News

  • Aug 30, 2016

    What Does a it Look Like to Periodize Training? (A Periodization Training Plan)

    The photo above is a glimpse into my personal training plan periodization. The chart comes from the Strava Fitness and Freshness graph. TrainingPeaks has a similar graph, but the Strava graph is more visual for my purposes in this column. The left side or y-axis of the graph in the photo tracks fitness as measured by Strava’s calculations. Though I think it underestimates mountain biking difficulty and therefore fitness and freshness, overall I think it does track pretty close to my performance. The x-axis of the graph is time, 2011 through 2016. It is pretty easy to see that I...

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  • Aug 23, 2016

    Fueling During the 2016 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

    Photo courtesy of Linda Kennedy I promised a few of you that I would get to letting you know what I ate and drank during the 2016 Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. Here it is. You can find last year’s fueling report at this link. What I ate before and during the race was similar, but I didn’t include details last year. This year, details. Wake up at 4:00 am and aim to have breakfast down by 4:30am. Two large eggs scrambled with water and heavy whipping cream (I like the texture) and cooked in coconut oil. ½ cup of...

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  • Jul 07, 2016

    A sample day of eating as a Fat-Burning Machine for Ron Kennedy

    In this column you can see a “normal” Fat-Burning Machine day for Ron Kennedy. On this day he commuted to and from work on his bike, which is normal for him. (Click on the image to enlarge it.)

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  • Jul 06, 2016

    What I ate on race day (Fat-Burning Machine)

    In yesterday’s blog I noted that I raced the Firecracker 50 mountain bike race that took me 6 hours and 37 minutes. In a recent presentation, I was asked what I eat on race day. Before I give details on race day, I think it is important to know these two things: Race day looks different than any other day (I will post details about normal Fat-Burning Machine days in future blogs.) I have been following Fat-Burning Machine guidelines for about 17 months. As you learned in a previous post, you must be fat-adapted to burn more fat during exercise....

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  • Jul 05, 2016

    Comparing the difficulty of mountain bike races (Leadville 100, Breck 68, Firecracker 50, Dakota Five-O, Gunnison Half-Growler, Breck 32)

    I will often get the question, “How hard was that race compared to (insert any other race).” I think there are many factors that determine the difficulty of the race: How fresh it is in my mind Race distance Total elevation of the race Altitude of the race Course difficulty (mountain biking this includes singletrack climbs and descents) Weather How fit I am on race day Yesterday I raced the Breckenridge Firecracker 50 for the first time. It is two loops of the same course, with four aid stations per loop. You can literally do the entire race with one...

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  • Jun 28, 2016

    Is a high fat diet best for endurance athletes? Can you become a Fat Burning Machine?

    The design of the Fat Burning Machine Diet had many influences. One of the influences came from the ultra-running community. While these runners reported unbelievable training and racing fueling rates,  I lurked from the sidelines, watching and experimenting with a very high fat diet. (I consider a very high fat diet to be one where fat is some 60% to 75% of total daily calories.) While I did try this high-fat diet, I found that for me the Fat Burning Machine program was much more sustainable and enjoyable. I could get the athletic and health results I sought, while enjoying...

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  • Jun 07, 2016

    My Big Fat History - Moving from low-carb to high-fat long ago

      On a recent Tuesday, while working with a group of great women at a mountain biking clinic, there were several questions about the book, Become a Fat-Burning Machine and how I discovered/decided that eating more fat was better. My journey began in the mid- to late-1980s when I was working as an aerobics instructor part-time and working a full-time corporate job. In 1986 I did my first triathlon and moved away from instructing aerobics. During this time I followed mainstream recommendations to eat a low-fat diet, keep calorie count at 1200 kcal per day (in order to lose weight)...

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  • Apr 18, 2016

    The Fit Heart’s Story: A Survivor, He was “A Ticking Time Bomb”

    When Jerry Nichols heard the results from his February CT Calcium Scan, at first he was in complete disbelief. After all, the only reason he got the scan done was to confirm what he believed to be true. His belief was that he was free of heart disease due to eating healthy, exercising, managing his weight and keeping an eye on his blood pressure and cholesterol numbers. All of his marks were good. He had no symptoms that would raise a red flag.  Jerry Nichols leading the pack at Nationals 2015. After the disbelief came shock. After the shock he...

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  • Mar 10, 2016

    I have high cholesterol and I’m NOT going on statins

    Before I tell you my personal cholesterol story, I think it is important that you know why I’m telling you this story. On August 5, 2015 I lost my father, age 78, to heart attack. Just 10 days later I lost one of my best friends, Scott Ellis. These experiences sent me on a long, investigative journey to learn more about heart disease and early detection. In January, I wrote a blog on some of what I found in a story about Scott. But there was more. So much more. I had many, many questions about our health care system....

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  • Feb 26, 2016

    Alpine skiing, Nordic skiing or indoor cycling – what is best? A study took a look.

      Yesterday I revealed my list of 15 Winter Fitness Secrets. Today I'll touch on items 1) Alpine skiing, 4) indoor cycling and 9) Nordic skiing. If you've followed my blogs and Facebook, in the past few years I've posted heart rate profiles for all of the activities mentioned. Before launching into my own analysis of the activities, I wanted you to know a recent study looked at these three activities. A study titled, "A Comparison between Alpine Skiing, Cross-Country Skiing and Indoor Cycling on Cardiorespiratory and Metabolic Response" was published by the Journal of Sports Science & Medicine just...

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