It's Official

Santa Cruz Endurance swept the Male and Female Club Competitions at the Silicon Valley Half Marathon last Sunday. The girls team won by a combined time of over 30 mins and the guys handed Silicon Valley Tri Club their first defeat ever at this event. Full team results here and a run down in the Sentinel here.

In the excitement of last weekend I missed the great age group win of new member Julie Stockwell at the Grape Stomp half marathon. Results here.And here's a pic of me being chased by Gozilla.

PRs and Podiums

This weeks edition of PRs and Podiums is a daunting one with the Silicon Valley Half Marathon. So I'm just gonna cop out and link to the results of the Top 10 men and women at the SV half here. They speak for themselves. Seven of the women and four of the men are Santa Cruz Endurance members. If they didn't have the swine flu, or weren't one of the two washed up SCE directors/coaches, they probably did a PR too. Add to this Dan McKinnon's 15 min PR, Miriams first half marathon finish and Mike McNamara's 4 minute PR and that covers it. We were bummed for Jeremy missing out on his Boston qualification goal but know he will fight again.

Over at the Big Kahuna Triathlon, disappointment as the swim was cancelled meaning that Heather's first attempt was a duathlon. Eric came 7th overall and was probably disadvantaged sans swim. 

Fuelling for the Silicon Valley Half Marathon

This is my advice for a half marathon nutrition strategy. Eat a normal breakfast at least two hours before the event. Don't go crazy on the hydrating if it's not a hot day - have a bottle around so you can drink if you're thirsty. Take a coffee if that's what you are used to. Research continues to show that caffeine is very effective in all sorts of ways. Should probably be banned as a performance enhancing stimulant...

I would rely on liquid carb intake (e.g. Gatorade) during a half because generally they digest better IF I could trust a) the person mixing it or b) the person handing it to me. Neither of which I generally can. In addition we researched the brand that are carrying, Ultima, has no carbs! What's the point!

So I usually carry a gel in my pocket - one GU espresso. I'll take it at the aid station at about 45-50 min for a 1:20. So take it at about an hour if you're more like a 1:40. Unless you're training for a longer distance event and want to practice you may want to try and take an extra one but it won't have time to absorb and make you any faster.

Make sure you take a good 2 cups of water to wash that gel down. And plan ahead so you're not surprised by the aid station. Have your gel out and ready to dump it before getting to the aid station.

Oh, also, I'm not a huge fan of the Hammer nutrition guide mentioned yesterday at the clinic. A good rule of thumb is don't bother reading anything called a "clinical study". Look for scientific studies published in scientific journals. The Gatorade Sports Science Institute is a much better resource in my opinion for hydration and nutrition information.

This is just my opinion based on my research and experience. Would love to hear about your strategies.

Martin.

Sponsored Runners for the Silicon Valley Half Marathon

Santa Cruz Endurance will be fielding their most competitive team ever for the Silicon Valley Half Marathon where it all began last year. The female team will defend the Club Challenge title it won last year and the male team will be out for revenge after losing by less than a minute last year. The times from the club's three fastest finishers will be added to decide the fastest club. The sponsored athletes below, who received free entry into the event, will be joined by other Santa Cruz endurance members to join the charge. Should be a great day.

Kelley Puglisi
Trinity Magas
Cari Martin
Samantha Forde
Charmin Wolles

Rhodes Walton
Aaron Jacobsen
Martin Spierings
Adam Boothe
Mike McNamara

PRs and Podiums of the Week

Some of the boys headed down to the last Swanton Time Trial of the year last Thursday. Julian Sunn posted a 31:43 at his first attempt, Benoit Pelczar 32:26 and Jeremy Page 32:57 on the single speed. Results, when they are posted, will be here.

At the Scott Tinley's Adventure Triathlons Roxanne Peralez finished 2nd in her age group in the long course event and I finished 2nd overall in the international distance triathlon.

Rebecca Cress got a PR at the San Jose Rock n' Roll Half marathon 1:46:48.