Happy November & December Birthdays to our members and sponsors! NOVEMBER: Jennifer Stevens (NOV 01) ** Don Howarth (05) ** Laura Lindgren (08) ** Mike Gartin (11) ** Victor Kornahrens (11) ** Tom Amerine (30) DECEMBER: Glenn Baldwin (DEC 02) ** Bruce Barnhart (02) ** Jerry Carver (06) ** Frank Said (07) ** Steve Robertson (10) ** Greg Castaneda (14) ** Greg Russell (17) ** Michael Berwind (29) --posted 30 October 2002

Upcoming Pro Crit? How about some legal EPO! By Anthony D. Morrow November 7, 2002 While on my lunch break, I was watching the news this afternoon to catch up on all the election results and other events of the day. CNN Headline News went to a commercial and I went back to eating and browsing the newspaper. But then a commercial came on that caught my attention. It was a commercial for a prescription drug called PROCRIT by Ortho Biotech Products, L.P.. The name on its own caught my attention, but it was the follow-up of the drug’s generic name, Epoetin Alfa, that really piqued my interest. It seems that very ironically or by shrewd calculation, the drug form of the hormone epoetin (EPO for short and erythropoietin in full) is now being sold via prescription here in the U.S. under the name PROCRIT and advertised on television. Now, anyone who follows professional cycling probably knows what I’m going to fill in next for our less informed readers. EPO has been used as an illegal, performance-enhancing drug by cyclists. EPO increases red blood cell production of the body, which allows more oxygen to circulate throughout the body. For cyclists, this means enhanced endurance and performance. EPO has been the basis for controversy in recent high profile races like the Tour de France and Tour of Italy, as well as in the careers of Marco Pantani and countless others. And despite the risks involved in using the drug, such as strokes, heart attacks, and kidney failure, it seems professional endurance athletes like ours are using it more and more. So there I was, mouth dropped and staring at the television, shocked that the very drug that has nearly collapsed the credibility and sport of professional cycling, was named PROCRIT, as in PROfessional [cycling] CRITerium! But wait, there’s more! I started out thinking that I couldn’t be alone in recognizing this conundrum. Sure enough, a little research helped me uncover an article from The New York Times, June 2, 2002, in which the writer notes, "As Seen on Television, Prohibited EPO on Sale." I didn’t get to see the full article (NYTimes.com charges for stuff older than seven days), but the abstract also included this interesting info. "Commercial for Procrit, prescription version of drug erythropoetin, airs during Tour of Italy cycling race, which has been tainted by use of EPO for doping purposes; ad sparks mixed reaction from cycling community." Of course, it all could be interesting coincidence. After all, the drug’s website, www.procrit.com, says that it’s to be "prescribed for anemic patients" and that when used to treat anemia, it "can result in more energy, reduced fatigue, and the restored ability to be active." Surely they wouldn’t name it PROCRIT just to attract the attention of aspiring cyclists, and surely they wouldn’t run the PROCRIT commercial during the Tour of Italy to catch us when we would most likely be watching and wondering. Surely I hope not. -posted 07 November 2002

Wenzel Coaching Program - November 2002 The following is a condensed and simplified version of the Wenzel Coaching program for November 2002. Here is a rough outline of the months to come, assuming that you want to start racing in February and really hit your stride in late March or early April. Weight lifting gets serious after mid-November and endurance mileage is really up, reaching annual peak weekly volume (hours) near the end of November and into December. December and January are a gradual transition to intensity with various intervals and finally the racing season starts again in February. The program for November has two components: endurance building and strength training. The first two weeks of November in the gym are a continuation of the Anatomical Adaptation phase commenced in October. The first few weeks of weight lifting should have made you a little sore even if the weights were very light. That should disappear after about two to three weeks of lifting. Lift two or three times per week in November. For the first two weeks of November continue to lift moderate weights with which you can finish the sets comfortably and with only mild burning in the muscle. Continue to do five or six sets of ten for prime-mover muscles (e.g. quads, calves, glutes) and three sets of five or six for support muscles (e.g. abdomen, back, arms, chest). After three weeks without post-workout soreness it’s time for the Basic Strength phase. Continue with the same sets and reps you’ve been doing, but push weights that are a definite challenge. Increase the weight gradually from week to week to feel out your limits without killing yourself. If you are turning red and or you have to hold your breath to lift, the weight is too heavy. Great cyclists are slight of build. If you are overbuilt in the upper body, do short sets with very light weights for those muscles. (You must use good form to push big weights, especially when squatting. Consult an expert in the gym if you are not sure what good form would look like.) By now you should be accustomed to endurance training three or four days per week. Endurance training means riding, running, swimming or whatever you choose to do at a pace that is about as hard as you can go with no acceleration of your breathing and no burning in your muscles. For people who use heart monitors, which we recommend for all riders, all the endurance building exercise should be done around 70 to 80% of your maximum heart rate. If you ever have the slightest difficulty maintaining this heart rate range, other than when you have to stop or coast, you are tired and should recover for the remainder of the day or take a recovery day. A recovery day is about an hour with your heart rate between 60 and 70% of maximum. If you are already out on a ride when you become tired, just make your way home at a recovery pace. Never push to see how long you can keep the heart rate in the endurance zone after you are tired. Continue to add days and hours until you are training as much as you have time for near the end of November. Never add more than 10% to your training time from one week to the next. Now you should understand why it was so important to start training in mid-October. One day a week, go riding in hills, trying to maintain the same heart rate range. You’ll do best if you put on a gear that allows you to spin 75 rpm or higher on the hills you’ll be riding. Practice keeping the power on while standing for up to five minutes at a time. Climbing ability depends on aerobic fitness and body weight. If you are usually one of the fast people on the flats, but the slow people on the hill, you need to be lighter. If you are one of the slow people on the flats and on the hill, you need to improve your fitness, and you can worry about weight later. E-mail for an e-handout of dietary guidelines for cyclists. Since your racing next year depends on the base you develop this winter, this a good time to start on a Wenzel Coaching individualized pro- gram. Having a program in front of you can really help maintain motivation. If you think you might ever sign up, now is better than later. Whatever you learn about good training methods now you can apply for the rest of your riding career. Call Neil at 562-438-3051 or e-mail neilbrown@wenzelcoaching.com. Also check out our website at www.WenzelCoaching.com. Individual programs for Velo Allegro members cost $50/month. Neil Browne, Wenzel Coaching 562-754-8756 562-438-3051. -posted 30 October 2002