2017 - Week in Review - 21 May - 28 May

Weekly Reflections and Focus

I am hearing a lot of different folks starting to complain about Knees, Plantar Fasciitis and more. Here's a quote from a respected doctor I liked (The Run Doctor - Trevor Williams - SLC area):

60% of running injuries are related to an error in your training. Follow a good training program that incorporates intervals, recovery runs, tempos, speed work, etc. The most important factor may be what you do in the gym for strength and mobility. Beyond training errors, the most likely reason to suffer an injury is inadequate biomechanics. This involves 4 factors: strength, flexibility, alignment, and anatomy. Poor anatomy includes things like a stress fracture or mineral deficiency. Address each of those factors and you're on the path to your goals. Equipment really plays a small role overall. Sounds like it would be helpful for you to see a doctor to check each of those factors so you'll know where your risks are at and how to manage them. ~ Trevor Williams - The Run Doctor

The major take home, is a lot of runners, triathletes and exercise enthusiasts tend to get hurt at this time of year after a few of their first few major events. Not taking a well-rounded approach often leads to folks wrecking themselves and ending up injured. I was one of these athletes 3 years back, but I finally listened to a Knee doctor and also to my wife. I changed my approach, focused on incorporating injury prevention to my training. My wife still wants me to do more strength training, but I just don't like gym rat stuff. I included hip strengthening exercises on my runs, and in the pool. I try to ride my bike enough for compatible muscle group movements. So many folks are seeking a singular 'pill' like solution when its not just an isolated issue. It's very apparent that many lose sight of the overall options that need to be considered in developing the 'recipe' that is correct for them - as it is not a simplistic one size fits all answer.

Allergies

With the changing of the seasons, comes the dreaded allergies. I was good until we went to SLC to volunteer at the SLC Gran Fondo last weekend. Since then, and with all of the rain yielding to growth and now pollination overload, I have the dreaded allergy sniffles. My mucous production is up and I am waking up with sinus pressure most mornings. Out cottonwood trees are releasing cotton, and it looks like a May snow has infected our lawn. We inherited these wonderful trees, and I am sure for 14 days we are the most dreaded topic of the neighborhood. Oh well. Up the water intake, take allegra when needed and thinking about grabbing Claritan D for the next few weeks.

Returning to MAF

So, I have slowed my paces down and am back to a personalized version of MAF. It's heart rate based training and it is running slow to run fast later. A lot of folks ask what MAF is. Dr. Phil Mafetone explains Maximum Aerobic Function here at his blog/website. I feel I need to reduce things back down a bit for some things and maintain a few intensity runs. This will keep things in the proper place and also require me to focus on my nutrition and not let it go. I have been lazy with nutrition and its time to bring back the discipline. The MAF method also helps reduce too much intensity which often exposes you to an increased opportunity to injury. There are so many methods out there, and returning to MAF is a great way for me to stay centered and make sure that each activity, each step yields the overall accumulation and results I personally want to see.

Other thoughts

Well I recently won an entry into the Daybreak Triathlon. This is near our friends home. I entered on a whim seeing the contest via facebook through a new friend The Blonde Runner. Well minutes before crashing out and getting sleep for the volunteering event, I get a Facebook PM from Lora. She told me I won the entry. I am watching my email for the entry and will do this Olympic length tri. It should be fun. As I have mentioned recently, i am a bit anti event. It's mainly b/c for me this has become a lifestyle and not so much about competing and winning. I am solid and strong. I need to keep pushing, but i am in a very competitive and stacked age group. I will turn 43 in June and there are a lot of talented triathletes in this group. I am focused on me and my personal fitness and health journey. I sure enjoy helping others along the way, and that for now is where I am. I think if I lose another 10 pounds of weight and and keep that off I can re-calibrate and compete a bit more.

I volunteered again for an event on Saturday. My goal was to earn the way into Drop 13 which i will be pacing a local friend through (Laura McGinnis - I am bringing a megaphone and a spatula for sure).

Overall it was a great event to volunteer for - it's called MT Green half Marathon (Boys Chase Girls). The RD Joseph Coles requested more volunteers with this race and Isela, Gloria and I rode down together. We got there and after a bit, we got involved with food and I ended up perching at the race finish and taking these photos Click here:

It was good to run into a few folks from Logan - Shawn and Tawnya, saw Jenni (I think it was her) on course as we headed out - she was sweeping the course. Also ran into Wanderly from Run4Fun - very kind and solid ultra runner. It is always humbling running into folks that think highly of me and my triathlon stuff. I am just a normal guy, that got tired of being in a rut and changed. Sure, I think I have a different approach - zen focused - but I do know what I do is pretty cool and amazing, but I don't like to belittle others in their own journeys - they are all quite unique. It was nice to be able to give back a little and help some of the other runners that were participating. It was fun to see the 5k and 10 k folks head out from race finish on a simple out n back. It's always nice to see supporters of the participants and their passion for those they support. We all participate in these things for different reasons. For me, it is soo early to run, and I am used to swimming and biking first. Some of these runners are solid and amazing. Some of them are changing their lives and beginning something new and still struggling to identify and define the new lifestyle. What I enjoy a lot in Utah, is generally folks are positive and not overly cranky. It can get competitive for sure, but most are very supportive and happy and understand the journey to finding fulfillment through movement and relationships.

So, overall, it was a great week. i was very tired after volunteering and killing it on my bike ride. I cut my time by 2 minutes on my typical 20 miler. I got a quick word in with a local rider - Jordan, but weren't able to connect for a ride - 2 different goal sets :) And that is ok.

I am going to try to throw in some posts about some local running routes that i enjoy and some cycling routes too. I will use Strava to help and maybe even some photos. I am planning on reviewing from my Point of View (pov) - training peaks, Strava, Garmin Connect and Train Xhale and why I use these data centric tools in my journey.

I have an itch to get a new Garmin device using my skymiles, but I will see. the fenix5 sapphire watches look - wow - link to an in-depth review.

And there is Juniper screaming - maybe an edit later. Cheers!

Activities - Strava Logs (Shane's Strava link)

(Look for rollover links if you are Strava stalking me :) )

Monday
Activity 1 - RUN, SWIM
Tuesday
Activity 1 - SWIM
Wednesday
Activity 1 - SWIM
Thursday
Activity 1 - RUN
Friday
Activity 1 - Rest Day
Saturday
Activity 1 - RIDE

STATS

Weekly high 197.1
Weekly low 194.0

Targeted Activity and Focus Points

SWIM

Great Monday Swim - focus on 100's and 50 sprints - Sink downs 3 sets for breathing
- injury prevention - hips water. I also had a 500 yard distance that felt easy and controlled.

BIKE

I wanted to have a solid ride. The change in my aero position, the arm pads was huge. My bike ride shows this with my overall average MPH.

RUN

Just getting in volume.

Nutrition

Need to be more disciplined. I small uptick in the consumption of steak - 2 ribeyes this week. Need to monitor and get back to lowering sugar of all forms and returning to correct intakes and macro distributions. nutrition is my worst element.