What is an athlete and are you one?

As a young girl, I remember being glued to the TV during the time of the summer Olympics. I was watching when Nadia Commenci scored a perfect ten. Vivid in my mind is Mary Lou Retton performing some amazing jump on the horse with a sprained ankle and the coach carrying her around. My dad was out participating in triathlons when I was young too, so, I believe all of this has made me the athlete I am today.

Who inspired you?

Women who have always inspired me include Joan Benoit Samuelson, Kathrine Switzer, Connie Carpenter, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mary-Lou Retton, Gabrielle Reece. For the athletic males, I love Garrett Anderson (Angels Baseball), Mark Cavendish (pro cyclist), Floyd Landis, etc..These people are professional athletes and have actively pursued their dreams to their fullest potential. But, just because I am not a paid professional athlete doesn’t mean I am not an athlete!

Quickie Definitions.

So, here is where my definition differs from the standard definition. Oh, but, for your reading pleasure, I gathered a few definitions for comparisons sake.

Webster’s New World Dictionary states it is a person trained in exercises or games requiring strength, skill, and stamina, etc..

From Wikipedia, A person who actively participates in physical sports, possibly highly skilled in sports.

Free Dictionary: A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.

I am an athlete. Runner, cyclist, passionate about all things related to being athlete- whether it’s nutrition, stretching, whole body awareness, mental training, you name it. I have never been to the Olympics, but I regularly compete against myself and in races. There is always a challenge and a goal in which I am trying to achieve. Cyclist husband is an athlete as well. He actively pursues cycling to the best of his ability (time, opportunity and dedication).  Many of our friends are athletes!  Some are retired professional bike racers, competitive cyclists, ex-professional downhill skiers or avid weekend athletes.  You, readers are athletes!

Here is why I think you are an athlete:

1. Actively pursuing YOUR athletic dreams, potentials, loves
2. Dedication
3. Training
4. Skill

If you are actively pursuing bowling three times a week, I think you’re an athlete. If you are regularly training for a stronger body (such as Strength for Life) I think you’re an athlete.  Demonstrating your dedication to a healthy lifestyle- whether it’s the treadmill, elliptical (although I have issues with these things), 2 spin classes a week, regular attendance in any exercise class- you are an athlete.  On a side note: an athlete is someone who loves what they do!  Athletes have found a skill, endurance sport or a game that they LOVE to do, so they actively pursue it.  

When is the line drawn between athlete and weekend warrior?

A weekend warrior is a person whom never exercises at all, YET,  plays softball once a week and calls it exercise!  Or the idea of exercise is moving from the recliner to the fridge.  Twice a year golfer but don’t do anything else.  

It’s your dedication

Athletes will demonstrate year round dedication to health and wellness.  In the end, you are an athlete if you put forth the effort and the time to improve- in whatever sport it is!

So, athletes what did you do to actively pursue your athletic dreams this weekend?

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WARM-UP

Sometimes these posts are things I’m currently learning (banging my head against the wall) and sometimes I am attempting to reteach myself better habits…

I love love love training for this marathon. I have never before trained for something in such a specific structured way. In fact, I’m already planning which plan I’d like to follow when I’m done with this marathon. How could I operate for 37 years without a plan? I used to just go out and run. Run. That’s it. If I could ride, then I rode. If I had time to lift weights, I grabbed the weights and counted to 15 and called it lifting. I have learned so much in the past year, by writing it, by thinking about it, by reading massively…

DRILLS/STRETCHING

Today, I was doing what I always do. Stretch while thinking of fifty other things to do with the 10 minutes of quiet time that I had. My children were happy to watch Francis in Swiss Family Robinson try to catch an elephant, so I was taking the opportunity to stretch. My running buddy (new blogger- stop over and say hi) and I ran 8 miles this morning with 6 miles at our Planned Marathon Pace (8 minutes a mile or faster). People, I am getting stronger. Bobbi used to DROP my a** on these intensity runs, but she hasn’t lately..Humm, maybe, there is something to this marathon plan and the CORE training that I am doing?

Throughout the last couple of miles, I had some nagging tightness in my hamstring. In fact, so tight, that later in the day I cramped if I did something weird, like hand crackers over a seat. (College buddy, Tammy and I took kids to working farm to eat vegetables on a tracker).

INTENSITY/FOCUS

The go fit flat bands are what I used to stretch my hamstring, in high school we used towels…I could not MOVE my leg at all. Stuck. Tight. My leg was stuck in a road block or something. And I was rushing. Got to stretch. Got to cook dinner (etc…) Mindless mental chatter. STOP. LISTEN. BREATHE. STRETCH. After that, I started to make some gains on the leg. It moved a tiny bit. Took another breath, it moved a little more. It was all about slowing down long enough to THINK about what I was doing. In some literature, I’ve read that you can actually see more progress when you actually focus on the muscle being worked. This is true to life, too. If we can really have tunnel vision for the moment, maybe we’d be more effective in our daily lives.

COOL DOWN

“The state of your body influences your mind. If your body is stiff and rigid, or collapsed and limp, your mind will follow suit. (Gelb pg. 219) What a way to close this post! As I’m learning, I share. Listen to your body, focus on what it needs and take the necessary to steps to stay healthy in mind and body. I am so grateful, that my body has gotten me this far, certainly would like to see it through to the end, you know?

Quote from this book.



Digg!

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Guest post by Coach Al Lyman! If you’re new here, I’m training for the St. George Marathon using his very detailed, structured marathon plan and I was curious as to the “why” of hopping in the plan. So, here is the answer. Thought you all would be interested in this!!

If you want to be able to run faster or longer more easily, it stands to reason that one of the key goals during your training should be to decrease the energy cost of running, or to put it in scientific terms, increase your efficiency or economy of movement. If you can do that, any given running speed will be at a lower percentage of your maximum “cost,” and thus should feel easier for you. Before I tell you some quick and easy ways to improve your running efficiency, I want to tell you a little bit about what is actually going on during the run stride that directly effects how efficient you are.

As you may know, about 50% of the energy that propels you forward during the run stride comes from elastic and reactive “energy-return” of your muscles! Your legs are essentially acting like springs when you run. When your foot hits the ground, various muscles and tendons are stretched and this stretching process stores energy. When the muscles and other soft tissue recoil as you toe-off, that energy is returned to help you move forward. If you didn’t have this “energy return,” then your heart and leg muscles would have to work a LOT harder for you to be able to run at any given speed.

The key to improving efficiency, or as I put it earlier, to “decrease the energy cost of running,” is to train to enhance the energy return, or “springiness,” of your legs. If they can store more energy, and release it more fully and more quickly during toe-off, your energy cost to run at that speed will decrease, and you’ll be able to run faster. This is the principal reason why you hear me say in Runner-CORE that one KEY to improved running form is to get your feet UP and OFF the ground as quickly as possible. Short ground contact time is unequivocally one of the most important elements to improved form, and improved efficiency.

Runner-CORE is a great program to help you begin to improve your functional strength and coordination so that your legs become more elastic, resilient and “springy.” To get even more benefit and take this to the next level however, you should begin to augment your training with some specific drills which will do a great job of enhancing this springiness, and thus your efficiency.

Incorporate the 3 drills below into your running and strength routine, and watch your energy cost drop and your leg speed and endurance soar! The first drill takes an existing exercise from Circuit #3 and enhances it. The 2^nd and 3^rd drills you can integrate into any run you do.

I highly recommend you try these as a part of your Runner-CORE workouts (as outlined below), or integrated right into your “quality” run workouts, AFTER your warm-up but prior to the “quality” portion of your run. Use caution as you progress – if you’ve never done hopping or bounding for any length of time, you may well be sore in the 26-48 hrs afterward. Have fun, train smart!

1) One-Leg Split Squats with Lateral Hops:

In circuit #3, one of the most challenging exercises are the 1-Leg Split Squats. You can progress with these by incorporating lateral hops on each leg. To do these, stand with one leg forward and one leg back up on a bench or block. As you lower the front leg to the point where these is about a 90degree bend in your front leg, explode UP and hop laterally about 10-12 inches, hop back to center, and then immediately hop to the other side about the same distance of 10-12 inches, before coming back to the center one last time. That’s 4 hops in all. Maintain good upright posture at all times and keep the back leg in position. Explode upward and to the side and really feel the enhanced SPRING in this action!

2) One-Leg Hopping:

Integrated into your run workouts or as part of a Runner-CORE session, these rapid “hops” (done in place or while you’re moving gradually forward) can get challenging! Begin with one foot up and the other in contact with the ground, with support right over your mid-foot. Begin hopping on one foot as fast as you can, as though your feet are in contact with a hot stove or hot coals! Your hips should remain nearly motionless and NOT move up or down. The action is at your feet! After hopping for 30 seconds on one leg, switch to the other side. Begin with 1 or 2 sets of 30-seconds on each side, and progress up to as much as 3-5 sets of 1-minute or more.

3) Skipping!

Occasionally integrate 2-3 sets of 20 to 30 seconds of skipping into a run. Try to keep ground contact time as short as possible and explode forward, bounding farther and farther with each stride. Start with short segments until your body has time to adapt and build both duration and sets over time. Have fun with it!

To summarize, I like to integrate these “hopping” segments right into my runs, by mixing in short fast segments of running in between the hopping sets. Mix it up, challenge yourself, and have fun! When you do these, you’ll soon discover that they can tire you out quickly, and that as you fatigue, it becomes harder and harder to get your feet UP off the ground quickly!

As always, you should use caution and start conservatively as you implement these drills into your routine. They are challenging and will result in some soreness if you’re doing them for the first time. Train smart, be progressive, and have fun!

Happy Trails!

- Coach Al

Coach Al Lyman, CSCS, is a nationally recognized full time professional coach, author, columnist, and motivational speaker, who has truly “been there and done that” in the world of endurance sports and his passionate about helping other get there too. As an athlete, besides being a 25-time marathon finisher with a PB of 2:39 at the Boston Marathon, Coach Al is a 9-time Ironman Triathlon finisher and has qualified for and finished 3-times at the World Championships in Kona, Hawaii. As a coach, his mission and passion is to “help people from every walk of life and ability level to achieve their dreams and goals through their participation in endurance sports.” To read his “story,” go here: http://coach-al.com/bio.html

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Dear Body,

I need you to hold me up to run the marathon! Quit giving me weird pains in my legs with no warning. Right shin occasionally feeling a shin splint kind of pain. Left knee tingles weirdly and I have tight ITB bands. I don’t know if I am being overly sensitive or if I’m just listening to my body A LOT. You treat me well during the runs (my times are great, I am right on schedule with the plan- it’s after the run where you start talking to me). I really want to have a good marathon experience but all these weird pains are making me paranoid. I am attempting to treat you with respect: stretching, core work, myo-fascial release, resting (?!!)

From: Brain Training for Runners by Matt Fitzgerald.

Illiotibial Band Friction Syndrome means weak abductors, tight ITB bands, and the remedy is strengthening hip flexors, stretching and deep tissue massage.

Shin Splints caused by increasing mileage too quickly or overstriding and the remedy is to reduce running then increase it more slowly, gait retraining, and changing shoes.

Patellofemoral Pain syndrome (runner’s knee) caused by weak hip adbductors, weak quadriceps, week deep abdominal muscles and the remedy is to strengthen hip abductors, quadriceps, and deep abdominals.

Message here:

Runner’s need as much core/functional strength as you can get!! The more I run, the more I stretch and strengthen on those off days. Thinking that the weight training is almost more important than the running.

Eccentric Leg Squats for Runners:

Stand up straight. Lift one leg up to a 90 degree angle and do a half squat. 10 repetitions on each leg for 2 sets. This exercise can be done in a variety of ways- but the bottom line is to strengthen weak quad muscles as well as your balance.

What do you guys think?

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Sara Kirsner, founder and designer of Doie Designs, has created fabulous, eco-conscious clothing made out of bamboo! These clothes are cold washable, hang dry, softer than cotton and incredibly comfortable. The clothing is a combination of bamboo jersey and 100% silk.

“Bamboo fabric is incredibly soft and has a natural sheen to it. It is naturally anti-microbial, which means that the fabric actually prevents bacteria from growing on it, resulting in clothing that remains odor-free longer than other fabrics. It is naturally breathable to help keep you dry and comfortable. Bamboo fabric stays around 2 degrees cooler in hot weather and can also keep you warmer in cool weather.”

A note from Sara about her hobbies and fitness:

I grew up in Northern CA, so I always loved to go hiking or on long walks outside. Here in New York I do a lot of cardio classes, at the gym, like kickboxing, and I also do Pilates at a Pilates Studio. I exercise for both physical and mental health reasons. I will be moving to Los Angeles next week and I plan to do a lot more outdoor activities- like hiking in Runyon Canyon.

Doie Designs has been in business for three years and can be purchased online as well as some boutiques across the country. Click here to find a store in your area.

Doie Designs has been featured in Yoga Life, Family Circle, and Nashville Lifestyles, just to name a few. I am a firm believer in less is more. One quality piece of clothing that looks fabulous is better than 10 cheap cotton shirts from Target. The price is worth it!

Here are a few of my favorites:

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