More Post-Ride Meals

So you've all heard me harp about post-ride / post-run nutrition meals but I've been experimenting with some things and want to share with you all some findings that have helped me in the past weeks with recovery and replenishing fuel stores. Now, as a fair disclaimer, I must add that this information is based on MY EXPERIENCE and that listening to me doesn't mean you'll turn into some tall dark and handsome vegan guy with shaven legs and loves track racing. No, definitely not that. I'm also not saying that Obama wasn't born in America. Fact of the matter is, he was. Period. Get over it, 'birther' readers. What I am saying though, is that unlike most of my gibberish and rants, this particular post is backed with science. Anybody that knows me knows that the words 'Science' and 'Alex' don't belong in the same sentence but like Queen Latifah, "I'm breaking all the rules!" (one of her worst songs).

Okay so anyone doing endurance sports requiring prolonged use of your body and consequently, your cardiovascular system is getting beat the hell up. And when I mean 'prolonged' use, I'm not referring to the 20 min stair-master sesh you're putting in nor the CrossFit workout videos you've bought. Nope. I mean putting down efforts lasting over 1.5 hours of steady state effort or when you're through flogging yourself on interval days. When you have those days / workouts, your biggest concern is to replace glycogen with a mix of fast acting and slow-absorbing sugars...also known as simple (fast) and complex (slower) burning carbohydrates.

As a huge fruit eater, a lot of my sugar comes from fruits. However, the rate at which fruit is absorbed is much slower than, for example, a can of coke. Why? For starters, fruit has fructose, water and dietary fiber which cause a nice slow burn of sugar and not the see-saw effect one might get after downing 2 cans of coke in the morning only to face-plant onto your computer screen. Table sugar though is artificial and that means high spikes in insulin which, under normal circumstances, is NOT good for your kidney and ultimately, for YOU.

HOWEVER, in special circumstances (i.e. endurance athletes) combining fast and slow burning sugars to replace glycogen levels quickly after a demanding workout is perfectly valid. The keyword in that sentence is 'AFTER' which means you had to do something beforehand like, gee, I dunno, exercise for a long long time! So what is Alex doing post-ride / post-kick-ass-track-sesh to replace all that glycogen:

Alex's Cervelo Test Team Inspired Fruit Salad
Chop up the following into bite-size pieces:
1) 2 bananas
2) 2 cutie-oranges
3) 1 apple
4) Pineapple chunks (thanks to Ms. Denise for showing me how to even do this!)

Cut all that nonsense up and put in a large bowl. Then, cut a lemon in half and squeeze the juice over the fruit salad.
So far so good right? Sounds like something I'd eat doesn't it. But there's one more trick here.
Then, on top of that lemon-flavored fruit salad, put a tablespoon of regular, table sugar. Yes, that same sugar that Dr. Weil is yelling at you for consuming! That sugar will get absorbed into your bloodstream faster than Godhafi can get outta Libya. Wait, that's slow. Check that. That sugar will get absorbed into your bloodstream faster than Lindsey Lohan can get thrown back into jail (again).

I like to make a big batch of that stuff, put it in the fridge and then munch on it when I get home from my bike rides or take it with me during races. Make it, try it, love it, live it, spread it.

Injured. FML

Not much needs to be said about this one.
Short story: lifting and doing some one-legged squats at the gym and somewhere along the lines I tear some tendon in my right leg. Ouch.

What can I do:
1) Switch my car insurance to Geico (apparently, it's easy)
2) Walk up some stairs leading with my left foot
3) Cook some yummy post-ride receipes (which I dont do becuase....)

What can I NOT do:
1) Ride a bike. That means no dates with: Evelyn, Samantha, Madeline or Tera.
2) Run to try and cross the street when the blinking hand comes on.
3) Get into my car to go to work easily.

On the other hand, this added rest is probably good for my body in one sense. Good because rest is just as important as the training. But more importantly...it's playoff basketball time and you know what that means! NO MEANS NO KOBE BRYANT! In my family, there are two types of people: those who like the lakers and those who do NOT like the lakers. Myself, along with 99.999% of the world fall in the latter category.

In other news, this post is dedicated to my pals at Momentum Bike Shop who have decided to hang up the cleats and close shop. It's a very sad thing to see happen and they were in my favorite part of town too (Kaimuki, HI). I owe a good bit of my running start to them as they sponsored me a million and a half years ago as a runner. Aloha my friends.

Two Posts in a Row? Gasp!

Heh...Tera again saying Aloha to you all. Yes, yes...we see you!
My best thinking: Away from work, drinking coffee in a black t-shirt. Bam.
Doing my damn thang at Barnes and Nobles! Love RIDE magazine!
THESE are tan-lines. Look carefully at yours...see the difference?
I'm pretty decent with Ryu (black outfit) and Ken (regular Red Outfit). Not to mention M.Bison but I have to be in an evil mood to play as him...
Over the past few days, I've been getting in some solid solid base mileage in. So much so, my legs are absolutely shot to hell (and yet, I'm dumb enough to race the track tonite) and my laziness has risen to an all time high. In thinking about my overall laziness, I realized that laziness is different depending on where I am.

Take for example when I'm at Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu, HI. Typically, this is a shoppers paradise and ya know, IF I was a shopper, prada-wearing-LV-bag-toting-tourist then I'd probably be running around snapping photos and stuffing dollar bills in my fanny pack. Get that money, dollar dollar bills y'all. BUT, I'm not. And as such, 'lounging' for me is heading on over to borders, sitting my okole down and picking up some cycling magazines - mind you, I don't actually buy them, I just read em cover to cover! Don't lie..I know you do the same too! Don't even tell me for a moment that you don't do this! Sometimes...if I'm feeling especially jolly I'll buy the magazine but rare is that opportunity.

What's 'recovery' mean for me at home? Well, none other than being dressed for success! What you're seeing here is a photo of my shaven legs with Rapha bib shorts, DRESSED TO GO RIDING but instead on the bed playing Super Street Fighter Four (not to be confused with just regular "SF4") in crocs - turquoise ones at that. Ugly aint it? Yea, I hear ya. For that reason, they never leave the house. To be caught in public with those on is just deplorable! Let alone the internet! Oh wait....shit.

But seriously, I do try and get out on the bike every now and then and to prove the point, I can't help but post a picture of my horrendous tan-lines that have resulted from my enormous base mileage I threw down in the 808. Yea...those are rough aint it? Ms. Denise thinks I should just go riding in my armwarmers that way my tan lines even out but not in my book. I wear my tan-lines like how Nelly wears a band-aid under the right eye. Loud and proud.

In other relevant news, The Lakers lost (yess!!!!) and the OKC Thunder won (yessss!!!).
Finally, my helpful hint to you my fellow readers is to discover the group that has all but won me over and actually forced my hand to buy their music off of iTunes. Yes, this was so powerful, I felt compelled to spend my hard-earned on music rather than be the asian I am and download the thing!!!

The Bloody Beetroots
Songs: Warp 1.9, Cornelius, It's Better A DJ on 2 Turntables, Talkin' In My Sleep

WARNING: Heavy heavy heavy bass. Not for the fainthearted. This is not rap. This is not techno. This is not rock. This is electro. Loud, loud, loud sounding music that you want to turn the volume waaaaay up at home or do what I do: pound intervals on your bike listening to this amazingness.

Put simply: This group could probably cure all erectile dysfunction issues. Not like I got em! Ahem!

Introducing: TERA

Ms. Tera in the nude! Damn those Zipp 303s are s-s-s-s-s-s-s-moking hot.
How I mount her.
DA7900 with an SRM makes for a mean mean mean woman.
Mr. Morrissey himself, Vi Lu, wrenching Tera. Or as he says 'putting my hands all over her!"

Hello friends, foreigners, romans, greeks, belgie's and newcomers...

Yes, it has been a while hasn't it. And before you go stoning me to death with anti-weegan slurs and the like...please, please keep in mind I was finding myself. I chartered a plane, traveled to the Himalayas where I was united with Brad Pitt to go treking to Lhasa (Tibet) to re-enact scenes from Seven Years in Tibet. Along the way, I got into an argument with a man over a goat (long story, dont ask), ran away from a pack of hungry wolves and decided that once and for all...
TEAM JACOB > TEAM EDWARD

Okay, I kid, I kid. I've been working, cycling (track racing!), lazy, taking-vacation-lazy (honest to pete, there is a distinction!) and eating like the fatty mcFatness I am and you have come to love and cherish. Along the way, I've visited some close friends, was called 'Junior' at one point and even got tanned. Heh...you know I don't shy from flaunting my tan lines either but I'll spare you here.

Along my trials and tribulations with all things vegan and cycling, I decided to invest in a carbon fiber steed. A rig strong enough to hold the worldly demands of this vegan athlete and his never ending quest to ride his bike to the point his lungs burst out of his heart and my brain spontaneously combusts from all the lactic acid being pumped. And yes I just referred to myself in the third person. And yes I/we/he don't care.

As all my bikes have names, this one is no different. Let's take a quick refresher here and go over them for completeness shall we?
Evelyn - Cervelo S1. Named after my aunt.
Madeline - Scott TT rig.
Samanta - Track rig.

And now...for the first time...
TERA - Scott Addict R2.
So why Tera you ask? Heh. I'll let you figure that one out yourself but it shouldn't be too hard (not what she said).

Enjoy!
I'm back like Reebok Shoes so don't worry.