Thoughts on the Common Cold

I am not a “good” sick person, at least at home. I whine, moan, make Jan get my medicine and water while I lay on the couch huddled under a blanket with the electric heater making the room 80 degrees. Despite rumors to the contrary, I am able to still use the remote control quite well.

Ten Things about a cold;

1. My three month emergency supply of Puffs tissues ran out in four days.
2. The cold medicine coupons I cut out of the paper expired a week ago.
3. My 28 day streak of exercising ended.
4. Coming home from work and having hot tea with honey is soothing.
5. I make loud noises blowing my nose which disgusts me and probably anyone within earshot.
6. I no longer feel like a runner after having to take 3 days off.
7. For some reason I’m eating like a horse even though my taste buds are basically shot.
8. Last week I thought how great it was I hadn’t been sick in a year and how amazingly healthy I was for someone of my advanced age, even though everyone around me seemed ill.
9. Jan doesn't think me sleeping with tissues stuck out of my nose to prevent dripping is sexy.
10. It’s good practice for being on an airplane when I sleep sitting up hoping I can breathe through my nose a little. 

Maybe a shot of Bourbon tonight will clear everything up?

Gravity- Good or Bad?

Top Ten Things About Gravity

1. It keeps me grounded to earth, this is really good, except when I run and would rather float like a Kenyan.
2. Gravity is responsible for my face sagging.
3. Sandra Bullock is still…well… Sandra, and that is a good thing.
4. Watching the movie Gravity I learned it was good I never entered the space program. (claustrophia, motion sickness)
5. Gravity pulls my legs down in the pool. Maybe it’s my lack of core muscles too, but gravity is easier to blame. Can’t fight gravity, or is that Can’t fight Mother Nature?
6. Type Gravity into Google and the top 8 hits are for the movie. What does that say about society?
7.  I am skeptical Isaac Newton discovered gravity when an apple dropped on his head.
8.  Did Einstein really discover a second rule about gravity or was he looking for the perfect bagel? Maybe the Black Hole was “discovered” when Al punched out the middle of some dough to make the first bagel?
9. Sandra was the fourth choice of an actress to star in the movie. Clooney – second. She spent up to 10 hours a day straight inside her “capsule”.
10. I learned all I know about gravity from the Big Bang Theory tv show.

Chicago Marathon or "Good Form Clinic"

This is the form to use while running, imagine doing this for 26.2 miles!

Dennis Kimetto, from Kenya, won the race in course record time, 2:03:45, an average of 4:43.4 per mile!  The top four male finishers were from Kenya. American Dathan Ritzenhein was fifth in 2:09:45. Kimetto went through 13.1 miles at 1:01:52 with seven Kenyans around him. Amazing even split running.

Jeptoo Rita, from Kenya, second last year, won the women's race in 2:19:57. The top American female was Clara Santucci in 2:31:39 with former SUNY Geneseo star Melissa White 10th in 2:32:37.
Over twenty-one thousand runners finished the race.

Why Buy a New Wetsuit?

There are 10 reasons to buy a new wetsuit;

10. Who doesn’t enjoy spending money on sports we aren’t good at?

9. The smell of new rubber is intoxicating.

8. We look hot in skin tight suits.

7. The one or two times I wear the suit in a pool makes me feel like a real swimmer.

6. We won’t go faster in the water, but will look good going slow.

5. No longer have to wear a suit with gashes that made them look like a crazy person owned them.

4. We will intimidate schmucks who wear suits that look like our old ones.

3. Wetsuits are great to wear under regular clothes to keep our muffin tops tucked in and tight.

2. Wetsuits are better than cotton long johns in the winter in keeping your body warm. I’m wearing mine during snowshoe races!

1. My wife said I could.

Long Awaited Jensen Stable Mudslog Video

Sorry the video is a bit like the Blair Witch Project with movement, I was trying to follow the athletes as they went through a stream and under netting and a bridge.

Adjusting Expectations

The article below is from the newest edition of an online newsletter from USA Triathlon.org. It speaks to some of the concerns and thoughts I've had recently, particularly numbers four and five.

By Marty Gaal

Part of any well-rounded athletic training program includes realistic goal setting. Goal setting can be as simple as losing X amount of weight and ‘getting into better shape,’ or targeting a specific time or performance goal at a specific event. In the endurance athletic world the tendency is toward the latter although there is nothing wrong with the former.

As the season progresses, you should see measurable results via improved body composition, increased endurance and increased speed at certain effort levels. These interim milestones allow you to adjust your future expectations upward or downward.

Interruptions and adjustments are a part of life. Most adult triathletes have multiple commitments including family harmony and work-related stress like travel, deadlines and unsupportive bosses. Your initial goal of winning your age group in a big race may not be realistic after you had to spend two weeks visiting multiple job sites and working 15 hour days. Or you may run into the cold, hard reality that you are not, in fact, Superman or Superwoman and can only burn the candle at both ends for a few days at a time before you need time off of training to mentally rest and relax.

In an ideal world, you will successfully handle all of the above as well as the sort of training required to meet your goals. You’ll arrive at your goal race well-prepared to execute and meet or beat your personal goals.

However, that’s not always the case. Everything in sum may become overwhelming. If this sounds like you, here are a few tips to keep yourself motivated and enjoying all the training you are able to complete.

1.      Prioritize. Make sure you understand what is most important to you and then work from there. Most of us put more value into keeping our families happy and keeping our jobs.

2.      Adjust your time commitment and performance goals. If your original Ironman season plan had you averaging 15 hours of training per week (for example), accept that this may be unrealistic for you. Slice a couple hours off and expect to be five to 10 percent slower than you would have been. You can still have a great day and will be in terrific shape.

3.      Make it social. Endurance athletics is ultimately an individual sport where you excel through your personal work habits and individual ability. You can take some of the sting out of lowered expectations by expanding your worldview to value the social side of training with groups and friends.

4.      Enjoy the little things. Rather than stress about not being able to repeat sub-6 minute miles (for example) on a running interval day, revel in the fact that you can do several miles at sub-6:30 pace and come back to train again the following day.

5.      Take the long view. While this particular season or training cycle may not be the best you could have achieved had everything else in your life gone according to plan, doing the best you can with the time and energy you do have will set you up for future successes, when life outside of athletics may not be so challenging.

Success in endurance athletics is not built on one season of training and racing alone. You may have heard of the 10,000 hour rule. This is the idea that it takes that many hours of practice to become truly skilled in an endeavor. While it may not take quite that much time for each individual, it gives you some idea of the amount of work it takes to become really, really good. Those superfast athletes you are hoping to mix it up with did not start out that way. All of them have practiced consistently for years and years. No one can jam that much practice into just one season!

When push comes to shove, your satisfaction in sport is based on simple factors: Accepting your current limitations and doing the best you can to challenge those limitations within the framework of the rest of your life. Do that, and you will have the mental capacity to repeat the athletic goal setting process for the rest of your life. Rage against the machine and you will experience untimely burnout and frustration, which will negatively affect both your physical and mental well-being.

Marty Gaal, CSCS, is a USA Triathlon Certified Coach. Along with his wife and partner, Brianne, he coaches athletes around the world from their home base in Cary, N.C. You can read more about One Step Beyond coaches and services at osbmultisport.com.

Mudslog

Trotting through idyllic pastures, prancing up steep hillsides, gliding over horse jumps, sprinting through the stalls to finish in the show arena sounds like a great adventure for horses and riders, right? Well, what if you are a runner doing that for 7.5 miles; would it still be so great?

Eileen, Jan and Mike W. decided to seek out adventure and try a trail/obstacle course race at the GVH Mudslog held on the Jensen Stables farm in Perinton, NY and nearby roads and trails. (photo - Jan in Fleet Feet team shirt, Eileen next to her in black).

 The race began in a cornfield and within .75 miles went up a ridiculously steep, long hill. I don't know how horses grazed on that pasture without toppling over and rolling down. After five miles the runners headed into steep single track trails through a nature park. Welcoming them were two stockade fences to climb over, one about four feet, the second seven feet tall. (photo, Eileen waiting for Jan to climb fence)

From there they ran in a creek (yes, in it), crawled under fencing and a bridge, through more mud and back up to the real trail.(Jan coming out from under bridge).

Finish area. Next time maybe they'll take a horse ride instead? The official race name is GVH Mudslog. The winning time was 9 minutes a mile, that's how tough the course is.