Realizing Goals

by Bryan Peterson (taken from the Fastest Men Alive blog)

It’s been nine months since the first juice fast (back story here).  It’s been a very wonderful and interesting journey.  I’ve come along way since my first post when I committed myself to this healthful endeavor.  Since that first juice fast that started it all, I’ve done two other juice fasts, did a bike two-day bike ride from Houston to Austin, competed in my first triathlon, completed the Tough Mudder, and have truly transformed my life.  I just had a birthday and I feel like I have a lot of my life ahead of me now.

When I first committed to doing a juice fast, I also committed to lead a healthier, more active lifestyle.  The goals I had set for myself were to complete a 10 day juice fast and, by the end of the year, run my first marathon.  They were lofty goals.  At the time, I was very unhealthy and very out of shape.  Of course I completed the juice fast.  This weekend, I will line up at the starting line of the Dallas Marathon.

I’m very thankful to be here.  It’s been a long, hard training.  I’ve dealt with numerous injuries.  I’ve had a number of set backs.  It has definitely not been easy.  Yet, here I am about to accomplish another big goal.  It’s an amazing feeling.

I’ve been training with a group and it has been a wonderful experience.  I feel very fortunate having been introduced to the running culture and meeting like minded people.  I’ve learned a lot from them.  I was intimidated at first.  I was relatively new to running.  I had completed a half marathon about 5 years ago, but hadn’t really run much since.  I was far from anything that could be considered “fast”.  And I didn’t have a whole lot of confidence in my ability to run long distances.

In the beginning, I was frustrated.  I was one of the slower people in the group.  I struggled on my training runs.  I wasn’t able to keep up with many of those in the group.  Embarrassed and discouraged, I would push myself to go faster and farther.  I ran harder. I did not run smarter.  It seemed as if the harder I tried the worse it got and the harder I was on myself.  Then I learned a key concept in running and training for these types of events.

In running, there is always someone faster, someone who can run farther, someone fitter than you.  This doesn’t matter.  What I learned from my team members was that it was all about me; how I ran my race.  They didn’t care if I was slower or faster than anyone else anymore than they cared if they were faster or slower than anyone else.  It’s all about the PR, the “Personal Record”.  This is your personal best.  I learned that the running culture was not competitive as I thought it would be.  At least, not in the way I thought. Everyone is competing with themselves.  The bar by which we are measured is, in fact, how we measure ourselves.  Was I able to set a new PR?  My team wasn’t encouraging me to run faster than anyone else nor did they care how long I could go.  Was I improving myself?  Was I “better” as defined by what that meant to me?  Every step of the way, the other members of the group were encouraging to me and to everyone else. From the people who I only saw headed the other way because they had already turned around, to the people who came up behind me everyone encouraged each other.  We each wanted the other achieve their goals, whatever they may be.  For this reason, I encourage everyone to train for some sort of running event and train with a group.  In addition to being ready to run my first marathon, the experience has been more beneficial to me than I could have imagined.

This is a fitting lesson and can be extrapolated for my life.  What I’ve accomplished, what I’ve been through, isn’t remarkable.  There are far more interesting stories than mine.  People who have fasted for longer, have lost more weight, overcome greater odds, made more of a transformation.  Which is great.  That’s their PR.  This is my story and it means a great deal to me.  I’m happy to be here.  Happy to be fit and healthy and juicing!  I am beyond excited about finally being able to run my first marathon.  I’ve been having a lot of emotions and they are getting stronger as the event nears.  I’ve come through so much to get here that nothing could deter me.  I am about to run my first marathon.  And with it being my first, no matter what my time is I’m going to set a PR!

Bryan has been training with coach Allison Macsas’ Winter Marathon group and will take on his first 26.2 mile race in Dallas this Sunday!

The other 23 hours

by coach John Schrup

There is a quote I think about often, in regards to training.  I don’t remember it verbatim, or even who said it.  It sounds like a John Wooden quote.  It goes something like:  “The hour a day you spend at practice is less important than the other 23 hours.”  Of course, I’ve likely got this completely wrong, and it might not even be Wooden.  I don’t think it is Mother Theresa, because it doesn’t sound like something she might have said, and her teams were really not very good.

If it was Wooden’s quote (somebody help me out here!) I’d have to think he was talking about how the other 23 hours are more important to developing an individual’s character, or in the grand scheme of things, than the one hour a day you try to throw a round ball through a hoop.

Well, whoever said it was right on.  It really can’t be argued in opposition.  For one, whatever it is you are practicing—basketball, running, mah jongg—isn’t going to even show up on the radar when all is said and done.   For us, for runners, what we’re doing is really just adult play, isn’t it?  We aren’t serving others, we aren’t feeding others, we’re really just running.  I mean, there are really only a few of us who get paid to do it, and most of us are paying to do it.

It might also be said that those 23 hours are of greater importance to your one hour of practice than the one hour of practice.  That one practice hour is more specific to whatever it is you are preparing for, absolutely.  But those other 23 are going to be the buttress for that one little hour, the support, the backup.  Schrup!, you’re saying.  Hold on!  What the %@#$ are you talking about?

Dig:  We live pretty stressful lives, I think we can all agree.  We have jobs, families; we’re moving forty million hundred thousand miles an hour for 26 hours every day.  We talk about simplifying our lives, and we even make some effort here and there to do so, but what we’re really doing is trying to make things more convenient so that we can wedge more pieces into our already jam packed pie.  We Americans have about the highest hypertension levels on the planet, because we are so stressed.  One of the ways we relieve this stress is with exercise.  Running.  Cycling.  Crossfit.  Whatever.  And because we don’t just want to exercise for our health’s sake, we have to make our exercise rigorous, goal-oriented training. Would you continue to run if there were no races?  We sign up for these races and events and then get our friends to do it and all of a sudden you’re running down the street in Chicago with 40,000 of your closest friends and you paid shit tons of dollars just to enter the thing and that doesn’t even count the jack you dropped on hotel and airfare!

So if we are going to train really, really hard, make these huge efforts, invest these crazy dollars, take all this time to prepare for these monster events, why wouldn’t we also see to it that we are not letting all that go to waste by messing things up in the other 23 hours of the day?  I know of far too many people who come to groups and expect to spend a few short months getting ready, doing some intense work, sacrificing time and effort for a big goal, and really what they’re looking for is a magic bullet.  But the way they treat their bodies the other 23 hours of the day, they’re not even looking for a magic bullet, they’re looking for magic!

Training properly for anything is difficult.  There is no easy way to do it.  It is a huge stress on the body.  Another stress on the body.  At some point, something’s gotta give, and if it ain’t your performance at work, or in races, it’ll be in your health.  Something’s gonna go.  All the bulletproofness you have now will eventually go away.  Chronology is a bitch like that.  So why not change your mind, make real changes to yourself so that you can run faster, play more, be better in everything you do?  Do it.  Change your mind.

Are you sitting down for this?

Do you work a desk job? Chances are, the answer is yes. In these computer-dominated times, most people do. I’m sitting at a desk as I type this.

The health and weight repercussions of sitting all day long are no secret, but you are probably less concerned than the average cubicle resident – after all, you ran x number of miles this morning, or will be doing so this evening. You run more each week than most people drive (bet you’ve heard that one before)!

The importance of regular exercise cannot be downplayed, and running is one of the most efficient, effective ways out there to stay lean and healthy. That said, let’s say you run one hour each day. That leaves 23 other hours that you aren’t running and in this day and age, it unfortunately means that you probably aren’t moving much at all.

There is a lot of evidence pointing to the benefits of standing and walking as often as possible and to the downfalls and risks associated with sitting for 8 (or more!) hours per day, regardless of what sort of workout you may have done that morning. The New York Times published an article regarding this very topic – since you are probably one of the sitting masses (don’t take that the wrong way), it’s well worth your time to read it.

What are your thoughts?

Birth Control and You

Ladies, this article is for you.

Are you on birth control? Are you considering beginning to take it? Have you ever thought about the effect it has on your health, body, and thus your athletic performance?

There aren’t a lot of definitive answers when it comes to hormonal contraceptive, but there are certainly things to consider and be aware of. Take a few minutes to read this article from sportsmd.com – it’s important to be informed!

To stretch or not to stretch? … That is the question!

And we have an answer … Stretch properly!!!
by Darren Brown
The more appropriate question would be … to stretch statically or dynamically? Over the past year, we at Rogue have tried to pass on tips about some of the non-running work that you can do to improve your actual running. There has been the introduction of strides, foot drills, recovery, core strength, etc. One of the more important, but also most overlooked and frequently skipped tasks we have introduced is our rope-stretching routine. The rope stretching routine we have introduced in two different forms and while the motions are the same for each, the way you complete the stretches varies … and matters!
The first form is dynamic stretching, used primarily for pre-run warm-up. Dynamic stretching consists of multiple repetitions of a stretch, held for a short duration, usually lasting no more than a second or two, while avoiding a bouncy or jerky movement. The sought-after result of stretching in this manner is not actually as its name implies however. You are nottrying to stretch your muscles to a completely relaxed and loose state. You are instead simply trying to get the muscles warm by providing them with extra blood flow, preparing them for the exercise ahead. By using this form of stretching, you are allowing your legs to keep the natural bounce and “pop” (as many runners call it) that allows us to run more explosively and, as the attached study now shows, efficiently.
The second form of stretching is static stretching. This stretching is primarily used post-run or pre-bedtime. Anytime that gaining recovery is the main purpose for stretching, static stretching is the right choice. Static stretching consists of fewer repetitions of a stretch, held for a prolonged duration, and lasting upwards of 30 seconds. As the stretch begins to settle in its hold, it is appropriate to deepen the stretch slightly by placing more tension on the muscle group you are working. This can be done within a repetition or from rep to rep. Static stretching loosens muscles and allows them to flush out and recover quicker and with greater ease which is great for post-run, but can be detrimental to efficiency pre-run.
By stretching more appropriately, and more frequently, it is an easy way to see your overall running improve without actually putting in more miles. While the debate remains as to whether stretching “prevents” injury or not, one fact has been proven (as seen in the following article) … stretching the correct way not only improves performance, but stretching the wrong way will actually decrease performance.

Want a tax deduction for running?

Then speak up!

We received this bit of interesting information today:

The Personal Health Investment Today Act of 2009 or the PHIT Act of 2009 was introduced in the House on April 27, 2009. It amends the Internal Revenue Code to allow a medical care tax deduction for up to $1,000 ($2,000 for married couples filing jointly or heads of household) of qualified sports and fitness expenses. It defines “qualified sports and fitness expenses” as amounts paid for fitness center memberships, physical exercise programs, and exercise equipment. The act was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means.

Covered expenses include:
• Youth camp & physical activity fees
• Membership and dues in a health club
• Exercise/fitness classes or instruction (personal trainer)
• Sports league fees (adult and youth)
• Marathon/Triathlon registration fees!
• Equipment used exclusively for participation in physical exercise/activities

Excluded expenses include:
• Expenses incurred from private clubs owned and operated by members
• Clubs offering golf, hunting, sailing and horseback riding activities
• Apparel and footwear not used exclusively for physical activity
• Travel and accommodation expenses associated with participation in physical activity

Contact your Congressmen and tell them to pass HR 2105.