So if you are going to train long and hard, you might as well train smart.
I am posting this for several reasons. First off I feel it is my duty as a Polar Ambassador to educate everyone I can as to the benefits of heart rate training. How do I know the benefits you might ask? Because I am living them. I have raced mountain bikes since 2002. At which time I started with Polar computers. In 2005 I won the DINO Series Clydesdale division. I have since transitioned into Ironman competitions.
So what has heart rate training done for me? With the help of a coach that under stands heart rate training and how to work an athlete within those zones. More recently it has helped me TREMENDOUSLY with my endurance. I can now run a conversational pace (zone 2) at or near a 7:30 mile. I can sustain this for a long time. I know that is not as fast as a lot of people out there, but remember I am 6'1" tall and I weigh 220 lbs. I came to the Ironman game late, age 40 now. When I started I weighed 270 pounds. Heart rate training has kept me from getting over trained. It has helped keep me from getting too oxidized due to over exertion.
So now with coach and my heart rate training, completing an Ironman is just a matter of time, but that is not good enough for me. I want to COMPETE in an Ironman and I think that I am getting a solid foundation set for the task.
So what can Heart Rate Training do for you, or more importantly what has it done for you?
Monday, March 14, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Injuries
Looks like I get some time off of running. The hamstring (left) and the quad insertion (right) are not as bad as they were, but they are tight. Talked to coach today and my training for IM Louisville doesn't start in earnest for a few more weeks so we are taking a break from running to allow the legs to heal up. I will continue to march and practice form so when I do run again, I will run more properly. So for now here I go swimming and biking away.
The psychological blow is pretty devastating.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Ok.....ARGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!
I have a busy practice. I am happy to busy busy and be blessed with the practice I have. But why why why do I have to encounter the same "PERSON" over and over again. So I am going to lay this on you guys because I think of you as health conscious and intelligent.
If you are an athlete. If you are just wanting to be healthy. Then you have to think of food as a drug. It controls all chemical interactions and enzymatic processes either directly or indirectly. I JUST had a lady come in to me that has been a patient for a long time. We have done functional medicine tests with her. Showed her what is happening to her body. She NEVER got the nutrition, and now I realize she NEVER changed her diet.
She comes in and is complaining of knee pain. HUM!!!! We addressed this over a year ago.
Me, "How much water are you drinking?"
Her, "None, I drink diet coke" *GRRRRRRR*
Me, "Tell me about how you have changed the diet."
Her, "........" *Deer in the head lights look, here comes the smartass*
Me, "Didn't we discuss this at length about your functional medicine results? Did we not talk about your alkaline reserve and how drinking soda's, carbonated beverages, and sugar make you acidic?"
"Do you remember discussing what happens to the gut over time when you assault it this way?"
Her, "Ummm..."
Me, "Let me refresh your memory." At this time I now have 4 patients waiting in queue to be seen, I ask for permission to open the doors for EVERYBODIES benefit.
She agrees.
I throw down the red carpet to my soap box that I am going to proudly jumping on top of it.
"ANY carbonated beverage forms carbolic acid in the stomach when ingested. Your body has 50 mill-equivalentsof acid buffering capacity. 1 can of a carbonated beverage has 60 mill-equivalents of acid in it. So 1 can of soda blows your buffering capabilities for the day. Where does your body get the Calcium, Phosphorous, and other minerals it needs to deal with the acid? From your bones. Did you know if you eat a typical American diet, some fruits and veggies, foods from fast food, or out of boxes and cans you produce another 100 mill-equivalents of acid. You are now in the hole 110 mill-equivalents. That acid remains resident in the body until processed. It lays in the gut and starts to work on your normal flora in the gut (it starts killing your good bacteria. Gas, bloating, belching and indigestion are all symptoms) As this acid sits there and kills off the good bacteria the walls of the gut start to get more permeable. That means it allows macro molecules of food through into the blood stream. As that food gets direct access to the blood stream it initiates an allergic reaction. When this happens you retain water. The solution to pollution, in the body, is dilution. So you start to get swelling and stiff joints. Not only that but your body stays in an alarm state waiting to swell. You are now pro inflammatory, with leaky gut syndrome and the road back is easy, if you do the right things. Don't blame others for your current state, start at where you are and move forward. If you make excuses, you are not taking responsibility for yourself. It is not McDonald's fault. It is not Pizza Huts fault. They don't force you to eat their food. They just make it easy to get."
By this time she is looking at me and just says, "So what I eat causes me to swell?"
"Yes", I said.
"The reason my knees hurt is because I am eating wrong and it makes me have arthritis."
"Yahtzee!!!", I say.
Next I took it a step further and and discussed sarcopenia. This is what most athletes suffer from to an extent. We think that because we are exercising 17 to 18 hours a week that we can eat anything and we have a "Hall pass" from negative affects of food. Guess what....nope. When I eat bad food for more than 1 meal. When I drink for a weekend. I can see it in my heart rate files and my resting heart rate. It slowly starts to creep up, almost like I am overtraining. It is because I am becoming oxidized and that adds stress to the body. You can see it in my training files too. Rest weeks I plan parties and activities because I don't have big days so when I am resting physically, I am NOT resting and repairing physiologically. But you have to clean things up for a while before you can dirty up the system without big consequences. Sometimes when you clean the body up you become REALLY sensitive and find out that you have to avoid those foods and behaviors all together. That is slowly changing, but you have to have some fun ;-)
If you are an athlete. If you are just wanting to be healthy. Then you have to think of food as a drug. It controls all chemical interactions and enzymatic processes either directly or indirectly. I JUST had a lady come in to me that has been a patient for a long time. We have done functional medicine tests with her. Showed her what is happening to her body. She NEVER got the nutrition, and now I realize she NEVER changed her diet.
She comes in and is complaining of knee pain. HUM!!!! We addressed this over a year ago.
Me, "How much water are you drinking?"
Her, "None, I drink diet coke" *GRRRRRRR*
Me, "Tell me about how you have changed the diet."
Her, "........" *Deer in the head lights look, here comes the smartass*
Me, "Didn't we discuss this at length about your functional medicine results? Did we not talk about your alkaline reserve and how drinking soda's, carbonated beverages, and sugar make you acidic?"
"Do you remember discussing what happens to the gut over time when you assault it this way?"
Her, "Ummm..."
Me, "Let me refresh your memory." At this time I now have 4 patients waiting in queue to be seen, I ask for permission to open the doors for EVERYBODIES benefit.
She agrees.
I throw down the red carpet to my soap box that I am going to proudly jumping on top of it.
"ANY carbonated beverage forms carbolic acid in the stomach when ingested. Your body has 50 mill-equivalentsof acid buffering capacity. 1 can of a carbonated beverage has 60 mill-equivalents of acid in it. So 1 can of soda blows your buffering capabilities for the day. Where does your body get the Calcium, Phosphorous, and other minerals it needs to deal with the acid? From your bones. Did you know if you eat a typical American diet, some fruits and veggies, foods from fast food, or out of boxes and cans you produce another 100 mill-equivalents of acid. You are now in the hole 110 mill-equivalents. That acid remains resident in the body until processed. It lays in the gut and starts to work on your normal flora in the gut (it starts killing your good bacteria. Gas, bloating, belching and indigestion are all symptoms) As this acid sits there and kills off the good bacteria the walls of the gut start to get more permeable. That means it allows macro molecules of food through into the blood stream. As that food gets direct access to the blood stream it initiates an allergic reaction. When this happens you retain water. The solution to pollution, in the body, is dilution. So you start to get swelling and stiff joints. Not only that but your body stays in an alarm state waiting to swell. You are now pro inflammatory, with leaky gut syndrome and the road back is easy, if you do the right things. Don't blame others for your current state, start at where you are and move forward. If you make excuses, you are not taking responsibility for yourself. It is not McDonald's fault. It is not Pizza Huts fault. They don't force you to eat their food. They just make it easy to get."
By this time she is looking at me and just says, "So what I eat causes me to swell?"
"Yes", I said.
"The reason my knees hurt is because I am eating wrong and it makes me have arthritis."
"Yahtzee!!!", I say.
Next I took it a step further and and discussed sarcopenia. This is what most athletes suffer from to an extent. We think that because we are exercising 17 to 18 hours a week that we can eat anything and we have a "Hall pass" from negative affects of food. Guess what....nope. When I eat bad food for more than 1 meal. When I drink for a weekend. I can see it in my heart rate files and my resting heart rate. It slowly starts to creep up, almost like I am overtraining. It is because I am becoming oxidized and that adds stress to the body. You can see it in my training files too. Rest weeks I plan parties and activities because I don't have big days so when I am resting physically, I am NOT resting and repairing physiologically. But you have to clean things up for a while before you can dirty up the system without big consequences. Sometimes when you clean the body up you become REALLY sensitive and find out that you have to avoid those foods and behaviors all together. That is slowly changing, but you have to have some fun ;-)
Monday, February 28, 2011
This weekend was about FUN!!!!
What an AWESOME weekend. Talk about busy. Let me breakdown the weekend first then I'll go into detail. Friday was the first day in the freaky fast weekend. What was supposed to happen was easy, concert, bike in the morning, Louisville for laser seminar, watch JC climb in competition, dinner, drinks, morning run on sunday, finish seminar and home. Life at the Miller household has a way of becoming CHOAS. I used to stress it and just become an a-hole. Now I just kinda let it roll and see what God gives me. Seems to be working out A LOT better.
So Friday is here, my trail run got cancelled, once again worried about nothing. Had all this pent-up anxiety and nothing. So we are trying again this week. We'll see what happens. I can say currently that my heart rate training is going fair. With the form work some weaknesses in the body are being exposed and now worked on. So I created an on-the-fly route. For those of you that don't know me, I do not like to stray too far from home or normal training routes just in case something happens. I flat, I flat a lot. So my run ended up going out to my old neighborhood and our old home. So I got 9 miles in in 1:15 low zone 2 with a surge at the end.
Kris was doing a run clinic and asked for a bit of help packing our oldest for a church retreat that he was FORCED :-) to go to. While packing him, I noticed some COOL clothes that he NEVER wears. Kris does not buy, cheap poorly made clothing, we are hard on clothes so they have to hold up. So here I am looking at some sharp clothes that I wish I had his physique to wear and he never wears them. Since I am packing, it ALL he's getting. The boy is gonna look SHARP!!! I know he is my boy, but he IS a good looking kid. he is 14, hes 6'1" and 180 lean pounds. I don't wrestle with him anymore cause I am not sure I could whip him without hurting him AND me. I heard he freaked when he learned that I packed him :-)))
OK Aidan's packed. Time to chill and think about the concert, Cage the Elephant. If you don't know them, they have the opening song in Borderlands - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. Great tune, great band. Kicking back with the dogs waiting on Kris to get ready. I am realizing how lucky I am right now. I can go on 9, 10, 11, or even do a Mini now and it doesn't destroy day or night. I have been heart rate training with coach and Polar now for over a year and I can feel the difference. Out walks Kris in full on concert gear. She is not over the top, and not dressed in grunge, she always just hits it right. She has great taste in EVERYTHING ;-) Now for those of you that don't know her, she is 30'ish, I want to remain married with manhood intact so I'm not tellin'.But she doesn't look her age at ALL! I am a lucky guy and it is time to eat. But first we stop at the Blue Mile to get Kris a new pair of run/sweat pants. We come out with compression running tights, shorts, tank top, and assorted other running clothes, no pants. Her comment "Why can't I EVER find what I want?" Off to Taste of Thai, our favorite place in Greenwood. Discovered a new beer Chang's, kinda like Tsing Toa, but with honey. Time to get to the Vogue.
Quiet the pleasant surprise, after finding a place to park, I went four-wheeling in Kris's car, not really meant for hopping curbs :-), finding a place to sit, a few pictures and several drinks, here comes a band we have never heard of, Sleeper Agent (@_sleeperagent on twitter). What a band, high energy, great chemistry, great songs. I even bought their downloads (I never do this). Next on Cage the Elephant. I really like this group, I REALLY like this group. We're dancing, enjoying ourselves and just having a great time. Concert over, check, great time, check, car not towed, check :-) Little after midnight time to boogie home, however, Kris wants to redo her belly button (I like her belly button pierced and she was her ear cartilage pierced too). Here comes chaos, I love my droid x telephone. Googled 5 piercing places, everyone closed at 1. Really, 1 on a friday? It'll have to wait, no problem anyway, my lovely bide is out....
Home by 2:30 am. In bed and lights out. What's that sound...my alarm...5:45am time to drive to Louisville for a laser seminar and to watch JC, Kris's brother, in a sport climbing competition. Everything is packed and meeting up with Dr. George in Seymour and on my way. Down to L'ville and in the seminar, oh I am feelin' it. I have a 2:30 bike ride to do, to stimulate the juices and hopefully wake myself up I leave the seminar at 10 to ride. I am a country boy in the city, riding a bike. Holy crap did I have several near death experiences. It is also FLIPPING cold. I slug out 36 mils in 2:10 and call it a day. I have ridden around L'ville and trough L'ville and know I am in Okalona at Hesters gym. Crazy fit climbers. I stay and watch the competition for about an hour and a half. Youtube videos available on my channel Indianabackdoc and they are posted to my Facebook profile - you guessed it - indianabackdoc. It was amazing. JC and his friend Isaac place 1 and 2 respectively. It was his first ever competition and he rolled some heads.
Time for lunch. So I got some splainin' to do. I am in full-on cold weather road gear. Spandex, bike shoes, looking rather cute. We goto an AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurant. The menu is in Spanish, subtitled in English. I have also donned a very big puffy down coat cause I was chilled from the ride. I am LOOKING reeeeeaaaalllll good. Luckily the restaurant was empty. The two waitresses had no idea what to think. As soon as we sit down, here comes the lunch rush. When I say AUTHENTIC, I mean AUTHENTIC. No anglo's in there. The crowd is really rough looking and no one speaks any english. I felt like I was back down in Cancun except they spoke more english in Cancun. Have you heard the song, I'm about to Whoop Someone's Ass? Youtube it, cause it's on. Kris is getting hardcore stares. I nod and smile and nothing. Spandex and bike shorts are are not intimidating. Kris is oblivious to the looks and stares and is laughing hysterically at me. "Dude you are in spandex and the last guy that walked in has his arms taped and face burned and he glared at you the ENTIRE way to his table.I think he likes you!" HEHEHEHEHE!
"Oh yeah, the two guys in the booth behind you are staring too. I am about to whoop and eventually get whooped. But I'll clip this shoe in someone's ace before I go down." We can't stop laughing. Trevor if you put the puffyman coat back on I am running for the door. We were crying we were laughing so hard, so that helped the macho intimidation factor. Oh yea I forgot, not one person in there was over 5'5" or weighed less than 200lbs. Even in bike cleat I probably could have out run them. (This passage is no where near as funny as in real life sorry but had to spill.) PS- I have to say we were in the booth so no one could see my spandex while eating. I still had on riding shoes. When I stood up to leave EVERYBODY turned and looked, and you could hear my shoes sounding like tap shoes. So here is a big guy, in spandex wearing tap shoes, I think Kris snotted she laughed so hard.
Back to the laser seminar. Wow GPS got us lost. Kris got into some gluten and was hurting. She laid down in the hotel room and crashed for about an hour. Then off to shopping. I laid down for 30 minutes then off to Simply Thia in Louisville. Dinner with family and friends then off to New Connections bar for drinks with Dr. George. Learned a new game called penis and I won! Introduced the country crowd to Cage the Elephant thought that was gonna be a whoopin' too, but I wasn't in the mood to care and I was not going to listen to Kansas on the jukebox, really who still has Kansas on the jukebox in a semi-contemporary bar?!?!?
Finally back to the hotel at 11, have a 5:45 run planned with Rob at Tom Sawyer park. Get caught up talking with Dr. George about plans, family and life in general. Afraid to look at the clock. Closed my eyes for 30 seconds and the alarm is ringing and I am out the door to meet Rob (@robbenefiel) for a group run. I am going 1:45 and he is going 2:45. Let me take a second and say a couple of things. A- I am still tipsy from the previous festivities, B- Currently I am nursing a bad habit of paw-back which is killing my hamstring. When my hamstring hurts, my Polar HRM starts a screaming because Zone 2 is pretty much a no go. I get in a great run with Rob. My hamstring doesn't start screaming until mile 9.
Runs done, back to the laser seminar with a slight noticeable limp. They ask for volunteers with issues and Dr. George sends me up. Hamstring (left), Quad (right) interesting workup and laser treatment. Now teacher dude is some kind of roided up powerlifter. Wants to make an example of me, I think. First tries to show how unflexible I am. Thank you JC for the last two weeks of intense Yoga training working on form, flexibilty and concentration, cause when warmed up I can pretty much put my hands on the floor, head real close to the knees. So flexibility was a non-issue, then he starts checking the pelvis. Left oblique abdominal muscle is showing with some issues. He pulls out this little precussor device. All I can say is NOT fun and he layed on it, it actually burnt my skin as he torqued it down and the rubber head slipped against my skin. It is still read and still tender, but I am working on it because he is right there is an issue there.
Seminar done, going to eat. Decided it is time to take my nutrition to the next level and eliminate gluten from my diet. So I had a Whiskey River burger, no seasoning on the burger or fries, and I put it in a lettuce wrap. HIT the spot. Back to Seymour to drop off Dr. George and now off to Nashville, IN to pick up Aidan from Church camp. I am really feeling the lack of sleep. Get there, pick him up and the boy looked SHARP! He had several nice looking young women talking to him. He was beaming.
Homeward bound, finally! Mom (my mother calls) my sisters father-in-laws viewing is happening and I have to show up. Not a problem. Sis has always been there for me, so I will be there for her. SHould have gotten home at 5, it is now 7. I am ready for bed.
Chill with the family, watch History of the World Part 1. Can't wait to get back to work so I can have a break from all the driving. :-)
Snuggle up with Kris and good night.....
All pics and videos and be looked up on Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter. Happy viewing :-)
So Friday is here, my trail run got cancelled, once again worried about nothing. Had all this pent-up anxiety and nothing. So we are trying again this week. We'll see what happens. I can say currently that my heart rate training is going fair. With the form work some weaknesses in the body are being exposed and now worked on. So I created an on-the-fly route. For those of you that don't know me, I do not like to stray too far from home or normal training routes just in case something happens. I flat, I flat a lot. So my run ended up going out to my old neighborhood and our old home. So I got 9 miles in in 1:15 low zone 2 with a surge at the end.
Kris was doing a run clinic and asked for a bit of help packing our oldest for a church retreat that he was FORCED :-) to go to. While packing him, I noticed some COOL clothes that he NEVER wears. Kris does not buy, cheap poorly made clothing, we are hard on clothes so they have to hold up. So here I am looking at some sharp clothes that I wish I had his physique to wear and he never wears them. Since I am packing, it ALL he's getting. The boy is gonna look SHARP!!! I know he is my boy, but he IS a good looking kid. he is 14, hes 6'1" and 180 lean pounds. I don't wrestle with him anymore cause I am not sure I could whip him without hurting him AND me. I heard he freaked when he learned that I packed him :-)))
OK Aidan's packed. Time to chill and think about the concert, Cage the Elephant. If you don't know them, they have the opening song in Borderlands - Ain't No Rest for the Wicked. Great tune, great band. Kicking back with the dogs waiting on Kris to get ready. I am realizing how lucky I am right now. I can go on 9, 10, 11, or even do a Mini now and it doesn't destroy day or night. I have been heart rate training with coach and Polar now for over a year and I can feel the difference. Out walks Kris in full on concert gear. She is not over the top, and not dressed in grunge, she always just hits it right. She has great taste in EVERYTHING ;-) Now for those of you that don't know her, she is 30'ish, I want to remain married with manhood intact so I'm not tellin'.But she doesn't look her age at ALL! I am a lucky guy and it is time to eat. But first we stop at the Blue Mile to get Kris a new pair of run/sweat pants. We come out with compression running tights, shorts, tank top, and assorted other running clothes, no pants. Her comment "Why can't I EVER find what I want?" Off to Taste of Thai, our favorite place in Greenwood. Discovered a new beer Chang's, kinda like Tsing Toa, but with honey. Time to get to the Vogue.
Quiet the pleasant surprise, after finding a place to park, I went four-wheeling in Kris's car, not really meant for hopping curbs :-), finding a place to sit, a few pictures and several drinks, here comes a band we have never heard of, Sleeper Agent (@_sleeperagent on twitter). What a band, high energy, great chemistry, great songs. I even bought their downloads (I never do this). Next on Cage the Elephant. I really like this group, I REALLY like this group. We're dancing, enjoying ourselves and just having a great time. Concert over, check, great time, check, car not towed, check :-) Little after midnight time to boogie home, however, Kris wants to redo her belly button (I like her belly button pierced and she was her ear cartilage pierced too). Here comes chaos, I love my droid x telephone. Googled 5 piercing places, everyone closed at 1. Really, 1 on a friday? It'll have to wait, no problem anyway, my lovely bide is out....
Home by 2:30 am. In bed and lights out. What's that sound...my alarm...5:45am time to drive to Louisville for a laser seminar and to watch JC, Kris's brother, in a sport climbing competition. Everything is packed and meeting up with Dr. George in Seymour and on my way. Down to L'ville and in the seminar, oh I am feelin' it. I have a 2:30 bike ride to do, to stimulate the juices and hopefully wake myself up I leave the seminar at 10 to ride. I am a country boy in the city, riding a bike. Holy crap did I have several near death experiences. It is also FLIPPING cold. I slug out 36 mils in 2:10 and call it a day. I have ridden around L'ville and trough L'ville and know I am in Okalona at Hesters gym. Crazy fit climbers. I stay and watch the competition for about an hour and a half. Youtube videos available on my channel Indianabackdoc and they are posted to my Facebook profile - you guessed it - indianabackdoc. It was amazing. JC and his friend Isaac place 1 and 2 respectively. It was his first ever competition and he rolled some heads.
Time for lunch. So I got some splainin' to do. I am in full-on cold weather road gear. Spandex, bike shoes, looking rather cute. We goto an AUTHENTIC Mexican restaurant. The menu is in Spanish, subtitled in English. I have also donned a very big puffy down coat cause I was chilled from the ride. I am LOOKING reeeeeaaaalllll good. Luckily the restaurant was empty. The two waitresses had no idea what to think. As soon as we sit down, here comes the lunch rush. When I say AUTHENTIC, I mean AUTHENTIC. No anglo's in there. The crowd is really rough looking and no one speaks any english. I felt like I was back down in Cancun except they spoke more english in Cancun. Have you heard the song, I'm about to Whoop Someone's Ass? Youtube it, cause it's on. Kris is getting hardcore stares. I nod and smile and nothing. Spandex and bike shorts are are not intimidating. Kris is oblivious to the looks and stares and is laughing hysterically at me. "Dude you are in spandex and the last guy that walked in has his arms taped and face burned and he glared at you the ENTIRE way to his table.I think he likes you!" HEHEHEHEHE!
"Oh yeah, the two guys in the booth behind you are staring too. I am about to whoop and eventually get whooped. But I'll clip this shoe in someone's ace before I go down." We can't stop laughing. Trevor if you put the puffyman coat back on I am running for the door. We were crying we were laughing so hard, so that helped the macho intimidation factor. Oh yea I forgot, not one person in there was over 5'5" or weighed less than 200lbs. Even in bike cleat I probably could have out run them. (This passage is no where near as funny as in real life sorry but had to spill.) PS- I have to say we were in the booth so no one could see my spandex while eating. I still had on riding shoes. When I stood up to leave EVERYBODY turned and looked, and you could hear my shoes sounding like tap shoes. So here is a big guy, in spandex wearing tap shoes, I think Kris snotted she laughed so hard.
Back to the laser seminar. Wow GPS got us lost. Kris got into some gluten and was hurting. She laid down in the hotel room and crashed for about an hour. Then off to shopping. I laid down for 30 minutes then off to Simply Thia in Louisville. Dinner with family and friends then off to New Connections bar for drinks with Dr. George. Learned a new game called penis and I won! Introduced the country crowd to Cage the Elephant thought that was gonna be a whoopin' too, but I wasn't in the mood to care and I was not going to listen to Kansas on the jukebox, really who still has Kansas on the jukebox in a semi-contemporary bar?!?!?
Finally back to the hotel at 11, have a 5:45 run planned with Rob at Tom Sawyer park. Get caught up talking with Dr. George about plans, family and life in general. Afraid to look at the clock. Closed my eyes for 30 seconds and the alarm is ringing and I am out the door to meet Rob (@robbenefiel) for a group run. I am going 1:45 and he is going 2:45. Let me take a second and say a couple of things. A- I am still tipsy from the previous festivities, B- Currently I am nursing a bad habit of paw-back which is killing my hamstring. When my hamstring hurts, my Polar HRM starts a screaming because Zone 2 is pretty much a no go. I get in a great run with Rob. My hamstring doesn't start screaming until mile 9.
Runs done, back to the laser seminar with a slight noticeable limp. They ask for volunteers with issues and Dr. George sends me up. Hamstring (left), Quad (right) interesting workup and laser treatment. Now teacher dude is some kind of roided up powerlifter. Wants to make an example of me, I think. First tries to show how unflexible I am. Thank you JC for the last two weeks of intense Yoga training working on form, flexibilty and concentration, cause when warmed up I can pretty much put my hands on the floor, head real close to the knees. So flexibility was a non-issue, then he starts checking the pelvis. Left oblique abdominal muscle is showing with some issues. He pulls out this little precussor device. All I can say is NOT fun and he layed on it, it actually burnt my skin as he torqued it down and the rubber head slipped against my skin. It is still read and still tender, but I am working on it because he is right there is an issue there.
Seminar done, going to eat. Decided it is time to take my nutrition to the next level and eliminate gluten from my diet. So I had a Whiskey River burger, no seasoning on the burger or fries, and I put it in a lettuce wrap. HIT the spot. Back to Seymour to drop off Dr. George and now off to Nashville, IN to pick up Aidan from Church camp. I am really feeling the lack of sleep. Get there, pick him up and the boy looked SHARP! He had several nice looking young women talking to him. He was beaming.
Homeward bound, finally! Mom (my mother calls) my sisters father-in-laws viewing is happening and I have to show up. Not a problem. Sis has always been there for me, so I will be there for her. SHould have gotten home at 5, it is now 7. I am ready for bed.
Chill with the family, watch History of the World Part 1. Can't wait to get back to work so I can have a break from all the driving. :-)
Snuggle up with Kris and good night.....
All pics and videos and be looked up on Facebook, Youtube, or Twitter. Happy viewing :-)
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Another mental game (excuse the misspelling and grammatical errors)
I once told Kristine there are few people in life that will best me, (pompous I know, but hey it's kinda worked for me so far ;-)) but you are one of them. To that end she is now doing it again. It was a lot easier to have Coach in Colorado and me here. I could secretly moan, whine and bitch about what I was doing. That's all changed. Now Kristine (@coachKGIRLTRIS on twitter) is a coach. So when I complain, instead of oh Trevor poo poo blah blah blah... I get well let's work on form.
I thought that this was going to be easy. I thought my form was pretty good (no I actually thought it was REALLY good and I had some sort of physical limitation an excuse not to perform well.) So everything that Coach Jeff has been preaching and teaching, she can do and show. Oh my ego, now that it is throughly stomped into submission, I start the quest for form.
Now for all of you "Natural Runners" I hate you, I want to join your ranks, but until then I will vow to beat you, at least, on the bike. I know it is not always about winning, but this is part of my personality that I am trying to control and work with. If I squish it, there will be no drive, if I let it "Win" then everything is a competition and NOTHING is fun. Inner demons suck.
So here I am learning new/better form. since I am a Polar Ambassador I am watching my heart rates skyrocket as I try to implement better form. For those of you that follow me on twitter (@indianabackdoc) and facebook (indianabackdoc or Trevor Miller) this is the reason for my quote of the day about "We suck again!" Courtesy of The Waterboy. Learning new form requires a lot of different muscle groups for me. I walk, as coach pointed out, duck-footed. This externally rotates my hips and increases pressure at the insertion of the quadriceps muscle. I am afraid of speed work because that is when my form REALLY breaks down. So I am stuck slowing down again. Eagleman is only 16 weeks away. Can I learn better form and implement it in 16 short weeks? Can I get rid of the hip pain and heal up for a good showing in that amount of time? Oh my swim form has holes in it too, so it is not just run form. I am a little down on myself and beating myself up I realize, but I feel the pressure. I WANT KONA! I am impatient so I want it now, that is part of the battle. *After thought, hitting that "PERFECT" form is like hitting a great golf shot, or pulling off a perfectly executed plan. It feels good, you use less energy and and for a moment there is ZEN, PEACE and just you being the best you can be at that moment. I think that is the form addiction. While swimming last night I had moments where I was floating, I had stroke counts in the 13 and 14 area. Things just fell in place. Now to get stronger to hold it all together.*
To help alleviate part of the pressures, I almost ALWAYS train alone, I am seeking out others to train with. My fear here is that I will hold them back or they will hold me back and i will not get the most out of my training. I don't have the luxury of having been to Kona already like Vince (@felog on twitter). So I read his blog about his long rides and his intentionally getting lost. I am ALL about the numbers and getting the most out of training. My thick skull says if you are not going "Balls Out" then I am not training and pushing myself to new heights. In this mindset I am also getting injured and augmenting old injuries.
I am starting to realize though that training alone, being alone during all of that is not fun. When I race I bug the crap outta people. As I pass them I strike up conversation (I laugh as I read this). If I see someone else on a Kuota I am always saying "Nice ride." That gets me a look. I have found out a lot of "Racers" don't like someone going "Hey" and zipping by. So to contain my fears of failure, of injury and self doubt I am starting to look for run groups. Funny thing is, my first run group, after scheduling, I got really negative. I was combative with the family. I thought that I was tired. I told Kris I was gonna take a nap and she basically said you NEED a nap. So I went and laid down. My chest was throbbing, my breathing was up, I was having an anxiety attack. I was afraid. I went back out and explained what was going on. What I was afraid of, I don't know if these phobia's are natural or normal, but I have them. The group that I am running with is ALL athletes. I think that a few have done Kona, I know one is trying to get there. So I assume that they are good runners. Talk to coach was the sage advice. Poor coach, if every athlete is like me, dayum! He eased my fears and gave me a workout so I don't MAKE it a race. That is my BIGGEST problem. I need to unleash at races. So I am going to depend on my heart rate monitor to baby sit me during this WORKOUT. Then I getta have a beer with buds afterwards, and isn't that why we really all do this anyway? Acceptance, friends, and camaraderie?
As I read the post over again I see my ADHD has kicked in again. I have jumped the ship a couple of times, but that is me. I am lucky to have family, friends, and most importantly for training coaches to tell me what to do, keep me safe, sane, and centered.
Thanks guys!!!
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Oxidation and what it Means to you
The body produces natural antioxidants to minimize free radical damage. These important nutrients give up an electron so it can pair up with an unpaired electron before damage is done. The process of donating or accepting electrons is called oxidation and reduction, or "redox." Redox potential indicates the amount of electrons available in a fluid that is being tested, and represents overall electron activity. The more available electrons the better.
Our ability to produce antioxidants internally decreases as we age and is also hampered by unhealthy environmental factors and lifestyle choices. High oxidative stress weakens the immune system and makes the body more susceptible to illness and disease. It also causes premature aging if the body cannot keep up with the free radical activity, as the damage accumulates and hastens chronic degeneration.
It is widely accepted that free radical damage from oxidation is part of every disease process known to humankind. For this same reason, many degenerative diseases such as cancer, arthritis, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cataracts and etc. are linked to the effects of free radicals." - The Wellness Prescription: Dr. Ryan Bently
So what does this mean to the triathlete? A LOT, if you heart rate train I have found oxidation raises my resting heart rate and starts to erode my base. Meaning I can not run as far without feeling adverse affects. Also what athletes in general don't understand is that we use a tremendous amount of oxygen. That is all we work on, VO2 max, becoming efficient in the processing and burning of oxygen. We use the most oxygen, ergo we could be some of the most highly oxidized people on the planet. A large percent of marathoners that die from cardiovascular accidents actually have normal cholesterol. Studies now show that it is not cholesterol, but oxidized cholesterol that makes it sticky and causes us trouble.
Being oxidized also accelerates the aging process. So if you are vain like me:-), that means you get more winkles faster.;-) Seriously though who wants to look died up and out, who wants their cholesterol sticking together and causing atherosclerosis? Who wants there athletic performance hampered?
In conclusion it is very important for athletes to know if they are oxidized, and if they are what to do. Oxidation will affect, energy production, stickiness of cells, free radical damage and risk of predisposition of aforementioned diseases. How do you get rid of oxidation? Antioxidants, dark leafy greens, avoiding sugar, and processed foods. The more processed a food is the less your body can use it.
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