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  • Nov 30, 2015

    A Great Strength Exercise You Can Do at Home

    Beginning a strength training program doesn't have to include a gym membership or the purchase of fancy equipment. You can begin your program with simple, yet highly effective exercises. Let's begin with a chair squat or chair sit. As Cathy demonstrates in the first photo, face away from the chair with your feet roughly shoulder-width apart. Use a foot and leg position that feels natural for you. Using the muscles in your legs to control your motion, slowly sit down in the chair. Hold your arms loosely to the side. Notice how you could run a straight line from the...

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  • Aug 31, 2015

    My Fat-Burning Machine Nutrition Details for the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

    For those of you that want the facts first and details later, let's dive in with a summary: I had my second best Leadville 100 Mountain Bike time at 10:09:56. I consider this a huge success because the race was HOT this year. This year was my 11th finish, so I am very familiar with what it takes to compete at, and complete the race. For the first time ever, I was at race weight in March. By race day, I was three pounds lighter than any other previous year. Achieving my fighting weight was relatively easy. I did have...

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  • Apr 13, 2015

    MyFitnessPal Overestimates, Garmin Connect Underestimates Calorie Burn

    It has been over 15 years since I've closely tracked calories and macronutrient percentages. About a month ago, I started tracking daily food intake on MyFitnessPal. More on why I began this investigation in the weeks to come. MyFitnesPal is a very handy tool with an enormous library of foods. I found that once I tracked just a few days of intake, it was super easy. That's because the program remembers your foods and you can store meals as well. However... It seemed to me that it was overestimating my calories burned during exercise. I didn't realize until yesterday (thanks...

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  • Mar 24, 2015

    Athlete Health Status – Help me settle a bet

    I'm not going to taint the results by telling you what the bet is, or my stand, I'm only going to ask for your help to settle the bet. Below is the entire set of questions. Even if your answer is "no" on the first question, let me know. If you click the Survey Monkey link at the bottom of the page, you can help me collect data. I am defining "athlete" as anyone that does aerobic or strength training sessions a minimum of three hours per week. That means you may not be competing, but you aren't sitting on...

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  • Mar 10, 2015

    Copper Mountain's Tucker Mountain Snowcat Review

    A group of us decided we wanted to experience the Tucker Snowcat at Copper Mountain. It is a service provided by the resort, free to lift ticket holders. There were two cats running the Friday we decided to give it a try. Each cat takes 11 people to a drop-off point in Copper Bowl. I estimate the drop-off to be in the saddle separating The Nacho and The Taco, based on my Garmin Player file. I'm told you have to have an account activated to see the names of the runs on the file, otherwise all you will see is...

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  • Feb 25, 2015

    Thin or not thin – what is best for performance?

      Hi Gale! I have a question and haven't been able to find a satisfactory answer. It seems there's a trend towards not being overly lean for long distance athletes. The latest article coming from Sutton. In it he says, "...too much weight loss will negatively affect performance on the swim and bike..." I get the swim but if this is the case for the bike why is there such a focus in the cycling community to be lean? There's a ton of articles like this one on TrainingPeaks about why it is important for cyclists to be thin. So...

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  • Jan 31, 2015

    How can I easily move your 70.3 triathlon training plan forward one day?

      Hi Gale, I have just bought your 70.3 beginner triathlon training plan and loaded it onto  my TrainingPeaks account. I would like it to start on a Sunday, not a Monday as Sunday is my day off. I cannot seem to do it. I have the premier edition of TrainingPeaks. Can you please let me know how to do it? Thanks, Toby ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Hi Toby, First, thanks for using one of my training plans to help you succeed. In the plan, Sunday tends to be a big workout day - so I'm not sure you want to move the...

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  • Jan 27, 2015

    How to train for a 70.3 Triathlon and Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race

    I have had training plan questions from three endurance athletes asking how to train for both a triathlon and the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. Though I don't have a specific training plan to point you to, I can give you some tips. Let's begin with one athlete's specific questions: Hi Gale! I was one of the fortunate mountain bikers to be chosen in the lottery to ride the 2015 edition of the Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race. I am excited, anxious and honestly a bit terrified. I looked at your mountain bike training plans on your Training Peaks page...

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  • Jan 12, 2015

    Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Plan is Now Available!

     10 Finishes for the 1,000-Mile Buckle! Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race Plan General Description The new Leadville 100 Mountain Bike Race training plan is here! After many, many requests I designed a plan specifically for the legendary Leadville race. The plan is 28-weeks in length to prepare you specifically for this race. You can find it on my TrainingPeaks page here. (The entire list of training plans is on my main page.) Below is additional information on the training plan. Know that when you purchase the plan, you will also receive a 21-page pdf file with supporting information. THE PLAN...

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  • Jan 09, 2015

    Comparing Energy Bars and Foods

    An Ironman® athlete I am currently coaching was diagnosed with metabolic syndrome. The doctor he worked with to lose some weight (before coming to me) recommended one of the foods he considers for long distance training and racing is Uncrustables®.  She liked this product because it is convenient, comes packaged like a bar and is easier to swallow than many traditional bars. She also mentioned they are a good balance of quick, intermediate and slow releasing calories.   Learning about what foods work for my current Ironman® athlete sent me on a journey of charting various bars that I, and...

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