Live Multi-Sport » Reviews

Review: PhytoBerry

Cliff — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 18:44:08 +0000

About 5 years ago, phytochemicals were the newest word in the health industry world. Boasting its life saving qualities that will save humans from a common cold to cancer. Now, with more research being done, phytochemicals have lost a bit of their steam.

Before the product review, what are phytochemicals? Phtyo means from plants and chemical, is a chemical. They are physiologically active compounds found in plants that are non-essential nutrients. So basically it’s plant chemicals that the body is already has (essential nutrient is one that must be obtained from food).

PhytoBerry ($35) is a powdered supplement that can be added to a protein shake, morning oatmeal or just plain water. It contains a whole host of different extracts: rosehip, white tea, grape seed, just to name a few (see table below). From the ingredients list, there really isn’t anything that can be pointed out as “bad for you”. In fact, most of the supplements that make up this product have at one time, had research supporting their health benefits. This has given it the label of “Super food” because of its intense blending of nutritionally favorable ingredients.

Since phytochemicals can be eaten in real fruits and vegetables, having a supplement like this becomes obsolete. However, if your a person that has a tough time eating a variety of fresh produce, especially fruits in this case, then this could be a good product to have.

Bottom Line

What seems like a dynamite combination of ingredients, PhytoBerry would be a good product to have where fresh fruits are not readily available. If you already eat a balanced diet with some variety, consider saving your money for more essential things such as organic produce and meat.

ONE SCOOP (15g) CONTAINS:
Fruit Concentrate:		Phytonutrients:		Essential Fatty Acids & Oils (Freeze Dried):
Goji Berry	1200mg	Rosehip Extract	250mg	Organic Non-GMO Lecithin (Phosphatidylcholine,	900mg
Organic Acai Berry	600mg	Green Tea Extract	140mg	Phosphatidylinositol, Phosphatidylserine)
Pomegranate	300mg	Apple Extract	70mg	Organic Flax Seed Oil	320mg
Indian Goose Berry	215mg	White Tea Extract	35mg	Organic Coconut Oil	55mg
Mangosteen (Including Pericarp)	200mg	Rosemary Extract	30mg	Plantian Oil	35mg
Prune	200mg	Grape Skin Extract	30mg	Extra Virgin Olive Oil	25mg
Blueberry	175mg	Olive Leaf Extract	15mg	Avocado Oil	20mg
Raisin	150mg	Bilberry Extract	15mg	Essential Orange Oil	140mcg
Cranberry	140mg	Grape Seed Extract	15mg	Essential Rosemary Oil	140mcg
Strawberry	125mg	Pine Bark Extract	10mg	Essential Clove Oil	30mcg
Acerola Berry	110mg	Corn Silk (Zea Mays)	10mg	Essential Thyme Oil	30mcg
Apricot	90mg	Quercetin	5mg	Essential Oregano Oil	30mcg
Raspberry	70mg	Lycopene	5mg	Essential Cinnamon Bark Oil	30mcg
Cupuacu	55mg	Resveratrol	2mg	Black Pepper Extract	2mg
Blackberry	40mg
Sea Berry	35mg			In a base of: organic evaporated cane juice powder, stevia extract and natural berry flavour.
Elderberry	35mg

Review: Steaz Energy Drink

Cliff — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 03:46:20 +0000

Labelled as “Organic Fuel” for the mind, body and soul, Steaz Energy drink, is just another can full of sugar except costs twice as much ($1.99). This product can be found in the organics section at your grocery store. Over 80% of the ingredients are organic so there allowed to market it as such. However, most of the organic matter is cane sugar. The advertised “Green Tea”, “Yerba Mate”, “Acali” and “Guarana” fill out the rest of the can in minute concentrations.

Steaz has a surprsingly light taste which isn’t surupy like pop or other energy drinks. It is comparable to a carbonated light ice tea. With 80mgs of caffeine.

If your looking for a perk after drinking this, stick to Red Bull. After finishing it, there was no energy crash that comes with drinking other caffeinated sugary products. Which in the case of working out, is a plus.

Bottom Line

Steaz provides a good tasting drink but without a huge kick. At $2 a can you may be better off sticking to a coffee or tea.

Review: Tanita Weigh Scales

Cliff — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 19:29:04 +0000

Tanita was the first company to design and manufacture body fat monitoring scales for in-home use. The technology you get when you buy a home scale is based on the same advanced technology found in the professional body composition analyzers used by doctors, medical centers, professional athletic teams, fitness clubs and personal trainers. Tanita continue to focus on meeting your needs with more styles, models and more personalized features.

Model BC-350 – Cost = $269.99

The BC-350 measures just over a half inch thick and weighs just over three pounds. This product provides the in-depth analysis consumers have come to expect from Tanita, the world’s leader in body composition scales. By providing the following nine functions: weight, body fat %, body water %, muscle mass, bone mass, basal metabolic rate, physique rating, visceral fat level, and metabolic age, you are sure to keep a keen eye on your complete fitness trending. And, with an industry best 0.1 lb (50 grams) resolution, you’re assured the highest level of accuracy yet available in a consumer scale.

Features

Weight
Body Fat %
Body Water %
Muscle Mass
Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR)
Metabolic Age
Bone Mass
LED Icon Guide
Modes: Standard and Athlete Mode
Recall Function: Weight, Body Fat %, Body Water % and Muscle Mass
ABS Plastic

Model BC568 – Cost = $299.99

Weight

Full Body fat %

Segmental Body fat% (including right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, and trunk)

Total Body water %

Full Muscle mass

Muscle mass (including right arm, left arm, right leg, left leg, and trunk)

Physique rating

Daily Caloric Intake

Metabolic age

Bone mass

Visceral fat

Recall function: weight, body fat %, body water %, muscle mass, DCI, bone mass and visceral fat

Graph function for: body fat % (total and segmental), body water %, bone mass, visceral fat and DCI

Graph recall: Calendar days / 52 weeks / 36 months

Clock & Calendar

Backlit icon buttons

Guest mode

Weight Only button

4 x AA batteries (included)

Model BF680W – Cost = $59.99

Weight
Body Fat %
Body Water %
Easy-to-read 2.25″ 2-line display
2 person memory with Athlete mode
Weight and body fat % recall

Model UM-061 – Cost = $31.99

Weight

Body Fat %

Body Water %

2 person memory

Weight and body fat % recall

training trips: back from Va

TJ — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 22:49:46 +0000

I just returned from sunny Wintergreen, Virginia, soaking up the rays and doing some cycling. Because there were so many things I could talk about, I got some people to send me questions asking about the trips particulars.

what was the format (was it planned or wung)?

- we had a master planner that put together our routes. Known for the Blue Ridge parkway, we didnt want to spend all of our time on it, as there was other roads to ride. the general consensus was 100-150k rides, with some climbs and rolling terrain. there was much planning beforehand, checking out gmaps, mapmyride, as well as actually getting local road info

where’d you go

- based in wintergreen, we headed NSEW. going EW meant crossing valleys and other hill ranges. going NS meant either on a ridge or in a valley. highlights included Batesville, Lynchburg, HWY 56, and the blue ridge parkway

what was the biggest hill/day

-biggest day 175k, we devoted our “rest” day to a 22k climb, the PEAKS OF OTTER, Va

good eats?

- to keep costs down, we bought communal food. local foods included wineries, brew pubs (many) and pizza. no crazy food delicacies.

what would you have done differently

- harder days, less mileage which would allow more time to be a “tourist”

of all the places you could ride, why travel to Virginia?

- relatively close, cheap, “epic” riding

ok … two days is ok, but why ride for 8?

- a cycling holiday? the personalities on the trip planning dictated that it would be mainly a cycling vay-cay. which means the majoirty of what we would be doing would be riding

what sort of people should you look for to spend a week riding?

- simply if you like being outdoors, and riding then do it. distances will vary based on terrain. most of the people on our trip were using the time to build for the summer, but you could easily cut out 50%

how would you research a place to ride?

- if you like hills, hit up google earth and look for hilly terrain i think you find a place that may be interesting and start doing research. do you like moutains? cape breton then? wanna go there in march, dont pick cape breton, and go somewhere more south. pick a spot and hit google search!

what were the three most important things to take?

- money, a plan, and food. money to buy food. a plan on where to go for food, or vistas, and food to make it to the destination. i also had “anti bonk” pills which came in handy

how would you rate the overall riding? Would all levels find something to do?

- Virginia was hilly. but anyone who can ride up a hill would be able to do the trip. how much climbing you do it up to you, and you have to plan accordingly. wanna do 10,000′+? you can do it, wanna do less, it might mean you have to adjust your habits. the routes we had were definetely the hardest id ever done. the blue ridge parkway was certainly worth it

What would you consider ESSENTIAL for your accommodation? (ie.
kitchen/washer dryer/espresso machine)

- depends on your comfort level! a trip last year consisted of a motel room. I think if your going to spend more than 2 days in a location things like a kitchen, comfortable couches and a washer and dryer make life a lot more enjoyable. something i always bring is my coffee press. you can usually find a local roaster.

Book Review: Racing Weight

Cliff — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 20:20:16 +0000

Finished Racing Weight by Matt Fitzgerald last week. Picked it up in California so I’m not sure if it is available in Canada yet.

The book is about how to eat (no kidding) for a better performance. Fitzgeralds writing style is a bit wordy but I think anyone could get into it. That is unless your already a sports nutritionist, then I think it would be a boring read since you should know most of the material.

This book is about taking your training to the next level by paying more attention to what you eat and more importantly, when you eat. Fitzgerald goes over all the basics of what a protein is, why you shouldn’t eat junk food and a plethora of other topics. Its the breakdown of the composition of the meals you should be eating (and when) that is the message of the book.

What I liked about the book is that he has examples of other athletes daily diets. Simon Whitfield (triathlon), Ryan Hall (runner) and ultra marathoner Scott Jurek. There only one day snap shots but its interesting how each athlete has some general similarities with the carbs/protein/fat breakdown.

If your a cheapskate or don’t have the time to read it, his whole summary can be pretty much be seen on page 145. Its Fitzgeralds food timing schedule of when to eat around your workouts. He gives 5 examples of daily workouts, morning, lunch time, afternoon and 2 workouts a day (morning and night). There general, so it doesn’t tell you exactly what to eat as in a recipe but it gives you the breakdown of the marconutrients.

Overall I thought the book was worth the $20. There are a few recipes in the back that make it worth the price. If your interested in taking your eating to the next level check it out.

Drink This

Cliff — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 19:42:06 +0000

All of us have come to that point in a race where we turn to the aid stations for fluids. I’d say 99% of the time it’s Gatorade. You do a silent prayer that the person who mixed it followed the directions. If not you either get a syrup that makes your head spin or a discoloured water mix.

Rewind the day. What are you sipping on pre-race, during the race and after the race? Do you pay attention to what your drink provides you? Or do you just do it for the taste? Either way, here is a list of some drinks available on the market.

Gatorade Original- The drink that sticks out when I think of sport. The big “G” trademark is everywhere: football, hockey, soccer, running, you name it. But whats inside? Well for 240mL (8fl oz) you get 50 calories, basically all sugar (14gms). The electrolytes, or minerals lost during to sweat equal to 110mg of sodium, 30mg of potassium and 93 mg of chloride.

Bottom Line – What makes the original Gatorade so popular is its affordable and available. If your dying for thirst or hitting the wall out on a long ride, chances are you’ll find it on the shelves at a convenience store or gas station. That being said it does little to offer anything extra besides sugar.

Gatorade Elite Series – This is a product that SHOULD be marketed more. You won’t find Gatorade Elite Series in Canada which is a shame because it’s something I would buy (a lot) of. What makes it so good? Instead of the puny amount of sodium in the orginal series, they’ve added 200mgs to the Elite. This is to help aid cramping in the latter stages of any race. Gatorade sticks to the same calorie content (50cals/240mL) as the original series.

Bottom Line – This would be a great sports drink if it was available in Canada. My only knock is that it’s sugar content is so high (14gms/240mL). If Gatorade Elite could up the calories but keep the same or lower the sugar content this would be my recommendation for any endurance athlete.

Accelerade – This product is based on the 4:1 ratio: 4gms of carbs for every gm of protein. According to a study done on prolonged exercise consuming a carbohydrate-protein sports drink during exercise can minimize muscle breakdown. At 120 calories per 355mL (12oz) this is one loaded drink! The calories are made up from the 20gms of sugar and 5gms of protein (hence the 4:1). Accelerade also packs in 190 mg of sodium, 65mg of potassium and 100% of your daily value in Vitamins C/E. This can be found in a powder or premixed.

Bottom Line - My gut really Accelerade, especially the orange flavour. However, this stuff is not cheap. It’s double the cost of Gatorade. If you believe in the 4:1 ratio than this is a solid drink that will help prevent muscle breakdown.

Cytomax – Compared to Acclerade and Gatorade which had very strong tastes, Cytomax is easy on the taste buds. Boasting about it’s all natural ingredients this drink is somewhere in the middle as a supplement. The instructions tell you to make it weak, 1 scoop per 475mL (16oz) of water giving you only 90calories; 12gms of sugar. The electrolytes added are 40mg of chloride, 30mg of magnesium, 120mgs of sodium and 60mgs of potassium.

Bottom Line – Great for the athlete whose stomach prefers a drink that is easy on the pallet. Based on the price ($50 for 3lbs) For the calorie vs price I’d recommend buying one of the other options..

Training Logs – Which do you prefer?

Jen — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:37:08 +0000

You might remember that one of my chosen blogs is Steve Stenzel’s “Steve in a Speedo?!“? Well he’s been doing a series called “Does it Work?” reviewing tools that triathletes use on a day-to-day basis. Yesterday’s entry was Steve’s review of four online training logs … Beginner Triathlete, Buckeye Outdoors, Daily Mile, and Training Peaks. Two were new to me, one I’d heard of but hadn’t used and of course, the defacto Training Peaks. Steve has graciously allowed me to repost his thought provoking review. We at LMS would love to hear what YOUR favourite online workout logs are. And why. Then head over to Steve’s and see what they’re saying over there too!

Does It Work: Beginner Triathlete, Buckeye Outdoors, Daily Mile, and Training Peaks

By Steve Stenzel

Note: Choosing an online workout log is a VERY personal choice. If I have bad things to say regarding your website of choice, it’s nothing personal against you. This whole process of finding an online log is really specific to one’s personality, and what works for me might not work for you, and vice versa. But here’s my 2 cents:

Back in August of last year, I put up a post asking for recommendations on different sites for tracking mileage. I had a “physical” day-planner that I had been using as a log, but wanted to try something new. I noted that I had a Wellsphere account, but didn’t like that for tracking miles. If I had to give Wellsphere a grade, it’d be this:

Wellsphere: Grade of F+. This may have changed since I deleted my account, but I had to round every workout to the nearest mile! REALLY?!? This site was horrible, and the layout made it really difficult to get around. Sucktastic.

Oh, and I DID consider just tracking everything in a spreadsheet file on my own computer. Some bloggers sent me some VERY COOL spreadsheets files all set up by day, month, and year. Everything was totaled up automatically, pie charts would appear at the bottom, etc, etc. They were pretty sweet. But I decided I wanted to work online. Plus, I was afraid that the file could suddenly go corrupt and I’d lose all my training info. (I guess I have more faith in unknown online companies to not lose my data…*gulp*)

Personal Spreadsheet: Grade of ??. You could make this as simple or as complex as you’d like, so it’s tough to give this a letter grade.

So in that post back in August, people were recommending some great sites. I listened to what people were saying, and in September of last year, I started 4 new accounts with Beginner Triathlete, Buckeye Outdoors, Daily Mile, and Training Peaks. I started tracking my workouts, mileage, and races with those sites. I QUICKLY found ones to work better for me than others.

Here’s my review of all 4 of those from worst to best (in my opinion):

Daily Mile: Cute design. It’s like Twitter (or a Facebook Group) where you can add workouts. That’s great, but I don’t need ANOTHER place to chat with “friends.” Great for runners only or people tracking their “workouts” (but not for people tracking their “training” [unless you’re a runner]). Not great for mulitsport athletes. Take a look at this screenshot:

2 main problems with this:
1. “5 months ago”? How about an actual date?
2. See the triathlon in the middle of that image? It’s labeled as a “fitness workout” (with no way to store my splits). That’s a little insulting. (But at least it got a bit smiley face! Sheesh.) You can’t add a triathlon, duathlon, or brick workout.

It’s “cutesy,” but a little unprofessional. When you enter a workout, you can give it varying degrees of a smiley face:

Trying to enter a triathlon or a duathlon nearly started the website on fire. Really. It’s like I was asking them to rearrange the stars. It’s FINE for tracking weight lifting routines, runs, etc., but it’s not for multisport athletes.

Daily Mile: Grade of D. (This is a little awkward because “Team Daily Mile” retweeted my tweet that linked to the “foam roller” post yesterday. Sorry.) Like I said, it’s fine for more casual athletes, or those that are runners only.

Training Peaks: Very professional. Many coaches like this because you can leave workouts in OTHER people’s log telling them what to do each day. Nice. You can track your equipment usage. It’s easy to get around, and easy to enter workouts (it’s all pretty intuitive). It totals your weekly mileage. Here’s a screenshot:

Some things I DON’T like about Training Peaks: The calendar (seen above) is a little “clunky” – it’s hard to glace at it and see what you’ve done recently. It’s also “tall,” so you can only see 2 weeks at a time (I like to see the whole month). It also takes a bit to load the calendar; I spent 5-9 seconds looking at this when I first logged in:

(that’s the actual picture – don’t sit here and wait for something to initialize)

Training Peaks: Grade of B-. It’s good for tracking workouts, mileage, and races (including multisport races), but the format didn’t quite fit for me. I wasn’t happy with the way the info is shown on the calendar. That’s just a personal preference, I know.

Buckeye Outdoors: The calendar was JUST was I was looking for, and it was super easy to add a workout. You can quickly see what you’ve done, and the little multi-colored symbols helps make it clear right away. Here’s a screenshot:

The calendar is “clean” and minimal. If you want to see more on a workout, you can scroll over it. Here I am with my mouse over the run workout on the 9th, and you can see the details of that workout on the far right:

Buckeye Outdoors really surprised me. I didn’t expect to like it THIS much. I’d never heard of it before people started recommending it, and it sounded like something for fans of Ohio State that liked to canoe (or something like that).

Buckeye Outdoors: Grade of B+. No major complaints. Tracked everything I wanted it to quite well (even intervals). It’s possible to print out “reports,” but the printout is a little awkward and not in that same calendar format.

Beginner Triathlete: I didn’t like the name; I don’t see myself as a “beginner” anymore. But I liked about everything else on their site. Here’s a screenshot from last month:

All the info is there that I want to see. Swim, bike, run, and strength workouts are all there in different colors. There are weekly totals at the end of the week, and monthly totals at the bottom. I can track my weight if I want to, and I have the power to make that invisible to other users if I’d like (you can see my weight on a few days when I weighed myself). If you want more info on a workout scroll over it, and more info will pop up. Here I am with my mouse over the 12 miler on the 16th, and you can see all my notes:

It easy to add races to your schedule, and then you can see who else is planned to do the race. (In fact, it was because I had the TC 10 Miler on my schedule last Oct that Emily [BikerGrrrl on Beginner Triathlete] knew I’d be running, and she snapped a photo of me that she sent to me.) You can read other people’s race reports if you find a race you’re thinking about doing. Here’s my race list:

At Beginner Triathlete, you can add equipment and note when you use it (Training Peaks has something like that too). I use it like most people: to track mileage on my running shoes. That info appears in your “blog” on Beginner Triathete. You can put whatever info you want in the header of your blog (I have my 2009 races listed, and I need to update it for 2010). Here’s my “blog” on BT, with a few things that I’ve noted:

A: Graph of my recent workouts by week (all run and swim right now…).
B: My “Equipment” list, showing that my main running shoes have exactly 251.55 miles on them (and 52.43 miles on my racing flats).
C: “Personal Bests” that link to my race where I set that PR.

You can add workouts much like you can at Training Peaks. And the calendar is nice and easy to use like at Buckeye Outdoors. So, for me, it’s the best of those 2 sites. But the forums are what sold me on Beginner Triathlete. The forums are SOO extensive. There is a LOT of good info in there, and it easy to add your own question. (There are forums for “triathlon talk,” “classifieds,” “strength training,” “IM specific,” state-specific forums, etc, etc, etc, and even a “cup of joe” forum for anything non-triathlon related.) Anyone can respond to any issue in any forum, so you have to take all advice with a grain of salt. But sometimes you’ll find the person responding is a 9:20 IM athlete (really, there are a few that I’ve “met” on BT, and that have offered me advice, and one of them is ALWAYS on BT).

I contacted the “owner” of BT and told him that I would be talking about what I liked about BT. I asked him what’s in the works at BT. He actually shared a special username and password with me so I could login as a beta tester and check out what’s on the way! Cool!! They’re planning to add more functions to each person’s “blog.” One of the biggest ones is a “Goals” page where you can add weight loss goals, speed goals, fitness goals, etc, and then track your way towards that. Thanks for letting me check that out, Mike!

Beginner Triathlete: Grade of A. It’s not 100% perfect, but I do really like it. And it’s possible to print out a weekly calendar with all your workout notes if you want a hard copy (similar to what Buckeye Outdoors can do, but easier to read). One downside to BT is that some of the settings take a bit to find when you first set up an account – it’s a little “clunky” and takes a moment to find what you’re looking for in the settings the first time or 2. (But entering workouts is a cinch.)

I’ve been using BT since I first checked it out in September of last year. I LOVE throwing my workouts up there ASAP after a workout – it makes me feel very accountable and it makes me want to work hard. That sounds stupid, but it’s true. It’s like some form of subconscious motivation.

Check out the sites I wrote about here, and maybe I’ll see you on BT!

Daily Mile: D. No thanks. Not for triathletes IMO.
Training Peaks: B-. Not bad. Good for working with a coach.
Buckeye Outdoors: B+. Nice calendar. Easy to use.
Beginner Triathlete: A. My site of choice.

What’s your preferred way to track your mileage? Do you use one of these methods? (And like I said at the top, I don’t mean any personal disrespect if you use one of the methods that I don’t care for as much. I hope we can still be friends.) And don’t forget to check back at 2 am and 2 pm every day this week for more “Does It Work” posts. Click on the “Does It Work” tag to see all posts in this mini-series.

Thanks Steve! So. What’s YOUR favourite online tracking/training log??

Book Review: Off the Deep End

Cliff — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:19:16 +0000

I found this book while doing Christmas shopping for my Mom. In our family it seems like a lot of the literature that we pass around has been about running. Well I wanted to change that. So I started searching for a swim novel. Enter the book “Off the deep end” by W. Hodding Carter.

The premise of the story is that Hodding Carter wants to qualify for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. He had a chance to make the Olympic team after he finished University but his Dad had other ideas. His father put his food down and made him choose to join the Peace Corp a job which would allow him to become a writer. Most of the book follows the struggle of his two passions: writing and training.

When I first started reading it I thought the concept was cool, can a 40 year old guy who has basically done nothing for 20 years make the Olympics? As I kept reading though I found Carter to be kind of preachy and a tad whiny. In my eyes, for someone to have the desire to go to the Olympics that takes big go nads. But to complain about how hard it’s going to be is just silly. Of course it’s going to be hard! Ask any of the athletes who train for four years, make the Olympic trials and then don’t even make it, I bet all of them would say they gave it their all.

There were a couple cool chapters in the book which were definitely unique. In one instance Carter and another fellow swim island to island in the Caribbean. Towing their possessions on surf boards for the entire time.

How’s the page work?

This book was an easy read. Short chapters and big font make it a perfect bathroom book.

Bottom Line

Buy it if you want to own a swim book. Don’t buy it if your looking for swim tips.

Fave Multisport Blogs

Jen — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:01:51 +0000

We all have our favourite “go to” sites when we’re in need of information – bike setup figures, swim techniques, new interval workouts – and they fill a very important role in the 21st Century athlete’s Big Bag o’Tricks, but what about blogs?

For me, there is a pretty hard set of criteria ANY reading material has to match before I’ll add it to my feedreader (what? you don’t use a feed reader? Oh girlfriend! We HAVE to talk. Another post for another time!) and then there is the unquantifiable factor. That being, it (the blog) may fail on all other criteria but it has that “je ne sais quoi” and so it stays. Hey! I never said this was a scientific approach!

So. What is my criteria (are my criteria??) you ask?

Frequency. There is a fine line between enough posting and too much posting. I want to be amused but I don’t need to be entertained like a borderline ADD 3 year old. Once a month postings might make it to the list if the content is memorable, once a week is good, twice a week even better and I can even handle daily postings as long as they don’t take me an hour to read each one, but dearheart? 6 a day? Even if they are just links to someplace else? Uhm. No. Who has the time! I’m supposed to be training here!

Information. There has to be some. It can come with serious, scientific tone – and if you’re gonna say “research says…” you’d better be offering me where said research took place. I might not check it out. But I want to know anyway! – or, and I am totally biased toward, a good sense of humour. Make me laugh and I’m pretty much yours. Add in some good usable content and I’m yours for life!

Grammar/Spelling. I know. I’m your grandmother. What can I say? But y’know we all have access to spellcheckers. Use them! If you’re trying to convey a message nothing makes me doubt you more than if you can’t say it in (dare I say it?) The Queen’s English. I’m not a complete nazi about it. I understand off the cuff, “OMG you are NOT going to believe this” posts where timing is key and Mrs. Talbot’s steely eye not so much. I’ll let the occasional thing pass. But if it happens constantly? Yah. Sorry. The delete button is gonna get hit!

Photos. I want to see pictures. I’m a product of the visual generation. (okay so I’m not. but I like to think I am.) I want to know who I’m talking to (to whom I’m talking – yes Mrs. Talbot!). I like to see what you’re experiencing. It really is true: pictures are worth 1000 words.

And as a corollary, don’t just post videos. I don’t always want noise with my morning read and if it’s video you likely need me to turn on the volume. I won’t. And if you keep doing it, bye bye feed!

Humour. Can’t be stressed highly enough. So I’m giving it a second billing. Make me laugh and I’ll learn. Make me laugh out loud and I’ll follow you forever.

Currently I have something like 145 feeds that I read. Very few of them are multisport related. Unfortunately. I’ve tried. Really, really tried but most get hung up on one of two points. Either the blog is really just an advertisement for product, in which case, my feed reader is getting bogged down by myriads of “You’ll love this” or “Buy this” postings. OR, and I’m sorry to say this, multisport athletes aren’t terribly literate.Or they don’t have much fun. Or both. (read: BORING!!)

Here though are the Cream of the Crop. The one’s that continually keep my coming back, that have me rooting for them and yes, I’ll say it, I’d be most happy to hit their Paypal Donation button if they had one. Enjoy!

Chuckie V - http://chuckiev.blogspot.com – Love him or hate him the man always has an opinion AND makes me snort coffee outta my nose. A can’t be beat combination!
Steve in a Speedo?! Gross! – http://iwannagetphysical.blogspot.com/ – New to my hit list and he won’t be leaving anytime soon. Photos. Funny. And geeky. The trifecta, people!
Precision Nutrition – http://www.precisionnutrition.com/feed – The link encompasses both their blog and their articles. Great information. Timely. They quote their sources and write with finesse.
Sock Snob – http://socksnob.blogspot.com – Andrew IS wordy but, well, he’s British! They were born to use twice the amount of words to say the same thing. And he’ll make you laugh.
Ironman Triathlon Tips – http://ironmantriathlontips.com/- By just-turned-pro Canadians Heather & Trevor Wurtele. They don’t post nearly enough but great content when they do! And so they stay on the list.
Ben Greenfield - http://bengreenfieldfitness.com – I almost hesitated adding Ben. He runs close to posting too much but then I’m subscribed via email not via feeder and maybe that’s the problem. He definitely has product he’s trying to push. But his guest interviews are worthy as are his podcasts. And so he stays.
Triathlete Food – http://twitter.com/TriathleteFood – Oh wait! This is a twitter feed. Ya okay. And maybe that’s another post for another day, but I’m going to add it because it’s one I read – and click to read – most often.

A pretty small list in the giant scheme of things, huh?! Likely my deleted list is 3 times as long. So I’m always on the look out for new good blogs to read. Have a must read? Post in the comments!

Dog in a Hat

Cliff — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:16:45 +0000

Dog in a hat: An American Bike Racer’s Story of Mud, Drugs, Blood, Betrayal, and Beauty in Belgium

Written by: Joe Parkin

This book is just like the title states, a true story of one mans insight into the world of cycling set in the 1980s. Joe Parkin gives no BS into what it was like riding in the rain soaked cycling classics. After leaving high school in the 80s,Parkin left America in to pursue his dream of becoming a cycling star. Most people forget about Belgium when they think of cycling. France, Italy and Spain all have the Grand Tours which garner a lot of attention. In Belgium, especially in the spring, cycling is life.

Before Lance Armstrong and Greg Lemond brought popularity to the sport; few North Americans followed the sport of cycling. Parkin points out that it was Bob Roll, a popular sports commentator for Versus, who helped start him on his journey. Roll passed on what he had learned, if you want to KNOW how to ride a bike move to Europe. And if you really wanted to know how to ride the big classics, move to Belgium.

Large font and short chapters make this book an easy read. If your interested in cycling, pick it up. Even if your not, Parkin makes it an easy read for the non-cyclist as well.