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MikeVanTso

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About MikeVanTso

  • Birthday 11/10/1983

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  1. Hey everyone, it makes me feel sort of strange to do this but I have come to the realization that the amazing journey I have ahead of me cannot happen without the help and support of my friends and family. I am fairly new to this site but greatly enjoy the content and discussions, and thought maybe I could reach out for help. I will be leaving my hometown on March 14th time to embark on the hardest challenge of my life. My journey takes me nearly 10,000 self powered miles from the California/Mexico border to Skagway, AK by bike, followed by Kayaking the inside passage back to Washington, and lastly a through hike of the Pacific Crest Trail, southbound. We've partnered with Leave No Trace and Scientists and Adventurers for Conservation to do education and research respectively. We will be doing outreach along the way, and documenting air quality as well as taking pictures to document climate change. This journey will only be possible with the support of my friends and family. If you are able to contribute please click the link below; anything helps. Thanks everyone! http://goo.gl/6YS5z More information about Team Epoch can be found on our site TeamEpoch.org or on Facebook at Facebook.com/EpochExpeditions
  2. F*ck that! Either you ARE or you ARENT. Being vegan isn't a diet or a way to lose weight, hell its not even revolutionary. If you cling to this term "vegan" as an attribute to yourself, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. Follow the guidelines that your ethics and morals, or your health for that matter, set for you and leave the rhetoric to the -itarians.
  3. The tree isnt in a very populated place, and a ways back in a park, and also oddly enough not a very popular tourist destination. I mean, with the mouse and everything else "the city beautiful" has to offer, who wants to drive to the middle of nowhere to see some dumb old tree.... It was a local landmark, and I was about half a mile from it a few days earlier....wish i would have swung by to pay my final respects. After all, it was a very special tree.
  4. If any of you have been to the central Florida area, you may have at least heard of this wonderful tree named "The Senator." This bald cypress was 3500 years old, making it the 5th oldest tree in the world. Sunday night the tree caught fire and burned to the ground before it could be put out. Initially, the responding firemen found piles of sticks and branches scattered around the base of the tree, and made the assumption that arson was the cause. Now, they are saying it may have been hit by lightning earlier in the week and somehow managed to smolder, undetected, for a week or so before going up in a blaze. Either way, a great loss for all. http://www.nativetreesociety.org/fieldtrips/florida/senator/senator2.jpg http://www.inquisitr.com/wp-content/2012/01/the-senator.jpg http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/01/17/145342304/one-of-worlds-oldest-cypress-trees-the-senator-burns-in-florida
  5. what are some examples of compound lifts that you would recommend?
  6. Can someone point me to a good reference, or take the time to outline the differences, benefits, and drawbacks of different styles of lifting and how they relate to strength and performance. I would be lieing if I said appearance wasn't a factor in my weight training but it is only a small fraction of the goal.
  7. Thanks! I'm going to stay away from it until Monday, I generally rest Sunday and I'll be riding a lot this weekend. Hopefully by then I'll be ok, it not I'll just take it easy on the shoulder stuff.
  8. p.s. Never really been a gym rat, always more into cross training and endurance/cardio-training...but lately I've been looking for that "edge".
  9. Need some advice. This isn't really related to being vegan, but I'm sure one of you can help me out. I was lifting yesterday, shoulder presses with dumbells to be exact, and I felt my left shoulder "pop out". It didn't really hurt all that much at the time, but it's pretty sore now. I stopped lifting immediately, but now what? How long should I expect it to be sore? How long before I should go back at it? What CAN I do? Would chest presses or incline presses be out of the question? What should I be doing in the future to keep this from happening? I think maybe my arms were too far back but...I don't really know. This is the first time this has ever happened to me.
  10. Wow! I'm honestly impressed at the amount some of you are able to eat. Apparently I'm doing it wrong
  11. Sounds like you're on the right track! For what its worth, I normally eat 5-6 times a day. My breakfast is generally a little larger than it should be, and my dinner a little earlier than it should be. I usually have one off day a week, and on that day its a struggle to eat 3 times, mainly b/c im super busy trying to catch up on all the things i wasnt doing while I was at the gym, or training, but also b/c im just not hungry.
  12. Figured I'd introduce myself, I mean....why not? My name is Michael, I'm from Florida. I'm an endurance athlete. I love cycling, running, swimming, climbing, really anything outdoors. I've been vegan for who knows how long. I work/am part of an organization called Epoch Expeditions. We are a nonprofit organization specializing in wilderness advocacy and education through social media, expeditions and partnerships with groups and other nonprofit organizations. Epoch is currently rowing across the Atlantic Ocean, competing in the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, as part of our pilot trek, the 400 Challenge. For more information on EE and the cross-atlantic row, check the links in my signature.
  13. BlueDuckXX, Are you looking to increase your mileage/endurance or get stronger/faster? or both? I'm a firm believer in cross training and weight training to aid in performance. I like to add in a day or two a week of low to medium intensity lower body lifting. We don't really have much of an "off-season" here in Florida, unless you are stick pretty firmly to one discipline. I'm not sure I would hit the gym too hard if i had a race that week, or maybe even the next, but in between and while training I think it's a great idea. Cycling and running use very specific muscles and neglecting the rest of the legs, and body, can be detrimental to performance and health. Mix it up! Keep yourself entertained! Flip some tires, do squats and front squats, presses, etc. The ERG is a wonderful tool for cyclists, too!
  14. Dydde, This is my first post, and first time visiting this forum, but as a vegan athlete, and having had the same goals as you, I figured I could help. I have never had good experience trying to lose weight and gain performance at the same time. Spring of 2010 I was swimming a lot, training for triathlon, and spending a lot of time weight training. I was eating often and felt GREAT! At the time I was about 172lbs (I'm 6'1"). Over the summer my focus, in part, switched to cycling and I spent less time in the gym, and less time eating. By Chicago Triathlon in August I was 157lbs and although I became a better climber (cycling - attributed mainly to weight loss) as a whole my performance declined. My endurance was lacking, and my split times in Chicago were dismal. I learned here that trying to lose weight CAN be counter productive to gaining performance. I do believe that if you are over-weight, just losing the excess weight will help, but be sure to feed your body. Muscles need to eat and it's just as easy to lose muscle as it is to lose fat. Make sure you are cross training, and that you are getting enough time in both cardio and fat burn zones. Most importantly, don't rush it! The easiest way to fail at your goal is to pick up a nasty injury. Hope this helps!
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