FitOldDog’s Daily Training Diary (Day 43 of 221) - From Aortic Surgery To The 2014 Lake Placid Ironman - Progress Assessment

I met this guy, Tom, a good hard-working guy whose retired, if he was happy, and he replied, "No! I'm content." Photo by FitOldDog with permission.

I met this great guy, Tom, a good hard-working guy whose retired, if he was happy, and he replied, “No! I’m content.” Photo by FitOldDog with permission.

Countdown to Lake Placid Ironman

Thought you might like to see this nice piece of artwork that resides just outside of our swimming pool. Art is important!

Thought you might like to see this nice piece of artwork that resides just outside of our swimming pool. Art is important!

Workout = Rest day. I could just feel that I needed a recovery day, so I went for an easy 4-mile walk with the dogs, and very nice it was too.

Progress assessment:

Like Tom, I’m content with my progress. I have endurance and strength goals, and I will work towards them as aggressively as feels safe, based on how I feel at the time. That’s my plan.

Status right now:

The key to injury-free endurance training and racing is to carefully control your pace, and stick to an effective nutrition and hydration plan - patience is key.

The key to injury-free endurance training and racing is to carefully control your pace, and stick to an effective nutrition and hydration plan - patience combined with intelligent training is critical.

Swim: >3,000 yards and getting more solid every time.

Bike: endurance coming back (> 2 hours solid on trainer), but strength will take a while, which is not surprising.

Run: hardest of all three, but I’m back to a 4.5-mile run, and starting to pick up the pace a little.

It will be a matter of balancing strength work against endurance, whilst not risking injuries.

Yes! I’m content with my progress, so far.

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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Video Swim Analysis - A Great Way To Improve Your Stroke And Enjoyment Of The Water - Don’t Miss Prognob On YouTube

Hi folks, welcome!

From time to time it pays to have a quick video swim analysis to check your progress.

Follow Prognob for lots of excellent Feldenkrais-related videos on YouTuble

Follow Prognob for lots of excellent Feldenkrais-related videos on YouTube.

I’m pretty pleased with my stroke improvement, as you can see in the above video, compared to previous versions. My legs wander less, I have a more front quadrant stroke (which brings my legs higher, reducing drag), and my body is clearly weaving much less.

Give it a try, you’ll be surprised. Watching my swim videos always reminds me of Feldenkrais training, where one compares one’s mental ‘body map,’ with the actual position of one’s body parts.

Rafeekee's perception of Willbe, our yellow lab., was way off. Now he realizes that Willbe just wants to play.

Rafeekee’s perception of Willbe, our yellow lab., was way off. Now he realizes that Willbe just wants to play. Growing up is about synchronizing your mental map with the actual world - takes time.

They are never quite in sync. You think your legs are straight, and you look down to see one foot rotated outward (classic tight piriformis). You think your hips are tilted, and you look down to see that they are completely straight, but one of your arms is pulled up (the body misalignment you perceived in your hips is actually in your shoulders).

When it comes to your body, things are never quite what they seem, but this can be improved, dramatically.

This is why mirrors are so critical in the gym for weight training to develop good form.

Body (and mental) awareness is a critical key to effective, life-long, injury-free, athletics.

For a wide range of excellent Feldenkrias-related videos, follow my friend @prognob (Nobuo Noguchi) on YouTube. They’ll get you thinking!

Happy laps!

-k @FitOldDog

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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FitOldDog’s Daily Training Diary (Day 42 of 221) - From Aortic Surgery To The 2014 Lake Placid Ironman - Speed Work In The Pool

Countdown to Lake Placid Ironman

Just a little piece of paper.

Just a little piece of paper.

Workout:

Swim: solid Rick workout - I only missed one interval; that wasn’t so bad.

Focus - head down, fast thrown recovery, high elbows, attacking the swim, a bit more like Rick.

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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Soft Feet Are Happy Feet

Hi Folks, I’m pleased that you took the time to visit!

running, coaching, technique, Feldenkrais

‘Running With The Whole Body.’ Follow the exercises in this book with care and you will learn a great deal about effective running.

Whether you walk, run, bike, swim, ski, or whatever, happy feet are one key to a happy you.

The way to develop happy feet is to (a) build strong, active, responsive arches, (b) develop soft feet, as recommended by Jack Heggie in one of the best running books ever written, “Running With The Whole Body,” and (c) nurture your relationship with your toes.

It’s only too easy to forget your toes, until they turn into a single block of rigid sticks, and this rigidity spreads to the rest of your feet, up your legs, and into your brain.

Just do the work, and you’ll make barely an impression on the earth as you run, much like hobbits and elves in The Lord of the Rings.

-k @FitOldDog

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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FitOldDog’s Daily Training Diary (Day 41 of 221) - From Aortic Surgery To The 2014 Lake Placid Ironman

Roll up bar small file

Countdown to Lake Placid Ironman

Workout:

Rollups are great for forearm and shoulder strength.

Rollups are great for forearm and shoulder strength.

Run: 4.5-miles on rolling trails, steady pace with one short pickup. For a few minutes I actually felt light on my feet, so conditioning is coming back.

Weight Room: arms, chest and back, plus stretch routine.

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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Best Triathlon Training Book I Ever Read - Slow, Old, Fat, Nervous, Who Cares Says Jayne, And FitOldDog Agrees?

Slow Fat Jayne small fileHi folks, welcome!

Thinking of giving triathlon a try, but don’t think you would fit into that scene? Read this great book and think again, then give it a tri!

Over my 17 years of triathlon training, I’ve read quite a bit of material, including some excellent books, magazine articles, and blog posts. I’ve also received much sage advice from coaches. But for me it always comes down to attitude, especially taking the sport seriously (if only for safety’s sake), but not taking yourself too seriously. Then by chance I came across this great book, Slow Fat Triathlete, which expresses many of my feelings about this great sport.

Slow Fat Triathlete, by an excellent and amusing author, Jayne Williams, is full of great attitude, in addition to valuable tips, information and encouragement.

-k @FitOldDog

 Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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FitOldDog’s Daily Training Diary (Day 40 of 221) - From Aortic Surgery To The 2014 Lake Placid Ironman - Rebuilding Mitochondrial Mass

Countdown to Lake Placid Ironman

Workout (focus soft feet):

Cords are great for swim training, with low tension high reps.

Cords are great for swim training, with low tension high reps.

Endurance on trainer bike (2 hours 5 mins)

5 min at 50 watts and 5 min at 80 watts warmup

50 min at 90 watts

30 min at 100 watts

30 min at 110 watts

5 min at 50 watts cool down

Run: 1 mile run/walk to find my legs off of the bike.

Swim: 3 x 30 reps cords

Important Note: These posts do not provide medical advice. You should always consult your physician before undertaking or significantly modifying an exercise program.

Copyright © 2010 Kevin T. Morgan aka FitOldDog, Old Dogs in Training, LLC.

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