Stretch.....Yeah!

I recently read an article on flexibility and how it helps your running, which reminded me of the Lil' Jon song lyric, "bend over to the front and touch your toes," which reminded me I can't touch my toes, which brought to light the fact I should probably become more flexible. You'd think a guy with monkey arms could touch his toes, but its a long way down there, okay?

While there is some debate on whether being flexible has a direct correction to running faster, the point of the article was stretching and having good joint and limb mobility will help prevent injuries and allow for a full range of motion...which could increase speed.

When should you stretch? Before or after? While there is some debate on flexibility's correlation to speed, there's an all out war on when to stretch, before or after a run. Runners will swear by either point in time. I tend to stretch after a run or workout, but do what works best for you. Do some experimenting and try stretching before workouts for a week, then try stretching after workouts for a week. Determine which one worked best.

What's great about stretching is that it can be done anytime and anywhere. So on those days where you don't feel like working out or you're feeling guilty you haven't stuck with your training regimen, throw in a quick 20-minute stretching session and at least you'll be contributing to your marathon or triathlon success.

Benefits of stretching include increased flexibility, improved range of joint motion, improved circulation, and stress relief. So, let's all pledge to really concentrate on stretching and stretching correctly.

Hopefully in a few months I'll be able to say, "Shorty got low, low, low, low" and ran faster!

A better tagline...

I don't want to use this blog as a soapbox, but something yesterday really bothered me and I want to address it. Yesterday I was watching TV and a commercial came on the television for a new video game titled "Call of Duty:Black Ops." The commercial depicts ordinary citizens and celebrities (Kobe Bryant and Jimmy Kimmel) engaging in close quarters military combat. At the end of the commercial the tagline appears "There's A Solider In All of Us." Well...sorry Activision, but I disagree. I don't think everyone has a little solider in them and that's what makes the people that defend this great country so special. While I don't think it was Activision's intention to directly compare the pimply faced 12-old that will buy the game and spend hours rotting his brain to the smart, talented, mentally and physically fit, brave men and women that leave their family, lives, and careers to defend this great nation, but I would suggest they change their tagline. I would recommend a less audacious tagline like..."Everyone can complete a marathon!" (While it probably won't help them sell video games, it would be truer than their original rubbish.)

It's all about the race shirt...

The Beer and Bagel Run was a great event. Running on an “off road” course provided variety and a change of pace from triathlon training. The course was laden with hills and even required you to scale down a steep grade, jump over a small steam, and climb-up the other side of the ravine with assistance from ropes. The event played host to almost 1,500 runners, 3x the number of participants from the year prior. The event also boasts the best race shirt in the state with famous tag line, “I’m a drinker with a running problem.” Which got me thinking about my drinking problem…just kidding. It got me thinking about race shirts.

It’s all about the race shirt! Tip to race directors, if you want people to sign up for your race…have an awesome race shirt. My wife says the only reason she enters running events is for the race shirt and I know she isn’t the only one who feels this way. What makes up a good race shirt? I think it starts with a good color. No one wants a salmon pink race shirt, sorry Cirque Du Soleil 5K Vegas. It should have a good race logo. It also should NOT be overloaded with sponsor logos, sorry Race for the Cure 5K. While I support the Susan G. Komen Foundation, I do not support putting sponsor logos on the front, back, and even the sleeves. I also think it should be Dri-Fit material or equivalent, because a cotton t-shirt says “we’re cheap and we know nothing about running.” (See Previous Blog “Let’s Talk About Socks….” for reasons why cotton sucks.)

So race directors, just remember when someone is asked on Monday “How did the race go?” People will usually answer with the following three subjects:

1.) General consensus of the event (“It was fun” “It was awesome” “It was tough”)

2.) Course Description (“It was hilly” “the course was flat") and

3.) T-shirt (“The t-shirt sucked” “the t-shirt was awesome” “the t-shirt was ugly”)

Day 1 of Tri Training...Yikes!

And so it begins...training to be a triathlete. Swim, bike, run.
Day 1 Workout: (30 minutes SWIM, 30 minutes RUN)
30 minutes of running? Are you kidding me? Piece of cake! I just got done with a marathon, I hope I can run for 30 minutes without stopping. (Note the extreme overconfidence because later in this process I know I'll get put in my place, but right now I'm going to reap the dividends that come with running a marathon, which equals being able to brag about running for long periods of time or distance.)

Based on my limited triathlon research, it appears training is geared around heart rate and time, rather than distance and pace. So...30 minutes of running=Done, no idea on distance or pace.

Next the Swim Workout. I have yet to get a gym membership that offers a pool. I will obviously need to get in the water at some point, but today just wasn't the day to get that done, so I Googled "Swimming Substitute Workouts" and Google delivered about 276,000 results in 0.35 seconds. Since I feel swimming will be my weakest event because 1.) it's most people’s weakest event 2.) limited pool time and 3.) most likely poor technique, I really wanted to find a good swim-like workout. I found what seems to be a good alternative weight room workout for swimmers and triathletes put together by Ben Greenfield, from Pacific Elite Fitness.
The workout consists of:
WARM UP: 15 minutes of row machine or ladder machine. Today I chose row machine. Fun times!

ARMS: [3 Sets, 15 Reps] of straight arm pull downs, bent arm pull downs, and standing cable row

LEGS: [2 sets, 15 Reps] of leg kicks and kick backs. I attach this little band thing to my ankle and kick out like I was kicking a soccer ball. It didn’t feel like I was really doing anything, but I’m sure it was working something.

CORE: [3 Sets, 15 Reps ] of Superman's, Bike Crunches, and Mountain Climbers. I love how ab workouts have fun names, so they don’t sound so torturous.

All these should be done with limited rest in between sets. And you know what? When I was done I thought to myself, it does kind of feel like I just got done swimming, so kudos Ben Greenfield, you really do know the muscles used in swimming.
So...Day 1, I'm considering a success. Not too sore, felt like I got a good workout, and of course had fun doing it!

Beer and Bagel Run Off-Road Race on Sunday! Never done an off-road race, so I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

We had a winner (and only participant) for the Running Costume Contest Idea. A sweet prize package to be gathered and sent soon. I hope you all feel bad for not participating.

“100 Mile Week” to hopefully happen soon. I got to get over this season’s first cold before I go and wreck the temple.

Get out there and run! It’s getting colder outside….