Validate Weakness

What are your weaknesses and what are you doing about them?

“Unfortunately, the only way to address a weakness is to work on it and go through the discomfort and shame.”
- Facing Your Own Weakness

I honestly think half of the battle is to validate your failure or weakness. We (humans) tend to think we are in much better condition than we actually are. [Super Funny]

I have used my 4 components of fitness to scrutinize my weaknesses.

Aerobics
I don’t have a running coach so not sure how fast I should be pacing my training runs. I believe I train too hard! I exhaust myself and then feel bad because I'm so tired at the end of my workout. And so the cycle goes.

Rest
Doing too much – especially when I go to the gym. I feel I have to work out every muscle. By the afternoon – I’m dead tired.

Diet
I eat to much chocolate! And other sweets stuff. Hooked at an early age – I blame my Mom for pacifying me with milk and cookies.

Strength
This one is easy for me to identify. My tiny triceps. Because they are weak – I don’t enjoy any moves that employ them. Ex. Dips, kickbacks, or push-ups.

Now I have to get working on some solutions…any ideas?

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Adam Jacobs

I did a site review on The Final Sprint in March 2007. It was one of my favorite places for interviews and podcasts with athletes. (Podcast with Galen Rupp) He always asked just the right questions. Adam, the editor-in-chief was approachable, intelligent and had a keen sense for what was interesting for runners at all levels.
So I was sad to hear he had died. (He was only 24 years old…)
He left a comment on my post thanking me for the kind words. (I actually complained about the blinky advertising.) In the end he encouraged me to keep on writing, even offering me an opportunity to write for his site. That meant a lot to me!
Thanks Adam for connecting with us - your love of the sport running lives on.
~
A really nice tribute - The Red Fox

"The bird a nest, the spider a web, man friendship."
William Blake

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Eat This

This week’s theme at Runner's Lounge TIaRT is.... Runners version of Eat This Not That.
Eating and running go hand in hand. Food is the fuel for action and the matrix for recovery.

"As most of you know I have been vegetarian for about 15 years. I won’t attempt to deliver a sermon on how healthy a vegetarian diet is for your body, but just know it is a healthy and rewarding lifestyle."

Breakfast
Oatmeal vs. Corn Flakes
Bowl of Cornflakes Protein 2g
Bowl of Oatmeal protein 5g

I always feel satisfied after a bowl of oatmeal. (You can’t say that about cornflakes.) I avoid the instant variety as it is too sweet. Old fashioned oats cook in about 4 minutes in the MW. Make sure to use a large bowl to avoid boiling over bowl mess incidents. To increase the benefits, you can add your own amount of sweetener and other good things like raisins, cinnamon, nuts, soya milk…

Snacks
Almonds vs. M&Ms
22 Almonds dry roasted 169 cals, fat 15g, sugar 1g, protein 6g
M&Ms 1.6 ounce (1 small bag) 240 cals fat 10g, sugar 31g, protein 2g

I can’t say enough about almonds. They are one of my staples. They satisfy, are portable and easy to digest. And contain tryptophan an essential amino acid.

Fruit
Banana vs. Cranberry Juice
1 Banana 100 cals, sodium 0, carbs 27g, protein 1g
Cranberry cocktail - 1 cup 137 cals, carbs 34g, protein 0g

I have never met a runner who didn’t like bananas! They are best right after a run – easy to digest, giving you a much needed boost from the carbs. Juice is a quick fix – but to reap the full benefits of the fruit (fiber & nutrients) – eat the fruit!

Above Nutritional Data
Another benefit of eating fruits and vegetables – Longevity!

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I Love Outside

Who needs Runner’s World when you have Outside!
Reasons I Love Outside
They cover all the bases – hiking, biking, fitness - real nice pictures, must go destinations and even book reviews!
(Plus - Very little marathon chatter.)
This months issue includes the much anticipated

Part Two – The pillars of fitness.

I really like the weekly workout suggestions:

Good old LSD - Apparently not as renowned as it once was.
Core and Strength Work – Done on days you are NOT running! (Like twice a week.)
Intervals - Including max (fast) and threshold (still fast) levels.
Started this challenging workout today! I will include just one interval session a week – then work up to 2, as suggested, if I don’t injured or exhausted.

Pick up this months issue for details. Outside May 2009

Part one: Building a Base is online.

Ku
cool
an old white dog
in the shade

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Part of the Whole

Maybe it was the walking on the beach as the beginning daylight danced off the wet sand

OR

maybe it was the fact that I didn’t have my running gear on; I was hit with this overwhelming urge to run and never stop.
This powerful feeling flowed through me, like I was caught in a slipstream...
As any runner knows, these mysterious flashes don’t pop up everyday. In fact most days it's -> “First your shorts - then your shoes.”
I wish I could save this heartfelt occasion – and pass it on. The ultimate cure for runners’ burnout.
~
Todays run - 5.1 miles – with a negative split!
Cheery Tune – “I’m Yours.”
Reading - Chicken Soup to Inspire the Body & Soul
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Define Fitness

fit•ness
1. The state or condition of being fit; suitability or appropriateness.
2. Good health or physical condition, especially as the result of exercise and proper nutrition.
3. The extent to which an organism is adapted to or able to produce offspring in a particular environment.

Definitons from: American Heritage® Dictionary

I have divided it into 4 components.


aer•o•bics
“A system of physical conditioning designed to enhance circulatory and respiratory efficiency that involves vigorous sustained exercise, such as jogging, swimming, or cycling.”
My Spin: running, biking – though it takes hills to get my HR up, swinging the kettlebell, power walking, using the stair climber or elliptical.

strength train•ing
“Strength training is the use of resistance to muscular contraction to build the strength, anaerobic endurance and size of skeletal muscles.”
My Spin: gym workouts, home weights, kettlebell lifting, abdominal work, squats, (trying out some lunges.)

di.et
The usual food and drink of a person or animal.
My Spin: Vegetarian diet for over 15 years. Indulgence – chocolate!

rest
1. The refreshing quiet or repose of sleep: a good night's rest.
2. Refreshing ease or inactivity after exertion or labor: to allow an hour for rest.
My Spin: Not allowed until all the work is done. Results -> tired most days now. This is the area I need to work on. Take a day off – OMG! I feel as guilty as a kid skipping school.
But I really must explore the reasons for this malaise. Surely, it can’t be the aging process?

What do you do - for fitness?

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Food is Fuel

I always shudder when I hear, what runners eat. Like running gives us the license to eat whatever we want.


Runners who tweet

But beware – not all calories are equal. Some provide vitamins and nutrients that does a body good while others can virtually kill you.
Like
½ c of Haagen-dazs Crème Brulee ice cream has 19 grams of fat including 120 mg of cholesterol! This stuff can coat the insides your cardiac arteries.
Instead
When I drink carrot juice my face glows.

125 Healthiest Supermarket Foods
Surprisingly, I found this list on healthy eating in Men’s Health magazine. Not that I condone store bought re-fried beans over homemade - but for those who don’t prepare food, this list gives some great suggestions.

And before the big race
"Many runners assume that they must eat a lot of food the night before..... There is nothing you can eat the evening before a race that will help you. But eating to much, or the wrong foods, can be a real problem.”
-Galloway

What crap do you eat?

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Half Marathon Rundown

In the jargon of the sport, I hit the wall. I was cruising along – keeping an eye on my pace. The 10 mile marker was the last I remember…



After that I ran the best I could. Coming in 2 minutes slower than last year. (Hey, the course had changed - more hills. (excuse #12)
I did however accomplish my backup goal which was coming in under 2 hours.


The Wild, the Weird and the Wonderful

• men running topless.
• empty ketchup packages. Cheap carb fix?
• so many spectators along the way – high fives and cheers!
• some guy running with his massage stick.
• a cap with little holders specifically for Clif Shot Bloks.
• the scent of well used port-o-potties at the 9 mile stretch.
• a runner, post race, dry heaving on the curbside. O, that was me – how embarrassing.
• a belt buckle medal! (Not really - just took the neck strap off.)
  

***


Favorite start line shout: "You’re almost finished."
Favorite shirt logo: “I never trained for this race.”
~
AV time for the Eugene half-marathon was Average Time: 2:23:51
Make your own Wristband at live2run

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The Day Before

Galloway suggests “Don’t run the day before the big race.” And I’m going to take that advice! I’ve completed 4 months of training – you would think I'd feel ready, but I don’t...

This year’s formula
+
I completed my training and sustained no injuries.
-
a) I didn’t train hard enough. b) I should have added a few extra miles on the long run days - just lazy. c) I didn’t go fast enough in training the races.
=
Doubtful attempt to preserve last year’s PR of 1:55

“If we work off of plans for a model airplane, we’re not going to end up with a spaceship.” E. Larsen