I feel naked without my heart rate monitor. I don’t know how people train without one! I see so many people sweating it out on an elliptical thinking they’re doing awesome, when in reality, they probably aren’t even in their aerobic zone. And honestly being in the aerobic zone doesn’t mean that much anyway. I often wonder what they are doing on those machines because their bodies size never really changes. Ok, I admit, in the past year I probably used those machines 5 times BUT only because I wanted to read a book- not really for exercise. The only way you are going to burn more calories is if you actually challenge your body in different ways REGULARLY (intervals, tempo runs, easy runs, hill runs, long runs, change= calories burned). Your heart rate monitor and your internal gage (how I feel at the moment) are what tells you how your are doing. I am going to be your nag and tell you, that you need one. Here are a few reasons why:

1. A good heart rate monitor will be able to calculate how many calories you burned during a workout. For my runs, it ranges from a mere 200-1100! And, depending on how much muscle mass you have, you have the opportunity to burn more throughout the day.

2. A HR monitor will help you determine your fitness level. (subjective people) For example, one year ago in my hour long spin class my HR would get in the 170’s within 15 minutes and it would stay that high throughout the workout- maybe even maxing out to over 192 in the final sprint. Now, it takes me 20 minutes to even get to 150 and I rarely get it over 170. That’s just how my fitness has improved over time.

3. A discussion about zones. We each have a zone in which to workout (1-10). 10 being you are going to puke and you can’t go any harder and 1 you are walking the dog. A general rule of thumb; 5 aerobic and 7-9 interval training. A heart rate monitor can help you determine those zones. For me on a run, a 5 aerobic is like 160 and intervals are 170. Race days for 5km’s I function in the 180’s on a GOOD DAY.

4. To see if you are under trained or over trained. There are some days when I’m out there that I know I’ve gone too hard on too many consecutive days and my HR will tell me to “bag it”. Just recently on a “easy ride” to the bike shop I was in the 180’s within 4 minutes of leaving the house. BAD SIGN, should have gone home.

5. Gage your level at the time of exertion. Another example is if it’s supposed to be an interval day and after one interval, your HR is spiking too high, then you need to change your plan.

6. To say to yourself “OH CRAP******!better slow down”. In my last bike race, I was ON FIRE! But, I didn’t have time to look down at my watch, because I was ON FIRE (left my brain on the starting line- nervous energy). Too bad on was ON FIRE in the first lap and not the last lap, could have won some money.

So, what kind of HR monitor should you buy? My three must haves for a HR monitor is calories burned, stop watch function, and your heart rate. I prefer the ones with a chest strap because I think they are more accurate (although can be problematic with some jog bras). A bare bones Polar monitor will run you $59 for this one. Or you can buy this one for $89 that comes with the stop watch, calories and monitor. I’m a geek, so, I just bought this one for $300 (got it on sale for $164). But, I can’t live without it now! Shows my pace per mile and how many miles I ran plus my heart rate and calories burned plus I can download it to the computer to track my fitness.

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Bike trailers and other ingenious ways to carry your kid. The New York Times Physical Culture.

Perfect example of what I would not do. Ride a sexy, stylish bike with two kids in tow with NO shoes or pedals. She will be good for 2-5 miles MAX and only on a protected trail or road. If she hits any hills at all, she will be in serious difficulty.

Reasons to run faster in practice.

Deena Kastor’s favorite recipes are here. Blueberry pancakes and avocado enchiladas some great to me.

Have a happy Saturday!

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Hatha yoga, hot room, nailed every pose. That particular day, everything went right. I was completely focused on the movement at that moment. I thrived on it. Picturing it like it was yesterday. My mind and my body were connected with ZERO distractions.

Lately, I’ve struggled with mental distractions (that come in the form of negative comments to myself) while running. My concerns about my knees or my feet or just various aches and pains that are completely random- cause me to lose my focus.

Race days can be particularly challenging especially in the last mile of the race or the last lap of a bike race (can be really scary). Any form of competition can be so mental! What frame of mind are you in on race day? Are you “revved up” and ready to go- practically dancing on the starting line or are you skeptical and worried about the coming attractions- PAIN and SUFFERING? I can picture so many times when I’ve talked myself out of a position or a time or a point (like I’m not worthy or something). Here’s to getting over all the negative stuff. (”negative chatter”- MizFit)

The right mental outlook needs to be applied throughout the training period. Matt Fitzgerald, author of Brain Training For Runners: A Revolutionary New Training System to Improve Endurance, Speed, Health, andResults asks the readers to ask themselves ” How much did I give out there today?”  If it’s anything less than 100 percent, you should not be entirely satisfied regardless of place or position. Fitzgerald’s other recommendation is to use tune up races or preliminary races as a test for yourself.  Go out there and basically kill yourself to see how tough and strong you actually are.  Challenging yourself will make you stronger and tougher for the actual big day event.

Where’s your focus on race day?  Do you have specific chants or repetitive statements that you use to keep you concentrating? How do you block out the distractions to FOCUS?  How hard are you willing to go?  These are questions I’m asking myself as well as you, readers.

This blog post was inspired by this one.

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In reference to my post “Where are the women at“, I posted a question to the Velo Bella boards asking for resources for women cyclists. The Velo Bella Women’s Cycling organization has over 450 members nationwide- it’s FREE to join, simply purchase a jersey and little paperwork and you are on the team. One of our Bellas, is a freelance writer for Velo News, Kathie Reid!! Cool! Here is her response to my request for resources. (It’s a bit long, but, offers great information on what it’s like to be freelance writer for Velo News). Fact: Velo News readership is 90% male.

I’m a VeloBella — am moving back to Fresno to rejoin my Fresno Bellas
after spending a year in Boulder — and I’m also a freelance writer.
I’ve been writing for VeloNews since 2006. I definitely appreciate –
and share! — your frustration with the lack and equity of coverage
of women’s racing, but also want you to know that I’ve been working
for two years to get more articles on women in the magazine, as well
as making sure that when I cover races for the website (and I
covered Sequoia, Redlands, and Garrett Lemire so far this season,
and will cover Cascade in July), the women get equal coverage. I
also make an effort to point out women-specific issues, such as
discussing in my Sequoia preview that the race committee there was
committed to equal purse for women.

When I pitch feature article ideas for the magazine, they’re almost
always about women — there is a host housing article in the latest
issue (Issue #10 — not on stands yet, I think, but subscribers
should have received it, or will soon) that I made sure included
women’s teams — ValueAct and Aaron’s (ValueAct was actually at the
center of the article, as I stayed with them at Redlands, but the
article got reorganized to include big pics, so that’s not as
obvious now). And a few months ago, I did a feature on junior racer,
Katrina Howard, from Fresno. I have also written a feature on Brooke
Miller, an article on the level of education in the women’s pro
peloton, and have just turned in an article on Rebecca Rusch,
current 24-hour solo mtb world champion, which should be in the next
issue, I think, and I’m about to turn in a small article on Eva
Barbaras, the only female mechanic working for a UCI pro men’s team.
My editor, Ben Delaney, is pretty receptive to these ideas, and
continually lets me go after stories about women.

Additionally, in my humble opinion, the new VeloNews.com editor,
Steve Frothingham, is doing a much better job — though there’s
still room for improvement — on including more women’s stories on
the website. He let me do a story on a school visit by Aaron’s at
Sequoia, and has done recent female racer diaries — Rebecca Rusch
at Cape Epic, and an entry from Anne Samplonius. He is also very
receptive to stories about women when I pitch them. If you do a
search on the website of just my name — Kathie Reid — all of my
articles will come up. And if you want to see a list of my magazine
articles, they are listed on my personal blog –
http://kathiereid.blogspot. com

So … what I’m trying to get at here is, yes, I agree that we need
way more coverage of women’s racing in a lot of media. But there are
women (and men!) out there like me who are pushing for it, and
making some leeway, even if it’s only millimeters here and there.
One of the things that I think would help is if you all encouraged
your MALE partners, friends, and supporters to write to magazines
like VeloNews (and Road, ProCycling, etc.) and let them know that
they want more coverage of women. The unfortunate reality with mags
like VeloNews is that their subscribers are almost ALL men. I know,
I know … why would women buy it if we’re not in it? But they don’t
see it that way — they can’t sell advertisers on subscribers they
don’t have. So, they sell to men … They hear complaints from women
ALL the time, but they rarely if ever hear from the guys who are
subscribing that they want something different — or more.

I think another important thing is to let magazines know when you do
see stories on women that you appreciate them … catch ‘em doing
good things!

So there you go. Sorry if I sound a little defensive, but while
there are a lot of female racers that have been really complimentary
of my attempts at getting them out there more, I still catch a lot
of shit as soon as I say I’m working for VeloNews. And, believe me,
I understand where it’s coming from … but please just realize that
I’m an ally in the trenches — and there are more of “me” out there!

~ Kathie

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It’s amazing how much you learn something new when YOU teach something you KNOW to someone else. Over the weekend, Penny and I taught our first ever bike clinic. We had three guinea pigs who were happy to attend (for free). Our two rookies on the right were just barely learning how to clip in and out of their pedals. For those of you who don’t know, in order to ride efficiently, you need pedals and shoes. It’s a pretty scary thing to learn, I guess. I forget what this felt like learning 10 years ago. My paranoia had me clipping in and out fifty times in my garage before I even rode outside. Then, I remember, I got cocky thinking I had it down and fell over at a stoplight. Embarassing! Well, our rookies practiced in the garage, then on the grass, then on the streets. We broke it down into, first one shoe clips in, then raise it up to “ten o’clock”, pedal forward, then clip the other one in while pedaling forward. It seems so automatic to me now, that I was surprised how difficult it really is. It is a practiced skill- not to be mastered in one two hour session. I’m happy to say that they DID get it, but, poor things, fell down a LOT.

We also put our rookies on the trainers taught them proper hand position, how to shift the gears (this is a 2 hour lesson in and of itself), and checked their position on their bikes. You’d be surprised at how poorly they were fit to their bikes. Seat heights were either too high, too low, or a MAN’s saddle (not ever to be recommended). You complain about your butt hurting or your neck tweakin’ - it’s because of your position. Cycling should NOT EVER be painful! Finally, we took a 2 mile cruise to the local school parking lot to practice cornering. Penny taught them to brake before entering the curve, and then to accelerate out of the curve- and to not use brakes when IN the curve. Dude, I still need to work on that skill. Back in the day when Davis Phinney taught me, we had a huge parking lot with fifty cones and had to learn how to counter steer. Let’s say you are going into a right turn, your right arm will be straight and leaning into the drops, while your left arm is bent, right knee is PRESSED into the top tube with your left leg straight. Got that?

In retrospect, we taught a LOT for one session. This seriously could be broken down into multiple steps, levels and skills. But, what a great way to learn a new skill! I’d like to see women’s cycling get as big and as competitive as the men’s fields. My hope is that they will learn to enjoy it and be confident and safe while riding.

Other women’s cycling resources:

Women’s Cycling Challenge

Velo Bella

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