Sleeping and Eating

I've recently become a HUGE fan of sleep. I've noticed extra and consitent sleep have allowed me to increase my training volume significantly (I'm in the 15-20 hours a week range these days) and feel pretty good and fresh often. I believe during and post workout nutrition also are HUGE factors in making this work. I came across this article that talks about sleep and eating on Trifuel. That being said they re-suggest an often heard comment about not eating before bed, but actually give some science to it that might be interesting to some out there. Here's a little exceprt:


"It seems that the amount of [hGH] release from the pituitary gland will be minimal or perhaps even totally neutralized in the presence of elevated insulin, free fatty acids, or high blood sugar, all of which obviously result from eating. According to one of the researchers, Dr. Misner, 'allowing the body to settle into a fasting state(5) 3 hours prior to bedtime totally clears gastric-related digestive activity, allowing the maximum 5-pulsatile human growth hormone [hGH] bolus to be released from the pituitary gland."


So maybe it's not just for loosing weight, but having a clear stomach may increase rebuilding which clearly uses calories.

Endurance Athletes Mind

I found a great article on the minds of Endurance Athletes in Forbes of all things. My favorite quote is from Dean Karnazens:


"Moderation bores me"


They also have a good article with tips for someone just starting out.

Haile's 2:03:59!!!!

Well for the third year in a row Haile Gebrselassie has broken the Marathon world record. This time with the first sub 2:04 time ever!


I found an article with people finally talking about seeing a sub 2hour time in our lifetimes.

For reference here were the PREVIOUS top 10 finishes of all time (including place):

1 2:04:26 Gebrselassie, Haile ETH Berlin 1 9/30/07
2 2:04:53 Gebrselassie, Haile ETH Dubai 1 1/18/08
3 2:04:55 Tergat, Paul KEN Berlin 1 9/28/03
4 2:04:56 Korir, Sammy KEN Berlin 2 9/28/03
5 2:05:15 Lel, Martin KEN London 1 4/13/08
6 2:05:24 Wanjiru, Samuel KEN London 2 4/13/08
7 2:05:30 Goumri, Abderrahim MAR London 3 4/13/08
8 2:05:38 Khannouchi, Khalid USA London 1 4/14/02
9 2:05:42 Khannouchi, Khalid MAR Chicago 1 10/24/99
10 2:05:48 Tergat, Paul KEN London 2 4/14/02

Lance to ride for Astana

I noticed on ESPN today. They are reporting that Lance will ride for the Astana Team. Does that include Johan Bruyneel, his old manager?

Strength Training

I finally incorporated a structured strength program into my training cycle this time around. I've been doing more research and I found a couple of GREAT articles that cover the basics of strength training for endurance athletes.

Matt Fitzgerald Active article about incorporating strength training.

Another good article about Periodization of strength training from Joe Friel, who is of course a big name in triathlon these days.

Both of them cover the physiological reasons for weights (keeping/building muscle), periodization in relation to your training program, as well as giving exercises specific to triathlon and even the individual sports.

Let me know what you think.

Large Hadron Colider @ Cern, Black Holes, and Investment Opportunities oh my!

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) will be turned on tomorrow! This is the new most powerful particle accelerator in the world will be used to search for the Higgs Boson. My summary is that this particle explains how massless quanta of light called photons can travel at the speed of light but also convert to massed physical particles subject to the more typical laws of nature.

It's a BIG missing piece of the puzzle, and it's existence will substantiate the Standard Model of Particle Physics which is basically the theory of everything. That is, except for gravity which is only attempted to be unified in wacky multi-dimensional things like String Theory and even M-Theory, though solving these questions will require accelerators bigger then the world or a Paradigm shift which I think is coming.

Some people think turning on this accelerator at the levels specified will destroy the world by creating miniature black holes that will basically suck in the world leading to the end of the world. These mini black holes were first theorized by Stephen Hawking I believe. I'm not to worried, and will be sleeping soundly tonite.

I'm more interested in the financial impact. Does anyone know how much juice (power) this thing is going to suck down? I know it's going to be one of the most intensive users of bandwidth as they send out the experimental data to research institutes all over the world. I wonder if that will be a perceptible percentage increase in worldwide Bandwidth from one application? Could this be the application that vets high speed networks that we'll use in the future for our TV and everything else?

I know right now the world economy is looking poor, but I've always said that the internet is NOT going away, and Bandwidth usage will probably never stop going up in the foreseeable future. I will be looking for investment opportunities based on this event.




Web Counter

Online Evolution

Much like eons ago when we somehow absorbed Mitochondria into our bodies in a symbiotic relationship it appears a couple of powerhouses in the online crime world have begun a symbiotic relationship of their own. As covered in TheRegister, RSA Researchers have discovered two online criminal powerhouses coordinating their technology. The Rock Phish Gang, a notorius Phishing outfit has begun providing phishing services no longer through direct websites on shady service providers, but utilizing the new and improved Asprox botnet.

This reminds me of how only 6 months ago the long notorious Russian Business Network disappeared overnight. They had been able to operate in the open using political connections in Russia but too much press coverage probably turned up the political heat, and the situation became untenable. Probably they just moved to distributed botnets like everyone else these days.

It really seems like most people have no idea how crazy the online world is now. Movies from 10-20 years ago have all pretty much come true, and really it's hard to know whether things are under control or not. I'm sure it's in many peoples interests to conceal data breaches and financial fraud to keep consumers in the dark. On the bright side we're always going to have good to balance the evil per-se in security researchers and academic folks and others, but it pretty much means it will be a never ending story like the medical quest for eternal life and curing all diseases and ailments.
We'll see......

Lance is BACK!

Vanity Fair breaks a shocker! Lance Armstrong is going to come out of retirement and race the 2009 Tour de France!

Lance Armstrong Rides Again

In a VF.com exclusive, indefatigable anti-cancer crusader and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong opens up about doping, dating, politics (including a possible run for the Texas statehouse), George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, the French, the next phase in his war on a global epidemic, and why he’s decided to try for an eighth Tour title—at age 37.

The link to the full article is above if you want to read on. I'm excited!

Monday 9-1-08 Bike Ride

Cool hilly ride. I managed to keep my HR under 140 the whole time but it meant we went SLOW. 2:50 minutes. Still a cool ride. Will be a staple for my Wildflower training.

Link to the route. San Elijo to Elfin Forest to Del Dios and Lomas Santa Fe to a coastal return. LOTS of hills and it was really windy this day.

Also a cool article I found. It's not JUST about aerobic training. Economy of motion and other factors can be trained to maximize training benefit.