Each week, coach and author, Hal Higdon answers your questions about running. Here's the latest:
Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 1:42PM The data files from today's stage are now posted.
Hunter Allen has done a detailed writeup of Josep Jufre Pou's TT effort, pointing out some very interesting things from his ride.
We also posted Stage 4's photos.
Enjoy! Go Levi!
Friday, February 23, 2007 at 11:28AM 
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Congratulations to Philip Lee Clark of Niagara Falls, N.Y. for winning a great USA Triathlon/Training Peaks Swag Bag.
The Bag’s contents – valued at $340 – included 6 months added to Clark’s Training Peaks Virtual Coach subscription, free CyclingPeaks WKO+ software, AQx Aquatic Training Shoes, USAT armskins, USAT socks, Yankz! Shoelaces, a Virtual Coach t-shirt, and a box of Peak Bars.
“Training Peaks and USAT have been partners for over three years now, and we wanted to work together to offer the USAT members a really enticing promotional package,” said Katie Schoeben, director of sales and marketing and Training Peaks. “The USAT National Team uses Training Peaks software to train, so we wanted to offer it to the members with an added bonus – so they could essentially train like the pros. We thought this promotion was a fun way to get the member base excited about the new year. We are really happy Philip won; he is an Ironman and has some big personal and charitable goals for this year. We are glad to help him achieve those goals.”
All the 33-year-old Clark needed to do was sign-up, renew, or upgrade his Virtual Coach subscription between Nov. 1 and Jan. 31 to be entered into the contest.
Clark was recently named to the Snickers Marathon Team 2007 and is currently in training for the Ironman USA and the Virginia Double Iron Triathlon. For the Double he has joined up with the Blazeman Foundation to raise awareness as well as money for ALS research. Interested supporters can go to http://www.active.com/donate/peeleeclark
Here’s a quick Q&A with our winner:
What do you do outside of training?
I work for Score This!!!, a race management and timing company in Western New York. I am the Transition Captain for their Multisport Series. I also work as a USAT CAT 3 Official. Currently I am attending SUNY at Buffalo as a graduate student in the Theatre Education program.
I am a professional actor. I belong to Actors Equity Association and I have had a great career that has taken me all over the world. I performed over 1,250 performances of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "Starlight Express," the musical on rollerskates. I got to do a promotion for it in Germany as I speed skated a marathon in a costume from the show. It was my "pro" debut. Lucky for me, the interview at the finish line was in English. I was tired because of the non-aerodynamic costume.
I also sang on the Original Cast Recording of "Grease" in Germany.
What are your athletic goals?
I hope to be the oldest person ever to finish Kona. I also pray for a stork to bring me a carbon bike for the Virginia Double Iron Triathlon.
Any specific race highlights, or life highlights for that matter?
Singing the National Anthem at the Ironman 70.3 World Championship 2006 as well as racing as an athlete. Look for me to be singing at Ironman Kentucky.
Best of luck with your training and racing this year!
Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 9:09PM We have posted data from Mario Aerts and Josep Jufre in our Predictor-Lotto microsite. The wireless connection in the hotel is miserable, so we had to use our Blackberry phone to send over the data. The photos from today were too big, so look for them later this week when we get a better wi-fi connection.
We did manage to upload an audio file of Aaron Olsen talking with Dirk about riding in the breakaway during Stage 3.
We also caught a brief glimpse of a certain 7-time yellow jersey wearing guy in the Disco team car. Yes, you are also able to see a staple of the race director's diet in this photo. So much to learn behind the scenes....
Checkout the data from the past stages too. Tomorrow's time-trial will likely determine the winner of the race, it will be an exciting day for sure!
Predictor-Lotto Team Microsite
Thursday, February 22, 2007 at 7:51AM Stage 3's epic climbing day put some serious suffering into the legs of the riders.
We have posted two data files, and a video taken from the finish line.
Josep's data shows that it was a hard day in the saddle
We'll be back at it today, with mor data, photos and videos tonight.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007 at 10:09AM 
It's a big job to train a professional cyclist and ensure they are getting the best workout prescription possible. When you have to train an entire team, it's a huge responsibility. T-Mobile has put much of that pressure squarely on the shoulders of Sebastian Weber, Team Coach for the men's professional cycling team.
Sebastian has an incredible knowledge of physiology and practical experience, making him uniquely capable to handle such a daunting task. We have come to know him since our introduction last October at the first meeting of the new team, and he's provided us a brief look into how he coaches the team through a recent interview.
To ensure he's giving the best possible guidance, he uses several custom analytical tools to analyze training data, then builds each rider's workout plan using Training Peaks Desktop Companion. His coaching suggestions are based on the accurate analysis of power-meter data from all the riders. This year each rider is equipped with an SRM power-meter to gather data for Sebastian as they perform their daily training, and even their racing, giving him a complete picture of their fitness throughout the year.
Check out our interview with Sebastian in our T-Mobile Team Microsite. This week, the T-Mobile squad is at the Tour of California. Look for updates and information all week long.
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