April 4, 2008

New Nike+ SportBand Expands the Nike+ Experience to Make Running Even Easier

mitch | 0 Comments

The Next Innovation in Nike+ Offers a New Way to Connect to the World’s Largest Running Club and Lets You Track Your Results to Train for Better Performance in Any Situation

BEAVERTON, Ore.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–This spring brings the next evolution of the Nike+ experience with a new option to help runners run and train. Available April 10th, Nike (NYSE:NKE) launches Nike+ SportBand, allowing runners to get real-time performance feedback during a run, while linking them to the world’s largest running club. In addition this spring, www.nikeplus.com introduces Nike+ Coach, a new personal coaching tool to help runners go the extra mile and engage like never before in the Nike+ global online running community.

A New Way to Run with Nike+

Nike+ SportBand allows runners to see their distance, pace, time and calories burned when they run, in addition to gaining access to all of the features and tools on nikeplus.com. Designed for runners who choose not to run with music and for those times when you can’t use music, the Nike+ SportBand provides all the benefits of Nike+ technology, but opens up the Nike+ experience to a broader audience of runners. Runners who enjoy that extra motivation, or who are music fans, can continue to hear their run details through an iPod nano system.

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March 31, 2008

How To Improve Your 10k Performance

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from Running4Women.com... How To Improve Your 10k Performance The arrival of spring no doubt means you'll be running 10-K races more frequently. You'd like to do as well as possible, but trimming your 10-K times requires a smart, systematic approach to training, not just a hodgepodge of interval sessions and longer runs. All of the training sessions here emphasise intensity. Remember to limit each workout's quantity of fast running to no more than 10 per cent of your weekly mileage. Use your favourite sessions from the ones listed below twice a week for a minimum of six weeks, recover properly between workouts, and you will start running your 10Ks faster Workout No. 1: A 5-K race at your goal 10-K pace. Benefit: Raises VO2max and economy, gives you confidence that you can set a new PB Workout No. 2: Warm up by jogging easily for 10 minutes, and then run 1200-metre work intervals at your current 5-K race pace. Jog easily during recovery periods, and let each recovery last about a minute less than the amount of time required to complete the 1200-metre work interval. As with all interval sessions, don't let the total work-interval distance add up to more than 10 per cent of your weekly mileage (Example: You run 30 miles per week. Since 10% X 30 = 3 miles, or 4800 metres, you can ramble through four 1200-metre intervals per workout). Benefit: Heightens VO2max, makes 10-K pace feel easier Workout No. 3: Mark out a 10-kilometre route over terrain you'd like to run on, or simply use the 10-K course used for a local race. Warm up by jogging for 10 minutes, and then sizzle through the full 10-K route, alternating 2- to 3-minute bouts at what feels like goal 10-K pace with 60- to 90-second jog-recoveries. Benefit: Teaches you that you can handle a 10K at high intensity and that you can run well even when you start to become fatigued Read More »
March 31, 2008

Open Water Swim Tips

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As the season officially kicks off this weekend, I thought a few tips were in order.

1. Don’t fight the water. Relax and swim as streamlined as possible.

2. Know the course. Remember, the fastest line is a straight line (don’t zig zag or you can easily add 25% to your swim)

3. Learn more than one stroke so you can rest if need be. The ability to roll onto your side or back can prove invaluable if you get tired or collide with another swimmer.

4. Conserve your energy. Minimize kicking to save your legs for cycling and running

5. Swim your place and pace. Pick the best spot to maintain your own pace without getting run over y other swimmers.

This video clip from Barb Lindquist and Wes Hobson was very well done and informative.

The entire DVD is available here: Triathlon–Racing Faster

March 21, 2008

Student of the Sport: Lactate Threshold

mjuntti | 0 Comments
Great article from Inside Triathlon on lactate threshold training..... Although “lactate threshold” is one of the most common buzzwords surrounding training for triathlon, many athletes don’t realize its importance in improving performance. Understanding and knowing your lactate threshold can help you get the most bang for your training buck. THE BASICS The What Lactate: A chemical compound produced during processes of energy metabolism. Lactate threshold: The point during exercise at which the rate of lactate production exceeds the rate of lactate removal. The mechanism of removal in our bodies is our “buffering system.” The Why At rest or during aerobic exercise, our body shunts the precursors of lactate back into the energy cycle, using them for more energy. As we reach anaerobic exercise, our system’s capacity to do so is overcome, and those precursors start turning into lactate. Knowing that threshold at which your individual buffering system is overcome can help you to train at that threshold and become more efficient at turning lactate back into energy. This translates to higher quality training of your aerobic and anaerobic energy systems when you know concrete numbers for the boundaries of those systems. FINDING YOUR LACTATE THRESHOLD Read More »
March 19, 2008

Visualizing the High

Nora | 0 Comments
PET brain scan croppedRunner’s high: the idea that endorphins released during endurance activities cause a person to feel exceptionally happy— euphoric, even. Is it fact or fiction? Truth or fabrication? Some people swear they get it. Others shrug off the notion incredulously. Despite an air of mystery surrounding the phenomenon, others still cross their fingers and hold out hope that they might eventually feel it. Now researchers are starting to obtain results that might one day earn this seemingly mythical experience a place among generally accepted truths. Using positron emission tomography (PET) scans, researchers in Germany have taken the first steps to illustrating how what happens in the brain during an endurance run might relate to the feeling of runner’s high. According to their paper published last month in the journal Cerebral Cortex, endurance running led to changes in opioid binding in certain parts of the brain and corresponded to feelings of euphoria in the runners. Boecker+Laufer imageIn the study, researchers from the Technical University Munich and the University of Bonn looked at 10 trained male runners who had experienced runner’s high in the past and were fit enough to complete a 2-hour endurance run. Each runner was injected with a radioactive ligand that would bind to opioid receptors in the brain and had their brain scanned twice: once in a resting state and once 30 minutes after a 2-hour, 21km run. Their moods were also analyzed at these times using Visual Analog Mood Scales (VAMS). The results of the PET scans showed that after running there were fewer opioid receptors available in certain parts of the brain for the PET ligand to bind to, indicating these receptors were already bound by an opioid released during the run. This decreased receptor availability showed up in areas of the brain that are understood to play a part in emotional processing and occurred alongside a significant increase in feelings of happiness and euphoria. This suggests there is a link between endorphin binding in certain parts of the brain and the feelings of runner’s high, which seems to fit with common theories thus far. As this was a pilot study, there is much work to be done to confirm the mechanism behind these results. Currently the team, as led by Professor Henning Boecker, is looking at the effects of endurance training on pain processing. Perhaps one day soon scientists will get to the heart—or should I say the brain?—of the runner’s high and all it entails. PET brain scan Release of endorphins after endurance training: five consecutive brain slices. The brain areas in which body-own opioids are released and bound after long-distance running are most strongly visible in regions a, b and c, which play an elementary role in emotional processing. The subjective level of euphoria in the investigated runners was closely related to the amount of endorphins released and bound in these areas.
March 17, 2008

Training and Pacing

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More on Pacing by Joe Friel

Since my post last month on negative splits in steady state events such as time trials and triathlons there have been a lot of questions about how the principles described there apply to courses with hills and wind. There have been several scientific studies done on this matter. Here is a brief summary of several of these studies. I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.

* Using a mathematical model Swain found that when compared with a constant effort there was a significant time savings in a cycling time trial by slightly increasing power on the uphills and into headwinds and decreasing it slightly on downhills and with tailwinds. (Swain. 1997. A model for optimizing cycling performance by varying power on hills and in wind. Med Sci Sports Exercise 29:1104-1108.)

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March 2, 2008

Lieto and Wee Confirm for LavaCamp

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hawaii 70.3Chris Lieto, one of the world's best Ironman athletes, has confirmed his attendance as a guest coach at the LavaCamp. The LavaCamp is the "Official Preparation Camp" of the Ironman 70.3 Hawaii race and will take place in Waikoloa, Hawaii. Chris battled at the front of the Hawaii Ironman this past fall eventually finishing sixth. Bree Wee, the all-time amateur Ironman course record holder in Hawaii, also confirmed that she will be at LavaCamp to share her "local knowledge" of racing on the course.
October 29, 2007

Interesting NOVA special on science of marathon

mitch | 0 Comments

Show airs tonight at 8pm. From the NOVA site…

When you watch an Olympic weightlifter hoist a 500-pound barbell over his head, or see a gymnast gracefully slide into a split, the physical attributes that allow these athletes to excel in their sports may seem obvious. But what is it—both physically and psychologically—that makes an elite marathoner able to run over 26 miles in little more than two hours? And can almost anyone—even someone who has been sedentary for years—become fit enough to run a marathon?

NOVA wanted to investigate these questions through the “Marathon Challenge,” and with the help of a dozen enthusiastic recruits, we set out to see if “ordinary people” could transform themselves into marathoners in just a matter of months. The results were extraordinary.

Preview:

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October 13, 2007

While you’re waiting for Ironman Hawaii tomorrow…

mitch | 0 Comments

Found this blog which is a great way to prime the pump ahead of tomorrow’s race. It’s by Raymond Britt Britt who’s finished 29 Ironman triathlons, 44 marathons and several ultramarathons around the world. He’s also made available from his site a copy of the training log he uses. Check it out!

October 11, 2007

Ironman branded organic coffee - what’s next?

mitch | 0 Comments

Update:

Officials of the Ironman Triathlon apologized to Kona coffee farmers and the Big Island community Wednesday for introducing a Guatemalan coffee as its official coffee.

The officials placed advertisements for Thursday editions of both Big Island daily newspapers and Honolulu’s two dailies, saying “our lapse in judgment was not malicious.”

“We truly hope that you are able to forgive us for our mistake,” the ad said.

It said Ironman coffee was removed from local retail locations and promotional activities for it would end.

—————

Just announced - the official Ironman coffee…

From the company’s website… Becoming an IRONMAN takes time, dedication to excellence, discipline and accepting nothing but the best from yourself. Those same characteristics go in to every bag of IRONMAN Organic Coffee. Only the best 100% certified organic, single origin beans are chosen for roasting. Our coffee roasters have spent 25 years perfecting the art of the dark roast. The result is a superbly dark, bold and satisfying coffee. We guarantee that every bag of our hand roasted coffee is packaged within hours of leaving the roaster.

Whether you are waking up for a 5 a.m. morning swim or getting yourself to work, rest assured that the Ironman coffee you are about to enjoy will deliver you to the finish line.

During Ford Ironman World Championship race week, Lava Java will be serving Ironman Organic Coffee as the featured “World Coffee”.

All of which begs the question…what do you think will be the next ‘branded’ product?