By Fayza Elmostehi

Look at you, kid. You've made it to your second month! But you're not feeling so victorious in your achievement. Your archenemy is an inflatable boat that won't cease spinning in circles. Trees seem to sprout legs when you're on the bike trails, and the roots are always sticking a foot into your path. Your compass doesn't work, or, well, maybe you just have no idea how to use it. And pace counting always seems to land you too far north of the checkpoint. "Staying found"? Forget it! You're just trying to stay in the game. You can't fathom calling yourself a "vet" in the next 30 years, and right now, you're not sure if you can even really deem yourself an "adventure racer" at all. Believe it or not, we've all been there. And we know what you're feeling. Just keep going.

Yup. Keep going. Because in a few months, when you're talking shop about endos, dead reckoning, race pace, and cadence, and you're banging out races on a regular basis, you'll barely recall your current self. You'll get to a point when you can't even imagine how you pedaled without clips or how you ever, ever paddled a Sevy. You'll giggle at the idea of misplotting a point. You'll know the ins, and you'll know the outs. Like it was a reflex; like you knew all along. Really. Truly. That'll all happen. But right now, you're not there yet. Yet. That's okay. You're not supposed to be. Don't fret. You will get there. Guaranteed. Just keep going.

Nutrition for 1-2 Hours of Training
By Steve Mertz

So last month we covered hydration and what to drink and when to drink it. Now we need to know what to eat, and when to eat it!

When working out for less than an hour, you don't really have to worry about eating. You have enough glycogen (carbohydrates) in your muscles to get you through it. But, what about if you go beyond that one hour? Well you need to start to replenish your glycogen levels. You can burn on the order of 500-1,000 calories per hour easily while training or racing. But you cannot ingest that much per hour. Your body just cannot do that while also working.

By Jim Willis, Novice Bike Coach

Well the answer is yes! The weight of your tires directly effects the speed at which your muscles can rotate that weight. The heavier the tire, the harder it is to keep turning, the lighter you tire, the easier it is to keep turning. The advantages of a lighter tire weight are more noticeable on smoother roads then on curvy technical trails, due to higher speeds on roads. There is a another speed feature speed on your tire you should be aware of, the center bead.

LÄRABAR and Cascadian Farm Organic have a wide variety of tasty high quality foods for fueling during training or races. LÄRABAR is a delicious blend of unsweetened fruits, nuts and spices. Made from 100% whole food, each flavor contains no more than eight ingredients. Pure and simple, just as nature intended.

What are the quality standards for Lärabar ingredients?
Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Soy Free, All Natural, Vegan, Kosher, No added sugars or sweeteners, Non-GMO, No added sulfites, No preservatives, fillers, or colorings.

Learn more about LÄRABAR!

Cascadian Farm Organic
Starting with a few acres of organic farming in 1972, Cascadian Farm Organic is now a leading grower, marketer, and distributor of a wide range of organic products, from frozen fruit to granola bars and breakfast cereals.

Learn more about Cascadian Farm!

NAV TEXAS (02/21/2010)
Navigation Race
HFAR (Kelley Simmons) - 3rd Overall
Win in spite of Jen (Bobby Kitchen) - 4th Overall
Time Bandit (Taylor Powell) - 5th Overall
Multi-National suit case Traveler (Nicki Adams) - 6th Overall
KBO (Kevin Bowen)
HFAR/Divide By Zero (Josh Thompson)
Helena Handbasket / Scalpel (Cynthia Bryan & Helena Finley)
Not A Couple (Sharon Mensik & Don Hunt)
Shoaf (Scott Shoaf)

(from left to right): Asst. Coach Nicki plots her course at the Texas Adventure Racing Nav Texas race. | Team Lonestar / HFAR (Helena, Cynthia, and Will) scored another top finish at Terra Firma Eco Lonestar 12 hour race on Will's birthday!

If you've got something to say, we want to hear it! Email Cody & Bambi at organizer@ houstonfitar.com with your articles, photos, story ideas or suggestions, and we will try to include them in our next issue.