Andy Irons Has Left Us

On Tuesday November 2, 2010 world champion surfer, Andy Irons was found dead in his hotel room in Dallas. He was on a layover on his way back to his home in Hawaii. The cause of death, as far a I know, was dengue fever. Dengue fever is a tropical disease spread by a specific type of mosquito. Normally, it will last anywhere from 2 to 7 days, but there are rare instances where it can progress to a fatal disease. Unfortunately, Andy's was one of those instances. He is reported to have contracted the disease in Portugal, where he was competing. He then made his way to Puerto Rico, where he dropped out of a surfing contest because he was too ill to compete. He travelled to Florida, where he was treated with IV antibiotics for 2 days before leaving to return home to Hawaii to be treated by his doctor. It was during this return trip that he was in Dallas.

I am truly saddened at his death. When I was thinking of only surfing and doing nothing that was not surf-related back in high school and college, Andy Irons was one of the up and coming stars in the sport. He was the champion by who all others gauged their performance. The guy was an incredible athlete, and from what I hear, a very real and true person. His wife is expecting their first child in under a month. Please send out your prayers and well wishes for the Irons family during this tragic time. This is a great loss to the community as well as the world. It is my hope that consolation can be found in that Heaven has he greatest waves and the best boards one can imagine. You can bet that right now, Andy is smiling upon his friends and family as he rides the biggest and best waves anyone can fathom:)

RUNNING

I like to run. Hard. I don't think I know how to run very slow. Even when I was very serious about running and ONLY running, I never ran my long runs slow enough. I will run slow for a bit and then get bored, take off, and run it entirely too hard. I actually run so hard that I need to stop to walk. I only walk for a short minute though. Then I take off again. What the hell?

I just got back from a really good run. A mix of small inclines and flats through the surrounding neighborhoods. Once I got warmed up, I was ready to go. Coming back was WAAY quicker than going out, which is good.
Negative splits are good.
Barefoot running is good.
I am getting faster.
I think I like Crossfit Endurance.
I know I love kettlebells.
I like running.
Starting to LOVE running.
Freedom.
On my feet.
Ramble....Ramble....
Can you tell I'm tired?
I need food.

BEANS...mmmmm:)

BORN TO RUN Insight

I just finished reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. The book is awesome and I highly recommend it. Although I had started running again before reading the book, now that I'm done, I feel a new inspiration for running. Normally, running for me has been about pushing through the pain, testing the limits, doing the grind. After reading this book, I think my outlook has been skewed. While running is and can be about all of the things listed above, those things don't have to be a struggle. The pain I've experienced is increased exponentially by my anxiety about its onset. As soon as I start feeling some of that pain associated with running hard, my anxiety jumps through the roof..."How long can I deal with this? Can I deal with this? Do I want to deal with this? Holy crap, its getting worse!!". I end up talking myself into feeling pain and paying attention to it. What the hell? Once in awhile though, I GET IT. The pain is comfortable. I LIKE IT. I've relaxed into it, and I am no longer afraid. This enjoyment happens when I pay attention to the beautiful things about running. I get to experience a lot of nature and a lot of the area I live in by running. I get into a fluid stride, a rythm of movement. When I start to pay attention to these things, my anxiety drops and the pain becomes a pleasure. Its not even pain anymore. The running isn't a grind, its a pursuit. I am testing the limits and breaking through new barriers each time I go out, which is beautiful in itself.
Thats the message Christopher McDougall is trying to convey. Running is not a means to an end, but an end in itself. Running for the sake of running. Running as a part of life. This is my new view on running. Every part of it is enjoyable. No pressure, just have fun.

Below is a video from Barefoot Ted, one of the runners in the book. An overview of the Copper Canyons and some of the runners that ran in the first Copper Canyon Ultramarathon.

Strength Day

I've been trying to get more running into my weeks. I'm trying the barefoot running thing and it seems to be working out. I have gradully increased my mileage and avoided any injuries so far. Although I'm running more, I still want to keep a base of strength (or strength-type training). For me, that looks like this...

All with the 24kg kettlebell:

Clean and Press x 5,4,3,2,1 r/l

Swings x 10/10 , 30 secs rest x 5, 20 secs rest x 5


Swinging Planks - 20 sec on / 10 sec rest x 8

Thats it. I'm still trying to figure out how much I can strength train while trying to effectively increase my mileage while running. Eventually, if you push them too hard simultaneously, they both hit a wall. I will continue to try and balance work and recovery while maintaining at least a base of strength and power endurance (ala VO2Max VWC) and cardiovascular conditioning (ala running and VO2Max VWC). We'll see how this works...

FEED THE MACHINE

I want to talk about post-workout nutrition. So often do I find that people train hard, yet ignore good nutrition. Your body doesn't improve WHILE you workout, it improves when you recover. Post-workout nutrition is the primary step to that recovery (ina ddition to adequate sleep, sunlight, and eating well). Also, you WILL NOT "gain back what you just lost" if you eat immediately after working out. Your body doesn't work like that, sorry:) E-mail me if you want a rant on why that just isn't so.



So, you've trained hard for the past hour, you are finished cooling down, and now you need to eat. Notice I didn't say WANT to eat, I said NEED. You may not have the best appetite after training, but it is essential that you find SOMETHING that you can stomach within the first 30-60 minutes after training. Why 30-60 minutes? Because thats when your insulin sensitivity is at its peak (after about 90 minutes they are almost back to normal levels). Why is this important? Because insulin is responsible for shuttling all that post-workout nutrition right into your muscles. Insulin grabs onto glucose (from your bloodstream) and packs it away into the muscles that you just trained. Oh yea, it also carries amino-acids with it, allowing your cells to start building new proteins (i.e. - NEW MUSCLE). This is important even if you are not training to build big muscles, because this process allows your muscles to adapt to the training you just performed, to give you new capacity (i.e. - MORE ENDURANCE).


Ok, now that you know the basic science behind it, lets apply it. Ideally, and this goes for endurance athletes as well as strength athletes, you want a 1:4 ration of protein:carbohydrates in your post-workout meal. This ratio applies to the number of grams of each (they have the same caloric value per gram). So, if you eat 20 grams of protein, you want 100 grams of carbs. Get it? Good.



Now, the TYPE of carbs and protein should be considered. You want a FAST-DIGESTING carbohydrate, and an EASILY-ASSIMILATED protein. This basically means sugar and whey protein (I suggest whey because it is easily found as a supplement and in most dairy products). You could also use egg whites if you have a whey allergy. If you are allergic to both, then do some research and find something you can eat after training (any supplement store should have some options for you).
As for the carbs, any carb with a high GI value will work. Some of the best are bananas, pineapple, white bread, etc. You can work out the amount of each of these foods that you eat based on the above ratio and your specific caloric needs.

Some ideal post-workout meals that I like to use) are:

- A banana and a cup of milk
- A cup or two of CHOCOLATE MILK (yes, it is one of the BEST post-workout meals, even for a serious athlete, and no, it will not make you fat)
- Ricotta cheese and Jelly on white bread

Let me know if you have any other suggestions / input. Hope you enjoy;)

Winter Games

Today is the last day of the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. I was able to watch a good portion of the Games. My favorite event has to be the Biathlon. I think that the intensity of this sport is unrivaled. Full-on cross-country ski race then stop to shoot accurately at a target over 160 feet away, all while having a heart rate near maximum!! The breath control and shooting accuract required to be successful is unbelievable. Check it out at www.biathlonworld.com.

Here is the Final Medal Count for the Games (for the top three finishers):




United States
Gold - 9
Silver - 15
Bronze - 13
Total - 37

Germany
Gold - 10
Silver - 13
Bronze - 7
Total - 30

Canada
Gold - 14
Silver - 7
Bronze - 5
Total - 26

WAY TO GO UNITED STATES!!!

I want to give a round of applause to all of the athletes that competed in the Olympics. Your talent and commitment is undoubtedly the highest of any. Great jib to everyone who competed!!

I also want to highlight my favorite group of athletes, those from Lake Placid (the best place on Earth). They are:



Haley Johnson - Biathlon (comeskiwithme.blogspot.com)


Tim Burke- Biathlon (timburke.us)


John Napier - Bobsled (http://bobsled.teamusa.org/athletes/john-napier)


Bill Demong - Nordic Combined (http://skiing.teamusa.org/athletes/bill-demong)


Lowell Bailey - Biathlon (www.lowellbailey.com)


Andrew Weibrecht - Alpine Skiing (http://skiing.teamusa.org/athletes/andrew-weibrecht)

I am biased, but the above athletes are my favorite:)

Check out the rest of the Olympic results and the amazing competitiors here:

http://www.vancouver2010.com/

Again, congratulations to all the athletes on their hard work, determination, and guts to make it as far as they have. I look forward to hearing about the future success each of you will have in your careers.

San Antonio

I am blessed to have a Mother-in-law who loves to fly us down to San Antonio to visit her. We've been there a few times in the past couple years and every time she has something new for us to do. Here are some pics from the last trip we took...


On the Riverwalk in downtown San Antonio!!


MMMMMM...Cookies in Boerne (pronounced "Bernie").


In Fredsrickburg, a Cowboy town in the Texas Hill Country.


Good food in Austin...


Above the Casa Rio restaurant on the San Antonio riverwalk. I highly recommend this place for authentic Mexican food.

Backpacking!!!

We went backpacking a few months ago (obviously, by the look of the warm weather). It was Samantha's first time backpacking, or even sleeping in the woods!! She did awesome:) The whole thing is so simple. You carry your whole life on your back, for however long you are hiking. Your days are: Eat, walk, sleep, eat, walk, sleep...SOOO fulfilling. Here's some pics, enjoy:)

Travelling...

Since I've posted last (and even before that), I've done a bit of travelling, mostly to Lake Placid. Hence, my lack of blog posts (in addition to mass amounts of school work). I have been training, albeit sporadically, depending on when I get home from the hospital and how many hours of sleep I can cram in. As far as the training, I'll get to that in a later post because it is very exciting and I know that all three of you (my loyal readers) are very interested in what my training has been like. For now, here is a slide show of some High Peaks adventures...


LAKE PLACID Summer!!!


This is the summit of Whiteface mountain. Whiteface is THE mountain to ride in the ADK's. This is in the summer on a pretty foggy and rainy day. We drove up most of the mountain, then walked through a tunnel that went straight into the mountain leading to an elevator taking you to the summit.


Here is Lake Placid (the actual lake) from Whiteface summit. You can see (from left to right) Buck Island, Moose Island and Hawk Island.


This is along Route 73, between Keene Valley and Lake Placid.


Here's Samantha on a rainy morning in Lake Placid. This is at the best place in the world to get coffee, AKA the COFFEE BEAN, right on Main Street Lake placid, overlooking Mirror Lake.


Here's me approaching the summit of Cascade Mountain. That was an awesome hike. Short, steep, and great views.


My beautiful wife having fun on the top of Cascade. The temperature was 20 degrees cooler at the top than it was at the bottom!!!


A morning on Mirror Lake.


A paddle board and a swimmer doing laps in Mirror Lake. We were there exactly one week after the Lake Placid Ironman. Everyone was still geared up for triathlon. Each morning I saw numerous swimmers doing laps in Mirror Lake in the Ironman course.



LAKE PLACID Winter!!!


Here is my brother, Dan and Brother-in-law, Shannon, on the observation deck on top of Little Whiteface.



Here is part of what you see from Whiteface Summit. Unfortunately, on this day, The Slides were not open to ride. I look forward to a trip up to LP when they are open, because I recently converted back to skiing (from an 8 year hiatus). It will be fun to do some backcountry skiing after riding a snowboard for awhile:)



Shannon. Man of the hour, 24/7/365 :)


So the Lake Placid Pub and Brewery has this s'mores dessert where you roast your own mallows over a sterno flame...unbelievable. They also brew my absolute favorite beer, UBU Ale. Also, their New England Clam Chowder is the best thing since sliced bread. Whenever we go there its UBU Ale and Pretzel Nuggets, New England Clam and French Onion...done.



Did I ever tell you that I LOVE the Olympic Center?


Outside the Speed Skating oval.


Winter hike on the Whiteface Landing Trail.


It's not Lake Placid without the toboggan:) Dan and Lauren on Mirror Lake with their sweet ride.