After a Week

Week one of the run-commuting is on the books.

I have to say it was great and at the same time exhausting. Twice a day running with 11 hours of stand on your feet working is harder than I thought it would be.

That being said I did not add a lot of mileage this week simply because when I was done running home after work... I was pretty much toast! I did get in about 9 miles of walking with the team I train on Saturday and then managed to eek out a 5 mile run on Sunday before I got some quality beach time!

All in all, week one was a success and I'm looking forward to the expanded mileage as I get used to the split running routine.

Week two will be six days of run-commuting as I work on Saturday as well.

Stay tuned!

La Ballona/ Culver City Runabout

It was down right hot this day! And yet I love the Ballona Creek Bike Path. It's one of those places where in the middle of the city you can feel like you're NOT in the middle of the city.

Running from Santa Monica I enter the path about 3.5 miles from home at the Culver Blvd entrance seen here.

Looking under the overpass you can see all of the way down to the ocean which is very cool. At this point in the run there is actually a slight ocean breeze to keep things cool. Of course, as soon as you make the turn inland any hint of that breeze is gone. It now becomes a concrete desert that stretches out in front of you as far as you can see.

The upside of this run is it is very flat with the exception of the inclines under the overpasses.

They come in various sizes, mostly I assume depending on the width of the road you are running under. Another positive of course is these are the only shade on this part of the route. If my memory serves me correctly there were six of these underpasses on this particular run so certainly not too much in the way of hills to deal with. Probably the biggest one is the incline leading up to Dusquene Ave in Culver City where I got off the path and headed downtown Culver City.

Of course since this is a runabout, that means I can stop for a coffee if I want and conveniently, there is a Starbuck's right at the intersection of Culver Blvd and Washington Blvd in downtown.

What a very cool little downtown. Loads of shops and new restaurants and a whole lot of history as well. Today was not a day for exploring history or shopping and yet it made for a great little break.

Lots of goofy stares when a guy who is obviously running and sweaty stops to drink a hot coffee and eat a bagel and then when he's done, heads off running! Lind of funny to watch the reactions!

It's pretty much a straight shot up Venice Blvd back towards the beach from downtown Culver City and actually, although it is more inland than the bike path it is cooler because of the large shade trees along the way.

There you have it! A quick little just over 13.5 mile runabout from Santa Monica to Culver City and back.

'Nuff Said!

Two Disgusting Words!

Can't

But

As I work with clients these are perhaps the most frustrating words I can hear coming out of their mouths. Its not because I don't understand. Believe me I've used those words many times myself in the past and yet, my life didn't change until I stopped using them and neither will yours!

It goes kind of like this:

I just can't get myself to stop eating...

I can't seem to get up in the morning...

I can't find the energy after work...

I want to workout, but...

Tony Robbins once said; "The person who uses the word but all of the time usually has a big one!"

That may be a little harsh and yet it is the truth. There is a country music song playing lately and the line that sticks out to me is: "Sounds like life to me."

We all have things that get in the way of some of the things we want to do. Life will continue to happen all around you every single day for as long as you grace this world with your presence. Its inevitable! The only question then is; What are you going to give your focus to?

I constantly hear people say they would love to work out but they have kids and they just can't find the time. That one sentence has both of those disgusting words in it! In fairness, I don't have any children, in fact I'm not even married or dating at the moment and so yes, my time is my time and yet...

I work 14 to 16 hours a day almost everyday and still find the time to go for a run. And I realize, fitness is my business and so it would seem to most people that it should be easier to workout right? Wrong! Most of my time is spent in front of a computer, writing, typing, blogging, emailing, designing training programs.

And before I got into endurance fitness training, I worked 7 days a week 12 to 14 hours a day running a car dealership and that is definitely not conducive to a healthy lifestyle!

So how do I find 2 or 3 hours to train each day?

Its all about how important my health is to me. 

If you constantly find yourself saying, I want to but... your health is just not that important to you no matter what kind of lip service you give it. If its really important to you then you will wake up an hour earlier or stay up an hour later or find a way to get someone else to watch the kids for a short period of time. If its really important, you will make the time.

I know you're tired! And, if you will just get with the program you will little by little find that you have more energy and vitality. You'll find that the time you spend with your kids or your spouse or doing whatever else you have to do in life will be so much better because you made your health a priority.

I hear over and over again; my kids are my priority! I completely, one hundred percent, unequivocally agree that they should be! And consider this...

If you don't take care of yourself... who's going to take care of your kids when you can no longer do so because of your health. You have to make the time. Period! You have got to make your health an absolute must. If you are the type of person who thinks its selfish to take time for yourself then don't think of it that way. Think of it as taking time to make yourself a better parent or spouse or lover for those other people in your life. If you fear not being there for them to give them what they need... it should be pretty easy to imagine what it would be like if you weren't around and I doubt you want that!

If you have found a way to get yourself to the gym or on the treadmill or out the door there's still one more thing we need to address.

Are you going through the motions or are you really working on improving?

When you first start out exercising, we take great care to make certain that at least for the first four weeks or so you don't push yourself too hard as your body gets used to its new demands. Where the problem comes in is most people never get out of that initial conditioning phase. In other words, they start going through the motions and as the same workload becomes easier they start to see diminishing returns and don't understand why.

As you're aerobic conditioning improves you have got to continue to challenge yourself. How much?

I'm glad you asked...

With runners, as we begin to increase mileage we use a rule of thumb of no more than 10% increase in mileage per week. If a runners long run is 4 miles one week, the next week we would increase it by 10% or basically a half mile and so their long run would then be 4.5 miles.

On a treadmill you should be using the same sort of principle for speed or time or both. If you are walking at 3.5 mph for 40 minutes, the next week I would suggest 45 minutes at the same speed of 3.5. The next week I would suggest 45 minutes at 3.9 mph (10% increase in speed). 

This is where can't and but come into play. It is going to be a little uncomfortable if you are pushing yourself. I expect my clients to experience mild discomfort when they are training. I'm referring to a low threshold soreness. I am not talking about sharp jabbing pain. You should be able to increase the speed on your treadmill by .1 or .2 or .3 mph in a week without extreme and sharp pains up to a certain speed. If you can not then we need to address your form because something in the way you're moving is causing a problem.

My point is... you will have some soreness, I would be lying if I told you otherwise. You never get more out than the effort you put in!

This is usually where I hear a whole bunch of I can'ts! I just can't go any longer or I just can't go any faster than 2.3mph...

And...

When you say you can't, guess what... you're absolutely right! As long as you tell yourself you can't, you will never ever as long as you live be able to. That applies to everything in life and you can absolutely take that to the bank!

When you stop saying I can't or but and start saying I can and I will things will start to change. When you start to push yourself to go farther or a little bit faster or maybe to jog a little or even run... that's when the magic will begin to really happen!

Every day will not be perfect! Guaranteed! And yet more of them will be pretty darn good. There will be times when you do everything right and get what is seemingly zero results. If you were here with me and we took you to the lab and did all of the latest testing and then trained together everyday, there would still be weeks where you didn't feel like you made any progress. Part of that is simply your body responding quickly to its new challenges and part of it is the fact that everything you do does not result in an immediate weight loss. You are improving your cardiovascular strength and endurance, you are building muscle. Never forget that your overall body composition is changing. You may not experience weight loss all of the time as you gain muscle and lose fat and yet I'll bet you clothes will fit better!

And now I'll get off my soapbox and just repeat.

Start saying I CAN and I WILL!

Now go get active!

A Year Behind Me!

Today is the one year anniversary of my heart attack.

How am I doing?

Well, let's see... this Saturday and Sunday I did the Relay for Life 24 hours of walking/running.  I logged just over 75 miles in about 22 hours on the track.  I guess I'm doing OK!

My blood pressure is 106/60.  I guess I'm OK.

My resting heart rate is 43.  I guess I'm OK.

Looking back at the last year, I've made a lot of new friends in the health and fitness world.  Very cool!

I'm not exactly certain how I expected to feel today, what I do know is that I am definitely blessed!  And that is a pretty good place to be!

And now I think I'll go for my second run of the day!

Why Virtual Coaching?

Finding a coach who understands what your needs are and how to meet them is not always the easiest of tasks.

Go to one of the mega-gyms and you may end up with a young kid who isn't really certified and doesn't understand the needs of a variety of individuals.  Oh sure, he or she may have gone through the gym's trainer program but that's not the same as a real certification where the trainer actually committed a fairly substantial amount of time and energy in studying their skill set.

Not only that but at most of the bigger gyms, the personal trainers get paid to sell you more sessions at $50 to $200 per, and to sell you other peripheral items like supplements and gear.  Someone focused on up selling you is likely not as focused on getting you real results.

Find a local personal trainer who is actually certified and you've got to be ready to spend a fair amount of money.  Honestly, if you've got the extra money, hiring a trainer or coach who can work with you on a regular basis is definitely a worth-while investment, in most cases.  Just make sure you don't take 10 session to find out you're not a match for this particular trainer's style.

Yes, personal trainers and coaches just like all other human beings, have their own way of doing things.  If you find a trainer that is knowledgeable and yet your personalities don't match you may find yourself being discouraged and in some cases you might even find yourself thinking about giving up on fitness and that is the last thing we want.

The other alternative and one which is just starting to gain traction, is virtual coaching.  With virtual coaching you don't have to be limited to the trainers or coaches strictly within your neighborhood.  In fact , you could literally work with a coach from Italy if you wanted to.  Its more about being able to find the right one.

That seems to be easier than the traditional method.  In spite of the fact that you lack the face to face evaluation you get from in-person training, you are likely to get better attention from your virtual coach.  It just takes more thought to design a training program and then motivate someone to do it when they're not right there in front of you.

How does it work?

There are varying degrees of virtual programs.  Some very basic programs are nothing more than telling a trainer your desires for your health and them sending you a training program to follow.

Some of the programs involve a training program designed for you and limited email access to you coach during the training period (say 3 mos.)

A program like mine begins a little differently.  Once you sign up with me, you receive an assessment to fill out.  This is designed to give me a good idea of who I am working with by providing information such as current level of physical activity,  potential health risks, current lifestyle, and your personal fitness goals as you see them at this point.

After the assessment is complete, you'll receive your initial training schedule based on everything you told me about what you like and don't like and what kind of schedule you have available for exercise.  From that point forward you'll receive daily emails regarding your training and have unlimited access to email the coach with questions regarding form or nutrition or anything else that comes up during your exercise.

Its kind of like having a daily conversation with a friend only with a serious focus on moving you towards your desired outcome!

Its affordable!

With no overhead so to speak, a virtual coach is really only charging for the program design and then the daily interaction via email or occasionally via the phone.  That's a huge advantage versus a "bricks and mortar" gym because it doesn't require a huge facility to get the job done.  Bottom-line: It usually doesn't cost as much.

I have seen some of the trainers who focus primarily on just designing a program charge $200 for a three month program design and no other trainer interaction.

In my case as it is a monthly investment in your future, I charge $29.99 per month plus an initial $25 for the start up assessment.  Since it is monthly you can drop out at any time or once you feel comfortable with your training although most people do not.  Worst case scenario, if you only stayed on board for the initial month, you'd have a completed assessment of your health and current fitness levels (something many of us never really do), you'd have a customized training program designed just for you and you would have benefited from a month of unlimited email access to your trainer.  All of that for less than one typical session with a trainer in a gym.

You can begin to see why a virtual coach might be a great alternative to an in person trainer.

Which ever way you choose to go take the time to find out what you can about the trainer.  Find out who they're certified with and what their life experience is with fitness.  Your trainers experiences can come in pretty handy down the road when you find yourself stuck in a training plateau or with an injury and you trainer has already been through it.

With a trainer, without, whichever way you choose just do!  You'll be glad you did, trust me I can say that from personal experience!

Should you run/walk?

Training for an ultra marathon brings in a whole new level of training.  I love running and its mostly that love and the pure joy I get from it that keeps me going on the long runs.

But my long runs aren't 10 miles any more.  They're substantially farther.

The more I study and learn about ultra-running the more I hear the topic of run/walk method.

For some runners, its a simple matter of run until you can't and then walk for a while until you can run again.  For others its a much more methodical approach where walk breaks are integrated into the run right from the start

While I'm much more familiar with the first approach (most of us have been there at some point), I'm more interested in the latter method.

There is lots of information out there about the run/walk method.  Perhaps Jeff Galloway's marathon training program is the best known.  After a fair amount of research, I've begun experimenting with my own version of the run/walk, beginning fairly early in the run and continuing all the way to the end and I have to say that I have noticed an improvement.

I am not a speed demon and yet I find my self constantly improving with time.  As a big, relatively slow runner, I am doing my short runs of 5 to 6 miles in the 8 to 9 minute per mile range.  Once I would get beyond 10 miles my times would drop into the 11:30 to 12 minute per mile pace.

Today, I did a 11.5 mile run using a simple run 20 minutes, walk 5 minutes method and my pace improved to 10:26 per mile overall.  That's a significant improvement especially considering the fact it was hot, I was out of fuel and I was out of water (never a good combination).

I'm going to keep experimenting and reporting the results because I believe there can be some significant benefits for everyone from the beginner to the experienced.

I definitely think the planned intervals of run/walk are much better than the run until you can't method and today's results certainly point in that direction.  The other concern I have with the unplanned walking is that if you really run until you can't before you walk, it is all together possible that you may not be able to start up a consistent run again.

We shall see!

Open up almost any Internet browser and somewhere amongst the sea of information you'll find an ad that uses the term "Easy".

Why?

Well, quite honestly in this ever busier world that we live in people want the quickest and easiest solution to whatever their problem is. And quite frankly, marketers know this. They know that when they use that magical little word, they're going to get your attention.

I mean, think about it... if you were going to write an ad for a new abdominal workout video would you say:

Easy Abs!

or

Fairly Simple abs!

Most of us if we're honest want "Easy"! The unfortunate truth is - anything that is worth having requires some effort, in other words, its not easy.

The Good News is, although it may require some effort on your part being and living a healthy life is relatively simple. An example would be Weight Watchers. The program is simple by nature and although it may require you to make changes in your life that are not easy, its not complicated and hard to understand.

I've done a lot of research on why it is that most people either never get involved in fitness activities or don't stick to them. I'm the guy who if told most people don't stick to a program because its too hard, asks the question; What's too hard about it? I want to know what specifically is it that's keeping you from doing what you know is good for you?

The answers to those questions may surprise you as they did me at first. What I have found is that its not really the actual effort involved in the exercise that discourages people, its that they don't know how. A good steady training program is not going to be so difficult that you can't physically or mentally handle it, but that's not normally the problem is it.

You may have been in this situation. You decide to do something about your health. Everywhere you turn you see ads for "Easy" this or "Easy" that and maybe you even invested in some of those programs. When they arrived in the mail and you tried them out they were so complicated and hard to understand that after one or maybe two sessions you just gave up.

Let's be honest here; How many of us have an "Ab Roller" stuffed under our bed or jammed in the back of a closet somewhere?

Or...

Maybe you thought about joining a gym but just the thought of all of that unfamiliar equipment left you defeated without even trying. Maybe you joined a gym and the 19 year old trainer who obviously got hired for looks not brains, and who thinks that everyone can be motivated with a simple "Come On, You Can Do", got you so confused with exercises you'll never be able to remember that you said; "To heck with it" and never went back!

So here's the truth about being active...

1. It is not always easy! There are days for me when the last thing I want to do is go for a run or do strength training or quite frankly, anything that resembles activity. We all experience that feeling from time to time. And still I say; "The only bad run, is the one that never begins!"

2. You more than likely will experience some soreness when you first start to get active. I experience soreness on a regular basis as I continue to push myself farther and farther with my training.

3. Soreness and Pain are not the same thing! A little soreness is your body's way of saying it is in the process of rebuilding itself. Pain is your body's way of saying: "Hey dummy, something's wrong here!" A little soreness can simply mean you need to back off or take a rest and recovery day. Pain means you should get it checked out because something may very well be wrong.

4. Being active is simple. It doesn't require that you have a degree or certification in exercise physiology to get started. Yes, just like anything else, there are lots of new things to learn about the more involved in fitness you become, but you don't need to know them to go for a walk.

5. Being active can and should be enjoyable. A walk is refreshing, rejuvenating, invigorating and a great way to clear your mind. Walking with family and/or friends can be a great way to reconnect.

The more I get involved in "Virtual Coaching", the more I realize that simple is best. If the people I work with in person or online want "Easy" they got the wrong guy. If they want simple to follow instruction that slowly builds as they become progressively more fit and healthy, with an understanding that one-size does not fit all, then I'm their guy!

As the virtual coaching site launches over the next few days, that's what you can expect. Simple, fun and effective.

Remember that being active is a lifestyle choice, something you can enjoy for years to come. It's not always easy, but it really is simple!