Sidelined

I'm not sure what I did, but somehow I tweaked my right knee doing who knows what. I'm taking this week off from running to let it heal up. It's not all that serious (or even painful) but I need to lay off and cross train until in improves. I'll be just lifting, cycling, and (hopefully) swimming this week.

I finally found a great deal on a used road bike on Craigslist. I decided against getting a Tri bike for a couple of reasons...

1) I found a great deal on a ROAD bike.

2) After talking to a few different people I realized I 'd never be able to do any group rides/long rides on the aero bars.

3) I could always upgrade my seat post to a tri post and slap a pair of aerobars on the front.

Until our kids are all in school, I will likely not train for any event longer than an Olympic Tri or Half Marathon. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to train for a Half Ironman Triathlon or a Full Marathon, but the season of life that I'm in right now with four young kids, owning a business, leading a small group at church, kid's sports, etc...I just can't find the time to put that many hours of training in each week. All that to say I won't be "needing" a tri bike for the sprint and olympic events.

Food/Weight

My food has been going well. I'm trying to drop about 5 pounds to put me in the high 170's to make running a little bit easier this Fall. I'm about 182 right now and would like to get to a consistent 177lbs...that's a really good weight for me. Less grains more vegetables will be the key!

Great Cool down Songs to Download

30 Seconds to Mars-"Hurricane"

Kanye West-"Flashing Lights"

Deep Thought on a Long Run

As I was running Sunday, I made mental notes of how many folks I saw walking (opposed to running.) I'd say, over an 11 miles run, I saw 3 runners and 7-10 walkers. My next thought was, "I wonder if I'll hold up well over time and be able to continue running aggressively when I'm in my 40's, 50's, 60's, etc?"

Given my line of work, I OBSESS about the long term ramifications of what I do athletically and what my clients do athletically. I've seen a large number clients come in over the last 8 years with completely worn out joints by the age of 40-50 years from high impact sports like running. I then ask myself two questions 1) is it worth it? and 2) is joint wear and tear inevitable?

So, I started prayerfully pondering these two questions while running. My spirit was calmed instantly after the word RECOVERY jumped out at me.

We have to take time to be proactive in our healing. In exercise, that means getting plenty of antioxidants (found in fruits and vegetables) to battle the free radicals that build up after strenuous exercise. That also means getting plenty of lean protein to help my muscles build back stronger after I've beaten them down. Recovery also means not beating the pavement 5-6 times per week but rather, cross-training 2-3 days per week with weights, swimming, biking, rowing, etc to insure I'm allowing my run specific muscle fibers that are most used in that movement pattern time to repair. It also means, and this is my weak spot, getting plenty of sleep each night in order to achieve proper hormonal balance to encourage healthy HGH (human growth hormone) levels.

If I can take care of myself and proactively recover after each workout, I feel my odds of being highly active in my older years are much greater.

Whether I've been physically, mentally, or spiritually stressed, I have to take time to proactively recover.

Songs of the Week

Deftones-"Risk"

B.o.B-"Magic"

Glee Cast-Jesse's Girl

Video of the Week

I may be the last person on earth to see this...but nonetheless it is really funny.