20 Miles in Vibram 5 Fingers

I've been running in these bad boys for almost a week and definitely have some observations. How could you not, with such a different running platform than the norm?

First off, you better have some barefooting or low heel running background or these babies will shred your calves. I used to run barefoot a lot and that certainly helps.

I mention the above because the shoes are ADDICTIVE. You want to keep wearing them because they feel so strange and fun. They are like soft gloves for your feet with a thin layer of the world's finest rubber on the contact patches. You feel like your feet have been injected with monkey steroids and you can do ANYTHING.

They are light and you can go super fast. For me, the faster I go in them, the better my form gets. It's like you can't go fast in them with bad form. There is so much biofeedback, and it amplifies as you go faster, it makes bad form impossible to do.

I've been alternating runs between them and my old shoes so I can get used to them. Tonight's run may have been the breaking point where I can run in them full time.

Thumbs up so far!

Sugars as Energy

If it ends in "ose", it's a sugar. The problem is, your body handles each kind of sugar differently.  Maltose, dextrose, sucrose... there's a bunch.  

For example, fructose is fruit sugar, and glucose is another one that is the end result of carbohydrate digestion.  Excess glucose is converted to glycogen and is stored in the liver and muscles as energy ready to use.

I'm not a nutritionist, but I've learned to be observant of the different types of sugars in my fuels.  Everybody is different, and people digest the different sugars as endurance fuels with a lot of variation.  When you start using a fuel, it's important to look at the sugar source and be aware of how it's different than what you're used to.

As an example, I showed in the last video that I was using agave nectar as a sugar source.  People demonize high fructose corn syrup (55% fructose) as bad for you when agave nectar is 90% fructose itself. What?  So is agave nectar good for you or the worst thing ever made?

I'm not going to tell you which sugars to use, but just wanted to encourage you to do your research.  Look up the different "ose"es you use on the internet and read about how they work.  Some are notorious for being harder to digest when exercising than others, causing stomach distress.  I experience the "Gatorade Gut Bomb" if I drink only gatorade as fuel for long events.  Some people are fine with it.

If you are looking to optimize and improve your long distance performance, know the types of sugars you are taking in and start looking at some other options.  One of my favorite sugars to use as an example is honey. It has a wide array of different types of "ose" in it:  

Levulose(%)	38.19
Dextrose(%)	31.28
Sucrose(%)	1.31
Maltose(%)	7.31

Levulose?  What is that? Levulose is the raw sugar from fruit before being stripped of enzymes and minerals and turned into fructose by man.  Wow, this gets weirder by the minute!

If you'd like to really geek out on this topic, here is an interesting read.  

Some people have strong opinions on sugars and I encourage you to share them in the comments.  Enjoy, and be sweet!

"How To" Secrets of Training with Heart Rate, Power, and Nutrition

This is a video showing how to use software to train for endurance events.  Watch closely and you can see the magic mix of nutrition, effort level, and time all at work.

Summary: My energy levels fade after about two hours.  You can see where I supplement calories and energy levels come back up.

The Good: You can see how workouts in a controlled environment allow for great analysis of what you need to go long.  I'm fueling every 15 minutes and staying at an even effort level that I can sustain for a long time.

The Bad: Even though my fuel intake was precise, I never bothered to see how many calories it was before I even started.  Post analysis showed it to be 200 calories per hour.  Bumping it up to 300 calories per hour mid-ride allowed for me to get back to performing at a nice level.

Other Notes: Heart rate is a great reflector of how you're doing. If you can't sustain a given HR, you're either bonking or dehydrated.  If your speed (indoors) or power (indoors or out) falls off and at the same HR or both of those fade, you're in trouble.

How to Use This Data: This type of software exists so you can analyze what went right or wrong during a workout so you can fix it on the next one.  For me, I'm using this dataset to ride the next ride at 300 calories per hour the whole time and see if that slump goes away.  The effort level was in my Zone 2, which tells me I should be able to sustain this for 112 miles (an Ironman bike distance).  A little later in the season, I will extend this ride to 5 hours and then run afterwards to ensure that the fueling pattern is sustainable for a full Ironman.  In the meantime, I'll also start adding electrolyte sources into the fuel for cramp reduction in hotter conditions.  It's also important to notice how I am able to calculate exactly how many calories were involved.  Many athletes train long and have no idea what's happening and then can't replicate great training results during a race.  The longer the event, the more important it is to remove any guessing.

How to put tire sealant in your tubes. Never have a flat again!

Want to stop having flats?  Try this out!  Put tire sealant in your tubes on your own and save a ton of money.  Spend more time training and less time changing tubes.

Wheel Purchasing 101

Wheels are barely noticeable when they work right. When they are bad, you can't ignore them.

I purchased a nicer set of wheels for my road bike after having a great (and expensive) lesson taught to me. After buying a low-end Shimano rear wheel, thinking that I was being smart and saving money, I had to make countless trips to the bike shop to replace busted spokes and get the wheel trued.

At around $8 - $10 for each spoke and $20 for truing, it wasn't more than a couple trips when I realized I should have bought a better wheel. Don't let it happen to you!

But the real lesson the bike shop guys taught me is this - Whenever you get a new wheel, ride it a few times and then take it back in to get it trued and tightened. A good shop will do this for free, since it's a new product from their shop. This gets the wheel under control before things go bad. "A couple of quick visits and that wheel should be good to go for a loooooooooong time," they said.

Have wheel purchasing tips or questions? Post them in the comments section below!