Some Awkward but beneficial swim drills

http://triathlon.competitor.com/2016/07/swim/7-awkward-useful-swim-drills_134815?utm_source=exact_target&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7223966&utm_content=073016_Triathlete

Just Some Endurance Miles

I rode 1:55:00, 38 miles, 248 watts avg along the Little Miami Bike Trail. Felt good to just do a couple of hours. And I slept in until 8. Thats late for me. Will just do some recovery miles inside tomorrow. I have a big day, or evening, tomorrow as I'm hosting Jackson Browne here in Cincinnati for 100 friends. You may not even know who he is but for anyone from my era he's a very well know singer-songwriter. He's playing Fenway Park in Boston on Wednesday with James Taylor for 30,000.

Under/over, 4 minutes and 1 minute

Did these today instead of tomorrow and did three instead of two. Oops. I'll ride tomorrow at endurance pace and take Sunday off. Todays under/over: 333/463, 338/450, 331/469.

Muscle Loss Associated with Inactivity

MUSCLE LOSS FROM INACTIVITY: 34 PERCENT IN JUST TWO WEEKS

• July 13, 2016
• Published in Issue No. 723

By Gabe Mirkin, M.D.

A study from the University of Copenhagen shows that wearing an immobilizing knee brace for just two weeks caused men in their 20s to lose 22 to 34 percent of their leg muscle strength, while men in their 60s lost 20 to 26 percent (Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, June 26, 2015).

It took them six weeks of exercising on a bicycle 3-4 times a week to restore the leg muscle size and ability to exercise, but even that did not fully restore the leg muscle strength. This study shows that:

• When muscles of young men are immobilized for two weeks, they lose strength equivalent to aging 40 or 50 years.
• As soon as you stop moving, your muscles start to weaken.
• The larger your muscles, the more muscle you have to lose.
• Younger and stronger people lose strength even faster than older people.

Other studies show that it takes three times the amount of time you were inactive to regain the muscle size that you have lost, probably because you were immobilized 24 hours a day and you exercise for only a short time each day.

Aging Weakens Muscles Even if You Exercise

Inactivity at any age causes muscles to weaken, and you are likely to lose muscle strength with aging no matter how much you exercise. Every muscle in your body is made up of thousands of muscle fibers just as a rope is made up of many strands. Every muscle fiber is innervated by a single nerve fiber. With aging you lose nerves, and when you lose a nerve attached to a muscle fiber, that muscle fiber is lost also.

A 20-year-old person may have 800,000 muscle fibers in the vastus lateralis muscle in the front of his upper leg, but by age 60, that muscle would have only about 250,000 fibers. For a 60-year-old to have the same strength as a 20-year-old, the average muscle fiber needs to be three times as strong as the 20-year-old's muscle fibers. You cannot stop this loss of the number of muscle fibers with aging, but you certainly can enlarge each muscle fiber and slow down the loss of strength by exercising muscles against progressive resistance using strength-training machines or by lifting weights (Experimental Gerontology, August 13, 2013).

How to Strengthen Muscles

To enlarge and strengthen muscles, you need to exercise them against resistance forceful enough to damage the muscle fibers. You will know that you have done this because you will feel a burning in the stressed muscle during the later lifts, and the next day your muscles will feel sore. Then you lift lighter weights, or engage in other sports, for as many days as it takes for your muscles to heal. You can tell this has happened when the soreness goes away.

My Recommendations

We are all likely to have some enforced periods of inactivity, but if you realize how quickly you lose muscle strength and how much longer it takes to gain it back, you will avoid voluntary inactivity as much as possible. For example, when you plan a vacation, make sure it involves physical activity that is at least equal to your regular exercise program.

As you age, expect to become weaker and more likely to fall and break your bones. To enlarge muscles and slow the natural loss of strength with aging, you should lift heavy weights a few times in a row or lighter weight many times in a row, to cause the muscle damage necessary for muscle growth. You can become quite strong by using 10 to 15 strength-training machines (for different muscle groups) three times a week. Do two or three sets of 10 repetitions on each machine with weights that are 80 percent of the maximum weight you can lift once, or do more sets with lighter weights. Always stop immediately if you feel any pain, tearing or excessive burning.

Caution: Check with your doctor before starting a new exercise program or changing the intensity of your existing program.

---

Gabe Mirkin, M.D., is a sports medicine doctor and fitness guru. A practicing physician for more than 50 years and a radio talk show host for 25 years, Dr. Mirkin has run more than 40 marathons and is now a serious tandem bike rider with his wife, Diana. His website is http://drmirkin.com/. Click to read Gabe's full bio.

Cleves Results

While this was a pretty average time at 22:46, 27.2 mph, power was strong at 365 with cadence at 86 and a pretty even power average for the first and last halves of the course. Oddly enough speed was better on the first half at well over 27.4 and then fell off the second half which is usually faster. Given three weeks off from any time trials, I'm ok with this ride.

3x5 steady state....warmup for tomorrows time trial

A little hot out there....93 degrees, heat index well over 100. However, felt good on these with 359, 359 and 350. Just shows that in this weather a long warmup isn't needed. Went at these after about 8 minutes on the bike. I'll be sure to not warm up too much tomorrow afternoon when its going to be about the same. As opposed to the usual 30-40 minutes I'll cut that in half, pour some cold water on me and hit it.

4x10 steady states, 4 minutes between

First day back and the humidity got to me. The first two efforts were as expected at 350 and 340, Then I dropped to 321 and then 312. Went through two bottles but was still down almost 5 lbs after this ride. An average of 331 is ok.

took yesterday off

In light of the Sunday and Tuesday 100 milers I took yesterday off with only w couple of long walks with the dogs here in Michigan. Other than that it was time at the beach reading and then dealing with  my hacked email account. 

Steady States, 4x8

oops....did 5 by mistake...oh well....better than too few...342, 342, 339, 326/333 (17 second stop at the 4 minute mark due to construction) and 327....need these so I get back into time trial mode....have another set on Saturday....did these on the Old Mission Peninsula along Peninsula Drive in Traverse City....very flat with a strong wide out of the south ahead of storms coming from the north

Michigan Century

Made up for the rain soaked century on Sunday with the same ride today in wonderful conditions: sunny, 60-80 degrees, light winds. Covered 102 miles in 5:23, 223 watts, 4000' of climbing. The route was out of Traverse City on the TART Trail to Suttons Bay, them M22 to Northport, south to Leland and Glen Arbor then a side trip to Sleeping Bear Dunes via Pierce Stocking Drive (great road, although very steep at times), then back on 616 through Maple City and Cedar and back to the TART Trail.

Michigan Century

Left at 7am in 64 degree temps and cloudy skies with the hour by hour AccuWeather saying no rain until 2. At 11am it was coming down steadily and had dropped to 55. Finished the ride in a downpour. Not my most enjoyable ride but I got it in. Will take tomorrow off after last weeks hiking on Isle Royale and now almost 200 miles in three days.

Rode the Tart Trail to Suttons Bay, then M22 to Northport and the south to leland and Glen Arbor. from there took 616 back to Gullickson where I got back on the Tart Trail.

Old Mission Peninsula Ride

I'm back in Traverse City, MI and did a 38 miles ride up and back Old Mission Peninsula. Averaged 272 watts for the 18 miles out and then dropped it back to 230 on the way back. Should be getting in some big miles in the next week.

PowerMeterCity collaboration coming

Very soon you'll see a link on my site for PowerMeterCity.Com. They carry a full line of a variety of power meters with the experts to help guide you to the best option whether pedal based, crank based, etc. See the link below the articles. New Brands We have recently added Garmin power meters and accessories to our site. We now carry 7 power meter brands and are in talks with a couple more. In addition, we recently added K-EDGE. If you are not familiar with K-EDGE, they make arguably the best bike computer mounts in the business. Very cool stuff. New Articles Initially introduced a few years ago, independent left/right power measurement is a feature that’s finding its way into more and more power meters. With left/right power measurement, the power meter can measure how much power you generate from your left leg and how much from your right. Pretty cool right…yep! But it’s not quite that simple. There are different types of left/right data depending on your power meter. Then there’s the question: what do you do with this data once you have it and how can it help you? At Power Meter City, we are big believers of hiring a coach. The value that they can provide, especially if you are training with power, can be immense. If you are familiar with power meters, you know that a power meter is the single, most effective training tool you can use for improving performance. Similar to a power meter, the ‘bang for your buck’ you get when hiring a coach is huge. When you combine a power meter with a coach…well, that’s a sure-fire recipe for success! Here are 5 reasons to hire a coach. Latest News Verve’s InfoCrank becomes UCI World Cycling Centre’s official power meter. Athletes training at the UCI’s World Cycling Centre will now benefit from detailed data supplied by Verve’s InfoCrank following an official partnership. Signing a four year deal with Verve, the WCC will now offer trainees the power measuring system for both on road and track racing. The Power Meter City Difference ● Free shipping (all orders of $75) ● Power meters starting as low as $299 ● No sales tax ● Financing available ● 20% off TrainingPeaks Premium with the purchase of a power meter ● 100% Satisfaction Guarantee Perhaps most importantly, we are power meter specialists and can give clients expert advice and customer service both before and after their purchase.

https://powermetercity.com

Back on the bike

Now in Boyne City MI on the way to Traverse City. Did an hour on the bike with 10x1 minute on/off at 350-400 and then one 20 minute right at 300.

Isle Royale National Park

Completed almost 40 miles of hiking between Monday morning at 10:30 and Wednesday afternoon around 2:00. Scoville Point/Rock Harbor/Tobin Harbor on Monday; boat ride to Moskie on Tuesday and 15 miles back via Moskie, Daisey Farm, Greenstone, Mt. Franklin and Tobin Harbor; on Wednesday boat ride to Hidden Lake to Lookout Louise to mt. Franklin to Tobin

10x30 seconds

I leave tomorrow so I did some endurance miles inside (not shown here) and then some 30 second efforts on the crit course. Power was 638, 654, 635, 625, 636, 632, 632, 619, 620 and 620. I'll likely ride inside tomorrow for an hour before driving to Wisconsin. On Sunday I drive into Michigans Upper Peninsula. I may get another ride there before I head out on the seaplane Monday morning. I'll be hiking on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, likely 10-13 miles per day, and then flying back on Thursday. From there I drive to Traverse City, MI where I'll be on the bike or at the beach for a week.

Hydration Myths

https://roadbikerider.com/latest-rbr-newsletter-2016/238-issue-no-720/2213-12-myths-about-hydration

Cleves

Interesting night. My electronic shifting went out one mile in so I had one gear, a 54/15. Not bad on the flats but too light on the descents and a little too tough on the hills. I also hit the INT button when I didn't want to but it gave me 5.86 miles at 366/89 rpms/26.97 and 4.45 miles at 94 rpms/336/26.78 for a 22:55. Not too bad all things considered. Just couldn't push big power in too many spots.

Tour Cliche's Translated

http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/06/tour-de-france/the-tour-de-france-cliche-translator_411542?utm_source=exact_target&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=7223965&utm_content=062916_VeloNews

Fueling during the century

I do think these long rides have helped me train my body to go to fat burning mode pretty quickly. I went through 4 bottles, 2 sports drink, 2 water, but only four bars total at 100 calories each. And, I'm not necessarily all that hungry while riding. I do get my protein in when I get home. Breakfast was oatmeal and craisins.

5th week in a row with a century

Another great day, temps in the upper 50's to low 70's. And I was riding well. Avg of 230, NP of 258. Not a great avg speed but it had fair amount of climbs (3500') and wind. Also burned about 4600 calories. And I'm off next weekend for travel and then hiking for 3 days. I'll take tomorrow off as its going to rain most of the day. Totally relaxing Sunday in store.

6x6 steady states, 350 watts

Finally did the intervals on the day recommended! Held 348, 347/345 (accidentally hit the INT button while brushing off the rain), 351, 358, 345 and 353. Time between was from a little over a minute to less than a minute. Felt fine on these.