookie!
  • Wait till cool, cut into squares and wrap

IMG_4586

Obviously unlike other recipes the key ingredient here is the Cookie mix. Don’t panic! You can buy this directly from Skratch themselves, you can buy it over Amazon and you should be able to find it in local stores (think running/biking) rather than grocery.

The joy of this is that you can make it pretty much what you want it to be. Don’t like raspberries but prefer chocolate chip…no problem, howabout date and walnut; you betcha, cherry and coconut; easy peasy, green peas…well maybe not but they are a great source of protein! Anyway you get it…pretty much the sky is the limit!

Here is Chef Lentine showing you how it’s done…

Do these work? Can you eat cookies and run…well yes you can! I ran 18 miles at the weekend fueled on these and with French Toast Bars (recipe to follow) no problem!

So now over to you…your turn!

Monday, April 6, 2015

LD50 Week 1

Last week was basically a reset week after Nine Trails. While my brain was more or less back in the game my body wasn’t. I dropped about 6lbs on the day and was pretty dehydrated. So the week following was just about keeping moving and not putting any real stress on my body. Here is how it shook out;

Sunday, (actually part of the week before). 2 miles very easy run

Monday. 18 miles on the bike trainer, nice easy Z2 spin

Tuesday. On the new rowing machine. 5000 meters

Wednesday. Off

Thursday. 4 miles easy on the treadmill

Friday. 15 miles easy on the bike trainer

Saturday. Off, well as off you can be running around after the kids at a Track Meet

Sunday. 18 miles road. Was aiming for a solid paced run, cranked out 18 miles at 8:32 pace, a couple of the miles were pretty slow so had to pick things up in the last two miles to get the pace back down again. Hopped on the bike afterwards to ride out a local loop with Becca

image

So a pretty easy week, although Sunday was a good session. This coming week I want to have a solid 8 days (Sunday to Sunday) and rack up around 70 miles. Next week will be a taper for LD50 which is April 18th.

Sunday, April 5, 2015

Review; JVC Sport Extreme Headphones HA-ETR40-B

So the good folks over at JVC sent me a pair of their Sport Extreme HA-ETR40-B headphones to try out and review. I have found through the years of running with and generally using headphones that it’s a challenge to better those that come as standard with your iPhone, at least without spending $100s of dollars, something that I am not prepared to do as inevitably I end up losing them or sending them through the washing machine! That said my go-to pair for the last 5-6 years has been the now retired Sony MDR-ED12LP Budstyle Headphones. I lucked into these and as they are now retired I will probably never write a review of them. They fit my ears, they have a really good solid sound and they used to be well priced, depending on where you picked them up, for between $15-20. Essentially they are the barometer that I hold all headphones to. The only thing they lack is an inline mic for talking with so you can use you phone handless. That said this is a review of the JVC pair and not the Sony pair and so on with the review.

IMG_3097

Out of the box there are three noticeable features;

  1. The inline mic that can also be used to answer the phone, toggle tracks backwards and forwards as well as adjust the volume. This is splash/sweat proof.
  2. The “ear hook” used to fit the bud into your ear. This ear hook is JVC’s new Pivot Motion Fit, a soft rubber rotating hook that fits within the part of the ear just above the ear canal to provide a secure but comfortable fit. To tailor the fit the hook rotates to fit into your ear comfortably. Additionally there are three sizes of buds to ensure a snug fit within your ear. The HA-ETR40 includes additional open-type earpieces that allow ambient sounds to be heard, such as approaching traffic.
  3. The short 2” cable comes with a 2” extension cable; this allows you to shorten it to right size the cable if you are wearing an iPod etc on your arm rather than on your waist and avoid having a mass of cable in front of you or under your shirt.

IMG_3099IMG_3098

What you don’t see it that the Extreme Fitness headphones are IPX5/IPX7 rated, so there’s no need to worry if caught out in a rain storm, and they can be safely washed, either by rinsing under running water or rinsed briefly in a basin of water.

So how do they sound? Well to be honest this is where they fall down. The sound is tinny, the bass is not bassy. They sound like the sound is leaking and not getting out through the earbuds. I have a pretty broad music tastes so I tried it with everything ranging from House through to Rock and all points in between. I also included podcasts and a talking books. While I am not expecting an audiophile’s dream come true in a set of $40 headphones the sound quality was below those from the $15 Sony pair mentioned above.

Overall I was really hoping for a better result. The technical features noted above are really nice and make for a very athlete friendly and useable set of headphones. However the overall sound quality was, in my opinion. too poor to let the technical features be more compelling than the quality of sound.

It’s always hard to write a poor review but I have to be honest. That said my hearing is 4X years old so they may well work for you.

These are available online or through you local Best Buy or something similar for $39.99.

These headphones were provided free of charge by the good folks at JVC See previous gear reviews in the Tab above. If you have a product you’d like reviewed, contact me at quadrathon@gmail.com.

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Free stuff from Pactimo!

I love my Pactimo kit, I wrote a review on it last year when I wore it for the 6 Hours of Temecula MTB Race. They have introduced and awesome scheme where you can get free stuff for simply being a bike rider and customer.

image

Here is how it works;

Earning Reward Points

Rewards can currently be earned for the following actions:

  • Create an account —  Earn 200 points for new account creation.
  • Make a purchase — Earn 1 point for every dollar you spend. (Does not include tax & shipping.)
  • Subscribe to the Pactimo Email Newsletter — Earn 50 points for a first-time subscription.
  • Refer a friend — Earn 200 points for every invitation you send out which leads to a friend creating a new account.
  • Friend makes a purchase — Earn 100 points for every friend referral that leads to a first-time purchase.
  • Write product reviews — Earn 75 points whenever you submit an suitable review on an item you've purchased. Limited to one review per item purchased.
  • Points will not be earned, nor can they be redeemed for Custom Clothing Orders.

Please note, we are unable to credit you with reward points unless you are logged in to your account.

Reward Points-Exchange Rates

The value of reward points is determined by an exchange rate of both currency spent on products to points, and an exchange rate of points earned to currency for spending on future purchases.

The exchange rate is 25 points = $1

Reward Points-Minimums

You must have at least 300 reward points accumulated before they become available for redemption.

Redeeming Reward Points

You can redeem your reward points at checkout.

Once you have accumulated 300 points, you will have the option of using points as a payment method. The option to use reward points, as well as your balance and the monetary equivalent of this balance, will be shown to you during checkout in the Payment Method area. Redeemable reward points can be used in conjunction with other payment methods such as credit cards, gift cards and more.

Payment Information

Managing Your Reward Points

You can view and manage your points through your Customer Account.

From your account you will be able to view:

  1. Your total points (and their currency equivalent),
  2. Minimum needed to redeem,
  3. A cumulative history of points acquired, redeemed and lost.

The history record will retain and display historical rates and currency for informational purposes. The history will also show you comprehensive informational messages regarding points, including expiration notifications.

My Account

Reward Points Expiration

Reward points will expire 365 days from the date they were first earned.

Note: You can sign up to receive email notifications each time your balance changes when you either earn, redeem or lose points, as well as point expiration notifications. This option is found in the Reward Points section of the My Account area.

Additional Program Policies
  • Purchases made before March 12, 2015 are not eligible to receive reward points.
  • Points earned through a purchase will be deducted if that item is refunded or a store credit is issued.
  • Points will not be earned, nor can they be redeemed for Custom Clothing Orders.
  • Points have no cash value other than use for purchase at pactimo.com/shop.
  • Points are non-transferable.
  • Points are not living creatures and should not be fed, watered or otherwise coddled.

There you go, time to get some sharp new kit!