We’ve talked about our plans for a site that you can’t live without and a GPS watch that is going to make you throw out your Garmin….

But all we’ve delivered is a lousy t-shirt, a basic version of DailyMile meets Training Peaks, and some watchbands.

And then a friend reminded me of two things:

• Our running shirts are bad@ass
• By asking for help we are making you part of the company so we can build something amazing together..

You are our most valuable advisors and investors, so I want to let you know what’s happening behind the scenes. And I want to ask you for some more help.

Friggin’ Hustling!

Bia started because I wanted a GPS training watch that didn’t suck and it was clear no one else was going to make if for me. We’ve bootstrapped the company with credit cards, contributions from friends and family, and lots of sweat equity from an amazing team in Portland, San Francisco, Virginia, and Florida.

And I think we are on to something:

• Retailers who have seen the product have gushed over it.
• A heavyweight manufacturing partner has offered to help us produce it.
• We’ve enlisted amazing advisors including endurance pioneer, Sally Edwards.
• We have an amazing group of women on the site journaling workouts, supporting each other, and giving us feedback.

But now it’s time to raise some real money…

• We need to speed up development on the site. Two moonlighting developers and Sylvia’s html skills can only go so fast.
• We need to finish development on the watch and produce 100’s of units to test in the field to make sure it’s perfect.

It’s definitely a “special” experience working with traditional VCs and angel investors as a female-founded, female-focused company — especially one outside the “safe” zones of babies or beauty.

Along the way we’ve learned how to step around egos…

• Of course we will make a Kevlar/Titanium version just for men.
• I’ve blocked my Athlinks profile to avoid the time wasting macho chest thumping and defensive posturing – hard to tell which is which – that can derail a meeting.
• We’ve learned the proper technique for using a Shakeweight. …a story for another time.

And we’ve gotten some “classic” advice…
“Maybe you girls should try something easier first”. One potential investor suggested we start with shirts to “practice ordering stuff online and paying invoices and shipping out orders”. We had all we could do not to bust out laughing. …Ironic, eh?

The net-net is this will take some time…
Site fixes and changes are going MUCH slower than we wanted. Yet, we still need to show “momentum” and prove to investors that women who love to sweat – whether we are training for ironman or our first 5K – are not a niche market. So we need more women signed up for early access invites and more women on FB and twitter ready to spread the word when we launch. We have to show we are building an army.

Thank you for being part of that army.

Here’s is what we need to get over the next set of obstacles. Can you help?

• Rich aunts who run ultra marathons
• BFF’s with Reese Witherspoon or Julie Bowen
• DEVELOPERS! (PHP, Javascript, JQuery, MySQL, Zend, iOS …)
• Guest blogging: Be like Coach Carrie and Swim Bike Mom!

…..we promise the list is about to get easier….

• Spreading the word to your running group, your FB friends, on Twitter
• Using the site (www.bia-sport.com)

…..and of course…..

• Pick up some fabulous Bia gear to sport on your next workout!

Remember: The more practice we get “going postal” the better prepared we’ll be!

Thanks for your support, patience, and continued help.

Let’s do this.

–C2K

We are still a few months away from previewing our full GPS / HRM training watch. It’s designed and working in the labs but we still have LOTS of work to do and we don’t want to give too much away before the launch.

However we can share this:

We threw out that sometimes-too-tight, sometimes-too-loose, always-too-ugly TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethane) strap. We replaced it with soft neoprene. And then we made it as fun as a workout with girlfriends.

Here are the first round of designs for our watch bands. Vote for your favorites!

NOTE: The polling plugin we are using has been wonky today. If the VOTE button isn’t displaying below you can access the poll here: Vote for Your Favorite Strap Designs.

We already had the ability to find people with similar goals and similar workouts, now you can find all the runners, triathletes, crossfitters and stroller stride peeps!  Get connected, stay motivated and be held accountable.

We’re always looking for ways to serve you better.  Have an idea for the site?  Tell us!

The core is more than your abs.  It’s most of the muscles of the low back, abdominal muscles, muscle that attach to your hips.  Think of your core as the muscles in the mid trunk or a series of bands in and around this area.

From the Mayo Clinic:

Core exercises train the muscles in your pelvis, lower back, hips and abdomen to work in harmony. This leads to better balance and stability, whether on the playing field or in daily activities. In fact, most sports and other physical activities depend on stable core muscles.

There are many reasons that a strong core is important.  Core training will benefit you in power, posture, agility, and stability.   Think of your core as a bridge between your upper and lower body.  Having a strong core will allow your body to efficiently transfer power and force between the upper and lower body.    A strong core will allow you to stay in optimal body alignment on the race course and off.

So, what’s your core workout?

We’re happy to announce that for all our trail running members, you can now track your trail runs as a workout and set trail running goals (distance, number of trail runs per week/month, etc.)  Happy Trails!

At Bia, we’re big into Goals.  You have to name it to claim it, track it and celebrate progress.  We’re so into goals, we built a goal setting tool just for you!

Here are our five tips on goal setting:

1) Make your goal something real and measurable, for instance successfully completing a certain event or running/biking/swimming a certain distance or split. This helps highlight how far you have come and gives you an actual ‘Yes I’ve done it!’ moment. More vague goals such as ‘I want to become a faster runner’ never give you a finish line to celebrate on.

2) Make your goal something that is important to you, something you would love to achieve and are excited about. This positive emotion will help you ride through the inevitable bad session along the way.

3) Not to easy, not too hard but just right.  If your goal is too easy you won’t be motivated to achieve it but if it is too hard it will feel completely out of reach. Set your goal right between these two points so it will be a real challenge but is still something you feel your can just achieve, this will keep you motivated and on your toes.

4) Have and end date!  Having an end date it critical  You need time long enough to make some good improvements but not so long that you become stale or risk burnout. A period of four to eight months ahead is about right. If you have an important target further away then set yourself one or two sub-goals along the way and get focused on those first.

5) Tell someone else your goal to help commit you to it.

At Bia, we have a great option to share your goal with those on Facebook and Twitter – “cheer me on and hold me accountable”.

Setting Goals

The old saying holds when creating a goal – you have to name it to claim it.  That’s why we want you to create your goal in your own words.   Let’s face it, when we write the post-it note and put it on the bathroom mirror, it usually says something like “get to the gym 4 times this week” or “fit into my black dress for the reunion”.  That’s why we wanted to make sure when setting goals, they were in your own words and not simply selecting from a canned menu.

The other thing a goal needs is an end date.  Why?  Because otherwise you can always start on Monday and Monday is always the next Monday.  Nope, you need to give yourself a timetable to complete the goal and be accountable for it.

At Bia, we want to make setting your fitness and endurance goals fun.  That’s why we’ve created a goal wizard that let’s you create your goal and see your progress with every workout you add to the site.

How do you set a goal?

Go to the Goals section located in Train

1. Name it. Give your goal a name.  What is it you want to achieve?  Workout more?  Cover a specific distance within a certain time?  Compete in a race?  Lose weight?  All of these are goal types – but to make the goal your own, give it a title in your own words.  Don’t forget to give it an end date.
2. Pick the Goal Type. Currently we have four goal types: Distance, Do More [workouts], Race, Lose Weight.  Simply pick which type of goal to move to the next step.
3. Define Workouts or Parameters to Track Towards Your Goal. If you create a goal to run 500 miles in a year, you certainly don’t want your time in the pool to count towards the mileage.    For weight loss goals, simply enter your starting weight and goal weight.  That’s it!  Goal set!
4. Add Workouts and Track Your Progress. Once you set a goal we track your progress and show you how you’re doing on your Profile page.

Be the place you want to keep your training journal.

• Track your workout on whatever device you like — Garmin, Nike+, a smartphone app, your friends Garmin file, or the clock on the wall. It’s easy to add any of them to Bia.
• Share what you care about – the stories, the photos, the friends you were with – without spamming your stats.
• Keep all this information in one pretty place, so you can look back on it like a diary and use it as a source of actionable insight and progress tracking (coming soon!).

Be the best place to track your goals.

• Write them in your own words. Whatever gets you fired up.
• Track your progress against them automatically as you add to your training journal.
• ….and, unlike the Post It Notes on your bathroom mirror, you’ll never have to fish them out from behind the hamper.

Be one of the sites you check every day during your down time.

• Find high quality women-specific training content, fitness, and nutrition information without digging through myriad sites.
• Get inspired by connections and maybe a funny story or a “Bia Moment” that motivates you to do just a little bit more.
• Share your own story or blog and get lots of online props…plus some Bia schwag.

Let us know how we are doing and what we can add or change to nail these three things.

1. Set your goals in your own words.
2. Tell us exactly what will help you reach that goal.
3. We’ll do the tracking for you as your friends cheer you on and give you support.