Holiday Indulgence

Can you believe that the holidays are upon us? I personally can't.  It seems like just last week I was kayaking in Casco Bay and running the Back Cove Weekly 5K and running up Mt. Cocorua with Lucy on my 29th birthday. But now it's almost December! And with December comes the holidays. And with Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year comes overeating, stress, and inevitable weight gain. Inevitable weight gain? Bah humbug, I say!

The vast majority of us Americans over-consume when it comes to the holidays. I mean, how can we not? There are plates of delicious cookies, pies, chocolates, buckeyes (my personal favorite), fudge, and so on. It's the American way to over consume. It's also the American way to complain about it afterwards. Well guess what...you don't have to fall victim to "inevitable weight gain." Here are a few tips to keep in mind before, during, and after you party.

1. Plan ahead. The party you are headed to obviously is going to have food. What are the chances the host is going to have a nice fruit and vegetable spread? Not likely. So snack ahead of time. Eat a high-protein or high-fiber snack. Either will keep you feeling satiated longer.

2. Don't go to a party hungry. The more hungry you are the more you will most likely eat. Instead, focus on snacking throughout the day. This will keep your blood-sugar level up, your mood good, and your daily calorie intake in check.

3. Drink water, and a lot of it. For every drink you have, drink a glass of water. Every beer you consume contains roughly 60-200 calories. Soda and juice can be full of sugar and calories. These calories are pure carbohydrates, which are perfect if you are looking to add some unnecessary weight this season. By drinking water you help your system flush the alcohol and help keep you sober, where you are less likely to make bad decisions--eating or otherwise.

4. If you happen to overeat at one meal, go light on the next meal. Balance and moderation is key. Having one extra piece of pie one time won't make you gain weight. If you are a repeat offender, then you'll fall victim to "inevitable weight gain."

5. Try to keep your plate colorful. Brownies, cookies, and pies tend to be more bland in color. Challenge yourself to get as many fruits and veggies on your plate as you can. Fruits and veggies come in a variety of colors so be creative!

Follow these steps and you'll have a much happier holiday season. Let's face it, everyone enjoys a good party and it's not a terrible thing to enjoy a treat or two that you normally wouldn't have at any other time during the year. But challenge yourself to be mindful about what you are putting in to your body. If you can accomplish this then you might just be able to turn the inevitable weight gain into weight maintenance or even surprising weight loss.

Spinning yourself into fitness!

I recently taught my first spin class at the YMCA in Portland. Spinning is something I've been interested in teaching since listening to a high-energy spin class while working out at a local personal training studio a couple of years ago, so when the Y asked me to teach a class I jumped at the opportunity. The energy that that class gave off was incredible so I thought it could be a great chance to somehow duplicate that to a wider range of people. Not to mention that the Y offered to certify me, so I couldn't say no!

For those of you who aren't quite sure what a spin class is--let me explain. It's essentially a stationary biking class with attitude. You can do cardio intervals by mixing up some "hill climbs" or "sprints," or play around with the tension or depth in which you ride on the bike. If none of this makes much sense, perhaps you should show up for a class (if you dare). Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:15-7:00 at the Portland YMCA. Do it...show up!

Only one person showed up for the first class. Having only a few people show to a class that is just starting out after summer is pretty common, but it's also a crucial opportunity to leave a good impression on those few people so that they spread the word and bring some of their friends. So I was determined to put my lone participant through a leg-burner that she soon wouldn't forget, but not so much so that she wouldn't be able to walk for days.

In the few weeks since the first class, several more people have shown up.  They all leave with a little wobble to their walk, but content nonetheless. One person actually thanked me for a "beautiful class." So if you want to burn some serious calories, strengthen your glutes, quadriceps, hamstrings, calves, shoulders, triceps, abs and numerous other muscle groups, then show up to a spin class near you!

State Champ? Maybe someday.

As some of you know, I'm coaching varsity cross-country at Gray-New Gloucester High School this fall. I was offered the job on a whim this summer because of the successes I had coaching middle school track last spring. I took the job because coaching varsity cross-country has been a dream of mine ever since I graduated high school in 2000.

Now let's fast-forward a bit because this blog entry has nothing to do with cross-country.

A week or two ago I was waiting outside the school with the team for the bus to take us to our second meet of the season. As we were waiting, I noticed a familiar looking man walk by. After taking a moment to recognize him, I called out, "Hey are you Zack's dad?"

He looked over at me and said, "Yeah," then started walking towards me.

"I'm Coach Nate," I said, extending my hand to him. "I coached Zack last spring in the high jump."

"Oh, you're the coach responsible for starting my son out to be a state champion," he said.

A little confused by what he meant--there isn't a "state champion" at the middle school level--I said, "What do you mean?"

"Well, after school ended Zack continued to do the high jump for USATF. He ended up jumping 5'5" by the end of the year. He actually had the best jump in Maine and went on to Nationals in Kansas in June."

Now let's get something straight. 5'5" is an unbelievable jump for a 7th grader. Truly remarkable. What makes this even more remarkable is that this kid hadn't even attempted to high jump until the 2nd or 3rd meet of the season when he was goofing off in practice and decided to give it a shot. I saw him fly over that bar--with pretty poor form but a lot of vertical height--and knew instantly that with some work he could be a heck of a jumper. So we worked on it over, and over, and over again in practice until he got up to 5'0" by the middle school conference meet. Apparently he has worked even harder since then and got up to 5'5"!

"If he keeps working hard and jumping like that he could be a state champion by his junior or even sophomore year."

"Maybe. Zack would probably have wanted to tell you all that himself but I couldn't help it I'm so excited," his dad said.

Successes like this are why I love helping people help themselves--whether it be through fitness training, coaching or just giving advice. At the end of the day, I can't consider it work.

The Great Adventure Challenge Triathlon--Part 2, GLORY!

Well kids, I did it. The unthinkable. The unimaginable. The most rewarding thing I've done for myself, personally, in my fitness lifetime. I won a triathlon. The Great Adventure Challenge 2011 is all mine. As is the fastest time ever on it for the 17-34 year old age group: 2:13:19. I beat the previous record, which was set last year, by 1 minute and 11 seconds. The second place guy finished in 2:21:40. Glorious. 

Not to mention I broke my own 17-34 age group run record (last year was 30:10, this year was 27:02). I took 2:37 off my 2010 kayak time and a 4:42 off my 2010 bike time.

Of all of it, I must say I'm most proud of the run. Literally you run straight up the face of Shawnee Peak, then around the warming hut at the top, then straight back down. Your legs are jello and the sun is blasting you for about 98% of it. It's the last leg of the race, directly following the grueling, and I mean grueling 14+ mile mountain bike ride. You want to die. If God struck down any of the athletes as they are climbing/running/limping up the face of Shawnee, I guarantee none of them would have minded if given the chance. None.

Fortunately the ambulance wasn't put to use. My parents and three of my friends came to cheer me on--without them I'm not sure I would have been so successful--and everyone at the event had a great time. Over $7000 was raised for Good Neighbors, a group dedicated to working with adults with disabilites.

It was a glorious day, indeed, and I look forward to training even harder next year to defend my title.

The Great Adventure Challenge Triathlon--Part 1, Training

So tomorrow is the much anticipated Great Adventure Challenge Triathlon. Much anticipated by me, of course.

This isn't your every day tri we're talking about here. The GAC includes 2.5 miles of open-water kayaking, followed by 14+ miles of mountain biking, and finishes up with a run up and down Shawnee Peak (GAC). Last year was the first year I did the GAC and was actually the first tri I've ever done. I went in to last year's event with the mindset that all I wanted to do was finish. Needless to say that I blew my own expectations away with a 2nd place finish in my age group and a new course record on the run up and down Shawnee. They even gave me a trophy!

I left last year's tri with the determination that I was going to do it again in 2011 and do it to win it. I was behind the winner by 9 minutes and 18 seconds, which is quite a gap to cover in essentially only two events (the kayak and bike portion because I won the run). 

Fast forward to May 2011. Training begins. This is the time of year to really build a base for an event that takes place in late August. Running outside becomes easier (and warmer). Mountain biking is actually pretty fun because of the crazy amount of mud on the trails. Kayaking isn't quite feasible yet--for me anyway-- but stabilization and core exercises start becoming a whole lot more routine.

Training through the summer months is pretty easy if you focus. But it's when the two-a-days start in early August that you might start questioning your own sanity. Bike in the morning, run at night. Lift in the morning, bike at night. Kayak in the morning, run at night. You get the idea. Brutal through the dog days of summer but absolutely essential if you want to succeed. This past week has been a taper week, meaning the two-a-days are over and it's time for a recovery and lots of pasta!

I've had a little outside help to try and speed up last year's time. Two good friends of mine have coached me up (one in kayaking, one in mountain biking) and even let me borrow some of their gear. Anything to help shave off those 9 minutes and 18 seconds...

...but who really knows what tomorrow will bring. It doesn't take much to derail months of hard training--a flat tire, someone falling in front of you, falling yourself, tipping over in the kayak...anything! With a little bit of luck and some knocking on wood and a focused plan, none of those things will happen and I should be sprinting down Shawnee in one piece, wondering where my trophy is.

Intervals

Intervals. We've all heard the term and they can certainly apply to a wide variety of things, but the intervals I want to write about are cardio intervals, the most beneficial form of cardio that there is, period.

Anyone who goes to the gym or has ever gone to the gym has run on a treadmill. Now I ask you this: How fun was it? Are you seeing the results you desire? It's not called the "dreadmill" for nothing. This is probably because you run for the standard 20-30 minutes, two or three times a week. Then you might even go as far as going home and saying to yourself or someone else something along the line of "I ran at the gym today and according to the treadmill I burned 500 calories so I deserve this ice cream!" Sorry, this doesn't work in my book. What you need is to do intervals and stay off the ice cream. Then it's hello Result City!

Intervals combine short bursts of speed or intensity followed by a longer recovery period and can be done in any form of exercise--running, biking, walking, even resistance training. This process of increasing and decreasing your heart rate will get you better results quicker, guaranteed. The American Council of Sports Medicine believes that not only will you burn more calories in short bursts of high-intensity exercise, but you will also see a improvements in your cardiovascular fitness as well (HIT High-Intensity Training Benefits). 

I'm a huge believer in the benefits of interval training not only for myself for when I'm training for a race, but it is the very first routine I put my clients through when they start working with me. After a proper warmup, I'll have the client get on the elliptical for 15 minutes and perform intervals of usually 15 seconds at a higher speed and 1 minute at recover speed. The beauty of intervals is that they can vary, too! Try 30 at a high speed followed by 1 minute recovery, followed by 15 seconds high speed, followed by 45 seconds recovery.  The key is to let your heart rate fully recover, though!

Personally, I'm not a fan of running long distances at one pace because I have the attention span of a fruit fly. So I mix it up by picking out some telephone poles along the road and running hard--not sprinting--for one set followed by an easy jogging recover for the next set. Try this on the road and you're bound to see faster results as well as a workout that just seems to fly by!

Pushing through the mind chatter

You may or may not have noticed that I haven't posted a blog in about a month and a half. There have been a lot of things changing in my life, all of which have taken a great deal of energy to handle. Many times during the past six weeks I haven't really felt like exercising because of my lack of energy and focus.  However, when push came to shove I have been able to push through the mind chatter (for the most part) and focus on the task at hand: get the workout done!

Let's face it: life is full of distractions. Too tired, too sore, too busy, too much to do, rather do this, rather do that, blah blah blah.... Enough! These aren't just distractions, they're excuses! Time to put them away and focus. Exercise will actually clear your head so you can better handle all these distractions once you've completed your workout.

Obviously there are times when your workout just won't happen. But that means you just make up for it the next day. Can't go for a run on Tuesday because you've got a bored (board? ha!) meeting? Then go for a bit of a longer run on Wednesday or Thursday. Couldn't hammer out your weekly chest and back exercise on Monday because you're too hung over from the weekend? Well, hopefully this isn't the case but if it is then do it Tuesday and workout on Saturday or Sunday, one of which would have been your day off. 

The point is that we all are faced with distractions. Get over it. Pushing through the mind chatter of "too busy" or "too tired" or whatever will make you a stronger--mentally and physically--person. And isn't that what it's all about?