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.

How and Why to Cross Train

Due to the pounding running inflicts, even the most gifted runners can handle no more than about 15 hours of running per week, whereas athletes in non-impact endurance sports such as swimming and cycling routinely perform twice this amount of training.

By adding non-impact cardio workouts to your running schedule, you can gain a little extra aerobic fitness without increasing your injury risk. By replacing one or two weekly recovery runs with easy workouts in non-impact modalities such as bicycling and pool running you can reduce the amount of repetitive impact your lower extremities are subjected to, and in this way reduce injuries (without sacrificing fitness). Impact forces are the true origin of nearly every running injury.

Another benefit of strength training for cross training, particularly of jumping drills, or plyometrics, is increased stride power, which translates into greater stride length and reduced ground contact time and consequently faster race times.

Among the recent studies demonstrating these benefits was a Swedish study in which trained runners replaced 32% of their running with plyometrics for a period of nine weeks. After nine weeks, their maximum sprint speed, running economy, and 5K race times were all found to have improved, whereas runners in a control group who maintained their normal training schedule showed no improvements.

To keep running your Personal Best, you’ve got to get in that cross training.

Take our 28 Day Challenge starting February! Run at least everyday a minimum of 1 mile, and collect prizes.

Sign up at www.Personal-Best-Fitness.com

Are you up for it?
Here’s to reaching your Personal Best.

Set Your Goals - Then Tell Someone

I am going to digress for a moment from my running safety advice and talk about Goals for the New Year. It takes only two things to meet a goal, A Plan and Accountability. Take a few minutes to write down a Goal, and then three objectives to get you there.  Then share it with a trusted friend that will love you enough to hold you to your objectives.

Whether your goals are Spiritual, Financial, Family, and Fitness or running; make your Goal definitive so you are for sure when you have achieved it. Last year my goal was to complete certain races, and when I crossed the finish line, I knew I had met my goal.

Maybe your goal this year is to:           

• Complete your first Half Marathon

• Complete your first 5K without walking

• Run your best 10K time

• Complete your first trail race

• Run to raise money for a cause important to you

No matter the goal, decide now, plan it out, and tell someone. Be selfish for a moment and dream big! You will be most beneficial to your family and your community, if you first take care of yourself.
We are always here for running and endurance training questions, and to keep you accountable to achieving your Personal Best.

Happy New Year!  And here’s to running your Personal Best!