My First Barefoot Excursion & What is Tightness?

1st Barefoot Run

Anyone who reads this blog knows I’m a fan of minimal footwear. I believe the best foot is a strong foot, not a foot that’s been made weak by modern “good shoes.” The foot has been a foot for a looooong time. Relative to the span of human existence, “good shoes” and orthotic-type devices are a very new trinkets. The ancient Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Vikings, Gengis Khan’s Golden Horde, Comanches, Apaches, Aztecs, Zulus… and the vast majority of our fellow humans who’ve ever marched across the earth have done so while wearing nearly nothing on their feet. It wasn’t until the 1970s that we got the modern running shoe from Nike. In terms of research & development, one has a huge head start over the other. All kinds of new research suggests that “good shoes” may not be all that good for us at all.

While minimal shoes have gained in popularity so has barefoot running and I’ve pondered playing around with the concept. So I was quite interested when our local running store the Runner’s Roost advertised a barefoot/minimal shoe seminar. My wife and I attended the seminar last night and it was really fascinating. It got me all excited to start experimenting in a shoeless direction. Today was my first day out.

Of the four speakers, Michael Sandler of RunBare.com was the most interesting informative. (Among other issues, he’s missing the anterior cruciate ligament on one leg–the result of a roller blade crash. So for people who say running is bad for the knees, you might think again. He was also an orthotic addict and orthotic designer.) He suggested that newly barefoot runners must listen to their feet. The moment you feel a little bit of irritation, the run is over. Put on your shoes and come back to run barefoot another day. He suggested a first barefoot run of 200 meters. Then take a day off. Next run is 300 meters. Day off. Next run is 400 meters and so on. It is a very slow starting process this barefoot running.

So today I went for a walk with our dog. It was great weather: sun and 70-ish degress. I walked out barefoot but I had my shoes in a backpack. I ran down the sidewalk to the end of our block. My steps were very quick and light and everything felt fine. First run done and done. I walked another couple of blocks barefoot then put on the shoes. No barefooting tomorrow but I plan to hit it again on Friday. As I sit here writing this, my heel and Achilles pain is non-existent. Seems like a good start.

What is Tightness?

In a somewhat different direction, one of my favorite exercise geek blogs is Begin to Dig. It’s written by a fellow Z-Health practitioner, a woman named MC. (I actually don’t know her full name.) The latest post discusses the whys and hows of tight muscles and how to address them. Among other things, she describes why using a foam roller is probably not the best idea. If you want to learn a bit about the underlying cause(s) of tightness (first and foremost it’s all about your survival) then you should check it out. Beyond that, there’s a lot more informative stuff on her blog about getting strong, lean, fast and pain-free.

Shifting Gears from Strength to Endurance Work: Part I

Springtime in Denver means it’s time to bicycle. So now I’ve shifted my focus from heavy strength and power work to endurance work. (I never did hit 500 lbs. on the deadlift. I did however pull 435 lbs. for two reps. I’m content with that.) Endurance activity and strength/power work lie at two opposite ends of the exercise/movement/exertion continuum. From what I’ve read and in my own personally experience, it’s very difficult if not impossible to develop a high-end level of strength while also training for an endurance event like the Sunrise Century (which I’ll be doing in June.) Simply put, trying to maximize one area of performance means the other will suffer. If you try to maximize all areas then you won’t reach your potential in any one.

Terminology: Endurance, Strength, Power

I’ll define some terms. Endurance work is something like long distance cycling, running, or cross-country skiing. These are long-duration activities executed well below the participants’ maximal abilities.

Maximal strength work is often a slow moving, short duration type of thing. If you attempt to lift a maximum weight you won’t be moving it very quickly. Heavy deadlifting, bench pressing and squatting typically move slowly. These activities can only be sustained for a very brief amount of time–several seconds at most–before the muscles fatigue significantly.

Power sports require a combination of strength and speed. Think of a shot putter, long jumper or an Olympic weight lifter. These athletes must move a fairly heavy object very quickly. Maximal power may be expressed in two seconds or less. Power sports and endurance sports occupy the furthest opposite ends of the exercise spectrum.

So what happens if we decide to mix endurance work, strength work and power work together?

Endurance Work May Inhibit Strength Abilities

The National Strength & Conditioning Association (NSCA) offers a document titled Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training for Strength/Power Athletes. Here we have evidence that suggests mixed results for combined strength and endurance work. Several studies suggest that endurance work impedes strength gains. Other studies show no interference.

Confusion and questions come up when we start to dissect the studies. The article states:

“Differences between these studies may have been due to differences in the length of the studies, experience level of the subjects, and the training protocols utilized. For example, studies differed with respect to the specific exercises performed, whether strength and endurance training were performed on the same or different days per week, the sequence of training modes (strength before endurance or endurance before strength).”

We don’t have a definite answer to this question.

In my personal experience I run into difficulty if I ride/run a lot while also lifting a lot. I become too sore and stiff from one activity to perform well at the other. So I have to reduce one type of stress as I increase the other. Further, I find that riding my bike up mountains quite sufficiently addresses my strength needs. (Now we’re starting to get into the SAID Principle or Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands. Then we start to ask whether strength developed in the gym has any effect on strength expressed on a bike…)

In subsequent posts I’ll examine the effects of endurance work on power performance. Then we’ll drive the other way up this street and ask the question, “To what degree does strength and power work affect endurance performance?”

I Need More Rest & Recovery

Sometimes I tell my clients, “I make all the dumb mistakes so you don’t have to.” Well, I continue to make less-than-intelligent decisions from time to time when it comes to exercise. I’ve been working out very hard for several weeks and I seem to have overstepped my boundaries. I’ve got some aches and pains that are proving difficult to resolve. Therefore it’s time to dial back my efforts, prioritize rest, and let all my various tissues and functions restore themselves.

I want to deadlift 500 lbs. That’s my big goal this year. In order to hit this goal I must put in very hard work. Hard workouts must be balanced by adequate rest–but not total rest. I’ve been lifting three days per week with the idea that I’m doing one heavy workout, followed by a light workout 48 hours later, then a medium workout again 48 hours after that. Then it’s two days off lifting and I start it all over. As important as it is to lift hard on the hard day, it’s equally (maybe even more) important to ease up on the other days, especially the light day. So while I’ve definitely been hitting the hard days, I believe I have fallen short of my goal of lifting light.

So here’s my strategy. I’ve based the next few weeks on a variation of the Texas Method as discussed in Practical Programming for Strength Training, the brilliant book by Rippetoe and Killgore. This calls for a Monday/Wednesday/Friday type of pattern with a medium workout on Monday, a light workout on Wednesday and and the heavy workout on Friday. Here’s my plan:

Monday: Medium Day

Back squat: 3 x 8 reps
Pushups: 3 x to exertion (10-25) but not exhaustion; alternated each workout with
chin-ups: 3 x 5 (I may play around with band chin-ups to get more reps; I’m not terribly strong on the pull/chin-ups and my forearm is banged up.)
Back extension: 3 x 8-10 reps
I must stay far away from anything that feels like exhaustion or muscular failure.
I’ll likely add back bench press and/or overhead presses once my wrists and shoulders feel better.

Wednesday: Light Day

Turkish Get-Ups: 1×5 reps each arm–AND THAT’S IT!

Friday: Heavy Day

Deadlift: work up to 1 x 2 reps near goal max
Speed deadlift: 3 x 3 around 70% of goal max alternated each workout with kettlebell swings
Romanian Deadlift: 3 x 5 reps
chin-ups: 3 x 5 alternated each workout with
pushups: 3 x to exertion (10-25 reps)

The key to all this is paying attention to how I test during each workout after every exercise. I’ll be assessing and re-assessing my range of motion frequently (most likely with a standing toe-touch type of assessment), and I’ll be performing Z-Health joint mobility drills often. If I tighten up at all or if I feel any pain then I MUST stop and call it a day. This is of course counter-instinctive to me but I know I’ll feel better if I do. The ultimate goal is 500 lbs. on that deadlift and I won’t get there if I’m beat up.

New Personal Record on the Deadlift: 425 lbs.

I’m a big fan of the deadlift. For some reason I’m fascinated by plucking very heavy objects off of the earth. I my goal is 500 lbs. I’m hoping to hit it in the not-too-distant future. My prior PR on the deadlift was 420 lbs. Today, despite dealing with the remnants of a cold, I pulled 425 lbs. — AND THAT MAKES ME HAPPY! It’s a good way to start the weekend. That’s it. Nothing of much importance to add.

Deeper Strength

The Mind Behind the Muscle

I’m not sure what the meditative term is for it but these days I’m sort lingering over, examining, and re-learning the details of strength training that I thought I learned a long time ago. Picking up heavy objects in a lot of ways is very simple stuff. But similar to sitting quietly and focusing on the breath, lifting those heavy objects can provide an opportunity for deep thought and detailed examination of many things.

From a neurological perspective, lifting weights is no different from dancing, painting, learning to juggle or singing. We think then we act on our environment and we create something. Initially we may struggle with the basics of these activities. We must think hard in order to perform the task at hand. We are learning a brand new skill–just like learning to walk or ride a bike. With repetition the neuronal connections between the brain and our limbs strengthen and we can perform our task with relative ease. If we choose, we can perform our task in a sort of autopilot mode: not thinking too deeply; mostly going through the motions.

We have another option. We can dig deeper into our task and explore it. If we continue to concentrate deeply we can develop an amazing connection to what we’re doing and have a rich, vibrant, and meaningful experience in the process. This is where I am in my weightlifting.

Visualization

Our connection to the strength process can and should occur even when we’re not touching a barbell. I’m talking about visualization, and it’s a technique where we create a vivid mental image of our performing a task. Interestingly, our brain doesn’t know the difference between imagining the task and actually doing the task. Our nervous system lights up as if we’re doing said task and if done correctly, the result may be a new personal record. An athlete–an Olympic weightlifter for example–using this technique will sit quietly and imagine himself effortlessly lifting a tremendous weight. Every detail is imagined: the fit of the clothing, the feel of the floor under his feet, the lights, the grip of the bar, everything. Eastern European athletes have used this technique for decades to great success.

Perfect Execution of the Perfect Set

Now, going into the lift, we should be focused on the task like an animal on the hunt. Now’s not the time to be thinking about groceries, our job, Christmas shopping, or the guy next to you admiring his biceps while he does silly little machine half-curls. The proper mindset has us in a hyper-alert state with an electric-type charge running to every cell in the body. This is a rapturous, invincible feeling. And it is a blissful state of mind. The set has been rehearsed during visualization and there’s no doubt about moving the poundage. The only thing left is to do it.

Re-Examining the Basics

I learned how to squat, bench press, deadlift, press overhead, row dumbbells, etc. a long time ago. I thought I knew everything about these traditional lifts. Over recent months I’ve returned to these lifts with much greater concentration. Part of this comes from my experience with Z-Health where we emphasize the learning of the very basic joint-by-joint foundational movements that make up our larger movements such as running, pulling, pushing, etc. Plus I’ve been reading work from some strength training greats: Pavel Tsatsouline, Marty Gallagher, and most recently, Mark Rippetoe. These men have decades of strength coaching experience under their belts. Their books, Power to the People, Purposeful Primitive, and Starting Strength have provided me with details and insights I could have never imagined on my own. So I’m returning to these basic exercises with very new eyes and a fascination I’ve never felt before.

Back from DC, Rested & Ready

I had a great time in the DC/NoVA area this past week. (Though the traffic there was bad enough to cause a desperate sort of insanity that simply doesn’t exist here–unless you’re caught up coming back from the slopes I suppose.) I laid off the weights but got in a couple of runs including an excellent track workout with a former client. We went 2×800, 3×200, and 2×100. Running at sea level was nice and wearing the Vibrams on a track was incredible. Can’t wait for further track workouts in those things.

New Eating Pattern

I also finished Marty Gallagher’s Purposeful Primitive and it’s given me some good ideas to play with. I’m going to take some ideas from the Warrior Diet and change up my eating just a bit. I’ll focus my eating on one large main meal in the evening, instead of consuming several small equal-sized meals throughout the day. I may have some fruit in the morning, a salad with protein for lunch, then post-workout I’ll consume a protein/carb drink, and for dinner, it’ll be a massive bunch of clean food: raw vegetables, more fruit, protein and plenty of healthy fats. I want to get stronger and get lean, so I don’t plan on cutting calories, but I’ll consume them in a different pattern. This is similar to changing up a workout. This method of eating is actually ideally suited to holiday feasting. I won’t go into all the hows and whys of the Warrior Diet but I’ll just say it’s an interesting concept and I’m curious to see what happens. I’m not following the Warrior Diet to the T but I’m adapting the general ideas.

New Workout

I’m on a quest to deadlift 500 lbs. at some point in the next few months. I also want to be fully prepared to ski and I want to keep some portion of a running base in place for more spring running. I’m doing a 4-week block. I’ll build in intensity for three weeks then back off the fourth week. I’ll lift three days and probably run twice. Sprint work on the track will be my main running workout. One day of skiing may replace a run day or lifting. It should look something like this:

Day 1: 3 working sets of 3-6 reps; add weight each week
- barbell clean & jerkbarbell high pulls
- barbell deadlift or kettlebell swings
- Romanian deadlift
- one-arm dumbbell row
Day 2: mid-distance run or rest
Day 3: Sprints in the morning then lift later in the day
- Sprints: I’ll start with 1x800m, 2x400m, 2x200m, 4x100m
- Lifting: 4 working sets of 3-6 reps; add weight once I complete 4×6 sets; execute lifts in different order each workout
  - bench press
  - back squat
  - pull-ups
  - hanging knee ups
Day 4: off
Day 5: 5-8 working sets or 1-3 reps
- Deadlift HEAVY: I’ll work up to heavy single sets using 90% or more of my max
- Hanging knee ups

I may need to play around with the sprint day. I want to be fresh and soreness free for sprints. I won’t run them all out. I’ll treat the sprints like my lifts in that I won’t max out every workout but I’ll still work at a high intensity.

Other Info

Post-workout nutrition will be vital. I’ll drink a big protein drink made with organic whole milk and I’ll probably eat an orange or banana. We’ll see what happens. I’m also using creatine daily. Z-Health joint mobility and nerve glides are indispensable daily tools for feeling and moving my best. My old running injuries are 99% gone. Finally, I’ve been making use of my health club’s hot tub after workouts and I’m loving it!

Goodbye Plantar Fasciitis???

This is a quick update to my recent plantar fasciitis posts (Part I and Part II.) I met recently with Denver-area Z-Health movement specialist Brain Copeland and it seems he may have helped me find a titanic breakthrough in my PF! Briefly, he assessed whether or not my arms and legs were coordinated properly during gait. He used muscle testing as part of this assessment. Turns out I had really only been cheating at walking and chewing gum. My gait looked normal enough but I was weak in certain positions where I should’ve been strong, and I was strong in some positions where I should’ve been weak. He then introduced cross-crawl patterns to me. Since then, my PF pain has decreased significantly and it has stayed that way. (I saw him on Saturday and this is Wednesday.) In some circles, this is known as a “WTF?” moment.

“Imagine you hire three people to work at a company to perform three separate jobs. But two of the employees are trying to do the same job and the third job is getting neglected. This is how I envision neurological disorganization.” Brian Copeland, Z-Health Movement Specialist

Goofy? Yes. Effective? Also yes!

The Cross-Crawl

Cross-crawl patterns are, as the name implies, movement patterns that resemble crawling. That is, the right arm and left leg converge and vice versa for the left arm and right leg. These are remarkably easy patterns and they can be created while standing, seated, prone or supine. Some of this stuff resembles some goofy old-school “aerobics” class movements (‘Knee to elbow everyone!!”) The supine cross-crawl looks like the “dead bug” ab exercise while the prone cross-crawl is essentially the same as the “bird-dog” low-back rehab exercise. Still another version looks like some sort of Irish jig. Fun stuff right?! (The good news is these moves are really easy and at least in my case, very powerful.) I’ll post video of cross-crawls soon.

What’s at Work Here?

I asked Brian Copleand several questions:

Q: Who might benefit from cross-crawl patterns?

A: “Everyone can benefit from cross-crawling patterns as the movement helps strengthen certain neural pathways in the brain that are beneficial. For instance, when you run, jog or walk and you step forward with your right leg which arm swings forward? It better be your left or you are a toy soldier. This cross lateral pattern of movement is key in both athletes and non-athletes. If you ever see a martial artist throw a very powerful kick with their right leg you will see their right arm go back and left arm come forward. This has to do both with rotational force and rotary stability in the trunk to maintain balance. So cross crawling movements are basically a part of our everyday lives. When the movement patterns become switched then we see all number of strange neurological issues arising such as unexplained pain that has no pathological explanation, clumsiness, troubles with memory and other cognitive issues depending on the severity of the neurological switching.”

Q: How do we identify those who may have this neurological switching?

A: “There are some specific tests that a Level 4 Z-Health Exercise Therapist can give to ascertain if someone has neurological disorganization and no one should self diagnose, but having said that people can get an idea if they have this by looking for the following things. Typically someone will have had some head trauma at one point in their life, even if it was as a child. People might be socially awkward and not know why. People may have a hard time remembering things and have to be shown something over and over again. People will often say things like, ‘things always work different for me than other people,’ and they don’t know why. Frequent clumsiness is a possible indicator as well.”

Q: What do cross-crawls achieve? Can you describe what these patterns do for our brains?

A: “Well that is the $64,000 question. Researchers are still discovering the how and why but for now we know that it does work. As I’ve been told before, science is the observation of repeatable phenomenon. So even if we don’t have the full picture yet we know that it works. But if I may hypothesize just a little… It is classically understood that the left hemisphere of the brain controls the right side of the body and vice versa, there is some variance in there but as a general rule it is true. We also know that many of the natural movement patterns that we have are cross-lateral in nature, in other words right leg, left arm and vice versa. These patterns help to stabilize our torso and provide balance and efficiency of movement. Now imagine if all of a sudden the right hemisphere of your brain decided that it would control the left side of your body, except it would also control the right thumb but not the fingers. Now the left side of the brain is having signal feedbacks or misfires as it tries to control your right thumb. Now the pre-cognitive brain (the automatic part that controls the behind the scenes stuff) encounters confusion and we reach what Z-Health founder Dr. Eric Cobb, D.C. calls a threat response. I can already tell that I am about to open a whole can of worms so I’ll digress a little. Imagine you hire three people to work at a company to perform three separate jobs. But two of the employees are trying to do the same job and the third job is getting neglected. This is how I envision neurological disorganization.”

Q: What else should we know about cross-crawl patterns?

A: “Well there is always more to know but it can become quite complex. I would just say make them a part of your daily warm up for your exercise routine, 20 or so should suffice as preventative medicine. If you have neurological disorganization you may need to do more reps than that. And ultimately each person will respond uniquely different, the amazing and frustrating thing about the human body.”

“Folks can learn a little more about Z-Health and how the human nervous system has an impact on both the pain we feel and our potential for athletic ability by checking out these articles: What is Z-Health and Why It Works and How to Eliminate Pain, Stiffness and Weakness Forever.”

So that’s a fairly thorough discussion on cross-crawling and why it may work. I don’t want to promote cross-crawling as a magic cure-all panacea for everyone. That said, these are very easy movements to execute and they may very much be worth a try. If you have lingering pain that isn’t responding very well to treatment, give cross-crawling a shot. In my case I’ve had tremendous results. (Now of course the challenge is to remain conservative as I add back in running, biking, etc. The temptation is to ramp up to 1000 mph. Not a good idea.)

Further information on cross-crawl patterns can be found at the following sites: Head Back to Health, Natural Health Techniques.

the Rest of the Bypass

I’ll start where I left off in the last post: at the top of Vail Pass. The sun was out and things were going well. I was at the final rest stop and according to others around me, this would be a high-speed screamer into Vail and on into Avon to the finish line. Sounded like fun.

Let me tell you, this final descent was like being shot out of a cannon! I hadn’t ridden this part of the course though so I wasn’t sure about the twists and turns. I kept the speed at the high end of modest. Glad I did because there were a number of turns that had I been going any faster I probably would’ve wrecked in an ugly way. Which brings me to the worst part of the whole day.

I rounded a corner, started down another slope and about 100 yards down I saw two people lying on the pavement. (A couple of bikes were turned over and two other cyclists had just hopped off their bikes. Thankfully, this was a bike path and not a road. No cars to worry about. A man was on his back bleeding from the face and head and he was groaning. A woman was several feet ahead lying face down. She was also bleeding. She wasn’t moving. There was blood on the pavement. One person was tending to the woman, the other person was heading down the hill to a nearby highway patrolman. I had a look at the man on his back and knew from CPR training that the only thing I should do was to calm him down and keep him from moving. I told him he’d be just fine and that help was nearby. About that time another cyclist showed up and told me he was a medic. Thank god. From there, I and another rider went back up the road from where we’d come in order to slow down other approaching riders. An ambulance arrived in maybe 10 minutes. When I left the woman was conscious.

That situation was a real nightmare. I’d never seen a wreck like that. It could’ve been any of us in that wreck. If those riders weren’t wearing helmets I imagine I’d have been looking at two corpses. (There’s probably not a very good way to transition from that episode…)

The rest of the ride went well. We had a tail wind and an easy downhill. I’m not sure where the energy came from but I pushed hard over about the final 10 miles into Avon. Now it was hot and dry but the ride was done! One-hundred twenty miles, about 8.5 hours of riding, and my ass felt like someone had replaced my bike saddle with a cheese grater. Time to eat, drink, and sit down in the shade. Much thanks to my wife for driving out to pick me up. I hope I get to do it all again next year.

My 1st Triple Bypass

Any Colorado cyclist knows about the notorious Triple Bypass. It doesn’t actually involve a scalpel but rather 120 miles of cycling over three mountain passes (Squaw Pass, Loveland Pass, Vail Pass) with over 10,000 feet of climbing. It’s a very popular ride that fills up quickly. It’s definitely something worth having on the cycling resume. The journey took me a little over 10 hours with around nine hours of riding. This was no casual ride.

The ride was reasonably brutal but also beautiful and enormous fun. (Equating self-inflicted brutality with fun is common among cyclists I think.) Save for the very ugly wreck I saw near the end of the ride, everything went exceedingly well–even with the afternoon shower and high winds. Traveling Colorado by bicycle is a wondrous thing.

The day started at about 4:30 am and the wife dropped me off at Bergen Park at 6:15 am. I joined about 3,499 other riders for a bit of climbing up Squaw Pass. All went well but several other riders had flats early. I saw one rider walking his bike–not a good sign.

I asked, “You OK? You need any help?”

“Ah… This is my third flat,” he said.

That’s a nightmare. Fortunately there were support vehicles orbiting us as we rode. I hope he got to finish the ride.

The ride up Squaw Pass featured all the mountain scenery you can imagine. Any tourist to Colorado would be impressed–as would most residents. Tremendous views of many mountain peaks were all around. Nice enough, but the ride down into Idaho Springs was helluva thrill ride! The scenery was exquisite, the roads were in good shape and the traffic was minimal. I believe I can descend fairly well (I’m 200 lbs.; thus gravity tends to welcome me) but some of these guys were SO fast downhill I couldn’t believe it. It’s like they were sprinting downhill, taking turns at vicious speeds. My gajones are only about medium-sized it seems. But how cares? It was all fun. Then we were into Idaho Springs.

From Idaho Springs the ride sort of hit a lull. I think most of us were anticipating the next big climb which was Loveland Pass. To get there we had to travel alongside and then finally on Interstate 70. This is nothing to dream about. Part of the route involved a slightly muddy, rocky road that was quite unsuited to road bikes. It wasn’t treacherous but I’d like to avoid such roads in the future. As for riding on I-70 (or bicycling on any interstate for that matter), this is a harsh and ugly thing. It is necessary from time to time however.

If you ride bikes in the mountains then you know getting an early start is wise. Winds tend to pick up around noon and it’s always about a 50% chance that a storm will blow through. This means you may get a sprinkle or you may get a cold soaking.

True to form, the wind started to gust as we marched onto the highway. Clouds were gathering If you like a windy uphill slog next to SUVs and tractor trailers then you’ll love this part of the ride. I’ll move on to more interesting parts.

The big lunch stop was at the Loveland Ski Area. We were about 60 miles in. We’d had a couple of other aid stops but this one was very welcome. (WHOOOOO! Did I want to sit in a chair…. A rock would have to do.) The refuel felt good but I wanted caffeine. I thought I brought two caffeinated energy gels with me but I managed to forget them. I wanted all the chemical assistance allowed by law as I had to climb up the nearly 12,000 feet of Loveland Pass, but no dice.

This was the toughest part of the ride for me. The climb started well enough but soon I felt light headed and my stomach was in slight turmoil. Both symptoms are rare for me. This is where all the weird mental imagery and self-talk started. I thought of my ride up Mt. Evans (hardest thing I’ve ever done); thought of my dog; thought of ice cream, beer, big pizza… I played Judas Priest and Black Sabbath in my head. Pretended I was riding l’Alpe D’Huez… None of it helped much. I got to the top and sat down on some warm pavement. I could’ve napped right there on the shoulder. Couldn’t do that though so I got the jacket on and got ready for another warp-speed run downhill.

By this time significant dark clouds were all over the place and the wind was gusting wildly. It was into an absurd headwind that climbed up Swan Mt. Road and around Dillon Reservoir. White caps were on the water and the sky was a thick, dark purple. Looked like DEFCON 2, but the big storm held off…

One more aid station stop and it was on to the third and final climb up Vail Pass. The rain started about a half-hour in to this portion of the ride. I had almost the right gear: full-finger gloves and a water RESISTANT jacket. The lesson learned is that I need to get an actual water PROOF jacket. That said, I felt pretty good. Climbing meant I was generating heat and I didn’t have to worry about slipping and sliding on a fast downhill. The full-finger gloves were vital.

The rain stopped in about a half hour and then the sun was out! I felt fantastic at this point–why?–I have no idea. I tend to like cool temps and I had them. Made climbing a lot easier for me. Plus, Vail Pass didn’t seem too terribly steep and the scenery was absolutely stunning. Everything was green and blooming. Looked like something out of “the Sound of Music,” complete with a picturesque mountain stream. (We rode by a lot of them throughout the day. It’s amazing how much easier it is to grind out a long climb when there’s flowing water nearby.)

Bed time now. I’ll finish the rest tomorrow.

Feldenkrais

I’ve been suffering with back pain and other symptoms (Achilles pain most recently) of something since about 2002. I’ve gone through a lot of types of therapy from physical therapy to chiropractic, to Muscle Activation Techniques to Active Release Therapy, acupuncture, massage, prolotherapy and lots of different corrective exercise protocols. My issue seems to be a movement issue. That is, as I move the sequence of events–muscle contractions, feedback from muscles and joints, etc.–that should be happening aren’t happening in an ideal way. I’ve gotten better especially with my introduction to Z-Health but nothing has quite yet resolved my issues. I’ve been aware of Feldenkrais for a while and it’s been on my list of modalities to investigate. I recently emailed Seattle-area Rolfer and Z-Health practitioner Todd Hargrove (Todd writes an excellent blog) to ask him his opinion and he suggested I search out a Feldenkrais practitioner, so I did. Yesterday was my first experience and it was quite interesting.

I met with local Denver Feldenkrais practitioner Ray Little for two hours and I became quite a bit more aware of how I move–and how I should move. Without any technical terminology or complicated instructions, he helped me feel how to walk properly. The most powerful thing he showed me was where on my foot to feel the impact of walking (right in front of the heel) and then how to effectively push myself forward. We discussed the idea of lengthening into stride, taking the impact of the foot strike and smoothly rebounding into forward motion. All and all it was a very enlightening experience and I very much look forward to meeting with him again next week.

As I’m about to post this, I’ve gone on two runs since Monday and I’ve felt better than I have literally in years. I think I’m back on the horse!!

Denver Fitness Journal

All Things Health and Fitness by Kyle Norman, MS, CSCS, FMS, RRCA Running Coach

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