Building a Strong Foundation

In my weekly running journey, I pass by a house that was once a field. Yesterday, the frame was finished. It has been fascinatinig watching this house become more than a vision of an architect. The manner of building a house reminds me of building the body for performance.... it starts with the foundation.

A parable in the Bible discussed building a house on the sand versus building a house on a ROCK.

The house built on the sand washed away when the storms came; the house on the ROCK survived. Without the proper foundation, the house crumbled when faced with the storm.

Is your foundation built on a ROCK or on the sand?

I spend a great deal of time emphasizing nutrition, as the fuel we put in our bodies influences the overall performance. The appropriate nutrition can attribute to building a proper foundation.

My spinning class this evening thought I was crazy to encourage them to drink more water (not juice, soda or gatorade), eat more fruits and veggies (especially fruit for breakfast) and just do it.

The nutritional foundation for this class is poor; but I trust that challenge for them to make small changes will help change the vision that these students have for themselves.

What is your physical foundation? -- does it reach beyond the nutritional needs of your body and encompass your structural needs for training?

Take a moment and think about your training and your goal. What is the foundation for your goal? Perhaps it is to be faster for a sport. Perhaps to run a marathon. What are you doing to build a strong foundation for doing this activity?

In my weight training class, we discussed the why of resistance training. If we understand the why we can determine the what. We further discussed the value of cardiovascular training, comparing it to resistance training. If I am running, I am propelling my body against gravity. If I cycle, I am peddling against a fly-wheel (on a stationary bike, like a spinner) or against the resistance of gravity or a bike, or rowing where I am performing a squat motion and pulling (row) with my upper body...... all of these are examples of resistance training. But thinking specifically about running, it takes strength to overcome the resistance of gravity to propel the body into flight over a period of 26.2 miles (and some people want to do that FAST!).

What are you doing to build the strength to handle the forces imposed on your body for that run?

Forces are imposed on the body in all of our movements and are amplified through sport-- jumping, running, hopping and/or skipping. How is the body prepared to handle these forces?

Your training should prepare the body to perform these activities that are pursued in your sport. You should train the shock absorbers (the muscles that absorb the shock from landing in a jump, run, hop or skip), and you should train specifically to match the needs of the sport. The resistance activity does not need to copy or mimick the game, but the exercises should create strength and stability to perform that activity.

A football linebacker and a cyclist have different goals than a marathon runner or swimmer. They may have similar needs, like body fat reduction or lower leg strength. The programs of each athlete might even have similar exercises, but each program should be specific to each athlete.

In understanding the needs of your sport and knowing your personal goals and needs, an appropriate program can then be written for you. Programming is like prescription writing-- it is individual. Keep that in mind, when you are reaching for a generic program out a fitness mag. There may be parts of the program that you can adopt; there are parts that may not be appropriate. If you don't know how or where to begin, acquiring the direction of a private coach should be your first step.

Building a strong foundation will be beneficial in achieving your fitness goals.

Beginning Anew While Pursuing 'Old' Goals

The third complete week of January has come to an end. Honestly, how did you do? Are your goals still on track? or Did you hit a few bumps in the road?

Me: Some good and some bad--

I have added something called roadwork to my daily routine in my journey to returning to competition. Roadwork is something used by the military, boxers, and the ancient Spartans, that requires a morning run/march for 45 to 90 minutes. Ideally, I would do roadwork above and beyond all training... but since, I am still a Spartan-in-training, I added roadwork to two of the days that I wasn't doing training. I will add little by little, leaving Sunday as my day of active recovery/rest-- anticipating yoga class/activity to stretch, relax, unwind. (yes, I do know that some yoga is very intense. that is not the intent of sundays). I want to use Sunday as a day for restoration.

Roadwork went well. I managed to run 50.31km this week. I matched the distance I had run up to the beginning of this week, in one week. ASTOUNDING!

But this accomplishment came with a small sacrifice. My push-ups and sit-ups protocol got tossed this week. It's OK... I can reintroduce these next week. In fact, I have re-tested myself on these skills so that I have the appropriate numbers I am to do.

Have you found yourself in a position that something happened to push training off a day or two? Have you found that you tossed something to the way-side momentarily, in the hopes of adding or changing different training protocols? or Did you find that some of life got in the way??

If so, DON'T BEAT YOURSELF UP!!

It's OK. What did you learn from this about yourself and about your behaviors?

--Are your goals too far to reach??

Break the goal into bite-size pieces that you can chop off and chew.

Remember you can eat the elephant, one bite at a time.

--Are you losing your motivation?

Use a journal. Write down your goals daily in your journal, and how you will get

there. Post these on your mirror, your refrigerator. Use a motivational poster. Envision yourself what you will do when you achieve this goal. What will you feel? What will people say to you when you accomplish this goal?

SURROUND YOURSELF WITH PEOPLE WHO WILL CONTINUE TO ENCOURAGE YOU!

--Are you procrastinating?

In an amazing book, 'Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway,' Susan Jeffers, discusses that

procrastination is fear. Many times, we are fearful of the results of achieving goals.

What is holding you back?

--Are you still uncertain where to begin?

Sometimes, it is overwhelming to begin. Where? How? With what?

Begin with something. Just begin.

Your goal: FAT LOSS? -- begin with getting the junk out of your house.

Your goal: To Run a Marathon? -- begin with buying new running shoes.

You need to begin to be able to accomplish the goal.

January has one week remaining and there are eleven amazing months ahead of you. Pick yourself up and go forth and conquer your goals.

Have a great week.

The Attitude of a Winner

Deep down I always believe I can win. -- Francie Larrieu Smith, runner


Do you have the attitude of a winner? or Do you hope you will succeed?

There is a story of the golfer Jack Nicklaus. A tournament came down to the final shot. If he made it, he wins. After sizing up the shot and preparing, Nicklaus putted the ball. And the ball stopped on the lip. The ball would not go in.
Nicklaus' reaction was, 'I hit the ball in. It just didn't go in.'


The attitude of a winner sees the victory in her mind's eye, before it happens. She expects and anticipates great things. The expectation comes with much planning and preparation and hard work (practice).

This begins with setting goals, establishing the route that will be taken to accomplish the goals and beginning the work anticipating the accomplishment of those goals.

Winners often visualize themselves having accomplished a goal or won a prize.
Imagine you have accomplished the goal you have set before you. How do you feel when you have accomplished this? How are you interacting with people? Has your attitude to yourself changed?

Someone once asked me: 'If money were not an issue, what would you accomplish?' I extensively shared the ambitions for my life. She then said to me, 'Go and live the life you have imagined.' And wow, I am working hard to accomplish those dreams.
We put many obstacles before us that will prevent us from accomplishing our goals, if we permit them. In placing these obstacles there, we are no longer living with the attitude of a winner. A winner expects to win all the time. A winner knows it might not always be possible, but she believes she can. A winner steps out on the playing field knowing she has already won, she just now needs to play the game.

Step out with an attitude of winning, having accomplished your goals.

Ask yourself this, 'if money were not an issue, what would you accomplish?'

Now, go live the life you imagined.

Outsmarting the Female FAT Cell

FAT-- we all have it. WE all want to lose some of it, if not all. And disposing of this adipose tissue is sometimes like a poker game or a game of bait and switch for women. Do you have the patience to outsmart the fat cell to give up her secrets?

First and foremost, let me clarify some things about fat and muscle tissue. Fat is adipose tissue. Muscle is, well-muscle tissue -- the kind we often refer to, is skeletal muscle tissue. We burn fat (and/or store it) and muscle we build (and/or destroy). These are two separate cells. ONE type cell cannot be converted to the other.

For a long time, it was thought that the maximum number of fat cells were developed around puberty and the number did not change just the size of the cell. Recently, it has been observed that when the fat cells are stuffed to capacity, as in obese people, they will reproduce creating more storage space for the fat.

If you think of your fat cell as an expandable tupperware container, it grows and shrinks in relation to the amount of fat you are carrying. This is dynamic. Women tend to store more fat in the summer (what?) because we tend to eat more ice cream. (who would have thunk it?)

The body shoves more fat in the container as it needs to. As the fat storage increases, so does the size of the fat cell. When it is at maximum capacity, the poor cell is crying when it sees another load being delivered, and it explodes so to speak, creating several new containers that can hold the same amount of fat as the first. EWWWWWWWW!!!!!

As the child-bearing of the species, our bodies want to retain extra fat. In this, monthly our bodies prepare for the possibility of pregnancy and we will carry a little more body fat (to protect the unborn) during various stages in the monthly cycle.

So, ladies, we are trying to convince nature to let the fat go. HA!

The first problem is the industry sends different messages. First, the ideals of losing weight suggest losing about 2 ponds per week as safe, and then we see complete contradictions on reality shows like The Biggest Loser, where contestants are competing to lose the most weight in a short period of time. On this series weight drops of 10 pounds or more in a week are not unheard of. Can someone ask if this is healthy?

* Granted, if you are doing everything right or have made adaptations in your eating and lifestyle, the body when it feels safe, will let go. I had a client drop 30 pounds in a single month. This was a small percentage of the total weight she needed to lose, but it was amazing that the body was prepared to let things go. This is the exception and should not be considered the norm in any weight loss. *

How do we convince the FAT CELL to let the fat go?

Most simply: A COMPLETE LIFESTYLE CHANGE.

Well, now that I have answered the question, I should be finished. But unfortunately, I am not. Many of you have cringed at the thought, yelled at the computer to tell me I am wrong or skipped that to cling to your preconceived notions that your way of losing fat is better than changing your lifestyle.

So, I will repeat it: A COMPLETE LIFESTYLE CHANGE.

What does that mean?

-Completely evaluate your diet. In this case, diet refers to the food/lifestyle choices we make or the way we eat, not something to do for 14 days to lose weight. When we follow these 14 day starvation plans, we gain back the weight we lose and it brings friends when we return to normal eating habits. You didn't know you were having a party?

The best way to efficiently lose body fat is to eat cleanly. Get rid of the junk.

Our bodies are amazing machines. They were not designed to eat all the toxins and poisons that are currently in our foods. White sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, things that are created in a laboratory and not grown/raised naturally, are poison to our body. These toxins are treated as poisons and when the body cannot destroy, it stores. Remember those expanding fat cells?

--Diet: eat clean. NO processed food. Lots of fruits and vegetables. NO processed foods!

If you think of eating clean 90% of the time, that is a realistic living situation. I say 90% of the time, because we live in the western society and are bombarded by junk all around us, and I am realistic. I am not saying to go looking for the 10% opportunities, but I know I find myself in a situation from time to time that I need to make the best choice available. Do keep in mind that as you eat cleaner, your body might get sick when presented with toxin laden food.

DO NOT PLAN CHEAT MEALS/DAYS. Are you punishing yourself because you are eating clean? Planning a cheat meal says that the lifestyle change is a prison sentence and the cheat meal is freedom. Instead, change your attitude.

-evaluate your lifestyle behaviors--

--sleep: do you party like a rock star all the time? are you up to the wee hours of the morning? or are you permitting your body time to rest?

Without appropriate rest, the body doesn't allow the blood sugar levels to stabilize and as a result the body is producing more insulin to counteract and as a result you store more fat. Also, your cortisol levels (which are also affected by stress) increase, and you store more fat.

Your body is not able to rest and the following day you tend to reach for more sugary snacks (because the brain-- the sugar hog -- feels deprived) and if you are not burning those calories, you will store more fat. And your body is unable to repair properly from the previous day, so working out might be a wash.

Bottom line: appropriate sleep, means less fat storage!

--take a walk after a meal: it doesn't have to be a long walk, about 15 minutes. You can walk more if you have the time. By taking the walk, you are helping digestion. The walking motion massages the intestines. The other advantage is that walking helps stabilize the blood sugar after a meal. Lower blood sugar, less insulin, less fat!

--activity during the day: are you active or do you spend hours seated? Incorporate more activity and /or standing in your day. Get up every hour and stretch. Change your body position. These changes in posture, keep us alert and yes, help us burn more calories.

--avoid mindless eating: do you eat together with the people in your home? or with your family? or do you eat in front of the television, in your car, or do you sit at a table? When we are eating while our mind is focusing on something else, we tend to overeat. Eating should be the only activity we are doing. Stop, take off your coat, relax and enjoy the meal.

--drink plenty of water: we need water. period.

and

--develop a weight/resistance training protocol: in order for us to develop more muscle tissue, we must do resistance training. This is not cardio. While cardio is good, it is at times over-rated. Women tend to flock to the cardio-machines at the gym and rarely touch a weight. The fear is getting big. These same women end up frustrated and see little permanent changes in physique and appearance. The really cool thing is by doing resistance training, you are increasing your muscle mass and in turn increasing the amount of energy your body requires at rest. More energy needed means more calories burned means less fat stored.

RESISTANCE TRAINING: do it. If you need help, seek out a coach or private trainer.

As always, I am hear to assist you in your pursuit of excellence.

The Illusion of Control

This excerpt is from my calendar, "For Women Who Do To Much," dated Sunday, 10 January, 2010.

The Illusion of Control

One of the most lethal behaviors in which we Women Who Do Too Much regularly participate is trying to control ourselves and others (and situations and things!).

What we do is feed our 'Illusion of Control.'

This year, let's take a good look at this illusion and the damage it can cause-- to ourselves, to others, to our relationships, to our work and to our lives.

My reminder is that the only thing we can control is our emotion, our responses, our kindness, our actions, --essentially ourselves, and sometimes not even that much.

I know I struggle with this at times. There are times, I just cannot be bothered with people or things or events. That doesn't always work well, as I coach and have to deal with people.

My answer is to smile. My answer is to smile. My answer is to smile.

Regardless of what comes my way, if I understand that I am not in control, I feel better. It takes the pressure off. Then I can evaluate the situation and make appropriate decisions. And if I fall down, I can rest a bit and then get up and continue.

Most importantly, I have learned to create time for me everyday. This time permits me to express what I am feeling without potentially offending another. I also journal. My successes, my white-gold moments, and my far from medaling moments. In this, I can evaluate my progress.

Health and fitness and athleticism is a journey, that we cannot control. Granted, I can control what I choose to eat, when I get up, when I go to sleep, when I rest, how much work I do, how frequently I exercise, the intensity at which I exercise, and what I do for exercise and activity. But I cannot control so many other things in this journey, that sometimes, the journey doesn't take the course of action I would like.

I have to learn to breath and just enjoy the journey. It is in these unexpected twists and turns that I find the most adventure and the greatest rewards.

Learning to flow and learning to let go of the illusion of control.

Correcting Mistakes....

'A person who has committed a mistake and doesn't correct it is committing another mistake.' ---confucius



Training is sometimes hit or miss. Not all the time, or we wouldn't have the scientists and experts writing books on how much to lift, what routines to follow, what to eat, how much, how far to run..... but lets face it,



Training works best when the trainee is motivated and likes what she is doing.


Finding what you love is half the battle. If you don't enjoy the activity, the training session, you are unlikely to continue or finish it. This summer I was introduced to aqua zumba-- i participated/watched. Honestly, i don't get it. I shook my tooshie, moved my feet, high-fived someone next to me as I was like YAWN! Zumba is not for me. I would rather run, cycle, swim, or lift.

Motivating yourself to do the work is the other half.
This is sometimes the more difficult half. It is winter and it is cold outside! FREEZING! Extra layers required. It might take extra effort to contemplate the run outside. What about getting in a car and driving to the gym? or the thought of getting in a cold pool to swim! Seriously, it is cold outside.
What motivates you to go? to keep pressing forward? to push onward to your goal?

If you are struggling to find the direction and/or motivation and are haphazardly working out, you might never complete the objective. The year might pass without any accomplishment, without any forward direction. You need to keep the destination in mind. Working out without a reason is not training, it's just activity. (Activity is good-- but what is the overall purpose?)

If you are struggling, what are you doing to recommit to your focus? The mistake would be to do nothing.

Each day you have the opportunity to work toward your success. Each day is an opportunity to challenge yourself in achieving your goal. Each day is for you.

Seize the moment, challenge yourself. If you are struggling, reach out to me.... I will help you. I want you to succeed in 2010.

Defeating Self-Criticism.

During my run this afternoon, I had an epiphany. I learned something I already knew. But sometimes, it is one thing to know it, another to believe it. The light-bulb turned on. I had an A-Ha moment.

I hit a milestone in my training, since I started using a tracking device for my running workouts. I completed 250 miles. My average pace today was 8 seconds faster per kilometer than the previous workout and 50 seconds faster than my average kilometer pace from the previous year.

WOO-HOO!!!

And my initial thought, Wow! you are slow!!! (Talk about self-defeat!)

I just ran hard, in the cold, pushing the last 1.5km to finish hard and strong (my goal for every run-- to push through the finish), and my thought was definitely NOT, 'way to go!'....... somewhere in the thoughts, was this sucks.

Much of my self-defeat stems from my frustration surrounding my cycling accident. I have struggled to get my fitness back, to be able to train consecutive days and weeks and even months, without injury or set-back. (After the cycling accident, I would train easy and it would take several days to recover, sometimes a week, because my adrenals were off. I had been given the gift of time).

My other drama surrounds the memories of where I was performance-wise, what I could do..... and that is sometimes very different from where I am now.

It is easy to be a cheer-leader for someone else and praise for accomplishments and remind them that the performance of the past may be matched in other capacities, it is another to believe it in yourself.

And in that, I learned today that I can only compare myself to my performance of yesterday and the day that I am doing it. It doesn't matter what I did prior to the cycling accident, it matters what I am doing now. (Those memories prior are great motivators to achieve that fitness level again, but I cannot compare performance until I get there again........ and I may not as I am two-years older and my focus is a little different.... but I can train with the same ambition and intensity). It's ok to let it go!

My other frustration comes from comparing not only what I have accomplished previously, but comparing myself to others. I need to worry about ME and ONLY ME when I am running, cycling, swimming, lifting, kayaking.... out on the road... What someone else is doing, doesn't impact my training, unless I am training with that person. (I have been known to race people while I am swimming..... how many laps does it take to pass them again, or wow... why can i not keep up... or tossing my pace/goal out the window to keep up! --this can be relevant when I am working on improving a skill, b/c we gain by training with people who are better than ourselves, but not when I need to focus on my task at hand). It is perfectly acceptable for me to run SLOW, STOP, or run speedy fast without concern for someone else's performance on the road.

I know that while I had this awe-inspiring epiphany, it might take a bit for my mind to accept what my body knows.

See you on the road. Be kind if you run by like the road-runner.......

Dreams

There are people who put their dreams in a little box and say, 'Yes, I've got dreams, of course, I've got dreams.' Then they put the box away and bring it out once and a while to look into it, and yep, they're still there. These are great dreams, but they never even get out of the box. It takes an uncommon amount of guts to put your dreams on the line, to hold them up and say, 'How good or bad am I?' That's where courage comes in. --Erma Bombeck


Welcome 2010. I certainly have plans for you. I have dreams of things I want to accomplish. Do I have the courgae to fulfill these?

While I often am told that I am a strong and courageous woman, there are many times I am standing on the forefront shaking in my shoes, wondering how I am going to survive the task at hand. I am fearful that I might fail. I am fearful that if knocked down, I might not stand again. Sometimes, I am afraid of my own shadow. Sometimes, it is easier to stay in bed.


In order for me to accomplish great things, complacency is NOT an option. Staying in bed, is not the way in which I can conquer the world, or my little part of it.

I keep learning to be my own 'superhero.'

I am wonder-woman, as I am told by a new friend of mine.


Well, this wonder woman has some huge hurdles to overcome in 2010..... things, that I will now be held accountable for as I am sharing with you.

--i want to see the weight 160# again.
--to be more conscientious daily about my relationship with food. (i talk the talk, but don't always walk it)
--to be active every day
--to run a marathon with my cousin, for fun
--to get back into the racing circuit (my cycling accident knocked me down for a bit)

--to start my second master's
--to expand my presenting/writing/educating network
--to finish my book, when the coach cries
--to accomplish something with the manual therapy i have learned, in terms of applications

--and to continue to be the best i can be every single day.

I look forward to sharing with you in 2010. Please feel free to share with me.