Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Response to yesterday's podcast...

This comes from Art in an e-mail. I'm posting it because everything he says I agree with and it adds to my podcast answers. Although this is cycling specific there are some good concepts. I used to add car tire balance weights to my bicycle rims to increase rotational weight. I also would hose clamp a 3 pound dive weight to my seatpost.


My top pro rider uses a 50 lb weight vest to run stairs (two at a time) and also to hop them....100 feet verticle in about 35-37 sec's for running....he can hop 'em as fast as I can fast walk them....by the time he gets to the top he almost has the dry heaves.....he can do 6 of those babies before he gets light headed and wants to puke....all his workouts are based on my ancient ones I used to do back in the early 80's....he has also ridden back and forth to his work site, about 2 1/2 hours (one way) while wearing a 50 lb backpack....

When I ride with extra weight I use a fanny pack that holds 4 small water bottles and put two bottles on the bike itself....in addition I add a camelbak 72-oz to my back....I do this a lot at Leadville during the summer when I'm leading rides out of the local bike shop there....

The big mistake that many athletes make with gels is that they just don't realize how much extra water needs to be ingested with the gel so their liquid and cal intake gets messed up, and their intestinal tracts are playing see-saw with trying to regulate cell water content....that ol' stomach totally shuts down for a lot of weekend warriors when their VO2max shoots above 65% 'cause they don't train hard enough and they try to eat solid food....long chain carbs, electrolytes, and water mixed at the same ratio and ingested at specific intervals throughout the race gets those "joe's " to the finish....

I've also found that the "sweet spot" while running changes with the specificity of training in long distance runners and with a change in their body weight but not with a change in their leg strength....the "sweet spot" is also more reactive to eccentric vs. concentric contractions with cross country runners vs. track runners.

8 comments:

Brett said...

Do you have a twin brother?

Lucho said...

Ya right!? A brother from another mother?

Patrick Thurber said...

great great podcast. i was unsure if i should have even asked such a silly question like "why do my feet hurt after running 50 miles?" ...but your answer was good. i have no PF/morton's/etc issues. i know it comes with the territory but i figured i'd ask as it's literally the only thing that goes on with my body during 30 mile + efforts.

Lucho said...

P- If all you have is foot ache then you're doing awesome!

GZ said...

Where are the winter wonderland photos? Guess you are still digging out.

Carter said...

Hmmmmm...speaks volumes to me. Thanks for sharing.
C

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed your podcast. You've inspired me to try Maltodextrin. Do you have any recommendation on where to buy and which brand, etc?
Thanks.

Lucho said...

Kraig- I use Carbo Pro which is 100% maltodextrin with no additives. Vitamin Cottage has it cheap- $14.00 for 3 pounds.
I know too that you can buy it in 50 pound bags for just ~$60 (50 pounds of Clif shot would cost you about $650)
http://store.honeyvillegrain.com/maltodextrin50lb.aspx