Thursday, January 28, 2010

Colorado Runners Association article

Not that it has happened much, but when people mention you in an article, it does a few things in my mind. 1) It motivates me. 2) And it serves, in a perhaps odd way, as accountability to me. Who am I accountable to from an article? Well, maybe it's the readers in my mind, although they may not really care. Either way, little mentions like this help keep me motivated to continue pursuing goals until they're met.
Hopefully articles like this motivate others as well, that is the point, not to talk about me. To get others off the couch for their first run ever or to pursue sport further as I am.

The Colorado Runners Association wrote up a little blurb on their site. It can be found at:

http://www.corun.org/view_artilce.php?article_id=47&from=home


-Ryan

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Good read on cycling cadence

Encouraging article for me as I TT in races around 105 rpm, but I think it's slowing dropping for me. I've recently held the mentality I need to push bigger gears, as Chrissie Wellington has talked about learning to do in recent interviews. It will get your legs strong, whereas high cadence will get your heart rate/aerobic system working more. Both good things, which is why there are times to incorporate both high and low cadence in training. This article praises Lance's high cadence:
http://www.trainright.com/articles.asp?uid=4613&p=4366

Saturday, January 2, 2010

The infamous Neil: I really appreciate this guy

My college roommate and one of my best friends Neil Bezdek has been extremely supportive of my triathlon pursuits. He's encouraged me from day 1 (via phone since he was in NYC and I was in Santa Barbara), and I've tried to do the same for him as he's pursuing pro cycling. Many weekends last season we'd call each other and give a race recap, pep talk; I'd try to pick his brain about cycling training, and we'd keep telling each other to keep on chasing the dream, when not everyone around us did. He's supported me as much as anyone in this..and since he's the smartest person I know, I figure I'd be ok listening to him. Crazy to think both of us are really chasing a similar thing. 4 years ago I would have laughed if someone told me we'd be doing what we are now.
Check out this recent article about Neil on VeloNews, the largest US cycling website there is. This is huge exposure for him. To give you an idea, this article was (& is currently) on the front page for a week, along with about 8 other articles: one about Lance, Schleck.. big stories. Really cool read. Congrats Neil!
http://velonews.competitor.com/2009/12/news/neil-bezdek-has-gone-from-bike-messenger-to-a-domestic-pro-in-two-seasons_102134
[Picture: Neil found this beach cruiser he is on in a dumpster, we (kinda) fixed it up in the dorm room, entered Neil in a beach cruiser race where he won a big growler of beer on a piece of crap bike with a wobbly wheel, whose name became Money due to the success & awesome green color. Neil's first of many wins & where his talent was discovered.

Training winter style, snowed today so kept us on the trainers.