Im a little late adding this due to my Daytona trip but when i came back yesterday i found in my email box an update from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

The registration packets for the Livestrong Ride Series are being mailed in March this year. The packet will include a fundraising poster that you can use at your fundraising events. I find this to be a nice addition to the packets because it will give a professional appearance to the fundraising events. Last year, if i remember correctly, you had to contact the LAF directly to get fundraising materials. If you need more materials this will probably still be the case but at least one poster is in hand.

Also included will be a fundraising notebook with training and fundraising tools. I imagine these tools will be printed versions of the PDF’s currently available on the Livestrong Ride Series Tools page.

It looks like this will be a very good and useful package this year.

Just a note that ill be signing off till Monday. Im heading down to Florida for the rest of the week to go to the Daytona 500.  I’ve never been much of a Nascar fan but the way I figure it when a chance to go to an event thats as big as this you’ve got to take it.  My friends assure me that I’ll be converted, and it doesnt hurt that Daytona is listed in the top 10 of Maxim’s Parties of the Year.  Ill have to double time my workouts to undue what damage the next five days will inflict.

Since im still without a laptop I wont be able to update till i get back on Monday. Hopefully ill come back to some new members chatting on the forum :).  That would be a huge plus.  Hope everyone has a good weekend and enjoys some of the Olympics.

When you first start building back into the season, everything i’ve read over the past few months states to concentrate on Base/Foundation miles on your bike. These miles are basically long distances at a moderate effort. By doing these distances your body will build up its aerobic capacity, strength, endurance, drop weight, and concentrate on technique.

The aerobic zone is where the majority of your time should be spent when doing any type of endurance or distance competetions. This zone is where your body burns fats and carbohydrates for its energy. The aerobic zone is defined being between 60-85% of your maximum heartrate, different sites vary this percentage but this is a good target. The beginning of training in this zone, about 20 minutes, will burn more carbohydrates than fat, after about 20 minutes you begin to burn fat and carbohydrates equally. After you hit that 40 minute barrier the body swings to burning more fat than carbohydrates. In this way you can drop pounds which you will gladly miss on your long Livestrong Ride.

A heart rate monitor would be a good investment to help you stay within your aerobic zone during your base/foundation miles. I have a Polar 720 which is constantly keeping me inside my optimum training zones. If you dont have a heart rate monitor or dont want to get one yet, calculate your heart rate zones and use that zone in your local gym. Most gym equipment now has the ability to show you your heart rate by grasping the handles or some other similar method.

For me, I concentrate more on time than on distance during the base/foundation training. I usually target riding in my aerobic zone for 60-90 minutes per workout. This is by no means the upper limit as its always good to get in a nice long ride, but i do try to keep the time at least 60 or above before i consider it a good base session. If you reference Chris Carmichael’s training plan i discussed in a previous blog you’ll see that he advocates 90 minute base sessions in the beginning of his plans.

Originally the Livestrong Ride Series was limited to 18 years and older, but now they have removed that restriction as long as their is a parent or guardian riding with them.  Though i hadnt noticed this restriction, since it hasnt applied to me in over a decade, I was suprised to find out it had been there in the first place.

During the Ride For The Roses this past year there were several people under 18 riding.  Almost all were with their parents but im sure there were some going solo as well.  I remember a five person bike passing me on the ride last year with two children, their parents, and a toddler in a baby seat in the middle chair.  The whole family was riding together and it was cool to see.  Also there were several fathers and sons that flew past me on the ride.

Im glad they changed this and I think that they’ll probably be able to pull in a few more people this way.  Also those under 18 still in school have access to a wealth of classmates and their parents in a network that is comparable to any corporate co-worker environment.

Everyone, at some point, has gotten a chain letters either through normal mail or email. Why not turn that to your advantage. Not in the sense of becoming a spammer (the evil incarnate scum of the earth :^) ), but by sending your friends an email and asking them to forward that email on to at least three of their friends.

The Livestrong Ride online donations at your HQ page are required to be at least $5. In your email give a personal message, or share your story, and ask the recipients, if they are able, to donate $5 to your Livestrong Ride. Make it clear that they dont have to donate if they are unable but can still help to support your ride by continuing the chain and forwarding your email to at least three of their friends. In this way the people that recieve your email are always recieving it from a friend and thereby making them more inclined to read it and possibly donate.

The reason to ask only $5 is that its something someone can probably spare easily and a bigger number could make one feel that if they could not donate that amount then they may not donate at all. If enough people make the small donation then it becomes a huge accomplishment and promotes both the message of the Lance Armstrong Foundation but also helps you reach your fundraising goals.