A scary story and a blueseventy Helix review

So as I sit here with ice on my ankle, I thought it'd be fun to reminisce of the good ole days where I was in good shape and could do whatever I want. Today I tried swimming for the first time back, and it was a disappointing excursion. Unlike my exhilarating experience swimming in the middle of Tampa Bay less than a month ago.

It was a calm day after the Clermont race, and we were out on my uncle Ronnie's sail boat for the afternoon. We were moving so slowly, I thought it'd be fun to throw on my new blueseventy Helix wetsuit and swim around/alongside the boat. Swimming in open water can be a little scary. You see a tree branch coming out of the deep when you're in a lake, and you're startled by the thought that Nessie is reaching out to grab the lonely swimmer, helpless and vulnerable in the lake. Totally understandable, and while you're startled, you continue swimming because... well... what are the chances. But when you're 2 miles from shore in the middle of Tampa Bay, the chances that what you find when you look down in the water is a hungry shark are much more likely. No I did not see a shark. But it was still pretty scary. In any case, it was worth the risk to try out my new toy.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, many companies that sell triathlon wetsuits are triathlon companies that make wetsuits. Blueseventy is a swim company that makes wetsuits for open water swimmers. They completely understand the mechanics of swimming, and what makes you fast swimmer. That's why they've designed two lines of suits: one balanced for beginning swimmers that struggle to keep their hips up when swimming (positive buoyancy), and one balanced for seasoned swimmers who are looking for a more natural feel in their wetsuit (neutral buoyancy). The Helix (my wetsuit) is from their neutral line of suits, and I can tell you that it feels VERY FAST. I know the boat wasn't moving very fast that day, but in my Helix, I was swimming away from it! (When I took the wetsuit off, I could barely keep up... then again, maybe the wind picked up...)

In any case my experience in the Helix has only confirmed what I've believed to be true for some time now. If you're going to buy a wetsuit, it should be from blueseventy.

Powertap Race Wheel Review

Let me start by saying that the fact that that I’m writing this review from the car of my contact at Cyclops (Jon Lewis) while he’s generously giving me a ride from Boston to VT has not created any bias for his products. Oh, you don’t believe me? Alright, I’m a little biased, but I promise I’ll do my best to provide an objective review, and you can be the judge. As I mentioned a couple posts ago, Jon kindly lent me a pair of the Cyclops race wheels for the Clermont race. I got to train and race on them for about a week. This is a review has what I’ve learned about the features of the wheels and my experience riding them.

These wheels have their new G3 hub, and ENV 45mm deep carbon clincher rims. (The wheel set also comes in a 60mm rim.) The hub is much smaller and less bulky that the traditional powetap wheel that you’re used to seeing. So for you weight geeks, it adds only a few grams of the weight to your average hub. And with slightly wider flanges (that’s where the spokes are mounted to the hub), it is supposed to offer stiffer performance than its predecessors. That’s a difficult improvement to really attest to, but it’s pretty basic physics. The wider you make the base of an isosceles triangle (in the case the hub), the more stable the triangle becomes. For you riders/mechanics out there, the G3 hub also has all of its replaceable parts located on the outer cone of the hub. That means repairs are now very easily accessible. Just pop off the cap, and you’ll be able to replace the battery or whatever computer component you need to.

The ENV rims are a very light carbon clincher with a shape somewhere between that of your flat rimmed Reynolds Assault and your teroidally shaped Zipp design. In my time at Landry’s I’ve learned that the more rounded shape of Zipp’s new firecrest rims, or the tubing of the Specialized Venge offers more stability and improved aerodynamics in crosswinds. So one could deduce that the rounder the edges of your deep rim, the better the rim shape. So I would say that in theory, the ENV rim on these wheels offers a level of stability and aerodynamics somewhere between that of the Assault and the Zipp teroidal design. (I’ll get to my perception of the rim’s actual performance in a moment.) I've read through enough of these scientific rim shape analyses to know that each manufacturer has some how figured out a way to make their drag curve look most desirable. I'm basing this assessment on aerodynamic theory that is consistently agreed with across the market. A rounded trailing edge is better than a pointy one. Maybe not in a direct headwind, but how often is that actually the case. Anyway, I digress... just understand that my theoretical assessment would put these wheels somewhere between an Assault and the old Zipp teroidal design. 

Having ridden on the wheels for about a week, I can say that they’re the second best set of wheels I’ve ridden on.  (I told you I’d be objective!) In theory it made sense to me that these rims would slightly under-perform compared to Zipp's old design. Having ridden them, I would say that they actually ride better. The carbon clincher is light enough that it feels more manageable. I'm not saying it isn't twitchy at all, I'm just saying it's pretty easy to keep control of in spite of that fact. It's a stiff and responsive rim, and I really couldn't have asked for better performance from it. Like I said, it's no Zipp Firecrest, but it definitely exceeded my expectations!

Thanks again to Cyclops for generously letting me race on your wheels!

Delicious AND nutritious

So goes the saying that persuades people to try new foods. It also represents the order of priorities on which I base my eating decisions. Unfortunately, my "job" (still love that I can call it that) demands that I re-prioritize that phrase "nutritious and delicious" instead.

Consequently, my menu now includes things like bulgar wheat salad, lentil soup, and other heavily vegetable laden dishes. Make no mistake, this is a good thing, and I enjoy how much better I feel as a result of eating healthy meals. What's unfortunate is what my newly prioritized diet now excludes... pizza, cheeseburgers, nachos, etc. All DELICIOUS, but not so much with the nutritious.

The saddest part is that it's not just a rule - whenever I break the rule, I feel like crap and whatever workouts follow my deliciously un-nutritious meals are bound to be a bust. Lucky for me, my FAVORITE place to eat still meets the "nutritious and delicious" rule. CHIPOTLE's food with integrity is made from almost all naturally grown meat and vegetables. Lucky for me, foil wrapped bundles of deliciousness are free from the pizza/cheeseburger category, so I can continue to enjoy my burritos guilt free, and trust I've got the fuel I need to nail the workouts to follow.

Boy, this sure does sound like a shameless plug... This would be an opportune moment to brag about the fact that I picked up my favorite restaurant as a sponsor (!!!) for more free burritos than you can shake a stick at! We'll call that full disclosure, but I can assure you that I would gush about Chipotle and their nutritious and delicious food even if I was still paying for it!

Snack Attack: Gels vs. Chews

As part-time imaginary professional athletes, Brett and I live (unnecessarily) structured lives. To keep in top form, survive grueling 3-4 hour workout days, and race like champs there are a lot of rules to follow. Here are 5 rules of thousands that come to the front of my mind:

1. Sleep lots. Wherever you can. Planes, trains, cars you aren't driving, your bed, other peoples if empty. Etc.

2. Eat lots. We're on the seafood diet. See food? Eat it. Yum.

3. Make a lot of loose plans with friends. "Yeah, maybe we can get together this weekend! That's a great idea! I'll try to give you a call." 

4. When meeting new people, try not to make friends with them. There just isn't time for that kind of nonsense.

5. Pass the salt please. To me. You gotta salt it up if you want to sweat it out.
6...

Rule #2 is a tricky one. For one, Brett hates seafood, even though it's really really healthy. And the majority of food you can see, you just shouldn't eat. So you gotta be strategic. My secret is to bake a BAG of potatoes (sweet are better than white) at the beginning of the week and then eat them before and after every workout. I've done a lot of crazy things at the office, but walking around munching on a potato, I'm told, is probably the weirdest. And I regularly brush my teeth in the hall, so that's high praise.

Potatoes are a great source of pre and post workout energy. But what do you take mid ride or run to keep all pistons firing smoothly and at top speed? I've found that this varies tremendously by an athlete's sport. For example:

Mountain bikers: italian hero. Not really sure why.

Marathoners: thin broth at the mid day run stop. Salty and clean to poo at mile 23.
Roadies: nothing. Because roadies think they are awesome.
Triathletes: whatever costs most. Because it must be the best, and we are suckers.

Personally, I like Powerbar Gels. They're pumped full of caffeine, sugar, salt, and flavor. And unlike their disgusting and unsalted Hammer Gel counterparts, they aren't 3 inches too large. Thanks for all the extra packaging Hammer. Happy Earth Day.

Recently though, I found an even more expensive (and of course better) replacement for the gel. Gels are great for race day, when you don't have time to chew, but the gummy products out there today are really top of the line and give you a nice satisfying tactile sensation. Chewing is really rewarding. That's why kids bite each other. Not because they have a taste for human flesh.

SO, what's the best gummy product on the market? This week I'm putting three popular alternatives to the test:

Haribo Gummy Bear
Cliff Shot Bloks
Honey Stinger Chews

Gummy bears. Pros: Lots of sugar. Lots of Yellow 5 dye for my already shrunken testes. Reminds you of childhood and bellyaches at your first PG movie.

Cliff Blocks. Pros: interesting flavors (mid-day margarita anyone), good push from the bottom style packaging, fairly salty. Cons: fish gelatin, while kosher, is a little gamey if you ask me. Super organic though.

Honey Stinger Chews. Pros: DELICIOUS, fairly salty, great taste, yummy, get you buzzing, mostly made of good real sugars like... honey I think. Cons: packaging is clumsy. Lance Armstrong endorsed?

If you're hooked on gels, try a gummy product next time you have a chance. It's a much more satisfying way to get through a non-race type workout.