Performance and Transformation

Road Map to Full Recovery after 13.1 or 26.2 I have run almost 20 marathons, and lost count of how many half marathons I have completed. I have also helped numerous athletes get back to running following a hard endurance effort. These guidelines are a synthesis of the routine I have researched, follow, as well as what I suggest for others. It takes into account that after a hard endurance activity our bodies (Muscles, organs, ligaments, bones …) are damaged. For instance, it is not uncommon to find trace amounts of blood in the urine of endurance athletes after they complete their big goal race. Some of us may have even injured ourselves in pursuit of finishing our race. We do this because we want to find our limit, and now you have to recover after that limit is discovered! Whether or not your race was a world-beater, or beat you up, you are in precarious place. Your body will need time to rebuild, and even grow stronger. If you take this time to recover -- You will grow...

“Here’s a test: Of an activity you do, ask yourself: If I were the last person on earth, would I still do it?” - Steven Pressfield, The War of Art       I’m a Midwest guy who covets the ability to surf. I’ve been to the beach many times, boogie boarded, even watched the international boogie board championships on Oahu’s North Shore in Hawaii. It was the middle of January, and this often photographed beach was producing pipeline after pipeline wave. If you’ve ever seen a screensaver of a surfer effortlessly gliding through a crystal blue pipe it was likely from the North Shore. On this particular January afternoon, waves were cresting at over 20-30 feet. From the beach, the best in the world looked like toddlers holding onto a tiger's tail. I could overhear locals gasp in fearful admiration at the men still going out in such big wave conditions, and lying on their belly no less!         Watching some of t...

Your Heart in the Muddy Middle        Every race distance is uncomfortable, when you are trying.   Contrary to what we might hope for training will not negate pain. Training will increase the amount of discomfort you can endure, and the distance or speed at which you can go while experiencing that discomfort. But many of us short change the process because we are afraid of a certain pace or think we are losing motivation, and don’t know how to course correct. This usually happens in the middle of a workout, race, or around week 10 of a marathon build-up. How can we begin to train our hearts and brains to become strong alongside our bodies? How can you begin to listen to the part of you that signed up for the race, and not the part that is trying to talk you into hitting the snooze button?         Every good sports movie has the same theme: An athlete or team has a huge goal, and if there is any hope of exper...