Update and Product Of the Month

For a while now, there’s been a definite every Monday that I could count on. It’s not the dread of having to face another work week although I’ve certainly felt that at times. It’s not knowledge that it’s yet another Monday night that I’m not going to be able to watch one of the best shows to air in a long time, HEROES! That time is coming to an end soon thankfully. No, what it is though, it’s the after effects of a long weekend of training. For me that comes in the way of tired and sore legs. It’s been a Monday morning norm for the better part of this year. It’s the kind of tired that you can feel just sitting in your chair. The kind that makes you walk just a little funny or take a little extra time in getting out of your car, and I’m feeling it today.

Overall I had a good training weekend. Due to some work constraints I had a couple of days off toward the middle of last week so I felt fairly good going into the weekend. Saturday, I was up at the crack of dawn for my scheduled 2000 yard swim out at Oak Mtn. After that I rushed over to meet a group leaving for a ride from one of the local bike shops. This is a “no one gets dropped” ride, but it typically turns out to be fairly fast paced and difficult. About 13 miles into the ride, I was leading the pack and started to slow down for a turn. The guy behind was turned around looking back and didn’t see me slow down. Our wheels met and a clash of spokes and skewer knobs ensued. We both stayed up right, but our ride was over. Both of our wheels were warped due to the bent spokes. We both laughed it off thankful that we were ok, but down deep inside, I was truly thankful that my ride was over and that I could go eat. A bacon egg and cheese sandwich was on my mind after that. After a pick up and quick visit to the bike shop, we were both good as new.

Sunday started with a 45 mile ride. A small storm rolled in plenty of clouds and humidity, but no real rain. The clouds made for nice cover from the normal blistering sun. Following the ride, I made a quick change and knocked out 10.5 miles. Legs felt great, endurance felt great. I can attribute Sunday’s success to two things, fresh legs and nutrition. One day it’ll hit home how important nutrition is and that I need to practice it every time I train. It makes such a difference.

With that, I give you my Product Of the Month – The Gatorade Energy Bar. They carry 260 calories and 46 grams of carbs. These stats are great, but the reason I picked this bar as my P.O.M. is the ease at which I can open the wrapper while on the bike and that the bar itself is easy to chew. I’ve struggled mightily with opening sun-warmed Powerbars only to find out that the biggest struggle would come in chewing it up enough to get it down my gullet. Nothing gets me out of breath quicker than trying to chew and swallow something while on the bike. The Gatorade Energy Bar’s consistency is like that of a rice crispy cake, but watch out, an errant piece of rice crispy can get stuck in your throat causing worse problems. Solution.... flush with your favorite beverage. That’s all for now. Thanks for reading.