A new camera

Deb came back from a convention in Las Vegas with a new camera.  It is a HD mini camera called the Hero. It comes with a variety of bike & helmet mounts and a waterproof housing.  It is great for mounting on the bike and getting incredible P.O.V. shots (point of view). I plan on getting a bit more creative with it. Here is a sample from the hill climb from earlier this week.  It gives you a chance to see the speed of the downhill ride on a racing bike.  The purpose of this drill is the to train and practice the climbs similar to the racing and to build strength for climbing. With only weeks to go and such a late spring it is crucial to get in the hill training. Here is a short video clip of the fun of the big payoff... the downhill speed reaching speeds of (in this clip) 60 k/h.

First ride of the year

This was the first group ride of the year. a bunch of the Ironteam members met up at Addrossan hall at 10am on Saturday and hit the road for a very crisp and fresh first ride of a very late spring. After being inside on a roller all winter this felt great! I thought we were going for a couple of hour but because it is so late in the year we kept going and going. 65Km through the country side around the east side of Sherwood park. There was a bit of a wind so some of it was into the wind and other parts of it going with the wind were absolutely wonderful. Cruising along at speeds around 45km as effortless as Lance Armstrong.

Heart rate zones and testing for Lactate Threshold.

Ok Here is some information that I am dealing with. When performing endurance sport activities, such marathons and Ironman triathlon, it is very helpful to know what heart rate you can maintain for an extended period of time.  Your heart rate is like a gas gage that lets you keep moving at a pace in a certain heart rate zone.  The zones are from 1 to 5 and a zone of 1 is low and 5 is max.  There is a point of effort that your body can sustain a heart rate and metabolize the energy and nutrients in your body for an extended period of time.  That point is your aerobic threshold.

Rob is getting a blood lactate test done by David which involves taking a blood samples at a progression of heart rates to determine your lactate threshold. Knowing which HR zone can be maintained for extended periods of time and which zone you need to be in for shorter but harder efforts, helps in training and recovery.

Spring is here!

It has warmed up enough to get out and hit the trails. I headed out to the power line trail and had a great ‎10K run. The melting snow made for plenty of puddles so I ended up with wet socks. Not to complain because it felt great to be running outside again, the gravel left on the paths would work its way into my shoes so I would have to stop to pull the pebbles out.  It really is great to be able to run outdoors again. Spring is here!