Find me on Facebook!!

In an effort to reach people who use different social media platforms, I'm excited to announce that I'll be expanding my social-media presence over the new year.   First up, I just launched my own Facebook page for Contours Personal Training:
https://www.facebook.com/Contours-Personal-Training-248865928595562/ 

Be sure to visit the page, click like, and follow me for more fun fitness updates. I'll be updating with weekly fitness and nutritional training tips.  I look forward to exploring these new avenues and hopefully reaching out to even more people soon!

Thai Yoga Stretching for Flexibility

Every autumn, especially during November and December, when I have no races scheduled, and things slow down at the gym, I like to take advantage of the downtime to do some professional upgrading.  I like to take courses that will make me a more complete personal trainer, better able to offer valuable and much needed services to my clients.  

Over the past few years I’ve noticed that many of my clients are lacking in flexibility - in both segments of the population I train - those training for specific run events and those working through difficulties presented with osteoarthritis. 

People often overlook the importance of flexibility training, thinking that strength and cardio are more important in achieving their fitness goals.  But these three components of fitness are not mutually exclusive, in fact, they are quite complimentary. 

For example, a runner who wishes to gain speed needs to not only build strong leg and core muscles, but they must maintain and even enhance flexibility to reach their true speed potential.  For instance, if their hip and gluteal muscles are tight, they will not be able to reach their full stride potential, thus limiting how far they can move forward in each step.  If their competitor has more flexibility and thus a wider stride, they will cover more ground in one step then their opponent, thus beating them to the finish line. 

The injury prone runner should also consider that they are less likely to strain their hard working muscles if they are loose and pliable from proper flexibility training. Translating to less time on the bench and more time training towards your goals. 

For those suffering with osteoarthritis, flexibility training is important to help maintain range of motion (ROM) in joints that are often underused due to pain and inflammation.  Stretching those joints, especially the hip and shoulder, will help prevent loss of mobility, helping to maintain a full quality of life and confidence in everyday activities that involve lots of reaching, bending and twisting.  Things that many of us take for granted until we lose them.  

Over the last seven years, I’ve been using static and dynamic stretching techniques to help my clients to improve their flexibility.  But I wanted to do more for my clients, so I spent this past weekend attending a workshop learning technique on Thai Yoga Stretching for Flexibility.  

Daniela Goode, Co-director of Navina Thai Yoga Therapy, lead the workshop at the Can-Fit-Pro Academy.  I was fortunate to have a small class size of only 6 students, with a 3-1 student-teacher ratio, so I had lots of time with the instructors (Daniela & Debra) and hands on experience developing my stretching technique on the other five students (who were also personal trainers) in the workshop. 

This workshop focussed on stretching techniques to gain flexibility in the hip and shoulder joints, as well as several key muscle groups including: quads, hamstrings, adductors, gluteals, hip flexors, deltoids, pecs, traps and the erector spinae of the back.  

These techniques utilized body weight mechanics, accupressure and breathing techniques to facilitate deeper stretching than other standard methods (e.g. static/dynamic methods).    

Thanks to Daniela & Debra, I feel confident in using these Thai Yoga stretching techniques on my clients in the hopes of making them more confident in their motions, as well as, helping to prevent injury, promote recovery, increase mobility and release built up tension in their bodies and minds. 

Curious about these flexibility techniques? Ask me about them at our next appointment and I’d be more than happy to show you! 

Waterfront 5K

October symbolizes the end of racing season for most Canadians.  With the wind and cooler temps, it might be a little chilly for swimming and other summer fun activities, but its fantastic weather for running.  As such, most runners take advantage of this month for their end of season fitness goals.  

Last year, my end of season fitness goal was the Waterfront marathon, but this year things were a little different for me.  I had finally completed my first full Ironman in August (which included a full marathon as part of the triathlon) so I wasn’t sure I wanted to do another 42.2km run so soon.  Instead I decided to change my pace completely and race the 5K event.  

Over the last eighteen months, I had been so committed to training for endurance events that I felt I overlooked my speed work for endurance running.  While I love endurance running, sometimes I miss just running fast.  So this fall seemed like a great time to spend a little more training time on speed work to compliment my running repertoire.  After all, I want to be a complete runner, both fast and enduring.  

Along with three of my clients, I signed up for the Waterfront 5K race on Sunday, October 22.  I focussed on running 200m pick-up drills on the track, threshold road running, core strength drills and explosive strength training in the weight room.  I gave myself one month to train, as I was still in recovery from Ironman Mont Tremblant for late August into mid-September. 

After a month of high knees and breathless running drills, race morning dawned clear and bright, a cool temperature of 13C, perfect for running.  I lined up in the red corral and reminded myself this was only going to take 22minutes, a far cry from my last event that took me over thirteen hours!  It all passed in such a blur to be honest.  Running with the sole purpose of being fast and saving nothing for the rest of the day was very different strategically for me, but also fun - it was running with reckless abandon, I only had to last 5k (that’s 3.1 miles instead of 140.6 miles). 

I was hoping to break 22min, but I ended up running just 3 seconds over that.  However, it was fast enough to earn me the silver medal in my age category. Which I’m super happy with considering I only committed 5 weeks to this event.     

Race Results:

Time - 22:02.5

Pace - 4:24/km

Gender place: 23/4416 

Age category: 2/488   

Canada Running Series:

http://canadarunningseries.com/results/2017/stwm/stwm-5k-awards.htm 

It feels good to know I still have some speed in the tank. And I’ll be reminding myself of this as my winter marathon training starts again in January. Not to mention my ultimate frisbee games that draw heavy upon my sprinting skills. 

However, this day was not just about myself.  I would be fail to amiss if I did not recognize the hard work three of my exceptional clients put in towards this race day as well.  

Alice - who followed much the same training plan as myself in the final month, and landed the bronze medal in her age group - running a 5K PB of 29:48, finally breaking that 30min 5K barrier.   

Jane - she took this day, and this finishers medal, to symbolize her triumphant return to running after overcoming a knee injury that her doctor told her would end her running career.

Lynn - a true warrior who faces a new challenge every autumn and pushes past her comfort zone to achieve new heights, distances and paces.  I’m proud of you all!   

Running Faster

The Waterfront 5k is just 16 days away.  I’ve been training hard the last few weeks, chasing my 5k PB and possibly a podium spot.  I’ve been hitting the weights, doing plyometrics, running intervals down on the Riverdale Park track and laying down hard tempo and threshold runs.  

And now its beginning to look like the speed training is paying off.   I re-did my race pace run this morning and I laid down a new PB!  I ran 5k in 21:43.   Last week I did the same 5k in 22:57. Yes, I am getting faster!  Indeed, I’ve already beaten the time the woman in my age group laid down to take first place in my age group at this event last year (21:57).  But I can’t be complacent - I have no idea who is going to show up and how fast they will run, so my training will continue.  I will stay focussed and keep running hard.   

The Quest for Speed Continues

This morning I did my first test race pace run in my quest for speed training.  I did a hard 5K in 22:57, with a pace of 4:33min/km.  It was my first threshold run in over a month and it felt good.  Although it was still 11 seconds over my personal best (22:46), and a full 60 seconds over the age group winner in the Waterfront 5K race last year (21:57), I know there is still room for improvement and I’m encouraged by the pace I was able to hold during this first test run - in downtown morning traffic by the way.  

I have also began pushing heavier weights, performing plyometrics and increasing my core work this week, which will only improve my run pace over the weeks leading up to the October 22 race, now just a month away.  I can't say for sure how much my residual muscle soreness from the initial weight training session may have impacted my pace on this mornings run, but my abs and glutes were definitely still feeling the impact of those weights today.  But I know this pain will fade soon, yet the speed will remain.  

Additionally, my ultimate frisbee fall league has transitioned to speedpoint style of play which focuses much more on sprinting with subs on the fly (instead of subbing only after a point is scored), which will also help with my run intervals, a convenient coincidence I should add.   

I’ll be doing a test 5K race pace run each week to track my progress. Hopefully I’ll see a few seconds coming off that time each week until race day.  Stay tuned as I update my progress.   

I feel the need for speed training

It is now four weeks out of Ironman Mont Tremblant (IMMT) and I’m feeling back to normal again. I allowed myself as much time to recover as I felt I needed over the last month, but now I want to get back to training again.  I was still doing some workouts over the last few weeks, but only short distances, 5-10km runs, 30min swim & spins, and some ultimate frisbee games.  No challenging weight lifting, just some demo work for my personal training clients.  I’m beginning to feel a little restless and feel the need to re-focus my efforts again. 

Thankfully, I have one more goal race this year, the Waterfront 5km on Oct 22, before officially entering the off-season on Nov 1.  Last year I did the Waterfront marathon (42.2km) but I just don’t have another marathon in me right now after IMMT on Aug 20, so I felt aiming for a 5km PB would be a more appropriate challenge.  (According to my Garmin, my current 5km PB is 22:46, pace 4:33min/km).  

Training for 5km is very different from the training plan that I’ve been following for my long course triathlon and endurance running over the last year, but the change is refreshing. It does allow me to get back to some of the running fundamentals that every runner needs to work on.  

Over the next month I’ll be focussing more on my form when I run, remembering the basic principles of engaging the core, keeping a straight back, slightly leaning into the run, swinging my arms to get power from my core and obliques, keeping my knees high, and landing on the front on my foot.  

And of course, the core strengthening exercises that allow proper engagement of these muscles.  That means lots of planks, curl-ups, Russian twists, bicycle crunches, low lunges into high knees, dead-bugs, bridges, clams and squats. Lots and lots of squats - weighted squats, split squats, jump squats, box jumps...

Finally, I’ll be spending more time on the track running.  I’ll be doing some more speed and sprint training on the track, as opposed to the long runs I’ve been focussing on this past year. Less time down in Tommy Thompson Park and more time at the Riverdale Park track, until Oct 22 anyway.  

Already this year I’ve gone longer than ever, now hopefully, after this month of training I’ll be running faster than ever. 

In Recovery

It has been two weeks since I finished my first Ironman.  In doing my research for the event, I also looked into how much time I needed to spend recovering after the race - this is just as important to plan out as the initial training plan leading up to the race - if I hope to avoid burn out or injury.  Most of the literature recommended a month to recover before returning to intensive training or racing.  Today marks the halfway point.  I must admit, it feels strange to have such a reduced training schedule, considering my hectic plans in the months leading up to the event. 

The first week after IMMT, all I did was a short post-race swim in my friends lake the day after, and then just walking for the rest of the week. The first weekend back I did a 5km run, and I made it to the pool a couple times that week, for short 30-minute swims. The low impact activity in the water felt really good.  

However, the first real wake-up call I got that my body really wasn’t healed yet was when I laced up my grass cleats and went back to playing with my ultimate frisbee teams on Tuesday and Thursday evening.  Normally I’m a good reliable sprinter for my team, but as soon as I started chasing the disc down the field, I could feel the tightness in my glutes and hips.  I was nowhere near my regular running intensity for an interval type run workout.  Several times I had to back off a deep cut because I just didn’t have the legs.  This was very frustrating for me.  But I know I just have to be patient and I’ll be back to my normal self in another couple of weeks. 

My poor performance on the ultimate field convinced me to go see my massage therapist on Friday.  Overall, my legs were not as bad as when I finished the Boston Marathon this spring.  (Which I chalk up to the difference in running intensity for the two events. My marathon pace is typically between 5:00-5:30min/km depending on the heat, but the marathon portion of IMMT was a much slower 6:43min/km). But there were definitely some knots in my calves and right hip that still needed to be worked out.  I think I felt more bike-sore than run-sore.  Which makes sense as I have more running experience than cycling experience. 

What surprised me most about my recovery from IMMT, was how tired I’ve been feeling.  I’ve been dragging myself out of bed in the mornings, and long to return to it throughout the day.  There is a general sense of fatigue that is hard to shake.  I know it must be from completely emptying my tank the day of the big event.  But usually taking a few days off and catching up on sleep does the trick. But the fatigue is still lingering after two weeks and I’m hoping that I will shake it soon as my body recovers.  I'll be spending a a lot of time catching up on my sleep on the Labour Day long weekend. 

I have yet to get back on my bike since IMMT. I must admit, I was really happy to get off my bike after that 180km of hills, and I wasn’t in any rush to ride again so soon.  That being said, I am planning on riding this week though, especially since I have to stay out of the pool for the next two weeks.  Why is that you ask?  Because I got my new ink done yesterday:

I really wanted to get some new artwork done to celebrate finishing my first Ironman.  It was a huge life goal for me, and signified how far I have come in both my physical and mental training as an athlete and person.  The m-dot symbol is the iconic race image, and the words ‘Strength, Endurance, Joy’ written below were the words that really summed up the entire process for me, all inscribed on my right forearm. 

Strength - I had to develop so much physical and mental strength to complete the event. I never want to forget just how incredibly strong I am. 

Endurance - This type of long course event, the enduring training of, has helped me come so far in my life, both professionally and personally. I love the feeling endurance gives me.  It gives me a sense of calmness and clarity that I've otherwise had difficulty finding in my life.   

Joy - I recall the moment of pure joy and bliss that I had running down the finishers cute and how happy it made me feel.  But I also remember how joyful running has made me feel and when things get tough I wanted a reminder of how much joy I felt. 

How appropriate, the tattoo hurt like hell while it was being placed on my arm, but the more I look at it now, the more I love it.  And it will take another two weeks to fully heal.  But it was something I truly earned and will have with me the rest of my life. 

So now, as I get ready to get back on my bike and slowly return to normal again, I will have a reminder when things get hard again, that I am strong enough to see the course through.   

So what lies ahead for me now?   Of course re-qualifying for another major marathon is on my list. But for Ironman, more specifically, I'm thinking about Ironman 70.3 Muskoka (July 8th, 2018) and Ironman 140.6 Lake Placid (July 2019).  We'll see what the journey brings.