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Blog
11/27/11
Nutrition: pre and post strength training
Pre and Post strength workout “meals”. Focus on easily digestable foods. Pre workout, go with a smoothie, banana, 1/2 apple, 10-12 almonds, or half almond butter sandwich. If you are in a bind you can do a small amount of sports drink or energy bar. Post workout what we want to focus on is protein intake. 10-20 grams of protein within 20 minutes post-workout is ideal. Whey-protein isolate, I recommend Jarrow, or Jay Robb whey protein, mixed with 8-10 ounces of water. If you have trouble with this then a hard boiled egg, or some fage greek yogurt should do the trick. Remember, what we are focusing on in these small meals is maximizing the hard work you are doing in the gym. You need proper energy to perform at your best, and you need proper energy to recover and build lean muscle mass. We always always want to avoid the fasting state that can set in and lead to over eating later on in the day or evening.
11/21/11
Fall Update
Hello everyone. It has been way too long since my last blog update/post. I want to insure you that will be changing from now on. This blog will be used weekly, providing tips and information that will hopefully be useful and inspiring to you.
On September 25, 2011 I competed in the Elephant Man Triathlon with my client and friend Tom Rael. Together we were Team Xclusive Fitness, with Tom doing the bike leg and myself doing the swim and run portions. The “hard” portion of this event for our team was by far the swim. I started swimming laps for the first time in my life on August 14, with the help of another client, Sydney Cooper, giving me some beginners tips and advice. From there it was on to scheduling how I would go from not swimming at all to being able to complete a one mile open water swim. I knew that for me to succeed in the swim I would have to take all of the pressure off of myself. With the marathon approaching and my taper about to begin, I decided to start swimming twice per week at a distance of 600-800 meters at a time. My intention was to build some comfort with the water until after the marathon was completed. This worked. The very next day after the ADT marathon I swam 800 meters. It felt great. What a nice transition the water was after trashing my legs for three hours the previous day! For the next two and a half weeks I would go on to swim 12 times, and with some effort could complete one mile in the pool in about 34:00. Not fast at all, but I had confidence.
Skipping ahead to race day, I slipped on the wetsuit, which fit really really snug and prepared to embark on this water adventure. We lined up in the water about waist deep and were off in a mass of legs and arms splashing the water white. About 200 meters in I realized my wetsuit was way too small. My arms began to cramp badly and a mild panic set in. There was no way to get out of the wetsuit in the water and if I left the water, we’d be disqualified. About 200 meters later I stopped to gather myself, treading water and trying to calm myself down. From here on it was both a mental and physical battle to keep moving forward, making steady progress. Somewhere around the 1/2 mile mark I zoned out and just swam the best I could. I came out of the water and handed off the ankle bracelet to Tom to continue our race. My time was 40:00. With a goal of 35:00 I was a little disappointed, but still happy that I did not cave to those negative emotions and quit the race. NEVER GIVE UP. The next leg of the race was the bike portion. Of note here, we had the fastest transition time of any of the relay teams. Tom gave it his all and came in with a nice time of 1:25:01. With another fast transition I was back at it in the run. I ran a pretty steady race with a time of 39:30 which gave us 9th place overall. Great experience and many lessons learned that day.
On October 1, less than a week later I competed in the Big Tesuque Trail Run in Santa Fe, NM. This run starts at 10,000 feet and goes up to 12,200, then turns around and comes back down. A true “mountain race”. It had been on my radar for the past three years and on a whim Saturday morning, Jody and I decided to drive up to check it out. We arrived at 8:45, just prior to the 9:00 AM start time and got signed up, did the bathroom ritual, and I was pretty much off running… up hill, from the very beginning. I didn’t really have a goal time for this race. I thought 90-95 minutes would be good for me, but really, I just wanted to push myself and run on a gorgeous course/trail. I was in about 10th place as we crested the mountain before heading down and finished in 7th. My race was solid up until about mile 10, when my upper back started cramping badly. This was frustrating and very painful, but it subsided 5-6 minutes later, allowing only one runner to pass me as we came upon the finish. 1:32:22 was my time. This was a race I will never regret doing. Very well organized and the field was most excellent. A great way to spend a fall morning!
9/15/2011
American Discovery Trail Marathon
As many of you know on Labor Day I ran the American Discovery Trail Marathon in Colorado Springs, CO. The race runs from Palmer Lake, CO down to the south side of Colorado Springs, finishing at America the Beautiful park. The race is run almost entirely on a great double-track trail with some hilly portions and nice downhill sections as well.
My race started at 3:30 AM when after a restless nights sleep, I awoke to get myself together before boarding the bus at 4:50 AM. I consumed one cup of starbucks instant coffee and ate two bananas. Made an electrolyte/energy drink for the bus ride and was ready to go. Runners gathered with nervous energy and excitement, trying to stay warm and relaxed as the race would not start for over 90 minutes. The temperature that morning was 40 degrees and breezy. This felt insanely cold coming from the New Mexico heat wave, which was the month of August. After a 45 minute bus ride we were dropped off at the race start location. Runners formed a line of 300 people waiting to use the port-o-johns and all commenced shivering in their shorts, and if lucky/smart a sweatshirt or jacket. Finally, at 6:27 AM it was my turn to use the restroom, yes, that’s 3 minutes before race start time. I quickly did my thing, through my checked bag in the race vehicle and ran to the starting line. Shortly after my sweatshirt was tossed in the grass and we were off. Cruising quickly along a lake as the sun began to rise in the east. The wind subsided along with the sunrise, which was a relief and the temps were ideal in keeping us cool and comfortable as our bodies adjusted to the sustained heart rate of 150 bpm.
After cruising along at 7:15 pace for the first 6 miles, I started to take note and set a few goals for the rest of the race. At this point I had planned on taking the first 13.1 miles as a body test, to see how I held up with that effort and then plan my projected finishing time. Realizing how much I was enjoying this trail, I decided to up my pace a bit to around 7:05 and separate myself from the 2 runners I had been with since the beginning. I consumed my first gel at mile 6 and took in about 2-4 oz of water at each aid station, which worked out to be about every 2 miles. We soon headed into the US Air Force Academy and the trail became even more enjoyable, with lots of running through the woods, up and down, very motivating trail running. I concentrated on floating up the steep hills and gaining speed on the rolling down hills. My thoughts were all positive and my body was responding just as I had hoped it would. At mile 11 there was an aid station approaching, at this point I took and excedrin and a salt capsule along with some gatorade. This proved to be wise as the next few miles felt really great. Around mile 13 I took my second gel and consumed some more water. Miles 14-18 came and went pretty smoothly, again the trail was a lot more hilly than I had expected so the quads were beginning to talk to me a bit as I approached 20 miles. One final gel was consumed with some more water. My body was doing ok up until this point. Average pace was 7:10, a full :05/mile faster than my planned finishing time. I was pretty confident I could keep it up. As I got into the city the trail turned to asphalt and concrete in many parts. This was a big shock to the quads. Keeping a steady pace became harder and harder each 1/10 of a mile that approached. From here on out it was a true sufferfest and the race became all mental for me. My ability to keep the pace fell sharply with 4 miles to go. I pushed and pushed to stay on pace, but a 7:50 average was all I could muster. One final hill heading into America the Beautiful park shot pain from my toes up through my quads. I rounded the corner and took the path to the finish. Looking up at the clock I saw it turn to 3:11… I know knew that a Boston Qualifying time was unattainable. My heart sank a bit for a moment. I quickly came around and felt good knowing I had done my best for all 26.2 miles. It was a tough race. I learned a lot about myself that morning. I’m excited to take that knowledge into my next training cycle and all future races. An Iron mind is an essential component of attempting anything great.
Summer Fitness: Making Gains in a Not-So-Ideal Environment
As I’m sure you have noticed, the temps are really starting to heat up. Our mid-day and afternoon workouts are being taken inside to avoid the sun, poor air quality (Arizona fire), heat, and strong winds. Summer is typically the biggest time of motivation for clients to increase their health and fitness as bathing suit season ramps up and vacation plans are finalized. With the warm season also comes the mid-day lethargy from the constant heat and relentless sun. Increased hydration is a must so sweating can keep up cooling the body down, but the process can also be very positive and therapeutic as our bodies remove impurities and our metabolism kicks into higher gear.
Moving forward with a fitness regimen during these hard months requires focus, commitment, and determination. Even though our bodies are hardly ever perceived as perfect when we look in the mirror, we need to commit to 1% improvement every day. Stressing the positives will help you embrace the change in seasons, and keep you on-target to achieving your health and fitness goals.
Here is a list of things to think about as you embrace your next workout:
- Focus intently on your goals for that day/workout.
- Turn your strength training session into an intense cardio workout.
- Finish your workout in 30-35 minutes instead of 45-50 minutes.
- Embrace sweating… it’s cleansing, it keeps you cool, and it helps your muscles loosen and stay supple.
- Burn more calories; plain and simple.
- Work hard. The gym is a functional space design for results. Nothing more.
Excuses are a dime a dozen. Avoiding your fitness now creates more work for the future. By eating right, drinking plenty of water, and planning your day around workouts (instead of workouts around your day), you’ve already completed the hardest steps. Stay positive and always do the best you can… every day. Focus on the present and the future will take care of itself!
