Fitness Coaching

Should I run faster than my tempo pace if I can?

admin — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 03:14:14 +0000

Question: Should I run faster than my tempo pace if I can?

Answer: I still want you to stick to your tempo pace even if it’s killing you. Next week I will do something to add to the challenge. For the tempo efforts (especially under the 12 minute range) you should almost feel as if you have to actively hold yourself back from going faster – your body will want to “go”. This is hard to do, but the payoff will be huge in the end. Think of yourself as a lion stalking its prey. A lion that pounces too soon will go hungry. The patient lion who punces at the right time will feast. Let your speed work(which will be faster) be the pouncing and your tempo be the stalking.

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Finding Your Gears as a Runner

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:50:11 +0000

Finding_Your_Gears_as_ a_Runner

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I am unable to get my heart rate high enough for my VO2 Max intervals on the bike. What should I do?

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 22:23:55 +0000

Question: I am unable to get my heart rate high enough for my VO2 MAx intervals. What should I do?

Answer: As long as you are going at a pace/intensity that you know you can’t maintain for more than 3-5 minutes, then you are right where you need to be….when using heart rate. If you are unable to hit your V02 Max power zones happens while using power as your guide, then you should cut the intervals altogether because your body will be caught in no man’s land and we won’t be developing the system these VO2 Max intervals are designed to target.

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Ride to San Diego – March 11th

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:39:14 +0000

We will ride to San Diego and take the train back up to Orange County. Details coming soon.

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Glendora Mountain Road – February 18th

admin — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:38:03 +0000

Interested in riding GMR with us?

When: Saturday, February 18th at 7:00 AM – we will leave at 7AM – please be on time.
Where: Goddard Middle School 859 East Sierra Madre Avenue, Glendora, CA
Distance: 44 miles round trip. Click here for a route map
Who: All paces are welcome…but this should not be your first 45 mile ride. See below for more details

Our plan is to ride to the Baldy Village and then return along the same route. We will regroup before heading back to the start. There is a spot in Baldy Village to refill water bottles. A ride of this nature makes it difficult to ride as a group the entire way.

**You should be very comfortable riding 45 miles through hilly terrain. This is not a supported ride so each person assumes responsibility for themselves and their bike. Please carry water, food, and a few tubes in the event of a flat.

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Are You Making Any of These Running Mistakes?

admin — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 15:00:59 +0000

When new athletes approach me to help structure their training one of the first things I do is gather a thorough background on the athlete. The background gives me information about past performances and training. Here are the three most common training mistakes I see.

1) Too many race specific workouts – This will bury an athlete. Your body cannot always perform at its best and when you ask it to week after week, you are bound to start suffering. This suffering may come in the form of an injury or an inability to improve as a runner. You cannot push every workout. Your high intensity workouts should comprise about 10 – 30% of your total mileage, depending on the time of season

2) Racing too often – If you are looking for breakout performances, you should not be racing throughout the entire year. You need to focus on specific components of your fitness throughout the year. Racing year round will cause you to neglect the other areas that are crucial to success as a runner. It is far more beneficial to supplement your training with an off season strength program rather than just more racing throughout the year.

3) Not enough miles – This will vary from person to person, but I frequently meet athletes who simply are not doing enough base miles in the off season. As the season approaches, this problem is usually compounded because this athlete typically starts to do too many race specific workouts as a way to get ready for their next race. Without the proper base, very little improvement will occur. Gradually build your base over time, increasing mileage by 10 – 15% per week. Remember, you need to phase out your high intensity workouts while increasing mileage.

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29 Day Leap Year Challenge

admin — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 16:32:46 +0000

Here’s the challenge – workout or do something to take care of your body everyday for the next 29 days. Please read everything before you decide you “are in” for this challenge.

Challenge Rules

Workout everyday for the next 29 days. Start date is February 1st.
Enter the challenge by posting on our wall by February 1st. Post ”I’m in for the 29 Day Leap Year Challenge” to enter the challenge. This will let us know how many people are competing so we can determine the number of prizes. If you are not already part of the page, join up here.
Every Sunday (starting February 5th until February 29th) post an overview of what you did for the week on our Facebook page. If you are not already part of the page, join up here.
For each week that you post your weekly summary you receive an entry into a raffle for one of our cool prizes(see below)

Workouts should be a minimun of 40 minutes of activity. Here are some examples of workouts(not an extensive list):

running
walking
biking
swimming
surfing
snowboarding
paddle boarding
hiking
power yoga or pilates

Active recovery can replace a workout 2 days a week since taking care of your body includes recovery. The following are examples of active recovery (must be 20 minutes or more)

foam roller
deep tissue massage
stretching

Your weekly summary can be as brief or detailed as you want, but make sure you include something for each day. Here is an example of a “brief” summary:

Monday – stretch
Tuesday – Surf – 2 hours
Wednesday – Swim 40 minutes
Thursday – Run 5 miles
Friday – Hike 2 hours
Saturday – Bike – 1 hour
Sunday – Deep tissue massage

Here are some of the raffle prizes for “29 Day Leap Year Challenge” participants. Plus, you can’t beat the odds – one prize for every 10 participants. The more participants, the more prizes. For every 10 participants, one of the prizes wil be raffled off.

4 weeks of personal online coaching for a runner($160 value)
Team FC – racing style cycling jersey($55 value)
Team FC Headsweats Visor($23 value)
$30 discount off any service we offer
Team FC Shirt ($18 value)

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Calling it a Day

admin — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 22:46:15 +0000

Today I went on my scheduled 20 mile run and didn’t make it too far. About 3 miles into my run I stopped to loosen up my shoulders because I felt a lot of tightness. As soon as I lifted my hands into the air, I felt a muscle grab in my upper back. It felt like something was torquing on my back and so I slowly lowered my arm back down and felt the tension ease up, but the damage was done. Upon each shallow breath I could feel the deep muscle of the back. I tried to run, but I was far from normal. My arm swing had to be modified in order to make it comfortable. I decided that this tightness would not get any better so I opted to turn around and walk back. My 20 mile run turned into a 3 mile run followed by a 3 mile walking cool down.

Turning around and abandoning my scheduled run was an easy decision, but it hasn’t always been this way. I learned a valuable lesson in my mid 20′s( I’ll save that story for a later time) that I believe has helped to keep things in perspective when it comes to staying healthy. Anytime I am faced with a nagging pain or unusual tightness I remind myself of my goal – to continue a lifetime of exercise and fitness. I am not in this for the short term and sometimes a day or two is all it takes to get me back on track. Ignoring the small issues can become big issues that turn into chronic pains and injuries. Chronic pain related to exercise will most definitely lead to a shortened lifetime of fitness and you will be taken out of the game, not by choice, but because you have to. That my friends makes abandoning a scheduled workout an easy decision. Most likely I will be back to normal in a day or two and by next weekend I will feel like I never missed a step.

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Today’s Speed Intervals?….Wow!

admin — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:26:08 +0000

Today’s speed session was very impressive. Each of you completed your intervals and pushed through the entire workout. As I watched each of you complete the intervals, I knew this was a successful workout in progress. When I got home and reviewed your splits in more detail, I was even more blown away by what happend.

Here’s a summary of the workout -
1.5 -2 mile warm up
1 mile tempo pace
2 x 1 mile repeats with easy jogging in between
4 x 1/2 mile repeats with walking and jogging in between
Cool Down: 3/4 mile up to 3 miles for many
Total mileage – 7.5 – 10.5 miles

1) Mentally, you were all there today. Nobody felt sorry for themselves during the workout and all of you pushed each other through the end.
2) You followed the directions of the workout. I could see so many of you holding back those first few repeats and this is what allowed you to progress through the workout. I mentioned to all of you before, but I’ll say it again – to tap into your full speed potential you need to hold back a little at the beginning so that you can unleash the beast in the latter stages of the race. Practicing this skill is paramount to your success.
3) Camaraderie was in full effect – I think each of you surprised yourself a little today, right? Having teammates out there to drive and push you to your limits is so important. Sometimes just looking into the eyes of a teammate who is suffering just as much as you is enough to get you through the next repeat.
4) Numbers don’t lie. Almost each person ran their intervals slightly faster than the previous one. The two who did not only missed the mark by one second.

You really pushed yourself today – I could see it in your eyes. Part of the satisfaction of coaching is watching athletes succeed in their workouts and races. I am well aware that this was not the only successful workout that you have completed, but it stands out in my mind because I rarely have the opportunity to coach all of you at once and to watch the workout unfold in front of me. All of you were so focused, determined and successful this morning. Great job everyone. See you next week.

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My Fitness is Gone

admin — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 04:03:14 +0000

It’s been about a 43 days since I completed Ironman Arizona and I can honestly say that I am now just starting to feel normal again. The initial soreness and obvious fatigue was gone by the first week after the race. However, I knew that I was still not close to being back to normal. When you consider the taper going into the race, the demands of the Ironman itself, and the subsequent recovery, it’s no surprise that your body is not the same after an Iron distance triathlon.

I had 11 Ironman athletes complete Ironman Arizona and I decided to write this as a follow up to the overriding concern – “When will I feel normal and fast again?” So many of my Ironman athletes expressed concerns about their loss of fitness post Ironman. First of all, I want to reassure everyone that this is normal and expected. Secondly, this flat feeling will pass. Finally, be patient and allow yourself to rebuild slowly.

A true peak in racing form results in a loss of fitness after this peak is achieved. Sure you can aim for multiple peaks in a season, but Iron-distance triathlons make this feat a little more difficult. You have to accept this loss of fitness otherwise you will drive yourself crazy.

You will not get back to your Iron-distance speed anytime soon. Please don’t expect to feel the same way you felt the weeks and month leading into the Ironman. Think about how long it took to feel like it was “normal” to ride and run as long as you did. We built up volume and intensity over time and only time will allow you to rebuild your fitness.

Here is a little of my training experience I would like to share with you:

I started completing short workouts about 6 days after the Ironman. I have gradually added distance to these workouts.

Run - None of my runs so far(now we are at about 43 days post IM) have been close to my average Ironman marathon pace. Sure there have been times that I have run faster for a mile or two, but my average pace for every single run so far has been slower than my race day Ironman marathon pace. I accept it, embrace it, and tell myself to be patient. Today was the first day since IMAZ that I have felt like I have a little “spring” in my step. I can see the upswing in my future.

Bike - I recently completed two field tests(20 minute all out time trials one on a computrainer ) to establish my baseline power zones so that my training will reflect my current fitness. Keep in mind that this is on a computrainer so variables such as wind and terrain are eliminated and it just measures power in watts. My power numbers are depressing compared to what the same test showed in the months leading up to the Ironman. My two tests show a 20 – 23% reduction in power – that’s pretty significant. I accept it, embrace it, and tell myself to be patient.

Maintaining peak fitness cannot be done year round. That is, unless you want your year round fitness to be a scaled down version of your full potential. Accept it, embrace it and be patient.

Ironman Arizona athletes, December is going to be the slowest you will be all year, January will be your slow come back, and by February you will start feeling like you can race again. Hang in there.

Joby

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