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Archive for January, 2009

Rest is a beautiful thing

Saturday, January 31st, 2009

After hella stretching and taking some time off of running last week, I’m back in the game this week and am feeling great. I’m not quite 100%, but close enough to hit the treadmill/sidewalk and start adding up those base hours again and challenging myself. One spot on my left calf is still a little sore (but not tight anymore) but hopefully that will heal up very soon.

And by challenging myself I mean trying crazy new stuff like figuring out how long I can do a headstand in my living room.

Headstand Day 1

I was only able to keep my feet off of the wall for about 3 seconds, but I was pretty proud of myself. So in case you were wondering if I was taking myself and my training too seriously now that I’m being coached and am putting in WAY more off season training hours than last year, I think you have your answer. There is still plenty of time for messing around and having some fun. Tomorrow morning I’ll also be heading downtown to the Lululemon store for a free yoga class. Since getting laid off, the yoga budget had to get cut, but I’m glad there are still free classes around that I can check out.

And tonight I finally registered for my second 70.3 ever, and first (of two) in the 2009 season. Rev3 Here I Come Baby! I grew up only about 20 minutes from the race start, so this will be a really great homecoming for me. I never thought I’d be able to get myself in HIM shape so early in the season, but the way everything is coming together already, I have a really good feeling that I’ll be tearing it up come June.

picture-2

And despite hating ranting on the blog, I feel the need to say that I hate Active.com. A piece of my soul dies every time that I have to use them to register for a race. Charging $15 registration fee? WTF. Seriously? Just because a race is more expensive, you decide to up the registration fee. And every time a race forces me to use your site you have the balls to try to sell me on stupid discount clubs and anything else out there? They do have a somewhat interesting new search tool, but it is only in beta and would only really be interesting or groundbreaking 5 years ago. I may never understand why even some of my favorite race directors stil use them year after year. At least a quick google search for “active.com sucks” proves that I’m at least not the only one. There you go. My rant is over. All appologies, except to Active.com. Bikereg.com is way better.

Tags: active.com, active.com eats babies, active.com sucks, half ironman, rev3, rev3 half ironman, rev3tri, Triathlon | Posted in Running, Training Log, Triathlon | No Comments »

A Lesson in Calf Stretching: Soleus Edition

Saturday, January 24th, 2009

After almost a decade of running and working out, and going on three years in triathlon, I’m still surprised about how much I have to learn about training and my own body. It can be humbling sometimes when you realize how much you still have to learn, but I wanted to share my experiences this last week so hopefully no one makes the same mistakes (or at least corrects them faster than I did).

As triathletes, we are like scientists studying our own bodies. We test our bodies daily with different workouts and the occasional rest day. We heavily analyze its outputs on a regular basis so that we can ultimately kick ass on race day. Sometimes our body is predictable and you know just how it is going to react, but other times it trows you for a complete loop and it takes some detective work to bring your body back to normal.

That is exactly what happened to me last week. I had this huge ball of tightness in my left calf that was a big pain. I limped a little for the first mile of my runs, but after I warmed up it was completely gone and I was good as gold. I could pull off easily doing more than an hour without too much worries, but after a while, the tight muscles throughout the day was wearing on my body.

I did everything that I could to try and rub it out without any luck. I spent multiple sessions per day on the foam roller, mashing out my quads, calves and hamstrings and I got downright violent about it after a while. I could feel a huge lump back there, but it just wasn’t budging. After asking around to some more knowledgeable athletes, making a quick visit to my favorite massage therapist at Boston Body Worker, getting the green light from Coach Brett to take some time off of running and doing some reading online, I finally figured out the culprit.

Apparently all the foam roller work and my go-to calf stretch (putting the ball of my foot up against the wall, keeping my knee straight and leaning forward) wasn’t even touching the right muscle. Apparently there is a whole different muscle underneath the meaty wide part at the top of your calf (gastrocnemius). It is that muscle underneath and closer to the bone that was so tight and giving me issues (soleus).

Now that I figured out what the problem is, I was able to actually find some stretches that actually addresses said problem. Enter: your friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

stretch-calf-soleus2

Stand with one leg in front of the other, with both feet pointed forward. Place hands on a wall or similar for support
Keep back knee bent, with the heel pressed to the floor
Push your hips forward, while pressing your back heel to ground
Hold the stretch
Repeat on each leg

Notes

All stretches should be felt in the back leg NOT the front leg.
The calf muscle group is made up of Gastrocnemius and Soleus muscles. In general, stretches that bend the knee focus on the soleus muscle, while stretches that straighten the knee focus on the gastrocnemius muscle.

At first I wasn’t quite feeling it and only felt my quads working, but once went up against the wall and leaned forward, I could feel all the muscles through my calf stretch out and cry. Clearly this was doing a WHOLE lot that all my other stretches wasn’t. It was a little painful, but in a good way. All the little pieces of scar tissue (or whatever the hell was built up there) were being all broken up, and I turned into a very happy boy. My LMT also had me digging my thumb into my calf muscles and flexing/relaxing my foot to work out the rest of everything that had built up.

Besides trying to keep everything else above and below the calf nice and loose, I also found a whole bunch of knots in the arch of my foot, that is helping to loosen up my ankle. Seriously, I think I’m falling apart. Take a golf ball, or heavy lacrosse ball if you’ve got one, and roll it around under the arch of your foot to stay nice and flexible there too.

Seriously. I think I may be falling apart, but I’m glad I’m at least catching these little things early in the season. My LMT thinks that it is probably because of me changing my stride up to try and keep my ass off the ground with all the icy sidewalks. Man, I can’t wait until Boston dethaws. I’ve seen huge progress so far, but am still taking another day or so off of running before jumping back into the game full steam ahead next week.

So there you go, my little tri tip of the day. Enjoy.

Stay happy and flexible!

Tags: calf pain, calf stretch, gastrocnemius stretch, soleus pain, soleus stretch | Posted in Running, Training Log, Triathlon | 9 Comments »

Spin Until You Puke Workout Mix

Saturday, January 17th, 2009

After finally being able test out my new spin workout without making anyone puke, I decided that it was good enough to share. A lot of us have turned into spinning/bike trainer drones this time of year since the weather (at least for people up North) isn’t exactly conducive for road riding. Hopefully this quick 45-50 minute workout can break up some of the boredom.

spinning

I can send along the music to anyone that wants it, or feel free to make your own tracks. Post a comment or email me and I can pass the songs along. I put the length of each song in case you despise my taste in music want to make your own mix.

A roadie in my class really likes workouts like these because there are a lot of fast accelerations that will probably help him out a lot for racing crits.

This workout is based on doing a lot of progressive accelerations (30 seconds easy, 30 seconds faster, 30 seconds SPRINT, then repeat.) Except for some of the standing sets where you’ll be pedaling slower, lets use these standards so no one is asking, “Am I sprinting fast enough, or is my “easy ” too “easy?”

Easy: 85-95 RPM

Medium: 95-100 RPM

Fast: 100-115 RPM

And resistance is obviously dependent on your fitness and the bike you are on, but this is a tempo workout, so your heart rate should be well up there and shouldn’t drop down too far at any point in the workout. Oh, and thanks to Bree Wee to helping me out with some of the music. But without any further delay, I give you my official “Spin Until You Puke” workout.

puking

WARM UP

Colbie Caillat – Somethin’ Special – 3:08

Easy Warmup. Low resistance

Step Into Liquid – 2:29

:60 slowly increasing pace/resistance. 1:30 easy but fast sprint

MAIN SET

Cake – The Distance – 3:01

Resistance 4/10
2x (:30 slow/ :30 medium/ :30 fast)

Hilary Duff – With Love – 3:06

Resistance 5/10
2x (:30 slow/ :30 medium/ :30 fast)

Jane’s Addiction – Been Caught Steeling – 3:34

Hold +95 RPM cadence. Only change resistance.
2x (:30 light/ :30 medium/ :45 heavy)

Garbage – #1 Crush

Stand for entire song @ 60-70 RPM. Only change resistance. Heavy set should be HEAVY.
2x (:60 light/ :45 medium/ :30 heavy)

Screaming Trees – Nearly Lost You There – 4:08

Back into the saddle. Resistance 5/10
2x (:30 slow/ :30 medium/ :60 fast)

Mix Master Mike – Kalahuta Show – 2:33

Resistance 6/10
:20 slow/ :20 medium/ :20 fast
:20 slow/ :20 medium/ :50 fast

Filter – Hey Man Nice Shot – 5:02

Stand for entire song. Resistance 7/10
2x (:60 easy/ :45 medium/ :30 FAST)

3 Doors Down – The Champion In Me – 3:34

Back in the saddle. Hold fast +100 RPM. Only change resistance.
2x (:30 light/ :30 medium/ :45 heavy)

Fat boy slim – Funk Soul Brother – 4:04

Resistance 4/10
2x (:30 slow/ :45 medium/ :45 fast)

BEGIN COOLDOWN

Porno For Pyros – Pets – 3:37

Resistance 4/10. Easy pace
3x :30 sit/:30 standing

Music Prep (unknown artist)

Resistance 3/10. Easy pace
Let HR come to rest and spin along gently.

U2 – One Tree Hill – 5:22

Off the bike. Stretch it out

tapeworm

Tags: spin class music, spin class workout | Posted in Triathlon | 13 Comments »

Spinning Instructor Street Cred

Tuesday, January 13th, 2009

I have been feeling antsy about publishing a new blog post ASAP. I have since moved on past the bad news last week and feel like it is bad karma to leave my blog with the last post on top and I’m looking forward to pushing it further down the page. What can I say? I just don’t do the depressed, angry and bitter thing very well. I was busting my brain to try and think of some new blog-worthy topics, until spin class tonight.

(I was interviewed for a story on Boston’s NPR affiliate, WBUR for a story on all the layoffs today. It should air this Friday, if you want to hear it, email me and I’ll send you a link if they put it online.)

With some extra time yesterday, I made a new spin mix that I was looking forward to testing out in class last night. Despite only two people showing up to class (even though every single treadmill was taken), I still rocked it and started out really hard. The two people in class were regulars and already pretty fit and I knew that they could take it.

That was until the girl started dropping off of the sprint sets and just slowly pedaling along.

Now there are some instructors that get really peeved when the class breaks away from the routine, but as long as you aren’t taking away from the energy of the class, or standing when everyone is sitting right up in the front row, I don’t really care. I was just surprised that this girl was bowing out.

All of a sudden, she grabs her stomach, stops pedaling, and gives me the hand across the throat “no more” sign. As she grabs her towel and water bottle and heads towards the door while I continue on leading class, she lets it fly. But unfortunately she doesn’t make it to the bathroom or nearest trash can.

no-puking

I help her out the door, dodging the splattered puke on my way, and was left sitting there wondering WTF to do next. Not wanting to continue on class while the room fills with the stink of sweat and puke, I decide to call it a day and have the guy at the front desk mop it up. Heck, I was just glad that I didn’t have to do it!

I asked the other guy left in class if I should take it personally that someone puked 25 minutes into my new workout and music mix, but he assured me that I should take it as a matter of pride and consider it as official spinning class street cred.

HELLS YEAH!

So if anyone wants a fun, fast workout that may make you puke your brains out, let me know.

I just hope that she isn’t too embarrassed and never comes back. But she is pretty hardcore for sticking it out so long, so I’m sure I’ll see her again.