Hi folks, I was in the dentist's office again today and a nice lady there said "Great calves! How come? Are you a runner?" Well! I do run a bit, I replied, and that got me thinking. I do run a bit, and why is it that I can still run? Just take a look at my latest injury inventory diagram: A lot of people have helped me to address my injuries along the way, with great advice on treatment of many ... Read more
Fate Taps Gently On The Door: Self-Awareness Can Save Your Life (It Did Mine!).
Hi folks! It is important to remember that fate sometimes taps gently on the door of our consciousness. It can be fatal not to listen. This is certainly true of many aging conditions, including aneurysms. So! For older athletes, who better to turn to for advice than the more mature athlete? For instance, Martin Duff wrote as follows in a recent article in Athletics Weekly, entitled 'Life in the Old Dog ... Read more
One-Leg Bike Drills Reveal Pelvic Imbalance
Hi folks! My new coach, Eric Bean, sets me some interesting workouts, including the old one-leg drills. During today's set on my trainer, where I finally hit 162 cadence during the high cadence set, I made an interesting observation during the one-leg drills. When my legs were tired, and heading for 'clanking over the top,' the limiting issues in my pelvic muscles were different for my right and left legs. On the ... Read more
Every Cloud Has A Silver Lining, Even The Flu (As Long as You Survive!)
Hi! Folks, Well! I caught a mild flu the other day, and we all know what fun that is. But how do we get something positive out of the flu when we are on a training schedule? Firstly, forget the schedule! Secondly, see what you can learn! One thing I noticed whilst lying in bed with the flu years ago was that the muscular aches and pains aren't distributed randomly. They are generally worse in muscles that have ... Read more
The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Quiz
Hi! Folks, Please pass this AAA quiz along to people you know, as it might just be important for you or someone that you know. It was only through self-awareness and some luck that I found my AAA, and now I have my stent and I am back in training as opposed to dead (I hate it when that happens!). If you run this little quiz you get a report of your estimated risk: My risk was fairly low, considering, but my ... Read more
Jeet Kune Do, The Three Minute Meditator, And Balancing Your Body
Hi! Folks, I was fortunate enough to study Jeet Kune Do for about two years in my 40s, and I learned a lot about biomechanics. This style of martial arts, developed by Bruce Lee, was based on the admiral idea of using all the things that work for you (and your body and mind type) whilst throwing the rest away. This is equally effective for endurance training. The fact that some technique is easy for your coach ... Read more
“A Man Has To Know His Limitations”
Remember Dirty Harry Not my favorite character, but it's true, "A man has to know his limitations." If you exceed your limitations as an athlete, injury is on the way. Especially if you are preparing for aging, because each injury leaves weak mark on your body - it's never quite the same! In order to maximize your performance, you have to approach your physical and mental limits, but not exceed them. But ... Read more
Guarding, Feldenkrais, Triathlon Training, AAA-Stents and Origami
Hi folks, Tip for the day: find what your neuromuscular system is guarding unnecessarily, as it can kill your training and will certainly slow you down. Book for the day: "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" by Robert Pirsig. (all about quality of life, right!). Still a great book! Links for the day: Did you know that Origami played a big role in the design of your endovascular AAA-stent graft. ... Read more
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