Aaron Robertson finished 26th in last years national snowshoe championships, over 8 minutes off the winning pace for this 10k race. He started training with PC’s in September. He won this year’s race with about 1 minute over second place person (who came in 3rd the year before)!!!
Can anyone say “hip flexors”?
Results here for the exceptionally bored: http://www.snowshoeracing.com/national_championship05.htm
Frank, you know that’s like telling the kid to stay out of the freshly filled cookie jar on the edge of the counter while you go work outside…You can’t make rules against jackassery, especially when it isn’t your board!
;->
haven’t been well enough this winter to spend a lot of time on my PCs but the time I have had I noticed that there would be a benefit. Some day, in a perfect world Frank, people will give up hounding you for posting these tidbits (attributable to PCs or not). Some day these people will just get their own pair and try them. They won’t always get the results you claim but to an athlete they will all benefit some. It’s a shame, in the mean time, these people can’t see the thread title and just leave well enough alone. Like people who rubberneck at car crash scenes and then offer their two cents on why they think it happened. I suppose if every manufacturer of every product were to get the same kind of treatment for posting about it things would be fair. Alas such will never be the case as long as there is ignorant bias. Keep posting Frank. If people want to argue against…so be it.
I’m just a closet PC’er who trains in my basement in Michigan and keeps my mouth shut. So far this year I have:
(Jan) set a marathon PR of 3:11:45 and qualified for Boston 2006
(Feb) trained for 2 days with my coach in Fla and capped the weekend off with the Great Escape tri. I finished 9th/46 in AG (7th if you discount the 2 min Overtaking penalty I received). Pretty good on tired legs and in February.
I will stay on my PC’s thank you very much. Good product and measurable results for me.
doh! You’re outta the closet now buddy. No hiding now. Be prepared for a barrage of ‘back it up with hard data’ return volleys. Glad to see they’re doing something for yet another happy customer.
I’m just a closet PC’er who trains in my basement in Michigan and keeps my mouth shut. So far this year I have:
(Jan) set a marathon PR of 3:11:45 and qualified for Boston 2006
(Feb) trained for 2 days with my coach in Fla and capped the weekend off with the Great Escape tri. I finished 9th/46 in AG (7th if you discount the 2 min Overtaking penalty I received). Pretty good on tired legs and in February.
I will stay on my PC’s thank you very much. Good product and measurable results for me.
Shills, there everywhere! In the closets, on the streets. Don’t you know it’s all placebo? but we’re happy to take the credit when offered. Congrats on the PR. Maybe we can get you down to under 3 next year if you’ll let that placebo effect work a little more. That was my goal when running “seriously” and the closest I ever got was 3:15. If only I had thought of PC’s back then I am sure i would have made it.
Frank
c’mon Frank. you know the rules by now. weblink just does not cut it.
no pic…no proof
but…i’m pretty sure i’m just gettin faster by readin’ about 'em all the time. will they fit okay on a Slingshot?
c’mon Frank. you know the rules by now. weblink just does not cut it.
no pic…no proof
but…i’m pretty sure i’m just gettin faster by readin’ about 'em all the time. will they fit okay on a Slingshot?
I have never figured out how do do the picture thing. They fit fine on a slingshot.
Frank, how do you know this guy hasn’t trained harder this year? Was the competition as good, conditions different etc…? Crikey, better not tell Kraft about his win, they might be claiming that the Kraft cheese slices he ate back in December are responsible for all his improvement. Stop been a to55er Frank.
Frank, how do you know this guy hasn’t trained harder this year? Was the competition as good, conditions different etc…? Crikey, better not tell Kraft about his win, they might be claiming that the Kraft cheese slices he ate back in December are responsible for all his improvement. Stop been a to55er Frank.
I don’t know anything. I am simply reporting what I am told. Of course, he didn’t get better because he bought the cranks and put them in his closet. One has to do the training. But it is possible to get better by training smarter than harder. All I can tell you the guy is on cloud nine and attributing a lot of his improvement to the PC’s. But, what does he know?
Aaron Robertson finished 26th in last years national snowshoe championships, over 8 minutes off the winning pace for this 10k race. He started training with PC’s in September. He won this year’s race with about 1 minute over second place person (who came in 3rd the year before)!!!
You do not state where he finished in the years prior to last year’s race. Any equipment that forces a rider to totally unweight the idling pedal is bound to have a positive effect on his result. When a rider realises this and learns to do it with normal cranks, can further training with PC’s offer any additional advantages apart from acting as a reminder to keep his concentration fully focused on the unweighting technique.
Aaron Robertson finished 26th in last years national snowshoe championships, over 8 minutes off the winning pace for this 10k race. He started training with PC’s in September. He won this year’s race with about 1 minute over second place person (who came in 3rd the year before)!!!
You do not state where he finished in the years prior to last year’s race. Any equipment that forces a rider to totally unweight the idling pedal is bound to have a positive effect on his result. When a rider realises this and learns to do it with normal cranks, can further training with PC’s offer any additional advantages apart from acting as a reminder to keep his concentration fully focused on the unweighting technique.
I don’t know where he came in before 2004. Aaron seemed pretty happy with the improvement so I presume he didn’t win in 2003, or even come close. the person who won in 2004 didn’t compete because of a broken leg, but the third place finisher did which gives some basis for comparison.
There are a couple of “falicies” in your thinking about how “easy” it is to learn how to pedal in this “better” way. It is not a simple matter of realizing what one has to do and then doing it. It is a matter of trying to change unconscious coordination that will continue even when there is no feedback, which is what happens when one goes back to regular or Rotor cranks. What do you do when you are tired? That is the problem. It is clear to me it takes much more effort to change the muscle between the ears than the muscles in the legs (which are hard enough). So “further training with PC’s” does offer “additional advantages” because of the further training of the nervous system that will occur. How long it will take to completely train this to where there is no further advantage is any bodies guess but I can’t believe it would be less than 5 years.
Frank
Just a wild guess from someone that does not know much about these PC’s…I assume I buy them from you??? 
Just a wild guess from someone that does not know much about these PC’s…I assume I buy them from you???
Yes, or any dealer who happens (or wants) to sell them also.
Just a wild guess from someone that does not know much about these PC’s…I assume I buy them from you???
Oh, and several here have gotten theirs off of ebay. Keep your eye out.
hi Doug, just have to ask, what is the relevance of it being February? Wasn’t it February for the other people in your age group too? 
i looked at the past results, and he is only listed in the 2004 national championship results, frank’s report on that placing / time was accurate. Either he didn’t place high enough from 2001-2003 to get listed, or he did not race at all.
Hi Gerard,
Ah…my take is that training in Feb in Michigan is far different from training in Feb in Fla. Examples: I haven’t been outside on a bike since October. I haven’t even sat on my P3 since labor day. Also my runs are in full cold gear in sub 30 degrees (day after miserable day…yesterday was 12 miles in 13 degrees…my gloves actually froze up stiff…some of the side roads were so icy it was like running on a hockey rink…not so in the south!). I’d love to train all year around the way I train in the summer. I do feel handicapped living in the north. So I thought my results would be less stellar against the southern tri contingent. I was surprised to find it was not so. Side note:I do believe that because of my training for a Jan marathon my running is farther ahead this year than in past years.
No worries, just razzing you. I can sympathize about your climate issues, up here in TO.
I’ll chime in with my personal testimonial. Can I get an AMEN?
I ran the Mardi Gras Marathon last year – fully trained for it, several 2-3 hour runs leading up to it, mile repeats, etc. This was an A race for me. The day was a little warm. I died in the last 3 miles – missed a PR by about 30 seconds.
This year’s MGM – very little running. Longest run was 2.5 hours in early January (race was at end of Feb). Logged maybe 10-15 miles/week other than that. Decent amout of time on the PC’s (on the fluid trainer only) as I am trying to get at least some bike time in before IMAZ. MGM was a training run of sorts – target was 4-4:15. (yes, I’m slow) to get in a long run to prepare for IMAZ.
The punch line is that I set a PR by about 21 seconds (3:49:41). (yes, I’m slow) My strongest finish in a Marathon ever. Had plenty of legs and lungs left over. I actually raced the clock in the last 2 miles to get the PR – last 1.2 miles at a 7:43 pace. Conditions were better than last year (10 degrees cooler), but I certainly didn’t expect to run a sub-4 training run.
Were the conditions better? Yes. Was I in better running shape (from a traditional point of view)? NO WAY. I have another test in 26 days. Will keep you posted (for those that care.)
No hard data, but I’ll stay on the PC’s. Thank you, Frank.