By: JoAnn Cranson What is happening to me? I’m still very active, walking, running, cycling, swimming, playing with the grandkids, yet…. I’m not as strong as I was a few years ago!! The inconvenient truth is that we lose muscle mass as we age into our late 50’s, 60’s and beyond. By the time we are in our 80’s statistics show some have lost over 30% of our muscle mass!! What?? No wonder it is harder to get up that big step or balance oftentimes feels off. If you feel this way, you’re not alone. I’m fighting this muscle loss, too. To combat Osteoporosis, balance issues, muscle loss, slower metabolism and to increase calorie burn, I’ve found that the best thing
By: Christina Vipond Most sports have an off season which allows an athlete to have some well deserved time to take a physical and mental break. The off season also allows an athlete to return to basics, work on building a strong foundation and work on skills. For cyclists, this may be difficult to schedule into the season as there are so many opportunities for training and racing the entire calendar year. Gravel racing alone runs from March through October. Cyclocross season takes over from there and fat tire races happen all winter long. There is also mountain bike racing, crits and indoor racing. For many athletes, training and racing an entire season is not an issue. For other athletes, it
By: Christina Vipond In training or racing, the only thing we know for sure is that we won’t know what the weather will be until we are on the start line. Race season typically begins in March. We could get lucky and have a warm, dry day or we could get snow or cold, rainy weather. Usually, the morning is cool and may or may not warm up so having kit ready for any weather is essential. Some athletes can tolerate colder weather, others aren’t so lucky. Thankfully, the technology for clothing is such that it allows for layers of clothing to be worn without affecting movement required for racing. Drinking warm liquids before and during the race can keep the
By: Olivia Perrine I got into triathlon by accident, all because of a twisted ankle. It was my aunt’s twisted ankle. She was signed up to race the Tri Goddess Triathlon with my mom in August of 2022, but after a training session that was a little too intense, she was left with a sprained ankle and unable to race. When my mom explained to me my aunt’s situation, she went on to say that, “I didn’t want to race alone, so I just signed you up.” That was on Monday, and the race was on Saturday. It wasn’t much of a heads up, but I didn’t really mind. Earlier in the month I had debated joining my mom and aunt
By Kathy Braginton I’m old and rusty. I creak and moan. I feel deflated, but I know there is still life in me. The road is a distant memory, but I dream of my wheels on the pavement and the wind rushing through my headset. Day in and day out, I am dusty and downtrodden. What opportunities could I provide if I was clean and tuned? My owner recently rolled me out of the garage into the bright light of day. I was slow to move, but eager to see what adventure may await as I was loaded on the bike rack. He dropped me off at an unfamiliar place, patted my seat, and went on his way. As I looked
By: Raquel Torres The new year often feels like a fresh start and a great opportunity to change bad habits and establish new routines that will help you grow psychologically, emotionally, socially, physically, or intellectually. Chances are at some time in your life, you’ve made a New Year’s resolution — and then broken it. This year, stop the cycle of resolving to make change and then not following through. If your resolution is to take better care of yourself and get healthy, you will have a much better year if your resolution sticks. According to statistics one third of resolutioners don’t make it past the end of January. A lot of these resolutions fail because they’re not the right resolutions. And
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