Week in Review–October 30th, 2010

I’ve long since wondered what to do with all the random tidbits of things I collect each week – or the little thoughts that don’t quite make for a full post.  But I finally came up with a solution: The Week in Review Post.  This takes the place of my Weekly Mailbag – which is over on Slowtwich.  These are just quick snippets of things that I’ve found interesting.  Nice and easy Saturday reading.  Plus, a recap of my Weekly Mailbag post a well.

So with that, let’s get into the action!

Weekly Mailbag Over at Slowtwitch.com:
With last week’s weekly mailbag not releasing until the weekend, things got a bit out of whack – so hopefully the schedule will get all back to normal on Tuesday, and you’ll get your fill of weekly mailbag goodness, as I’ve got more stuff lined up than people going to Rally to Restore Sanity.  In the meantime, like NBC says – if you haven’t seen it, it’s new to you!  Read the archives here.

Posts this past week:
In case you missed anything from the past 7 days, here ya have it.  Was quite a busy week, including the highly controversial Ironman Access program (and then cancellation of said program):

Saturday:  Week in Review – October 23th, 2010
Monday: Steaks, Ducks and Planks
Tuesday: Using clip-on aerobars on a road bike…how I did it.
Wednesday: Race Reminders: NYC Triathlon Early Registration, IM 70.3 Race Openings & Marine Corps Marathon App
Thursday Morning: The Ironman Access Country Club Program? Maybe…maybe not… Thursday Evening: Ironman says ‘We screwed up’ and cancels/refunds Ironman Access
Friday: My Pumpkin Carving Skillz

Stuff that I found interesting around the interwebs: 
Ok, this week I went a bit overboard on finding cool articles to share…but there was just SO much going on this week that’s of value!

#1) Timex Global Trainer $50 Rebate: The barrier to entry for a GPS watch just got lower, with the new $50 rebate, it brings it down to $199.  Just in time for the holidays!  Rebate form here, and remember – clickage through Amazon (any vendor there) helps support this blog.

#2) Chung on a stick video (Aerostick): This small and growing project to create an aerodrag sensor via ANT+ may not be on the radar of the masses yet, but it’s making progress and they have some video evidence to prove it.  Neat stuff.

#3) NPR Story regarding bonking: A pretty good story that helps to wrap some of the science behind a bonk – may be of use to those of you running marathons this weekend.  It’s a summary of the this PDF research paper.

#4) The LeMond, Armstrong, Watson, and Little LeMond Fiasco: If your diet of endurance sports superstars is lacking some entertainment, go catch-up on this story.  It’s pretty much akin to a playground fight…but it just gets so darn entertaining when you magnify it and have it all play out for the Internet to see.

#5) Epic Bike Sponsorship Thingy: Epic Bikes wants to give you a free bike, in exchange for a little love.  Their competition closes tomorrow, so hop to it.

#6) Yak Trax Athlete Sponsorship: I’ve used Yak Trax in the past and love them (remember my winter blizzard running adventures)?  They too are hosting a sponsorship program for bloggers and the like.  You can toss your name in the hat here (and no worries, I’m not applying).

Now interestingly, in their page, it says that the program includes “Free Hotties” – not sure what they or, or if The Girl would approve (likely not)…but definitely seems worthwhile looking into.  Just sayin’…

#7) Epic CLIF Bar Headquarters Tour from Rumbling and Rambling: I’ve long read and enjoyed Don’s blog, and he doesn’t let down here with an inside look at at CLIF Bar’s headquarters.  I think he included more pics than my product reviews…which…is quite an achievement.

#8) Joe Friel on base training: Given Joe is pretty much the godfather when it comes to triathlon training, it pays to listen.  It also happens that much of what he recommends coincides with my training plans.  He posts occasionally on his blog, and his recent post included this little snippet which I thought was appropriate to remember:

“Duration. How long should your workouts last? I’d suggest measuring this in terms of minutes and hours rather than miles or kilometers. The body doesn’t know distance; it only knows elapsed time. I’ve also found that basing training on distance encourages athletes to go too fast to improve their time on a given course. In other words, distance-based workouts often become races for aggressive athletes. They are mush less likely to do this when training is based on time.”

Random Item #1: Marine Corps Marathon tomorrow!

I’ll be out there cheering on Sunday, and taking some pictures along the way.  I honestly have no idea where I’ll be, but likely within the area of Lincoln and wandering around the mall from there.  Both The Girl and I will be out there, and both of us will be in costume.

Of course, I can’t disclose what my costume will be (because that would ruin holiday parties later tonight)…but…I’ll be out there.

Random Item #2: Marine Corps Marathon App updated to include tracking

If you remember from my Marine Corps Marathon app review earlier this week, the $2 iPhone app didn’t actually include anything useful.  However, mid-day Friday the Appstore released an update for the app that gives it a slew of functionality.  Enough functionality it actually brings it into the ‘useful’ realm if you have someone running the race.  They still of course botched the job in more ways than I can count from a logistics and release standpoint…but that’s for another post I suppose.

Happy Halloween!

Have a good weekend all, and enjoy a SAFE weekend of Halloween activities.  And good luck to everyone running the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, or competing elsewhere!

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