The Sporting Life: Mind & Body
By Dave Andersen How can you improve you ask? You want to run faster and further, you want to beat your cycling competitors up that climb? I’ve been closely involved in running and cycling for over 35 years and I can say the tried and true training methods have basically remained the same this past generation. Sure, a huge amount of scientific data is available on the benefits of training at altitude and on new forms of strength and flexibility training. And with today’s gadgets you can now quantify every aspect of training from mapping your routes, graphing your power,… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life: Intervals, Simplified
By Dave Andersen As endurance athletes, most of our training centers on moderately paced mileage. That’s good! Easy-to-moderate mileage builds strength and endurance. However, training at only this intensity will not get you super fit, or race fit. For that, you need to push to your limits and do some interval training. Runners must do this sparingly as it can put a lot of extra strain on your muscles, tendons, and ligaments. Cyclists and rowers can be more aggressive since there is no pounding. I’ve competed in running, triathlon and bike racing for over 35 years. Let me make it… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life: 7 Training Reminders
By Dave Andersen There are no secrets to getting fit and, quite honestly, it boils down to consistency, hard work, and rest. Here are some thoughts I keep in the back of my mind as I progress through the season. I hope you find these helpful: Stay Healthy It may seem obvious but if you get injured no other tips or goals matter. Just as in everyone’s life, health is everything. So pay close attention to those twinges and aches. Do what you can (massage, stretch, warm up, rest, sleep, etc.) to avoid getting injured in the first place. It’s better… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
Ride Like A Superhero
By Guest KIT Blogger, Eletrico Have you ever noticed, after sometime off the bike, that when you suit up for a ride it feels slightly foreign? The garish-looking jackets, the thermal tights, it’s a fleeting sensation, a perception distorted by the day to day routine of work clothes, perhaps a tie, a tucked in shirt and patent-leather shoes. “Who dresses like that?” you think. Then you zip up, put the cleats on and go for a ride. Even before the first few pedal strokes you’re already past the micro-awkwardness of donning something akin to a super hero costume, and things… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life: Athletic Lifestyle
By KIT guest blogger, Dave Andersen Most of us have a limit to which we can prioritize our lives around training and racing. A pro athlete, or a single person with a cushy job, probably has the best opportunity for low stress and maximum training. For the rest of us, the athletic lifestyle is one in which you do what you can within your “life” constraints to achieve your fitness/training goals. And thus, the philosophy of “Keep it Tight” (KIT) must be adopted. Ideally, you constantly monitor your training; rest-sleep-relaxation; nutrition; and equipment. All this works best when you plan… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Definition of the Word “Athlete”
By guest KIT blogger, Eletrico Not too long ago, while meandering through stop-go traffic on our way to a debaucherous bachelor weekend, I was faced with a most interesting question. The question couldn’t have been posed at a more inappropriate time, after all, the imminence of a booze and food overload on the next few days stared the query’s absurdity in the face. The driver (let’s call him “Dimitri”) and I go back many years and we live in a similar world: passionate, active sports folks who tread the ultra thin ice that divides the dark cold waters of our myriad-obligations… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
Your Season Starts Now
By guest KIT blogger, Eletrico How is winter treating you? Did you make the most of the festivities, the company parties, the nutmeg-flavored brews? Then as winter prepared its glorious entry, you kept busy enjoying your buddies’ ballyhoos, your crew’s hootenannies, never mind the “Hey, try this new beer. It’s even nutmeg-ier and thicker than last year’s version!” Plus Christmas, Hanukkah and general end of year holiday celebrations we can’t just shake off. After all, you can’t pick a favorite and go to one party only, can you? Better yet, could you? Folks use this period to let go of… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life (Off Season)
By guest KIT blogger, Dave Andersen The off season for us roadies is in full swing. For me that means my weekly exercise consists of 6-7 hours (100 miles) of cycling, 3-4 strength training sessions, and 25-30 miles of walking…yes, walking. I walk year-round (my commute to work) although I do more weekend hikes and beach walks with my girlfriend this time of year. If we get some snow, these weekend walks will turn into cross country skiing. I’m a working man so I’m lucky if I can get outdoors on the road to cycle and when I can, it’s… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Oval Office (Speed Skating 101)
By guest KIT blogger, Dan Butler Breathe deep, hold it, then explode. Three seconds to the turn, two seconds to the next straight, three more seconds to the next turn, two more seconds back through the finish line. Lap one is done. Just twenty-nine to go. That pretty much describes the first lap of an indoor inline short track speed skating race. The track is a one hundred meter flat oval with four small orange cones denoting the turns. Oh, and you have driven six hours through a snowstorm to get up at five a.m. in order to race. The… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life (Motivation)
By guest KIT blogger, Dave Andersen Motivation. Where the hell does it come from and how come some folks have so much? I’ve been in the endurance and racing game since 1977. I can vividly recall many times throughout my athletic career where I was so motivated to achieve my best shape and results. At times my motivation to athletically succeed had consumed me, for better or worse. During my high school cross country and track years I was thoroughly driven and wound up with 72 races under my belt. My childhood American heroes, Bill Rodgers and Frank Shorter, were… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life (Peaking Fitness)
By guest KIT blogger, Dave Andersen Here we are in mid-August and I can feel a “peak” coming on! Many of us that race (tri’s, marathons, or cycling) have big races coming up. I’ve been racing for 35 years and many of those years have culminated in a big season-ending goal race. This year, for me, it’s the 4-stage, 4-day Green Mountain Stage Race and I gotta tell you, I’m ready to PTHD. The cycling season in New England started in April and it’s been a long and steady progression of fitness for me. Amazingly, at my age, I’m still… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
The Sporting Life (a little perspective)
By guest KIT blogger, Dave Andersen I was going to post a simple twitter note about being grateful and taking stock as I reached the halfway point of my racing (cycling) season. Then I got to thinking that this thought deserved more than 40 characters. Truth is, so far so good for me in 2012. In the first 6 months of the year I’ve cycled 9,000 kilometers, raced 19 times, worked countless hours at the office, and even met a nice lady. Over those six months I’ve been jostled with “close-calls” a few times while on the bike and even… [Read The Rest of This Entry]
Blog Categories
Recent Posts
- The Sporting Life: Mind & Body
- The Sporting Life: Intervals, Simplified
- The Sporting Life: 7 Training Reminders
- Ride Like A Superhero
- The Sporting Life: Athletic Lifestyle
- The Definition of the Word “Athlete”
- KIT “Training Camp” Quiz
- Your Season Starts Now
- The Sporting Life (The Art of Training)
- The Sporting Life (Off Season)