Dr. Kathy's Training Blog

EX2 XTERRA at Rocky Gap

Dr. Kathy — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:11:36 +0000

Into the blender...

Rocky Gap XTERRA was a WELL RUN, FABULOUSLY ORGANIZED, FUN TO RACE triathlon! Jim Harmon did a super job prepping the boys to make way for the ladies when they tried to pass on the bike, and boy did it make a difference! I had a great race with my family and friends, despite having NO sleep the night before. My 2 year old fell out of bed at 2am and cut her lip badly (she is totally fine, just had a big juicy kissable lip for a few days!), which meant that nobody slept for the rest of the night. We travelled to Rocky Gap the day before with a babysitter who graciously took care of our girls (ages 2 and 5!) on race day from 6am until we crossed the finish line, what a sweet heart! I ran across the finish line carrying Madison, which Valerie took full advantage of and sprinted past me to win overall amateur women! Her first overall win at age 5, not too shabby!

I am now rested from having a week of training “for fun” and am ready to go to Wakefield right now for an 1 -1/2 hour ride and 30 minute run. The weather couldn’t be better, hot and humid, perfect for MAUI TRAINING!

Get out early if you can for your training runs/walks/rides, and if you can, place them at a park like Wakefield. All those trees make the temperature feel so much cooler as you train in the shade. But if you can’t, like me right now at 2pm on Tuesday, just bring lots of agua, sunscreen, and passion for your fitness, and GET OUT THERE!!!

Have a fit and awesome week everybody, my best to you, Dr. Kathy

Richmond XTERRA!

Dr. Kathy — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 02:18:50 +0000

Richmond XTERRA 2010 has graced us with its awesomeness once again on yet another perfect, summer morning. Last Sunday the skies were baby blue, the temperatures were your typical late June hot and humid, and the James River was Dr. Kathy Perfect- warm and shallow!

My dear husband and I had to be up (as many who have kiddies and drove down the morning of…) at 4am, babysitter arrived at 4:30 (bless her heart!), and off we went on our trek to the 8 am start line of our favorite XTERRA.

The cannon blast went off promptly at 8am and off went the pros. I cheer for my fellow cannuck Melanie McQuaid, the worlds best mountain biker too, fyi! Two minutes later the whistle went off for the men’s under 40 which included my hubby, Pierre, and our best buddy, Frank Febbraro. I cheered them off the start line and watched as the current pulled almost everyone off course to the left of the buoy they were aiming for!

Two minutes later it was my turn, and for all those familiar faces in my group, which included my dear friends Scott Scudamore, Dr. Dusty, Chris, and my newest addition to Posichiro, Dr. Rose!!! You should have seen Dr. Rose’s race face, AWESOME!!! (This was Dr. Rose’s first XTERRA, and she did FABULOUSLY WELL considering she has never been on a mountain bike before! GO ROSE!)

I have to tell you that I had the best swim EVER! I even beat my husband in the swim by 10 seconds!!! I consider it a good swim when I never feel like I am going to drown, get a black eye from another swimmer, or get swept to sea by the current. I swam the James River 1000 meters in 20.03, and then finally got on my bike to start to race. To my disadvantage, the trails in Richmond have been converted to granny-friendly, smooth and easy, green run-like trails that my 5 year old could tackle. I had a great mountain bike experience and cleaned everything that could be considered a little rough. Folks even got out of the way to let me pass pretty easily, but there were still a ton of people I had to pass which only adds seconds on to the final tally. This is the disadvantage to being a slow swimmer in a mountain bike triathlon, as it is trying at times to get past folks who aren’t all that bike-savvy on skinny trails. But it was fun and fast and I gave it my all! Transition was clean and when I started to run, I thought I could increase the pace after a mile. However, I was dismayed that my brain and my legs were in disagreement with this plan, and my heart rate exceeded the capacity of the demand I wanted to lay onto my leg muscles. I was passed on the run by one 20 year old female a mile short of the finish line, which pushed me to 3rd overall woman.

I am super happy to say that I did place 3rd overall though, with such a painful run, but I am a little disappointed with myself for getting second fastest bike split, second to an Ironman lady! Kudos to her, but I would like to challenge this young lady to a real mountain bike race one day, because that is how competitive I am!

So, your almost 40 year-old chiropractor lost to a 30 year old ironman woman who swims like a fish and a 20 year old lady with the legs of a gazelle! Those legs, lats and lungs are going DOWN next time, I promise you that!

Once we all cross the finish line of an XTERRA we embrace each other, congratulating each other for a job well done and an accomplishment achieved that is so amazing and something to be proud of!

Let me remind you that it is a great thing to put yourself at the start line of any adventure, race, or challenge, no matter what your skill level or expectation. Once you overcome this awesome mental challenge of just putting yourself on the start line, you begin to own your fears, and your sense of self magnifies as your spirit is filled with a sense of awe for the courage it takes for you to start something so great (something so hard!). Completing this goal is the final leg of owning your fears in full. I cheer you on with all my heart for you not to allow doubt to slow you down, fear of failure (or success!) to stop you in your tracks, or panic from making you throw up your white flag of surrender. Just accomplishing so much as going for it and not ever giving up until you cross that finish line, will enlighten you to your greater potential both as an athlete and as a human being.

Now that being said, sometimes we will falter in our forward motion and will stop when we could have kept moving. But these are learning experiences that make us a better individual, because after all, sometimes our brains and our bodies just won’t agree with a final goal!

So, congrats to my fellow amazing XTERRA friends for just being a part of something so wonderful! Have a super week everyone, and I hope to see you on the trails! Kathy

P.S.- I’ll post some pics as soon as they’re available!

Does sky diving count as training?

Dr. Kathy — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:21:27 +0000

Hello and greetings fellow trail lovers and those who just don’t know they are trail lovers yet! I just had a terrific build cycle of training for my “A” race of the year coming up this Sunday, Richmond XTERRA!

Last week I inserted an extra workout that was truly the hardest experience of all my training years- SKY DIVING- with our newest Chiropractor at Posichiro, Dr. Rose Moeser. Dr. Moeser was doing her 106th jump while I was doing my very first (me firmly attached to an instructor for a tandem jump) and I can honestly say it was the second most amazing, intense experience I have ever had, second to delivering my daughters!!! We were even on our way to an ART seminar in NJ last Thursday and it turned out that the “Drop Zone” was “on the way”. Dr. Moeser said “LET’S START THIS SEMINAR WEEKEND RIGHT!” (meaning, let’s jump start our hearts by flinging ourselves out of a plane from 14000 feet above terra firma before sitting in a seminar for 3 days) and so we did. Not specific training for the XTERRA performance but one for the bucket list for sure! (I loved it, fyi!)

Taper week folks, and I’m getting those little pre-race butterflies already! Today, my husband and I simply biked easy around Fountain Head followed by a short run with our 2 dogs. I should consider skydiving the morning of the race to test race performance after an adrenaline stimulating exercise like that.

Taper is so important for everyone who exercises regularly. It breaks the routine, allows your body to heal fully before the next training cycle, and very importantly allows your mind to take a bit of a break, thereby avoiding the dreaded “burn out”. I schedule my massage on my taper week to loosen up my legs, specifically my ITBands, glutes, hamstrings, calves, and some shoulder hot spots. So should you!

SO, train hard with good focus, and then take a good break for a week to regroup both mentally and physically; you will be healthfully training for all of your life!

Have a great week, Dr. K

Practice Makes Perfect!

Dr. Kathy — Mon, 17 May 2010 15:21:14 +0000

I am completing my 3rd week build cycle and boy do I feel it!!! Which means I have a well earned taper kind of week to look forward to, very important for me to avoid burning out or injuring myself. Yesterday my husband and I did a time trial around the loop at Fountain Head, a slightly technical 7 mile loop of wonderful mtn. bike trails. He crushed it in 39 minutes (MY HERO!), and I managed a 45 minute lap. My heart rate got to 184 at some of the hill climbs which is definitely the point at which I start to feel VERY nauseous. So I learned a vital lesson that in a race when I start to feel that oh so familiar nausea I have no choice but to slow down, because I just start to collapse soon after that heart rate zone making it tough to re-group and push on.

Today before my run I practiced “Transitioning” onto the bike, then off the bike to the run, several times with my dear friend Scud. This was supposed to be a “transition clinic” we were hosting for free to the community at the Fountain Head park but nobody showed up and so we got to practice a ton! YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME if you are a du- or triathlete.

My run was a 1 hr 25 minute trail run with 25 minutes of it done hard at zone 4/5. My border collie Strider and I had a fabulous time, saw no snakes this time but the weather was sublime and the trails perfect.

My family and I went swimming afterward and I swear the water was so cold that I actually got therapy for my legs from it! Sort of like an ice bath, though my 2 and 5 year old didn’t seem to notice how cold it was for some reason.

Well, tip of the day from me to you is to practice the little things that make your sport more efficient, saves you time, and keeps you safe.

Have a SUPER WEEK!

Swim, MTB Brick

Dr. Kathy — Sat, 15 May 2010 01:57:12 +0000

GOOD FRIDAY WISHES to you! After an awesome day at the office (yes, I just love my job!) I raced over to Wakefield to do a tough but exhilarating swim/bike brick with Pierre: Swim was 10 x 100 sprints followed by a 500 race pace. I averaged 1:34 on the 100’s and did 8:30 on the 500. Then we went back to the car, got on the helmets, and rode to Accotink for a fabulous hour ride at a fun, steady, quick pace on twisty-turny beautiful trails. We got to see a large black snake that stopped us in our tracks and many beautiful deer. This workout was soon followed by a 10 minute shared iced caramel latte sitting in the sun, and then the best part, picking up my daughters and driving all the way home while singing songs and counting school buses and yellow cars! (Yellow cars get you the most points, just FYI!)

Have a super weekend everyone!

Not More Swimming…

Dr. Kathy — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:50:50 +0000

Hey folks, I have terrific news! Swimming form can be improved upon, I think. Today I managed to maintain a 1:45 min per 100 pace (after a good warm up and drills of course!) for the 200, 300, 400, 500, and 600 swim workout despite the water being kicked in my face by my husband as he lapped me many times over!!! Then I jetted to the gym upstairs for a fast and furious lift session for 18 minutes burning out what was left of my lats, arms, quads, hamstrings, and core. That left me just enough time to shower, dress, drive while eating my turkey and cheese slices to Starbucks for a grande iced caramel macchiato and still make it in time to happily treat my 3pm first patient!!! The workout was so awesome that I was filled with energy to treat a steady stream of fabulous patients until 5pm, when I had to jet yet again to get my girls! You know that energy that exercise leaves you with for hours afterwards, it is intoxicating. I wish for you all to experience this as often as humanly possible.

I’m also happy to say I have a new running buddy, a new love of my life. We have just adopted a 9 or 10 month old German Shepherd pup who was abandoned and left to starve alone in Stafford in the middle of nowhere. He was found a month ago weighing 35 pounds, truly just a skeletal system, a day away from starving to death. Soooo, I thought in all of my spare time we could take care of this incredibly beautiful dog and nurse him back to health and fitness and to give him a home of endless love and activity. My whole family loves him except Strider, who grumpily accepts him at best. He is surprisingly the most gentle, sweet natured animal I have ever met, and so forgiving despite his scary past. That was the highlight of Mother’s Day for me! (well, that and all the butterfly kisses I got from my 2 beautiful daughters of course!)

Well, train on my peers and enjoy possibly sharing your training with you pets! I LOVE RUNNING WITH MINE!

I Love Swimming!

Dr. Kathy — Thu, 06 May 2010 02:43:03 +0000

What glorious weather we are having, n’est pas? BUT, despite the sunshine and warm temperatures, today is my……swim and lift day, my favorite day of the week. I know I am supposed to be positive about every workout and every adventure experienced when gaining fitness, but swimming just depresses me. Is this inspiring you to go grab your goggles and hit the water yet?

WELL ANYWAYS, I had a very entertaining time doing a build cycle in the water after a good warm up. My coach had me do a 200, 300, 400, 500, and then 600, with 30 seconds rest, trying to maintain my race pace at all times. Well, that is pretty arbitrary, because my race pace is pretty darn slow, so I guess I hit my objective.

I really had a super workout in the gym right afterwards to vent my swimming frustrations. I did tons of pull-ups, dips, quad extensions and hammy curls, core, push ups, and walking lunges. I work out in the gym the best when I swim right before hand, because I am so bummed out that I just go all out in the gym like a mad woman! WOOHOOO! I don’t see anyone or hear anything, just focus and train with all my might.

Then I hustle into the shower and race back to treat my awesome patients for the rest of the day and discover that I can’t raise my arms up past 10 degrees without major effort. This happens every Wednesday, it’s pretty funny!

SOOO, whether lifting is your way to vent or if you train to overcome an injury, make weight lifting a part of your regular routine. Strength training is so important for us to avoid injury while doing all the other things we like to do, such as picking up our children, throwing a ball with a friend, taking a dog for a walk on a leash, and sitting for a long movie in unsupportive movie seats. Strength training prevents bone density loss and joint weakening, and keeps muscles, ligaments, and tendons strong enough to handle the rigors and repetition of high intensity athletics.

Well, if you are my patient and get adjusted at 3pm on Wednesdays, please excuse my shaking hands, it isn’t caffeine withdrawal I assure you!

Have a super week everyone!!!

Oh, and the official pics from Duathlon Nationals arrived, here are a few:

The Finish Line!

The best part, the bike!

Got A Goal? Get A Coach!

Dr. Kathy — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 02:32:00 +0000

Spring 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!!!

Off-Road Duathlon Nationals

Dr. Kathy — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:25:48 +0000

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 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!

First Race of the Season!

Dr. Kathy — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 02:04:56 +0000

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!