Racergirl Melanie McQuaid 3 Time Xterra World Champion
Racergirl Television: Shit Triathletes Say
Written by melanie
Monday, 23 January 2012 11:09
It was just too easy to do one of these given the online frenzy of homages to the "Shit Girls Say" video. So here is mine as this week's installment of Racergirl TV.
I had fun with this but now that I have done it there are so many more that I would add and so many things I would do differently. However, the naming of the bikes is the first on the list because after MANY years of bike racing, it was only when I came into triathlon that I even HEARD of naming your bike something other than the manufacturer chose for you :).
I wrote this article for Triathlete Magazine a while back. I have been advocating a lot of strength work lately for my athletes so this article may be food for thought for a lot of you building your 2012 programs. Enjoy!
In order to be a good triathlete, an athlete needs to have strength, speed and endurance. When an athlete chooses to race off road, it would be beneficial for that athlete to have agility as well. Agility is a combination of coordination, flexibility, power and speed that would allow a trail racer to pick their way through technical terrain quickly and efficiently. What many athletes are missing when they move to off road racing is adequate flexibility to allow them to stay loose while reacting to terrain. CLICK READ MORE FOR THE REST
Racergirl Television: Running the WIld Pacific Trail, Ucluelet
Written by melanie
Tuesday, 17 January 2012 09:08
Welcome to another Tuesday and another episode of Racergirl Television.
Today's video will give you a glimpse into the beauty on the West Coast of Vancouver Island. I tried to run the 8.4km Wild Pacific Trail with my GoPro HD2 and the chesty mount but when I finished the almost 2h run and looked at the video I realized that the chesty mount is fantastic but my running is too bouncy. The chesty is perfect for mountain biking but for running you have to have yourself in the video for the stabilization to work. Learning as I go along! Sadly the "story" of the trail was lost because it was bouncy.
Regardless you can see how gorgeous the coastline is and I think any athletic person would love to give the trail a go. You could do it with your offroad strollers etc but it would be a MASSIVE workout to run that way because it is super hilly.
You can see what we want to protect in British Columbia from the risk of an oil spill disaster like what happened in the Gulf of Mexico. This is just a tiny glimpse of what we have. Please sign this petition:
To ensure that our insane government is never allowed to go ahead and risk this kind of natural beauty for a small number of years of oil profit. We all need to try to do our part to encourage movement away from oil and definitely not risk our natural environment because of it.
Welcome to another Tuesday! Time for another episode of Racergirl Television.
Our latest episode of Racergirl Television is a fun offseason competition but could also be a useful practice session for anyone. When was the last time you tried using an air canister like a Genuine Innovations Big Air to change a tube? Those Big Airs and little cartridges don't last forever so use your old ones to challenge your friends to a contest and time yourselves. Each second is one you have lost in a race!
My last practice session was unhappily on the side of the road at the Lake Stevens 70.3 but since I had not practiced with a disc wheel I forgot all about the little adaptor you need to put air in it! That little adaptor was not useful to me in the transition area rather than on my bike. These DETAILS are what you need to take care of before race day so imagining the entire scenario and practicing it is a good idea. This little contest can help.
I did win a flat changing contest a million years ago in Canmore at the World Cup. However, that was a mountain bike wheel with tubes in it which indicates how far back in ancient history that was. This latest go around? You'll have to watch to see how it went.
Racergirl Television: The Banana Bread Championship
Written by melanie
Tuesday, 03 January 2012 08:53
On this regular Tuesday episode of Racergirl Television we had a guest star or three.
My training partners and I decided to settle the debate as to "who makes the best banana bread" by holding a bake-off. We chose Jack Knox as our judge and on a rainy night in Esquimalt, the champion was crowned.
You will have to watch the video to see who won.
As promised, I am going to publish the recipes used to bake the champion-level breads.
