Honu here I come...

I know that I am capable of more. Something is changing. I have made some changes with my diet and I am wondering how these changes have affected me. I have been mostly lactose and gluten free for nearly 2 weeks now. I am not cramping. I do not have any digestive issues throughout the day. My legs feel fresh longer. I feel awesome. I have ordered some bars to check it out. Tri3 bars as soon as I get them I am going to give them a go.

One thing that rings through my head is Karl saying that I dont do enough. Ok so the rest of this year I am going to more. I finally feel like I have the tools necessary to do more. Here is how my first big block has begun.

Monday-Core and Strength training. I came up with 3 different circuit type training routines on all the different body parts I think I need to work on and I will strength train 3 times a week. I have a core program that I have been trying to get to more often. I have written all this into my 10 day block plan.

Tuesday-Easy run 4. Sully and I ran 4 miles. I decided that I would turn off my brain and run comfortable. I have been wondering if my brain is too active. Here are my splits. 8:14, 8:26, 9:53, and 9:36. Total: 36:11 at 9:03 pace. With ease. The hills continue to get to me. But these hills are done faster and with no trouble. I wasnt sore or tired. Easy run at 9 pace?

Wednesday- Hill repeats. A year ago I was pumped that I could climb the sisters. This day I did them twice in the same session. Not just that I was able to keep my speed over 1 mph on each one except the last one of the last climb. It is the biggest. Total time 1:14:32 and total distance of 18.42 miles. I wasnt tired until that last one. I felt strong and in control. Funny when that happens and it surprises you. Interestingly also I burned 1500 calories in a little over an hour.

Thursday-I read my schedule wrong. I was supposed to run 10 miles and swim on saturday. A short session on saturday because of the IronGirl my wife was racing in. (SHE KILLED IT). So I ran a training run. Truth is I was pumped for trail run thursdays. Ran 4 miles at my trails. Went very well. I am feeling very strong.

Friday-Rest

Saturday-Long run. 10 miles. 10:17 pace. Very hilly run and was pumped that I can bust out a 10 miler in an afternoon. It was hot and windy but Honu will be the same way. Might as well get used to it. Way to go girls who races IronGirl today. Miserable racing conditions.

Sunday (today)-Bike/Run Brick. Planned for a 50 mile bike and 5 mile run. Extra wind and cold day made that miserable. What I got was a 45.3 mile bike and a 4 mile run. Good effort. The wind will be a factor on the Big Island so I might as well embrace it. No cramping at all today. I used another gluten free brand bar and it agreed with me. I had awesome training partners. Jen and her friend were awesome. Thank you ladies for grinding with me today.

You know you have arrived when you can just bust out a full marathon with really no real training and run 3:45 or so. Karl Stutelberg you are a machine. All 9 of his marathons under 4. Quote:

“Tell me what you feel in your room when the full moon is shining in upon you and your lamp is dying out, and I will tell you how old you are, and I shall know if you are happy”

Henri Frederic Amiel

I am completely surprised by the process my body is taking. I am feeling layers of things I didnt know was supposed to happen. I feel better now than I ever did in my 20's.

Business As Usual

I have been applying some new principles to my injured walking/running population with very exciting results. In particular, the stride rate component to running. Not only have I experienced a huge change with my running but my patients are thrilled with pain-free runs immediately post metronome. I must admit that running the metronome app about 5-10 times a day is quite taxing on the rest of the room, lol. The employers are tired of it and the other patients hear the rhythm and are effected by it. Very big, measurable changes that result in significantly less symptoms. Everybody winning, awesome. My week.

Thursday-New wrinkle in my schedule. Trail run Thursdays. My first trail run from the house is a 3 mile loop with a challenging terrain. It is rocky, sandy, and undulating. Did I mention fun? Sully ran off leash for the first time and performed amazing. Exploring yet following rules and running like the great runner he is. We had a blast. 3 miles.

Friday-Off

Saturday-Swim/Bike Brick. Our first open water swim this season and it went well. Not too cold. Very windy but doable. The water level is WAY up at lake mead and it made for a great swim. About 600 meters just to get used to swimming with a wet suit and the cold water. Slow transition and off on the bike. The wind made for a long day. Even though I had a gnarly head wind I still had good numbers. I actually didnt know that until just now. I hope for good weather come race day. The bike course is different that last year so I hope to go fast. 22 miles.

Sunday-Long run. 6 tunnels route. Most likely my favorite route around. So pretty, challenging, and lots of people so it makes for a fun morning. Sully loved it too. Off leash for most of it. He made a ton of friends but listened all the same. Great times. 6 miles 4 of the miles under 9 for the fist time in a long time. Getting better. Sully had his longest run ever. We needed water as it was very hot. That will not happen again.

Big brick and long swim on tap for next week. Not to mention, I will be Kayaking the Xterra western championship off-road triathlon. I am excited to volunteer. I love to be in the water with them. Quote:

“Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.”

Kahlil Gibran

If you read any of my posts, read this one: Part 1

My yearly pilgrimage to Charlottesville, VA has concluded with another professional growth spurt waiting in the wings. The university of Virginia seems to be building a reputation as one of, if not the, leader in running research. There is not a more evidence based group of professionals and boy let me tell you they are impressive. You may have heard of the speed clinic. Here is a link to the running times article. This is the tip of the iceberg. I am so proud to be engulfed in the things they are studying. I benefit, YOU benefit, (I would like to take the time to say thank you to my loyal readers) and most importantly, my patients benefit.

They invite researchers from around the country who are studying running and as groups try to help each other gain more knowledge and experience trying to make this world a more healthy place. A really special network of learning. We are identifying problems and testing possible solutions to be accurate in what we prescribe to our patients. There was a lot jammed into 2 days of learning but here is the real world applicable stuff:

-one of the 3 hamstring muscles (biceps femoris) is injured 80% of the time. It is injured in runners right before the foot is about to contact the ground (terminal swing). With the hip in the position it is and the knee at it's respective place the biceps femurs is asked to work really hard and fast at the same time. Once injured you are more likely to have more strains. A scar forms around the injury and without appropriate strengthening the hamstring will learn to fire poorly. It stops firing the way it's designed to fire. The treatment is interesting. Stretching does not help or hurt. Strengthening the hamstring only is not beneficial but strengthening

the gluteals and core will prove beneficial. The way these muscles work together require a running expert physical therapist to provide a skilled progression of activities to remedy the situation.

-stretching remains a problem child. It sure feels good but there are no measurable benefits. The literature does state that stretching takes away from running. Stiff muscles perform better. Even in studies where researchers went to the stretchers house 2 times a week, called the stretcher 2 times a week to make sure they were stretching and there was no change in running injuries, pain, or performance. There was only a slight change in range of motion.

-gait modification. Once we identify a flaw or injury should we change the gait? What's the best way to do that? Well one way of modifying gate that has been shown to be very very effective is stopping the " vertical displacement" of running. That is how much up and down motion you make while running. This brings a ton of extra force that can injure any joint or muscle from the foot up. Here is how we test it: run on a treadmill for about 5 min or so. You want what you would consider your comfortable pace. Then count your left foot hitting the ground for 30 sec. Multiply that times 4. That is your stride rate. If you increase stride rate by 5% you can reduce the amount of force by 20%. That means you can produce and tolerate less force. If you increase it by 10% you can reduce force by 38%. You can go from pain to no pain with a faster stride rate. The change you make is you move your feet under your body and prevent over- striding. Work this up slow, you can get trouble if you don't. Example: 30 eft foot strikes in 30 sec X 4=120 strides per minute. 120 X 0.05=6, so try a new stride rate of 126. How? Try a metronome. How about music at that rate? Step to the beat! For 10%, 132 strides per minute. How does this translate to performance? Healthy running= harder, healthier training=PRs

-most likely the best thing is how these clinicians think. When athletes are hurt they are afraid of what the docs or the pts are going to say. They might make me stop! Well that is not beneficial. Why can't we as health professionals make running an activity that we can work on. When you go to pt, you better be running. Go ready to run. If they do not have a real good reason to keep you from running (

something big), you should run.

The course is always around the charlottesville 10 miler. I ran and will describe that in part 2.

Discipline is a nice change

Funny how this see saw battle goes. I have made incredible changes to my life and I have been pleased with the results. Sometimes we sit back and look at the changes and get complacent. I think I was stuck there again. I say again because I have been down this road before. It is definitely a challenge when it seems I am the only one in close proximity who is striving for these goals. I had another week completely dairy free and complex carbohydrate free. I feel absolutely amazing. I am getting leaner and leaner and my training feels so much more real. Real? Well I am feeling different things now. My muscle burn if very different. My taste buds are so different. IS what I am tasting and feeling the "right" way? If my whole life has been a smoke screen am I feeling my body for the first time? It is crazy. Here is how my week went:

Monday-Interval swim. 5 Laps easy warm-up pace in 6:03, 3 laps fast (about 80% of all out) in 3:18, recovery 3 laps in 4:01, 3 on 3:19, 3 off 4:14, 3 on 3:16, and 5 laps recovery in 6:54. 25 laps or 1,250 m. I felt strong. It was nice to speed up a bit. The last interval I had trouble keeping my form but went well.

Tuesday-Easy run and strength training. 3 mile remedy loop. KDs core, general strength. Sully is enjoying this running thing.

Wednesday-Off

Thursday-Training run. 5 miles. Sully's longest run to date. The more we change routes the better he gets at staying right next to me. He once in a while gets bored or curious but gets back on track.

Friday-Off

Saturday-Long Run. 8 miles. The longest run since the calf. It was a very windy day, we chose a very hilly course (AGAIN, lol) and it was a hard run. Felt the fatigue and twinge in the calf that recovered very quickly. 4 miles up and 4 miles down. I even had a 8:30 mile in there. Hmm...wondering how my 10 miler will go. Can I keep that pace that long? Will the calf hold up? My legs were very fatigued and sore.

Sunday (today)-Training run. Since the wind and rain was kicked up and my bike had a series of unfortunate mechanical errors, I did not ride. I was really looking forward to a long ride. Given how sore I am may be it was a good thing. Then I decided to swim. POOL CLOSED. Hmm nothing long in my cards today. The plan was to have a long ride or swim and short run. Sully needed to run. I ran the 3 mile rmlt loop and for the first time did it with no walking or stopping. Sully cooperated. It is hilly. The strength is coming. Absolutely no sign of the calf today. Miserable weather on this first day of spring.

Sully-He was pooped after the 5 miler. He hasnt reacted like that in a while. He is building up slow and seems to really enjoy himself out there. He was heart broken on saturday when he realized we werent running. He seems to be taking notes on days we run. Each run he gets more and more well-behaved. Sometimes he seems like he wants me to go faster. He is an excellent partner. Quote:

"Your heart is free, have the courage to follow it."

Braveheart movie line