If you’re training for hours, whether long distance running, cycling, hiking, or another sport, there’s one fueling mistake you should be keenly aware of, and try to avoid: the mid-ride feast-and-bonk. Usually, the scenario goes something like this (this was sent to me by a potential client): This past weekend I did a road century…
Believe it or not, you may have the perfect fuel for your next run or ride sitting in your pantry right now. A “regular” food. You may not have to search through the sports nutrition aisle at your local shop or market. It’s possible that you can take a “regular” food, add a bit of…
Muscle cramps can bring the strongest of athletes to his or her knees in just an instant. One minute you’re running along at a race pace and the next, your leg is overcome with an intense, clinching and unyielding pain. Or, throughout a race, you can feel the sensation of a cramp coming on. You…
The power meter market is changing quickly. With companies like 4iiii and Watteam raising the bar for the under-$500 power meter, it’s a great time to be a cyclist. We had the privilege of meeting Co-founders Bill Dixon and James Schulmeister of Ashton Instruments at Interbike this year. While Schulmeister is currently finishing up his doctorate in mechanical…
Precision Price: $399 for single leg, $749 for both Description: Similar to the other do-it-yourself crank systems, 4iiii is adhered to one or both cranks, using a kit provided with the power meter. Precision actively reads temperature to adjust the power readings. It also speaks both ANT+ and Bluetooth and has an easily-replaceable coin cell…
On the surface, it seems like a no-brainer: the lighter you are, the faster you can go. The less you eat, the lighter you are. Eat less, go faster—right? Not so fast. Although most endurance athletes want to be as light as possible, most who’ve tried, know it’s also important to be strong. Unfortunately, the…
One of the trickiest things about pro-level mountain bike racing is that it doesn’t exactly stick to one location. Events take place week in and week out all across North America and unless you’re one of the lucky few getting flown to them, you’re in for quite a bit of driving. Over the last 6…
When you think of training, do visions of health and fitness come to mind? Most likely they do, and for good reason. Consistent exercise and training obviously offer many health benefits. But for many athletes, it also carries the risk of going too far, actually damaging muscles and cells, and causing fatigue and chronic soreness.In…
Only one week until your big race. You’ve made it. You’ve survived the training. You’ve started to taper. But what should you eat now? There’s plenty of conflicting advice out there to confuse most anyone. There’s “to carb load,” there’s “to carb starve,” there’s reducing calories, adding calories, and more. Clear as mud. Taper week…
Question: You’ve done several stage races, what have you found to work best for recovery methods to get through the stage race and how long will it take post-stage race before one can realistically expect to race in good form again? Answer: While many athletes put a large focus on training, fitness, and nutrition, I…