I want to preface this by saying that I am NOT a baby boomer! However I am close to that generation, and as the owner of a business that is directly related to peoples health and wellness, I am keenly aware that the needs of that particular generation are beginning to shape so much of how everyone views health care, fitness, wellness, nutrition, etc... For the first time the number of people age 50 and over, will outnumber those 18 and younger in the US. Our society demographics are rapidly changing and with that so is our focus on how to maintain health and fitness as we age.
It has long been publicized that we need to exercise. That all started back in the 80's at the Cooper Institute in Texas. And over the course of the last 30+ years much debate has been sparked regarding, exactly HOW we should exercise. There is much disagreement over such things as long slow cardio to burn fat vs. higher intensity shorter duration. Should weight lifting be a part of a fitness routine for everyone? Should I stretch before or after a workout? Or do I need to stretch at all? And some of the biggest controversy surrounds nutrition. I can't tell you how many billions of dollars are spent every year by people looking for that magic pill, that allows them to lose weight easily. Diets, supplements, juices...all are marketed as the next big fix!
I am here today to tell you despite my personal reluctance to admit that I needed to change or do things different as I move farther away from 18, and much closer to 50, I have in fact made some changes. With fantastic results! Unfortunately as our bodies get older, OUR BODIES GET OLDER! And not to make it too simple but as your car gets older you have to do more things for it! The first 3 years I drive my new VW GTI I only have to change the oil every year or 10,000 miles. After that my maintenance becomes much more regular and the intervals between much shorter. Just like cars, as we get older we must do more to keep our bodies in tip top shape. Things like stretching! I cringe even writing that, because for years I held onto the belief that I didn't need to stretch. I could do what I wanted and, if I might say so, quite well. So why waste time stretching. Well....because after 40+ years of the same repetitive motions as a runner, and the same strength program, but muscles became less pliable. Much more rigid and inflexible. And what do you know....they are attached to other parts of my body and when the muscles don't move so well, then the other parts don't move so well. A leads to B which eventually leads to Z. Tight muscles led to inflexible joints which led to irritated nerves and tendons, and what do you know.....pain! For two (no really 10 years) now I have been dealing with hamstring and low back issues that I just attributed to lots of miles. Part of the side effect of being an OCD distance runner. Finally last spring I was forced to take 2 1/2 months off from running due to pain. Even after I got back to running I fell right back into old patterns. It wasn't until I committed to running my first marathon in 11 years in honor of my Dad that I realized maybe it was time to "train smarter, not harder"! Now don't get me wrong I still am not perfect and probably run too many miles and don't do enough stretching and cross training. But for the first time in 11 years I am running relatively pain free due to a very simple 10 minute Yoga routine a good friend of mine showed me. Gone was my excuse that I didn't have time....I spend at least 10 minutes a day on Facebook (you probably do to), so I could easily find 10 minutes to focus on my health. Within days I started to notice a difference. And now 3 days away from the Chicago Marathon I am a "changed man"! I strongly encourage all runners, all athletes, all people to remember to stretch. To spend quality time working on maintaining your bodies natural range of motion within all of its joints. To maintain pliability in your muscles and tendons so you don't end up with pain. It doesn't take long....it isn't glamorous, but it will keep you healthy.
I have learned a few other things too.....stay tuned. None of it earth shattering, but all very insightful! Until next time.....remember this definition from Albert Einstein: " insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results". Try something new if what you are doing is no longer working for you! And know that as you get older, what you are doing today WILL NOT continue to work for you forever :)
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Running vs. Training
I have been running now for nearly 30 years. Not always competitively but almost always running. I run for a lot of reasons, most of which you all can relate to. Fitness, competitiveness, stress relief, weight management (be honest, all runners worry about their weight, even though we all could pretty much eat whatever we want!), fun, love of the outdoors....there are probably more but those are the big ones. As you know I just recently decided to enter and race in the Chicago Marathon nearly 12 years after my last competitive race. Sure I have done a few races since then, but none quite this big. Some of the reasons I stopped racing, I am sure many of you can relate to as well. Got married and started a family, opened a business, lack of sleep, too many other things were more important, reduced competitiveness. So, I have basically been "running" for the last 12 years and have not really "trained" at all. What is the difference you ask? Well, surprisingly it just kind of occurred to me in the last 2 weeks. "Running" is merely the act of going out and completing the task of running. And it is my belief the motivations behind running are very different from training. I ran, "to stay in shape", "to keep up with my high school xc and track kids", "to relieve stress", "to escape life", " to burn calories". And in those 12 years I can honestly say I truly enjoyed only about 50% of those runs. Sure I was satisfied at my effort and what I was doing. Sure I enjoyed being away from work and outside. But for the most part the runs were laborious. They were painstaking. They took as much mental strength as they did physical. So I found it funny then, that as soon as I set a goal, Chicago Marathon, and my running all the sudden had a bigger purpose, I have discovered a new found enjoyment for running/training! And perhaps not so surprising, my runs have become less painstaking and more focused. Less laborious and more satisfying. I feel better, my legs have more "snap". Hills that for years now have "owned" me, I know feel like I can power up with relative ease. So I think when you can focus and set a goal, and thus give your runs purpose, all of the sudden running becomes training. And each effort means more, is more enjoyable and satisfying, and almost instantly your mental outlook on your training seems brighter and more exciting as well. As a personal trainer and coach I see this all the time in my clients. If they have a specific goal we are working towards, everything seems easier and more enjoyable. Results matter and feedback is important. Those without a specific goal....seem to have higher incidence of missing workouts, canceling last minute, slacking during the workouts. So if you don't have a goal, SET ONE TODAY! If you find yourself struggling in your workouts, be them bike rides, running, swimming, paddling, or weight lifting, and you just don't seem to have a fire within, then evaluate WHY you are "training". If you can't come up with a concrete, tangible reason that allows you to gauge progress and aim for a culmination, so to speak, then you need to reevaluate what and why you are doing what you are doing. Goals are important in life, in training, in our jobs and our families! If you don't have goals, you are like a ship with no destination, left to be led by the waves and the tides. You then lack control, and are forced to deal with things you otherwise might not want to deal with. So set your coordinates and get going! One day at a time, but with full effort, energy and excitement! I promise you will enjoy the journey a whole lot more!
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Chicago Marathon - Running for a cause!
This October 13th, I will be running in my first marathon in 11 years! In fact it will be one of my first races period in nearly 8 years (team competition at the PPP is the lone exception). Crazy! Especially in a town like Bend, where nearly everyone races. But several factors led me to decide it was time.....
I started running in high school to get in shape so I could hang out at the beach with my friends and of course I wanted to look good. Most of you that know me will be surprised to learn that I didn't run competitively in high school. I loved baseball and soccer and played that through most of high school, but even then I wasn't quite good enough to make my high school teams, so it was rec leagues. I was a sports nut though. And then believe it or not I was a proud member of the "band geeks and choir queers". Certainly not "PC" terms today, but we didn't mind then. I actually excelled in music....making State Bands and even helping lead our Marching Band to the State Championship in PA. So when I started running, I really mean I was running to get in shape. I wasn't overweight, but I was a baseball player at a time when fitness was still a relatively unknown thing. Soccer helped keep me kind of fit, but back in my era, you really only played a sport for that season, and then you moved on to the next sport of activity. There was not year round club soccer, or baseball. And even if there was, as I said I wasn't that good. Looking back I believe I could have been that good with the right coaches, and with the right push from my parents. Neither of my parents were athletes, nor was my brother. So my experience with sports was purely self led, self motivated and all my parents really cared about was that I tried hard when I played. They didn't care if I played or not. As I got more involved in music, I had less time for sports, so eventually I quit team sports and after moving to West Palm Beach, Florida vanity became my motivator and I ran to lose a little weight and look good for the girls. I then proceeded to develop into a self taught triathlete entering and competing in triathlons in Chicago, Denver, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In college I helped found the CSU Triathlon club, which still exists today, and focused all my extra time on training. Still no help from anyone other than the occasional fellow triathlete that would offer advice. Over time, I realized that I would come out of the swim in the last 1/3, then would gain a little in the bike, and then in the run would pass about half those in front of me. Still I would finish in the middle to front of the pack, never good enough to win, but always a strong enough run to get me in contention. After college, training for all three disciplines was too time consuming so I decided to focus on the one that seemed to be my strength. Then in 1996, after years of entering 5K's and 10K's and still the occasional Tri, I decided to enter a marathon. The 1996 Chicago Marathon was my first. I went into it with no formal training. I just ran. No structure to my training. I would run hard every time I ran. And occasionally I would run from downtown Ft. Collins to the "A" on the side of Horsetooth by our football stadium (a good mile or so uphill once I got to the stadium). I asked a few friends if they thought it was realistic to run a sub 3:00 marathon in my first try and most of them laughed, or at least politely told me that it would be really hard. Well, I was just stubborn enough or competitive enough....I went to Chicago and ran 2:59. And I qualified for Boston, so then I had to go do that! So my second one was Boston in 1997.....still with no formal training and not doing anything right after Chicago, I was able to run a 2:56. Now I am thinking I have this down.....keep entering marathons and keep getting faster. Next marathon was Portland my first year in Oregon....1999. I was training a little smarter but still not very smart. But I managed to pull off a 2:46. To this day I owe this one to Laura Nelson. She wanted me to pace her to an Olympic Trails qualifying time. In reality she helped me run smarter the first 10 miles and unfortunately bathroom stops for her kept her from her goal. Had we run together the whole time, she would have qualified. Sorry Laura, but thank you too! I then started thinking about breaking the coveted 2:40 timeline.....why not, everything seems easy to this point. Train stupid and run faster each time. So I tried to train smarter and then I should really run faster, right. Well, the next marathon was 2000 in Cozumel, Mexico. I don't deal well with heat, so why go to Mexico???? The marketing people swore it would be cool and low humidity, it was November after all, and we started at 5:00AM. Well, they were wrong. Hot and humid is what we got. So hot, my socks and shoes were drenched after 3 miles. So this would end up being my slowest marathon to date....3:04. I did win however, so kind of mixed emotions. My Dad came with me to this one. So cool he got to see me win, but I was disappointed in my time. I hit the half in 1:20 so I knew I could do 2:40. Next race.....2002 and Twin Cities. Same goal....same thought, it should be cool. Dad there again. Same conditions....hot and humid. And in reality I don't think I was ready to run a 2:40. But I went out in a 1:18...good start, but then crumbled in the heat again. 3:07 was my finish time. Dad was proud but again I was not happy! Little did I know that the changes God had in store for me and my life were just about to hit warp speed. In 2002 I met my wife and the love of my life! That was the start.....racing quickly became so much less important. And over the next 11 years a marathon became the last thing I could fathom. Until now. Dad passed away February 21st, 2012 from lung cancer. He smoked for 30 years so it wasn't a surprise. But it was still devastating. He watched me run my last marathon and though he never understood why I run, he always supported my running. Chicago was my first marathon so it only seems fitting that it be my first again. The race is on October 13th...my Dad's birthday is October 14th. And my friend Steve Koski wants to do it together (though we will start and finish at different time, we will be out there together). So despite just coming back from an injury and not training seriously for a very long time, Chicago it is! Finish and have fun is my goal! And if I happen to run a sub 3:15 and qualify for Boston, well that would be okay too :) See you all on the road and back here for more updates. If you would like to support my efforts to raise over $5000 for Team in Training, go to our website, www.willpowertrainingstudio.com and click on the Team in Training link.
I started running in high school to get in shape so I could hang out at the beach with my friends and of course I wanted to look good. Most of you that know me will be surprised to learn that I didn't run competitively in high school. I loved baseball and soccer and played that through most of high school, but even then I wasn't quite good enough to make my high school teams, so it was rec leagues. I was a sports nut though. And then believe it or not I was a proud member of the "band geeks and choir queers". Certainly not "PC" terms today, but we didn't mind then. I actually excelled in music....making State Bands and even helping lead our Marching Band to the State Championship in PA. So when I started running, I really mean I was running to get in shape. I wasn't overweight, but I was a baseball player at a time when fitness was still a relatively unknown thing. Soccer helped keep me kind of fit, but back in my era, you really only played a sport for that season, and then you moved on to the next sport of activity. There was not year round club soccer, or baseball. And even if there was, as I said I wasn't that good. Looking back I believe I could have been that good with the right coaches, and with the right push from my parents. Neither of my parents were athletes, nor was my brother. So my experience with sports was purely self led, self motivated and all my parents really cared about was that I tried hard when I played. They didn't care if I played or not. As I got more involved in music, I had less time for sports, so eventually I quit team sports and after moving to West Palm Beach, Florida vanity became my motivator and I ran to lose a little weight and look good for the girls. I then proceeded to develop into a self taught triathlete entering and competing in triathlons in Chicago, Denver, Utah, Pennsylvania, and Michigan. In college I helped found the CSU Triathlon club, which still exists today, and focused all my extra time on training. Still no help from anyone other than the occasional fellow triathlete that would offer advice. Over time, I realized that I would come out of the swim in the last 1/3, then would gain a little in the bike, and then in the run would pass about half those in front of me. Still I would finish in the middle to front of the pack, never good enough to win, but always a strong enough run to get me in contention. After college, training for all three disciplines was too time consuming so I decided to focus on the one that seemed to be my strength. Then in 1996, after years of entering 5K's and 10K's and still the occasional Tri, I decided to enter a marathon. The 1996 Chicago Marathon was my first. I went into it with no formal training. I just ran. No structure to my training. I would run hard every time I ran. And occasionally I would run from downtown Ft. Collins to the "A" on the side of Horsetooth by our football stadium (a good mile or so uphill once I got to the stadium). I asked a few friends if they thought it was realistic to run a sub 3:00 marathon in my first try and most of them laughed, or at least politely told me that it would be really hard. Well, I was just stubborn enough or competitive enough....I went to Chicago and ran 2:59. And I qualified for Boston, so then I had to go do that! So my second one was Boston in 1997.....still with no formal training and not doing anything right after Chicago, I was able to run a 2:56. Now I am thinking I have this down.....keep entering marathons and keep getting faster. Next marathon was Portland my first year in Oregon....1999. I was training a little smarter but still not very smart. But I managed to pull off a 2:46. To this day I owe this one to Laura Nelson. She wanted me to pace her to an Olympic Trails qualifying time. In reality she helped me run smarter the first 10 miles and unfortunately bathroom stops for her kept her from her goal. Had we run together the whole time, she would have qualified. Sorry Laura, but thank you too! I then started thinking about breaking the coveted 2:40 timeline.....why not, everything seems easy to this point. Train stupid and run faster each time. So I tried to train smarter and then I should really run faster, right. Well, the next marathon was 2000 in Cozumel, Mexico. I don't deal well with heat, so why go to Mexico???? The marketing people swore it would be cool and low humidity, it was November after all, and we started at 5:00AM. Well, they were wrong. Hot and humid is what we got. So hot, my socks and shoes were drenched after 3 miles. So this would end up being my slowest marathon to date....3:04. I did win however, so kind of mixed emotions. My Dad came with me to this one. So cool he got to see me win, but I was disappointed in my time. I hit the half in 1:20 so I knew I could do 2:40. Next race.....2002 and Twin Cities. Same goal....same thought, it should be cool. Dad there again. Same conditions....hot and humid. And in reality I don't think I was ready to run a 2:40. But I went out in a 1:18...good start, but then crumbled in the heat again. 3:07 was my finish time. Dad was proud but again I was not happy! Little did I know that the changes God had in store for me and my life were just about to hit warp speed. In 2002 I met my wife and the love of my life! That was the start.....racing quickly became so much less important. And over the next 11 years a marathon became the last thing I could fathom. Until now. Dad passed away February 21st, 2012 from lung cancer. He smoked for 30 years so it wasn't a surprise. But it was still devastating. He watched me run my last marathon and though he never understood why I run, he always supported my running. Chicago was my first marathon so it only seems fitting that it be my first again. The race is on October 13th...my Dad's birthday is October 14th. And my friend Steve Koski wants to do it together (though we will start and finish at different time, we will be out there together). So despite just coming back from an injury and not training seriously for a very long time, Chicago it is! Finish and have fun is my goal! And if I happen to run a sub 3:15 and qualify for Boston, well that would be okay too :) See you all on the road and back here for more updates. If you would like to support my efforts to raise over $5000 for Team in Training, go to our website, www.willpowertrainingstudio.com and click on the Team in Training link.
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