Big Weekend for CTC:  The club is involved in two events this weekend, Saturday’s Jersey Ride and Sunday’s Almond Bowl.

Saturday Jersey Ride:  The Jersey Ride is a casual, fun, friendly, no-drop ride followed by Brunch at Mom’s.  We'll meet at 9:00 AM this Saturday across the street from Mom’s, in the parking lot at the corner of Salem and 2nd.  After some pictures, we’ll roll out for a 25 mile or so flat loop south of town.  After the ride, we'll gather at reserved tables at Mom's for a great brunch.  Feel free to have your family join us for brunch, even if they don’t participate in the ride.  Look for a separate announcement with RSVP request later this week.

Sunday Almond Bowl:  CTC is supporting this Sunday's Almond Bowl which includes a 5k, Marathon, Half Marathon, and 2-Person Half Marathon Relay.  We will have our red pop-up between the stage and the food court area.  We'll be offering a bag check for members, so if you're racing, come by, say hello, and feel free to leave your extra sweats at the tent.  We're looking for volunteers to help man the tent, and also to volunteer for the race.  They need volunteers at packet pickup Friday and Saturday at Fleet Feet, and on race day as early as 6:00 AM and as late as 4:00 PM.  Race volunteers will receive a pizza dinner on Thursday night, a shirt, bagels and coffee on race morning.  Laura Van Dervoort is coordinating our volunteer efforts, so please contact her (530-570-1397 or bikingirl01@yahoo.com) if you're interested in helping out.

Other Races:  Justin Waller is racing Ironman Florida this Saturday, and Paul Ricketts is racing the Marin Sprint Triathlon, also on Saturday.  Best of luck to both of you.

By Gale Bernhardt

For Active.com

About fifteen years ago there were several local crimes that made my husband start to worry about me doing trail runs by myself. His first suggestion was that he buy me a small gun to carry in my fanny pack. He thought I could attend gun safety classes to learn how to use the gun correctly and therefore be saferrunning solo on the trails.

I listened to his concerns and then I said, "If I carry a gun I'm concerned that I'll shoot myself in the butt, foot or back with the thing. I know they have safety locks, but shooting myself accidentally while running worries me. Additionally, I'm worried that the perpetrator will take the gun from me and then use it to harm me."

After more discussion on the gun issues, my husband suggested that instead of a gun we needed to get a dog. This dog would be my running partner year-round. We theorized that someone looking to grab a woman might leave her alone if she was running with a dog, and look for a different victim.

The decision to get a dog was made 15 years ago and I've loved nearly every minute of running with one.

My first dog actually did keep me safe from a potential assault. Plus, there have been about two or three other incidents, when we've crossed paths with creepy people, and I just felt safer with the dog.

In addition to feeling safer, I love to watch dogs run. They are natural athletes and few animals have more fun running than dogs.

Okay, a dog it is; but what kind of dog would make a good canine running buddy? Below is a list of things to consider when looking for not only the best dog for running, but the best dog for you.

1) Where will the dog live? If the dog will live primarily outside and you live in a climate that can be very hot or very cold, select the fur of your dog accordingly. A dog like a Dalmatian or Vizsla that has a short, light coat will not be comfortable living outside in a snowy climate.

2) Does it matter to you how much the dog sheds? Some dogs have short coats, but the coat may be thick with an undercoat. Dogs that shed a lot and live indoors require grooming. Your house will require more cleaning as well.

3) Do you expect the dog to run long distances? Like people, some dogs are sprinters and love to run fast; but then they want a good amount of rest before going again. Small dogs with short legs and thick coats will not make good companions for long runs.

4) Will you want the dog to run in cold or hot conditions? The breeds used as Alaskan sled dogs (examples include the malamutes, huskies and seppalas) are fantastic endurance runners. Their coats are perfect forrunning in cold conditions and they are happy living primarily outdoors. They would not, however, be the best choice for athletes living in hot locations or for those wanting to minimize shedding or keep their dogs indoors.

5) Do you want a dog that is compatible with kids or other pets?Some breeds tend to be more tolerant of kids being in their faces and pulling on their fur. While there are no hard-and-fast rules about every single dog within a particular breed, some breeds are known for being more tolerant than others.

6) Is it important that your dog is protective? Do you want a dog that is capable of attacking someone that confronts you on your run or enters your home uninvited? Some breeds are known for being more bold and protective than other breeds. That said, many "sweet" dogs can be aggressive if the situation becomes threatening.

7) Does the dog need to have a high, medium or low natural activity level? If you select a high-activity dog, and only plan to run with it for 30 minutes twice per week, then this dog will need something else to do with all that free time. Additional walks or a job such as lure coursing (a sport for dogs in which they chase a lure) will need to be included for high-activity dogs. If you don't keep these dogs busy, they are more likely to be destructive.

8) Is swimming important? Do you want a dog that enjoys swimming? Some breeds love the water and naturally enjoy swimming. The sporting dogs that hunt birds are in this category. Other dog breeds aren't much interested in swimming, though there are exceptions in every breed.

9) Do you want a dog that is more trainable and obedient? Labradors and golden retrievers are well-known for their easy going personalities and general desire to please humans. Other breeds are more independent and may be more interested in doing something else. For example foxhounds, coonhounds and Rhodesian ridgebacks are dogs stimulated by scents and sights (like squirrels, bunnies and cats). It might be more interesting to chase a cat than to run with you or listen to your voice commands.

10) Do you have allergies? Some dog breeds—such as the standard poodle and the labradoodle—are more easily tolerated by people who suffer from allergies.

11) Do you prefer a small, medium or large dog? This preference may be tempered by your living situation. You might prefer to have three large dogs; but you live in a one-bedroom apartment in the city. These three large dogs would be better suited for a living situation that has a yard and plenty of room to exercise.

In addition to these questions, there are several online questionnaires that can help you decide what dog would be best for you. I suggest filling out a few of these as each one asks slightly different questions. You can also ask other athletes about their canine running partners.

Once you have the characteristics of several breeds of dogs that would fit well into your family, consider adopting a running dog from the local Humane Society. The Humane Society can usually give you a good idea of the breed mix of your pup. Some of the mixed breed dogs make outstanding running partners. If you prefer a specific breed, consider looking for a rescue program for that breed.

Fall and spring are the times when most dogs are having litters, and when puppies are usually available for adoption. Just remind yourself that cute puppies turn into bigger dogs and come with commitments. If you are ready to take on the time and responsibility to train and care for a dog, you might find the best running partner you've ever had.

Finally, I asked my friends, and friends of friends, which dogs they like to run with. Here is a list of their favorite running dogs:

• Airedale Terrier
• Alaskan Malamute
• Australian Shepherd
• Border Collie and Labrador Retriever mix
• Boxer
• Dalmation
• English Springer Spaniel
• German Shepherd
• Golden Retriever
• Labradoodle
• Labrador Retriever
• Labrador and Golden Retriever mix
• Rhodesian Ridgeback
• Siberian Husky
• Standard Poodle
• Vizsla
• Weimaraner
• Whippet
• Wirehaired Pointing Griffon

Gale Bernhardt was the USA Triathlon team coach at the 2003 Pan American Games and 2004 Athens Olympics. Her first Olympic experience was as a personal cycling coach at the 2000 Games in Sydney. She currently serves as one of the World Cup coaches for the International Triathlon Union's Sport Development Team. Thousands of athletes have had successful training and racing experiences using Gale's pre-built, easy-to-follow cycling and triathlon training plans. Let Gale and Active Trainer help you succeed.

Nice article on Overtraining by Joel Friel...

Many successful endurance athletes are type-A personalities. They are driven to succeed. While this is necessary to some extent, too much drive and motivation can lead to disastrous training and poor performance. This is evident in the following question that I recently received. The athlete, a cyclist, understands a lot about the intricacies of training. His question uses several terms common to power-savvy cyclists and triathletes who use power meters (or GPS devices for runners). Here’s a quick reference so you can understand what he is asking in case you don’t train with power (or a GPS for running):

• CTL - Chronic Training Load: A rolling, daily average of how much training stress an athlete is managing. The more stress he/she can handle the greater their fitness. So CTL is a good proxy for “fitness.” If CTL is increasing then fitness is generally increasing also.
• FTP - Functional Threshold Power (“Pace” in running): This is how much power (pace) a rider (or runner) can maintain for an hour. It’s similar to lactate or anaerobic threshold power (pace). Increases in FTP indicate an improvement in aerobic fitness.
• 1 minute max: The highest max power (or pace) one can maintain for a minute. This is another indicator of fitness.
• Sh-t: You can probably figure this technical term out for yourself.
• WKO+: Software designed for logging and analyzing power and pace data.

Question: I’m a big fan of your blog. I’m having trouble understanding fatigue and recovery. By definition I need to experience fatigue to gain fitness, but how much fatigue should I “feel” day to day? I’ve been increasing my CTL in 3-5 week cycles resting a little more for 1 week allowing a little loss of CTL then I hit it again and increase my CTL…. The problem is that my perceived fitness and actual fitness are not getting better. I just feel tired. Heavy legs, not making gains in my FTP, I’m stagnating! My FTP is not in decline, but the numbers I’m putting out seem to require more perceived effort. My 1 minute max has been in decline, at one point I was able to maintain 550 watts for a minute, now I'm at 440 watts. The question I have is, how should I feel during training, because quite frankly I feel like "sh-t".... and I don't think I'm suppose to. The other option is that I'm just not cut out for endurance sports because I can't take the suffering. I just feel weak!

Answer: First of all, everyone is cut out to be an endurance athlete to some extent. That’s our inheritance as homo sapiens. We’re hunter-gatherers by design—slow sprinters compared with the rest of animal world, but better than the others at endurance. Some of us just got more endurance genes and opportunities than others.

What you’re experiencing is not unusual at all for highly motivated athletes. It’s common for us to always seek our limits. Since you seem to be using WKO+ (and the Performance Management Chart) I’ll give you a suggestion for that software which may help you regulate your training to avoid extreme overreaching (TrainingPeaks.com also has this functionality).

But first, some overreaching is necessary to produce improvements in fitness. You seem to understand that given your reference to fatigue being required to improve fitness. But overreaching and fatigue can be accumulated too quickly for the body to adjust and adapt to it. It functions best when the rate of overreaching is gradual. I suspect yours is overly aggressive.

The rate of overreaching (and therefore “hard training”) is probably too high when your CTL is increasing at a rate greater than 5 to 8 TSS per week.

• If your absolute CTL numbers are relatively low (let’s say, around 50 or less) then an increase of 7 or 8 in a week is probably a bit too much. Keep it lower than that.
• If your absolute CTL is higher (around 80+ we’ll say) then a weekly increase of 5 or 6 is pushing the limits. You may be able to manage such a rate of CTL increase for one week and get away with it (some can’t), but the longer you keep that going the deeper the fatigue hole you dig.

After 2 to 4 weeks of increasing your CTL by such excessive amounts you are likely to be toast. You’ll be in the early stages of the overtraining syndrome. That will be marked by symptoms like:

• relentless fatigue
• poor training performance
• lethargy
• low motivation
• bad attitude about life in general

If you keep pushing it beyond this fatigue you’re likely to experience full-blown overtraining which is similar to having a disease such as mononucleosis, chronic fatigue syndrome, or Lyme disease. It isn’t pretty. And it may take you weeks if not months to shed the overtraining symptoms.

By keeping the rate of your CTL increase below the numbers suggested above you should be able to train steadily while making fitness gains and avoiding the downsides.

It may also be that a 5-week period of training in which CTL steadily climbs is too much for you. I train most of my athletes with 2- or 3-week periods before they rest. And regardless of your usual period length, if you are overly fatigued then you should recover immediately regardless of the plan.Training plans must be flexible to be effective. Doing workouts just to satisfy the plan is doing it backwards.

Of course, there are other stressors in our lives besides training. Supporting your family, working a lot of hours, having a physically or emotionally stressful job, having lifestyle stresses such as relationship or financial difficulties, and experiencing other pressing responsibilities of life can also lead to what may be interpreted as overreaching. If this is the case then training must be reduced regardless of what your weekly rate of CTL increase may be.

Joe Friel is the author of ten books on training for endurance athletes, including the popular and best-selling Training Bible book series. He holds a masters degree in exercise science, is a USA Triathlon and USA Cycling certified Elite-level coach, and is a founder and past Chairman of the USA Triathlon National Coaching Commission.  You can view training plans from Joe here.  Joe is also one of the co-founders of TrainingPeaks and operates a training company called TrainingBible Coaching.