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The Hunger Bomb

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Nutrition, Training

Training has been ramping up in preparation for the first race of the season. This means long bikes, hard runs, and of course a few swims.

What this also means is a heavy dose of some hunger bombs. I can usually get through a 3 hour ride on the weekend and mow down a good sized dinner. Then continue like normal for a few days. But every so often, it hits. That feeling of constantly being calorie deficient and all I can do is eat!

I have found different intensities of hunger bombs.

Code Red Hunger Bomb

This is the most intense feeling of hunger. It is experienced by some shaking limbs and intense hunger feelings. Food must immediately be consumed…lots of food.

Code Orange Hunger Bomb

This is much less intense than code red and comes with no limb shakes. It is just a constant hunger feeling. Snacking is not the cure! It is a start. Snack immediately and make plans for more sustainable food.

Code Green Hunger Bomb

This is more mental than anything. It is the feeling of, I just burned x,xxx calories and need to eat! You have your pick of dish, go wild.

Feeding the beast as much as you like is great in this part of the season. You need some mass to build better muscles, and the extra weight makes training a bit harder. But once a race gets close it’s cutting time and nutrition should be more closely monitored to avoid the hunger bombs.

boom!

A Nutrition Update

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Nutrition, Training, Uncategorized

EFS, first endurance, liquid shot, nutrition, pre-race, recovery, training

So it has been a while since I first posted about trying out First Endurance. I have had plenty of time to practice, experiment, and race using some of their products. I have to say, I like them.

At first glance the price can be off putting. These products are a little more expensive than the others. However you get a stronger product. As painful as it is each time I am purchasing, I have to remind myself that this stuff works.

Pre-Race

I’ll start in chronological order of use on race day. The pre-race taste like butt. Well, what I imagine it may taste like. There are ways around it, and if you do not have access to those taste altering things, you may want to skip it.

My early morning and pre-race concoction is 1 scoop pre-race, 1 scoop EFS, and 12 oz Powerade Zero…Strawberry or Fruit Punch do me well. This makes it tastes like Kool-aid, and you can’t go wrong with that.

What is nice about this combination is the electrolytes from the EFS. It is great mentally knowing you have proper hydration in your system before your swim.

Pre-race does not have the same effect as most other pre-workout powders. These are things like N.O. Xplode or CO2. I have tried those and they get you super pumped. My ears will tingle, and I will be super hyper. However with those pre-workouts I noticed they are dehydrating. I would usually cramp up on the swim at some point. I do not like that.

While Pre-race does not get you amped to the max, it does wake you up and get you focused on the task at hand.

EFS

I have bounced from Gatorade, to Heed, to Skratch and I have to say EFS has one of the strongest flavors. I like it, it is a change and doesn’t take time to get accustom to the flavor. I use the Fruit Punch and just like I described above, it tastes like Kool-aid.

One of the best parts of using this is that I know it is loaded with a ton of electrolytes…its what plants crave. Well, maybe.

I have yet to do a bike race with EFS, however my training with it has gone well. That’s not to say that Skratch or Heed was not working on my bikes. I still have some testing to do.

Liquid Shot

Liquid Shot is First Endurance’s “gel” or “gu”, however it is not really a gel. This stuff is more fluid than gel, and it goes down easy.

One thing I noticed is that you can buy it in individual 400 cal squeeze bottles, and then in bulk in large bottles. You can reuse the squeeze tubes, but when you first buy them the liquid shot has settled. The separation makes it a little thicker than usual and it is hard to get out during a race. I would advice you to open the bottle and stir it up pre race.

The bulk sized container though has the good stuff. This is luquidy and the Wild Berry flavor is the bomb. I like the taste and it packs a lot of calories.

I raced with this during the Miami marathon. I didn’t use the squeeze bottle, but instead filled a handheld bottle with about 10ozs of it. The race was hot and humid and I could feel it just 3 miles in. I could feel my stomach turning slightly. Once I started on the liquid shot it straightened out and I felt great. I still used salt tabs with Liquid shots for the marathon since it was super warm out.

I think I will stick with the liquid shot.

Ultragen

The post race fuel. Your body craves it after workouts. This stuff is the jam. I usually go with Tropical Punch (I wish the flavors were consistent throughout their products) and mix it with 20oz PowerAde zero (I try to buy the 32oz bottles, 12 for pre-race, 20 for post workout).

I like that it has 20g of protein along with lots of other goodies.

Comparing it to other products, I am not sure if I can tell that it is better than the others. I used Recoverite religiously for a year or so and loved it. It is the same feeling with Ultragen.

So I guess it comes down to preference…and flavor. I have tried Recoverite since, and it is not as good tasting as Ultragen.

I will finally be able to test this nutrition mixture at HITS Ocala. It will be an Olympic distance and I will be firing hard. I have a tendency to start the run with a bit of a gut issue, but I believe that is due to a lack of calories. I do plan on consuming more cals on the bike in the form of liquid shot, and drinking 1 bottle of EFS (along with some water).

And one last thing, this all sounds like an ad for First Endurance. Well you can tell by the unscientific reporting and the cost description as a sign that I most certainly have not received anything free from First Endurance. Would I like to get free stuff from them…oh heck yes.

I am a Lazy Athlete

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Injury, Training

foot pain, form, glutes, hip muscle, Injury, strength training, training

So Miami didn’t really work out well for me. Just before mile 11 my foot landed weird and I experienced some shooting pain in my foot. I hobbled off to the side and started walking to the finish.

Luckily mile 13 went right by the finish so I was only limping for 2 miles. I was able to find Michelle and let her know too. The foot pain turned out to be some severe bruising just below my toes. It was as if I was jamming my foot, heel up, into the ground the whole time.

But now I must find out why.

I went down to Big Peach Running Co for a little analysis. They video’d me on a treadmill and I got to see what my form looked like. I had just finished up a 2 hour tempo bike ride 30 minutes before the analysis so I figured a little fatigue would allow my true form to shine through.

Things I noticed:

My right foot lands differently from my left foot.
Right foot lands on the outside of my foot and a little heel to toe.
Left foot is landing on forefoot.
I am leaning a little forward…

The little lean forward is an indication of some weak inflexible hips. Well I know this. I sit in a chair all day and have skipped a few too many gym sessions. Well with weak hips you start to cheat a little during running. You don’t bring your knee up as high, your feet kinda drift just above the ground, and there is a tendency to land on your foot a little too early.

I tested this out on a tempo-ish run yesterday where I concentrate solely on form. Mainly firing my hips and glutes. And that is when I found out the title for this post, I am lazy.

20 minutes in and I am already coasting, relaxing, not firing my hips. Why?? It saves me energy. The feeling was familiar and I believe I have done this in about every run so far, I start to conserve energy. I relax my hips a little earlier and glide over the ground…which is a fancy way of saying I get lazy!

What’s next…strengthening the hips and glutes and core and whatever else I can. I’ve noticed some hip weakness on the bike as well so I am sure this will help tremendously. So I am off to start a strength plan and focus on losing the laziness.

Year in Review – 2013

Posted by Michelle Crossman in General, Race Review, Training, Triathlon

Race Review, Year Review

First realization of 2013, Ed is a way better blogger than I am. I will try to do a better job this year with posts, at the very least some race reports. 2013 was a big year for Team Crossman and a year beyond my expectations both professionally and in triathlon. I started the year with my sights set on my first 70.3, HITS Marble Falls. Training began a month after my first Olympic tri, so I was definitely pretty nervous about it.

Training for my first 70.3 was a lot of fun with an amazing group of Alamo 180 teammates including 7 others training for the same race. I learned A LOT of lessons from nutrition to recovery/injuries (we finally got a foam roller). I really should write a 70.3 for dummies because pretty much any mistake someone has made training for their first, I probably made it. There’s something to be said about taking time to learn and understand the sport before jumping to that distance, but I also wouldn’t change anything.

I had a pretty terrible race, slow swim, my derailleur locked up on my bike 7 miles in and I sat on the side of the road waiting for bike support for 20 min. 20 minutes where I almost thought about throwing in the towel but didn’t and went on to ride a really tough course, so being stuck in the small ring was NBD. The run was also tough and HOT. I was happy to have brought my fuel belt because they ran out of water on the course. By the run I realized I wasn’t breaking any records and I just took it easy, keeping HR below 180. All in it was still a fun experience, seeing my teammates and husband on the course and crossing that finish line FINALLY at 7:40.

Fast forward to end of July, the week Ed was racing Steelhead and I found out I got the promotion I had interviewed for in Atlanta. Fortunately I had procrastinated on registering for the fall 70.3 waiting for a discount code. I spent August flying back and forth to Atlanta, prepping for the move and not training very much at all. We still decided we wanted to finish the year with a 70.3 and Rev3 Venice in Mid November seemed to give enough time to prepare.

Training for Venice was a tough road being in a new job and new city, not sure when I’d have the time to train and sometimes where to go. Also missing my teammates terribly (turns out I’m not much for solo training). I was really fortunate to have a friend from work that’s a runner so at least my long runs were covered. Still I got a couple swims in and some quality bikes and felt at least ready to give it a better performance than Marble Falls.

Venice was a really pretty race and well managed. The swim was nice, although my swim endurance was pretty low. I had a terrific bike by my standards, breaking the 3 hour mark which I was so excited about. Then I fell apart around mile 3 on the run. I thought I had hydrated well on the bike and had been taking salt pills, but the heat proved to be too much for my stomach. There were several parts of the run that were very death march -like in the sun. Still despite one of my worst half marathon times ever, I shaved an hour off my first 70.3 and finished at 6:40. It was frustrating to lose so much time on the swim/run but I was proud of my bike split and confident that I still have a better 70.3 performance in me when I’m ready to train for one again.

All in the race count for 2013 was:

Olympic – 4 (including breaking the 3 hour mark at Tri Waco in July)
70.3 – 2
Century Ride – 1
Half Marathon – 2

On the books for 2014, we will be racing the Miami Marathon this weekend (my first at this distance) and Ed will be racing his first IM in Louisville. We’ll also both be racing at Rev3 Age Group Championships in Knoxville (Ed qualified right away and I did later thanks to some rolling down – woohoo!). I’m also excited to report we have joined the Atlanta Tri Club and look forward to getting to know the team and the ATL tri community better this year. Looking forward to our second full year of triathlon training!!

The Three Amigos, the best ride buds a girl could ever ask for. This is from our last ride together before I moved to ATL.

The Morning Quick Garmin Charge

Posted by Ed Crossman in Training

Garmin910, training

I love my Garmin, I have to have it on to swim, bike, and run. Almost immediately after training I jump on my computer and upload to my favorite sites. It is a habit by now.

And then inevitably I leave my Garmin on. Oh it beeps and buzzes but somehow all those signals have been filtered as normal background noise.

So then comes the next time I want to exercise. The Garmin has been on all night buzzing and beeping…pleading to turn it off, yet it sat, ignored until I have a use for it again.

This leads me to where I am now, sitting at my computer, killing a few minutes to get my charge up to at least 20-25% so I can go on a 75minute run. If I only could gain .1mph on my bike each time, or perhaps gain 5 seconds per 100/meter on my swim each time…or 5 seconds faster on my minutes per mile…I’d be a champ by now.

Or maybe I could look for a picture for this post. In fact I will, I just googled ‘best picture on the intenet’ and hoped for the best…well http://thebestpictureontheinternet.com delivered…enjoy

Taken from http://thebestpictureontheinternet.com/

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9 years ago
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The last of the bike rides

Posted by Ed Crossman in Bicycling, Training, Triathlon

bicycling

The ride felt great. I really just want to see what this Strava plug in looks like.

The Home Stretch

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Training, Triathlon

life, training, triathlon

It is getting darn close to race day. To make things more complicated we have moved (just up the road) and seem to be booking more travel for work, Sounds like a great excuse to do nothing.

Wrong. Just the opposite. It stinks coming home tired from work, to a house full of boxes and then trying to squeeze a workout in. But it has to get done. Just swam a small 1600 yard set in the pool. This following my longest open water swim of 1.2 miles in some chop.

It is definitely worth it to push on through since working out does bring some calm into your life. Then I destroy everything when I race! I cannot wait.

Publix’s Georgia Half-Marathon Race Report

Posted by Ed Crossman in Running, Training, Uncategorized

This year Michelle and I decided to travel to Atlanta to race a half marathon for our 4th anniversary. It seemed to fit in nicely with our HIM training plus Michelle came up with a sweet name for it, our Half Marathon-iversary.

Pre-Race

We booked the closest hotel we could to the starting line and I do not think it could get any closer. We arrived late Thursday night and had plenty of time to explore before the race on Sunday.

One thing we have learned is that we should keep the sight seeing walking to a minimum the few days before the race. We did walk a bit the Friday before and went on a short 3 mile jog, but it was not very intense. The Saturday before the race was relaxed.

Race Day

We started dark and early. We had preped our clothes the night before and we were quick to get dressed and start our nutrition. We made peanut butter and banana sandwiches and drank some pre-fuel.

The weather was perfect, cloudy and a bit humid. The humidity kept us warm for how early it was in the morning. We walked out the front of the hotel and my corral was right out on the street. Within 10 minutes the race started.

It was slightly odd that they announced each corral would start within 30 seconds of each other. What happened was a rolling start and before I knew it I was off.

I was unaware of the elevation I would be facing but I was going to race hard anyways. Turns out there were a lot of hills. Not the Texas rolling hills we have experienced, but rather sharp inclines followed by sharp declines. So I knew I would have to hit the downhills a little quicker and power through the up hills.

I worked on using a slight change in posture in the uphills and focused on using more of my hamstring and glutes. I would lean forward slightly and not launch off my toes as much going up hills.

Nutrition wise I hit every water station for Powerade or water. I had 2 Hammer gels, one around mile 6 and another around mile 10. I do like the late gel to help me finish strong. And it showed in this race as I increased my pace for the final 2 miles which increased almost 100 feet in elevation. I also took about 6 Endurolytes to keep my electrolytes up.

Overall Result

1:38 overall which equates to a 7:26 min/mi pace. I was able to finish strong and I felt great afterwards. I would say it was a great success.

The Dreaded Doctor

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Injury, Training

airrosti, doctor, Injury, knee pain, recovery, training

I feel bad for titling this as I did, but unfortunately there are certain careers that people do not like to use. The dentist, the police, the exterminator, and as an athlete…the doctor!

It started early in my life when I was playing football. It seemed that every time I would visit the doctor I would come out with a cast or crutches and be sentenced to ‘no sports’ for a while. It was always a bummer and this bad habit has stuck with me today.

But at times it is necessary to go visit. To check up on aches that ache a bit more than an ache should be aching. In my case it was a bit of the knee pain.

The last 5 miles of a particularly grueling uphill both ways kind of 51 mile ride I felt some soreness. No big deal, I’ve had it before, lets start this 30 minute run and shake out the soreness.

The run did not go so well and I have not run since. Now when I try to run the pain in my knee is intense after only a few strides. I then have to walk or stop. That is is when I knew I had to see…the dreaded doctor.

I make a visit to the doc sound awful but with increasing popularity of endurance sports, sports doctors have sprung up everywhere and you can select your favorite. I like mine so it isn’t a hassle or a pain (pun unfortunately kept in after an internal cerebral debate).

For my particular ailment there really wasn’t anything structurally wrong with my knee. Everything looked great, which is kind of not what I wanted to hear. Now there is nothing to fix. So it is on to my next adventure, Airrosti. More on that later when I go.

So I guess the moral of this wall of text is to go to the doctor and find your solution. The goal is to exercise pain free and to exercise for years to come.

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Over a decade ago
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Speed takes longer than a week, trust me.

Posted by Ed Crossman in General, Training

goals, pacing, training

One of my biggest challenges with endurance sports is the whole endurance piece. Sustaining a large amount of effort over a long amount of time. Growing up I always plays sports with sprinting, Baseball, Football, Bowling…you get the picture.

Those sports are great, but they never help you with endurance. So it really hit me yesterday after sprints, it takes longer than a week to build speed.

I have noticed that, as I imagine other beginners do, I start off way too fast. I also think I can sustain a pace that is way too fast. Yet even after disappointing, huffing and puffing, terrible feeling finishes my next race I am right back in the same spot.

One thing I must do is honestly evaluate my level of fitness. I think if I focus on the following it should fall into place:

Consistency – was I able to maintain my speed throughout the entire workout/race
Recovery – I am pretty good at realizing I am too tired the next day. But I must maintain that focus
Slow progression – I must become ok with not being at my goal pace tomorrow.

The list seems sort of easy after typing it out. But it is the hardest thing for me. I will be testing it out this Sat at a duathalon. So hopefully I am disciplined enough to maintain a realistic pace.

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Over a decade ago
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