Weekly Schedule

Off on vacation a few days toward the end of the week. I'll be in for all my Monday & Tuesday classes. Hope to see you at one of the rides, if I don't have a great holiday!

Weekly Schedule (7/1 - 7/7)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (Off Bike)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Class w/ Ken

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Sub will be in for me

Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Sub will be in for me

Weekly Schedule & An Upcoming Savage Ride

Another late post! Sorry for the delay in getting this out, but it looks like everyone figured I would be in class as we had a great turn out at both LA Fitness & the Rivers Club today. The schedule for the week is below, and I am stocked to finally have the opportunity to get  my bike out on the road. @BRob72 & I will be heading down to Deep Creek Lake on Friday morning (after my LA Fitness Spin Class) to tackle the Savage Man Triathlon Bike Course. I've only done this ride once before and it is nothing but a brutal, punch you in the junk, kick in your face serious of climbs. 










I can still remember the last time on this route, saying to a friend about 10 miles in, "I've got to be honest, I don't think this is that savage." If only I had looked at the profile before hand I probably would have kept my mouth shut. Anyway, I just realized I'm starting to ramble so....


The Moral of the Story is...
Pull up your big boy pants, take a vacation day, and come ride this beast with us! Shoot me an email if you're interested!

RoadID
Happy Father's Day to me! Kelly & Jax decided a RoadID would be a good gift & I agreed. If you do any running or biking alone, without your phone or ID, this is a great way to let people know who you are in the event of an emergency. Order one in the next few weeks with this code and you'll get $1.00 off! Code: ThanksKen28409787


Weekly Schedule (6/23 - 6/29)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken

Monday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Class w/ Ken

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Sub will be in for me

Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken then the Savage Man Triathlon Ride in Deep Creek!

Weekly Schedule

Weekly Schedule (6/16 - 6/22)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken BUT I'm trying to find a sub

Monday @ Rivers Club - Class Canceled
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Class w/ Ken

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Stacy

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Stacy
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (possibly will have a sub today)

The Weekly Schedule!

Okay peeps, short post for now...Game of Thrones is coming on and I can't miss it after the craziness that went down last week.

Stay tuned for another post later this week featuring my review of the Sufferfest's Rubber Glove FTP Test! 

Weekly Schedule (6/9 - 6/15)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Class w/ Ken

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Stacy

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Stacy
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (possibly will have a sub today)

The Shrooms are Working, Lucid Dreaming, the Zombie Apocalypse and More...

The Shrooms Are Working!

At least, I feel like the shrooms are working! So far I've only tried the Vitamin Shoppe's cordyceps brand. They recommend taking 2 capsules, but I've been doing half that for the past week (most of the research I can find says 520mg is more than enough to produce measurable results).

This past Friday was the first day I noticed a change in my training numbers. I went out for  tempo run at lunch and to my surprise recorded a 7:30 average pace. The reason it was such a surprise is that if I hadn't looked at my training data I would have said it felt more like an 8:30 pace. In addition to my speed increase my heart rate was also at a threshold level (though it felt much lower). Now, I can't attribute this change in perceived exertion directly to the supplement, but I think it could be playing a role. Stay tuned for on the effects that I'm feeling in the next few posts.

I'm also excited to be reviewing Shroom TECH Sport in the next few weeks. This version of  cordyceps extract has a mix of several other powerful ingredients to magnify the effect and boost the effects. This is the supplement I had originally planned on ordering, but it was a bit pricey. Instead, I figured I'd try the Vitamin Shoppe stuff. At the time though, I did decide to get a few bottles of Shroom TECH Immune. Ever since Jax started daycare I've been kicking a cold on and off and the ingredients in this product sounded promising. When I ordered the Immune product, Onnit accidentally shipped the Sport version instead. When I contacted them, they offered to let me keep a bottle. While I was bummed not to have the Immune stuff before my recent vacation, I was stoked to get the opportunity to receive a free bottle of the Sport. More to come on the effects of both after I start taking them.

Mushroom Side Effects

So, have I noticed any other side effects since taking the cordyceps? Yes, and it's sort of a strange one...lucid dreams! In fact, just the other night I had a whole conversation with a guy that was trying to convince me he was real and not part of a dream. Pretty wild stuff! I really can't say that the cordyceps are causing this effect, but I can only recall one other lucid dream in recent memory before I started taking the extract.

It's also possible that I could turn into a zombie, explode, and turn everyone else who gets hit with my splatter into zombies too. I know it sounds crazy, but apparently there is a strain of cordyceps that causes ants to do just that. So, if I'm acting weird one day, stay far back.

Okay, enough ramblings for this week...on to the training schedule!

Weekly Schedule (6/3 - 6/8)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Class w/ Ken

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ the Mystery Instructor

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ the Mystery Instructor
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Crazy Hard Class w/ Ken

The Weekly Schedule, Powerful Mushrooms, and My Vacation!

Experimenting with Mushrooms Part I -Immunity

You know what sucks? Getting ready to go on vacation and feeling like you have a cold coming on. In fact, I feel like ever since Jaxon started daycare I've been sick  and i'ts not cool! Before daycare, I was never sick. I always thought my immune system was in awesome shape.

Maybe it's because I haven't been eating as well as I should since kid-o's come along. Maybe I can chalk it up to the nasty stuff the other rug rats are coughing up on him. Either way I've decided something has to be done!

Typically when I feel something coming on I'll start to load up on Vitamin C, Zinc, Echinacea, Green Tea and all kinds of other stuff I have in my drawer. Needless to say, that approach hasn't been working. Not because those remedies are wives tales, but because I'm not using them on a regular basis to help keep my immune system strong. I also don't want to be worried about popping 6 different pills a day to keep the my system at its best.

Enter Shroom TECH Immune from Onnit Labs. I'll talk about how I gained interest in this product below, but for now just know I'm stoked to start using it. Shroom TECH Immune is made up of a number of the things I was taking before, like Echinacea and Zinc, but also contains powerful mushroom extracts that boost immunity. The plan is to use the month and a half supply I bought and see if it makes a difference.

Check my next few posts for details on how it's going. 

Experimenting with Mushrooms Part II -Sport

So how did I get the crazy idea that mushrooms could possibly boost my immune system? It all started with the idea that mushrooms could boost my athletic performance. I first heard about this from Ultra Triathlete Rich Roll in his book "Finding Ultra" (which I highly, highly recommend). He worked with a friend to develop a special recovery formula that included Cordyceps mushroom extract and claims it is his secret weapon.. 

Cordyceps have been a staple in Eastern medicine for centuries. According to Joe Rogan's podcast (which I also highly, highly recommend) cordyceps were discovered by high altitude societies in the Himalayas when they noticed their cattle had extra energy after eating these special mushrooms.

Apparently what happens is that the extract boosts the bodies ability to metabolize or deliver oxygen to the muscles. This means muscles can clear lactic acid faster, effectively raising your threshold level. I'm not a scientist or anything, but from what I've gathered, it's kind of like natural (and legal) EPO.

So after leading more about Rich Roll and the special blend he had created, I looked into purchasing his recovery product, "Jai Repair." I'm sure it's awesome, but it's also really expensive. When I heard Joe Rogan talking about his company's product, Shroom TECH Sport, I figured it might be a cheaper way to discover what kind of impact cordyceps could have on my training. Unfortunately, his stuff was also a bit expensive, but the other supplement seemed reasonable and that's how I ended up with the Shroom TECH Immunity discussed above. 

Anyway, not wanting to miss out on the endurance benefits I had heard so much about, I found the Vitamin Shoppe's Cordyceps product. The price was right, so I will be putting it to the test over the next few months. Just like the immune booster, Ill keep you updated on how it works. If I think they're dong the job, I'll probably upgrade to the Shroom TECH stuff (and who knows, maybe one day the Jai Repar). 

Stay tuned, results/reviews coming soon!

The Weekly Update

This update will serve as the schedule over the next 2 weeks. I'll be heading to Florida on Vacation this upcoming Friday for a few days and don't plan on posting while I'm away!

Wednesdays & Thursdays at LA Fitness

Unfortunately Janice will be taking a hiatus from her Wednesday & Thursday Spinning classes at LA Fitness. I'm not 100% sure what the LA Fitness team will decide to do with these slots, but I would they they are likely to try and find a new instructor to step in. That means if you know anyone who is certified, or might be interested in getting certified, let me know!

Weekly Schedule (5/19 - 5/25)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Interval Class w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Interval Classl w/ Ken

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Janice

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Ken

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Janice
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Ken on Vacation...sub requested


Weekly Schedule (5/26 - 6/1)

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Ken on Vacation...sub at LA Fitness (Marc)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Memorial Day...NO Class
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Ken on Vacation...sub requested

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Sub requested

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Sub requested

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Sub requested
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)

Schedule for the week!

I'm back from a week in Omaha! Sorry for having to miss Friday's class last minute, but my plane didn't land back in Pittsburgh until early Friday morning (or late Thursday night depending how you look at it). While I was there I took an hour to run through the city and over the pedestrian bridge into Iowa. It was definitely some nice running along the Missouri River & through a few of the parks.

Anyway, it looks like we're back at it with a regular week. Monday (or Wednesday depending on the crowd) we'll hit some pretty tough intervals at the Rivers Club and repeat them Tuesday at LA Fitness.


Weekly Schedule

Monday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)

Monday @ Rivers Club - Spiral w/ Ken
Tuesday @ LA Fitness - Spiral w/ Ken

Wednesday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Ken

Wednesday @ Rivers Club - Standard Class w/ Janice

Thursday 5:45am @ LA Fitness - Standard Class w/ Janice
Friday 5:45am @ LA Fitness -  Standard Class w/ Ken (off Bike)