One of the Nicest Thank You's Ever

Yesterday morning I went to the Y for my usual winter Wednesday routine: chinups, dips, pushups, dead bugs, bridges, jump rope, a little stretching (to forestall calf cramps) then a swim followed by stretching in the sauna.

As I was about to head into the pool, Betty came into the locker room and began thanking me profusely for correcting her on the treadmill starting maybe 3 months ago. Betty was "running" on the treadmill but holding on to either the side rails or the control panel frequently. She had the machine on a pretty good incline, too. I gently asked her why she was hanging on for dear life and explained that not only was it not good for her back, but it was faking a workout that could be much better. She took it pretty well initially, with a combination look of "who the fuck is this woman?" and "she looks like she probably knows a few things."

Over the next few weeks (this was before I had a treadmill at home so I was still running at the Y on weekdays), whenever I would see Betty on the treadmill and catch her holding on, I would just look at her and remind gently to stop doing that, and to either slow down the speed or reduce the incline or both. A few times when I would talk to her, I would also have the discussion about ego, and that lowering the incline and/or speed in order to be able to run WITHOUT HOLDING ON was going to yield an overall better workout for her. Literally, I was trying to teach her to LET GO!

A few weeks later, Betty commented to me about how much more she was sweating now without holding on. And as the weeks passed, when I would see her on a treadmill, I rarely saw her holding on anymore.

Yesterday she just began gushing about how thankful she was that I had approached her way back whenever that first was. She told me she now understood why people LIKE TO RUN! She said she had been READING UP about running on the Internet and had seen stories of women MUCH OLDER THAN HER who had taken up running and run marathons and beyond. She said she now knew that it was NEVER TOO LATE TO START to become fit. She said she wants to RUN A HALF MARATHON NEXT YEAR!

My objective with her was never to get her to go longer or even to race. My goal was to encourage her to use proper running form so that she could get a better workout. Now, before I ever began correcting Betty on the treadmill, she had spontaneously commented to me about how muscular and fit I am, as she'd seen me changing countless times in the locker room. So I figured she had some idea that I might know a thing or two before I first approached her while she was working out.

All I ever wanted for her was to feel what it was like to do the thing she was trying to do WELL. And of course, when you do things the right way, they usually FEEL GREAT! I was just so tickled to hear her go on and on about how excited she was about how good she feels, that she is running more at a time than she ever dreamed she could, and she told her husband all about me and she asked me about actual running clothes.

I am always careful to tell people who want to know what all I do that what I do isn't what it takes to be fit--that a person can do far less than me and be quite fit and eat a varied diet and not feel like they are constantly sacrificing. Typically I tell people 1 hour a day (focused work that is a mix of strength and cardio) plus a clean diet and you can allow yourself a cheat day every week and you are good to go. I know that many people are challenged by their work schedules, children, whatever, so I can understand a struggle to put in the time. But when a person gives me excuses about not being able to fit in an hour a day, my first question is, "Do you watch TV?" I can pretty much guarantee that working out for one hour will leave you feeling overall better than watching TV for an hour.

I don't have time to help everyone I see at the Y who is using equipment wrong, doing crunches with ghastly form or doing the same thing every day and wondering why they are at a weight or fitness plateau. But if I can help one person here and there, I am good with it. That has been my MO for a number of years now--walk the walk, talk the talk, but don't preach BE LIKE ME.

After I swam, I did head to the sauna to stretch for a bit, and a woman in there was doing crunches with god awful form--jerking her chin to her chest, curling her back, raising herself up too high--for starters. I asked her if she'd like a few tips on how to do these with better form so that the work accomplished what she wanted. She bit. I showed her. She asked if I was a "personal trainer." No. How do I know about this stuff? Been doing it for years, a combination of self-taught plus learning from whoever would take time with me and being OK with being corrected when I was doing things wrong.

Now isn't that what life is all about? Learn from others, teach yourself, and leave your ego at the door so that you can be open to new ideas.

I love this "job!"

Going Big During the Winter

I backed up last week's almost 19 hours with another big week. Here's how it went down:

Totals	Week 19: 12/13/2010-12/19/2010
Swim:	ATP: 15300 yards in 5.58 hours Scheduled: 15300 yards (8.68 miles) in 5.58 hours Actual: 16400 yards (14996.16 m / 9.31 miles) in 5.82 hours; 30% of weekly workout time Longest swim 9500 yds (5.39 miles) Approx. 2037 calories burned
Bike:	ATP: 5.5 hours Scheduled: 5.5 hours Actual: 116 miles (186.68 km) in 5.5 hours, Total TSS=0 28% of weekly workout time Approx. 2475 calories burned
Run:	ATP: 5.75 hours Scheduled: 5.75 hours Actual: 34.43 miles (55.41 km) in 5.83 hours (30.43 miles/4.83 hrs run; 4 miles/1 hrs hike) 30% of weekly workout time Approx. 2350 calories burned
Strength:	ATP: 1.5 hours Scheduled: 1.5 hours Actual: 2.43 hours (1.68 regular; 0.75 extra crap) 12% of weekly workout time Approx. 608 calories burned
All Sports:	ATP: 18.33 hours Scheduled: 18.33 hours Actual: 159.74 miles (257.08 km) in 19.58 hours Approx. 7470 calories burned (9790@500/hr)
Sleep:	8.71 hours avg./night
Stretching:	3.35 hours stretching, 0 hours massage

It's funny to me that my MO used to be "more biking never hurt." Now it's swimming. I didn't really go overboard on the swimming, though--it's just that since I've been on this early to bed, super early to rise regimen, I figured I'd have time on Friday for 9500 yards instead of just 8500 as scheduled. The 9500 did not feel bad at all! I can remember back last year when I began approaching 8,000 yards and how traumatic it was, but I am much, much stronger now. Plus I'm spot on with my night before, pre-, during and post-swim nutrition which makes all the difference in the world.

I have also been trying to add on 10' to the end of my long runs, if only to do strides, just because I am doing all my non-long run running at home on the treadmill, and I do enjoy spending time on the track, so I've been doing the last 5-10' of my long runs on Sundays on the track at the Y. I am just not in the mood to add any extra biking right now since I'm just on the trainer, but if I can structure it properly, I plan to swim outdoors again this summer which means I'll ride a bike there and back and pick up some extra miles.

It is nice to be able to do a little more than I've scheduled and know that I won't trash myself. 15-30' extra on a long swim is not a big deal, and neither is 10' of extra running. It's all good. Except when it's during a recovery week. Even though I am doing those (this coming week is one), I usually look at the schedule and think I can add this or that and it won't matter. But it would matter. So what I do instead is make a "big day" during the recovery week where I just combine two days into one, and then it feels like I did "enough." For example, this coming week, on Friday I will do a 3-hour swim and 3-hour ride together, and then Saturday is basically a day off. There is great value in me doing a 6-hour workout like that, and then taking the next day off. Maybe that doesn't sound too recover-ish to some people, but it works for me.

I am now thinking that instead of just swimming 10k on New Year's Eve that I should go overdistance and swim like 12,500. It just feels like something I should do. I know I can swim 10k, but I know I can swim 12,500, too, and it is not like running a marathon in terms of recovery so I am going to see if I can get enough lap swim time at a pool to do it.

After this week, my next 18+ hour week won't be for another 7 weeks, so it should feel to me like I am getting a whole lot of rest between now and then, right? I think so. Even though a lot of the time right now is swimming, it is still a lot of time to put in and the rest will be good. I've picked up on my sleep, too, so hopefully that good habit will stick with me.

Putting in lots of training hours in the winter can be a great thing for one's overall endurance. You just need to be careful to not put in too much intensity (which is true of high volume weeks, period) and back off when necessary. Last week I felt pretty worked by the time Sunday arrived, but today my long run felt pretty great, and so I know my body has adapted to the buildup I've given it. Of course, I did have about 9 weeks of low volume, so I shouldn't be surprised, but still it is always a bit of a shocker to the body when you throw 17+ hours at it, but I've done this many times before, and it always feels really great when I'm good with it.

So even though many coaches and training plans espouse an "off season," actually winter is a great time to put in some big volume plus decent intensity, depending on your overall fitness. It lays the groundwork for you to then decrease the volume just a bit and add more intensity, then progress to even higher volume. Plus it makes you mentally tough to be putting in the big training when everyone else is slacking!