Team McAlister

Last Summer I took part in CARVE’s Summer Crit Series, and I came out of it with a thoroughly cleaned clock. It took me three races just to not get lapped by everyone else. This Summer I’m determined to do at least a little bit better, so today I went out for a little crit-specific practice. I went down to Crissy Field, found an empty parking lot, and spent the better part of an hour working on track starts, figure eights and slaloming. I’ve hardly been on my bike at all this semester, since I can’t ride to class and my exercise time has gone toward running, but I’m definitely in better physical condition than I was this time last year. With some more time in the saddle I should be in pretty good shape, maybe even good enough to keep up with the old, fat, Cat 5 guys.

It’s a fantastically clear day, so after my parking lot drills I rode to the base of the bridge. There’s a new bike path most of the way there, so now instead of worrying about potholes and gravel you can focus on dodging tourists on rental bikes. Something about renting a bike absolutely makes people lose their minds. I honestly feel safer riding downtown during rush hour. Anyway, here are some pics, courtesy of my apparently colorblind iPhone.

Tags: biking, Golden Gate, san francisco

My absence from this site is not indicative of an absence of training.  True, there was a brief interlude due to a combination of bad weather, a bout of nausea, and 5 days in San Francisco (which consisted mostly of overeating and trying to walk it off).  Since returning from SF though, I’ve spent some great time in the saddle.  The principle highlights include a new personal highest speed (58.2 mph …yes it was downhill.), a solid solo ride of 54 miles on a Sunday afternoon, and today’s 64 miler in a group.  There’s not much to add except that when it gets warm enough here to ride comfortably, the wind blows ceaselessly and the pollen is so bad that the cause of death will probably be yellow lung.  I intend to begin the “running” training next week and see if I can manage it without sustaining an injury.

Just a quick update on the shoes: still awesome. Calves hurt worse than when I first started running, but strangely not WHILE running. Did a half mile yesterday and a mile today, keeping the distance short as a precaution which may not be necessary. Not even the slightest sign of shin splints or any other injuries!

Running is getting easier! Or at least, its suckitude is on the wane. I’m quickly closing in on a sub-7 minute mile. Friday I did four miles in 38:30, with a best mile of 7:03 and an average of 9:50. The new shoes seemed to have been helping, although I never felt like I hit my stride. My feet were doing all sorts of crazy things trying to reconcile my natural gait and the structure of the shoe. I’m new to running, but this just seemed incredibly wrong to me. Then I saw this article: The Painful Truth About Trainers.

I’ve suspected this ever since I began selling running shoes. They’re just not made to complement the foot’s natural shape or motion. How, exactly, did we run away from bears and lions without $100 Nikes? Pretty well, apparently, judging by our survival as a species. Today I left the Sauconies at home and ran in my Mexico 66′s. These have been my go-to sneakers for some time. They’re thin-soled, lightweight, flexible, durable, and stylin’. And they ARE running shoes—They were first made in 1966, and worn in the ’68 Olympics in Mexico. Hence the name.

Since I was running on basically no cushion at all, I opted for an easy mile on the treadmill just to see how it went. 6.8 mph, no incline, easy-peasy. After a mile I was feeling pretty great, so I thought I’d just round it out to 10 minutes. The 10-minute mark came and went. Here’s a brief rundown of the next several decisions I made: “What the heck, let’s do a mile and a half. Still good… maybe 15 minutes. Ok, let’s just do two miles. Still good… I guess I can walk until I hit 20 minutes. Ok, 20 minutes down, let’s just make this a three-miler.” I didn’t get tired until around 2.8 miles, and managed to keep up my pace until I’d done three miles. 27:40… wait a minute, that’s faster than my average from Friday. Granted, it was a mile shorter, but I think I found my new running shoes.

Even using tendons and muscles that have supposedly been weakened through neglect, I felt almost no pain or discomfort during or afer the run. This, for me, was unheard of until today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow, but for now I’ll be looking for the receipt for those Sauconies…

Tags: equipment, health, running, shoes

Not much to report on today, just a short run and weight routine at the gym. I can consistently do a mile in 7:13 now, although it results in a heart rate of around 191. According to the chart on the treadmill this is heart-exploding territory and not to be sustained, but when was the last time I let a chart tell me what to do?

A couple of interesting articles for you today! This first article is about how coffee (more precisely, caffeine) lessens the pain associated with working out.

Coffee Lessens the Pain of Exercise

And this one is about how there is an ideal running pace for everyone, at which metabolic efficiency is its highest. For men this pace is, on average, 8.3 miles per hour.

Perfect Running Pace Revealed

These two articles would seem to confirm the validity of my preferred workout method, known as the Drink a Lot of Coffee and Then Run Your Butt Off Method.

I have been listening to a lot of Ratatat as my running music lately. Good, good stuff.

Tags: health, running

Today I did the same run as Sunday, but .06 miles longer and almost three minutes faster. I took 42 seconds off my average mile, and 1:14 off my best mile. Somehow I burned 3 fewer calories. Does this mean I’m in better shape now than I was four days ago? So it would seem.

The new shoes are doing well, but I’m going to have to put my Superfeet in them because today I noticed a definite lack of arch support. I don’t know how I missed that when I tried them on, or on my first run.

Tags: running, shoes

On Tuesday the thunderstorms blew through and the afternoon was pristine – crystal blue spring sky, steady breeze from due west, just a bit of coolness in the air.  Perfect.  I wrapped things at the office and dashed home with visions of a 50+ mile ride on a great route.  I was just about to swing my leg over the bike and roll when it occurred to me that at the end of Sunday’s ride, I hit a large rock with my rear tire. I decided to see if there was  any damage.  What I saw is in the pic!  YIKES!!!  About 300 miles ago, Bill at the bike shop said I had maybe 100 miles left in this tire.  I rode this tire down a 13% grade at 45 mph on Sunday at the end of a hard 36 miler that included another very technical descent that has 2 switch backs!  Not to put too fine a point on it, but I didn’t ride.  Instead, I loaded up and went straight to Chainwheel.  A new set of Continentals, AND a new chain, AND a new cassette.  Oh man!  The chain had about 3500 hard miles on it….and the cassette?  It’s my original from 3 years ago….closing in on 9000 miles.  That bright , shiny new one is an Ultegra 12-28, which is quite a change for me.  We’ll see how it works out.  And, yes I found the chunk that the rock cut into the tire.  :-)

The Ride