2009 will kick ass, but be very boring (my predictions)

January 6, 2009 – 12:59 pm

I started working on a series of posts that were a review of my 5 year goals and where 2009 fit into those plans.  It was a good exercise to begin, but I realized that the posts were not worth reading.  Maybe I’ll dissect some of them and share over time.

With those posts in the queue, I thought about not posting my thoughts and goals for 2009 - but then a friend called on Sunday night and said:

“Where the hell are your goals?  I’ve been checking your blog everyday, but you still haven’t posted them.”

I guess I didn’t realize that there was that much interest in how I plan out my actions.  Helping people create environments enabling them to make daily decisions that support thier long term goals is a major task of a trainer and coach.  So I guess that reviewing the way that I manage this task in my own life can give people a perspective on how I might assit them.  At the very least, reviewing my process can get you thinking about your own structure.  Here you go:

2009 Goals, Actions and Outlooks:

There are two main goals or accomplishments that I am seeking this year:

1.  Ironman Personal Best at Ironman Louisville 2009.
2.  Help runners complete 200 marathons in 2009.

My Ironman Goals:

This has been on my 5 year plan since Nikki and I moved back to Kentucky in 2005.  As most things in life, things change and while in my 4th year of working towards an Ironman peak, this is the final year in this plan.  I will most likely be unable to compete in Ironman for a few years (Nikki plans to return to school full time in 2010), so I’m going to try and peak this year.  I think that I’m ready?  I have completed an Iron Distance race each of the last 3 years.  This year I took on my EndureChallenge in September, which allowed me to prove to myself that I could handle a “true Ironman training schedule”.  The one variable in the equation is supporting myself enough (financially) and generating enough time for training and resting.  It will be a great balance.

Actions: things that I see must happen to be successful.

1.  Recovery - mostly sleep.  With a 5am wakeup call every morning, I need to get to bed by 9:30pm every night.  I’ve been thinking about 4/4:30am runs 5x per week, but until I can find the discipline to go to bed, those runs will be worthless for my fitness and health.

2.  Wasted Time - television, movie theatre, internet surfing.  Those three things take away a majority of the time I can dedicate to rest and recovery.  Television is an easy fix - we are getting rid of cable this Friday (I wanted to watch Oklahoma / Florida first).  The movie theatre will be more difficult because it is one of the major sources of entertainment for Nikki and I, but I’m considering a 1 in 6 week policy.  Internet surfing will be by far the most difficult.  As I try to expand the business reach that Endurance Base Camp has online, I often justify excessive surfing (Facebook, Twitter, favorite blogs) as “work”.

Does anyone have any good rules of thumb to manage the balance between wasting time and being productive online?

3.  Nutrition - I have developed an incredible ability to justify poor eating habits because of Ironman training in the past.  The one saving grace I have is that for 20(ish) weeks we get the majority of our food from Elmwood Stock Farms, which makes it more difficult to eat too many “bad things”.   My ability to manage my food choices during heavy training periods is going to be an enormous step forward.  The best action step I have for this right now is - Drink More Water.

4.  Cycling - you would think that run, bike and swim action steps would be higher on the list of an Ironman Personal Best goal.  The fact is that working out - doing the running, cycling and swimming is not a major limiter for most Ironman athletes.  We love to train!  That being said, cycling will be much more emphasized in my training this year.  In 2006, I rode 6:40:17, off of a beginner Ironman schedule.  In 2007, I rode 6:13:30, off mostly touring intensity with lots of volume.  In 2008, I rode 6:00:40, off of much less volume but a bit more intensity.  In 2009, I would like to ride around 5:30, which will take a mixture of the volume from 2007 and a little more intensity than I had in 2008.

5.  Social obligations - it’s amazing how somewhat little obligations add up to lost training time over a calendar year.  A trip to Nebraska - 3 to 4 days lost.  A trip to Chicago - 2 days lost.  A night out at the bar until 1am - 1 (2 if you are me) days lost.  And these days are normally weekends of lost training, when the weekend is highly coveted training time.  I have already asked Nikki to make me a promise that she won’t schedule my time away.  We seem to be on the same wave length.  She has the Triple T and Ironman Louisville too (getting her to sign up was an evil plan.. ha.. ha.. ha..)

My Coaching Goal:

One of my favorite things about 2008 was coaching the team of girls to run the Chicago Marathon.  That program inspired me to put together a team for Ironman Louisville 2009.  The ability to bring together people and train for a similar goal has been exceptionally rewarding for the runners, triathletes and me as a coach.

The goal of coaching runners to complete 200 marathons may seem like an enormous goal.  It maybe a bit lofty, but I don’t belive it is impossible.  Here’s how I plan to accomplish this task:

1.  Personal Coaching:  I have some runners that I am coaching in a one-on-one basis.  A few of them may end up doing more than one marathon this year (actually that is likely), so that will be a portion of the 200.  I am still able to coach a few runners in this manner, but this program has limited availability because I want to maintain a level that I can be involved with their running, not just a schedule giver.

2.  Endurance Base Camp Teams:  This is where I hope to provide the bulk of coaching for this goal.  This will happen in two different ways:

a -  Team Community (for specific races):  I just opened the Endurance Base Camp Community a couple days ago.  The team community is designed to bring people training for a marathon or triathlon together and provide guidance and advice along that journey.  The lessons learned by participating in the community can apply to any marathon or long course triathlon.  But I have also designated some specific races, in our region, where runners can find and train with others working towards a similar race.

The community is place to find guidance with your running (from myself, Nikki and the community).

The specific races in the community are:  Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Country Music, Derby Festival, and Flying Pig Marathons.  Along with Ironman Louisville and the Triple T triathlons.

b - Teams:  The community is a place to get guidance and assistance, but I want to provide even more for a couple groups this year.  The team programs will receive written training plans for their race along with additional assistance through conference calls, emails, etc.

Currently I am training 2 girls that ran on the Chicago Team last fall to run the Boston Marathon.  I plan to put together teams for the Chicago and Columbus Marathon again this year.  More details will come this spring.

Goal 200 = personal clients + teams + community members.  I think it is possible!

It will kick ass, but be boring?

Why do I say that it will be boring?  Because when I tell most people that I plan on getting rid of cable, limiting my movie outings, staying away from the bars and pubs, eating as much healthy food as I can stuff down, limit my travel away from my home base, and sleep more than normal - they respond “that sounds boring!”

What they don’t understand is that I’ll get to experience:  the great roads and scenery around the horse farms and bluegrass of Kentucky, run over many hills on a Todd’s Road route, share stories (and pain) with my training partners, share an intimate journey of Ironman with my wife, take on the weekend of hell (we call TTT) and see 200 people cross a finish line knowing they have just accomplished something pretty freakin’ awesome and I had a small part in helping them get there.

Sounds like a kick ass year to me!  Let’s make it happen.

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Rocket City Marathon Race Report

December 18, 2008 – 5:31 pm

Following my typical operating procedures for this year, I’ve been exercising as much as I feel I can without becoming overtrained, yet enough to allow me to feel fit.  The truth is that since my EndureChallenge back in September I have been a little on the lower side of where I would like to be.  After that challenge I took a full week off and then slowly started to integrate some swimming, then running, then biking back into my schedule.  It has been really helpful to have the Ironman Louisville group up and training because they have really motivated me to take care of myself so I could get back up to full speed quicker than normal (Thanks Paula and Lauren!)

I don’t remember exactly when the topic of doing the Rocket City Marathon came up, but I remember talking about it a few weeks after the EndureChallenge.

I wanted to sign up for Rocket City for a few reasons:

1. I don’t want to have a period where I get too distant from a race.  Race consistently to race better!
2. Jeff Buhr had mentioned the marathon, which meant I would have someone to travel with (and run with for a little while).
3. Brad Feld is someone I have been helping train for marathons, but I have never met him face-to-face, so this would be a fairly close race to have that opportunity.

My own expectations:

This is my 6th marathon in 2008 (counting Great Illini IronDistance Race) so I know that I’m on the edge of doing too many long races without being forced to take a long period of rest - or having a period of serious stagnation in performance.  I have tried to manage my expectations all year, knowing that my main training goal was:

“to be consistent”  and “race when healthy and able”

This has meant that my longest training run in 2008 was 19 miles, back in February, when I ran with Allisa as she prepared for the Boston Marathon.  Since that run the longest training run that I’ve done has been 15 miles.  Leading up to this marathon, I had only done consistent runs of 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Two weekends before Rocket City Jeff and I went out on a 15 mile run (Pit Bull @ Todd’s Road) and I told Jeff that I expected to squeeze out 15ish miles.  At that point I was going to walk/jog in order to protect my legs and allow my training to continue as normal (12 runs in 14 days for the IMLou group right now).

What you want to do and what happens on race day is often very different because a race (and ego) can do many things to influence your behavior!

My Race Day Experience:

Jeff and I started running the first few miles at a pace that felt really comfortable, but we had no clue how hard we were running.  My Garmin 305 had not been charged so the battery was already dead before I started the race and Jeff doesn’t run with a Garmin (smart!).  As we crossed the 1 mile mark, the time keeper shouted “6:21, 6:22, 6:23″… oh boy!

Over the next couple miles we backed off a little, but only a little.  We went through miles 2 and 3 around 6:30 - 6:35 pace.  I was feeling really good running at this pace, but in my mind I felt like I was in over my head.  “Hold on to this feeling” is all I kept telling myself.

A group of runners joined us around the 4 mile mark.  It was nice because the group was rather large.  They all seemed nice enough and were running exactly where we wanted to be.  As the group dynamic built I continued to feel really good and just sat in the pack and participated in marathoner’s chit-chat.

The hard part for me was that I felt like the group was running well and I wasn’t sure I still wanted to drop out at 13.1 to 15?  I began to tell Jeff that I would be done at 15 as a way to reinforce my decision.  That discussion is something you have to be careful with as you are running a marathon.  You don’t want to say it so many times that you discourage the runners who are planning to take on the whole 26.2, but I still needed to confirm to myself that I was doing the right thing.

The group went through the 13.1 marker just under 1:27, which was what I told Jeff I would help pace him to.  Luckily for me the group dynamic began to change as we went through mile 14.  One of the female runners in the group made a surge (at least it seemed that way) as we went through the aid station at mile marker 14.  It broke the pack up, so I worked pretty hard to get about 3 feet off the back of those in front again, then it appeared that another surge happened.  “Good enough” I thought and continued to run where I was and stopped at mile 15 for my first walking break.

Miles 15 to 25 were actually very little fun.  I walked an awful lot over that period of time, probably 2.5 to 3 of those miles were done walking, the other pieces were done at a jogging effort.

I am always preaching about the benefits of using a run / walk race strategy.  In fact, I think that anyone running over a 3:30 must do it, over a 3:15 should consider it and anyone over a 3:00 marathon should do a serious pro/con analysis.  But there is one thing about the run/walk strategy that must be known:  It must be done from mile one, before you have reached the point of fatigue.  If you wait until you are forced to walk - It’s Too Late!

This race was a good reminder of that principle.  The walking I did in this marathon was by no means a way to improve my race result, it merely was an attempt to decrease the damage that a marathon does to your legs.

Mile 25.  Just after passing the 25 mile mark, Bryan Mullins passed me and I began running with him.  It was nice to finally have someone to run with again.  We finished the race together in 3:17.

Final Thoughts:

Rocket City is a great race.  The expo is small enough that you can walk in and just grab your items.  The hotels are about 100 yards from the start and finish line.  I would suggest that you stay in the Embassy Suites at the start line.

Maybe the most important factor for some runners it the course layout.  This course is a perfect course to try and set a new marathon personal best - it is speedy friendly.

It was a great way to end my 2008 year.  I have also recovered well from the race.  I got a bike ride in the next day, took Monday off and back to running on Tuesday.  2008 was a year to take things as they come, 2009 is a very focused year:  One Day, One Race, One Goal.

Jeff Buhr, by the way, ended up running a 2:57!  Nice job Jeff and what a great year 2008 was for you!  And Brad (with Matt Shobe) ran 4:39, about 20 to 25 minutes faster than he told me he might run the night before - great job Brad, 36 to go.

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Alcohol, Holiday Parties and Calorie Consumption

December 11, 2008 – 4:42 pm

As a certified Lifestyle and Weight Management Consultant through the American Council on Exercise, I often get email newsletters from them with interesting articles.  Just this past week I got an article from them titled: “Holiday Treats + Alcohol = Extra Calories and the Gift of a Spare Tire“.

While I like to believe that I’m aware of most food and nutrition choices, in terms of caloric consumption - I think that I’ve let alcohol become a blind spot.  So to establish a basic understanding of how alcohol consumption can contribute to packing on those holiday pounds, I want to take a quick look at the calorie content of some of the common holiday choices:

Wine:

According to WineIntro.com, a 3.5 ounce glass of wine contains approximately 80 calories.  It doesn’t matter if the wine is white wine or red wine because the calories come from the alcohol that the wine possesses, but due to this important fact, if you choose a wine that is higher in alcohol content - it will have a higher caloric value also.  If you are interested in finding the exact caloric cost of your favorite wine, here is an article with the steps to calculating those calories:

How to Determine Calorie Content of Wine @ EHow.com

The ACE article also points out that dessert wines are even higher in calories, stating that a 3.5 ounce glass of dessert wine is around 165 calories.

Beer:

The calorie content of beer is highly dependent upon the beer you chose.  We have all seen the highly advertised Michelob Ultra, which almost makes that beer look like a sports drink - it contains 95 calories.  But like wine, you’ll find that the beers that have the higher alcohol content also have the higher caloric content.  I found a great table at Beer100.com listing the different brewers, the beers they offer and the alcohol, caloric and carbohydrate content of each.  The most “caloric expensive beer” was Sierra Nevada Bigfoot at 330 calories.

I personally don’t have a problem staying away from the wine (a half glass gives me a headache for two days), but I like to have a beer or two with my triathlon, running and cycling friends at Pazzo’s every now and then.  So here are my four favorite choices from their list:

• George Killian’s Irish Red - 162 calories, about 1.35 miles of running (I burn about 120/mile)
• Leinenkugel Original - 152 calories, about 1.27 miles of running
• Miller Lite - 96 calories, about 0.8 miles of running
• New Belgium Fat Tire - 160 calories, about 1.33 miles of running (Fat Tire is impossible to find in this part of the world though)

I used to work at a brewing company in Lincoln, Nebraska - Empyrean Ales.  Actually, I worked for their Brew Pub next door to the brewing house called Lazlo’s.  I wonder what the caloric consumption was during all those taste testings?

Liquor and Cocktails:

So now I live in bourbon country and it’s not uncommon for bourbon to be a common beverage choice.  We even have the Kentucky Bourbon Trail, and now the 200 mile Running Relay Race on the Bourbon Trail.  What are the caloric values of liquours?  Here are some things that I’ve found for you:

• Absolut Vodka - 98 calories
• Bacardi Gold Rum - 98 calories
• Jack Daniel’s Whiskey - 98 calories
• Seagram’s Gin - 120 calories
• Jose Cuervo Gold Tequila - 96 calories

As stated in the guide put out by the Consumer Federation of America.  I also went on over to the CalorieKing and found their page on Liquors, Coolers and Cocktails.  Here are a few I took from their site:

• Red Bull and Vodtka - 177 calories
• Mint Julep - 165 calories
• Cosmopolitan - 213 calories
• Vodka Tonic - 169 calories

And if you really want to be scared away from a few cocktails, go read this article on MSNBC - “Don’t let holiday cheer make you forget calorie content of cocktails” or view their slideshow of the “10 most fattening Cocktails“.

Thoughts on alcohol metabolism:

The concept of alcohol metabolism needs to be addressed - just a little.  One comment that I’ve heard is that the calories in alcohol don’t count because they can not be stored as body fat.  This is actually an acurate comment.  Alcohol must be oxidized and then the body must get rid of it.  The liver is the main player when managing the alcohol metabolism, but it is also possible to excrete a small amount through breath and urine.

But one thing that I think a person should consider when looking at possible weight gain and alcohol is this:  even if our body can not store alcohol calories as fat, what energy sources are we not using when our body tries to manage the alcohol intake — Fat Calories.

Two other thoughts to consider:

1.  What other activities often go along with cocktails and drinks?  We like to eat party foods, holiday treats and others fattening and surgary foods.  It is not hard to imagine that drinking too many calories at the holiday party leads to eating too many holiday cookies - is it?

2.  All calories are not created equal!  So far we’ve been discussing a pure math equation scenario, but even with alcohol contributing 7 calories per gram, they don’t provide great benefit to our diets.  They don’t give us vitamins or minerals.

[EDIT -- I know that I'm going to receive all kinds of emails stating the benefits of alcohol in the diet, when done in moderation.... I understand the heart health argument.  Here's an article to read if you want to go down that route:  Alcohol: Balancing Risks and Benefits (Harvard School of Public Health)]

Bottom Line:

I am not writing this article 2 weeks before Christmas and just before the major Holiday parties get started to guilt you into swearing off all holiday beverages.  I am writing this so that you can think about the information and realize that two or three cocktails at every party may leave you with a bigger New Year’s Resolution than you currently have.

Be smart with your choices and you’ll be a happier and healthier you on January 2nd, 2009.  And please be safe when you do choose to drink.

End Note:  If you would like to view some of the articles I tagged while researching go to my delicious page:  delicious.com/ditschfitness/alcohol

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Holiday Gift Ideas for the Running Obsessed (Advice for the non-runner)

December 4, 2008 – 1:11 pm

A lot of my family members know that I love to run.  Some of them know that I like to do triathlons, but really - to them - running a marathon and doing a triathlon are the same thing, crazy.  Because I’ve developed an identity as “the runner” it seems that when I get gifts over the holidays from friends or family, it centers around running.

Now I’m not going to ever complain about receiving gifts from someone, but sometimes the gifts I get turn out to be not that useful or convenient.  Lately it seems like the easiest thing to do is just give the gift of a gift card - a good and safe choice, but sometimes it says “not much thought”.

I’ve decided to help solve this situation for some non-runners this year by writing a post that describes what a runner’s ”running wish-list” might be and why.  These gifts will show that you understand that running and exercise is important to them and it will be something that they can actually use on their next run.  These gifts don’t have to be expensive either.  I’ll share some ideas that run the spectrum of cost, just to give you options from stocking stuffer to big time givers.

2008 Runner’s Holiday Wish List:

Socks: A runner’s feet is their source of happiness  A foot with blisters or aches is going to slow down or take away their favorite activity.  A good pair of running socks is something that can help protect those feet from blisters and sores.  A couple suggestions to try:

sockguy.com — I have several pairs of socks from the sock guy.  In fact, one of the best gifts I’ve received was a pair of Nebraska socks that came from the sock guy.  I enjoy the fit of these socks so much that I almost never cycle without them and use them when I run often too.  If you visit the website, you’ll see that they have all kinds of custom made sock options.  It allows you to put an even greater personal touch on the gift when you can choose something that is special to them (like Univ. of NE football is for me).

Cost: They typically range from $7 (on sale at an expo I was at) to $15 a pair.  (My NE socks linked above are $10)

injinji.com — Nikki received a pair of these socks as a gift not too long ago and she loves them.  You probably need to know that the person you are buying them for is open to trying new things, because these socks are like a glove for your feet.  Each toe has it’s own little place!  I’ve seen and read about ultra runners wearing these things for years, they are suppose to help cut down on blisters.  Nikki’s experience has been enough motivation for me to give them a try (hopefully I’ll find a pair in my stocking… wink.wink - Nikki - wink.)

Cost: you can find them at REI for $12 to $16.

Reflective material or lights: this time of year the days are pretty short.  This sometimes requires your crazy running friend to be outdoors running while it’s either dark or getting dark - not always a safe situation.  Tell your friend or family member that you not only support their madness, but you love them and want them to be safe.

Nathan Reflective Vest or JogALite Band — I’ve never went with the full vest, but there have been many mornings that I’ve run with the Todd’s Road Stumblers that I wish I had.  Luckily there are runners out there that are wiser than I am.  I have used an ankle reflective band on many occasions, both cycling and running.  The band does it’s job by providing the reflective material, but also doesn’t hinder my running at all.

Cost:  The vest costs about $20 and the band cost about $5 (over at amazon).

Lights:  I bought Nikki a Nathan lighted arm band as a gift a couple years back.  It has turned out to be one of the more useful gifts I’ve ever bought her.  She not only uses it when it’s dark, but it also has a small pocket that she can use to carry a house key or car key while she’s running.

Cost:  $15 at their site, you can also find at:  Dick’s Sporting Goods, REI and Amazon.

RoadID: There’s a fear that I have on many occasions that Nikki goes out cycling or running - what if she’s in an accident?  When cycling we carry our drivers license, debit card and cell phone, but when I’m running I don’t carry any of those.  So what would happen if I was hit by a car?  Would the emergency medical services be able to figure out who I was, what would they do?

Take away that fear by giving your loved one a RoadID.  Go to roadid.com and you can customize a band that they can wear while running or cycling that has all the necessary information emergency support would need.  They even have a service now that allows the emergency support to call and get all the information you provided to RoadID by using the RoadID code on the band.

Cost: Their typical product is around $20

Running Beanie and gloves: The winter is here, but that doesn’t mean that your running friend will stop heading outdoors.  A good quality pair of gloves and running beanie will be a necessity as keeping your head and hands warm is key to enjoying a winter run.

I like to use a layered glove approach and currently use a pair of Pearl Izumi Ultra Light Full Fingered gloves as the bottom layer.  If I can find them I use a pair of Manzella’s microfiber gloves.  When I can’t find them I use an old pair of gardening gloves.  The gardening gloves don’t work too well as the only pair of gloves to wear, while the Manzella’s can work alone.  When the weather gets into the low 20’s, I layer them up.  I figure that I can always take a pair of gloves off, but I hate waiting hours to feel my finger tips again.

I currently use just any old stocking hat for my head although that can often be too warm.  So again, when I can find it, I wear my Pearl Izumi Training Hat.  While these items are about running, I have tried some cold weather cycling gear from Descente lately (actually got the shoe covers as a Christmas gift!).  I will be trying out some their other stuff soon.

Costs:  $12 to $50 (depending on how cold of gear you need).

Nike Plus: If you feel that the runner in your life has all the clothing they’ll need and you are comfortable with their safety, how about something to motivate them?  The Nike Plus system requires that your runner have an Ipod Nano, but if they do, this is a great tool.  Through the Nano they will be told how far they’ve been running, how many minutes (or hours) they’ve been running, they can use training plans and they can connect with other runners online.

The Nike Plus has been around for awhile and I’ve seen all kinds of competitions and motivating tools, check out their site because there’s just too much to learn for the time I have here.

Cost: The Kit runs $29 (at amazon), but you’ll also want to buy them some type of shoe adaptor, just in case the runner you buy it for doesn’t have a pair Nike’s that have the shoe slot (like 90% of runners I know).  The adaptor runs $4 to $10, depending on the style and option you choose.

Garmin 305: I made a post the other day when I saw that Amazon had a Black Friday sale on the Garmin’s for $149.  I have just been searching and see that they are back to $179.  I even tried to use the link I posted the other day, hoping that the link was tied to the deal, but it looks like they’ve reset the price for now?

That doesn’t deter my opinion in suggesting that the Garmin 305 is the ultimate in running gifts (and as I mentioned I received mine as a gift).  For the completely obssesive - compulsive runner, this is the best training partner to have.  I sometimes go a little crazy looking at all the charts and graphs, heart rates and paces.  But that is what I enjoy - so let me indulge.

I realize that there is the new Garmin 405, but I’m not convinced that it is better than the 305.  In fact, after listening to a few people discuss the pro’s and con’s of the 405, I am still under the impression that the 305 is a better running companion.  And it’s cheaper.  I even know someone that went back to the 305 after buying the 405?

The one thing that I wish that I had to make the 305 complete is the foot pod.  I do an ocassonial workout on the treadmill and the foot pod would be a nice item to have.  (hint. hint - Nikki - hint.)

Well those are just some ideas for your running gifts to buy for your running friend or family member.  Hopefully it will give you the confidence to make the purchase, knowing that they are “runner endorsed”.  Happy Holidays.

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Nikki, Kelty and I @ ElfYourself

November 29, 2008 – 6:00 pm

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Garmin 305 Deal for Black Friday @ Amazon!

November 26, 2008 – 8:58 pm

I just found out some great news for those of you thinking about making a purchase of a GPS / Heart Rate device - the Garmin 305 is on sale in Amazon’s Black Friday Sale (that has already started).

They have it on sale for $149 and it is listed as available for free shipping.  This is the best price that I’ve seen it listed for; last spring when some of my runners were buying them they were around $205 to $215 and just the other day Nikki says she looked them up and they were $179.

I don’t have to go into all the ways that I enjoy my Garmin 305 (that I received as a gift last January at the Rock N Roll Marathon from a runner I trained!), but I’ll say that I’ve done every workout and race (except 2 workouts I forgot to bring it) with it on except my swim workouts and the swim of the Great Illini Triathlon.

Here’s my Lake City Marathon Data posted on motionbased.com

Now that I’m using it with WKO+, it’s opening up some new worlds of data analysis and exercise geekiness!

Just thought I’d pass this along as I found out by reading Obsessable.com (trying to figure out how to go about setting up a media server… any ideas!)

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Personal Training and Economic Incentives.

November 26, 2008 – 1:13 pm

There have been a few questions on my mind as I continue to work on establishing our personal training and coaching business.  The questions result from two philosophies that influence our industry:

1.  Economic Cost correlated to Personal Reward
2.  Behavioral Choices correlated to Economic Cost

As you can imagine, the current economic climate is starting to make some trainers wonder if their clients will begin to cut back on the amount of sessions per week they exercise in the studio.  I do not believe that we have seen that occur yet (at least not for Nikki and I), but the fear is still there.

Here in Lexington, Kentucky, I wonder if the same can be said for all the trainers that are joining the profession on a full-time basis.  The personal training climate has definitely been changing over the last 3 years.  When we made the decision to move back to Lexington (July ‘05), we knew that we wanted to start our own training business.  At the time there were a limited number of private training studios, a large population in need of exercise, fitness and health services and a robust demographic that could afford regular training sessions.  The only change that we have seen in that equation over the three years has been an implosion of trainers and training facilities.  In late 2006 through 2007, we saw a new studio start up about every-other-month, not including the influx of 24hour low-cost facilities that has happened.  I wonder if those new-to-market facilities and professionals are thriving?

Let me address the delimma I’ve see in Personal Training in regards to a clients economic decision:

In most personal training businesses there are two models of selling your service:

a.  You sell “packages” of training sessions to clients.  This could be a package of 6,8 or 20 sessions; often the package is discounted to some degree based on the number of sessions bought.

b.  You bill the client for their training session once they have completed the session.  This can be set up like a massage session where you collect immediately after the service, or you can bill a client on a monthly basis.

We personally use a model where we bill our current clients at the end of each month based upon the number of workouts they completed.  This model has worked out well for us.  It took me a little time to buy into the concept of this model when we began using it, but after working in this manner for almost three years and having used the other models in past situations, I believe that it is the best methodology for both the client and the trainer.

Despite our success with this model, there are some behavioral choice and economic disincintives by using either of these models.  Why?

1.  The client is often seeking a trainer for one of several reasons: education, expertise, support, accountability and motivation.  At first the cost of a session may be worth the education and expertise, but there comes a time when the client has to decide if they have more to learn - or have they learned all they can from the trainer and want to find other ways to motivate and hold themselves accountable?

This is where I believe we have made our business a success.  We offer value to the lives of our clients because of the quality of service we can offer them.  Ultimately, we’ve found a group of people that believe in us as their “guides along their health and wellness journey”.

2.  Even for those that have chosen us as their “guides” it still presents an economic delimma prior to each workout.  Is this workout worth the effort and $50 or can I skip tomorrow’s session and live with Gary’s speeches and diatribes (we do require 24 hour notice when possible).

As you can see our economic incentives are turned around, we are punishing our clients (economically) by charging them for the behavior that we are trying to implement into their lifestyle (exercise).  If you have ever read the book, Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, you know that economic choices (even small ones) can greatly influence behavior.

So here’s the delimma that we are faced with:

1.  The client needs to exercise in order to improve health, body composition, emotional well-being, strength, functional strength, rehabilitation, etc.

2.  The client would like to use a trainer with experience and expertise on the subject (and preferrably with a good personality too)

3.  The client often does not have the intrinsic motivation to perform the workouts on their own over a long period of time, in a consistent manner.

4.  Personal Trainers make a living by charging a person (client) for a workout that the client may not be highly motivated to take on in the first place.

Can this situation be reversed?

Not to long ago I read a post by Brad Feld that talked about anti-charities.  The idea behind an anti-charity is that you set a goal and set a dollar amount to contribute to a charity.  If you DO NOT meet your goal, the money goes to that charity.  Great - you may be thinking, I like to contribute to charities so I win both ways.  Wrong!  The idea is that you choose a charity that you are opposed to.  So, I could choose something like the University of Colorado Athletic Booster Fund.  As a born and bred Nebraskan that graduated from the University of Nebraska - Lincoln and lives for college football season, it would destroy me to write a check out to the University of Colorado.

So my incentive is now on two different levels:

1.  I want to make my goal (whatever that may be) so that I can improve my life and situation.

2.  I want to make my goal so that I don’t have to face the negative consequence of helping out the Buffalo’s.

Can this be applied to a personal training model?

I believe it can, but we have to remember all parties involved and the motivation that each one has.  Here are my initial thoughts:

a.  Set a goal with a client.  For this example, let’s say that this goal is to strength train in the studio 2x a week with the trainer.  That would be 8 sessions for the month @ $50 a session = $400.

b.  Because this amount of financial cost is normal for that amount of service, decide on an appropriate amount of money that would cause some level of economic “hardship”.  For this example I’ll use a 50% premium:

$400 x 50% = $200 (penalty) + $400 (cost of service) = $600 total amount for contract

c.  Determine an agreed upon amount of money to “refund” for each behavior you want to reward (strength train at the studio in this scenario).  For this example I’ll use $28 per workout:

$28 x 8 = $224 (potential reward)

So if the client accomplishes the goal of working out 8x during that month, they will have paid $376 for those 8 sessions.  That would have saved them $24 based upon normal rates, but would have saved them the $224 based upon the initial contract.

“But wait,” you are saying.  The trainer now has motivation to not encourage the client to come in and workout.  On paper that may appear to be the case, but in reality it doesn’t work that way.

For instance, in normal times I have a cancellation rate of approximately 20%.  (This week is Thanksgiving and I’m looking at 50% of my normal schedule).  So given a normal situation 0f 20%, I could expect at least 1 cancellation out of those 8 sessions.

7 x $50 = $350.  $350 is less than the $376 that the trainer would make if the client earned back all of their “incentives”

Final thoughts on Economic Incentives, Personal Training and Behavior:

These are just my initial thoughts on the subject, but they have been mulling around in my head quite a bit lately.  It seems strange that as trainers, our business model exists by charging people money to do something that they initially (or ultimately) don’t want to do unless they have some type of outside motivation:  doctor’s orders, social pressure, spouse’s pressure, etc.

For some clients, the appointment alone is enough motivation to initate and adopt the behavior of exercise.  But for some it is not.  This is at least one way that I have thought of to try and use basic economic principles of behavior to try and motivate both the client and the trainer.  It appears that both can come out ahead, because keep in mind - the behavior of exercise does have some value to the client or they would not be seeking a trainer in the first place!

Why not just ask for the money in a package deal up front?

This is one model that I mentioned above that may appear to address the issue.  The client pays for the package; therefore the economic cost is already felt and the trainer and client can just begin their work without worrying about the cost per session.

That may appear to be the case, but from a purely economic perspective once the check has been written the economic incentive to determine behavior is gone.  As a client the economic hardship has been felt at the onset therefore there is no incentive to attend the workouts 3 weeks down-the-line; as the trainer when you get the money upfront, why would you be economically motivated to have the client show up - you’ve been paid?

The Last Word:

These are economic principles we are talking about - because as I mentioned, there are other motivators that are present for both the client and trainer that are not purely economic:

client: health, wellness, social
trainer: profession, character, reputation

But with everyone thinking in economic terms these days, I thought it might be time for personal trainers and coaches to begin looking at their business models and asking, “Does this make economic sense?”

Posted in Uncategorized |

Superset options on TRX Suspension System

November 20, 2008 – 10:51 am

Here are some additional thoughts on my continued use of the TRX.

Some of the benefits that exercisers and trainers talk about when they use the TRX Suspension System include:

- easy to set up anywhere
- includes core strength in majority of exercises
- easy to use for functional exercises

All of those things are a great reason to incorporate the system into your routine, but one reason that I have grown to really like the piece of equipment is that it allows me to superset a group of exercises without wasting time switching machines for changing dumbbells.

The two superset groups that I have been using a lot with some of my clients and in my own use are:

1.  Chest Press –> Tricep Extension
2.  Row –> High Arm Bicep Curl

To bracket these two supersets I add a set of squats and steps-ups to get a full circuit.  For Example:

a.  squats with dumbbells, 10x
b.  chest press to tricep extension, 10x each exercise
c.  row to high arm bicep curl, 10x each exercise
d.  step-ups on plyo step, 10x on each foot

Rest 30 seconds and repeat full circuit.

I think that my clients are liking the circuit because it keeps them moving and creates little “dead time” (unless they want more dead time!).  I have to admit that the tricep extension can be a pretty tough exercise when you are starting to fatigue!

Here are two videos that Nikki and I took on Saturday to demonstrate the two superset examples:

Posted in TRX, Uncategorized |

Tracking Training Stimulus and Fatigue for Triathlon Training.

November 7, 2008 – 4:02 pm

It’s fairly common in conversations about triathlon training today to discuss watts, normalized power, TSS, functional thresholds and intensity factors.  These terms are all the result of more cyclists using power meters to monitor training intensity and even race efforts.

I have been using WKO+ (formerly cycling peaks) for a little while now, primarily with my Garmin 305 (because I still haven’t justified the power meter expense) to monitor my run training.  The WKO+ software is really great and allows an athlete to get deeper into the training data more than any other training software and log program I’ve ever used.  Because I don’t have a power meter it does have limitations.

The biggest limitation for me is that because I don’t have a power meter, the software’s performance management analysis doesn’t give me an accurate picture for triathlon training.  Why?  Because I have no way of quantifying the work done (TSS, CTL and ATL) on the bike that allows the software to analyze the data.

As a triathlete we also have to consider swimming.  Can we monitor power in the water in a downloadable manner?  Not yet.

So as I look at the athlete’s that I’m trying to help prepare for the 2009 triathlon season (specifically, Ironman Louisville) I have several issues when trying to use a similar method for monitoring training stimulus over time:

1.  no one uses a power meter (and likely are not going to purchase one)
2.  few have a Garmin 305/405 to monitor their running workouts
3.  if they had all this equipment, it takes a lot of time to download and analyze, which they may or may not do.
4.  they have to use the power meter and/or Garmin device for EVERY workout, or they can just estimate the workouts and enter a best estimate TSS or rTSS for the individual workout (which gets us back to why use it anyway)

So, while I am very excited to see some of the data that comes from my Garmin (and yes, hopefully soon my power meter?) it is not a practical solution right now to help my athletes by using the WKO+ software and the Performance Management Charts.  (I have to say though, it is a lot of fun to spend time with the data I can get.  It’s amazing the kind of data we can get in the field better data than what we had in the exercise phys lab on the Monarch.)

How we are tracking long term / short term training stimulus:  (the post to my Ironman athletes)

In the past years I have used total hours of training as my main monitoring system. This was a good method because the majority of the exercise that I did was done at a very reasonable almost easy intensity.

For most of us, this is still going to be the biggest limiter (steady state ability and duration we can hold that intensity).

But with powermeters, heart rate monitors, gps’s, etc…. coaches and athletes are now getting pretty analytical in these monitoring methods. In my opinion, we are making a lot of things too difficult - especially for Ironman training when it matters more that we are consistent and gradually build duration. .. but ..

I realize that we all don’t have powermeters/gps’s so I’ve been thinking about how to add in an "Intensity Factor" to our monitoring.

Here is what I’ve decided to do:

A mixture of the Aerobic Points System (as seen on slowtwitch ) and Borg’s 10 Point RPE Scale (as discussed in the power training article by Dr. Coggan )

Here’s how the scoring it works:

10min swimming = 3 point
10min cycling = 1 point
10min running = 4 point

So as an example: 9.5 hours balanced week
1.5 hours (90 mins)of running: 36pts
6 hours (360 mins)of cycling: 36pts
2 hours (120 mins)of swimming: 36pts

That was just an example of how to add the total times, now to look at the RPE scale / intensity. We’ll be using the Borg 10 point scale , notice the Borg Scale is weighted so that the higher numbers are more spaced out. (Which is done for a number of physiological reasons that Dr. Coggan explains in the article also.)

Example of a workout calculation:

60 minute swim, effort at 3 RPE = 6*3 = 18pts * 0.3 = 5.4

45 minute run, effort at 2 RPE = 4.5*4 = 18pts * 0.2 = 3.6

60 minute cycle, effort at 5 RPE = 6*1 = 6pts * 0.5 = 3.0

Does this make sense? What I’d like you to do is calculate your total points at the end of each week, but you’ll need to write the "RPE" score in the comments as you log each workout.

The key to this system is that you are honest with your RPE scoring, otherwise we could just track hours. We will be tracking hours each week, etc… but I like how this system will account for the differences in intensity, plus we get to track it across all 3 sports, not just power on the bike or pace on the run.

One other data chart that we’ve been tracking:

I had an athlete that put together her own spreadsheet to track her RPE score, aerobic points and what we are calling intensity factor (which isn’t the same as IF for WKO+ which is NP/FTP).  One of the charts that she set up was to a plot of the intensity factor to workout duration.  By plotting that chart we can monitor the ratio on a week-to-week basis.

Feedback?

I would love to hear what others have to say about this concept.  We’ve just started using it several weeks ago, so until we get more data I’m not going to make any conclusions.  I am sure that those triathletes and/or runners that are used to monitoring their hard data from high tech devices with balk at the idea of using RPE.  But I’m not worried about that, I’ve come to peace with using a subjective data point like RPE.  In fact, I think that it can incorporate variables that impact training that a power meter can’t - such as psychological variables (fatigue) and health implications (early stages of sickness and stress).

Posted in Uncategorized |

Single Let Squat on TRX

October 20, 2008 – 8:42 am

In our book, Strength Training for Runners, Nikki and I included the single leg squat.  It is an exercise that I like to add into a runners program for several reasons:

1.  It requires you to use a single leg to produce force; this translates well into running which requites this movement to be repeated 1000’s of times.

2.  It helps develop stability in the hips and knees.  One of the premises that we have discussed in our book is that when a runner begins running more miles and increasing the intensity of their runs, if they have poor stability (primarily hip abduction and external rotation strength) they will be more prone to injury.  The research we share in the book supports this theory.

The NASM training that Nikki and I attended back in June also used the single let squat as an assessment for specific movement patterns, muscle imbalances and range of motion (just another use that a trainer may have for this exercise).

As I continue to build the list of exercises that I do on the TRX Suspension Trainer, I have found the single leg squat to be one that I find very effective.  I like how the TRX allows the non-power leg to follow a more natural “running” motion.  It allows this motion, but it doesn’t interfer with the stability aspect of the exercise - the exercise still requires a person to maintain good stability through the entire motion of the downward and upward phase of the movement.  By adding pauses at the bottom and top of the movement, you can add aditional stability challenges. 

Here’s a picture from the Fitness Anywhere site that displays this exercise at the bottom of the exercise movement:

 Hope you are staying injury free!

Posted in TRX |