Easy Big Fella

Well, a couple of good practices have been incorporated into my routine. They won't be called habits until the have bee incorporated for at least 3 weeks. This first is setting the alarm to go to bed at night. When the alarm goes off, the lunches get made, the workout and children's clothing gets laid out, so the next morning is not so hectic. All the tasks are not getting done, but the improvement in the morning stress can be seen. The second practice is making sure the kitchen is cleaned up right after dinner. This one is receiving a little flack from others in the house, but again, the reduction in stress the next day is great. Another unintended practice is to keep the TV off until later in the evening. Because of this, there is no more stuffing of the face until the new is over. Eating takes as long as it takes to be satisfied not full or overstuffed, and it feels great. These practices need more time and work before they become good habits, but the path is there.

Morning workouts are getting better and easier. Because of setting the alarm clock to go to bed, I awake more rested and can get up earlier. This has opened up enough time to expand the workout. So far the concentration has been on abs one day, arms and legs the next. There is a little muscle soreness the arms, but this is most likely due to the neglect over the years. It is almost to the point where some walking or jogging could be added. But that is not in the goals for this month. For now, take it easy big fella and stick to the plan, don't over do it. The core strength is coming along and that is the plan.

Last nights drive home from work was the time to listen to a podcast from Running Times. Pete Magill was the guest. http://www.runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=17768 He talked about how as we age, we lose our stride. What we most likely believe is the cause for us getting slower as we age is the turnover or pace, but studies have shown that we maintain the turnover as we age. What we do lose in about 40% of our stride length. So as we age, it is more important then ever to do drills to strengthen and maintain the muscles used to lengthen or maintain stride length.

One issue that has been mentioned often that age group runners and triathletes have is that we train too hard. Many coaches and experts in the fields taught that we need to slow down, especially on our recovery days. We often go out and try to maintain a certain pace. Often this pace is too taxing on our system and does not allow the body to heal after hard workouts. Also, the benefit of slowing down is that longer workouts are logged while expending less energy. One suggestion is to leave the watch at home and listen to your body. With out the watch telling us that we are not covering the distance as quickly as we usually do, then we are forced to listen to our body and run at a pace that our body is capable of for that day.

With all that being said, Small Steps are Better then No Steps and let's stay on the planned path.