Week 2: Actual Update: Growth and Learning

I figured I would hold off from posting my real update until Sunday was complete. A good, long ride...my first century of 2013. Luckily it was with a group, as yesterday's 82 miles was solo with a very solid 3 hour endurance block with +/- 1500ft that easily topped 20mph, not bad for February...I did this in May last year and my HR was 10 beats higher. Looks like the year is starting quite well!

Yesterday I rode with Adam Myerson, a long-time pro cyclist and very well known rider and 'ambassador' to the sport in the Northeast. Most of you in the cycling scene know of him as I did - tatted up, clever, 'cross guy, wins crits, gauge earring, Twitter-pro - until about two weeks ago. It's cool to ride with someone who you simply knew as "be near him on the last lap and you'll place". As one would expect, there's a hell of a lot more to him. He's been kind, patient, and happily introduced me to some gems of Tucson. We rode to the top of Lemmon, reminisced old training he did a decade ago with Dan Vaillancourt, and had the best chance encounter on a ride that I have ever had. Spending 3+ hours at a time on a bike with someone you didn't know one bit is probably the best way to get to know someone. I rode with him a bunch that past 2 weeks, but 6.5 hours yesterday was pretty awesome. 3.5 hours of absolutely miserable headwind that makes most people want to quit biking altogether. We were going under 15mph for the full 3.5 hours. A one hour climb where Adam taught me the the difference between being fast and being fast when it counts, hours into a ride/race/workout...all without the exchanging of a single word. He calls it Old Man Power. I call it 'painful glory'. Towards the end of the ride we talked training, coaching, and all the skills you need across the board. I had written the rest of this post prior to the ride - and the stress Adam put on communication and learning only strengthened how important those things are in sport and life.

Here's some shots from my longest duration ride ever - due to elevation and winds it wasn't my longest ride ever, but it was easily my best long ride ever. And it was only 50F in Arizona.

As Adam said: "No Girls Allowed"

Yeah. Wind.

Flavors of the Southwest!

Beer #1 of Tucson.

This marks the first 20+ hour week of 2013 as well. By this time last year I had (foolishly and unstructured-ly) put in 3 and just hit mini-burnout #1. Luckily, I am a year wiser and have guidance that is more intelligent than "raw excitement and fun". I'm also more involved in the process behind my training than I ever have been.

I'm happy about my fitness, there is no doubt about that. But what I am much more pleased with is my understanding, both of myself and my training.

Now for a little insight into "Growth and Learning":

My involvement in my training is greater this year - when I have a coach - than last year when I was 'coaching' myself. How does that make sense? Communication. Which is the first thing I would tell anyone is the first key to finding a coach. It doesn't matter if that person coached an Olympic medalist or what their credentials are if you don't have good communication! My second key is be involved. If you're new to a sport, this might just be listening and absorbing ("knowing the work") rather than simply "doing the work". If you've been involved in the sport, you should be learning the "why" of each workout, then the "how" of progress, then begin to understand "what" the specific gains of each workout, block, or period. Once you have the understanding down, the next big (huge) step is "feel". This is the concept of learning one's own body; if learning things is an endless process (answer: it is!), then learning your body is an endless process that yields exponentially more powerful results.

Just like life, sport is a continuum of growth and learning. And the more you grow and learn, the more powerful your knowledge becomes - especially because you are now able to share that knowledge!

Share your life, sport, joy, and knowledge. Not only will you benefit from growth and learning, but someone will benefit from your teaching.

Yours in Glory,

Travis

If you want a bit more to read about a pretty cool Pro athlete who also has one heck of a crazy busy life, check this out. Otherwise, see you next time!

(As an addition to my above statements: I stayed with a guy in Tennessee (Craig Evans - self dubbed "Endurance Daddy") who can only be described in a LOT of words: Husband, father of two, medical device manager (his job is massively demanding), local cycling ambassador,  owner of triathlon shop, and - oh yeah - Pro Triathlete. The night I spent at his house, I didn't see him until the morning, known as 5AM for him, because he got home at 1AM from work...in Cleveland! Due to this busy lifestyle, Craig's former coach, who I am sure is a great coach, couldn't relate to him and wasn't able to work with his schedule. Clearly, this led to a gap in communication. Once he was able to find a great coach who could also communicate on his level, great things happened. He got second at the World Championships in Offroad ITU Triathlon...to a guy named Conrad Stoltz. Communication led to growth and progress, led to a silver at Worlds. The coach that had this great communication just happens to be my coach as well and he's very skilled at communicating with a 20-something starting out and a busy father, who is professional in many things aside from sport. To see an adrenaline pumping video about Craig, his lifestyle, and season go here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRU_Bzgygjw&feature=youtube_gdata_player)

PROduct Giveaway!! PROBAR: Review of The Best Bar Out There

First off. PROBARs rock. Comment on the post with your name if you would like to be in the drawing for a giveaway of a full sleeve (12) of PROBARS! At the end of the post I'll list the types of bars that I chose for my special mixed sleeve. I promise, they're all awesome (and I haven't even tried them all yet).

From PROBAR's homepage:  "PROBAR creates delicious, convenient, healthy plant based food products.  We strive to become the leading provider of REAL FOOD choices while maintaining our commitment to quality, sustainability, and fantastic taste." Trust me, they mean what they say.

PROBARs galore. Will they be all yours?

Just a few weeks ago I became an Ambassador for PROBAR, a whole food bar. The cool thing is that I didn't seek out PROBAR because I wanted free food. My first exposure to the brand was when I was riding with a friend and he bought a PROBAR. The first thought I had was "woah these things are calorie dense" (at 350-400kcal per bar). I checked it out, doing the classic ingredient review I do with most new foods I come across. It was just a bunch of stuff you could get at your local natural foods store. None of the extra junk that is unnecessary for a bar. So I bought one the next time I saw one, then I bought some more. Soon enough I would have 2-3 on long rides and avoid eaten them out of the cabinet as a snack so I could save them for cycling! I liked the bars so much I shared pictures on facebook, and that's when PROBAR asked if I would like to be a social ambassador. Where do I can I please sign?!

I'd like to say that the only reason I'm set up with PROBAR now is because I honestly love their stuff so much that they saw my excitement for the product. What I discovered was very well put by a friend who hates eating while riding (she was also just in Vegas for 70.3 Worlds). She said that they fill you up pretty well and sit very comfortably, not like how a CLIF bar sits like a complete brick in your stomach. (Also note that a PROBAR is 1.5 times the calories of a Clif bar.) Another friend pointed out that it's just like eating good natural food, and you don't get the awkward texture or weird acidic taste when you eat something that is more processed.

PROBAR calls itself the "whole food meal bar". This name is very fitting, as it is far separated from the 'energy' bars, protein bars, and meal replacement bars that are so strongly pushed in both the worlds of athletics and everyday use. The problem with almost every option (and many of the high volume/advertised brands) are that they really aren't made of stuff that is all around great for you. Many of them use processed carbohydrates, sugar substitutes, and other less than natural or unnecessary components.

"simply real"

On the other hand there are a few that truly stand out. Vega, Larabar, and PROBAR are the only three that I can recall and give full "approval". Vega comes from a line of mostly raw, extremely health-focused foods and supplements. Larabar is very simply made of dates, nuts, and a couple other basic add-ins. PROBAR has a lot more ingredients than Larabar and thus has a brilliant variety of flavors. The ingredients are of the same nature - almost entirely organic or raw - and are things you can pronounce and know from day to day food encounters. However, the flavors are amazing and widespread and never get old (I can tell you it takes 1 or 2 Powerbars and I'll call it a year, plus they don't even feel like food when you eat them).

Take your pick. I know mine!

Now you might not get why I feel these bars are not created equal...if you look at the ingredients on a PowerBar you'll see the ol' "Contains 2% or less" that can include more than 50% of the ingredients. What's the deal with that? Why do you need less than 2% of Nonfat Milk Powder and "Partially Defatted Peanut Butter"? Clif bars, which are definitely more natural than PowerBars, have mostly organic ingredients but uses soy protein isolate, which is highly refined and often treated with extreme levels of heat (275F to kill bacterias), to increase protein without adding fat. Most fat is not bad, it is actually very good for both athletes and non-athletes alike. Especially when it comes from high quality nuts! However, PROBAR uses the natural protein in nuts to provide nutrition. Most things you come across in this world of nutrition and sports energy are things that have been refined and refined (not to be confused with optimized or perfected), making them increasingly processed and more difficult for the body to use as energy. All the while they are being advertised as better than any of the competition because they have "proprietary" components, when those are the parts that put them below the more natural and complete options.

No need to enlarge to show the amazing natural texture on these bad boys.

The lucky winner's sampler pack will include the following:

• 2 Superfruit Slam
• 2 Superfood Slam
• 2 Whole Berry Blast
• 1 Koka Moka
• 1 Double Chocolate
• 1 Apple Cinnamon
• 1 Nutty Banana Boom
• 1 Cran-Lemon Twister
• 1 Cocoa Pistachio (Sweet/Savory)

Comment on this post with your name for your chance to win some Mighty PROBARs! And get out there and try it, whether it is during activity or a delectable snack/mini-meal, your body will thank you graciously. A big thanks to PROBAR for supplying me with the extra case so I could do a giveaway.

Ultimate Cycling Food/Daily Snack - take your pick!

It's been a long hiatus. And how better to get back to it than by talking about food & cycling? You probably can think of a lot of ways, but you'll definitely enjoy this one.

One natural food bar that I absolutely love is PROBAR - if you haven't tried one, do it! They're an extremely tasty, well balanced, and energy-filled bar. I first saw this when Doug (a damn good coach of all endurance sports) and I were on a ride and he got one. A new recipe I found from Neil Bedzek's Homemade Cycling Bars is awesome and reminds me a lot of PROBARs but you get to eat the "batter" while you make them. They're an amazing bar for cycling, up to a moderate intensity. On a long, easy ride you could pretty much intake more Calories than you burn if you have enough of these with you...they're that good. I've been twisting it around a few different ways to test out different fat-carb-protein ratios. The base recipe binds so well that even in your sweaty back pocket (inside a plastic bag) it stays in a block!

So here it is - super easy to make GF/Vegan.

Binder - heat up in a pan until it starts to bubble, make sure you stir it consistently or it can burn/caramelize.
1 Cup sweetener (Agave Nectar, Honey, Maple Syrup, Brown Rice Syrup, or the 'financially efficient way' with Corn Syrup)
1/2 Cup Nut Butter (Almond, Peanut, Cashew, etc)

Dry Ingredients:
2 C Rolled Oats - not quick oats
2 C Cereal - I love Mesa Sunrise Cereal (GF) by Nature's Pride Organics
1/2 to 1 C of whatever mix-ins you desire (Raisins, Craisins, other dried fruit, Sunflower Seeds, Nuts, Chocolate Chips)
Salt for taste, if desired (or extra sodium if you sweat as heavy as I do)

Mix Dry Ingredients in a large bowl until evenly distributed...once that binder goes in the mixing isn't nearly as easy. Pour the hot binder over the dry ingredients and mix until everything is soaked up. Always, always (!!!) taste the 'batter': A) It's yummy and B) you can fine tune the mix-ins or add more binder before finishing. Once it's glorious, press into a 13x9 or large pan so it is 1 inch thick. It doesn't matter if you don't fill the whole pan, it's gooey enough that it won't spread once you form it. Toss it in the fridge for 30mins to solidify the binder and you have a glorious set of homemade bars for cycling or snack. I hope once I get my food processor back up and running I'll be able to get some dates finely ground up (a big part of PROBARs) and toss those in to top it off.

EDIT For Advanced Progress of bars, inspired but oncoming summer and warmer temperatures (3/10/2013): Recently I've been trialing these bars in a better "heat-friendly" form. I bake these on 350F for 10-15mins, just until the edges very slightly brown. You want the heat to bind them more strongly, but not make them brittle. There is a fine line here...especially when I start posting amended recipes where I reduce fat content in the bars. I botched a batch last week, and the were brittle enough that eating them with one hand while riding was doable but difficult - bumps knocked pieces loose :(...which is not fun when a piece could be 50-100kcal!!

Not enlarged to show texture - false advertising not necessary here.
(Test batch in the pan, ready to be cut into squares or simply eaten with a fork.)

My test recipe from last night (to be unveiled next week) was a huge hit at the SMR group ride this morning. Jeff, who in particular is tough to please with homemade stuff, was a big fan...that's how I know I really did it right.

Hope you enjoy! Feel free to post the variations you make that work best. I'll post a few variations of this recipe next week once I do more experimenting.

EDIT #2: Here's the "Nutrition Label" for 1/12 batch. A medium sized (I'd say 2.5"x3" bar). A BIG bar is 1/9 batch and is 3.25"x3.25". I have to go ride my bike now. 4.5 hours, 86 miles, and I will be bringing a BIG bar with me (and a PBJ sandwich and a sweet potato muffin). 200kcal/hour, kids.
Cost: Price per bar. Yes. they are ~$0.45 EACH. Beats a store bought item by, say 400%?