2009 Jamis Trail X1 Mountain Bike Giveaway!

I have a brand new Jamis Trail X1 mountain bike that is too small for me and I have been trying to give away or donate for a very long time but have been unable to do so. Yes it seems like finding a new worthy owner for this bike is very very hard.

Part of the problem is that I want to find someone who really needs the bike and will really use it, I guess you could say I want to try and change someones life for the best with this donation. There are some organizations in the Portland area that deal with these kinds of things but I want to meet the person hear their story be more personally involved in the actual donation.

I am a firm believer in the power of exercise to change ones life and I hope to help one more person realize this. So does anyone know someone or have any ideas? Below are the bike specifications straight from the Jamis website.

IT IS WHAT JAMIS CALLS A SIZE 12" THEIR SMALLEST SIZE IDEAL FOR JUNIOR RIDERS TALL KIDS 9 OR 10 OR SMALLER ADULTS.


SPECIFICATIONS
Frame Enduro II frame design, 7005 aluminum main tubes,
replaceable derailleur hanger
Fork XC Suspension, alloy crown, coil spring, 60mm travel
Headset VP threadless, sealed, 1 1/8”
Wheels Alloy 26 x 1.50” 36H rims, heavy-duty ATB hubs with QR,
14g nickel-plated spokes
Tires CST ATB, 26 x 1.95”, blackwall
Derailleurs Shimano TX50 rear, Shimano TZ30 31.8mm top pull front
Shiftlevers Shimano Acera ST-EF50 EZ-Fire Plus, 21-speed
Chain KMC Z51
Cassette Indexed 7-speed freewheel, 13-28
Crankset Forged alloy crank, 42/34/24 steel rings, 170mm
BB Set VP bolt-type 3SB axle, 68 x 124.5mm (35 - 52 - 37.5)
Pedals ATB platform, hi-impact resin cage & body
Brakeset Alloy linear pull type with Shimano alloy levers
Handlebar Jamis XC riser, 6˚ sweep x 13mm rise x 620mm wide
Stem Jamis XC threadless, alloy cap, 10˚ rise,
90mm (12-14.”), 100mm (17”), 120mm (19 -21”)
Grips Kraton for trigger-shift
Seat Post Jamis alloy micro-adjust, 27.2 x 300mm, with alloy QR clamp
Saddle Jamis ATB, SL cover, protective front and rear guards
Sizes M: 12”, 14”, 15.5”, 17”, 19”, 21” W: 12”, 14”, 17.5”
Color M: Coal, Blaze Red W: Blaze Red
Weight 30.80 lbs

Garmin Forerunner 310xt Freezing Problem

As you all know for Christmas a got what I had been wanting the Garmin Forerunner 310xt. I was very excited that I got it and really appreciated that my family members had pooled their money on order to be able to get me this very expensive watch. I have now gone on about 10 runs with it and love it but twice I have had a problem.

Last week I was on a 35 minute run and sometime into the run I happened to notice that the Forerunner said I had been running for 9 minutes. Now this is a frequent route and I knew right away that I had been running for longer than that. I looked closely and noticed it had just stopped recording. I tried pressing the mode button, the up and down button to change the display screen the stop butons and nothing it was just stuck on the first screen the one that gives you the time, miles, and pace. When I got home I was able to turn it off and then back on but the information had been lost.

Now I figured I had just done something weird and crossed my fingers that the expensive watch was fine and it was my fault. For the next few runs it worked fine which definitely made me feel like I must have done something until yesterday. I happened again yesterday with 2 minutes left in my run. Very frustrating, somehow I managed to be able to save the run info on the watch but it is unable to read it to transfer it to the computer.

Again I love my Forerunner 310xt overall I have had good experiences with it and I am glad there is this new tool for triathlon but what is going on with the freezing? Has this happened to anyone else? This cannot be right and if Garmin knows this problem exists they should be telling the consumer about it.

Triathlon New Years' Resolution

Many people decide to change their diet, become more active and lose weight as their New Year's resolution. I think that the best way to lose weight is by following a triathlon plan. One deals with three different sports, swimming, cycling, and running and it makes for a great interesting workout. Also once you race it is one of the best atmospheres everywhere. Below I am posting some links to some great resources to either get you started in triathlon training or just improve training for this season.

Keep your New Year's resolution alive!

I got a flat!

I got up this morning ready for my 1 hour ride. It was cold and there was some wind but it was dry so I was feeling positive. I put on all my gear which in itself is a workout I think it takes about fifteen minutes to put it all on! I started my ride and my hands were kind of cold, the wind was stronger than I had anticipated but it was all going well. I had just finished my fifteen minute warm up when I hears tssssssss. Oh no! I thought.

As a cyclist one of the worries I have is getting a flat, I know how to change a flat but it is such a hassle. I pulled over to the side of the road flipped my bike over took the wheel out and started to try and change the flat. For the life of me I could not get the tire off of my wheel. I tried the levers over and over and I could just not get the tire to even budge. My hands were really cold which did not really help and I have decided I must have the tightest tires ever as I could not even get the lever under them.

After minutes of being cold with no progress I decided to call my roomate and ask her to please come and get me. Being the good roomate that she is she came to get me. Unfortunately my triathlon workout for today did not go well at all.

Tour de Cure Oregon

On July 31 2010 the Tour de Cure will take place in the Portland, Oregon area. I will be participating in this very fun well supported ride. This ride is family friendly and has different distances so people of all ages and abilities can participate. This ride goes to benefit the American Diabetes Association a cause that is very close to my heart.

We are trying to break last years record for people signed up for the Tour de
Cure in Oregon so please sign up if you are interested. Also if you are interested in sponsoring me and my team Tony's Riders please do so. Below is a link to my page where you can find out more about the ride, sign up for the ride, and give donations. No amount is too small!

Thanks!

http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?pg=personal&fr_id=7041&px=4081560

Heart Rate and Pace Problems

On a previous post I wrote about how I am having trouble maintaining the heart rate and pace set by my coach Larissa Herold and Personal Best Multisport Coaching. I decided that today I was going to be able to do it, I was going to focus on my pace and if I got the pace right then I would be able to bring my heart rate down to where it should be.

No such luck. My first mile the pace was a few seconds too fast but my heart rate was right about where I wanted it to be. Then my pace evened out a little but my heart rate was about 6 beats per minute too fast. I tried to slow down a little but its almost like I can't slow down anymore, I don't get it.

My pace should be between 9:30 and 10:00 my average is 9:31 and I was trying really really hard to go slower. I have to go for a run again on Saturday after I have been on the bike so maybe that will help slow me down?

Garmin Forerunner Sync

I have had the Garmin Forerunner 310xt for almost 2 weeks now and love it but have still not been able to figure out how to work everything. Most things are easy getting the pace, time, training buddy and heart rate to display are easy but I want to know how to do EVERYTHING! So yesterday I decided to experiment a little bit and try and figure out how to download the information from my Forerunner to my computer.

The way it is done is wirelessly which at first was a little hard for me to figure out as I had to download some software. Once I got going it was very easy though. Once you are on the Garmin web page it is very easy to look at all your stats including heart rate and pace which they graph, a map of your rout your calories and all other sorts of fun things like elevation gain and loss. The best part is that I can send all this info to my coach so she can look at it!

Oh how I love technology. Now I have to figure out how to use my Forerunner to just record my heart rate while I am on the bike.

My 35 minute run has become a 45 minute run

For the whole month of December I ran everyday for 35 minutes. It was part of the training that my coach Larissa gave me in order to improve my run durability. It was hard to run everyday especially since I really am not the type of person who enjoys running very much but I did it and felt good about it.

In December I was instructed to maintain a certain pace and heart rate I was using my ipod and the Nike chip so the readings were not as accurate as they are now that I have my Garmin Forerunner 310xt. So turns out that I had been going a little too fast and my heart rate had been to high. So even though I did all my workouts I was not doing them "right".

So now that it is a new month I have 45 minute runs a few times a week. I also need to maintain a certain pace and heart rate. My Pace should be 9:30 and my heart rate 140. Today I ran I was able to maintain the pace (which is a miracle I usually go too fast) but my heart rate was between 143 and 150 I don't understand why I can't get my heart rate down! Anyway I am glad I am running a few times a week instead of everyday!

Tour de Cure

For the past few years I have been participating and have had a hand in helping to organize the Tour de Cure in the Oregon and Southwest Washington area. The Tour de Cure is a group of rides around the country that benefits the American Diabetes Association. The goal of the Tour de Cure is also to bring awareness of the symptoms and ways to help control and prevent diabetes.

I ride in the Tour de Cure as a team of friends and family members called Tony's riders. We each ride different distances based on our abilities anywhere from 10 miles to 100 miles. This is a great cause we are still developing the website for this year but as soon as we have it updated I will post a link to it so you can check it out. Stay posted for Tour de Cure updates!

Run and Bike with new toy!

I woke up in the pitch black today to get in my workout for the day, it called for a 35 minute run and a one hour bike ride. I put on all my gear to go on my run I could tell it was going to be a cold one. I put on my Garmin Forerunner heart rate monitor and started my run. I had a good heart rate and it was incredible how easy it is to see the screen on the Garmin Forerunner 310xt even though it was so dark. I know it has a back light but I just want to glance at the watch and see my stats and that was no problem at all.

Then it was time to change all my gear and head out on a very very cold chilly ride in the darkness. I wanted to use my heart rate monitor for this which I had not done before so I was a little unsure as how to do it but I was able to figure it out pretty easily and again it was easy to glance at the screen.

Another thing that I have discovered is that the heart rate monitor strap is not obtrusive at all. I thought it was going to bother me as I had never used one before but I can't even feel it! Love my new toy! I can't wait for triathlon season to start!

Garmin Forerunner 310XT got it!

My Christmas wish for this year was for my whole family to pitch in and get me the Garmin Forerunner 310xt and it happened! It was a great surprise I did not think they were going to do it but they did and they even got me the heart rate monitor!

For those of you who do not know what a Garmin Forerunner 310xt is it is a GPS watch that is made with triathlon in mind as it is the only one that is actually waterproof. Now there is some discussion about if this is the best Garmin because it does not actually measure ones distance when swimming and the face of the watch is on the larger side so that bothers some people but not me.

So far I am really impressed with the Garmin Forerunner 310xt my favorite feature other than it being waterproof is that it beeps and vibrates after each mile completed! I love that it "talks" to me while I am running!

So far great! I will keep you posted the more I discover about this great triathlon GPS watch!

Ironman coverage on TV

I don't know about you guys but I feel like there is not enough triathlon on TV. There is plenty of football, basketball, and baseball coverage even extreme sports such as snowboarding but it is very very hard to find triathlon events on TV so I was very excited when I heard that NBC was going to show the triathlon championship in Kona on Saturday!

I recorded the event because of course it is not shown at a very convenient time. I watched it and although it was fine I did not feel like they showed enough. It did run for 1 hour 30 minutes but I just don't feel like they showed enough of Chrissie Wellington beating the record or Craig Alexander winning for the second year in a row. Now how much can you show of someone swimming biking and running one might ask, a lot more I would say.

I also like when they show the age groupers and I don't think like they did enough of that this year either, the stories were too brief in my opinion.

I want more triathlon on TV without having to pay extra for a fancy cable channel! It will be interesting to see what sort of coverage triathlon gets once Lance Armstrong gets involved.

RoadID great idea!

When I started to do triathlon training my family was constantly worried about me being out on the open roads at all times with no sort of identification on me. When I rode my bike I would sometimes bring my drivers license but I would often forget. Also I did not want to carry my driver's licence around and move it from location to location for fear of loosing it. When I went on runs I brought no for of ID at all.

After constant battles with my family members we came across this website we realized that my ID problems could be easily solved with RoadID. They have many products to choose from at reasonable prices. I ended up getting the bracelet and use it all the time and I am very satisfied with it. I highly recommend RoadID to everyone. Safety First!

Saturday December 19 Workout

This is a pretty typical workout for Saturdays:

Bike MixType:
BikePlanned duration: 1:00
15 min PE2-end with 3 X 30 sec race pace
Main set: keep rpm 90+ throughout
1X 10 minutes at PE 4
2 minutes easy spin
1X 7.5 minutes at PE 6
2 minutes easy spin
1X 5 minutes at PE 7
Plz let me know corresponding HR's
Cool down PE 1-2 for the remainder of the 60 minute workout

Workout #2: T-runType:
RunPlanned duration: 0:20
Have your gear all laid out ahead of time..Spend no more than 3 minutes in Transition. Easy endurance run-
9:50 pace-i
intersperse 3 X 15 sec strides within...
Keep cadence at 90, and focus on perfect form, relaxed upper body

Now it does not seem that hard or time consuming but for some reason when I get to the run I am not able to keep the pace, I always go way too fast! I then realize I am going way too fast and try and slow down but by then the whole pace is off. I am not sure why I always do this. Does this happen to anyone else?

Lance Armstrong Hawaii 2011

I got a couple of comments on Lance Armstrong doing Ironman Hawaii and this is what I am going after other people's opinions! I read in cycling magazine today that lance will be participating in the Kona triathlon in 2011. I am sure at lot is on the line here with advertisers I would think that Ironman Triathlon viewing would go up just because Lance Armstrong is racing?

So this is the question I have now do I accept that yes Lance Armstrong is a great athlete. Yes he loves triathlon, yes he is cocky, and he is going to do great things for the sport by making it more televised and getting more sponsorship interest? This is something to consider, he might make the sport more popular which means that we get to watch it on tv more often.

I still think that he should qualify though and I hope he gets humbled.