Lots of interesting observations this past weekend, not so surprising when you have characters like my friends! At a trail race, my client / friend Steve is wondering if he should wear his spikes for the 8+km challenge ahead of us:
Steve - “Do you know anything about this course?”
Yours Truly - “Yes, I ran this last fall, and I think you can pretty much cover the entire course rock and gravel free”
Steve – “I’m not that fit at the moment – I don’t think I can crack the top ten”
Yours Truly – “I don’t think you’ll really need them, and if they aren’t going to help you reach the podium….”
Steve – “Good idea, I would look pretty silly wearing spikes and finishing out of the top 10…”
(:
Looking good is important, and performing at one’s best is always a great strategy, but, like the Triathlete with the $10,000 bike who finishes last….see below…
Now I am riding the next morning, 5+ hours, and meet up with another friend / client, Kari, we’ve been trying to catch up on many topics for months, so now we have two hours together on the back-end of the “donut ride” to compare notes. Kari has done Ironman Hawaii
Yours Truly: “So, I really don’t think I should be doing my first Ironman on this 8 year-old steel bike of mine (Little Gerry the Cervelo Prodigy).”
Kari: “It’s okay, if you’re fit and having fun it will feel great to pass the guys on the $10,000 bikes…”
Yours Truly: “Yes, like you kicking my butt right now on your Cyclocross Bike with mud-flaps and the cute little basket on the back”…
Kari: “At the end of the day, the best bike will never compare to doing the mileage and
Beverage Choices
This is NOT a paid advertisement for the various name-brand beverages you are about to read….(:
I was watching the t.v. recently, which runs counter to the bumper sticker on my mini-van, “T.V. Sucks, Ride Your Bike”…but after a 5 hour bike ride, I needed to de-compress, eat anything I could get my hands on, and do some stretching. The NHL playoffs were about to start, the Penguins and Rangers had some cameras in the locker room, so we get a close-up of Rangers’ goalie ________________ putting his pads on and getting ready. Scattered on a little table beside him was a bunch of Gatorade bottles (official sponsor), Red Bull (he was actually drinking this while the camera rolled) and some bottled water..
Interesting….
Reminded me of the ex-roommate I had, briefly, a professional figure skating coach who was regularly top-ranked in Canada Canada
I also remember vividly a tough cross-country race I was fortunate to compete in many years ago (1997), in Whistler of all places, a Nike-Sponsored race that was by-invitation only. My “insider” friend helped me gain entry to not only the local Toronto Toronto
“What was that all about?” I had to ask, curiously…
“I always get a shot of caffeine before a short-distance race, it gets me “going” and ensures I draw upon all my fast-twitch muscles!”
“Oh, so I guess I have no chance with this water bottle then…”
Is this a new phenomenon? Unlikely…
Did you know that in the 1970’s, long-before Gatorade was available, elite distance athletes drank flat coke to get some sugar beyond the 90-minute point in races. Did these factors leave an impression with me? Of course, like Spongebob Squarepants I tried everything once, including the flat coke experiement at the 1996 Okanagan Marathon ( p.b. run at the time). Much later, not being a coffee drinker, I tried two LARGE cups of coffee 60 minutes before a very important 10km run, not really understanding what that would do to me at approximately the 15-minute mark of the race!
