I get lots of questions from athletes in my email. Here are three recent ones.
Pedaling Technique
Q: While
riding this weekend and working on my form, I recall you saying not to lift on
the backstroke of the pedal, just un-weight it. May I ask why?
A: If you ride
steady (not climbing or sprinting) for a long time and try to pull up on the
pedals one of two things will happen. Either your hip flexors will tire very
quickly and you'll soon stop doing it or you will slow your cadence
tremendously simply because you can't maintain a high cadence and pull up at
the same time very easily. Even the pros don't do that. The slide I used to
illustrate this involved two national team riders. And if you recall even they
had a hard time getting their leg weight off of the recovery side pedal. When
climbing and sprinting you can pull up as the cadence is very low (climbing) or
the duration is very brief (sprinting).
Tri-Novice
Q: My name is
Matt I'm a 34 year old new cyclist.
I am just starting out.
Should I be
getting caught up with my posture , training programs, computers on my bike to
tell me rpm and speed.
What should a person just starting out concentrate on?
My goal is eventually an Ironman.
There is so much literature its frustrating.
I just wanna ride right.
I don't even know what these training ratios
mean.
Can you lead me to a beginner article or book or something please.
A: It is
confusing. When I started in the 1970s it was exactly the opposite—almost no
info at all, except from my training mates and an occasional magazine article.
I wrote a book about how to get started in triathlon called, “Your First
Triathlon.” I think it will help you figure out what’s important. To see it go
here. http://velogear.com/product/velopress-your-first-triathlon-80100-1.htm
Runner’s Trots
Q: I met you at a tri camp recently and
mentioned to you that I was having trouble with having to use the bathroom
about 20 minutes into my runs. It is very frustrating and to be honest, really
depressing. You said you may have some information that could help me. I would
appreciate any help.
A: What you're experiencing is not unusual
for runners but is rare in other sports. This may be because of the upright
position, jarring, and effect of gravity while running compared with other
sports. One study found that 25-30% of runners experience this. It’s been a
while since I read the literature on this topic, but there used to be only two
theories for what causes “runner's trots.” The first is intestinal
ischemia–decreased blood flow to the gut. There has not been much support for
this theory. The other is an increase in a hormone called motilin that
increases the movement of the bowels. This has been more widely accepted.
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately), you can't do anything to directly
decrease motilin production. So what can you do? There's no science on this,
but here are suggestions from what Owen Anderson, PhD once suggested in Running Research News that may help.
* Know your own bowel patterns and habits and
adapt your running schedule to them.
* Avoid fiber in the 12 hours or so before
long runs with calories coming mostly from liquids.
* An hour or more before the run drink warm
fluids or a light meal to stimulate the gastric-colic reflex – food in the
stomach stimulates the large bowel to empty.
* Run a 10-15 minute loop at the start of
your run that brings you back past your house where you can use the bathroom.
* Train your bowels to empty first thing in
the morning out of bed by going straight to the bathroom. This may take weeks
to accomplish.
None of these are perfect, I realize.
Unfortunately, this is one of those things we need to figure out for ourselves
given our unique situations.
