When you eat, matters as much as what you eat .

When you eat, matters as much or more than what you eat.

Nutrition is an important aspect of proper training. Let me rephrase that PROPER NUTRITION IS VITAL TO PROPER TRAINING !
1. Eat real food whenever possible ! If you can’t do that make sure to read the labels of cans/boxes of the "meal replacements" to be sure of what you are getting. And take those suppliments only as a last line of defense. Sort of like taking antibiotics when you get a cold. Remember the suppliment industry is not regulated-and what it says on the label may not really be in that bottle. Check for labels on back of bottle to show that it has been tested by a safety agency( USP,NSF or CL) . No safety test label, buyer beware.
Your body absorbs real food mo better , and there are important interactions with real foods that you do not get with suppliments. Personally, i have switched from all the powered fuel/electrolyte mixes to real food and coconut water and am actually training harder and running faster. go figure.
2.Breakfast- This is the most important meal of the day. If you go more than 12 hrs from the previous night’s dinner,you are are big risk for breaking down your own lean muscle tissue, that is bad ! Many athletes think that if they skip breakfast than they will burn off the "extra fat" per Atkins diet thinking. Well this could work if you train at very low intensity and even then you need small amount of glucose to aid the fat metabolism. If you lose lean muscle mass by undereating, your metabolism and calorie burning will decrease, plus you have less muscle to use for speed/power. Kind of like good intentions but bad results.
3. Post workout meal- This in your 2nd most important meal. You NEED to eat within 30-45min after a workout while your body is still gushing out hormones and do repair/rebuilding. If you miss this opportunity, it is like getting 1/4 of the benefit of your workout. Why waste that all hard earned time. And remember to use the 4:1 carb:protein ratio.
4.Carb Loading -You need 24-48 hrs to slowly store carbs for the big race. A huge triple portion of pasta the night before a race ,will probably save a small portion as glycogen and the rest of it as fat. Eat slow meals of complex carbs to allow your body to digest and store them properly.

Online vs "real" coaching.

Online vs Real Coaching

This is subject that comes up more and more often as people get more “connected” to e-world.  I have talked with runners who follow some online program for their training, complete with music selection…woooo hooooo.  
I think that learning by video/dvd/you tube,etc is nice if you have already learned the basics and are proficient. I remember studying martial arts books when i was a beginner and most times i couldn’t understand it let alone do it correctly. Then a few years(after lots of "real" teachers) later it all made sense.
It every sport it is very important to have a real teacher in the early stages to make sure you are doing the sport correctly and not setting yourself up for injury. I have had clients , that have injured themselves doing Tae Bo dvd’s or going to a big Zumba classes with no direct supervision.
So if you are beginning a new sport or exercise routine, please get some real coaching at the beginning . I think you find that it is worth every penny.
A real in the flesh coach can watch how  you run/cycle/swim and pick out those "small details" that can direct your training program, improve your efficiency and prevent injury.
A real coach can tell when you are over your edge and need a break or not putting out 100% effort and need to be called on it.
A real coach will give you that "little pep talk" when you are feeling frustrated and not seeing any progress or not seeing the super duper whammo progress that you are expecting.

why we run hurdles

              Why we run hurdles

Hurdles!!! Oh NO!! I can hear the collective eye rolling and groans every time I set them up.

Soooo, I am going to start early with my 2011 resolution of doing more education articles. After all smarter runners are mo better runners!

Hurdles are done for 2 reasons:

1.     generalized benefit

2.     Technical or specific benefit.

So let talk about reason #1

   Generalized benefit- Running hurdles will help build fast twitch muscles and promote knee drive. So what, you might say, (I can hear it from here)

Well, I would say, did you know that fast twitch muscle will give you more speed and power? And burn more calories per workout as well. And improved knee drive will give you a higher distance covered/stride ratio.

Now for reason #2

  Technical or specific benefit- In track terms it is called “higher turnover rate” or increased “stride frequency”. In car driving terms that equals RPMs.

The more often your foot hits the ground the more often it can deliver propulsive force (push you closer to finish line).

So now, next time we do hurdles, I should hear all sorts of cheering!!!

 At least i can dream!