I am a bike commuter. Since moving to Banff from Vancouver I bike a lot less (well it's a smaller town!) but I still have my well-worn, well loved second-hand Vancouver commuter bike that I use most days when weather allows. It's well used and well abused. Generally in Vancouver I would get it serviced once a year or so, whilst riding it daily, year long in steady Vancouver rain and on the dirty city streets. Once in a while I would put a little oil on the chain and pump up the tyres, but other than that I would expect it to be a reliable mode of transport for lots of miles on very little TLC. I've lived in Banff for 18 months; it's not been serviced since the move. However every time I get it serviced I hop on and feel like I've got a new set of wheels, smooth and strong, and I wonder why I didn't get it serviced months earlier.
You could say that my maintenance of myself in many ways is similar to that of my bike. I work hard and run hard, try to get enough sleep (but often want more), eat a balanced vegetarian diet but go little more complex than that. I'll go for a massage or physio when I need to and if I get into a routine, but often months can go between appointments. My typical answer when someone asks if I take supplements is, 'No, I eat food'! And generally I like that principal; I feel that despite running a decent amount and training decently hard that it is still possible to get what I need from real food rather than mixing supplements and popping pills.
But there is always room for improvement and I had been hearing great things about Udo's Oil, a blend of oils perfectly balanced to ensure the correct ratio of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids. More and more ultra runners have been finding benefits from Udo's, primarily in aiding recovery (and thus allowing higher mileage or more harder/ intense runs) as well as helping lean up. So when I was approached by Udo's I was really keen to try their product out with no-commitment - I could just see how I liked it. They said that about 85% of athletes felt a difference once they began taking it, and whilst it is hard to prove I certainly feel that I am recovering better whilst maintaining high mileage (with Comrades and Western both coming up soon!) I won't go into the scientifics (I work in tourism, not in the nutrition industry) but check out more about Udo's Oil at
http://www.oilthemachine.com/.
I'm delighted to now be part of Team Oil The Machine (along with a long and illustrious line up of names such as Scott Jurek, Krissy Moehl, Anton Krupicka, Yassine Diboun, Jen Segger, Joe Grant, Adam and Lauren Campbell...need I go on...).
Needless to say, this machine is going to stay well-oiled, and maybe I should apply the same principals to my much loved bike too :)
With a bit of shameless self promotion as well as a shout out to an awesome podcast - check out Marathon Talk at http://www.marathontalk.com. Lots of awesome interviews with all sorts of distance runners from all over the world, an amazing source of information and inspiration. Oh, and my interview is on episode 71 :)