Chris Schwenker Zommunique

Our interview this week is with Chris Schwenker. Chris is a Physical Therapist, Zwift expert and founder of The Zommuniqué - A virtual cycling and fitness blog and community created to enhance the experience by exploring topics of interest related to cycling.     Show Sponsor: UCAN Take your performance to the next level with UCAN Energy and Bars made with SuperStarch®  UCAN uses SuperStarch instead of simple sugars to fuel athletes.  UCAN keeps blood sugar steady compared to the energy spikes and crashes of sugar-based products.  Steady energy equals sustained performance!   Use UCAN in your training and racing to fuel the healthy way, finish stronger and recover more quickly!  Use the code 303UCAN for 20% off at ucan.co/discount/303UCAN/ or ucan.co   In Today's Show Feature Interview with Chris Schwenker Endurance News Ten Swimming Myths Debunked and Revisited What's new in the 303 Fountain Colorado, Bike Racing meets the Plains XTERRA USA Championship Rotates to Colorado Tech Corner FORM Goggles   Interview - Chris Schwenker Semi-retired as owner and director of his private Orthopedic Physical Therapy practice after over 20 years, Chris is blessed with the freedom to pursue his passion for virtual cycling and writing. On a continual quest to give back to his bike for all the rewarding experiences and relationships it has provided him, he created a non-profit.  Take part in Chris' ride across America to fund raise -  https://thezommunique.com/2022/03/23/the-dirt-dad-fundo-across-america/   With The Communique Chris is committed to helping others with his bike. His gain cave is located on the North Fork of Long Island, where he lives with his beautiful wife and is proud of his two college student children.   Our News is sponsored by Buddy Insurance. Buddy Insurance gives you peace of mind to enjoy your training and racing to their fullest.  Buddy's mission is simple, to help people fearlessly enjoy an active and outdoor lifestyle.    Get on-demand accident insurance just in case the unexpected happens. Buddy ensures you have cash for bills fast.  This is accident insurance not health and life insurance.  Go to buddyinsurance.com and create an account.  There's no commitment or charge to create one.  Once you have an account created, it's a snap to open your phone and in a couple clicks have coverage for the day.  Check it out!   Endurance News:   Ten Swimming Myths Debunked and Revisited Years ago, I wrote an article debunking 10 of the most common myths I know of in the sport of swimming. Today, I want to revisit those myths (some are still prevalent) with my thoughts about them in 2019.    Myth #1  To go faster in swimming one must push out the back of the arm pull Depending on where the swimmer puts the emphasis on the pull and how energetic the two parts of the body rotation are, the peak force of the pull can occur in the front quadrant, just in front of the shoulder, back quadrant behind the shoulder or at the end of the pull, pushing out the back. Swimmers can definitely increase their distance per stroke (DPS) by pushing longer and harder out the back, but it comes at a cost by slowing the stroke rate (SR). The relationship between DPS and SR is crucial. The multiple of both determines a swimmer's speed. Pushing out the back may increase a swimmer's speed (particularly in events longer than 50 meters), so long as the SR doesn't slow too much. Thanks to Pressure Meter technology, I have learned that the peak force during the propulsion phase of the pulling arm occurs at different points, depending on the technique of the swimmer. The peak force of the pulling arm is profoundly influenced by the coupling motions, as well as the strength of the arms. The coupling motion of body rotation occurs at two different times separated by about 2/10 of a second. The peak shoulder rotation velocity occurs first, as the recovering hand enters the water, and the peak hip rotation velocity occurs later, as the pulling hand finishes the pull and exits the water.   What's New in the 303:   Fountain Colorado, Bike Racing meets the Plains   As populations and traffic grow along the Colorado Front Range, putting on road bike races has become increasingly difficult. Barry Lee and Sanitas Sports have turned some of their attention south towards Colorado Springs and the Eastern Plains. About a dozen or so miles east of the town of Fountain, about halfway between Colorado Springs and Pueblo, at the county school serving kids from all over El Paso County, the GROOVE Fountain Bike Festival was born in 2021.   Now in its second year Kirk Hanna Park serves as headquarters, parking and warm up space for the two day event. Hopefully in the future there will be some live music and possibly camping options and said Race Director Barry Lee, "maybe even combining a weekend with a gravel / community festival such as Hanover days with the popular tractor pulls. Memories of my roots where I went to these as a kid in central Texas."   With quiet roads, rolling hills and majestic views of Pikes Peak and the distant Sangre de Cristo mountains, riders tackled a time trial on Saturday and road race on Sunday.   Said Barry, "a couple of years ago Donna and local Rocky Mountain Tri club members took me out there to train on a 40 mile loop.  I always find myself looking for routes to offer a selective, mixed rolling terrain that suit a more all around type rider and this area has perfect roads for that."   With infinite views from every direction, 303 Ambassador Sasha Underwood echoed Barry's vision and said, "they changed the course slightly this year, for the better in my opinion! In the middle the course, they put us on a mile or so stretch of dirt and I loved it! It was a perfect dirt road and was just the novelty I needed for a change of pace, challenge and scenery." She continues, "The volunteers were awesome, the course, competitive but inclusive atmosphere, especially amongst riders. The group I was in included Collegiate Woman A and B, Cat 3, 4 and 5. We were a chatty bunch this year during the first half and there were a lot of first-time and second-time racers in the group."   XTERRA USA Championship Rotates to Colorado The 21st annual XTERRA USA Championship off-road triathlon will be held in conjunction with the new family-friendly and community focused weekend of events in Avon, Colorado on July 15-17, 2022.   It's the first-time XTERRA has hosted its national championship in the Colorado Rockies, following 12 seasons at Snowbasin Resort in Utah (2009-2021) and eight years in Incline Village, Nevada (2001-2008).   There will be $25,000 in prize money awarded equally to the top 10 elite men and women, plus XTERRA USA Championship crowns to age group division winners along with 51 qualifying spots into the 2022 XTERRA World Championship to be held in Trentino, Italy on October 1.   FORM Goggles Experience Two athletes I coach started using FORM goggles and recommended them to me. I picked up a pair and they are really helpful when you are doing a workout. What they are How they help What they cost Overall assessment   Upcoming Guests   3/25: A'nna Sewall of Athlete Blood Test and Jordan Jones of Powder7 Andy Potts and Daniel Brienza of APRacing Chris Schwenk about cycling and Zwift and his intimate knowledge of it and I think it would fun to share his love of indoor cycling, but also outdoors and his upcoming trip across the US.   Closing: Thanks again for listening in this week.  Please be sure to follow us @303endurance and of course go to iTunes and give us a rating and a comment.  We'd really appreciate it! Stay tuned, train informed, and enjoy the endurance journey!