The Tri Town Times: 3/20/23

• Posted on 20 March 2023
• By Antonio Gonzalez
• Posted in the tri town times
• 0

This Week: Continuing education opportunities, the benefits of hydrogel, and quote on how to work.
Image: Running the Boise foothills.

Hi all,

Here is your weekly Tri Town Times newsletter:

Event I'm looking forward to:

- This Thursday at 6pm we are hosting a free Mobility for Endurance Athletes Clinic. There are just a few slots left, RSVP by responding to this email.

- Former professional triathlete and gravel racer Erin Green is helping host a women's gravel skills clinic this Saturday at 2pm. This clinic is in support of the Strade Vino circuit race.

Training thoughts:

When it comes to innovation in the sports nutrition industry, most companies seem content with simply releasing a new flavor once a year or adding 25mg of caffeine to an energy gel.

Maurten is one of the few sports nutrition companies on the market that does not seem interested in being another "me too" organization. In 2016, they launched an innovative "hydrogel" which eased the release of carbohydrates into the digestive track, thus reducing the chance of GI distress when trying to consume a 60+grams of carbohydrate per hour at race intensity.

Maurten is now using sodium bicarbonate (aka baking soda) in their hydrogel to take advantage of baking soda's known lactic acid buffering effect. Sodium bicarbonate is one of only a few supplements proven to improve athletic performance, but it is famously volatile on the stomach. Maurten's hydrogel may be the best delivery system for consuming this supplement with minimal risk of GI distress.

Further reading:

• A deep dive on Maurten, hydrogel, and sodium bicarbonate by Alex Hutchinson.
• My quick notes on supplements for endurance athletes.

Quote that struck a chord: 

Many of you know I enjoy woodworking in my spare time. Woodworking, like preparing for a race, is a powerful teacher. In both disciplines you use your mind, body, a few simple tools, and whatever God-given talent you may have to see a project through from beginning to end. The end result is a physical representation of your skill, patience, and preparation (for better or worse).

Today's quote is from Charles Hayward, one of the most influential cabinet makers and workshop writers of the last 100 years. His advice can just as easily be applied to sport as it can to woodworking, business, and life in general:

"One thing is certain: that, even though the craft is a lifetime's study, the application of a few simple principles will assuredly bring success in woodworking. In the first place, never start a job until you know precisely how you are going to do it. Pass its construction step by step through your mind, so that you may hit upon snags and mentally smooth them out.

Don't work hurriedly. Your very keenness may prompt you to rush, but to do so is fatal. Curb your desire to see the thing finished, and always concentrate intently upon the particular bit of the job you have in hand.

In all you do be accurate. No measurement, no cut, no squaring, should be 'near enough'. It must be right. For often one inaccuracy becomes the seed of others, and reproduces trouble as the work proceeds.

Finally, don't worry about an honest mistake. Ponder reason for it and so learn from it. Progress at your own speed from simple job to something more difficult, but never force the pace. At the same time, be just as ambitious as your previous work warrants."

Train smart,

Antonio Gonzalez

Tri Town Bicycles

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