First, a quick recap of the attempt to exercise every day without a break for a month. The numbers refer to yards in the pool; weight and tennis refer to Nautilus circuits and either doubles or singles or both, for a minimum of 2 hours (though it's usually 3 hours 15 minutes, and on Sunday it was 4 hours). Here are where we are so far. If it doesn't rain, and I play tennis today, I will have technically satisfied my self-imposed challenge, having made a continuous month without a break, the month being a non-leap year February's 28 days. 3150 sickish500 weights3200 weights tennis4500 weights3800 weights5000 weights tennis5300 tennis4900 weights4500 weights tennis4600 weights4100 tennis3850 weights525 tennis4400tennis if it doesn't rain? I began this quest by accident. After Colony Zones, I came home, swam the Monday practice, but by Wednesday was too sick too move. I didn't return to any form of exercise whatsoever until the following Wed., May 6th (note the adjective "sickish" above.) Leslie had by then convinced me to try weight lifting, plus tennis season was upon us, and my self-disgust was so high after 9 days of being a lallygagging layabout slugabed that I decided to try to catch up by exercising everyday for a while. After 11 days, I recognized I was on a streak. I continued onwards, almost like when I quit drinking: each new day of sobriety (or, in this case, abstinence from slugabedding) only inspiring me to keep it up. All went well until last week. On Thursday, my throat was sore, my lungs filled with sputum, and my muscles achy. I'd arranged to play singles at the high school with my friend John Delaney at 4:30. At 3, I fell asleep on the couch. At 3:30, I woke briefly to the sound of thunder, realized tennis would be canceled, told myself I could weight lift instead, fell back asleep. John called me at 4:15, waking me again, and asking if we were still on for tennis. I told him it had rained and the courts were drenched. He told me it hadn't rained where he lived, five miles away, and the high school courts were bone dry. I met him at the courts and played for 3 hours 15 minutes, and actually played the best I had all year, despite sickness. The next day, I felt much, much worse, and was ready to skip practice, but the streak wouldn't permit it. I went and swam slow. But Bill got me to race him on the fast push-off 100 (he'd just done a 1:57 on the fast push-off 200). I did a 59; he did a 52.9. Then, on the fast push-off 50, he did butterfly, which forced me to try. He did a 27 flat. I did a high 26 for freestyle. Saturday, I woke up at noon, feeling awful. I forced myself to go do Nautilus, came home, went back to sleep, spent the rest of the day watching True Blood reruns and the French Open. Sunday, I played tennis for four hours, which was very fun, though my shoulder is a bit sore now. Yesterday, I swam our "distance" practice: 600 warm up 8 x 100 on 1:20 6 x 50 kick 4 x 500 descend 200 warm down 4400 total I am a wreck today, and it's threatening to rain, but I am absolutely committed to playing tennis or doing Nautilus to keep the streak alive. ________________________________ Could this be my cure? Regular readers of this vlog may have noticed that I am sickly. Some have suggested hypochondria, the "some" here being pretty much everybody I have ever met since sliding out the abdominal C-section of my beloved mother in 1952. Finally, the reason for my regular bouts of illness have become clear. I refer your attention to a recent AP story, some of which I shall excerpt here for your edification: Scientists find bacterial zoo thrives in our skin May 28, 4:25 PM (ET) By LAURAN NEERGAARD WASHINGTON (AP) - Eeeww. There's a zoo full of critters living on your skin - a bacterial zoo, that is. Consider your underarm a rain forest. Healthy skin is home to a much wider variety of bacteria than scientists ever knew, says the first big census of our co-inhabitants. And that's not a bad thing, said genetics specialist Julia Segre of the National Institutes of Health, who led the research. Sure they make your sneakers stinky, "but they also keep your skin moist and make sure if you get a wound that (dangerous) bacteria don't enter your bloodstream," she said. "We take a lot for granted in terms of how much they contribute to our health." The skin research, published in Friday's edition of the journal Science, is part of that project. Scientists decoded the genes of 112,000 bacteria in samples taken from a mere 20 spots on the skin of 10 people. Those numbers translated into roughly 1,000 strains, or species, of bacteria, Segre said, hundreds more than ever have been found on skin largely because the project used newer genetic techniques to locate them. Topography matters, a lot, the researchers reported. If a moist, hairy underarm is like a rain forest, the dry inside of the forearm is a desert. They harbor distinctly different bacteria suited to those distinctly different environments. In fact, the bacteria under two unrelated people's underarms are more similar than the bacteria that lives on one person's underarm and forearm. Mom's advice to wash behind your ears notwithstanding, that spot contained the least diverse bacteria - 19 species on average. The most diverse spot: the forearm, which averaged 44 species.... ... Segre hopes knowing there are so many bacteria alters how people think about the relationship. "I'm a mother of two small children; I believe very strongly in sanitation, washing your hands," Segre said. But, "we have to understand that we live in harmony with bacteria and they are part of us as super-organisms ... and not just conceive of bacteria as bad and germs and smelly." ____________________________________ You may suspect I am joking here, but I am not: swimming, I am convinced, is what is making me sick. (It's also making me healthy, and I don't plan to stop, but the sick-inducement part of it needs some sort of remedy. More on this in a moment.) Actually, it isn't swimming per se that makes me sick, but regular immersion in the chlorinated water. The delicate ecosystem of my germ-riddled skin is being thrown out of whack by the germ-killing powers of chlorine, allowing evil flora and fauna to attack me once the protective flora and fauna have been felled. For years, I have not "needed" to use soap or deodorant provided I swim every other day. To me, it seems impossible to believe that any dirt can survive on a body that thrashes about in water for 1.5 hours at a time. At this point, soap only dries out the skin and makes me itch. Good riddance. (Note: I have also avoided brushing my teeth for decades, fearing I might tamper with the delicate ecology of my mouth, but that's a different story and the topic of a future vlog.) But it looks like a complete lack of hygiene is not enough to keep me healthy. I need some way to re-infect myself with skin germs post-practice. You know those new types of yogurts that supposedly add "probiotics" to your digestive tract? Probiotics is a code word for health germs. I need a skin moisturizer containing all sorts of probiotics--a witch's brew of thriving bacteria evolved to live on my skin and protect me after practice. Perhaps I could trademark such a product myself: Germis (TM) --for whenever you are too clean for your own good: Germis for the Dermis! Alas, I will need seed money to pioneer Germis for the Dermis, which I imagine at this point will be a dirt-covered slathering salve filled with all manner of healthful E. coli and other strains we need to feel our best and smell our worst! Until then, I must come up with another solution. Along these lines, are there any filthy women out there that would be willing to give me a full body rub down apres workout to restore to my skin the pestilence I need to stay healthy? It's 1 o'clock--only three and a half hours to tennis... If there's one good thing about land sports in the summer, they do keep your skin nice and germ-riddled, provided, that is, you can resist the urge to shower afterward. Alas, if you can't resist such an urge, I urge you to slather yourself dun-colored with Germis for the Dermis (when it becomes available)--and until then, find a filthy member of the sex you are oriented towards and try to coax a germ exchange pronto.
Tue Jun 2nd, 2009 Thinking about doing a 5k this Saturday Lifted Weights at World Gym this Morning before practice TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE LCM 6:30 - 8:00 Whitney Coached TSC main pool swam with Tyler, Todd, Larry, Mike, Marcio, Brandon, & Amy Warm Up LCM 10 minutes choice Main Set LCM 40 x 50 FR STRONG on 1:10 instruction was to pick a strong pace & hold it leave 10 sec apart held 30's, 31's & 32's worked them all, it was grueling dove the last one went 27 no Ande-Save-UP on this set did 3 - 6 SDKs on each push off 100 easy (there was more but I had to get out at 7:30 to make an 8:00 business meeting) those who stayed, reorganized lanes, since UT men were getting in at 7:30 another 100 easy then 20 x 50's on 1:00 hold the same pace you did on for the 40 on 1:10 NEXT MEETS Senior Circuit #3 Fri June 12 - 14, 2009 11 Days away Austin, TX Events Entered: 04 400 Freestyle (2) 5:07.03 scy 500 fr 10 050 Freestyle 24.50 LCM 14 200 Freestyle 1:50.70 scy 18 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 LCM 20 100 Butterfly 51.80 scy 28 200 Individual Medley 2:24.08 LCM 38 050 Butterfly (3) 51.80 scy USMS South Central Zone Long Course Championship Meet Fri July 18 - 19 2009 Woodlands, TX Meet Entry Form Found out Aerosmith is playing with ZZ Top on Friday July 17th at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in the Woodlands Tickets
I will be pacing McKaylin in the 800 this weekend so I thought about doing an 800 this morning. 1000 as 200 swim/pull/swim/kick/swim 5x100 @ :10 Rest Fly kick on back w/fins a good ab workout 5x100 @ :05 Rest Back drills w/fins #1 Fashion model, #2 partial recovery #3 arms perpendicular #4 catch up #5 fashion model 5x100 @ 2:00 Back w/paddles held 1:54's 800 Free w/paddles & bouy for time 12:06 not bad considering I went an 11:57 at the meet a week and a half ago. At the 600 mark I actually toyed with the idea of just doing a 1500 but then decided against it for now. 200 free EZ 500 free every 3rd lap back EZ Total 4000 meters
10 am - Lords Gym - Placerville Warm- Plank :60, double leg rotation x8 each way. Someone stole the pin out of the assisted pull-up machine, so I went straight to freeweights. Did 3x15 of all my routines. Finished with medicine ball as the gym was getting too crowded to get swiss ball time. 5:30-7:00 pm - Aquasol Masters - Union Mine High School-SCY- Coach Janine Since the Aquasol swim teams (Age-groupers thru Masters) changed their swim times, I am now able to swim with the teams at least 3x a week. M-W-F So no YMCA solo for the next month. Todays workout was really easy, however with the earlier full- gym workout, I was too sore to enjoy it. Warm 200 ( I always do 400-600) 6x25 Kick all out on 1:00 (held :24) 4x100 FR 25 gallop scull / 25 swim 2:00 (1:40's) (scull one hand 6-8 times, then 3 full strokes, repeat with opposite hand) This one was my fault, I was talking about the 5x100 25 2 hand scull/25 swim at Folsom.... 5x50 FR :45 5x50 BK 1:00 200 FR ---Sprint into the walls, breakout w/ 2 strokes no breath (gasp) 3x100 BR -- 25 3 kick hands back, touch feet/25 1 potato, 2 potato. 200 FR w/d. (Coach said I could stay and do Seniors workout, but they were emphasizing BR so I did; 100 BK Pull 200 BK (didn't look at the time) 200 w/d One thing I learn being 97% solo is I plan my own workout, I pysch out and know whats coming. I told my coach that I could have done a set of 200's with the breakouts, np in the mornings. She said that with a coach, you dont see it coming, so Im not ready for it...Coach Janine doesn't post the workout, she calls them out and we dont know whats coming! ---Im changing GYM to Tue-Thursday-Sat. I simply am not superhuman enough to Gym then Swim.
Summer School started today at CHS. I got up early (4:45 am) so I could swim LCM in the CHS natatorium. I decided to do a 1 hour swim for lack of any other ideas. I really didn't push it too hard but I felt good. I ended up with 3650 LCM. The showers were cold so it was a quickie! I had time to down a pbj, banana, and some purple grapes before the 7:30 am staff first day meeting. I going to do the same schedule tomorrow but a different workout. CHS has a great indoor LCM natatorium! I noticed one strange thing today. They changed their very wide 8 LCM lanes into 12 thinner lanes by stretching a thick tight chain across the gutter at each end. The problem is the lines on the bottom of the pool are messed-up. I kept hitting the lane with my fingers when I was coming back and swimming down the middle when I was going down. It was making me a little crazy!
Why is it when you drive in the heat that you feel like you have been hit by a bus even though you have air conditioning? Drove 140 miles today so that son could get braces put on his teeth. It hit 90 today. By the time I got home, I was beat. I somehow got down to the Y pool. The dungeon air was even hotter than it was outside. The former professional triathlete I sometimes swim with had moved his trainer outside to the pavallion. That is how bad it was. He usually does a 3,000 swim, and after a quick change, jumps on the trainer on the pool deck for an hour spin workout. After LC Nationals, I intend to start doing the spin workouts with the tri guy. His workouts will kill me, but this is the only hope I have if I ever want to do tris again. I've already learned quite a bit from him on the cycling aspect. One set I can remember that seemed helpful was doing spins at 130 rpms for 45 seconds. Another suggestion he made was on my training rides, try to keep the RPMs over 100 even in the big ring. I'm convinced this paid off. In my tri races, I would usually try to hold 85 to 90 rpm pushing some pretty big gears. This felt easy after having held it between 100 and 110 on training rides. Anyway, got in a small bit of yardage - 2,000 yards. As one of my coaches used to say, "A practice is like depositing money in the bank and the meets are like making a withdrawal." Well, I guess I can say today was a very small deposit. One of the sets I did today was 6 x 50 on 1:30 (no fins)- 90% effort. On odds, did free/fly and on evens did back/free. Either my back has gotten much better or my fly is hurting because my even 50s were a second or two faster than my odd 50s. I tend to think my fly is hurting. This is strange because I felt great when I was doing the all out 25s on Saturday. Was off yesterday, so maybe I got sluggish? I truly admire those that are able to be on the road a good bit and find the energy to train.
Updated June 1st, 2009 at 09:22 PM by elise526
1:06 and not 1:32. Closer to my goal of one hour! I also realized I hit my ring toe so hard on a rock that it is more purple than Tom thumbs' plum! Unbelievable. I was hoping my shoulder would feel better by now. I havn't been doing my rotator exercises and it shows. I must do those. Today I tried my best adaptation of "Help my speed is horrible start up. After warming up I timed my 25 yd and 50 yd. My 25 is 18sec My 50 is 36 sec. The same since I started this journal in Jan. pretty much. did 12 x 25's 18 secs in 45 intervals every single one no change. Heartrate at end of set about 138 secs. Various 200's- swim, kick, sdk, Reported my observations to Ande's thread. Wasn't focused on yardage today.
Updated June 1st, 2009 at 06:19 PM by flippergirl
Just had time for a short weight/dryland workout and a short swim. Weights/Dryland: Used the Paramount double cable machine today. Hadn't used that in awhile. Did: standing one arm pushes, 35 x 1 x 15, each arm, 30 x 1 x 15, each arm reclining one arm tricep press w/elevated legs, 25 x 2 x 12, each arm core/leg exercise (lay down on back, head facing machine, put handles of cable under shoe, lift legs then hips up, pull down slowly), 50 x 2 x 15 Then did: hi lat row 140 x 1 x 4 160 x 1 x 3 180 x 1 x 3 190 x 2 x 8 goblet squat w/50 lb weight, 2 x 15 forward lunges w/12.5 DBs, 2 x 20 crunches w/med ball, 2 x 25 elevated crunches on bench w/ 12.5 lb weight at feet, 2 x 25 external rotators, 10 x 3 x 15, each side prone scapular scrunches w/elevated feet & 5 lb DBs, 2 x 25 Swim/SCY/Solo: Warm up: 700 variety swim, kick, drill Speed set: A little bird reminded me that I should probably do some fast 75s for my LC 50s. Took that very sound advice today. I don't usually like 75s much because I can't see the pace clock well at one end. So all times could be slightly off. 10 x (75 backstroke w/fins + 25 EZ)(Swam w/fins as shoulder has been a little twingy since my "endurance fly" set last week.) 1-5 @ 2:15 6-10 @ 2:30 50 EZ after #5 Went: 46 (still warming up)/43/43/42/41 & 42, 43, 42, 41.5-42, 40.5-41 200 C/D Total: 1700 Food: Breakfast: oatmeal w/peanut butter, apple (Took Patrick's suggestion and added some peanut butter for protein. Can't say I was too thrilled with the taste though.) Lunch: Salad with romaine, grilled chicken, green onion, green pepper, sprouts, flax seed, currants, blueberries; quinoa w/chick peas Post swim snack: G2, balance bar in car on way home Dinner: barbecued shrimp, veggy kebobs w/mushrooms, tomatoes, eggplant and pepper, 1/2 slice of delicious 7 grain bread (Mr. Fort brought that back from the farmers' market -- along with a cache of other breads and fresh cinnamon rolls. ). Snack: plum, trail mix, glass of chard
Updated June 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 AM by The Fortress
5 days to go until the big race.. Imagine my horror when I checked out the donations page on the race site this morning and saw that one of the other entrants has MORE DONATIONS THAN ME!! I am most seriously displeased. If anyone would like to help me address this travesty, please go to: http://www.nycswim.org/Event/Event.a...from=donations and make a donation in my real name (Amanda Hunt). My charity is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and I'm giving away a free ShamWow to everyone who donates $10 or more in my name
SCM, Solo 400 swim, (every 4th 25 back) 200 IM drill 200 kick choice, (on back in streamline alt. dolphin/flutter by 25) 6 x 50 choice w/10 sec. rest alt. 25 drill/25 build 2x around { 200 free pace on 3:20 (#1 - 3:01, #2 - 3:04) 3 x 50 free descend on 1:00 (#3 at ~85%) (went :45-> :40 on these) 200 free faster than the first one on 3:20 (#1 - 2:57, #2 - 2:58) 4 x 25 no free descend on 35 (#4 all out) (#1 - did back, didn't get times; #2 did fly, went around :25 -> :20) 50 easy } swim down 8 x 25 on 35: 3 breaths per 25 2700 meters
So it has been about three weeks since my partner has left me for the arms of another person. I've lost about 15 pounds since then (anyone what to buy a lightly used B70 - size 28), gotten into counseling, had a physical exam, stopped drinking and started reading about relationship repair, divorce and recovery. I know now that she will never return. She refuses to admit she is having an affair and refuse to apologize for the pain and suffering that she caused not only me - but my mom - who loves her and misses her. I can't understand why she would throw away 10 years for a person she just met 2 months ago and why she would stonewall requests for counseling. Eitherway, now, I have to accept this path and take positive steps forward. The real race in life is not in pool or on the track or on the court. Yes, it is nice to be able to be successful - to win a gold medal or set some new record. The real race in life is building and maintaining a healthly and constructive relationships - this race has no gold medals and rarely makes headlines - but the rewards are so meaningful. Cheaters never win this race; they never do the hard work it takes to build a healthy and loving relationship. They just drift - justifying their actions and suppressing their emotions. Who would want to live their life like that?
Mon Jun 1st, 2009 Thinking about doing a 5k this Saturday NEXT MEETS Senior Circuit #3 Fri June 12 - 14, 2009 11 Days away Austin, TX Events Entered: 04 400 Freestyle (2) 5:07.03 scy 500 fr 10 050 Freestyle 24.50 LCM 14 200 Freestyle 1:50.70 scy 18 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 LCM 20 100 Butterfly 51.80 scy 28 200 Individual Medley 2:24.08 LCM 38 050 Butterfly (3) 51.80 scy USMS South Central Zone Long Course Championship Meet Fri July 18 - 19 2009 Woodlands, TX Meet Entry Form Found out Aerosmith is playing with ZZ Top on Friday July 17th at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in the Woodlands Tickets TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE LCM & SCY 6:30 - 8:00 Whitney Coached TSC main pool swam with Tyler & Todd, Next to Larry, Matt & Nate warm up LCM 2 x (200 sw, 150 k, 100 im, 50 fr) Main 20 x 50 on 50 done 5 fl, 5 fl bk, 5 fl br, 5 fl fr (I drilled the fly) 500 6 x 50 on 50 done 4 bk, 2 bk fl MOVED TO DIVING WELL SCY (just before 7:30) 10 x 50 on 45 done 2 bk fl, 4 bk br, 4 bk fr 500 fr take few strokes per length 12 x 50 on 50 3 br, 3 br fl, 3 br bk, 3 br fr 100 easy
This morning I was paged every 15 minutes by some systems automated page. We had another outage and I had to constantly check my pager to see if it was an automated page or someone had actually called. This is getting really old. 5x200 @ 3:45 Free just had no speed on this but then I never do first thing. It takes me 1000 just to get the joints moving. Got paged after #2 5x100 @ 2:15 IM 500 Free kick w/fins & board 10x50 @ 1:00 odds Fly/evens Fly kick on back w/fins was making the swims in :45 and the kicks in :53 paged again but waited until finished 5x200 @ 3:30 Free w/paddles & bouy Descending went 3:17, 3:14, 3:11, 3:01, 2:56 yet another page here but waited till set was over. 500 Free alternate 50 drill 50 swim Total 4000 meters
This morning I was paged every 15 minutes by some systems automated page. We had another outage and I had to constantly check my pager to see if it was an automated page or someone had actually called. This is getting really old. 5x200 @ 3:45 Free just had no speed on this but then I never do first thing. It takes me 1000 just to get the joints moving. Got paged after #2 500 Free kick w/fins & board 10x50 @ 1:00 odds Fly/evens Fly kick on back w/fins was making the swims in :45 and the kicks in :53 paged again but waited until finished 5x200 @ 3:30 Free w/paddles & bouy Descending went 3:17, 3:14, 3:11, 3:01, 2:56 yet another page here but waited till set was over. 500 Free alternate 50 drill 50 swim Total 3500 meters
Since the UW swimming program is being discontinued with the masters team almost certainly sharing the same fate, I'm looking around for the next place to work out. Two of my options are nearby country clubs with masters groups, but they work out in the morning. I never have been much of a morning person and I'm not sure I'm intersted in waking up at 5:30 or even 5:00 AM to go swimming. Another option would be to train during the lap swimming time at the nearby city pool. The challenge there is being able to push myself when not swimming as part of a group.
Took today off and after reading the below article this evening don't feel so guilty now. Article can also be found at http://www.trifuel.com/triathlon/hea...t-1-001720.php and http://www.trifuel.com/training/heal...plateau-part-2 The Secret to Busting Through Your Plateau, Part 1 Source: Ben Greenfield Bio, More Articles Case Study #1 is a 40 year old woman attempting to lose weight. Let's call her Mrs. T. Two years prior, Mrs. T hired a personal trainer to design an exercise program for her. An absolutely fantastic program, it helped her maximize calorie burning while giving her a total body workout. She also developed a nutritional plan that she follows in precise detail, logging her diet each day and ensuring she maintains caloric balance while eating healthy, natural foods. Mrs. T is a very busy person. She has 3 children and works as a restaurant manager. When she's not working out, she is at full speed with her career and family, and often finds herself having panic attacks during traffic jams and long lines at the supermarket. She works late into the night on her computer at home, and typically goes to bed around midnight, then is up at 5:30am to eat breakfast and hit the gym before a long day of work. Despite her active lifestyle and good diet, Mrs. T has not lost weight in 8 months. Actually, she's gained 7lbs of fat. She also has low energy levels, poor focus, and often has to grit her teeth to even begin her exercise program. She doesn't mind eating healthy, but is becoming depressed that her perfect diet is not working for her. Case Study #2 is a competitive young triathlete named Flash. A collegiate swimmer, Flash has competed at the multi-sport level for 6 years. Due to his superior swim technique and physical dedication, Flash did very well for his first 4 years of competition. He trains 2 hours a day, allows himself adequate rest and recovery, and keeps his energy stores high with consumption of endurance athlete carbohydrates like bagels, toast, pasta, bread, and sports drinks. But the last couple years have been different. Despite a good training regimen, Flash has plateaued, and can't seem to add any speed to his workouts or races. He's not overtrained, but simply feels like he's reached a plateau that he can't overcome. Guess what? Both Mrs. T and Flash have the same problem. They lack syngery. Huh? What's synergy? I define synergy as balance - a proper balance of lifestyle, activity, and nutrition. When these three components are perfectly dialed in, there is absolutely no barrier to achieving your performance, weight loss, or health related goals. But even if you're perfect in one area, or even two, if you don't have all aspects of synergy in place, you will fail. And most people fail. Nearly every person that walks into my office, e-mails me, or phones me for help is doing *something* right. Most have decent exercise programs. Some have healthy lifestyles. A few have acceptable diets. But it's strange - I have never, NEVER in the history of being a wellness advisor and coach, come across an individual who has all synergestic elements in place, but still needs help. These individuals do not exist because they have discovered the secret to achieving their goals. Everyone else, on the other hand, must be empowered with the knowledge to lock in place the three components of success. After that, any goal that they have will become a reality. Next week, I'm going to spill the secrets on how to take the three concepts of synergy, and apply the nitty-gritty details to your personal goals…this is going to be the magic element to busting through your plateau! Read part II The Secret to Busting Through Your Plateau, Part 2 by Ben Greenfield on December 13, 2006 in Triathlon Training, Health & Nutrition In last week's article, I introduced you to Mrs. T, the busy restaurant manager who seems to have her exercise and nutritional habits completely perfect, with a rigid fitness program and sound nutritional practices. However, not only has she seen few results on the weight scale, but she is actually experiencing a disturbing increase in body fat as time progresses, which has put significant negative stress on her already stressful life. Although there really aren't really any problems with her exercise routine, Mrs. T is unaware that a combination of frequent physical activity and a hectic lifestyle can actually result in a severe catabolic effect on the body. What do I mean by this? While some may think that the more you do and the faster your lifestyle, the "skinnier" you'll be, this is simply not the case. Exercise can result in significant muscle fiber tearing, the production of damaging free radicals in the body's tissue, and build-up of toxic metabolites. In the absence of proper recovery and adequate sleep, cortisol hormone levels become elevated and thyroid function decreases. Elevated cortisol levels decrease blood sugar stabilization, decrease utilization of fatty acids as a fuel, decrease testosterone levels, and increase deposition of adipose tissue in the waistline. Low levels of active thyroid hormone can depress your body's basal metabolic rate, or the total amount of calories you burn throughout the day. The result is not only a feeling of chronic fatigue, but also a propensity to gain fat and lose lean muscle tissue. Combine these effects with the fact that lack of sleep can depress key neurotransmitters involved in regulation of appetite and food cravings, such as serotonin and dopamine. Furthermore, inadequate rest and recovery can decrease leptin (the "fat control" hormone) and increase ghrelin (the "eat more" hormone). I used a word last week called "synergy", and referred to it as an optimal combination of Exercise, Nutrition, and Lifestyle. Unless all synergestic compenents are in place, results are impossible to achieve. Mrs. T is deficient in the "Lifestyle" component of synergy. As you can see, she is not only setting herself up to "plateau", and see no results from her rigid exercise and nutrition program, but she is, in fact, leading what should be considered an unhealthy lifestyle. So let's say that Mrs. T calls me on the phone, e-mails me, or walks into my office desperate for advice on how to fix her weight gain problem. Here are my thoughts for her: Begin by altering your exercise program to allow for more time in the day to complete your other tasks. 20 minutes of high intensity cardio combined with 20 minutes of high intensity, full body exercise is enough for the busy person to maintain a healthy, lean weight. This would be even more successful if split into a "two-a-day" type of routine. Ensure that all your healthy snacks are prepared and packaged at the beginning of each day, so that maintaining a sound diet takes very little extra time and energy. This may mean going to your job at the restaurant with a small backpack that contains a ziplock of almonds, a cucumber/tomato wrap, one pear, one banana, and a healthy snack bar. For optimal neurotransmitter levels, try to maintain as natural a circadian rhythm as possible with your sleep cycles. This will mean going to bed around 10 or 11pm, and rising at 5-6am, allowing for at least 7 hours of sleep, and orienting your body to a normal light-dark cycle. Be creative with time management. Skip your daily newspaper reading and opt for an audio news podcast on your mp3 player during your cardio session. Work while you eat, such as filling in your dayplanner while you drink a fruit smoothie. Switch to loudspeaker and perform your daily stretches during phone meetings. Ask yourself whether certain parts of your busy lifestyle are worth the weight gain and constant fight against stress and fatigue. How much are you enjoying life vs. running in a rat race? By adopting a synergestic approach to her goals, Mrs. T can and will experience success. Often, my job as a personal trainer or coach is not to "write out the perfect exercise routine" or "recommend the ideal diet", but rather to assist in finding creative ways to achieve an optimal lifestyle for goal setting and achieving. There are often multiple components of an individual's life that simply go unnoticed as enormous barriers to success and wellness. In last week's article, I also introduced you to a young triathlete named Flash. Despite good training, fuel replenishment and lifestyle, Flash has experience improvement in quite some time, and is, in fact, feeling fairly drained during his training routines and experiencing performance deficits in his racing. Next week, I'll tell you what Flash's problem is, and how he can fix it. Read part III Ben Greenfield Ben Greenfield is recognized as one of the top fitness, triathlon, nutrition and metabolism experts in the nation. In 2008, he was voted as the Personal Trainer of the Year by the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA), an internationally recognized and respected certifying agency for fitness professionals. Ben hosts the highly popular fitness, nutrition and wellness website at http://www.bengreenfieldfitness.com, which features a free blog, wellness podcast, and fitness product reviews from Ben. Pacific Elite Fitness (http://www.pacificfit.net) is an online portal where Ben coaches a wide range of triathletes and assists people from all over the world with personal training for nutrition, fat loss, muscle toning, and general fitness. Ben also oversees the physiology and biomechanics laboratory at Champions Sports Medicine (http://www.champsportsmed.com) which offers metabolic-based weight loss, bicycle fitting, running gait analysis, swim stroke analysis, VO2 max testing, blood lactate testing, resting metabolic rate analysis, and other cutting-edge procedures for weight loss and human performance. Ben holds bacheler's and master's degrees in exercise physiology and biomechanics, and is a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, sports nutritionist, and bike fitter.
I got up this morning and headed to Noblesville for a 9am workout. I was running a little late sooooooo I was flying down River Road in my little white bmw. Before I could really make any adjustments to my speed I saw a Noblesville Police Officer lurking on a wooded side road.....oh no, I am so BUSTED! Well lucky me, this officer was the most polite and friendly policeman I have ever interacted with (as a perp). He asked me where I was going in such a hurry, I told him the truth " I was running late to swim practice!" . He told me I was 18 miles per hour over the limit and I needed to slow down.........then he let me go!!!! Now that's lucky! Here's the workout i hurried to the pool to do in the 75 degree water: -----Warm-up--------- 200 Freestyle easy 200 Kick on Back w/fins 3 X 100 Swim (Fly/Free, Back/Free, Breast/Free) -----main set----- Super 1,000 Swim (1 minute per 50 interval) 50 free--100 free---50 free---150 free---50 free---200 free---50 free---150 free---50 free---100 free---50 free. -----next set------- 5 X 100 Free on 1:00 descending speed 2 X 100 Free on 3:00 as fast as possible! (this was a bad idea today, the cold water and air made me tighten up during the excessive rest time on the interval) -----Cool Down------ 600 Free Swim (I needed this to undue the damage from the 2 fast but cold 100's) 3,000 Meters Tomorrow I start teaching Freshman Summer School PE! I'm going to school at 5 am and swim LCM at the Carmel Natatorium. This will be a great schedule; I will be done at noon so Sarah and I can go out to lunch every day afterwards! (Sarah is taking Calculus in ss) Afterwards a nap will be in order!
[B]Sun May 31st, 2009[/B delts sore from 10k have chaffing lines from my B70 plan to train hard this next week, then do a 3 day rest for Sr Cir NEXT MEETS Thu June 11 - 14, 2009 Austin, TX Senior Circuit #3 Austin, TX Events Entered: 04 400 Freestyle (2) 5:07.03 scy 500 fr 10 050 Freestyle 24.50 LCM 14 200 Freestyle 1:50.70 scy 18 200 Backstroke 2:21.04 LCM 20 100 Butterfly 51.80 scy 28 200 Individual Medley 2:24.08 LCM 38 050 Butterfly (3) 51.80 scy Fri July 18 - 19 2009 Woodlands, TX USMS South Central Zone Long Course Championship Meet Meet Entry Form Found out Aerosmith is playing with ZZ Top on Friday July 17th at the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavillion in the Woodlands Tickets TODAYS SWIM PRACTICE LCM noon to 1:15 Bridgette Coached TSC main pool swam with Larry and Chris warm up went around 400 Main LCM 6 x 100 fr on 1:30 desc 1 -3 6 x 50 on 50 desc 1 - 3 6 x 100 fr on 1:30 desc went 1:04 6 x 50 on 50 desc 1 - 3 did last one fly went 28 high 100 easy got out early
I did the charity ride for MS today but now I am paying for it as my back is really tight. I'm gong to ice down now...
The course was straight up and back to the big orange bouy 3 times. "Thats six laps?" I ask the person next to me. "Yep." They said. Wow, that thing is really down there and that is alot of times to go up and back. I thought to myself. Masses of kids piled in before us small group of meandering Masters. Then our turn to hit the water came. I felt like I was having touble staying behind the starting line (In sailbaot racing they take this very seriously) I was treading backwards when....buzzz!!! What a slow start I had as everyone flew by me. After about 200 yards I start to get panicky and had to tell myself to relax. You know the kind when you think the ship is really going down. "Think you are in Cozumel...no worrries and wearing fins! " I get this way every time I start a race over 50 yds. (except the 100 IM)I just don't have the pace thing down. Well,I was sure gonna get practice now. After a while between constantly checking if I was going to hit someone I started thinking about my stroke. I found it so hard to kick because my head was always bobbing to watchout for others. I think my legs did nothing the first part of the race but drift and drag. Several people before the race told me to draft. Lots of luck. I could't catch a one of those legs with bubble flying off into the distance. However, toward the end of the race I got my freestlye on. That was the sweet spot of the day. All clear infront and I felt safe enough to streamline, kick, glide. Dang! My goggles fogged up so I stopped suddenly to fix them. A split second later I was surround by a litter of little ones, slipping around me. I think I must have been Mother Goose for a while! Now that was fun! Anyway, Knelson helped me with my seed time of one hour and I was over it just by 32 seconds. I can live with that! This blogging has kept me hanging in there and not be a quitter. Thanks, more than you know. Next week I am starting the "My speed is horrible" plan. If I can't find some one to time me I will just have to use the clock on the wall. Can't let excuses stop you.
Updated May 31st, 2009 at 01:47 PM by flippergirl
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