Planning Your Season

Start next season NOW The best part about planning your season for next year is that we get to plan our epic adventure(s). Many of these adventures involve travel to faraway lands which ultimately means you’re committing significant time, energy and funds to create a life enriching experience for yourself. You would be in the…

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Annual Performance Evaluation in Cycling

The Annual Performance Evaluation in cycling, when paired with an athlete’s self-evaluation is a crucial tool for identifying areas of needed improvement, tracking progress, improving performance durability, advancing results, and achieving personal milestones.

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Loren Krieger ROLLS at Moab Rocks Race

Moab Rocks

Moab Rocks is a great early season race to test the off-season preparations and see how my fitness is coming along. It’s hosted by Trans Rockies Series and was well done. I am planning to return next year and bring more people to experience this event.

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The Right Auto Insurance for Cycling?

Bonnici Law

Auto insurance companies sure do a great job advertising their slick slogans and how inexpensive they can be. But they are terrible at explaining exactly how insurance coverage works and when it can be used.

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Everyone Trains 28 Hour Weeks on Instagram

You’re scrolling the gram, you look up intermittently and look out your window. The weather is either absolute trash, or you’re feeling firmly imprisoned by your day job. You look back down at your phone and you see, yet another proud screenshot, of someone’s 28 hour riding week with 1520 TSS points, and they got a tan.

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Allan Schroeder: 2022 Men 30-34 CX Champion

Allan crosses the finish line

Allan cruising in the lead Meet Allan Schroeder, your 2022, 30-34 men’s cyclocross national champion!! SE coach Kristen Arnold has been coaching Allan since 2016. This national championship title marks a breakthrough ride for him and a sign of many great things to come. Allan has worked hard for his successes as he’s raced road…

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Zack Allison’s BWR North Carolina Race Recap

BWR North Carolina, for me, for my race day, actually started when we left Kansas after Unbound. It was a pretty crazy set of travel days with Whitney getting Giardia and massive lightning storms each night we stopped with the camper, causing a lack of recovery/body work going into North Carolina.   Thank goodness for…

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Tackling the Hell of the East (Coast)

Just six short weeks after the first Belgian Waffle Ride in San Diego, the second stop of the Quadrupel Crown of Gravel took place. This time the traveling gravel circus took roots in the East Coast, somewhere about 30 miles south of Asheville, North Carolina along the border of South Carolina. BWR North Carolina was…

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Preparing for the Hell of the North (Carolina)

It’s been about one month since Belgian Waffle Ride (BWR) California and now North Carolina is right around the corner. I thought I would have a solid window to prepare for what’s to come at the next BWR but honestly, I’ve been on a crit racing calendar, so the preparation is, well, being handled differently.…

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How to Avoid DNFing the BWR

Many begin an epic adventure like the one you’ve just embarked upon expecting moderate discomfort and glory to await us, but only the most prepared will triumph over the Belgian Waffle Ride. Although the numbers are not public, we know a high percentage of riders never cross the finish line and get their own ride…

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Tackling the Dubbel Header

For those of you uninitiated to the Dubbel Header, the concept is simple; race the Waffle ride on Saturday and turn around and race the Wafer on Sunday. Easy enough? Ha! The Waffle ride was 135+ miles long, sure to be my longest ride of the year and the Wafer was 75 miles, yet still…

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Epilogue and Epitaph of a Glorious BWR Finish

Epiligue an Epitaph of a Glorious BWR Finish Evolution doesn’t always occur incrementally. Sometimes change is sudden, surprising and painful. The Belgian Waffle Ride has always been different. Different is challenging; it’s new; it’s unique. Then, for 4 years the course did not change substantially. Yes, there were small tweaks but nothing that affected overall…

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The Best Tire for the Belgian Waffle Ride CA (San Diego)

The Best Tire for the Belgian Waffle Ride CA (San Diego) Monuments are generally considered to be the oldest, hardest and most prestigious one day races on the professional circuit and winning one can immortalize an athlete in the annals of history. As such, Monuments define spring racing success in the professional ranks, dictating future…

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Josie Fouts, Leader in the Off-Road Para-cycling Movement

Born in Korea with only a right hand, Josie is an Asian-American amputee that grew up in the midwest, always standing out. Her interest in metabolism research led her out to San Diego and the year-round great weather encouraged her to begin commuting by bike. Soon the San Diego cycling community discovered her potential and…

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JP Brocket, King of the Long Ride

SE athlete JP Brocket has been training hard in Taiwan: JP Brocket, a long-time Source Endurance athlete, has been living in Taiwan and sharing his journey with us on social media. He’s been climbing big mountains, completing hard intervals, and hopping into local races. JP just finished a big block of volume where he completed…

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Adjusting your training with the seasons

For just about every state in the country (sorry Arizona), daylight savings just went into effect last weekend. It’s officially that time of year where the days are quite short, the weather is brisk, on the decline and just about everyone is feeling a time crunch with the holidays fast approaching. What should training look…

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BWR Kansas: An Insider’s Guide to Lawrence

Make the most of Lawrence, KS Source Endurance owner and coach Adam Mills spent many years living in Lawrence, Kansas, and is a Kansas native. Here are some of his favorites from one of his favorite places: You registered for BWR KS and if you’re like many people, you’ve probably never been to Lawrence unless…

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Smoke & Training

smoke and training

Welcome to the tail end of the summer, or as we’ve come to know it as here in Seattle “Fire Season”. As I sit down to write this, I’ve just finished reading a message from our local velodrome alerting the community that Friday night racing will be cancelled if the Air Quality Index in the…

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Perfecting the ultimate recovery modality, sleep!

Sleep for athletes

I recently had an athlete ask me “what’s the best way to recover, should I be wearing compression socks all the time? How about my Normatec boots?? Should I add in stretching into the routine?” All very valid questions, but my number one answer for promoting recovery…sleep. As athletes, we are constantly looking for ways…

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SE Athlete Meagan Gehrke breaks Trans Ohio record

Meagan Gehrke

On Saturday, October 3rd, Meagan rode her bike across Ohio. “We rolled out at 5:07am and it was 35 degrees with a frost warning. Clothing-wise I decided on a wool buff, wool base layer tank, my MFF Summer weight LS, my LGS winter jacket, a cycling cap, wool glove liners, Specialized long finger fall gloves,…

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6 Tips for Riding and Exercising in the Heat

As the temperatures rise and the workouts get tougher I wanted to take a quick moment to remind everyone about training in the heat.  Here are some quick action items: ALL HEAT ADAPTATIONS ARE DEPENDENT ON YOUR ABILITY TO SWEAT MORE. This means that you need MORE fluids on your rides vs riding in primo weather. …

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May Challenge: At Home Strength Training

SE coaches and next door neighbors, Kristen Arnold and Zack Allison are challenging you to share your at-home strength workout or try theirs! Tag us on Facebook or Instagram in your at-home strength workout post or story in May for a chance to win schwag from ENVE, AMP Human, Chamois Butt’r and of course, Source Endurance! …

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5 ways to NOT DNF at Unbound Gravel

DNF Kanza

Many begin Unbound Gravel but only the prepared and enduring finish. Although the numbers are not public, we know a high percentage of riders never cross the finish line and need to be picked up by support or get their own ride home. 200 miles is a tall order for most, and likely the longest…

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Questionable Decisions: World Tour 2020

Casey Cohenmeyer

Meet Casey. Casey is a NICU (Neonatal Intensive Care Unit) Doctor full time and then some who features a hectic work schedule. She’s also a badass who spends her off-hours at some of the most challenging and ridiculous events that her gravel bike can tolerate. She has all the typical limiters that plague the non-pro…

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Casey Cohenmeyer: 2019 Canyon Belgian Waffle Ride BWR Done

TLDR Version: Thank you Michael Marckx, Andy Brightman, Phil Tinstman and all the countless others and volunteers who bring this insane event to our community. Thank you cycling community for being awesome. Thank you to Nick, Steve and Ned for putting up and being involved in this nonsense. Most of all, thank you Adam Mills at…

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Sylvia Maas Sets Record At Race Across The West

Sylvia Maas is no stranger to arduous challenges so it’s no shocker that she set a record recently at Race Across the West!! From Race Across the West’s post (see original): TEAM IN OUR PRIME FINISHES WITH JUST ONE RIDER R201 In Our Prime, USA, finished first in the 2-Person Female (50-59) category. Team In…

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Source Endurance is Hiring 1-2 Coaches

Overview: Source Endurance is expanding with the addition of 1-2 qualified cycling coach (es) and/ or multi sport coach (es) to work as independent contractor(s).  New coaches should have a comprehensive understanding of exercise physiology and modern training theory in addition to strong organization and communication skills. He/she will be responsible for coaching a variety…

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Saving Your Season

Where is the line between procrastination and irresponsibility? We don’t mow the lawn the exact day it needs it. Yet, if we wait too long, the city sends us a citation. We don’t depart an extra hour early just to make sure we are on time, yet if we’re consistently late it’s deemed irresponsible.  And…

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Utilizing winter sports for cycling training

I’m going to paint a picture and it may resemble your situation. Minnesota in February. You’re working during the day, watching the weather, and it does not look good for your weekend ride like it did in July. Looks like another evening on the trainer. You’ve found Zwift, you’ve tried TrainerRoad, your coach writes some…

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Meet SETCR Member Jenny Gerow

Jenny Gerow is one of our newest SETCR members. She is a part of the Fort Follies cycling team. Between a freshly broken hand and a busy job at TrainingPeaks, she uses the resources at the training center to stay in shape with minimal time. We interviewed her recently:  What is your favorite feature about…

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Cycling Base Training, Part 3

As Heath Blackgrove, 2004 Olympian and long time pro cyclist, put it to me once, “if you do aerobic base right, everything else comes easily.” It’s hard to argue with results. Base training done right is a little different for everyone though. With training intensity and duration changing based on individual factors such as available time and family commitments,…

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Spicer Ranch CX Clinic Sept 10 in Beatty, NV

Group coaching session

We are excited to be hosting/ instructing this CX Clinic.  It will be at the intended location of the future Nevada state cyclocross championship. Spicer Ranch Cyclocross Clinic presented by Clifbar Saturday Sep. 10, 4PM – 730ish PM (last light) Spicer Ranch and Trails #1 Boiling Pot Rd. Beatty, NV  89003 Featuring instruction by: Adam…

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Teamwork Makes the Dream Work, Proper Execution of Team Strategy

Coaching multiple members from the same team while commonplace in team sports, is a rare occurrence in cycling. With an ever growing emphasis on team cohesion and teamwork, it seems logical that a single coach work with an entire team to help the organization and athletes see the individual performances assembled together much in the same fashion as…

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Tire pressure for criteriums and road races

What is the “best” tire pressure is a question that I get from about half my clients and the other half should be asking about tire pressure as they are likely just pumping up their tires to triple digits without thinking about other options. One answer to all of these questions is “it depends.” This…

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Sweeping the Podium at LandRun 100 and Rage Against the Chainring

For the past two weekends Bob Cummings and the Panaracer/Stan’s NoTubes p/b Bicycle X-Change team, also sponsored by Source Endurance have engineered a clean podium sweep first at the Land Run 100 followed by Rage Against the Chainring. First of all, full credit is due to the fitness of the team, the sound team tactics as…

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Often Discussed, Never Explained: Base Training, Part 2 of 3

Part 1 established what base training is, and for those who have the time to ride them, base miles are highly effective for a few reasons. Low intensity, high duration training provides a low muscular stress alongside a high aerobic stress, making athletes fitter while maintaining relative freshness in the legs, when compared with high…

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Source Endurance Training Center March Newsletter

A ton of events and updates for you training center riders this week! Today is Rio Swap 2016! Rio Swap is always an amazing event where you can find almost any bike part you need or just walk around and see what people have had laying round and visit with friends. During Rio Swap the Training…

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New Clothing Order

    Castelli has come through once again!  New items are the 2016 collection of clothing and they are the best we’ve ever seen or worn. We have new WINDVESTS and LONG SLEEVE jerseys to accompany the SE lineup.  In addition, other premium Castelli in- line accessories are being offered.  Store closes Feb 20. Get…

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Often Discussed, Never Explained: Base Training, Part I

It’s not necessarily that inaccurate conclusions are being drawn about base training, but more that some conclusions are misguided.  I’ve decided to write a bit about base training because it’s important to understand the correct reasoning behind those conclusions as well as what the alternatives to base training can do for athletes. Everyone has unique…

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Training Center of the Rockies January Newsletter

Hey Norther Colorado! January newsletter brings you the latest information on the Training Center features, events, and participant highlights. The talk of the town as always….the weather. Its been a pretty hard winter for riding outside and it does not look much better in the next couple weeks. It’s OK, the Training Center is your solution…

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Why Gravel?

At the tender age of 15, I ran my first and last marathon. Mostly on a dare, but also because I was a runner at the time, I lined up for the 1984 Macy’s Marathon in Kansas City and at the conclusion of the race (which took longer than I care to admit) I swore…

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BWR: Equipment Choices

Now that we’ve read about the Belgian Waffle Ride and what physiological challenges to expect, let’s talk about the equipment challenges of such an event. Unless you’re coming from a mountain bike background, the discussion of equipment challenges is a bit of a foreign topic. One of the biggest equipment considerations for a road racer…

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The Greatest Monument of Cycling in the US

Hello, my name is Michael Marckx and I love waffles and all things Belgian. I also love riding my bike a long way and drinking Belgian ales directly after. I’m Flemish; we’re just odd that way.   Being Flemish and growing up with an affinity for the culinary delights and ethnic characteristics of the Belgians,…

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The SE Training Center 12 week build session

In Fort Collins, Colorado, there lies a training center. In this training center known as Source Endurance, we offer a refuge from the elements. Winter riding is a struggle in most states so we strive to bring you the best scenario to riding inside possible. A group training environment, smart trainers, power numbers, the ability…

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BWR Survival Camp, What to Expect

The Belgian Waffle Ride is a classic adventure that challenges the young, old, strong and stronger in ways many veteran bike riders can’t begin to comprehend. We had a couple clients at the 2015 edition and based on their data, we expect the following output from the day.   7-9 hours of pedaling covering 140…

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Tis the Season, for Gravel. What does it take?

Tis’  the season, for gravel. But what does it take? The recent surge in popularity of gravel events over the past few years has my mind reeling. People are coming out of the woodwork ready to slay their own bodies over thousands of miles of gravel, in the dark, in the cold, and even when…

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Training Center of the Rockies December News Letter

Hey Northern Colorado, November was a big month for us! We saw many new faces and had our first snow. Here’s the highlights Some big classes with the time change, snow, and icy temperatures. We had a weight lifting for cyclists seminar. With presentation by our own Zack Allison covering relevant studies and form for…

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Source Endurance Training Center November Newsletter

Hey Fort Collins! Happy Halloween, hope you had a good extra hour of sleep with the time change. Unfortunately with that extra hour of sleep….as of today, November 1st, the sun sets at 4:57PM….. Not to fear the training center is going strong. Here is a picture of our current schedule. To sign up for…

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Reaching Peak Nutrition

Reaching Peak Nutrition Grant Harrison- Senior consultant, Source Endurance When we look at training and our overall functioning as an athlete, we can compare the way our body works to the way a flame works.  In order to have a flame, three components need to be present: heat, oxygen, and fuel. Our heat is the…

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Source Endurance Training Center October News Letter

Hello Source Endurance Training Center Followers! Welcome to our first newsletter. We hope to bring you this newsletter every month from here on out with new features and events going on in your local Fort Collins cycling specific training center. If you are not aware, we are a relatively new training facility geared towards the…

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The Velominati

 Grant Harrison, M.S. Senior Consultant- Source Endurance Are you familiar with “The Rules”? Well, if you aren’t, you should go to Velominati.com and check them out. The authors of this site and their constituents are coined, “keepers of the cog” and have thus laid out a solid foundation or rules, lexicon, ideas, and inspiring guidance…

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The Importance of Strength and Core for Cyclocross

Strength and core are pivotal for any cyclist. Yes, your huge legs are like pistons that shove power to the pedals moving you forward but a piston without an engine block has no power. Your core is what your legs push off of to create the power at the pedals. In cyclocross poor core strength…

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Creating, Establishing and Committing to a Break Away

Creating, Establishing and Committing to a Break Away Adam Mills. Source Endurance, Senior Consultant   Welcome to the mid-season for road racing, 2015. All around the country, Source Endurance athletes have been taking chances and getting up the road only to have the breakaway attempt fail for a multitude of reasons. I thought I’d take…

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Testing protocols and the BSX insight

At Source Endurance we know that being on the cutting edge of research and technology makes us some of the best at what we do. Having attended the BSX insight launch in Boulder, Colorado this past year, we came away with valuable insight into the future of performance testing. Wanting to learn more about the…

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Making the most of winter: Fat Biking

Winter in the midwest is tough to train in, especially the Great Lakes region where ice and snow make riding the road all but impossible. Many people turn to road and gravel riding,  or enduring the harsh elements on the roads they are used to riding in warmer months. Others take to cross country skiing,…

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Compression Garments: The Verdict

While most of the data indicate that the use of compression garments does not provide an advantage, there are a handful that do show possible benefits.  It is important, however, to tease out the possible causes and evaluate the efficacy of the items. For instance, Bringard, Perrey and Reaburn (2006) found that running economy may…

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Compression Garments: Moving Into Athletics

Previously, we discussed the mechanism by which compression garments aid people from a healthcare perspective as well as how their mechanism of action may not work in athletes.   However, as often seen in science and medicine, tools can be employed in ways not originally intended with great benefit. This is often due to some other…

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Compression Garments, Part I: Before they were used for sport

Working in the complimentary fields of medicine and exercise physiology can provide insight in to new ideas and products.   It can also aid in teasing out how the theories behind various practices are developed.  An example of this is the use of compression garments to aid recovery and increase performance.  While increased recovery or enhance…

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Psychological skills, coaching, and performance of cyclo-cross athletes

Cyclo-cross is one of the most unique cycling disciplines there are. It could be muddy, snowy, sandy, hilly, rocky, and potentially all within the same race. Also common is the need to traverse parts of the course on foot, bike in hand. The overall look, feel, and ambiance of a cross race seem to leave…

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Heat Consequences of Aero Road Helmets

While sitting on the couch between races at Gateway Cup, the Think Finance p/b Trek Stores Cycling Team and two Source Endurance coaches jumped into  a discussion on aero road helmets. The weather for this particular race weekend in Saint Louis was an average of around 100F at each of the races. The major question…

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Offseason Training, Don't Waste Your Base (2 of 2)

Once it was observed that many of the benefits seen with longer and easier training sessions were also seen with shorter and harder workouts, the next step was to identify which changes do and do not occur among the two training modalities.  By analyzing training adaptations at different intensities in individuals of various fitness, multiple changes occur…

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Offseason Training, Don't Waste Your Base (1 of 2)

The off-season doesn’t exist to many racers on structured training plans. It’s a period to race cyclo-cross and/or recover for a short bit before prepping for the next season’s races. This period can also be tremendously beneficial in gaining fitness. However, the elements are against most racers with cold weather, snow and ice, and jobs…

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Sports’ secret weapon: sleep. By: Michael J. Breus, PhD

The search for performance enhancement leads some athletes to turn some pretty dark corners. It’s a shame, and not just because doping is dangerous, unethical, and frequently illegal. It’s also a shame because athletes at all levels of play have access to a powerful tool to improve their performance, one that won’t break any laws…

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Crank length, What’s Your Size?

What length is your road crank? If you are less than 5 feet tall you are likely running 165mm cranks. If your height is 5’5” – 6 feet you are likely spinning 172.5mm cranks. Over 6 feet and the length “standards start to vary.” 175mm? 180? Custom length specially made? What actually makes these the…

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Pedaling Efficiency at Low vs High intensity

Many things go into a pedal stroke. Consider that the daily commuter just pushes down on his flat pedals, making one dimension of force. As this commuter pedals harder to make the red light, his RPMs increase and he starts to bounce on the saddle and inefficiently gain speed to make the light. On the…

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Ischemic Preconditioning

One interesting aspect of studying exercise physiology is the ability to incorporate a multi-discipline approach to developing new ideas. The major underlying theme is the body being placed under a form of stress and monitoring the response. The crossover between exercise science and medical research is well founded as it’s not uncommon to see researchers…

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Early Season Stages of Grief

Denial–  I’m fit.  I’m just having a bad day. Anger–  I’m so mad I let myself get so unfit. I’m getting fit now!  These guys are a-holes for showing me I’m unfit. Bargaining–  If I get through this, I’m going to start training 30 hours a week so I’m never unfit again. Depression–  I’m so…

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Invaluable

This post really has nothing to do with fitness, coaching or anything of performance value.  Actually, it reminded me exactly why it is so very difficult to write about things that truly move you……. Sometimes it takes an event that can described as nothing except sorrowful to give you a bold reminder of your mortality.…

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Join SE: 500k Training Camp with Kristian House p/b Nelo’s Cycles

Camp Flyer HERE  All Source Endurance clients, ask about your special pricing! Spend 5 days training with the former British National Champion on the sameroads he uses to prepare for his upcoming race season. These same roads androutes have led him to great successes in previous seasons, now you can takeadvantage of the phenomenal training…

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Mid Season CX Musings… but coming a little late.

As the cross (CX) season begins its final push towards Nationals and Master's Worlds, some random thoughts come to mind. CX is as much a learning process as it is an endurance sport: Source Endurance has done a couple CX clinics this fall with the goal of providing the basic skills from which a solid…

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2012 CX National Championships- Men Elite Prediction

Tim Johnson.  That's my prediction and barring injury or illness at this point of the season, and I'm sticking to it.  I told a few friends back in September that the one who will win CX Nationals will only begin to see championship form around Thanksgiving.  And I'll followup the statement with this, “the guys…

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The Off Season: It Will Make or Break the Coming Season

By: John Hobbs, Senior Consultant The passing of the Road World Championships tells the time of the year.  CX-ers are gritting their teeth during eye-popping efforts, winter athletes are preparing for the transition to snow, and roadies have rounded out their season and wrapping up their time off.  That time off is just where the…

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Cyclocross Course Design, Technical skills, Fitness

Groups of riders usually signal un-technical riding.Photo Credit: Lyne Lamoureux Following some recent races both at the national and local level, some have been asking, commenting, and wondering how Cyclocross (CX) course design plays into the outcome of the race.  This proves a very interesting topic and something that could be debated indefinitely.  But first…

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The problem with applying science to training.

John Hobbs, MEd Senior Consultant Many of our athletes have a history of marginally following haphazard training plans or blindly trusting current and old training fads, which had effectively prevented them from realizing most of their athletic potential.  As we have learned from our clients, equally detrimental is the blanket application of scientific literature to…

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