Learning the Cycling Basics

It was my first official ride of triathlon training, and Mark and I were zipping down the greenway.

16.8 ... 17 ... 17.4 mph.

The computer on my bike was recording speeds that I wasn't used to seeing, especially as I was used to my heavier hybrid. It was fun. It felt great. "It's like flying," I told Mark.

"You're in a low gear," he replied. "That's why."

"I don't understand. What does that mean?"

"You're in a low gear," he said. "You should be in a higher gear for training."

BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS.

Riding a bike seems so easy. You get on, you pedal. You feel the wind in your hair and the ground beneath you. You press the brakes to stop and get off the seat to power up a hill.

But, allow me to let you in on a secret: Cycling is a complicated sport as the bicycle is an expensive piece of equipment with lots of moving parts. With lots of pieces and lots of money required, there's a lot to know - especially if you are doing it for more than leisure.

Thankfully - and I mean that with all sincerity - I was given the opportunity to review "The Bicycling Big Book of Cycling for Beginners: Everything a new cyclist needs to know to gear up and start riding." I might have logged a few miles on a banana seat with my bunny Jenny in the basket but I am definitely a beginner to the sport.

The book was published by Bicycling Magazine, sister magazine of Runner's World - both of which are by Rodale. It's similar to the "Big Book of Running for Beginners" [reviewed HERE] but I found the cycling book to be a lot less "duh" and a whole lot more "oh, now I understand." It includes information about the parts of the bike; how to ride for recreation, fitness and racing; gears and when to use them and why; the differences between bike prices; maintenance (including changing tires and lubrication = love); safety; and cadence.

I seriously had a light bulb moment when I read the section about the chain rings and when to switch gears. For the entire time I've been riding a bike, or at least 10 speed, I changed gears until riding felt comfortable. I didn't know whether I was moving up or down, sideways or backwards. Now, I understand that the bigger chain rings allow for more power and are used to gain momentum on downhills and flats. The smaller chain rings require, usually, a higher cadence and are better on uphills. But, be careful. You don't always want to use the big ring because riders like to fall into a cadence of 60 to 80 rpm where as 90 to 110 rpm is preferable for fitness and competitive riding.

So, Mark, now I understand.

Other takeaways:

Helmets. It's imperative to have good head protection, and sun and age damage the effectiveness of a helmet. Riders should replace them every 2 to 3 years. So ... I should upgrade from Mark's hand-me-down I've been wearing for six years.

Gloves. Cycling handwear isn't just about looking cool to other cyclists. And, it's not just about stopping that numbing feeling after a long ride. Gloves are just as much about safety as anything else. If, God forbid you fall, they help protect the hands as it's our natural inclination to stop ourselves with our palms.

Speed racer. I have ridiculous anxiety about speeding down a hill. It just feels, well, scary. However, it's better to push the fear aside and not ride the brakes. It's actually safer.

Emergency stopping. I have not been in this situation and, as I do not clip in (not yet), it's less of an issue. But, if you have to stop quickly, the book suggests pushing your weight back to help keep your traction and keep you from going over the handlebars.

Pedaling. How you pedal makes a big difference in the effectiveness and efficiency of the workout. If you can, clipless pedals are the way to go.

$$$. I like to joke that running is expensive with the $100 shoes and $50 race entries and the $80 gotta-have compression tights but cycling really is pricey. The cheapest road bikes are $700 - without the upgrades and add-ons, such as the most basic of bottle cages. The less you spend on the bike, the more one can expect to spend on the upgrades especially as the bike ages.

While this might be old news for some, I really found the book to be helpful. The information was detailed without being overly so, and it was written in a straight-forward, easy to understand manner. My only complaint - and it was the same one with the "Big Book of Running for Beginners" - is the inclusion of weight loss information. I'd rather it be just about the sport.

Reading, lately {A Three Things Thursday Post}

I used to read books. Once upon a time, you know. Chick lit and memoirs (ah, Jen Lancaster, I love you). I sometimes got into historical books and biographies, and there was the obligatory running book.

These days, though, when the time comes to rest my butt, all I want to do is space out. Veg. Watch TV. Recently, it has been a marathon of "The Killing" thanks to Netflix. I finally made it through the first two seasons, which if you watch the show, you know why it's such a milestone. I hate to love that show.

But I digress.

As much as I say I don't have time to read, I have found myself wrapped in a few things lately.

1. OK, this first item isn't technically a book but I have been studying it. A lot.

The Bourbon Chase map! Our team captain is getting to the nitty gritty of things - like van and leg assignments - and we got to put in for our top picks.

When it comes to relays, it's important to be honest with yourself and your abilities. I am not going to pick the hilliest legs because a) I don't like hills; and b) I live in northeast Indiana where the best hills are on the golf course. I don't mind longer runs, though, so the higher mileage doesn't throw me. I asked to be runner 6 or runner 9, and I got penciled in for 6. I loved being a major exchange runner for Hood to Coast, so I'm amped that I will be for Bourbon Chase. Plus, when I'm done, the van is done. (Read: FOOD.)

2. Speaking of food, when I was advised to take a look at my carb consumption and the possible link to depression, I went in search of information - research or anecdotal. I had received positive feedback about Whole 30 and was then led to "Fitness Confidential" by Vinnie Tortorich. I am reading the latter but before my friend gifted me the book, I picked up "Wheat Belly" on audiobook from the library.

I am not here to support or dispel the claims in the book but I will say that I found it very interesting. It definitely made me re-examine the amount of processed wheat in my diet and the affect that it has on my physical and mental well-being. It is quite scientific in its tone, especially in the early parts, and I'm not sure I could have gotten through it in traditional print format. The audiobook was nice, and it came with a PDF of documents and recipes.

3. And, on the opposite end of the spectrum, I've been reading "The Fit Bottomed Girls Anti Diet." As the title suggests, this book is the anti-diet diet book. There are no menu plans or workout schedules. There's no list of safe foods or an even longer list of things that are forbidden. It's a book about getting healthy and, well, feeling healthy doing it.

The book is written by the authors of the popular blog Fit Bottomed Girls - Jennipher Walters and Erin Whitehead - and reading the book feels very much like reading the blog. The tone is conversational, the advice practical. So much so, and I don't mean this in a negative way, that the book feels a little bit like a Weight Watchers meeting. Your leaders - Jennipher and Erin - address a topic (from eating to exercise to well being) and offer solutions that could be applied without disrupting the whole family. Some of them, like WW, seem a bit "duh" but we have to remember that information wasn't always "duh."

Some of the things that stuck out to me were fighting with the scale and why you were doing it, which felt quite relevant to me personally; how to take compliments with grace and accept them; and 10-minute fixes.

The publishers of "The Fit Bottomed Girls Anti Diet" provided me with a copy free of charge for review ... and are offering three copies for me to giveaway. Enter using the widget below!

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This giveaway is open to those over 18 and residents of United States and Canada. It begins on 5/15/14 and ends on 5/24/14; the winners will be contacted via email on 5/24/14. One entry per person. The The number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning. Void where prohibited by law.

First steps: Beginning running {+ a book review}

Running is the simplest of sports, they say. You put on a pair of shorts and a shirt, lace up a pair of shoes and go.

It's exactly what I did for my first 5K - the Warbird 5K/10K in May 2008. I wore a cotton tank top with a long-sleeve knit lifestyle tee on top and cotton sweat pants. My shoes were a rugged pair of gray-and-pink Adidas that I bought from Kohl's because they were on sale and fashionable. Oh, and I wore cotton socks.

If I were dressing for a 5K now, especially one in May, the look would be a lot different - my new favorite Brooks Running shorts, moisture-wicking tank, shoes that I bought at a running store and Pro Compression wicking socks. Not that the change is wardrobe is bad or good - I just didn't know any better back then.

In fact, I didn't know anything. I had no idea about Gu, Garmins or glycogen. I thought the sole purpose of athletic wear was to be pretentious and self important. Black toenails happened when I dug into my high school days {read: my teal Caboodle} and painted them. Tempo applied to music, speed was a drug and fartlek made me laugh.

I thought running meant you ran. Period.

It wasn't until I discovered the world of running blogs that my eyes began to open, and I quickly began to see that I had been making some mistakes. Specifically, wearing cotton leggings from Target on cold winter days. Talk about freezing your ass off. Literally.

Runner's World is trying to make the sport more accessible and help newbies not do what I did with its latest release - "Runner's World Big Book of Running for Beginners."

From the publisher:

"The Runner’s World Big Book of Running for Beginners" helps readers foster a healthy lifestyle with aides such as:

• Five training plans to start walking, start running, run nonstop, run faster, and run longer 
• No-fail weight-loss strategies 
• Ideas for meals and snacks to eat before you run, on the road, and after you're done 
• Injury-prevention tips including a guide on which pains to run through and which pains demand surrender 
• Inspirational stories from people who used running as a tool to lose weight, stop smoking, overcome illness and heartache and manage chronic pain.

A lot of the stuff seems like, "Well, duh. Of course I am going to eat peanut butter toast before a race." Remember, though, runners were not born with that knowledge - it was discovered - whether by reading a blog, chatting with a friend or reading a book. I think it's important to have all of that basic information in one place, along with the inspirational stories, to make running less intimidating as the less intimidating it is, the more likely people will do it. The more people do it, the happier we'll be. The happier we are the less likely I am to say "stabby."

Moving on ...

I also liked the section on running safety, which included a breakout box on what to do when faced with a loose dog. I've been in the situation more than once and faced down everything from miniature (yappy) poodles to pit bulls to German shepherds to labradors - all of which are equally scary when you don't know the dog's demeanor. One of the best tips is to tell the dog to "sit" as that's one command most dogs are taught.

I do feel like there is too much of the book devoted to weight loss for my liking. I understand that many people pick up - and stick with - running to burn calories and lose weight. Heck, it was a part of my decision to run. I just don't think you can eat like a "runner" because there are so many approaches to a healthy, balanced lifestyle that one doesn't fit all. At least in my experience. Staying with that, I found it more important to develop an identity, as a person, as a runner to stay committed rather than merely develop an exercise habit.

If you make it through the book and are still laughing when you hear "fartlek," don't worry. There is a glossary at the end. And it's a funny word.

Disclosure: I was provided a copy of the "Big Book of Running for Beginners" for review but was not compensated for this post.

Let's pretend I didn't write this: A book review

I was compensated for the following BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

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The older couple, who lived up the street, would pack up the truck on Sunday night and troll people's trash for treasures. Treasures like Betty Boop paraphernalia, which lined the walls in such numbers that you couldn't see the paint. The matriarch of the family next door had a bingo addiction so fierce that she would hit up two games a night. And the brother of a friend did things to Barbies that I didn't understand until I saw "Clerks."

And yet, it was my father's addition to our animal menagerie that made us the weirdest family on our street in a fairly urban area of Cincinnati.

A stuffed raccoon. Which was placed strategically on the 55-gallon fish tank, filled with goldfish-eating Oscars, that he used as a room divider between the living and dining areas of our small ranch.

And so it was great empathy that I read "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" by Jenny Lawson, better known as The Bloggess.

When Jenny Lawson was little, all she ever wanted was to fit in. That dream was cut short by her fantastically unbalanced father and a morbidly eccentric childhood. It did, however, open up an opportunity for Lawson to find the humor in the strange shame-spiral that is her life, and we are all the better for it. In the irreverent "Let’s Pretend This Never Happened," Lawson’s long-suffering husband and sweet daughter help her uncover the surprising discovery that the most terribly human moments—the ones we want to pretend never happened—are the very same moments that make us the people we are today. For every intellectual misfit who thought they were the only ones to think the things that Lawson dares to say out loud, this is a poignant and hysterical look at the dark, disturbing, yet wonderful moments of our lives.

There are times as a writer – one who has published both non-fiction and fiction – when I read something and go, “Holy crap! I wish I could write like this person.”

And that’s exactly what happened as I read "Let's Pretend This Never Happened."

Lawson’s eccentric childhood tales are made to be told – from the squirrel puppet to “pet” turkeys following her to school – but what makes them, all strung together, a good book is her unforgiving, almost offensive writing style. It is laugh-out-loud funny, and I often found myself reciting passages to Mark as he tried to grade papers on the couch ... and drive ... and do the dishes. Lawson writes in such a way that you feel as if you are having a glass of wine (or several bottles) with an old and recounting the atrocities inflicted upon you by your parents.

Except most parents don’t throw a semi-docile bobcat on your future spouse.

I guess that this would be a good place to mention that this book is not for you if you are sensitive to the treatment of animals, are easily offended, do not like the use of swear words, never fight with your spouse or don’t see humor in those arguments and were never scarred by your parents.

As for me, my dad threw a dead Beta fish in my hair thinking it was a dried, crumply leaf and let our pet bird fly around the house for funsies as I locked myself in the bathroom in terror. Scarred and hard to offend, I am.

You can find out more about Jenny Lawson's "Let's Pretend This Never Happened" on the BlogHer Book Club page and join the discussion.. If you would like to read an interview with Lawson, you can find it here.

Oh, the places you will go: A book review

I was compensated for the following BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

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I had my life all figured out. I was going to go to college, where I would major in journalism but most importantly meet a very nice guy. We would date for several years before getting engaged, and we would be married after graduation. We would buy a nice house and have good jobs. I would have our first baby at 25.

I was 16. And oh so naive. I might have met a nice boy in college but we broke up before either of us were ready to put a ring on it (despite four years of dating). I graduated but had a mediocre job - two actually - and rented a house that was never described as nice. 

Even then, as my life dreams seemed so out of reach, I still made a plan. I was going to work in Sandusky for two years, before moving to a bigger newspaper. I would become a news editor and then set my sights on becoming a managing editor. All before I was 40.

At 31, I can check some of those things off my list. I left Sandusky. I moved to a bigger paper. And, for a couple years, I worked as a news editor. However, as everything seems on track, what I want out of my life has never been so cloudy. I need direction.

"My Life Map: A Journal to Help You Shape Your Future" helps people at any stage of life create a visual road map of both their past and their future in major life areas such as family, work, play, friends, and education. Charting the past highlights patterns you may not have noticed before. Seeing the years ahead encourages you to set goals and shape a future with intention and purpose. This interactive self-help journal includes innovative mapping and chapters on Creating Your Maps (warm-up exercises for envisioning your future and tips on how to fill out your maps); Sample Journeys (completed maps of fictitious people at different stages of life); My Life Maps (blank whole-life, ten-year, and subject maps to fill out); Putting Your Maps into Practice (tips and tools for establishing next steps and annual checkups); and Reflections (blank pages to record discoveries, challenges, or promises).

"My Life Map" is broken up into sections: Past, Present, Reflecting on Past and Present, Future, Maps and Putting Life Maps into Practice.

When I got the book, I instantly found myself journaling in the fifth section: Your Future. Well, my future. I have no idea what your future holds. I'm not Dionne Warwick. I went through the warm-up exercises, answering questions about places I could see myself living, activities I enjoyed, what I considered important. I found these exercises to be thought-provoking, and they allowed me to put on paper the things I've thought about but don't dare talk about - teaching fitness classes more than once a week, getting my personal training certification, doing a triathlon.

The book also gives you the opportunity to map out your life and set a timeline for things you want to happen, as well as things to think about when setting goals to make things happen. It can be a bit overwhelming to lay out your life's dreams on a piece of paper but the writers suggest setting three to five goals for a year and committing to make them happen. If I want to do a triathlon, I can register for a race, buy a training book and find a tri group. If I want to be a better wife, I can hide my iPhone at 8 o'clock every night, make sure to book a baby-sitter once a month for date night and stop calling Mark fat.
 

The key to the book, of course, is knowing what you want. There were a few sections - family, specifically - where I felt frustrated that I couldn't answer them. Do I see myself with a second child? If I did, when?  It also forced me to face the reality that some very special people in my life might not be with me in 10 years.

 

The book is not intended to be a downer - rather it's to help you organize thoughts and encourage you to actively pursue the things you want out of life. I found it to be a fun exercise in challenging myself not to accept the life I have but create the one I want. 

 

You can find out more about Kate and David Marshall's "My Life Map" in BlogHer Book Club. Read her bio, read and excerpt of "Matched" or join the discussion here. If you are interested in following the Marshalls via social media, you can find them on Facebook page  and Twitter. 

Mis-'Matched'?: A BlogHer Book Review

I was compensated for the following BlogHer Book Club review but all opinions expressed are my own.

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I sat attentively at my desk in the carpeted, chilly classroom that belonged to Mrs. Heiber. From the front of the room, perched on a small chair, she read aloud. Her voice was clear and strong, the prose smooth and captivating.

I stared at her, her long skirt puddling at the floor, as I anxiously awaited what was next and, at the same time, wishing it wouldn't end.

My seventh-grade teacher, who still holds a special place in my heart, was reading "The Giver" to my language arts class. The story of Jonah and his "perfect" world was one that stuck with me, and I have found myself over the years re-reading the book by Lois Lowry. (I most recently read it, and the companion novels, late this summer as Mark considered it for his own seventh-grade class.)

To me, "The Giver" is not just an interesting tale nor does it offer just an insight into what we think is perfect. To me, it is a work of great literature - as evidenced by the awards it has received.

And so the bar was set high when I cracked open the green binding of "Matched." While it is an interesting tale that offers insight into our society and the idea of a controlled society, it is not a great work of literature. But it didn't need to be. And once I accepted that, I found myself captivated by Ally Condie's story.

Cassia has always trusted the Society to make the right choices for her: what to read, what to watch, what to believe. So when Xander's face appears on-screen at her Matching ceremony, Cassia knows he is her ideal mate . . . until she sees Ky Markham's face flash for an instant before the screen fades to black. The Society tells her it's a glitch, a rare malfunction, and that she should focus on the happy life she's destined to lead with Xander. But Cassia can't stop thinking about Ky, and as they slowly fall in love, Cassia begins to doubt the Society's infallibility and is faced with an impossible choice: between Xander and Ky, between the only life she's known and a path that no one else has dared to follow.

Aptly described by one reviewer on the jacket as "The Giver" meets "Twilight," the story sucks you in with the love triangle but leaves you wanting more with the writing. The prose was a bit too poetic at times and made me feel like the author was trying too hard to make Cassia, who tells the story, sound introspective and thoughtful.

I was able to look past it, though, as I found myself wondering how I would do in such a society. The world in which Cassia lives not only controls occupational and societal choices but recreational ones as well. Cassia is limited to how many times, at what pace and how far she can run on the "tracker" and her daily calories are controlled (and limited) by the society.

As all of you are sure to know, I would not do well and seeing Cassia think - actually think, a novel idea in her society - about how she liked to be controlled like that was - dare I say - rewarding. And once she figured it out, I was left captivated (and up far too late) by how far she was willing to go.

You can find out more about Ally Condie's "Matched" in BlogHer Book Club. Read her bio, read and excerpt of "Matched" or join the discussion here. If you are interested in following Ally on social media she has a Facebook page  and a Twitter account. She also blogs here.