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Wenzel Coaching Newsletter December 2007
Greetings!

The holidays are upon us and the weather isn't playing nice. What's an athlete to do? Check out the featured article on finding motivation to train consistently this winter. Also be sure to check out a new feature called "Women's Spotlight" that we'll be running from time to time. We'll focus on women's training issues that also relate to most athletes. This month's article focuses on training at night. And by night we mean in the dark!

We also welcome sports dietician Heather D'Eliso Gordon, RD to our expert staff. With two nutritionists to serve you, now is an even better time to have a diet and/or supplement analysis done by one of our professional sports dieticians.

As always, you'll find the Resource of the Month, the Quote of the Month and the Power Tip of the Month below.

We welcome your feedback. Please write to
[email protected] or call 503-233-4346 with your comments, race stories and ideas.

Happy Holidays! ~ Kendra Wenzel, Scott Saifer, and the Staff of Wenzel Coaching
In This Issue
Women's Spotlight: Riding at Night
New Nutrition Expert: Heather D'Eliso Gordon, RD
Quote of the Month
Give the Gift of Speed
Client Successes
Resource of the Month: Fun Bike Videos on YouTube
Power Tip of the Month: Power and Performance
Featured Article: Finding Motivation to Train During Winter
Women's Spotlight:
When Pigs Fly.... Riding at Night                                     
by Coach Jenni Gaertner
Every year in November and December I mourn the waning daylight hours.  Motivation gets harder to maintain when I find myself driving to work in the dark and returning home the same way.  Unfortunately, the disappearing daylight poses problems with keeping to my training plan.  I dread the evil "first ride" on the indoor trainer.

My husband, admittedly the more "hardy" one in this relationship, frequently tried to convince me last year (and the year before) to join him and his posse for the weekly mountain bike ride in the dark.  "Yeah, right," I'd answer him.  Then I'd follow with the usual clich� referencing porcine aerobatics that would have to take place before you'd ever find me careening down a mountain trail with a narrow beam of light as my only refuge from the engulfing darkness.

But recently I've experienced an epiphany of sorts...


New Nutrition Expert: Heather D'Eliso Gordon, RD
Heather is a Registered Dietician (RD) and a Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics (CSSD).  She is also a member of SCAN, (Sports Cardiovascular, Wellness Nutritionists) a dietetic practice group of the American Dietetic Association.  Heather is also an alumna of the Metromint Cycling Team in Northern California. She is available for all types of nutrition consultation including improving a client's body composition, increasing energy levels and performance and general health and wellness.

Quote of the Month

"The best rides are the ones where you bite off much more than you can chew--and live through it."

~Doug Bradbury
, Manitou Suspension Fork Designer, 1994 Mountain Bike Hall of Fame Inductee

 
Give the Gift of Speed
Looking for that perfect gift for friends or spouses that ride, run, swim or race?  Consider getting them a coach or nutritional consult.  Consultation with a Wenzel Coach or Nutritionist can be purchased in hourly and coaching programs can be pre-paid in 3 month increments.  What a great way to help someone jump-start their season.
Client Successes

Sue Butler qualifies for the US World Championship team after winning Cyclocross Nationals, Master Women 35-39 and taking 6th in the Elite Womens Race

Shana Sturla is ranked the #1 USAC Masters Woman Racer for 2007
 
Bonnie Hildebrand completes her first season of cyclocross with a strong finish at the USGP finale, Beginner Women

Logan Loader signs team contract with Priority Health

Dave Libby has 7 top 10 races in the 2007 Northern California CX season, Master Men A

Dave Thorton wins 1st place in race #5 of the Bike Authority/Team Lake Effect CX Series and takes 3rd overall, Novice Men
 
Annie Hartman completes her first season of cyclocross with a top 20 finish at the USGP finale
 
Mike Bodge takes 5th overall int he Bay Area Super Prestige CX Series, Master Men 45+ B
Resource of the Month: Fun Bike Videos on YouTube
After a long ride on the bike what could be better than propping up the legs and surfing the net.  To help beat the winter blues and get psyched for race season try looking for bike videos on YouTube.  Try searching for titles such as Tour de France sprint, UCI Track Worlds, hour record, extreme mountian biking and cyclocross.  You are bound to find hours of enjoyment, just make sure you don't spend your entire day "YouTubing".
Find Videos...

The websites found in the "Resource of the Month" are in no way associated with Wenzel Coaching and we are not responsible for any information they contain.
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Power Tip of the Month: Power and Performance
Decreased power at constant heart rate or perceived exertion, or increased heart rate at the same power under similar conditions of weather, terrain and warm up compared to previous days is a sure sign that something is wrong. If you ever experience a higher heart rate for the same perceived exertion or power, you need recovery or to improve some recovery related behavior. You may be sick, underfed, dehydrated, over-stressed or just tired from training, but in any case the correct thing to do on this day is to take a recovery day and also to try to figure out what else you need to improve to eliminate such bad days. You may hear that "power is power is power" meaning that power is not affected by fatigue, dehydration, heat etc. This is true, but training for the day should be affected by these things. Blindly riding in your power zone because that is what you are supposed to do will likely lead to over-training and poor performance.
Wenzel Coaching thanks you for your business!
 
Finding the Motivation to Train When the Weather Isn't Cooperating


You may not have noticed today, but if you saddled up the bike, laced up the running shoes or hit the pool while the weather was yuck, you probably got a jump up on your competition come this spring. While others may skip training sessions and eat a little more than they need out of boredom, frustration or laziness, you're sticking to your goals. But if you need a little more motivation to keep you on track, keep these points in mind this winter:


Training gives you more energy in your everyday activities. Do what you can. Keeping up your overall energy is positive for not only your training goals, but for your job, relationships and sleeping habits.


Time spent dialing in and adapting to a position and/or technique during the winter will translate into better aerodynamics, comfort or efficiency come spring. You may not otherwise have the time once the competitivie season nears to work on and adapt to positive changes. The time is now!


Training in the rain and cold gives you experience you can use in a race or event. You'll know how to dress, how to keep your glasses clean enough to see, and how to fuel. Just as importantly, you'll learn how to handle your bike in the wet.


Riding on rollers will help you develop a smoother spin. A smooth spin indoors will translate into energy saved in races outdoors. Keep in mind that the steadiness necessary to ride rollers is not much different than that needed to pass between two riders in a pack.


Heading to the gym with your significant other can be time spent together that you may not get once the season of speed starts and your varied abilities keep you from riding or running together.


Remember that time doesn't need to be spent only riding your main race bike. It's okay to ride your endurance rides in your time trial position, for instance. Adapting to a time trial bike or track bike during the winter means less transition pain during the race season.


The pound of body weight you ride off today will translate into one fewer pound you have to carry up a hill come early spring when the ride tempo begin to rise, meaning more chances that you'll stay in lead groups from the start and gain motivation and confidence you can carry into your season.


Riding indoors allows you to catch up on all the action movies you missed during the summer when you were riding your bike! It's also great for listening to news, stories or music podcasts. Want to learn a foreign language? You're a captive audience on the trainer and you can repeat the phrases easily enough.


Skiing, skating and other forms of cross training do translate aerobically to cycling, running and swimming. If you are cross training and raising your heart rate in zone, you are getting the training done. Don't get down if you a cyclist and can't ride. If you're cross training, you're training, and it will pay off.


Let's face it: the more you train over the winter, the more you get to eat.


And finally, it will be difficult to justify to your significant other that you need a new bike come late winter if your current bike doesn't look well ridden.


So, get out there and put some miles on that thing!

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