Finding Zen half a world away

Mark Blanchard worked with some of the stretching and relaxation techniques that he's learned in boxing and yoga to find a little 'zen' in the PEK airport in China.
This is what we mean when we tell you that your 'Fitness' is Everywhere! Way to apply your skills Mark!!


(These photos are from Mark's recent trip to China, actually in the Beijing Airport - part of the incredible efforts undertaken by the Chinese as the hosted the last Olympic Games.)

A jaunt through the woods

Coach Coop and her sidekick, John, went to the woods (Eagle Creek Park) for a little trounce through the woods with a couple hundred other like-minded souls and mud-stompin' yogis. It was the first DINO trail run of the season, March 14th. Of course, Coach Coop has been heading out to The Creek from time to time, and also visiting other trails and paths in the area. John, on the other hand, tends to take off in a trot about as often as our federal budget runs a surplus.

It was big fun, really. Perfect weather for a run through the park (btw - you may find this particular park referred to adoringly as Iggle Crick, but only when addressing cycling events and issues). We hung back at the start, and took our sweet time. The route, about 5k, including a sweet section of twisting, curvey, rutted, steep single track that REALLY got John excited. During the trounce, Coach Coop asked John why he'd taken to running of late: John really didn't have much of an answer for her - he couldn't even make something up on the spur of the moment (perhaps due to a lack of oxygen). Heck, we all know that John is no runner - in fact, the only thing he really struggles more with is swimming!

'Bout the only thing that came to him was, "Well, perhaps it was a remnant of the Project work with Coach Chris?" And so I consulted Coach Chris on this - and he shared the following:
"Trail running is primal, indigenous, authentic, real, visceral and pure. Anyone who has peeled away at least a few sticky layers of ego knows this and feels it."

So, there you go - as good a reason as any. In the end, is it important, this reason? The bottom line is, John will be doing more of these. At least he isn't likely to drown!

While Coach Cooper went Skiing....

Coach Cooper went on an intensive training session in Flagstaff this weekend. Meanwhile, I engaged in some intense activity of my own. Above, Ted won the St. Maria Goretti wrestling tournament in the 119 weight class. Nothing gets the adrenaline going like a 3-minute wrestling match that is tied 0-0 at the end of regulation and which your son BLASTS a take-down in about the first 5 seconds of over time.
This is Ted in the stands at the Carmel basketball game Friday night. He and a bunch of friends came out to cheer on his sister Alexa's last dance with the highschool team. And in case you're wondering, body-paint and bare chests are not allowed at Carmel high school games.
Here is the rest of Alexa's cheering crew: Left to right - Bryce, Alexa's sister Tori, Luke, Alexa, Tori's boyfriend Joe F., Joe S. and Ted.
Seniors on the dance team at the after-party: Kelsey, Mikayla, Alexa and Tori
Alexa and her coach, Susan Wolf. Ms. Wolf gave a nice little speech for the girls that included the following thought: When we die, they put the date we were born and the date we died on the headstone. It is the time in-between, the trip of our life, that counts. For these girls, their time on the team seems like one of the most important things that has occurred on their "trip", when in fact, it will end up being just a little blip, barely noticeable in the long run. For Ms. Wolf, though, her nine years as coach of the team has been her very most important stretch on the trip between her start and what will be her end. Her life-role as "coach" has come to define everything about who she is. For me, it conveyed an interesting perspective, and accurately captured the essence of "coach".

A Common Misperception

Basically, there are three kinds of people: Those who have a bike, those that are going to get a bike, and those who never got a bike but should have!
If you go to a local bike shop, they will try to sell you a "fit" or even a "custom fit" as part of their services of getting you on just the right bike. They will take some anatomical measurements, consult a chart - maybe they will even put you on a funny-looking bike-like thing, et voila, you've been "custom fit". And nine times out of ten, they will have "just the bike that's perfect for you" on their floor. What you have been through, though, is a "sizing", and not a custom fit! To be "sized" for a bike, you'll get a frame that can be made to fit you perfectly, with proper seat height, fore/aft position of the seat, seat tilt, stem length, handle bar height, handle bar drop and reach, cleat placement on your shoes, compensations for your own personal and unique geometry and physical ranges of motion and sense of comfort. Oh, and last but not least, power and efficiency that can be applied to the pedals and out to the road. If you want all those things - you'll be best served to go beyond the quickie bike-store sizing and check out someone like Coach Ken Nowakowski (i.e. Dr. Knows-alot-ski).
Above is a photo of the first-of-its-kind and prototype of the ProBikes Ltd. "Dynamic Fitting Cycle". Coach Ken made this in about three weeks time. And it is pretty special! Via remote control, while you are on the bike and pedaling, hooked up to a CompuTrainer lab-quality power meter, you will be adjusted up/down, forward/aft, handle bars will go up and down. The crank arm lengths are variable, the stem is completely adjustable, and the whole rig will be rotated on a turntable so you can be video taped (using 2-D and 3-D video imaging), and the resulting data reviewed with the experienced eye of the best bike-fit person in the Midwest.
Ken and John showed this Dynamic Fitting Cycle at the National Hand-Built Bicycle Show this past weekend at the Indianapolis Convention Center. The idea was to showcase and highlight Ken's fitting services: Instead, we created a huge stir in the custom-built bike community over the fitting cycle itself. If we can finish the original prototype, and figure out how to build many of them, and figure out a price to charge so that it is worth our while - you may see one at your local bike shop sometime this year.
In the meantime - if you have a bike and want to make the most of it, or if you are going to buy a bike and want it to FIT - check with John and he'll hook you up with Dr. Knows-alot-ski.

Rockin' Good Time in the Saddle!

So, if you haven't been to a Klipsch Spin Class in awhile, here is what you've been missing!
It's the depths of winter training season, don't let those random spring-like days fool you. And as such, we've been doing a LOT of interval sessions! For example, just yesterday, we (John, Larry, Gary and Spitz) did the following:
1. Long 15 minute warm up (Akhnaten by Glass, Skating Away on the Thin Ice by J.Tull, and Don't Fight It, Feel It, by Primal Scream)
2. 10+ minute seated low Zone 4 Hill Interval (Minstrel In The Gallery by J.Tull, and Simply Irresistible by R. Palmer)
3. About a 4 min recovery period (Amie by Pure Prairie League, dedicated to my old admin-asst. at DFC)
4. 4+ min hill interval high Zone 4, with a 10-15 sec burst at the end (World Turning by Fleetwood Mac - thanks, Larry!)
5. About 3 min recovery (Longsight M13, by Ian Brown)
6. 4+ min hill interval high Zone 4, with 10-15 sec. burst at the end (99 and 1/2, by Mavis Staples)
7. 5 min recovery (Got to be Real, by Cheryl Lynn)
8. And last effort of the day, 5+min hill interval with 20 sec burst at the end, (Paper Planes, by M.I.A. - DFA remix)
9. and finally, a long, luxurious cool down (Thick as a Brick by J.Tull, Dirty by B. Worrell).
This was actually the FIRST TIME that John ever played any Jethro Tull tunes for a spin class - they seemed to work alright, but you might ask the other guys for confirmation - it may have just been the adrenaline from the intervals!
Also, note that we intervaled to the song, not to the stop watch - one of the beauties of indoor spin class riding is letting the music take you to a place that you might not otherwise go (this is STRONGLY discouraged for any riding on the road, where it is forbidden to put anything in your ears!).
Hope to see more of you next week!

Journals of Wisdom

Today I found in one of our participant's journals the following words. How beautiful are these?

"If there is a gap, it’s where I did not eat. I eat when I get hungry, so if I didn’t eat, I was not hungry."

Not eating because he is supposed to, or because some book or guru said-so. Just because his physical body is hungry. Most of the people out in resolution diet-land could benefit so much by simply tuning-in to what their own bodies are telling them, and then responding.

Simplicity. Gotta love it.

Three Hours of Pedaling-Fun!

No photos today - arrived at the spinning grotto with a camera with a dead battery. So those thousand words will have to be supplied the old-fashioned way: A highly detailed, completely accurate written account that will keep you on the edge of your seat. A thriller of the highest degree!

Attendees: Well, there was John, and Matt, and Matt's friend Lindsey. John had his friend Morrie there. From Klipsch, there was Larry, and Gary, and Melissa. We are still inquiring as to the whereabouts of Tom - he had reserved a spot, we saved him a bike, brought extra snacks for him, some great goodies and prizes for him. Too bad he didn't show!\

Things got off to a shaky start: John ripped the stem out of his tube when he decided his rear tire, with about 105 psi of air in it, could stand to be pumped up to precisely 120psi. No spare. The good thing this occurrence brought about - it caused John to realize he had forgotten his music - DUH! He made the round trip back home in 25 minutes. Everyone was there by the time he returned, and Matt has popped in some music and everyone was chatting and rolling the legs. So, about 10 minutes after 10, we officially got under way - perfect "Wendy Time".

Melissa - sporting a nifty headband, and matching water bottles that were neither ProMotion nor Two Wheel Sports supplied. She and Gary coordinated shirts, and that was nice. Mel spin for a little over two hours and did AWESOME! Climbing like a Geswein, she was. She may well be kicking Frank's ass at the Hilly this year! Melissa also was the high point scorer in the "name that artist" contest, and even correctly named The Airborne Toxic Event (i.e. TATE) that was played toward the end of her session.

Morrie - Fresh off a grueling couple weeks at the bank, and prepping for a well-deserved Sanabell vacation, Morrie also rode for a little over two hours. He has been following a very strict Zone Two regimen the past several weeks - you should have seen the look of delight on his face when, in the second hour, John "let him loose" to simply ride how he felt - and it looked like he felt strong! He has arranged for a rental bike in Sanabell and will be doing the Saturday group ride down there from the local shop. Go Morrie! Thanks to his astutely executed shoulder shrug during the vote for Kings of Leon or Midnight Oil, Morrie was the tie-breaker and we got to listen to the great new Kings of Leon tune. Larry wept.

Larry - rode hard, rode with discipline, and inspired with his dogged determination and mental focus. Oh, also - it's always nice to have a guy in class whose favorite songs are also your favorite songs, even if he didn't vote for Kings of Leon and made a face at The Airborne Toxic Event. His hang-able, portable bento box for his snacks, which he also shared with Gary, was a great innovation - was that something that Young Brad shared with you, Larry? Larry was also sporting some freshly shaved legs - said the trainer at the pool had talked him into it (He has been swimming three mornings a week for a triathlon in the summer, but he'll deny it if you ask him about it).

Gary - coerced Matt into playing a heavy Beatles mix during his set, which certainly worked well for the group! Plus, he started the streak whereby Matt had to do all those 15-second sprints in a row. Sometime in hour two, he hit a heart rate that was completely unauthorized and which we will NOT be repeating on purpose anytime soon - but he came through it without trauma, without drama. We settled things back down in the third hour and cruised along, endurance-like. Gary did not shave his legs, nor did he make too much fun of Larry's smooth gams.

Lindsey - so, during Matt's set, John took over the space next to Lindsey, and the scene looked like that "Great Dane and Fox Terrier" photo from last year's Coast-2-Coast race. Rumor has it she was once coached by the Chris Carmichael group, but we let her continue to ride anyway, mainly because she offered a sincere compliment to John on his pedaling mechanics (thanks to Maggie for that one!). No, this was not Young Brad's new girlfriend, but she could have been - oh, except she's married.

Matt - oh, right, ought to say something about him I guess. Well, he was wearing bright blue TrueSport kit and rode that fancy-schmancy bike of his (yes, I'm just jealous). As mentioned above, he played a nice mix of Beatles tunes. We played the rock/paper/scissors game, and he had to sprint like four times in a row - it was sweet! The "race to the top" was especially challenging as it occurred during hour two. Matt finished last in "Name that Tune" because he kept guessing Massive Attack and Chemical Brothers, even when it was clearly U2 (which Tom woudl have gotten right had be been present because he ALWAYS guesses U2).

So, two and three hours of some focused, beneficial, specific cardio work for these warriors! Laying the foundation for the future!! Great job. And this after shoveling all that snow on Wednesday!