Monday, July 30, 2012

3.5 Mile Scenic Road Race, Sept. in Connecticut

Join me (just don't kid yourself that you can keep up with me ) for a scenic 3.5 mile race Sept. 16th, around Alexanders Lake in Dayville, CT. Hope to see you there.
> Join our inaugural scenic run around Alexanders Lake in Dayville, CT 9.16.21 - 8:00am Registration • 9:00am Kids Race • 9:30am 3.5 Mile Run Awards to Top 3 Overall and Top 3 in each 5 Year Age Group! Free T-shirts and N.O.W. Water Bottles to first 250 3.5 mile registrants! Finisher Medals for all Kids Race registrants! Free Zoot Running Shoes valued at $150 Overall Male and Female Winners! $20 for Adults • $10 for Kids Sept. 16, 2012 register here: http://www.active.com/running/dayville-ct/northeast-opportunities-for-wellness-35-mile-road-race-2012

Monday, July 16, 2012

My First 10k

I recently completed my first 10k race. My time was 55:09.6. Not exactly an olympian effort, but I learned a few things. And besides, I'm 39 years old, and really don't know why I suddenly fell love with long distance running in the first place. The biggest mistake I made was in training the week prior to the race. I ran twice, and did one weight training sessions. What I think I should've been doing was yoga, tai chi, stretching and walking, while concentrating on eating clean and low calorie to drop a few extra pounds.
Some friends asked me to do the running portion of a team amateur triathlon event the following week. So I didn't run during the week leading up to it, did lots of yoga, tai chi, and stretching, and ate as clean as I could (given I was exhausted and burnt from the 10k still.) Anyhow, on race day I ran 4.3 miles in 34:04. Getting enough rest and nutrition is just as vital as the exercise portion of training. It's tough to remember, even for somebody like me, who says it all the damn time.
When I run, I concentrate on making each step as light as possible, and I focus on the time when neither foot is touching the ground. After a couple miles I start to get light headed, and feel like I'm flying, drifting on the wind. I'm a big fan of swinging your arms. The added momentum feels good to me, however I've learned over the years that you can conserve energy by keeping your hands below heart level. When they rise higher than the heart, it has to work much harder; good for power-walking, not so good for racing.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Longterm Before and After

Progress photos are vital, not just for tracking results, but for the psychological boost. Sure you can think of it as a narcissistic ego boost, but if that were true we wouldn't have allowed ourselves to be fat and out of shape in the first place. When I was at my heaviest I was very skilled at hiding from cameras. I've only found 2 pictures of myself when I was 275 lbs. This longterm photo merge is from Nov. '04 and June 2012.

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Some Thoughts...

In the past I've believed that if I can lose a lot of weight and keep it off, anybody can. Maybe that idea was wrong. I've yet to have a client experience the type of transformation I have. Is it possible that I've not been training others as hard as I train myself? Perhaps I've babied people when I should've been pushing them. Have I told people what I thought they wanted to hear, for fear of being fired? I don't think any of that is true, but I'd like to run some ideas up the flagpole and see who salutes. If you're going to deviate from the plan you have only yourself to blame. Sticking to the plan is especially important during that 98% of the week you're not with your trainer. Excercise is powerful medicine, but without proper nutrition you're just beating yourself up. A good nutrition plan (aka diet) will give your body what it needs to recover from workouts, and build the body of your dreams. The typical non excercise dieter just builds a smaller, lighter version of their sad physique. So sticking to your nutrition plan is important. One of the reasons Hollywood heroes can make such drastic transformations is they not only hire a personal trainer, but a personal cook as well. Not an option for most, so the trick is to create a No-Fail environment. If there's a food you can't say no to, get it out of the kitchen. If you can't drive by KFC without stopping, change your route. Eventually, when you've broken your addiction to sugar, it won't be much of an issue to be around junky food, because you'll start to recognize that it isn't really food anyway. It's just processed chemically enhanced substances to resemeble food, and it's not really worth the hassle in most cases. When you start to feel the joy of living in a pain free, strong, healthy body; you'll find yourself craving healthier food choices. You are what you eat, is something people have been saying for years. Come to think of it, I've never heard Ronald McDonald say that. I wonder why. Final thought... If you don't use it, you lose it. The body tries to maintain a certain homeostasis, but basically each day, you're either getting stronger or weaker; healthier or sicker. Which one do you choose?