Tour de France

Thu, 14 Jul 2011 13:06:52 +0100

Tour de France Stage 12:

Is today the stage that we see who has the legs and lungs to win this years tour. Stage 12 will be a real test for the riders, starting with the sprinters. Canvendish and the sprinters will have to contest with the 3 mountain passes today to make sure they stay in the race for the green jersey but todat the green jersey takes a back seat to the yellow. Who will lead the race after today and will today bring about the end of a challenge from some of the tour contenders.

The riders face two massive tests today, firstly the Tourmalet. The riders will reach the Tourmalet at 175.5km and then will climb up the 17.1km climb at a ave gradient of 7.3 and if that was not enough, they decend straight into the next climb of Luz-Ardiden at 213km. Luz Ardiden will be remember more recently more the crash of Lance Armstrong on the way up only to get back on his machine and ride his past Ulrich and into Yellow for the 5th time in his career. Luz Ardiden will have another role in this years outcome and will the 7.4% ave get the better of too many contenders.

Watch out for:

Andy Schleck
Cadel Evans
Alberto Contedor
Frank Schleck

Enjoy

Wayne Coldman

Training during winter

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:22:54 +0100

By: Ignatius Loubser, Head Strength & Conditioning specialist HPC

As I am writing this it is the middle of winter and when you dare to go outside like I had done this morning at 5:30am your eyeballs freeze if you keep them open long enough. Needless to say it is no easy feat to keep up with your training when winter comes. A lot of professional athletes have this exact same problem and have worked out a schedule to keep their training as warm as possible by migrating in winter to countries with warmer climates. At hpc you will see the European athletes during November, December and January here in a very warm South-Africa while the rest of the people in their countries are fighting the winter blizzards. The same will happen with our South-African athletes, swimmers, rowers and canoeists. A lot of athletes from South-Africa will spend about 2-3 months basing themselves in Europe to train and compete in the European athletics circuit during our winter. The rowers go for training camps to warmer areas in our own country (We are lucky that we have a diverse climate in SA) like Tzaneen where they have the water and other amenities they need, it may not be summer but at least temperatures does not drop below zero in the early hours of the morning there.

Thus plan A is to make like a swallow and migrate for the winter… Unfortunately it is not an option for everyone and lucky enough for us South-Africa is not as cold as Finland and our winter lasts only for about 3 months. But never the less you still need to take some precautions when winter closes down on you. So here are 7 winter training tips for any person that takes their outdoor sport / training seriously.

<!-1. Immune system

Give your immune system the support it need by ensuring you eat healthy and sleep well. You can also supplement with juice powdered super foods, super juices, vitamin D3, Vitamin C certain amino acids and the like. This should be done throughout the year and not just in winter but it is a good idea to start focussing more on this component about 2-3 months prior to winter.

<!-2. Clothing: Dress in layers.

A big mistake people make is that they dress to warm and this can cause sweating as exercise increases body temperature and this causes you to feel too warm. As the sweat starts to dry on the skin underneath the clothing when you train it creates a chill on your skin and will in turn cause you to get cold again. The solution then is to dress in layers starting with those fancy shirts made with polypropylene materials that the big companies make their shirts with. Avoid cotton because it will stick to your skin when it becomes damp or wet. The next layer can be a fleece or wool layer topped with a waterproof breathable outer layer like a jacket or vest that can be removed as you become warmer during the session.

This is a good guideline from Runnersworld.com for dressing for cold weather running.

30 °F: 2 tops, 1 bottom. Long-sleeve base layer and a vest keep your core warm. Tights or maybe shorts if you prefer to be cooler.
10 to 20 °F: 2 tops, 2 bottoms. A jacket over your base layer, and wind pants over the tights.
0 to 10 °F: 3 tops, 2 bottoms. Two tops (fleece for the cold-prone) and a jacket. Windbrief for the fellas.
Minus 10 to 0 °F: 3 tops, 2 bottoms, extra pair of mittens, 1 scarf wrapped around mouth or a balaclava.
Minus 20 °F: 3 tops, 3 bottoms, 2 extra pairs of mittens, 1 balaclava, sunglasses. Or, stay inside.

<!-3. Cover your outer extremities

This is basically your hands, ears, nose and lips. The reason for this is that the human body has a survival mechanism that causes circulation of blood to move to the body internal core when it is really cold. This means that blood gets moved away from the extremities when you are in a cold environment and they will then get cold first and feel negative side effects like numbness and in the worst case frost bite! So if you want to keep warmer and safe wear cloves a beanie / hat / headband or bandanna.

4. Hydration

This is important in any kind of weather in cold weather you are inclined to not drink enough fluids so ensure you hydrate!

<!-5. Warm-up

As always ensure that you warm-up properly. A good thing if it is possible and if you have the space or facilities at your disposal is to start your warm-up indoors. You can start warming up indoors and then move outside before you start breaking a sweat.

<!-6. Pay attention to weather conditions

If it is raining or very windy take into account that you have to dress appropriately to make sure that you clothes do not become wet or that the wind penetrates you clothes and enters that insulated layer of warm air between the skin and clothes.

<!-7. Feet

Do not over layer your feet either, because this will cause your feet to sweat and this will lead to cold toes, if you choose shoes try to get ones with the least amount of mesh and use wicking socks. These socks are made of a blend of spandex, nylon, and polyester that keep moisture away form the skin.

For those people that train indoors during winter. Ensure you cover up when you go outside and preferably have a change of clothes before you go out after your workout so you are dry. And for those gym bunnies that only train in summer… Here is a tip: Man up to the cold an just arrive for your session, after all it is indoors!

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Tour de France

Training during winter