Apr 292010

Got A Goal? Get A Coach!

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ZF-5770-22910-1-001Spring has sprung (FOR GOOD I THINK!) and we just have to put on our running shoes and go for a long run/walk/hike/cycle with our faces in the sunshine (with a thick layer of sunscreen on), don’t you agree!!!

I am working with my fabulous coach (Melissa Dalio, exercise physiologist, endurance coach, and cool, calm and patient advisor to high maintenance athletes like myself!) on planning my last 2 build cycles to reach peak time for Richmond XTERRA on June 20th. So this is my week 1 of a 3 week build while still trying to recover from the crazy intensity of racing (aka turning myself inside out) last Saturday. My quadriceps and left calf still hurts, but no more dramatic limp!

Today was about the run, an easy 50 minute steady zone 2 (aerobic threshold) to prepare for a longer more intense run on Saturday. A build cycle means you increase your mileage, intensity, and endurance with each week. On the 4th week I taper pretty aggressively because, as my coach puts it, I am very sensitive!

So I want to tell you how important it is to have a good coach you can rely on for a solid schedule to read and follow for your training, whether you are working out for a race or to lose weight or to be able to climb kilamanjaro.

You may not have ever verbalized this to yourself, but when you set a physical goal, it implies not getting injured in the process. THAT is why I hired Melissa, because not only did I keep injuring myself in previous years, (which totally takes you out of your training for days or even weeks) but I would overtrain and get mental burn out. It is actually a medical diagnosis, “overtraining”, and this affects your entire life like a depression of sorts. My cardiologist told me that I specifically needed to “slow down and eat more salt”, isn’t that funny coming from a heart doctor?! So I did VO2 max tests on both the bike and run and have since followed a strict training schedule and VOILA I am feeling DREAMY!!! Two races so far this season and two overall wins to show for it, but equally important NO INJURIES or BURN OUT! And I am so loving training like this, following a well thought out plan that makes total sense and keeps me brimming with enthusiasm to keep at it every day (even swimming has become a hopeful adventure for me).

My advice for the day: Consult with a reputable coach/exercise physiologist to learn how you can train with purpose knowing you are under the guidance of a trusted professional. (Clearly I recommend my coach, Melissa Dalio!) Take the guess work out of it and enjoy your path to hitting your physical goals!!!

ENJOY BEING OUTSIDE FOLKS!!!

Posted by Dr. Kathy
Apr 262010

Off-Road Duathlon Nationals

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Post Race

Post Race

Duathlon National Championships were held in Richmond VA this weekend, off-road on Saturday and on-road on Sunday.   I had the honor of racing (the off road) with my husband and good friends Eric, Franky, Chris, Titus… (many friends raced Sunday like Brett!)  and happily nobody injured anything terribly.   GREAT JOB FELLAS!

Race day dawns and you wake up feeling as good as you possibly can considering life and your taper and previous training and sleep, etc etc.  And you just never know what can happen to you ON race day nor DURING the race which has NOTHING to do with planning and good preparation.  For example, Pierre broke his chain early in the race on a short steep climb resulting in a crash, minor arm flesh wounds and a ruined race.   BUT he fixed his bike, got back on and had a TERRIFIC training day, crossing the finish line with a big smile!

Which takes me to my revelation from this race on Pierre’s behalf.  Enjoy your training, enjoy the journey to fitness and peaking for a race or event.  What happens on race day may be not what you envision, so if you put all your value on the results of this one day then you may set yourself up for dissapointment.  Don’t just kick *&^% on race day, train with that passion and that same intensity and focus during all those months before that one single day.  Take your fitness training as seriously as you do on your big day;  eat right, get enough rest before hand, be always hydrated, and remain focussed on quality of training, and enjoy every experience of gaining a healthier, stronger body!!!

My race was a terrific experience of self-torture and suffering on purpose.  The distances were 7.3 mile run, 20 mile mtn. bike, 2.5 mile run.  I put myself on the front of the pack so I can count how many women pass me so I know what to shoot for in the bike, how many girls I need to pass to get into the lead before the second run.  The gun went off and within a half a mile I was 4th woman, not a great place to be in my books.  But I noticed that a few of those girls didn’t have laces that are quick to get off and on, you know those YANKZ laces that you don’t have to do up and undo.  So I thought they weren’t as serious as me!  he he.  I passed one lady just coming out of the transition onto the bike, the next a few minutes later, but it took me FIFTY THREE MINUTES to catch the first place female.  She hung on to my wheel too, until we transitioned for the last run.  I however noticed that when I passed her on the bike (and pointed at her and yelled “YOU ROCK LADY!”) that her face was beet red and she looked pretty extended.  So biking hard from that point on, luring her to push herself on the bike harder than she had been, was sort of my tactic to wear her out for the last run (it worked!).  We got into transition at the same time, but my transition was much faster (by half a minute or so) and then surprisingly my legs felt great and I ran those few miles 2 minutes + faster than this little 26 year old =) .
The Big Four-Oh

The Big Four-Oh

The guy running the commentary on the microphone came right over to me at the finish line and asked me how I, a FORTY year old, could win the national championship duathlon, and I whispered in his ear “I’m STILL 39 DUDE!”

So there you have it, an old woman like me can have a good fitness balance, strength and endurance, while juggling a very busy, wonderfully demanding life of family, career, and responsibility in many levels and degrees.  YOU TOO can maximize on your fitness, seriously if I can do it YOU CAN!!  I hope you do and feel how awesome it is to do your version of running fast and hard off a long bike ride to the finish line!  Fitness feels GREAT!
Podium!

Podium!

Posted by Dr. Kathy
Apr 132010

First Race of the Season!

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Podium!

Podium!

Our season of competition has begun, for some of us.  For many it looms in the near future, and thus our workouts are becoming a little more intense, combining workouts into bricks and intensity with hill climbing.   For the non-competitive but active lifestyle oriented folks, the season has dawned to get the bikes out of the garage and onto the trails or get our feet into our hiking boots and into the hills.  We are all getting outside and moving our bodies more and more, I’m so happy for all of us!
My first race was rather impromptu, for I normally volunteer as the first aid/chiropractor/ART provider at all the EX2 Adventure Races that Jim Harman puts on from March through November, not allowing me to participate normally before all the tight and jarred up bodies line up at our recovery tent for care.  But my husband and I had to do a brick this weekend anyways (for those who don’t know what a BRICK is, it is combining 2 sports back to back in order to train your legs for your future race ie bike and then run, or swim and then run.)  So this being a trail running race, Pierre and I decided to bike semi-hard for 40 minutes just before the race started, transition at the car throwing our bikes on top and jamming on our running shoes, and then running to the start line as the race began, running hard off the bike.  I can highly recommend this training technique to anyone who has a duathlon/triathlon in the season, you will never run as hard off the bike as you would in a race following a good ride.
A brief description of how I felt.  I ran so awesomely fast for the first mile, my feet were flying and my legs felt light and feathery, I couldn’t believe I was not far behind Pierre and thought to myself, THIS ROCKS!  I looked down to check my heart rate though, and perhaps that was a bad idea, because it registered 180 bpm.  That would be my threshold that indicates lactic acid is quickly accumulating in my muscle tissue at a faster rate than my body can recycle it back out…. and I thought to myself “SELF, I didn’t know I could run this fast this hard and feel this great”  when all of a sudden I got the answer, “OH, I CAN’T.”  and quickly decelerated with that crashing feeling!  Your typical first race of the season mistake, I went out WAY to hard with MUCH too much enthusiasm and paid the ultimate price in developing a huge stomach cramp.  Darn those cramps.
Well, I was easily passed by a lady who carried on at a much faster rate than me for the TEN mile distance while I limped to the five mile finish line in cramp style.  Though that is not an excuse for why a friend of mine (hi Chris!) passed me with a mile to go.  If I had known it was him, I would have definitely gone for it, cramp or no cramp, for darn sure.  Chris beat me by 8 seconds, but next time he is going DOWN!!!
I did win the women’s 5 mile, which is truly an honor because these women are FAST!   I recommend everyone check out Jim Harman’s EX2 Adventures; come on out and have fun participating in these amazingly well organized races!!!
The Team: Hard at work post-race!

The Team: Hard at work post-race!

Posted by Dr. Kathy
Apr 062010

Spring Is Here!

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DSC04796Quality exercise is so vital to attain the results we all shoot for from our training.  Have you ever noticed that the harder you train and with the greater the intensity, the less ‘happy’ you feel during the hard parts, and yet the more fulfilled you feel at completion?  An easy zone 2 run for an hour does NOT give you the feeling of euphoria that a multiple stacked session of putting yourself on the line with your heart rate monitor zinging up there in the high 100’s will certainly leave you with.   That is FOR SURE.  But, it all serves a purpose, to stick to your heart rate zones with discipline.  These days I am finally entering some hard workouts and it is so exhilarating.  All those long “easy” runs and rides are slowly drifting away into the past with the snow and ice.

SO, I have been very bad at writing in my blog, no excuses, but I have been following a good discipline of a training schedule given to me by my coach.  Why do I have a coach for my training?  Let me tell you.  Probably LIKE YOU, I have this thing called a J.O.B. (which I love by the way), 12 employees or IC’s, just bought an expansion to my existing bldg., I sponsor and volunteer at 15 races on weekends between March and November, I ambassador for XTERRA meaning I promote the race joyfully at events to get you all as hooked as me, I have kiddies, 2 houses (the rental that can’t be sold right now… ahem), a dog (not just any dog, a border collie with high defined needs).   NO TIME to put together a training plan that an educated professional can do in a fraction of the time and with much greater purpose to each workout.  I love it because I see results and am feeling fabulous on the bike and on the trails, and even in the water for about 300 yards.
Today I biked 2 hours (on the trails, no other way when the sun is shining and the trails are dry and inviting!)  with attacking all hills as hard as I could, followed with a 35 minute run all out for 17 minutes and then maintaining a steady easy tempo until I was done.  The follow up Mocha Frappucino afterwards has never tasted better.  I even got a sun burn where I couldn’t reach lotion on my back, and I am giddy that it is so hot and summer-like!
Get out there, have a plan, don’t let yourself over train and get injured… but get moving,  Just moving your body is taking the first step in healing.
Have a GREAT week, let me know too if you have questions, I’ll answer as I write my future blogs.  My best to you, Dr. Kathy
Posted by Dr. Kathy