Monday Before the Marathon

Thinking about your race strategy…. Here are some things to consider:

Average Temperature is in the 40’s –50’s and by early afternoon the temp will be in the 60’s – 70’s.  Feel free to wear a long sleeve T-shirt that you can throw away during the race. The race officials collect them and donate them to the Rescue Mission. As of now… The Weather Channel is predicting NO RAIN and 60-75 Degrees for April 30th.

Be sure to have your bib number on your racing shirt (not the one you are going to throw way) and timing chip attached to your shoe. Without a chip your race will not be timed. Without a bib number you will not be permitted on the busses or in the corrals and will be escorted off the race course. On your bib is your corral assignment.  You are permitted to enter your corral at 6:15am.  If you believe you have been assigned the wrong corral, please go the corral change both at the expo Thursday or Friday.

Upon arrival to Centennial Park, get in line for the Port-O-John. You will need it.

If you feel you must bring additional belongings to the start, your race “gear”  bag can be checked from 5-6:30am at Centennial Park.  Your “gear bag” will be located in your goodie bag that you receive at the Expo.  Gear bags must be claimed at the Finish by 3pm.

Starting Gun goes off at 7am.  Corrals will be released two at a time in 90 second intervals
21 water stations, several sport drink stations and a gel station at mile 8.
17 Med Stations (one every 3 miles, marked by Red balloons and volunteers in red shirts)
Blister Station at mile 11.1

27 Rock Stages to groove you along the course/ 27 cheerleading squads to cheer you on.
Finish Line at the Coliseum, You will receive food, drink, mylar blanket, your finishing medal, and lots of congratulations.  Be sure to smile for your picture on the way in to the Finish.

Coach Christopher McClintock

'Don't wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; great men make them.' Orison Swett Marden

Get Stronger and More Flexible With These 3 Simple Moves

Did you know there's one simple activity most people rarely do after their workouts?
S-T-R-E-T-C-H-I-N-G!

Plus, there's the benefits you get, like improved circulation and reduced stress (you DO know that stressing out causes you to tense your muscles without even realizing it, right?)
That's why today I'm going to share with you 4 simple moves (taken from Yoga) that practically anyone can do.

Cat stretch  This is simple but effective. It stretches your spine, increases abdominal strength and may help relieve back pain. Start by getting down on all fours. Now place your palms face down on the floor, like you're doing a pushup. Your knees should be underneath your hips and your shins should be resting on the floor. Inhale. As you do, let your spine curve towards the floor naturally, as you bring your head up to look at the ceiling. Now exhale. As you do, round your spine up towards the ceiling (think of a cat stretching after they wake up). Bring your eyes to your belly button as you do this. Repeat 9 more times, slowly.

Downward dog  Start on all fours again. Hands on the floor in a pushup position, under your shoulders and your knees under your hips.  Now walk your hands out a few inches in front of you. Once you're in this position, bring your hips and butt towards the ceiling, while keeping your feet planted on the ground. It should look like an inverted "V." Your feet should be hip-width apart, knees slightly bent. Hold this position while inhales and exhale deeply, 3 times. Then return to the starting position. Repeat 9 more times, SLOWLY.

Warrior Lunge  This will work your legs/butt and give you a great stretch at the same time. Stand with both feet together. Lunge forward with your right leg. Bend the right knee until it makes a 90 degree angle. Do NOT go past this 90 degree bend. Now, push your hips forward and raise both arms towards the ceiling. You'll feel a great stretch all over. Go back to the starting position. Now lunge forward with the left leg, bringing the hips  as forward and down as you can, with the arms stretched upwards. Hold the lunge position for 3 deep breaths before returning to the starting position. Continue alternating until you've done 10 stretches with each leg.
Make sure you stretch after your workouts. And when you do, throw in one or more of these basic yoga poses in there as well to increase your flexibility AND strength. 

And by the way ... if you're serious about taking your health and fitness to the next level, why not take advantage of your FREE Fitness Consultation? (an $65 value)

During this consult, you'll receive detailed information on how to get fit and trim that's tailored to YOUR body. It's the worry and stress-free way to get fit by summertime and reach your Personal Best.

My First Triathlon

In my First Triathlon I ever competed in (2001), I only entered because my friend and I thought that 3 sports in 1 day sounded pretty fun. I’d done some Marathons and Half Marathons and went into this challenge with a little bit of swagger.  Knew I could run, and had been practicing swimming and biking on a bike I had bought at a garage sale for $75, needless to say… you get what you pay for. I swear this bike weighed 30 pounds; a literal Mack Truck compared to my 15 pound all carbon bike I ride today (worth more than $75).

The evening before and the morning of the race, I treated the sprint distance triathlon like I would a Marathon. I carb-loaded on pasta and bread and rice the evening before and stuffed my face with more carbs like Danishes, cereal, bagels and more Danishes at the continental breakfast the morning of. I probably consumed 2000 calories that morning for a race that might burn 500.

The swim was 400 meters, the bike was 15 miles and the run was 3 miles. I survived the swim and the bike ok and now it was time to run, I could show these grasshoppers what an 18 minute 5K looked like. I took off out of transition looking like a champ, passing 70 year old women and 12 year old boys like they were standing still. Yes, they were beating me up until that point, but triathlon is won on the run, right? That’s when I began to feel the twinge in my legs, calves, hips and butt.

I was no stranger to the cramping that my body can deliver on a long run, but I figured this was a shorter distance and I should have been just fine. But soon my right leg wouldn’t bend and I was running straight legged until my butt muscles stopped working and I came to a standing halt. I couldn’t move. I was standing in the middle of the race course and couldn’t lift my legs to step forward, backwards or to the side. I was stuck. That’s when 70 year old women and 12 year old boys starting passing me like I was standing still.

Finally a volunteer boy scout in his red kerchief came over to see if I was okay, and I used his shoulder to get a move on again, and I was able to hobble straight legged for the last mile of the race to the finish line. After that I continued to cramp in such prestigious races as the New York Marathon, California Half Ironman, Arizona Marathon, Nashville Triathlon and other such notable events.

I have since become a smarter runner, triathlete and Coach. One of the ways was using Sport Nutritionist Mari-Etta Parrish who has all but rid me of such issues and my training has dramatically improved. Not only did she give me the wisdom and knowledge to help me train and complete my first Full Ironman cramp free and nail my goal time, but was I eating 5000 calories a day to prepare and still lost 14 pounds in the process. (I thought I didn’t have much more to lose).  Nutrition is the master key to unlock our human potential.

My (fill in the blank) hurts

There is nothing more frustrating than getting started on a fitness program and being super motivated, when all of a sudden... PAIN. The knee, the foot, the hip, the shoulder, the earlobe, can all act up and leave you wondering what to do next.

The one thing you must do, is to not-lose-heart! We have amazing bodies that heal and become stronger as we break them down. After not exercising for a few months or years, getting back into exercise will require some “dusting-off” of your joints and muscles. Ease into your exercise program and if a pain occurs, work around it.

If your knee hurts walking on the treadmill, move to something more low impact like a stationary bike. If your lower back is hurting, do your strength training sitting down. There are alternatives to your exercises that will keep you moving and pain free.

Our bodies are organic and reproductive… we are beautifully and wonderfully made to move and enjoy this world. If you are felling frustrated, simply repeat out loud to yourself these powerful words:
“My body is not a burden to me. My body is not a burden to me.”

You are in control of your success, and your willingness to find a way over and around obstacles such as aches and pains will allow you to soar past your wildest expectations. If you have questions about pain and alternative exercises, please contact me. I am here to help you reach your Personal Best.

Before a Marathon eat this....

This weekend is the New Orleans Marathon, but I don’t think that gumbo or King Cake is on the menu the night before a Marathon. Proper nutrition and the timing of that nutrition a few days before your event can make or break your Marathon race day.

You can store only so many calories and you’ll want to begin that process a few days before the event. The day before your event you’ll want your biggest meal to be the lunch time meal.
Go for these kinds of foods:
Pasta and Rice
Fruit with Lowfat Yogurt
Hot and Cold cereals
Energy bars
Big sandwich with Lowfat meats
Bread

American College of Sports Medicine and American Dietetic Association recommend 3.5 - 4.5 grams of carbs per pound of body weight. This will be about 30-40% more calories than you normally consume.

Example: Christopher weighs 160
160 x 3.5 = 560g of carbs
160 x 4.5 = 720g of carbs

That is almost 2500 - 3000 calories per day, so snacking is very important.
1 PowerBar is 45g of carbs and 230 calories.
1 cup of Pasta is about 200 calories and 40g of carbs.

Perspective: Olive Garden Lasagna portion size is about 4 servings equaling about 800 calories
Here’s to eating your Personal Best!

Avoid THIS ONE FOOD….

To improve your running I can’t stress enough the importance of nutrition. The next few weeks I will focus on how good and bad nutrition can make or break your running.
If you can avoid one thing……

High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS): HFCS is regular corn syrup that has been treated with an enzyme that converts glucose into fructose (which is sweeter). "The final product is a combination of glucose and fructose, usually either 42 percent fructose or 55 percent fructose, with the rest mostly glucose. The 55 percent HFCS is often used to sweeten soft drinks, and the 42 percent HFCS is used in baked goods.

Some experts believe that the higher proportion of fructose to glucose creates unique harm. It's easier for fructose to be made into fat than for glucose to be made into fat. Additionally, there's a relatively strong literature showing negative consequences of fructose compared to glucose with respect to raising fatty substances. It's also been suggested that the rise in obesity in the United States is related to the rise in HFCS consumption. However, most evidence suggests that the metabolic effects of sucrose and HFCS are pretty similar.


Therefore, it's been argued that adding HFCS leads to an increased consumption of foods that are less nutrient dense, leading to greater calorie consumption and eventually weight gain.

Here’s the thing, it is in so much of our “shelved foods” (food in the isles of a grocery store, and not around the edges) that it may take a while to find the finds without it. But watch your waistline decrease and your endurance increase with a lack of HFCS in your diet.

Two foods that are examples of high in HFCS are ketchup and many breads. To make a change, you can switch to organic brands.  Even Kroger has their own brand without HFCS.

Examples of drinks with HFCS include soda and ready-to-drink sports drinks. Switch to powders to mix your sport drinks because the powder does not have HFCS.
Here’s to eating your Personal Best.

The best running program is......

If you’ve been around running for more than three minutes, you’ve realized there are a plethora of systems, plans, methods and philosophies concerning what to do and how you should prepare for your first, seventh or fiftieth race.  If you ask three people, you’ll get four opinions.


USATF (United States Track and Field) says one way and Brooks-Hanson’s Project give another way. RRCA (Road Runner’s Club of America) says run slow, Maffetone method says run slower, and Galloway Method says to take walk breaks.  Then there is always your brother in law’s advice who has completed two 5K’s in the last 20 years.

Who is right? They all are. Who’s is wrong? They all are.  Is one way better than the next? It depends.

You’ve been to a book store and seen the many books on running, nutrition and exercise. There are so many choices which one is good? And not helping are the monthly magazines who need to write an article each month so they will directly contradict what they said to do last time! Assess your own needs and running history and find what works best for you. If you pick on and don’t like it, drop it and move on.

This is where I will make a plea for each person who is looking in to a training plan, to work with a Coach. A Coach can assess your current level of fitness and aerobic capacity. A Coach can see your strengths and areas to improve upon and then create a program that is right and appropriate for you and your Goal race. A Coach will incrementally increase your regimen to get you your desired results and keep you injury free. The right plan should get you to the finish line in a timely manner and achieve your Personal Best.