Ever Feel Dizzy?.......

Often whenever I get up off the sofa, or out of bed etc etc, I go all dizzy and for a couple of seconds try to remain upright. I always just thought it was a case of getting up way to quickly but now I found out that it may be due to just being fit.

In the weekly Road Bike Rider newsletter, there was an article about "Feeling dizzy or seeing black spots when standing". Apparently this is often considered a good thing among athletes -- a sign of fitness. Cycling physician Gabe Mirkin explains the lightheadedness this way: "When you raise yourself, the force of gravity pulls blood down from your brain and it can't get back until your next heartbeat. If you have a pulse rate of only 50 beats a minute, it will take more than a second between beats. That can be enough time for your brain to suffer briefly from a lack of oxygen, so you feel dizzy." So that's not necessarily a bad thing, but Dr. Mirkin cautions that "dizziness can also be a sign of an irregular heartbeat or blocked arteries leading to your brain, so people who feel dizzy when they stand should check with their doctors. If they are athletes, chances are that they only have a strong athletic heart with a slow rate, and all they need to do is remember to get up slowly."

My resting pulse rate is generally in the region of 35 beats a minute and so it seems logical that it takes a while for the blood to get back to the brain after standing. I wonder if that excuse will work with Sarah and why she claims I don't remember always all the things that she says to me :-)

So What Was in the Boxes.........

These were.....



Oh, and this....



The new race wheels for 2010 courtesy of FFWD Wheels based in the Netherlands. All carbon tubulars for both the FR9's and the Disc. They look great and have gotten nods of approval from teammates so far. I can't wait to get the tubulars and give them a quick spin......

FFWD have a whole host of clinchers and tubulars in various depths, make sure you check them out as a quality alternative to the "others" that may be out there.

Trainer Movie of the Week........

Having finally hooked up the old TV in the garage to the cable in the house, I now get to watch something better than the watch while on the trainer. It sure makes the time go quicker and lets me catch up on movies that I haven't seen or at least haven't seen in a while.

So last night I finally got round to watching "Happy Gilmore", yeah I know just fourteen years after its release but what can be bad about a Adam Sandler movie when he puts the beat down on Bob Barker.



It was pretty cool and definitely seemed to make the 3 minute intervals go by a little quicker.....now what to watch next??

Get Up To Speed.......

All the pieces are coming together for next season.....look what turned up yesterday :-)



They will be unveiled tomorrow.......

Amongst the Pointy Headed People........

For the past few years I have been wearing a semi-aero helmet in triathlons and so it was about time to upgrade and gain some free speed! From asking around and seeing various helmets at races, the Spiuk Kronos was a favorite. I spoke with DPM Sports and they were able to provide sponsorship for the Spiuk product range.



Now Fall isn't exactly the time of year to start testing out aero helmets so the review of the Kronos will have to wait (it does look and feel great though), but I also received the Zirion road helmet. I've been wearing this helmet for the past few weeks and so far so good. It's very light, has great air flow and stays in position even with a cap underneath. Also an important point for all us Euro wannabes is that they have a host of color schemes that will match pretty much any club colors!



Impressions after the first few weeks are that this helmet is a great product and they stand out from the crowd.....it has been noticed by lots of other cyclist who perhaps haven't seen the Spiuk helmets and want to do the touch and feel test. Feedback from them....definitely favorable, particularly in terms of weight!

As the season progresses I'll review the Kronos, the Casta Tri shoes and a longer-term review of the Zirion. Be sure to check out Spiuk USA and DPM Sports.

Drafting at Ironman....Surely Not!

Every year this comes up as an issue at IM Florida and not surprisingly it did again this year. With such a flat course and a mass start, there is very little that you can do if you get swarmed by a peleton. Check out this great video from the race this past weekend....



With the exception of more referee's and staggered starts, I'm not that sure what else the race could do. The non mass start certainly worked at IM Louisville this year and as far as I saw there were not many packs that formed....besides the rolling terrain makes it a far more difficult course. It will be interesting to see if IM/WTC take any action for 2010.

Ellicot City Ride......even a coffee break!

Ace, Stu and Michelle......sampling the muffins!

I was back on the bike in full force this weekend. Saturday was the first ride back at D-Ville for a long while and the longest ride over 2 hours since sometime in September. Main aim was not to get dropped and mission accomplished! It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be as I managed to get the 70 miles in (even if the last 5 miles from the Park 'n' Ride to Bowie with Mike was a struggle as we were both gassed). Give it a few more weeks and I'll try it with the fixie.....then I'll be dropped!

Sunday we headed out to Ellicot City, starting from BWI. It was actually the first time that I had ever ridden around there and so riding the hills came as a slightly welcome change. Fortunately all bar one had ridden the Saturday ride and it was a nice easy ride on the hills......even had an official coffee stop, which is the first one I can remember since riding back in College, although then it was more of a beer and pie stop :-) I'll definitely have to try and remember the routes around that area as the Illchester climb was good as were many others that I probably wouldn't be able to find again. On a warm November morning the ride was good, ask me in the middle of May with the hammer down and I might say otherwise!

Is That Chlorine I Smell......

That's what I keep getting from people in my office as I try and swim more this winter. For the month of October my swim training was gradually ramped up and it will continue as the winter continues. So the monthly stats were:

Total Yards: 56,850
Total Miles: 32.30
Total Swims: 16
Yards/Swim: 3,553

I didn't quite get to the aim of 72,000 yards but perhaps that was bit too aggressive for the first month. It was good to be in the pool more often and even after a month I feel the difference in power, speed and just being comfortable in the water. It actually worked out that it was my biggest month of the year in terms of yardage and time spent in the water.

I guess because it is a challenge that I have set myself, I want to get into the pool more and as I become stronger, swimming gets more fun....yes I smell of chlorine more often and those early morning meetings have me coming in with panda eyes, but I feel better for it.

For November I have a target of 64,000 yards in 16 swims at 4,000yds/swim and then will try and bump that up again in December. Hopefully it will pay off come June and July!

Pittsburgh 1/2 Marathon Race Report.....

Sarah and I ventured westward to Pittsburgh this past weekend to take part in the inaugural Spirit of Pittsburgh 1/2 marathon. The race was Sunday so after battling the Beltway on a Friday night we spent a rainy Saturday chilling and seeing what Pittsburgh had to offer......I think we may have been looking in the wrong place but we didn't find that much so after looking around the South Side Works we headed for an early dinner and a movie ("Invention of Lying"....not bad, depends if you like Ricky Gervais, who fortunately I do).

The race was the largest running race that I have ever done, with about 3,000 people. One of these days I need to do a big city marathon with 20,000+. My plan was just to go out hard and see how long I could last. I haven't been doing any long-distance training and have been doing shorter, harder efforts. I don't think that I have done more than 2 hours total weekly since before IM. Despite that I got onto the first row and acted confident amongst the studs!

The first 1/2 mile was just like a 100 yard sprint, I was rocking along at 5min/miles with the three leaders and then I came to my senses a bit. All power to the guys, if they can keep that up then they deserve to be leading. The leading guy did as well, he went and powered to a 1hr 6min finish at 5:03min/miles! I pulled it in a bit and went through 5km in 17:30 and at the 10km point in 36mins was running in about 15th.

Past the halfway mark was when I started to struggle a bit and was wishing for the finish. The lack of distance training was showing and the short hills up and over the bridges were becoming tougher.....now I was running to try and get a PR and run sub-6min/mile pace for the whole race. A couple of guys gradually passed me over the next couple of miles but I managed a new 10mile PR when I went through in 59:50 (granted I have only done one official 10 miler).

Fortunately with the exception of Hot Metal Bridge at mile 13, the last three miles were relatively flat and I was able to finish 19th in a time of 1hr 18mins 34secs.......literally squeezing just under the 6min/mile pace and with a new PR for the half-marathon. I also ended up 2nd in age-group so overall was pretty pleased with the race.

A new PR without any specific or targeted training bodes well for the coming base period and for some strong running next season. To end out the season I have a 10km on Nov 22nd (Cold Turkey 10km) and then probably not racing again until a spring half-marathon and marathon (any suggestions for a good March marathon?)

The journey home from Pittsburgh was great as we took US 30 rather than the Interstate, and this route took over Mount Ararat, through Bedford (home of Cannondale) and we also visited the United Flight 93 Memorial out in Shanksville, PA. It's a very informal memorial at the moment but it is very moving and somewhat eerie......just a small windy hilltop in the middle of of rural Pennsylvania. It is a NPS site, which has a ranger who details the lives of the 40 aboard and accounts for the events of that fateful morning. Perhaps it should stay that way, as on Nov 7th, they are actually breaking ground on a new and elaborate memorial.