I don’t know much about it, other than the fact that it is important. And that you can produce it if you are exposed to sunlight. And that you get less sunlight in the winter months.

If you are in the dark about vitamin D, check out this article on active.com. You might just learn something.

http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12604

And don’t forget your sunscreen! (Or maybe you should forget your sunscreen?)

For anyone following this and interested in my personal training, here we go…

The good news:

I’ve tried the Cyclo-Speed workouts two or three times now, and they are simply insane. It had been a while since I did the good ol Cyclo-Core routine, so I did that yesterday. Now it’s a piece of cake compared to usual. Very few screams of pain! So I’m definitely making some progress.

The bad news:

There were a couple exercises I just couldn’t do. Why? My sternum and pelvis.

I’m really feeling the affects of that wrestling match last week. (Yeah, the one on the concrete floor…)

The pain in my bones is getting a bit worse, so crunches and stuff are basically off limits. Actually, heavy breathing is off limits too, as it is just slightly less painful than the crunches.

We’ll see how this pans out. I’m planning a skatepark session this Friday on my BMX bike, so I doubt that my injuries are over…

Energy bars are no good for a mountain bike race. Riding no-hands is a luxury that mountain bikers rarely enjoy, especially during a typical race. That leaves gels and sports drinks. I’ve been using gels, and they’re nice, but I mean, you’re paying $1 for a sugar packet!

I’ve stuck with Gatorade as far as drinks go, nothing else has appealed to me (especially the PowerBar drink…) Anyway, Gatorade is good, but 100 calories per bottle won’t get me through a 3 hour race…

So here’s what I need: a sports drink that will give me about 200-300 calories per bottle. I’ll be using this for typical 2-3 hour races, along with a few 6, 8, and 12 hour events.

My choices right now:

Hammer Nutrition Perpetuem

It’s 260 calories per serving. That’s quite a bit!

Also, Hammer Sustained Energy may be good, as I have heard good things about it. I think it comes flavorless, so I don’t have to worry about about a crappy taste.

Accelerade is like 200 calories per bottle… maybe just right! I could skip the GUs. And get some protein.

Or, what is probably most economical, just buy tubs of maltodextrin powder. This is what I really want to test. I can mix it into Gatorade and have a good tasting, high calorie energy drink.

This might be best for the normal races, and I’ll try the protein-containing drinks for the 6+ hour events.

One place you can get this is:

http://www.herbalremedies.com/carpowenspor.html

If you have any suggestions, please comment below. I’d love to know what works for you!

Stay tuned for my test results…

Big thanks to Russ over at The Bicycle Page. It’s a cool resource featuring all kinds of cool cycling, triathlon, etc. sites. I found at least 5 sites I’ve never seen before just by skimming over it. Check it out.

P.S. Look for my link down around the bottom left side.

Screw low carb diets and low fat diets.

Any odd diet like that is bound to fail, and this article reveals that. Hopefully all the trendy low-carb stuff will leave the shelves as quickly as it came in.

http://www.active.com/story.cfm?story_id=12677