As 2023 begins, I cannot help but think how much quicker the years fly by as I age. With my oldest graduating from college and my youngest in high school, I am in awe of how fast things move. This is a poignant reminder for me that I still have much to do as a father and husband … and also personally and professionally.

My newest professional venture, building software that helps coaches coach better and athletes learn more, has been very exciting for my team and me. Velocity has helped to build a greater, stronger community of people training together no matter where they live.

Our VQ Wellness program continues to expand and thrive. Through education around sleep, exercise, nutrition, and mental health, our team has guided our clients in making measurable changes, developing good habits and changing (and extending!) their lives.

VQ is ever-evolving and growing with our incredible athletes who continue to show up, support each other and, most of all, step outside of their comfort zones. We love nothing more than providing support, sharing knowledge, and finding inspiration with you. With big events like LOTOJA, Blue Ridge Parkway and Rebecca's Idaho event on deck, we have plenty of great challenges for all VQers to make 2023 a year to remember.

The holidays are approaching, and you know it's that time of year to embrace comforting food with family and friends. It can also be a time when stress levels can be heightened, and myths can be created around food and the repercussions of indulgence and the festive holiday season. As individuals, we are always our worst critics and can be extra tough on ourselves. If you ever criticize yourself, ask yourself if you would say the same thing to a friend or family member. Usually, the answer is "no." so why would you say it to yourself?

I must always remind myself that our inner thoughts can sometimes be cruel. The holidays can bring those extra harsh critics out as there is a lot of stigma about food and indulging in holiday recipes. It's pushed on us to feel guilty and show as one day of binding and restricting so we can begin a new year with our new fitness or other related goals on personal health.

The mindset of guilt and bashing ourselves for the holiday festivities around food and indulgence is not a good relationship with food and ourselves. I invite you to reframe your mind around the holiday season.

Today I'll be touching on why we need to not worry about any extra gained weight. I will be diving into being kind to your body and mind, but also some healthy ways to hack the negative myths around the holidays to lead you into a great holiday season.

The Hollow Hold is a functional core position that is seen in many different exercise movements and athletic training programs. The position itself can be used as an isometric exercise or as a bracing technique during dynamic movement.

For those who are not familiar with the hollow hold position or are unable to maintain the position, there are variations of this exercise that can help develop the proper strength and technique to eventually be able to perform a hollow hold.

I want to introduce this greeting with a concept called Sisu. Sisu is a unique Finnish mindset that can be roughly translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity. Sisu is not momentary courage, but the ability to sustain that courage.(Source linked here)

It has been a while since I have written and that is largely due to my focus on our ever-changing business. I have never been one to sit back and wait for things to work out. My motto, since I was little, is that I either needed to be improving and growing or pivoting to find growth. Nothing has changed now that I have rounded the half a century mark. I have, unknowingly, embraced and lived my life according to the principles of Sisu. VQ has experienced a lot of growth through the years and the Covid pandemic presented a considerable opportunity to figure out what future growth would look like. Instead of hoping and waiting for the world to come back to normal, we decided to pivot to adjust and respond to the ever-changing world of training around us.

We all know that we cannot control all of what happens, but we can control how we respond. The last couple of years have shown this to be true more than ever. So much of the world has changed without any fault of our own; however, we have seen so many different responses that have revealed who we are, what we value and how we manage change.

In our second strength circuit of February we look to it as our finale as we head to base camp of the Everesting Challenge next month. Spoiler alert, next month we can look forward to some mobility and stretching to keep us all healthy and feeling good. But first, lets get to this last strength circuit.

1). Plank with Knee Drive- this exercise is a variation and advancement of a plank that we have done before, but with the additional challenge of alternating a knee drive towards the elbow. Why add a knee drive you wonder? Taking the balance to one leg will challenge the core even more, and adding the knee drive helps to strengthen the hip flexors and work hip mobility. A win-win for WIN! Don’t worry, the video will show you how to do this, and also show modifications that can be taken. Shoot for 3 rounds of 6 reps. each side.

2). Dead Bug- an oldie but goodie! This is an effective exercise for strengthening the core, and stabilizing the spine and back muscles. Keeping good posture throughout the day and while exercising takes good core strength, and certainly something we can all benefit from. Take a look at the video for your how-to. 3 rounds of 5 reps. each side.

In the first strength circuit of the month, and as we get into the groove of the Everesting Challenge, we see a familiar exercise in back lunges but with a twist, as well as push-ups that we have done before. A new exercise is introduced called the Front Foot Elevated Front Squat to round out the 3 exercise circuit. Each of these exercises are ones that will help bring about an increase in strength if done consistently while maintaining good form, and ultimately to increase the readiness of completing the Everesting Challenge. Complete 3 rounds of 5-10 repetitions of the following:

1. Push-ups: an exercise that develops core, shoulder, and back strength. A useful exercise for the Everesting Challenge as ideally we use the power driven from the arm swing (that comes from the back and shoulders) to assist in powering up stairs, hills, or any elevation. 3 x 5-10 reps.

2. Back Lunge with knee drive: an extension of an exercise we have done in the past, is included in the first February circuit. This variation emphasizes power and strength generated from the quads.and glutes, as well as other areas such as the calves, hip flexors. Executing this exercise will take practice as the element of BALANCE also come into play! A super exercise to develop over the weeks by adding weights. 3 x 5-10 reps.each side.

In the second Everesting Strength Circuit of the month we get to revisit an oldie but a goodie, a blend of two different exercises we have done but put together as one, and lastly a variation of a classic exercise. Enough of these hints and foreshadowing, let's take a closer look at the next circuit.

First we have “Forward Lunge into Back Lunge”. As the name suggests, we move from executing a forward lunge, directly into moving that same leg into a back lunge. This will be challenging balance, core strength and coordination- and its awesome! :) Of course all the benefits for the legs and glutes are there, and we take preparation for the Everesting Challenge to the next level.

Next we have our oldie but goodie- the Step-Up! The act of stepping up, and controlling the action of descending down is a very specific exercise we can all do to increase body strength and endurance for the Everesting Challenge. Perhaps this time around you might be able to increase the reps.you did the last time, and MAYBE even add some weights to your regime?!

Lastly, the third exercise included in the circuit takes the classic plank to another level.

Watch the video for further explanation, progressions, and modifications.

Winter is here! Whether you’re in the Chicago area, in the British Columbia, Texas or Florida, it is STILL winter, and with that comes an opportunity to embrace this change of season. For many however, the snow, the colder temperatures and shorter days seem to contribute to bad moods and longing for warmer days. But what if you practiced and spread a little hygge? What is “hygge” you ask? Well, back in 2016, Oxford Dictionary featured as a finalist for “word of the year” a Danish word called “hygge”, pronounced “hoo-guh” made the list. There is no English word that directly translates to this word, but “cozy” comes close. The Danish definition of hygge is: a quality of cosiness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being. This thought, this term, this attitude, this lifestyle of a Scandinavian coziness had begun to make significant inroads with an international audience! At least six books about hygge were published in the United States this year, with more to come in 2017.

Meik Wiking, the author of The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets To Happy Living, and CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen, says that hygge has been called everything from “the art of creating intimacy,” to “coziness of the soul,” and even, “cocoa by candlelight.” In his book, Wiking explains that you know hygge when you feel it, but that some of the key ingredients are togetherness, relaxation, indulgence, presence, and comfort. “The true essence of hygge is the pursuit of everyday happiness and it’s basically like a hug, just without the physical touch,” he says.

At work, we are driven by numbers- results! At school there are grades, math class, science, so many numbers and data points, so little time. As athletes we value things like interval times, wattage, paces, and time trials. As WIN participants we have kept track of our miles, and soon our elevation, and other benchmarks along the way. Regardless of what metrics matter most to you, it’s all too easy to get caught up in them until they become all that matters. But what happens when you hit a plateau, stuck in the same place, maybe even going backwards? As anyone with experience in their positions we know you can only keep up that intensity, that upward trajectory for so long before it sometimes begins to feel like it is starting to crush you.

Sometimes the best way to keep going forward is to actually take a few steps back! Specifically taking those steps OUTSIDE. There is a strategy called “forest bathing” that has gained more popularity and understanding that any one of us can do today that has been shown to benefit stress levels, anxiety, and the nervous system. Before we dive into what exactly forest bathing is, it’s worth looking into what the commonalities of centenarians are across the globe, especially in what are known as the Blue Zones.

Even though most of the time we love to train, feel stronger, strive for the next challenge, and bask in the glory of the routines we set for ourselves, at some point life can throw us a few curve balls and obstacles that make this more difficult than we would like. This is normal, and most of the time it can’t be avoided. But having a game plan, some guidelines, and fresh ideas might be just the strategy to stay on track and moving forward.

Some of the most common obstacles that come up for athletes are feeling like you don’t have enough time, getting sick, and losing motivation! Here are some helpful tips and strategies to help you overcome these challenges!

Don’t feel like you have enough time to train?

Finding time to fit in a workout and think about your training goals can be a stressful thing to add on top of a plate that is already full! However, there are many things you can do to create more time in your schedule to fit in training.

1. Eat Lunch Fast. Training during your lunch break is an awesome way to fit in a workout, while leaving the rest of your day untouched! Have your lunch and snacks ready to go in the fridge, prepared ahead of time. Although it is not always ideal, eating quickly will give you more time to go for a walk, a run or a ride.

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The How-To's and Why’s to Strengthen Your Knees and Add Longevity To Your Running

Scene: Sitting around the fire pit with pals. Your pals just found out you are a runner.

Top most likely heard comments:

1. Oh yikes! Running is the worst on your knees!

2. I would run too, but I have bad knees.

3. If you don’t have knee problems now, you’re gonna!

You love running, or maybe you’re trying to love running and you hear things like this, what are you supposed to think, and what should you do? Is what your pals are saying true?

The truth is running has long had a bad rap when it comes to knee injuries. But running on its own isn’t as bad on the knees as people once thought. There was a recent study in the journal of Arthritis Care and Research that showed that runners who logged the most mileage actually reported less knee pain than their counterparts! Now, the knee DOES take the brunt of the impact with every step in a run. When it comes to injuries, knees do account for 28% in runners. A large proportion of these result in undertaking too much mileage, frequency, or intensity too soon. Stresses related to significant terrain change, like moving from all trail running to running on concrete, or vice versa. All of these factors can overstress the tissues around the knees. That is why strengthening the muscles surrounding the knee is essential to running durability, stability and preventing injury!

Temperatures are coming down, days are starting to get shorter, it's pumpkin spice everywhere you look, and are those leaves turning colors?? Fall is officially here, and I am here for all of it! During much of this at home time we have had during this pandemic, we have done many puzzles, baked a lot of bread, and may have even participated in a Zoom happy hour or two! And now with that chill in the air and many begin to hunker down, us "WINners" and our growth mindsets might like to try something a little different. So put away that bread maker, explore the following list and see what calls to you! Keep the conversation going on your team’s WhatsApp channel and share what interests you, as well as add to the list!

A Healthier (and cheaper!) Pumpkin Spice Latte

This seems to fall in the love it or hate it category, but if you are one of the millions contributing to Starbucks #1 seasonal drink, then the following is for you! A grande PSL is 380 calories, and hold on to your horses here, 50 GRAMS OF SUGAR (that is nearly 16 teaspoons). Most candy bars are half of that! So what is a pumpkin lover supposed to do? One, approach this delectable treat just as that, a treat! Something to indulge in every once in a while. Two, customize your drink to reduce the amount of sugar and calories by ordering it with skim milk, half the sugary syrup, and hold off on the whipped cream. And three, make your own! There are many recipes out there, but a simple one is to blend 2-3 Tablespoons of canned pumpkin puree with your coffee, your favorite milk, 1 to 2 teaspoons of sugar (or a sugar substitute like Swerve),and some pumpkin-pie spices. Voila! Let this fall treat bring you all the coziness it can in that magical mug.

Meal prepping, you see it on Instagram, taunting you with the pictures of beautiful, colorful meals, in trendy bento boxes, arranged and organized in a spotless refrigerator. You admire the organization and skill of these people who must have all the time in the world, a farmers market down the street and the untouchable culinary wizardry of some of the top chefs in the world! Yet you know you could benefit from this healthy strategy in the middle of the week when all you want to do is hit the drive thru or throw something you found in the back of the freezer into the microwave after a long day at work. How does a person even get STARTED with the logistics, shopping, and preparing with this meal prep thing? Don’t worry!! Here are nine tips and tricks to get you going:

1. Invest in the right containers! Containers that you can store and reheat and eat from are key! If you can swing an all glass container option, some even have dividers to help keep foods separate are a wonderful environmentally friendly choice you can use for virtually a lifetime. There are also plenty of semi-disposable options and kits available at almost every grocery store. Pro-Tip: buy the same brand to increase the likelihood of having matching lids!

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Now that we are weeks into WIN, all of us are getting our steps in whether we are runners, walk-runners, or walkers as we head towards the marathoning challenge in November! Of course these steps are important to get to that “start line” healthy, but there are so many more benefits to walking outside of the WIN program that you may have already noticed or are in the process of discovering. From higher energy and better mood, to stress relief, creativity boost, and more, walking has a multitude of advantages. Because a top 10 list doesn't cover it, here are 11 reasons how walking can make a positive impact on your life:

1. Whether you’re just having a down day or a down life, taking a walk can lift your mood—especially when you go outdoors, according to a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study participants who averaged 200 minutes of walking every week reported higher energy levels, better emotional health, and a more robust social life when researchers followed up after three years

2. Stumped for an idea? Take a quick stroll around the block. Whether you need a solution to a problem at work or you’re looking for inspiration for your novel, walking gets your creative juices flowing in all areas. One Stanford University study found that walking can boost creative output by 60 percent.

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New Year's Resolutions, the beginning of your new gym membership, the new diet you’re starting AGAIN on Monday, your commitment to clean out the garage, the launch of the WIN program: You feel so energized, excited, and invigorated at the start! But the ugly reality is you will fail before the end of the year. HARSH!!

Studies show that only 9% of people stick with their New Year’s resolutions. A decline over the months show that by the 6 month mark, less than 50% have stuck with it, and with each passing week, the outcome becomes more bleak. It seems as if the motivation we had at the beginning has all but faded away!

Most of us believe that motivation brings about action! If we are motivated enough, we will get the results we are seeking. We just gotta keep the motivation up!! But what if the best approach is almost the opposite? What happens if we ignore our motivation in order to see our habits change? Does this make any sense at all?

Wisdom and experience have shown us motivation can wane, so how in the world do we get past that, and past that enough to see our goals through? There is an expression “mood follows action”. So perhaps changing our physical state we can impact our mental state. Many successful athletes can tell you that although they may not FEEL LIKE starting their training session that day, but by forcing themselves to at least START, they find their mood has improved and the motivation tank starting to fill up a bit.

Brenda Martinez, United States Track and Field athlete was in the last 100 of her best event, the 800-meter run at the Olympic Team Trials in Eugene, Oregon when another athlete tripped and fell onto Brenda causing some fumbling footwork. She regained her composure, but the milliseconds lost was enough for her to be passed by other runners to get those coveted Olympic spots. Any spectator could see the opportunity that was devastatingly lost in that moment.

What was Marinez reaction to her failure, her goal of making the Olympics in her strongest event? She said this to the press, “The track doesn't care about your feelings. You’ve got to move forward.” She went on to say that she was focused on getting ready for her other event, the 1500m. She could have felt distraught and dejected, especially as so much of this was due to bad luck, and no one would blame her for it. And did she move forward! In less than a week, Martinez literally dove across the finish line to secure the last spot on the Olympic team-- by three one-hundredths of a second-- her ticket to Rio was punched!

Martinez told Brad Stulburg, columnist at New York Magazine and Outside Magazine in an interview, “I just quickly let go of what happened in the 800m and got back to my routine, to focusing on all the little things I could do that would give me the best chance of running well later in the week.” She said that her mind set got her to the Olympics in the first place, as well as relying on lessons learned in training, setbacks, wins and losses and financial obstacles that have ultimately made her more resilient. What Brenda Martinez exemplified here is that she wasn't attached to her goal of making the Olympic Team. She was focused on the PROCESS.

As I reflect on the last four months and how things in my life have changed, I cannot help but look to our athletes for inspiration on what is possible. It reminds me of my favorite parable about a Chinese farmer who lived in the mountains and spent all his days with his son and his horse farming his fields to make a living.

In this parable, a farmer’s horse ran away and everyone in the town said to him, “You must be devastated. You lost your horse and now you cannot plow your fields.” The farmer replied very casually, “Maybe yes. Maybe no.” The next day, not only did the horse return, he brought two stallions with him. The people in the town rushed to the farmer and said, “This is great. You must be so happy! You now have three horses and you have just become one of the richest farmers in the land.” The farmer replied casually again, “Maybe yes. Maybe no.” Soon after the farmer's son was training the stallions and one of the new horses reared up and landed on the boy's leg, breaking it. Now the townsfolk sadly said to the farmer, “You must be so devastated. Your boy broke his leg and now he cannot help with the chores.” The farmer once again responded with “Maybe yes. Maybe no.” Days later, war broke out and the sons of all the farmers were sent to fight. All except the boy who broke his leg. The townspeople said to the farmer, “You must be so happy your son does not have to go to war.” The farmer replied, “Maybe yes. Maybe no.” And so the story continues…

Physiologic testing is one of the most valuable and undervalued tools available to athletes. Objectively characterizing one’s fitness can provide the data necessary to create a training program which is the most effective and efficient possible. Whether you are a professional or recreational athlete, training efficiency is massively important! If you spend ten hours per week training, you would hope to get the maximum benefit from every one of those ten hours. The same holds true if you spend thirty hours per week riding or running. Everyone’s time is limited, and no one wants to waste that time on ineffective training.

If you have undergone testing in the past, then regular retesting serves to objectively evaluate your training plan, your progress, and whether changes need to be made. If you’ve not tested previously, then setting a baseline is invaluable for moving forward in the most efficient manner.

So, what should you be testing? And is it safe to do this testing during a pandemic?!?

Endurance athletes are often familiar with the concepts of VO2max and lactate threshold. Let’s quickly look at each of these and the manner by which we measure them.

Here are some important things you can do to limit your likelihood of contracting COVID-19 and for ensuring your immune system is as strong as possible with basic hygiene and an overly-conservative approach to social distancing being the most important!

• Basic hygiene is massively important, always. Wash your hands. Wipe down surfaces. Don’t touch your face. These things can’t be overstated.

• Social distancing works. If you are virus-free and want to assuredly remain that way, stop interacting with people. That’s not necessarily realistic, but to the greatest degree that you can implement strategies that drastically minimize contact with others, you should do it.

• Focus on health basics…eat well, exercise, get plenty of sleep. These ensure your body is at its best, for whatever health challenge you may face.

• Supplements will not keep you from getting sick, nor will they cure this or any other virus. However, they may play a role in maximizing your immune resilience. In that light, here’s what I recommend:

  • Hydration - ok, it’s not a supplement. But please stay well-hydrated! Your mucous membranes are your first line of defense. If they dry out and crack, you are at a disadvantage.

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Well, it has been a while since I reached out to our endurance community, but no better time than the present to chat about fitness and wellbeing. I am excited about the next few months as they will fortify what I think is more important than anything else: the family unit as you define it and close, meaningful relationships.

Now, you may not be able to touch (literally) as many people as you are used to right now, but the touches you do make will be with people that really mean something to you. This current situation is causing all of us to prioritize the people in our lives that we care about most--whether through phone calls, texts or in person. The people that matter most in our lives will surface. We have been given a golden opportunity to connect on a much deeper, meaningful level with those we love.

Along with strengthening our most meaningful relationships, we can also strengthen the most important and meaningful habits we have. For me, these include better self-care, more sleep, better nutrition and improved mental and physical routines, e.g., meditation and exercise!

Please take this time to fortify the routines you have been neglecting in favor of early morning commutes, red eye flights, on-the-go dinners, occasional workouts, hustle-and-bustle of rush-hour traffic, etc. For many of us, these things are temporarily on hold and now we have time to really dig deep and determine if all the hype is real or important. Trust when I tell you that you will feel better, look better, perform better if you can dial these factors in over the next two months or so. Even if you return to the early AM commute, crazy travel schedule, big corporate dinner, etc., I can promise you that you will end up prioritizing some of these new habits over your old ways because you can accomplish more and be healthier in the long run. This is one of the many great things that will come from this crisis. The state we are in now will change many of us forever, really leave its mark. How can you make that mark a positive one?

The human body is 60% made up of fluid, so that means our bodies need lots of water to stay functioning and "running" throughout the day. Ever feel tired or sluggish during the day? Especially in the winter months? Well, dehydration is a real thing for any active individual. Dehydration can show up as that tiredness we feel in the afternoons, or as darker colored urine or even as migraines and other headaches.

For athletes, dehydration can show itself through higher heart rate during workouts and slower recovery, meaning more soreness and more tired after workouts. Also, if you are not sweating as much during workouts, try increasing your fluid intake. The every day recommendation is to get half your body weight in ounces of water each day (e.g., if you weight 100lbs, drink 50 ounces per day).

On days when you tackle a monster workout, being active longer than 90 minutes, take in more water AND electrolytes because hydration isn't just about the water. Electrolytes are sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium and others, which are important for muscle contraction and relaxation, and other biological functions in your body. And this doesn't mean you have to just drink a ton of water all day long. Get your fluids in with fruits and vegetables, which are higher water content like celery and oranges. Colder weather makes it perfect for low sodium bone broth and making your own soups to increase your fluids.

How will we do this? Perhaps it’s spinach in your scrambled eggs, berries in your oatmeal, or, a delicious kale smoothie, start your day strong with colorful delicious fruits and veggies. Then….keep it going! Include them at lunch and then again at dinner. With all the diet fads that have come and gone, fruits and vegetables are still the healthy things to eat. They provide good fiber and are packed with vitamins.

Some tips, tricks & hacks to get more fruits and vegetables in your meals mentioned in Lydia's video:

How to Build a Salad

RECIPE: Kale Red Pepper & Broccoli Frittata

Lydia's bio is available here!

I hope this last month has been about having fun on group rides, knocking off some gran fondos or group century rides and, for many of us Midwesterners, starting the transition to the off-road. This unstructured, but high volume riding is a good way to celebrate all that is cycling. As these rides get harder to complete (weather, daylight, fatigue) we need to start building a plan to balance life, rate-limiting factors, fun and opportunity. If we do this correctly we can set ourselves up for a great 2020 year of events and fitness without relying on "getting in shape in the springtime" to do so.

I have been thinking about next year a lot lately and this is what I’ve realized: so many of us think that spring is the secret to a great summer of events when, really, it is the winter that holds the key. And, guess what, folks: done properly, it takes less time than you think!

A great winter of training ushers in a lovely spring and summer. The intention behind winter training offers fewer miles, but with more purpose, better eating and diversified workouts. Let’s think about this for a second…

With purposeful indoor workouts, a great strength training program and some longer, easier work done on the trail, not only we can maintain our fitness, but perfect our cycling skills, improve our aerobic and anaerobic engines, have great training-life balance and hit the spring ready for longer outdoor rides.

Normally, you might expect to turn to this column for some in-depth dissection and practical application of training principles. This time, it will tend toward something a bit more personal, but my hope is this can still provide insight about how you might find inspiration in your own endeavors. The subject will be the thinking that led to the recent completion of a pretty long run. Read on to find out more!

After spending almost 20 years in endurance sports, I’ve had the opportunity to take part in a lot of different activities: road racing, cross racing, time trials, mountain biking, skate and classic cross country skiing, running events from 5k to 50 miles and, once, even a kayak race. Most of the events I did weren’t especially notable, generally local races with small to medium fields. A lot of the VQ athletes have competed in much more prestigious events, things like various Ironmans, Leadville, the Boston Marathon and Lotoja come to mind--and I haven’t done any of them.

When I raced on the bike, it was all about head-to-head competition. To borrow a line from Talladega Nights’ Ricky Bobby, “If you’re not first, you’re last.” But that challenge lost its appeal to me, and as I moved into skiing and running, there was still some competition against the field, but my motivation came more from pushing myself harder than I’d pushed before. Eventually, I reached a point where I was satisfied. I had found the maximum that I felt I could achieve for the amount of work I was willing to put in.

Your trusty pair of running shoes have been there for you through all the happy miles, and the hard ones, too, which can make parting ways tough. But eventually the day will come when your shoes will have reached their ultimate finish line; knowing when to set them aside and lace up a new pair is important to your running performance and comfort.

You should generally replace your running shoes every 300–500 miles. That’s because it’s around this point that the midsole cushioning on most shoes will lose resiliency and stop absorbing shock as well as when newer, which can cause more impact on your muscles and joints. This means that if you average 15 miles of running per week, then you’ll need to replace your shoes approximately every five to eight months. (If you track your runs with a GPS watch or your smartphone, it’s simple to figure out when you’re in the 300–500-mile range; otherwise you can estimate based on roughly how much you run each week.)

Here are additional factors that affect when to replace your running shoes:

• Minimalist shoes have less cushioning, so expect them to be done around 300 miles.

• Traditional running shoes and maximum cushioning shoes tend to last until around the 500-mile mark.

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Even though most of the time we love to train, feel stronger, strive for the next challenge, and bask in the glory of the routines we set for ourselves, at some point life can throw us a few curve balls and obstacles that make this more difficult than we would like. This is normal, and most of the times can’t be avoided. But having a game plan, some guidelines, and fresh ideas might be just the strategy to stay on track and moving forward.

Some of the most common obstacles that come up for athletes are feeling like you don’t have enough time, getting sick, and losing motivation! We have identified some helpful tips and strategies to help you overcome these challenges!

Don’t feel like you have enough time to train?

Finding time to fit in a workout and think about your training goals can be a stressful thing to add on top of a plate that is already full! However, there are many things you can do to create more time in your schedule to fit in training.

1. Eat Lunch Fast. Training during your lunch break is an awesome way to fit in a workout, while leaving the rest of your day untouched! Have your lunch and snacks ready to go in the fridge, prepared ahead of time. Although it is not always ideal, eating quickly will give you more time to go for a run or ride.

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We just wrapped our local spring “climbing” camp in the beautiful town of Galena, Illinois. We had great roads, low traffic, good weather and challenging terrain, but the toll on the athletes was substantial and caused many of them to question the choice after day one. Here’s why…

Many athletes are used to riding at 17-20mph and covering 100 miles in 5-6 hours. However, when encountering steep hills, heavy roads and temperatures vastly different from the typical ride, a mindset shift becomes important. Our athletes had to rewire their thinking a bit when the 90-degree heat hit on day one. Plus, we had added climb after climb at double-digit grades. Their power started eroding, crushing their confidence. Sooner or later this happens to every athlete. When the expectation and reality are incongruent, the first thought is usually panic! Day one of our camp was the perfect storm to create that panic for many of the VQers:

● The ride time was early afternoon instead of our typical early morning and that threw their bodies into small tailspins while also requiring some rethinking of nutrition, daily routines and body clocks to a different time = first strike against them.

Technology everywhere has come a long way, even in the lifetimes of the youngest readers here. Nearly all of us walk around with a computer in our pockets more powerful than what was available to the average homeowner 25-30 years ago. Cars don’t always need gas and soon may not even need drivers. Eventually, just as the Jetsons foretold, they might even be flying. Training for endurance sports has certainly not been lacking in innovation during this time. Power meters have become nearly ubiquitous (and arguably a necessity) in cycling, along with making in-roads to the running world. Indoor training technology and diversity has skyrocketed, with multiple platforms available in the interest of providing a better and more precise user experience. Does this mean the methods of the past are no longer valid? Certainly not! And here, we’ll explore some ways you’ll want to blend modern technology with old-school methods to optimize your results and understanding.

Let’s start with the power meter. Its development, acceptance and, now, prevalence has truly revolutionized the way we approach cycling training. Seeing power on our handlebars in real time was the first opportunity we had to objectively compare the work we did from one ride to another. The fundamental math of watts and kilojoules allowed us to quantify training like we never had before, and some of the spinoff calculations like Normalized Power, Intensity Factor and TSS have further refined the language that coaches use to plan workouts and communicate with athletes. From a coach’s standpoint, it can be very challenging to accurately assess an athlete’s performance in training, see progress over time or develop a race strategy for certain types of events without power, especially if you don’t interact with that athlete face-to-face all the time. There are now so many different power meters on the market across a wide range of price points, I would consider them a critical purchase for anyone serious about optimizing their training.

For me, triathlons started way back in the late 1990s when I opened a small business out of my condo. The idea began forming in this vacuous block of concrete known as my head when I turned into the Tasmanian Devil at the end of every day until some meaningful exercise could be had.

With expenses tight, I turned to daily walking or light running along the lakefront. While walking near Ohio Street Beach and Lincoln Park, I’d see swimmers plugging away at the training ground along the lake wall and think, “Wow, that’s cool!” And then I’d think, “Wow, if only you weren’t deathly afraid of swimming in open water, it would be even more cool.”

For a while, I took up martial arts (karate, taekwondo), eventually transitioning to boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu (and getting my ass kicked at most of it), but I continued walking to the lake on occasion, seeing the swimmers and thinking, “You’ve got to climb the mountain and conquer that fear of open water.”

Around June 2012, after five years of on-and-off preparation and two bouts of prostate cancer, I did one of the white-collar boxing matches held in a local night club, knowing, at the tender age of 52, it would be my last hurrah in the ring. Afterwards my thinking was to start looking into triathlons and other competitive sports that would avoid my getting into a ring or on a mat against someone half my age who didn’t really care that I was twice theirs.

My columns are often focused on some way that you can optimize your training, often in terms of fitting it in, balancing the workload or analyzing your data. While those things are helpful for athletes with some training history, if you’re at the newer end of the spectrum, you may still be overwhelmed by the whole process, let alone the terminology. Chances are you got into endurance sports because there was some appeal, whether fitness, fun or something else altogether. You might find yourself frustrated trying to understand or figure out the best path forward. My advice: start with what’s simple.

There are certain undeniable necessities to endurance sports: a bike and helmet for instance, running shoes, access to some body of water (indoors or out), appropriate clothing for the given activity, etc. Beyond that, there are many other gizmos and accessories that can be added to the top of the pile--and they may well improve the experience--but aren’t absolute necessities. Cycling shoes are a good example. They are certainly nice to have and accessible enough that they probably aren’t worth forgoing, but it is technically possible to ride a bike without them.

The training landscape of endurance sports continues to evolve at an impressive rate. Measurement, technology and improvements in methodology are all contributors. These go hand-in-hand now more than ever and are the foundation of the VQ philosophy. The things we can measure now help us make far fewer mistakes in training. Two key elements of that analysis are what we should be doing and how much we should be doing it. VQ’s latest testing protocols allow us to zero in on an athlete's exact rate-limiting factors. It’s especially gratifying to see these rate-limiters change as we address those weaknesses in training.

Testing the metabolic system on a consistent basis is where the really good stuff starts to happen. It’s crucial that we understand where change comes from. Analyzing those points for growth or loss is the key to the impact of training. The very first test creates the road map and defines rate-limiting factors. Follow-up tests measure growth and pinpoint where growth came from. Those subsequent tests are just as important though to make sure we are on target and providing an even more exacting route to improvement. It’s an ever-changing process.

The more testing I do the more I understand that we all respond to training differently, confirming what Allen Lim and I speculated so many years ago: one of the biggest challenges to anyone’s physiology is how much training s/he can handle and how that changes with age.

Over the course of the last 14 weeks or so, I've been writing about the various aspects of mindfulness and about how they can be applied to both our lives in general as well as to our athletic pursuits. I hope you've come to see that mindfulness is an approach to living that can help us achieve a new way of being as we become present in our lives rather than living in the past or future. I've discussed a number of skills and will highlight a couple key ones below.

To start, mindfulness is simply paying attention to the present moment in a nonjudgmental way. Mindfulness isn't just a single skill, but rather is a collection of skills and approaches to life that with practice can help us experience our lives in entirely new ways. I want you to keep in mind that these skills are like links in a chain that work together to create a strong and useful tool. As we develop these skills, they can help us change our lives. The skills become stronger and more effective with practice.

One way to do this is to use our skills to stay in the present moment. When we practice this approach, we find that life calms down, that we can look at the situation we are in (no matter how difficult) with a greater degree of clarity and ease, and that we can move forward in our own lives rather than being stuck in denial, distraction, protest, etc. We can focus our energies to bring us to our very best, whether in life in general or in a particular pursuit such as athletics.

“Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

- Yoda responding to Luke Skywalker asking how he'd ever get his x-wing fighter out of the swamp.

"Who do you think will win the Super Bowl?" a friend asked. I've been thinking about the impact of mindfulness and mental image on performance and so I said that I thought that the team that would win is the team that truly sees themselves as the winners.

Not which team was saying the most in front of the cameras. I'm not talking about hype. But deep in their hearts, which players clearly see it as "being like them" to win the game.

You see, this is where it matters, that deep in our hearts as athletes we believe that we are winners. That when we mindfully listen to the inner voice deep inside us, it says that we can do it.

One story I've heard is about a world championship shooter whose rifle was damaged just before a match and he would have to borrow one. This was a huge disadvantage, just like borrowing a bike or shoes would be for a cyclist or runner. But that didn't derail him. He said, "Wouldn't it be something to win with a borrowed rifle?"; he went on to do just that. He didn't let the circumstances matter. He didn't let despair, or some belief about the future derail his inner image of being a champion. He still expected to win because that was the image of himself that he had developed.

Try a new kitchen gadget or way of cooking this week. InstaPots or slow cookers are great for making large amounts of food and freezing them for later use. Perfect for cold winter days.

Slow Cooker BBQ Paleo Chicken

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds organic chicken breast
• 2 cups diced tomatoes
• 2-4 pitted dates
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 small yellow onion peeled and quartered or 1/2 a large yellow onion
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 1/2 tablespoons avocado oil

Directions:

1. In a large slow cooker (I use a 6-quart slow cooker), arrange the chicken breasts and drizzle with the avocado oil.

2. Combine the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until all of the ingredients are well chopped. Pour over the chicken, spooning the sauce over all exposed chicken.

3. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.

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"Baseball is half physical, the other 90% is mental" - Yogi Berra

I usually ask athletes I'm speaking with what percent of their performance is due to their mental game. I'm always surprised because they usually say that their performance is about 90% mental. Yet in asking them how much they invest in mental preparation very few ever say they do any mental preparation, though they'll spend thousands of dollars on equipment, supplements, coaching, etc.

As we've been discussing, mindful practice is a great mental skill that enables you to be "in the zone" or in a flow state where you're absorbed in the present moment and perform your best. Mindfulness skills provide practical and proven ways to focus on your performance, to ignore distracting thoughts and to avoid getting consumed in “What if?” scenarios. With mindfulness you are able to stay in the present, at your best.

Last week Lucy (of the cartoon "Peanuts") said that she dropped the ball because she let "the past get in her eyes" thinking about all the errors she had made before. As with Lucy, our self-talk is one of the major ways that the past gets in our eyes. How many of us look at a past bike ride we had that didn't go well and let the memory drag us down? Or compare what we can do to someone else and tell ourselves that we'll never be as good?

In a Peanuts cartoon strip, Lucy apologizes to Charlie Brown for missing an easy fly ball in the cartoon's first frame. In the next frame she says "I thought I had it, but suddenly I thought of all the others I've missed..." She points out her own problem in the last frame: "The past got in my eyes!" Worrying about a past mistake, a bad race or effort will usually get you into another one just like it.

How many of us have done what Lucy did? Worry about some aspect of our performance that didn't go the way we wanted and by so doing either recreated the problem or simply didn't do as well as we could because we we're too in our heads or in the past? How many of us beat ourselves down about the past? That's an overdeveloped skill for most of us.

So many times I've heard athletes say that they don't fit in with other athletes because they haven't done as much, gone as hard, don't look right, don't have the right equipment or that they've struggled to do well in the past... As we've talked about before, these beat downs may be some kind of attempt at control, but it doesn't help us. Ghosts of the past harm our efforts by bringing past mistakes into the present, by distracting us, by keeping us from performing our best and by even convincing us that we won't be able to get to the goal we're going after.

"Of all the hazards, fear is the worst." - Sam Snead, one of the all time great golfers

It is easy to misunderstand the idea of turning towards the things that scare us, especially those that lay within ourselves, and accepting them. Many think that acceptance means "just accepting" whatever happens. But, while acceptance is one part of the foundation of mindful practice, no one is saying "just accept it", especially with all the horrible things that can occur in this world. Rather, acceptance is realizing the way that things truly are and finding ways to be wise in our relationship with them. Then we act from the clarity we gain by turning towards what is and letting go of our illusions of control.

Acceptance isn't passively resigning ourselves to what happens. If everything is falling apart, if our dreams aren't going to be fulfilled, if the wolf really is howling at our door, then being aware of it, no matter how scary, gives us a place to stand. From this place we can take steps which truly fit the situation.

When we keep an illusion of control, we often act with anger, denial or avoidance. We won't see how things really are, we won't know how to act. Or we might be overwhelmed by fear, use poor coping skills (did anyone ever finish a pint of ice cream when they were upset? Tasty maybe, but it didn't make the howling wolf go away), act in anger or use other forms of acting out and distraction.

Nuts have been part of man’s diet since the prehistoric era and for good reason. Some of the nutrients nuts contain are:

• Polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fatty acids (fats); Omega-3s

• Protein

• Fiber

• Folate

• Vitamin E

• Plant Sterols- May reduce the risk for heart disease by blocking the absorption of cholesterol within the small intestine.

• Lowered risk of coronary heart disease

• Lowering inflammation

What types of nuts are best to consume?

When compared in nutrient content most nuts are relatively similar. Although some nuts may contain slightly more or less in one or two nutrient categories, they are all nutrient dense. Just be sure when consuming nuts to choose raw and keep portions to about 100 calories or 12-15 nuts for a snack. When choosing nut butters, only purchase the ones with just nuts and salt if you choose. The processed nut butters can contain unhealthy fats and sugars. Read labels to make sure, even organic nut butters can have added sugar. If you like roasted nuts, purchase them raw and then roast at home. The commercial roasting process exposes nuts to oxidation, mold and other toxins.

"If you let go a little you will have a little happiness. If you let go a lot you will have a lot of happiness. If you let go completely you will be free." - Ajahn Chah

How did your meditations on acceptance go? What did you find?

As suggested by the quotation from Ajahn Chah, the idea of acceptance I introduced last week allows us to find a freedom in life we're unlikely to otherwise have. Acceptance can often be challenging and seem even to be wrong at times, but letting go of the illusion of control can be a turning point in our lives.

The illusion of control is the idea that we hold that we actually have more control in life than we really do. This illusion does serve us psychologically. When I believe that I have control, I may feel that I can change outcomes to how I want them to be. That I can prevent bad things from happening. That I can avoid loss, or change, or being alone... That I am safe.

In truth, I am generally unable to control very much of the world.

As we meditate, the observer mind develops. We become comfortable with not interacting, not judging, not controlling our thoughts and feelings. Rather we just notice them.

As this perspective develops, we recognize our thoughts "just are". Similarly, as we practice and mindfully focus on the world, we come to realize that the events of the world "just are". And as such, we find that we can accept how things are. We don't need the illusion of control any longer.

Don’t be afraid of fat.

For nearly forty years saturated fats have been deemed the” bad fats.” For decades health care professionals have recommended to their patients to consume saturated fats in small amounts and now…it might be a myth that saturated fat can cause an increased risk of heart disease.

The initial thought was that a diet high in saturated fat could lead to increased LDLs or bad cholesterol that can clog arteries. This was thought to then lead to an increased heart disease. Recently, researchers conducted new studies following people’s saturated fat intake to see if there was an association between increased heart attacks and strokes. The conclusion: they could not find a clear link between the two.

So should you consume saturated fat? The moral of the story is to have a complete diet that is not one sided. Your diet should veer away from being entirely grains or entirely meats, but rather it should be a balance mix of grass-fed meats, free range poultry, while caught fatty fish, nuts, seeds, healthy oils (like olive, coconut), vegetables and fruits. Saturated or unsaturated, everyone needs them in their diet and fat wont make you fat or unhealthy.

I hope everyone has taken some time to be present during the past week. That you've connected to joy of family, to the smells of good food cooking, to the sights of decorations and to your inner self. That mindful breathing has provided a way for you to manage the stressors and the strivings that often come with this time of year.

Two weeks ago, I was writing about how when we mindfully notice, spending time in the places that challenge us, we find that we can trust that the situations we are in are ones that we can handle, that they will work out. Not always as we would choose, but work out in a way we can handle.

In this way, we can think of life as having a flow.

A flow which while we may be able to influence it at times, is generally beyond our control. But mindful practice can help us accept this and all it means.

I know that there have been many times, much of my earlier life in fact, when I tried to control the flow of my life and even of things beyond myself. By controlling everything I seemed to think that I would be able to get to the places I wanted to be. By controlling everything, I tried to keep bad things from happening. Then, I could be happy.

Start the New Year off right with some home cooked, clean meals. Here are a few simple recipes.

Egg Scramble (vegetarian) (1 serving)

Ingredients:

∙ 3 eggs

∙ 2 tbsp scallions, sliced

∙ ¼ cup tomatoes, diced

∙ ¼ avocado, diced

∙ 1 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil

∙ sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Whisk eggs together in a medium bowl until well combined. 2. Season with some sea salt and pepper and add a splash of water. 3. Bring a medium sauté pan to medium heat with coconut oil. 4. Add eggs to the pan and allow them to set a bit before stirring. 5. Once your eggs are beginning to cook, sprinkle in the scallions and tomatoes and gently fold all the ingredients into your eggs. Cook through. 6. Top the egg scramble with diced avocado.

Fresh Vegetable Omelet Muffins (vegetarian) (6 servings)

Ingredients:

∙ 6 whole eggs, beaten

∙ 1-2 cups of desired vegetables, diced (e.g. bell peppers, tomatoes, onions)

∙ ¼ cup sugar-free salsa (optional)

∙ coconut oil

∙ sea salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.

I joined Vision Quest Coaching in September 2009, shortly after my first century ride. I am very thankful to have discovered this one-of-a-kind training center! The training has improved my cycling, inspired me to push my limits, led to feelings of accomplishment and produced epic moments.

I have always enjoyed sports and exercise and managed to be active, although since childhood, I’ve been faced with the challenges of asthma. As a mom, it wasn’t until my children were older that I was able to volunteer and work out more regularly. In 2009, Team in Training invited me to participate in a charity century ride around Lake Tahoe. Even though I wasn’t a serious cyclist, I decided: why not? It was a memorable ride that took me about 8.5 hours to complete. I stopped and grazed my way through all of the many rest stops. My favorite stop was at the beach at mile 72. I ate several sandwiches, rested on the beach and did some stretching. Needless to say, finishing those last 28 miles was not an easy task!

After that ride, I decided I wanted to spend more time on my bike and become a stronger cyclist. I joined Taste of VQ at the suggestion of one of the Team in Training coaches. About 18 months later, I joined the On Your Left program to ride with a group and meet new friends.

I joined Vision Quest Coaching in fall 2005 with the intent of learning the art of group riding. I had previously been a runner for a number of years and gave it up in the mid-90s (too many Advils for too few miles). I started to attend spin classes and ultimately bought a hybrid bike to ride for exercise. I grew to enjoy biking.

Soon I tested a carbon frame road bike, fell in love with it and continued riding on my own. I ventured into group riding and initially found it alternately exhilarating and terrifying with many riders offering suggestions, tips and advice, but having no context or foundation to sort out the good from the bad (riding at 20+ mph, 12 inches off a wheel...trial and error seemed out of the question). I felt VQ would be the place to accelerate the learning curve and offer an environment and coaching to learn the art and science of riding in a group.

I came to VQ for the group skills and stayed for the program and friendships. VQ has been instrumental in offering coaching, actionable advice and training for group riding and has allowed me the luxury of learning group skills while developing proper training habits. The programs at VQ have been challenging while still managing to provide a safe and consistent method of instruction within the framework of good riding practices designed to keep riders as safe as possible. The community at VQ is very attractive and positive and operates, not just on a meritocracy of skill, but effort. Any VQ athlete, no matter the skill or ability, who is willing to make the effort to undertake the work necessary to meet self-prescribed goals will find support, help, advice and encouragement from the highest elite level athletes and coaches as well as from the mere mortals.

To Be Part of Something Bigger than Yourself

Ever since I played little league baseball, I believed that being part of a team meant everything. And while blood, sweat and tears were necessary for individual achievement, having partners on the athletic journeys of life was just as important--and a helluva lot more fun. It certainly was true when I played college football at Northwestern and definitely when I was kicking ass and getting my ass kicked in the NFL! Fast-forward 30 years: it was still the same. I was still looking for that something bigger than myself; being a part of it. Hello Vision Quest Coaching! I wish I had met Robbie, Dave and the gang a long time ago, but I'll settle for present and future. Forget about the hands-on, comprehensive coaching for a second, that speaks for itself. It's the camaraderie that sets VQ above the rest. Whether at Fullerton Avenue or Highland Park, it's a comfort zone. You aren’t judged, just taught. My bike handling skills still leave something to be desired, but are certainly a lot better than when I first started (at about zero). My first VQ adventure was the Wolfgang Freitag Two Person Team Time Trial. I had never done anything like it before and hadn’t realized how hard it was to sustain a measly 17 or 18 mph pace. But I, and my partner, Bogie (who could forget that name?), eventually got the hang of it and were able to stay with the pack, taking turns drafting for one another. Then it happened: a deer jumped onto the road in front of the pack and froze! A few riders hit the panic button and went down. Bogie took me out. I don't remember if I finished or not, but I do remember making it back for the post-race team picture...with major road rash...and a giant smile on my face!!! Bogie, even though he didn't have to, apologized profusely and even went so far as to have a Mass said on my behalf--now that's camaraderie! That's my VQ story and I'm sticking to it!

Half the Road

When I get on the bike, I don’t think about whether I am a woman or a man. From my viewpoint on the saddle, I am just a body with two legs that pedal, eyes for the road, a stomach to feed and a brain to wrestle with. I don’t think the guys that I ride with give much thought to my being a woman either. It’s just not relevant when you’re all working hard together and keeping the pace.

So when Dave Noda asked me to join the first women’s team to ride the Sub-5 Century for Parkinson’s last summer, I had to think about it. I wasn’t excited about doing just a “girl thing”, I didn’t see the point. It’s not that I don’t like hanging out with other women, it’s just that it’s not a priority when I’m on the bike. Then when I found out that the range of Functional Threshold Power levels for the nine women on the team spanned 100 watts, I really wondered what I had gotten myself into.

How could we maintain a pace of over 20 mph for 100 miles when the weakest among us struggled at that speed for only a few minutes? Wouldn’t the team just end up riding at the pace of the slowest member? There is one thing I really have to give this group of women credit for: they do know how to organize! Within days, we had a training schedule. We met at one of the member’s apartments and, over delicious appetizers, discussed fueling and hydration, pace line tactics and “what if” scenarios. On the road we practiced smooth transitions so as not to kill each other with surges. We got a sense for each other’s steady state pulling strength and were able to create an order to the paceline that maximized each rider’s ability. We agreed that the strong ones would pull longer, into the wind and on the downhills. The weaker ones would pull uphills. We took advice from Robbie and others on how to transform this group of women--who, for the most part, had never even ridden together--into a real team. The trick was to make sure that each of us, no matter her Power/Weight ratio, felt as if she were putting out maximum effort. There was one thing we promised each other: we would finish as a team. With that decision, our fates were joined. If one among us rode 100 miles in less than 5 hours, then we all would. I think in the end this was key.

Goal-setting, whether athletic- or career-oriented, is like a ritual amongst the VQ community. I typically center my goals around coming out of my comfort zone. Coming out of my comfort zone is exactly what I did when I timidly entered in January 2012 for my first Taste of VQ class. My heart rate was probably in Z3 when I walked through the doors, rose to Z4 when I was asked to jump on the scale (post-holidays, of course!) and easily increased to Z5 during the infamous 20-minute threshold test. Ten months later, I officially joined. Through VQ I’ve had the opportunity to experiment with challenges ranging from a holiday season cleanse (those who know me realize what a nearly impossible feat it is for me to survive without coffee for 14 days!) to braving cold temperatures and sloppy terrain in a March race to perhaps the greatest out-of-comfort-zone challenge to date: attending the Arizona camp without knowing the majority of athletes participating. These have all been experiences that have changed me in some way.

I believe that by challenging ourselves and taking on new risks, we inevitably grow and achieve goals never thought possible. There’s an old Guatemalan proverb that says “everyone is the age of their heart”. VQers redefine age as a multidimensional concept. Age extends beyond a number to include passion, grit, perseverance, grit, tenacity, grit, commitment and more grit. Looking around VQ, we see athletes from across generations, all sharing the same common denominators, particularly determination and heart. One of the distinctive benefits of being a VQer is the opportunity to engage with athletes from all backgrounds.

I received an e-mail from Dave Noda, asking me and other VQers to share our VQ stories. My immediate reaction: why should I? I am out of action, I have a broken hip! (My son gave me the t-shirt I am wearing as a write this. Emblazed on the front is: “I broke my hip saving my bike from being damaged by black ice on the road.”)

I am bitter and twisted because on the last cold day of the year, anticipating a great summer of riding, I crashed and have been out for the entire season. After some reflection, I decided to respond to Dave’s e-mail because there actually is a story here. I have been with VQ nearly three years (I joined September 2011?).

This 67-year-old body, even as it is temporarily broken, is younger and stronger and fitter than ever. I just love what my body can do. It doesn’t come free. Apart from the money, which is not trivial, the real cost is the time commitment that we all have to make when riding with VQ. My wife still struggles. Can anyone relate to “you’re always falling asleep at night over dinner” or “riding comes before me” (which, of course, is not true, but impossible to prove)? I could go on and on with this, but any VQer will know what I am talking about.

When I began my VQ journey in February 2014, my power and weight were in the 180s. I didn't even know how to ride in a pace line. My goal was to become fit and take my cycling beyond 18-mile solo rides up and down Sheridan Road. In one year, I have increased my power to 249, lost over 20 pounds and learned how to ride in a group. Along the way, I have had some major achievements. In September, I rode the Sub-5 Century in 4:28 with a team of 12 riders. In August, I completed Rebecca's Private Idaho, a 94-mile gravel ride with over 5,500 feet of climbing. All this from a non-athletic, couch potato who was pushing an unhealthy 213 pounds in January 2013.

My accomplishments with cycling have taken family support, my heart, my guts and leaving nothing on the table, but I know I couldn't have done much without VQ. VQers work their butts off each and every day and have been a great influence on me, always making me challenge myself and push myself beyond where I ever thought I could go. At VQ, we all celebrate each other's accomplishments. During a recent FTP test, several VQers cheered me on at the end…pushing me to my best FTP result to date. Group riding is an art and takes lots of practice. There are so many nuances that only those with vast experience can point out.

There are many reasons people join and continue riding with VQ. Ask ten VQ members and you will hear as many reasons. In honor of the now retired David Letterman, here are my Top 10 Reasons to Ride with VQ…

10. You have not lived a full life as a cyclist until you do indoor workouts with Robbie Ventura and Dave Noda. It’s Chicago. It’s February. It’s cold. And snowy. Are you riding outside? I didn’t think so. Connect your bike to a CompuTrainer and “enjoy” 90 minutes of real work with a room filled with like-minded people. The sessions are run by coaches that are knowledgeable and ready to help you set up on the machine and motivate you. The indoor workouts are the best thing any serious rider can do in the winter, at least in this part of the world. To get the full experience you have to do an indoor session with Robbie Ventura or Dave Noda. Their coaching styles are different, but both motivate you to really make the most of your training time. Robbie is very direct and gives a lot of information. Dave uses a booming voice to motivate--no, compel--you to do the best work possible. In any event, you will not be disappointed and you will get a great workout. The classes are plentiful and the gyms/studios are conveniently located in the city and suburbs. If you do nothing else with VQ, the indoor workouts will make you a stronger rider. You will thank VQ and me when you get back on the road.

I had been participating in triathlons (sprint and Olympic distances) for a number of years. This was quite some time ago when you could practically sign up the day before and the event did not cost you an arm and a leg! Then one of those “zero” birthdays was coming up and I looked at the craziness of doing the WI Ironman event! Madison, Wisconsin is my hometown.

My father is still in the house he built where my siblings and I grew up. Thus the logistics of participating in the Madison IM event were easy, eg: place to stay while there riding the course, close to Chicago, ability to get in the practices on the weekend, etc. Plus my birthday is September 9th and the WI Ironman event was the 11th! [It was very fun when, at the pasta dinner on Friday night, several people were asked to stand to acknowledge birthdays. I was one of them!] Yet I still wondered, could I do this crazy thing?!? Would my body cooperate? Could I “wrap my brain” around this endurance sport? Yes, yes and yes! My training was from a 13-hour, 13-week printout that a friend found for me on the Internet. I joined VQ for one of the Madison rides (see photo of Robbie and me–love that guy!!!).

The 2005 WI IM was an unusually hot and windy day. I had trained for the distance in each of the three parts of the event, so by event day I had a “can do” attitude. I enjoyed the day (as much as one does for that type of day!), talking to many volunteers and taking photos along the way! I really got my money’s worth—especially since it took me all day and evening…right up to the midnight deadline time. I jubilantly crossed the finish line! They closed the gate practically right behind me!!! Yet, I did it!!! I did it! What a feeling of joy and accomplishment!!! I did it!!! Now ten years later--with the next significant “zero” birthday approaching--I am beginning to think about this event again. Hmmm…same questions: Can I do this crazy thing again? Will my body cooperate? Can I wrap my brain around this goal again? Being more mature (i.e., older!) and perhaps a little bit wiser, I decided that my approach for workouts and practices would need to be different and better this time.

I was asked for race results and here’s my story…not exactlya “race,” but results for sure.

First, a little bit of background: I was extremely sick with various illnesses during the second half of 2014 and knew I needed to do something different. I carried over 228 pounds on my 6’1″ frame with a BMI of 30.2.

I started eating right and consuming slightly fewer calories than my RMR. I began riding on a trainer in late winter, but that was intermittent. When spring finally broke in Cleveland, I started riding more regularly, about 75 miles a week, but nothing over 30 miles at a time (still more than I had ever ridden in my life). I slimmed to 210 lbs. and started feeling better. However, I was stuck at 210 and still had nagging gastro problems. I knew I needed help to get over the next hump–something more than just going out and riding. A friend challenged me to think bigger about my cycling goals and that’s when I decided I needed a coach. Enter VQ…

More importantly, enter Carlos Soler. What a godsend! I asked VQ for help that very same week because I wanted to get started immediately. Within a day, I had a call from Carlos. He didn’t hesitate to set me up with a VQ plan and I was working on it the next day. First was a simple day to spin me around, then he hit me with threshold testing over two days. I’m sure you hate threshold testing too, but at least I had a baseline. I’ve been working with Carlos for about a month now [at the time of this writing] and during that time he has worked me hard and added functional training.

Ta-Dah! Vision Quest!

By Heidi Musser (originally written for a Memoir/Creative Writing Workshop) Today, as every Tuesday and Thursday, I entered the Vision Quest Highland Park hallway at 6:30 am. The life-loving energy of everyone I pass so early in the morning is indescribable. It's like arriving on a different planet. What is Vision Quest (VQ)? It is where I train for endurance cycling. Indoors, when the weather is cold and unfavorable, on my single bike, locked onto a trainer, and outdoors, when the weather is warm and pleasant, on my tandem bike, with a VQ pilot for a trail ride. All I can say is Ta-dah! for VQ! Becoming involved with VQ about two years ago was life-changing for me as a blind athlete.

One of VQ's mottos is: Accomplish anything; all you need is vision. Simply feeling welcomed meant "changing my vision." No longer was I the one "without a vision," but now one who was among those who "have vision." Ta-dah! Among my fellow riders, I was no longer considered blind.

A second VQ motto is: We believe that we have the courage to overcome obstacles. Well, not a problem for me. I have overcome many obstacles because I resisted how the sighted educators and experts lined out how I should live my life. I was pretty much relegated to living my life bouncing back and forth in a rocking chair. Ta-dah! I hope educators can learn from me and implement new guidelines for blind students.

Who I Am

Two of the bikes have power meters that I have been using over the past two seasons. And I love riding. But I don’t race--never have and never will. I’m 58 years old, and when I ride with groups (once a week, mainly in the summer), I’m always the oldest, sometimes exceeding the average by two to three decades. When I started this a couple years ago, I had to accept that the group I chose was fast and I’d get dropped sometimes--so would other, much younger, guys. Last season, I stopped riding with them because getting dropped more often than not isn’t fun. I concluded that, well, I’m getting old. I’m strong for my age, but age happens.

Why I Joined Vision Quest this January

First, New Orleans. Every December, we go to New Orleans for a “food-cation”. (New Orleans food is the best, but it’s not low-cal.) Then we come back and my partner goes into holiday cooking mode. Because she’s a fantastic chef and because we finish teaching in early December (both Northwestern professors), we indulge in food and drink. So, I gain a few pounds…well, perhaps more than a few. Second, Chicago winter. There comes a time when you just can’t ride on the roads outside around here and this year that came in late December. I rode on Christmas Day, but then the weather got bad and I couldn’t ride outside for a couple weeks. (The previous two winters were much more brutal for outside riding.) I don’t have room in our condo for a trainer. When I can’t ride outside, I still ride at my gym on a recumbent exercise bike, but it’s not the same. For one thing, my butt gets soft; for another, it’s excruciatingly boring and unpleasant. Third, Chicago spring. Every spring, when I can cycle outside again, I’m happy to be doing so, but sad that it’s such a chore to get back in shape. I gain weight over the winter. I have to break in my butt again. And I suffer psychologically over how weak I become. The Decision. My partner and I decided to go low carb and no alcohol in January (actually until Valentine’s Day). I had been intrigued by Vision Quest since I first heard about it. I was tempted, but never enough. Now I figured it would help me lose weight and perhaps prevent my yearly weakening.

In January 2012, I thought I was in pretty good shape for a 62-year-old guy following a training regimen of rigorous cycling once or twice a week and personal training or Pilates twice a week. So, as a Tour de France devotee, I signed up for a challenging cycling trip following Le Tour for six days that summer. Since I was only biking on the flatlands of Illinois and Florida, I figured I needed to step up my training. That winter, I landed on Robbie’s VQHP doorstep and started indoor intensity rides twice a week; once a week when riding outdoors.

By the time I left for France in July, my VO threshold had increased from 187 to 207 and my weight dropped from 185 to 172.

The trip was fantastic! Over the six days, we rode 287 miles and climbed in excess of 25,000 feet, including climbs up two Tour routes: the Col du Granier and the Col du Glandon to the Col de la Croix de Fer. I couldn’t have survived those climbs without my VQ training.

Fast-forward to May 2016, with my weight around 177 and my threshold at 240, I signed up for another European bike trip. This time I would be going from Spain to France over the Pyrenees in Basque Country. I added an extra indoor endurance ride to my regular weekly program of one indoor intensity ride and one outdoor ride of 40 to 50 miles, in addition to twice-a-week personal training. After consulting with VQ nutritionist, Linda Samuels, I upped my protein intake and cut out most pasta, bread and desserts. According to my DexaFit tests in May and September, I lost 7 pounds (net) while gaining 3.5 pounds of muscle, and my body fat dropped from 26% to 21%. I was certainly ready for the trip.

Training consistently is one of most important components of sustained athletic growth.

However, it is the rare working athlete who can make it through an entire season without some interruption. For some athletes, planned vacations or work-related travel may get in the way, and figuring out a plan of attack in these situations is relatively manageable. The more challenging interruptions are those that creep up unexpectedly such as long days at the office, sudden trips, changing family obligations or illnesses and injuries. The goal of this article is to offer practical solutions to a few of the situations that can keep athletes from the consistent routines they strive for.

The easiest interruptions to deal with are those that you see coming. Planned trips offer a greater opportunity to organize trip logistics so that the impact on your training is minimal. If you know you will be spending some time away from your bike or a pool, you may be able to adjust your training ahead of time to include a bike or swim focus, allowing you to use the time away as recovery from training stress. Extended travel may compromise your training over a longer timeframe, but is also less likely to be a high-pressure trip where you’re busy all day. Some investigation into local options may yield a pool that’s close enough to get a brief workout in, or even a bike shop that offers rentals.

Log your nutrition intake for 7 days is your challenge for this week. When doing something like this, it is important to find a program or app that works for you. There are dozens of different platforms to use these days, what works for some, may not work for you. Some popular apps easily for download on your phone are; My Fitness Pal, Lose IT, Life Sum, and My Diet Coach. Dietary tracking apps have become quite sophisticated over the years, moving from manual entering of a food and portion to using barcode scanners to identify brand name products and return nutritional content information based on an entered portion. However refined these apps have become, their most poignant issue may not lie in the accuracy of the nutritional content information returned, but in the accuracy of the user’s portion estimation. Under reporting is the most common error when people input their food. Another thing to be aware of is when eating a commercially prepared food or food from a restaurant, you have no idea what went into it. Asking questions and reading ingredients can help with this. These are just a few thoughts to keep in mind when tracking your food. Some of the pros of using these apps, especially in the beginning of a new health and wellness program are:

The holidays are an especially hard time to stay in the present for most people. Piles of last minute work before vacations, we have to get the holiday cards out (what would our friends think if we didn't?), the last minutes gifts and all those ads that show us how happy we should be.

Never mind that for many people, the holidays are also a time of stress or melancholy, of thinking of loved ones who are no longer with us; a time that's different for us from what the t.v. shows us.

So for this week's writing, I'd like to suggest 4 tips to stay mindful during the holiday season and hopefully bring more peace and enjoyment than you might otherwise experience.

Doing our daily mindful practice helps manage feelings of being overwhelmed and helps us shift into a place of being more clear and awake, yet enabling us to remain relaxed and at ease. Remember, mindfulness doesn't necessarily mean being chilled out, but is about being aware and present in the current moment.

1: Take 5 minutes to practice mindful breathing.

• Take a seat that's comfortable in a quiet space.
• Place your feet on the floor, resting your hands in your lap or alongside your body.
• Notice your body for a minute, notice any tingling, any warmth, or any other sensations.
• Now, take slow deep breaths, breathing in...and out...in...and out.... Continue with this pattern for two or three minutes.
• Then notice the air flowing into and out of your body as you breathe
• And notice whatever thoughts or feelings that pass through your mind. But, just notice them. Don't judge them or try to alter them.
• If you like, you can focus on a holiday related memory, scene or sensation while you breathe.

Focus on veggies during your meals. For the next 3 days, try including at least 1 serving of non-starchy vegetables in 3 meals per day.

Diets high in non-starchy vegetables have been shown to reduce the risk of many diseases and conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer and inflammatory/autoimmune conditions. You cant go wrong with filling the majority of your plate with non-starchy vegetables. (Leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, etc. ) Try replacing your starches or carbohydrates for these vegetables. Not only will vegetables reduce calories and carbohydrates (non-starchy vegetables do contain carbohydrates, so you will still be getting some carbs), they will increase the fiber, antioxidants and phytonutrients in your diet. Some tips when adding vegetables to meals:

• Make them tasty, sauté in healthy oils such as avocado, coconut or olive oils.

• Spice them up with fresh herbs and spices. Sea salt is okay, we do need salt, especially if we are sweating.

• Try fun alternatives to traditional carbohydrates: Spiralized Zucchini or Squash “noodles” or cauliflower “rice.”

• Some prefer to boil vegetables first, and then a quick sauté in a healthy oil.

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When we practice mindfulness, we observe our present situation, thoughts and feelings. Just noticing whatever is there. Now we turn towards what we truly experience without pushing it away, trying to change or fix it. Now we become freed from spending our energy trying to control it.

When applied to everyday life, we can come to see this approach as a letting go of attempts at striving, or at controlling. We can come to trust that the situation we are in will work out. Not necessarily as we would choose, but in a way that we will be able to handle.

When we trust, we can then let go.

Trust.

Such a simple word. Yet, one that is very difficult for most of us.

We often talk of trusting others, such as to do a good job fixing our car, or repaying the $10 bucks we loaned them for lunch.

Other times we trust people with our secrets or hearts - usually this is harder.

And then there's trust of ourselves. Do I dare to look at my dreams? To look at what I really feel? To accept what there is to be accepted, even if it's not what I want?

This form of trust is often the hardest.

Yet when we meditate, when we mindfully notice, we find that we can trust. That we can trust that whatever the situation we find ourselves in that it will work out, that whatever we find within ourselves, that it will work out. We will be okay.

Try focusing on foods with fewer than 5 ingredients, this will ensure foods are not processed and full of additives and artificial ingredients. A rule of thumb; If it can be plucked, hunted, fished picked or had a mom, eat it! It’s that simple, this way you wont be consuming any processed foods, its eating clean foods in their truest, most natural form. When reading ingredient lists on a package, ask yourself if you would find each ingredient by itself on a store shelf or in your kitchen. If the answer is no, back away. Opt for foods that are rich in nutrients and not empty calories. You will be surprised on how much better you feel after eating clean for a few days! Have fun with this one, and you will be surprised on how much money you actually save, clean eating doesn’t have to be expensive.

When have we mindfully meditated enough? When will we find peace with what is on our minds? When have we observed what worries us long enough? After meditating and trying to be mindful of what I really feel, why do I still feel down?

These are questions that I frequently hear and have heard in this past week. The truth is that practicing mindfulness doesn't mean that we no longer will feel down, or feel "bad" feelings. Some life situations are just that big. So, in a way there's no real end point that we can know.

But, as we practice we become more aware of what we really do feel, and we stop spending energy to avoid those feelings and can begin to accept what we feel. In many cases, we will then feel much better.

I know that once I turn towards what I really feel, I find that I can accept what there is to accept and move forward in whatever way that is. There's a peace that comes from this.

Honestly, this has surprised me as some of what I've accepted in my life wasn't according to the "script" that I have in my mind, it wasn't something that I wanted. But by turning towards, I found I could accept and become free. Sometimes there was some sadness due to letting go, but that was so much better than trying to convince myself that I had control and could make things the way I wanted them to be. Again, by accepting I found peace and freed energy to connect to the present and to move forward.

I was asked by one person, what exactly is it that we're supposed to do to be mindful? What is it that's supposed to happen? The question is one that I so relate to and so reflects how most of us are in the modern world. We live in a world where we are used to doing things, used to making things happen. Yet, we're not so used to letting things be, to letting them develop or come to us.

Even the best, most popular, writers that I know don't say what to do, how to make things happen. They say that when we consistently focus on our breathing, mindfulness will naturally arise. But for someone still very much starting to learn to be mindful that can be frustrating as it doesn't tell us what to do. It's passive and I'm used to taking control! To doing! Hmmm...here's something different already.

Early on, I too wondered about what to do to be mindful. Honestly, the doing part is to witness our breathing, our thoughts. To notice. To observe.

Mindfulness does come, the well known writers are right, and as it does we develop a new way of relating to ourselves and the world we are living in.

After I worked to "just come back to my breathing" to "label thoughts that would come into my head as 'thinking'" while meditating, I eventually found that I became less and less lost in the maze of my thinking and did less reaching for control.

Need to detox from sugar? Sugar binges happen to the best of us. Birthdays, holidays, Halloween… heck, even just a stressful day can throw you off your clean-eating game into a spiral of candy and sugary treats. Sugar lights up your brain’s reward centers like a Christmas tree, which feels great…until the next day, when the sugar runs out and withdrawal settles in. Sugar hits all the same brain regions that addictive drugs do, and while it’s melodramatic to compare sugar to cigarettes or cocaine, you’ll still have to deal with pretty heavy cravings while your body gets itself back into balance.

Refined carbs like sugar cause systemic inflammation, that taxes your energy production in two ways. First, sugar impairs your mitochondria, so your body makes less fuel overall. Second, your cells have to spend a lot of their energy dealing with the stress of low-grade inflammation — the result of too much sugar — meaning you have less energy to put toward living your life. Sugar also causes a sharp decline in testosterone, which makes you feel lethargic. Be ready to weather a couple days of feeling tired. They’ll pass once your body repairs itself and you get back to eating good food.

I love the holidays for many reasons, but the biggest and best reason is the realization of how many special relationships and connections we have. At this time of year, these relationships and connections take priority over focusing on fitness or working on building the business.

For me, the holidays allow time to refocus on the importance of family and friends while providing the right atmosphere for reflection. Right or wrong, this is how I am and I am sure many of you feel the same about this time of year. Sure, it’s busy and we want to get things done so we can enjoy our free time a bit more. At the same time, the stress of business and productivity is reduced for at least a little while. Please make sure that you embrace this time and allow yourself to ease up on the "training regimes." Give yourself permission to lose a little fitness if it means you gain quality time with people you love.

The best way to prepare for this is to get a little ahead when the opportunity presents itself and bag some bigger days while the gettin’ is good. Often times there is a calm before (or in between) the holiday storm. Give consideration to the last few weeks of November and, depending on your holiday schedule, the first couple weeks of December. You will find moments there to put in some solid training and fill the coffers if you will. Then, you’ll be able to spend the height of the holiday season (right into that first week of January) focusing on your relationships. Those three weeks disappear before you know it and prove difficult for just about everyone to stay in any sort of training routine. Don’t worry about that! Better to pack a little extra into the month beforehand and enjoy the holidays. You may be surprised with your fitness as you exit the season. I call this the holiday push. And it really is just that: a short quick fitness push to build up ahead of time (or in between the holidays) so you can enjoy the moment and focus on the things that are more important than your fitness.

How has the breathing practice gone for you? Are you practicing becoming mindful of your breathing? Of how you walk, of how you eat, or even of how you hold a pencil? Are you practicing witnessing your thoughts and returning to your breathing? Are you practicing daily?

A friend I bike with complained that she was having trouble with foot cramps. I asked her to notice if she tightened her foot when biking. She found that she was and said that she has never noticed this before. We miss so much of what's really going on in our lives.

As you do mindful practice, you will experience fleeting moments of relaxation. Moments when the mind may be quiet or still for a moment. Keep going, with time these moments will grow. You will become better too at merely witnessing moments in your life rather than experiencing the heart ache, stress and worry that so many of us feel today.

There is so much that we do in our lives without really noticing it. Learning to be aware, to be present offers us so much.

As we cut through our self-deception, we start to encounter feelings and emotions that may be uncomfortable if not down-right painful. Yet these feelings can be welcomed as signs of places where we are stuck. They are places where we can move forward if we choose to stay in the uncomfortable place.

Your challenge this week is to focus on recovery nutrition.

What do you think is the most crucial time of a training session? Is it the first few minutes, the very end, the warm-up, or somewhere in the middle of your workout that is the most important? It may surprise you to know the most important time is the 30 minutes directly after your workout is finished. The time from your warm-up to the conclusion of your workout is obviously important. Improper form, too low an intensity, too high an intensity, unsafe behavior, and other factors can ruin the effectiveness of a workout. But even if do all of that perfectly, you can still negate the benefits of a workout by not using the 30 minute window following your workout to replenish nutrients lost during your training session.

The latest research on nutrition for endurance exercise points to the following to consider when developing a post recovery nutrition protocol:

1) The “window” of time when nutrition is most effective for recovery

Recover fastest by consuming recovery nutrients immediately after you finish exercise. During a training session you are taxing your body and using up its energy stores (glycogen). Once your workout is finished, you must replenish what you lost in order for your body to begin the process of repair. In the 30 minutes immediately following your workout, your insulin sensitivity is at its highest and when your body is in this state, whatever nutrients you take in will be easily transported directly to your muscles, liver, and wherever else it is needed. You will suck it up like a sponge.

Research has shown a positive correlation between the increase in digital technology use over the past 20 years and an increase in the average weight. One of the things we know is that the more screen time you use, the more you’re going to weigh. That doesn’t mean that the screen is causing your weight gain. What’s causing your weight gain is the increase in sedentary behavior and the increase of unconscious eating because you’re distracted. So those two key features are happening simultaneously.

If you are worried about your weight, paying more attention to what you eat, not less, could help keep you from overeating. Multitasking—like eating while watching television or working—and distracted or hurried eating can prompt you to eat more. Slowing down and savoring your food can help you control your intake.

Try going on a digital fast, at least during meals this week. To avoid this unhealthy combo, try not to put electronic devices on the table when you eat and keep the TV off. Not only will this help you with weight loss, it can increase conversations at family meals, a win win for everyone.

Last week I said the simplest thing: "Be in the present". Yet though it is simple it is not actually easy. Not easy at all, and for many of us, we actually try to not be present, not even in our lives.

Distraction is one of the most common themes of our times. Alcohol, food, drugs, t.v., fighting, day-dreaming, shopping, lying to ourselves...the list goes on. All serve to distract us from our immediate experience. Especially from "messy" feelings and emotions. We build these walls basically because we feel our inner heart is too vulnerable.

What makes mindful practice so powerful is that it is a pathway to be present in our lives, now.

Developing our breathing, as we talked about last week, is a key to do this. Our breathing becomes an anchor point for us in the present. One that we can always come back to when we become distracted or caught up in our own script of how life is or is supposed to be.

By doing this we begin to build awareness.

By building awareness this we become observers, we come to find that we can accept the present as it is, our feelings as they are, ourselves as we are. If we feel angry, we notice that. If we feel scared, notice that. If we feel joy, notice that. If we are thinking of a cheese burger, notice that.

I joined VQ in May 2016, having moved back to Chicago from Minneapolis. I had been a member of a group riding club there and wanted to continue. VQ was recommended to me, so I signed up for a class package online. When I showed up that first Tuesday evening, I immediately knew I had found a good spot for myself. I could sense the camaraderie and felt very welcome right away. This was a group that would help me push myself to improve my skills and stick with it. I switched to a membership a couple weeks later.

I had been athletic and very active in high school and college, but had let it go when I got busy with work, kids, etc. I often complained that I was just too busy to get back into it in any purposeful way. Then I was laid off--or “between jobs” as I preferred to think of it--and had no excuse. I got my hybrid bike off the rack and started riding, feeling very proud of the 5-10 miles I would do on a daily basis. Before I knew it, I was riding 25-30 miles five days a week and loving how it felt. I needed that sense of purpose each day and the feeling of being productive. A friend who is an accomplished triathlete encouraged me to get some coaching and maybe even do a triathlon. I laughed and said I could never imagine being able to say I had completed a triathlon.

For most athletes, we’re now in the “off-season” timeframe. This part of the year is often characterized by less focused training, a less rigid diet and the accompanying loss in fitness and increase in weight. Many are also procrastinating on the start of their indoor training in the hopes that summer will swing back through for one last blast before we succumb fully to the icy chill of winter.

Robbie has talked in the past about how most working athletes don’t really need time off in the off-season because the load they accumulate over the course of the season just isn’t enough to really require a physiological break. Significant losses in fitness can take place in as little as two weeks without training. In a month, fitness can be reduced 20%, and it’s a very precipitous slide from there on. The further fitness drops, the longer it will take to return to your former glory.

While it may be true that most of us don’t really need a full break, a phenomenon I’ve often observed over the years is that even highly motivated athletes hit a bit of a wall around this time of year, after their big events have come and gone. Even though they may not be physically wiped out, it seems they are emotionally fatigued and don’t have the same drive as when building toward their events. This manifests itself in the physical performances. A period of reduced training load and focus can be helpful in resetting during this time. When training becomes work, sports can become less fun. This is an ideal time to get back to what you fundamentally enjoy about swimming, running and cycling.

Over each of the weeks of the Off Season Challenge, I'll be writing thoughts and tips about mindfulness.

While each week will convey a particular skill or aspect of mindfulness, I really want you to think about each skill as being a link in a chain; week by week we'll build the chain. This chain can help you change your performance as an athlete and as a person.

Like most skills, such as swimming or dancing, mindfulness takes time and practice to develop. It becomes stronger and more effective with practice.

If I asked a swim coach what the most important part of becoming a great swimmer is, they would tell me practice, practice and some more practice. Similarly with mindfulness.

So, for our first week, I'll define mindfulness and offer a basic way to start practicing.

Mindfulness is a meditation technique that brings one's attention to the present moment, without judging, denying, solving, etc.

By developing the skill of bringing one's attention to whatever is happening in the present moment, simply observing it, we start to change how our mind works.

There are several ways to develop mindfulness meditation; I like to have my clients and athletes start simply:

Everyone makes goals. We are told from an early age to set and achieve goals. Some may even be familiar with the saying, “SMART” goals—specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. What is poorly understood, however, is how to set process goals, short-term goals and how to create systems that enable them to reach their long-term goals. The problem with outcome, or long-term goals is that they merely provide direction, but do not by themselves lead to actionable steps. In fact, it is quite possible that long-term goals have the opposite of the intended effect on a person’s behavior and motivation. It’s easy to get discouraged when a long-term goal is so far away that it seems nearly impossible to reach. That’s why it’s important to understand the detailed steps involved in helping a person reach their goals.

Before embarking on a life-changing journey, it’s necessary to reflect on WHY you want to do it. Dig deep and take time to reflect on why you want what you want, and how you will get there. Some common goals such as “I want to lose weight,” or “I want to get healthy” are too vague. Try reflecting on specific reasons you want to be healthier or lose weight. Change is hard. When the going gets tough, it’s easier to stay the same and at least familiar. Process goals are steps you take to reach your long-term goal. If you want to get stronger on the bike, your process goal might be to bike 4 times per week, but even that’s too vague. How long will you bike? What will your intensity be? What are the barriers involved in this process—time, weather? In order to set achievable goals, it’s imperative that you understand all of the details involved. For example, if you set a goal of biking 4 times a week, you need to know that your mind and body might not be thrilled to follow through on that just because you made the decision. You will need to set up a system so that the behavior occurs without much thought. That behavior needs to be encouraged by a system that allows it to occur through automation, rather than willpower. The body prefers to be lazy. Being lazy (conserving energy) was an evolutionary advantage at one time. We know that we will feel better and reap the rewards of the exercise once it’s completed, but that does little to motivate us initially.

This may be a strange way to start my story and journey with Vision Quest, but it all started after I got hit by a car at the end of a 40-mile solo ride, about a half-mile from my house, on November 8, 2016. The key word there is: solo.

On the day my left leg developed an intimate relationship with the front of a Mercedes C-Class, I had been cycling on and off for about ten years. At the time, my primary focus was running and I competed mostly in 5K and 10K races, sprinkled with some duathlons and one miserable Olympic-distance triathlon. I learned two things from that time: that I am a miserable swimmer and that I love cycling. Slowly but surely, more of my personal time was being dedicated to cycling.

That said, I had no idea what I was doing in terms of training. I ramped up my volume--mostly solo with some group rides peppered in--then got a cadence meter and a crappy little bike computer. I saw some improvements, but after a while I hit a plateau. I didn’t pay much attention to it as I just enjoyed being out on my bike. I love the speed that I can get on this machine, as well as the technical aspects (like cornering and descending) that come with bike riding. Mostly I love the sounds and scenery while on the bike: the wind passing by, the whoosh of the wheels as they speed up and the various sights one gets to see while on the bike.

Bikes have gears. They have been around for a long time. They are fantastic! It used to be that you only had a few options, but you were grateful for them. Now, modern bikes may have between 10 and 30 different gearing options (with some overlap), allowing the rider to dial in the preferred speed, cadence and power output.

Have you ever seen another rider, usually--but not always--a recreational rider, slogging away, struggling to make it up some modest incline, while mashing on the pedals and rocking the upper body all over the place in an attempt to find some extra power? Do you then look down and notice the hardest gearing combination? Do you wish you could tell the rider there’s an easier way to get there and all it takes is a flick of the finger or a twist of the wrist?

Although that example is extreme, it draws attention to something that many athletes may not ever give much thought to: the proper cadence for different types of riding. Many riders new to cycling will adopt a relatively low cadence, around 60-70 rpms. Lance Armstrong helped to popularize a higher pedaling cadence which led to many coaches, books, articles and other sources recommending a fast pedaling style of 90+ rpms as the best way to ride.

As the warmer weather sets in, many of us increase our overall training volume by adding more time to our weekend exercise. This is a good thing for the most part, but we must consider the fatiguing effects of this extra volume and increase the emphasis on recovery. Our weekly routine of cycling intensity and strength work remains the same, but we're adding significantly more hours on the weekend, increasing our volume. This has a big impact on our bodies and energy systems.

One mistake many athletes make is not considering the recovery needs of this extra volume. Even though we have great weather approaching and ideal training conditions, be careful with how quickly you ramp up your weekend activity. Put together a plan that increases slowly over the next three to four weeks. Your body can handle small increases in overall volume, but if you're bound and determined to ride significantly longer after the frustration of bad weather and uncertainty of how long it will stay nice, you may want to cut back some of your weekday training intensity to accommodate for your bigger weekend training blocks.

Other things to remember as we head outdoors for some longer swims, runs and rides are to make sure our equipment is ready, we are exercising good form and our longer workout nutrition is dialed in. An extra consideration for cycling: cars have not seen many bikers outdoors in the past few months and need time to react to cyclists. The roads are also a bit of a mess from the tough winter and spring we have had this year. Take it slow and be cautious when reintegrating with cars and other cyclists that are getting back to sharing the roads together.

Not all that long ago, the prevailing opinion in sports science was that you needed to replace 100% of your sweat losses to maintain your performance when exercising.

That would imply that during an Ironman, ultra-running race or long sportive, some athletes should be aiming to drink as much as 64-96oz an hour! That’s a hell of a lot of drinking. In fact, it’s beyond what is physically possible for most people.

The general “drink, drink, drink” marketing messages coming from the sports drink industry in the 1980s/90s has been blamed for driving the worrying increase in cases of hyponatremia (ill health - or even death in extreme cases - caused by the over-consumption of fluid) seen in amateur sports. In fact, a study conducted at Ironman Frankfurt a few years ago found that as many as 10% of finishers had hyponatremia to some extent, which will have impacted their performance at best.

Aiming to replace all of your sweat losses during exercise is unnecessary. In fact, trying to do so could lead to an increased risk of hyponatremia which is bad for your performance and health.

Most amateur athletes can finish an ultra distance event whilst experiencing a measurable degree of weight loss. There are very few examples of athletes losing more than 10% bodyweight after finishing events under their own steam. The sweet spot is likely to be highly individual and may even be slightly different for the same athlete on different days and in different climates. But, it probably falls somewhere between 2-4% bodyweight loss for most athletes.

When people talk about hydration, most of the time it's about what and how much athletes should drink during exercise.

These are clearly important questions, but your performance is also massively influenced by how hydrated you are when you start exercising in the first place. Drinking a strong electrolyte drink to optimise your hydration status before long, hot or really hard training sessions and events can significantly improve your performance.

We call this "preloading" and the practice has been widely studied in the last 20 years or so, both with astronauts and athletes. Whilst there's not a completely bulletproof consensus on the subject - there rarely is - there's strong evidence that taking in additional sodium with fluids before you start sweating is effective in promoting increased acute fluid retention and in improving endurance performance, especially in the heat.

Once you begin sweating you're generally going to be fighting a losing battle against fluid and electrolyte loss, so starting off properly hydrated can be extremely beneficial. When you're properly hydrated you have a larger reservoir of fluid to draw from over time than if you're dehydrated.

• Everyone loses a different amount of sodium in their sweat, from as little as 200mg per 32oz of sweat to as much as 2,000mg per 32oz!
• This is largely genetically determined. So, a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to hydration just doesn’t work.
• Most sports drinks (Gatorade etc) contain 200-550mg of sodium per 32oz, whereas the average athlete loses about 950mg per 32oz!
• Maintaining the sodium levels in your blood is crucial to performing at your best when you’re sweating for long periods.
• Sodium helps you absorb and retain fluid, which keeps your blood volume up, reducing cardiovascular strain and fatigue.
• It can also help you avoid cramp.
• Just drinking water when you’re sweating over long periods dilutes your sodium levels, which can really impact your performance and could lead to hyponatremia. A recent study found 10% of athletes had hyponatremia at the end of an Ironman!

Getting hydration right has been proven to improve performance, with one study showing athletes taking in the right amount of sodium finishing a half Ironman an average of 26 minutes faster than those who didn't!

I often hear our athletes, visitors and special guests comment on the unique nature of Vision Quest. Many times it is stated in an almost inquisitive way, as if they know it, but can't pinpoint exactly what it is that make VQ special. Is it the training philosophy? The classes? Or maybe the people and the wonderful camaraderie? So, I ask myself: "what makes VQ special?" I am reminded that the VQ experience has been evolving for over 15 years and, while we have offered a variety of different class structures, content, camps, clinics and services, there are a few things that have been part of who we are since the beginning. I find those elements critical to the VQ experience and what makes VQ VQ.

Over the last several months, our team has worked hard to define, articulate and actually write down what "it" is that makes VQ VQ. "It" is something most of our athletes know and feel. "It" is what allows VQ to help our athletes perform at a level higher than they thought possible. The pursuit of defining "it" led us to a reshaping of the VQ Value Statements.

Zeroing in on our exact value statements was not an easy process. Thankfully, we had a lot of help on our journey. Tim Zoph spearheaded the process during a three-hour brainstorming session with full-time staff. We talked about many things that are important to all of us and what defines who we are and what we are trying to accomplish. It was a great exercise and one that brought the team and mission together. It crystallized the objectives of the company and really made all of us feel good about the direction we are headed. The next stage of the process was to distill all the notes into ten value statements with supporting statements and facts that back up our values. This was an ever-evolving process that took several more meetings to get right. We ended up with seven statements, each with a supporting statement showing evidence of how we live those values.

Hyponatremia is a medical term describing low (hypo) blood sodium levels (natremia – Na is the chemical symbol for sodium).

There are a few different causes of the condition, but the one of interest to athletes is when dilution of sodium levels in the blood is driven by excessive drinking. This can be made worse by the loss of sodium in sweat during prolonged exercise.

Data on the prevalence of the condition in Ironman finishers suggests, scarily, that over 10% of athletes have hyponatremia at the end of a race!

Why is hyponatremia bad?

Maintaining blood sodium levels within a healthy range is critical to homeostasis and optimal bodily function. When blood sodium levels drop below this ideal range, initial symptoms can include...

• Nausea
• Lethargy
• Muscle cramps
• Weakness/fatigue
• Headaches
• Restlessness

Because of how finely balanced your blood sodium levels need to be for good health, even mild hyponatremia during exercise is bad news. It can seriously undermine your performance well before it starts to make you properly ill (or, in rare and extreme cases, even kill you)

A common thread in many of our early-season workouts is Sweet Spot training. There are many benefits to this type of work, but the primary reason we include it is because it offers most of the benefits of threshold training while allowing for faster recovery over threshold work. Despite this, it seems many athletes find these workouts quite challenging, so this article will lay out what Sweet Spot is, what it does and how to get the most benefit from this type of training.

First, what is Sweet Spot all about? Training zones don’t have firm start and stop points; the top end of one range overlaps the bottom of the next. While the goal often may be to train in the middle of a target range, Sweet Spot is a bit different. You want to target the transition point between tempo and threshold. Different training models will express this differently, one says Sweet Spot happens at 83-97%, another recommends 88-92%. This variation is likely part of the confusion. Looking at these numbers, the average athlete can span a pretty large power range, 30-35 watts.

Rather than worrying about these ranges, I like to define Sweet Spot as 90%. It is right in the middle of both of these ranges and fits well between the most accepted ranges used for tempo and threshold. It’s also much easier to remember one number in training, rather than the upper and lower ranges of a zone. In addition to that, Sweet Spot is about feeling. The effort should be hard, but noticeably easier than doing threshold work.

I joined VQ in March 2017 for the purpose of getting coaching to race Steelhead 70.3 in August.

My journey to endurance sports began in 2012, about a year after I stopped a 22-year, pack-a-day smoking habit. My goal of running a marathon was my biggest motivation in quitting for good after several attempts. My first marathon was in Chicago in 2013, and I ran four more after that. This October I will be running my sixth marathon. I can tell you: quitting smoking was harder.

It’s an indescribable feeling, to put yourself through months and months of grueling training to ensure that you’ll make it to the finish line in one piece. It’s a huge mental journey as well as a physical one. During training for these races, people have told me with awe and bewilderment how crazy it was to run that much…so, triathlon seemed to be a natural transition for me (pun intended!) even though I hadn’t ridden a bike or swam in a pool since I was 12.

I self-trained that first year (2016) and participated in four sprint triathlons. I did decently considering everything I learned came from the Internet. I can’t say I was instantly hooked, but this was something I wanted to give a really good try before saying I was done. At the end of the season, I had made up my mind: half-Ironman in 2017.

For the last three months, Vision Quest members have been participating in the first annual VQ Off-Season Challenge (OSC). I am happy to report that it was a huge success on many levels.

For many endurance athletes, the off-season can be a confusing time. Some athletes need a big rest--physically, mentally or sometimes both. Others don't need much rest at all. This might stem from different physical needs like healing or needing to build strength. All of us need to focus on body composition and the off-season is a great time for this. Needs vary from athlete to athlete with some needing to build muscle, some needing to lose fat and others needing a combination of both. Then there are the athletes who have low bone density and need more weight-bearing activities. I think it is safe to say that everyone can improve something as it relates to body composition. Since this is the one thing we can all work on, we decided to do a challenge around it and thus, the Off-Season Challenge was born.

All the participants started the journey with a Dexa Scan in October. A Dexa Scan provides extremely accurate measurements of lean muscle mass, body fat and bone density. These scans provided a baseline for the challenge. Individuals were then placed on one of four teams. Each team had a team captain who motivated and educated team members and kept everyone on target. Team members earned points for completing various things like strength training, endurance workouts, good nutrition, a weekly reflection, etc. We also had challenges that varied from week to week. These included goals of better sleep, better hydration, dally push-up and squat targets and other fun and important daily habits. Finally, we had one “Give Back” challenge each month that included food and toy drives, volunteering at local food banks and completing random acts of kindness. All the challenges focused on developing better habits to help maintain greater intention through a time period that can often prove to be a bit haphazard.

It is important to find excitement and happiness when you’re traveling. No matter where you are going or what you are doing, try to think of traveling as an adventure wherein meeting interesting people, seeing different cultures and experiencing something other than you do regularly at home will both educate and excite you. It’s also an opportunity to read a good book, learn something new or sharpen your skills while en route (whatever this might mean for you, your job or your hobbies). This mindset is easier when traveling for vacation since the fundamental point of the trip lies within this type of thinking. It is not always the case though when traveling for work. Note: I realize I am in a rare position since most of the travel I do for work already involves this mindset. Most folks I know travel often and usually it is work-related, so I’ve given a lot of thought to helpful tips for staying positive and on track physically and emotionally.

Over the years I have experimented with several ways to stay fit while on the road and I want to share some of my findings. The five steps below will keep your fitness, weight and mind intact while you travel. This year I have traveled more than ever since retiring from professional cycling. Although the traveling has been for both pleasure and work, there isn’t much difference to the nutrition and fitness perspectives when I create my travel routines. Traveling is never easy on your fitness and it sure is not easy on your waistline, but there are things you can do to keep your fitness without sacrificing enjoyment or work effectiveness.

Pursuing any level of achievement in endurance sports is kind of a crazy thing if you think about it. Whether your goal is a century, a triathlon, a marathon or something altogether different, being prepared for the event is going to require a lot of time and effort. If you’re reading this now, on some level you must feel that it’s “worth it”. But that feeling can become elusive, especially as you spend more time in the sport, and keeping things fun is an important part of your longevity as an endurance athlete.

The path into endurance sports as an adult varies. For some, it’s a continuation of the activities of youth. Others start with something that is a fairly benign pastime and eventually elevate it to a more competitive level. Still others seek a regimen for health and fitness benefits. Somewhere along the line, all transition from just exercising to actually training. The difference being that “training” implies a specific purpose and direction.

Training can be quite motivating, especially at first. Athletes new to structured training often see substantial progress in speed and power and even improvements in the physique. Accomplishing a goal, especially one that may have seemed intimidating at the outset, can be very rewarding. But after you’ve made those easy gains, and accomplished the goal, what do you do next?

If all season you having been pro-active and practiced your race-day nutrition plan, this will be a refresher course.

• Pre-race meal is to top off your glycogen stores, breaking the fast. Eat what is familiar and will sit well in the stomach. Try to do this 2-4 hours before race start.

• Rehydrate the body from an overnight dry spell, you are waking up at least 30% dehydrated. 2-4 hours before the race consume 16-20 ounces of fluids. Consume 8-10 ounces of fluids 15-20 minutes before the gun goes off. Choose fluids that you enjoy, so you are more likely to drink.

• Anticipate the weather – heat, humidity, wind, etc. Plan your race nutrition & supplementation accordingly.

• Manage your stress – just roll with what comes your way. This will minimize the chances of experiencing GI disturbances.

Tune into AM 670 this Saturday morning for Sports Talk Radio, between 7-8 a.m, for more nutrition & other marathon tips.

It’s likely that those of you that train with us regularly have been exposed to the new PerfPRO Studio software that VQ is using for indoor workouts. One common workout you’ll encounter is “Time and Grade”. It fills a special little niche for us and helps us to better address one of the major challenges we’ve had with some of our past workouts.

First, what is a Time and Grade, or TNG, workout? Depending on the workout, the format may not look much different than the traditional controlled load, or MRC, format workouts. The quickest way to recognize the difference is by taking a glance at the left-hand vertical axis. If the percentages you see listed there are small (<10%), you’re dealing with TNG. If you see percentages >50%, then the workout will be a controlled load session. The major advantage of TNG is that it provides simulated terrain for a definite time period, yet leaves the athlete in control of the workload through changes in cadence and gearing.

Controlled load workouts can be useful at times. They are an excellent way to approach low-cadence training since the resistance is dynamically adjusted as cadence decreases without the need for gearing changes. They can also be helpful in showing athletes how hard to push for different durations. The shortfall with controlled load workouts is that they don’t allow athletes to push their limits or develop a sense for appropriate pacing.

Getting started with training with a coach can be a daunting endeavor for some. There are many coaching options available and sorting through them can take a fair amount of time. Rather than a normal feature article, this one tackles some of the most common questions new athletes raise and helps demystify the process.

1. What should I look for in a coaching service? Start by identifying a coaching service with a solid reputation. Ask your friends and training partners about their experiences and then do some of your own research based on their suggestions. Coach-athlete rapport is a close second to reputation. The best coach can’t help you if you don’t get along and trust each other. Are you looking for a cheerleader, a technical expert, someone with lots of racing credentials? The appropriate coach’s background should be able to accommodate these needs. Remember that high-level athletic achievement does not necessarily qualify someone as a good coach, and just because someone hasn’t competed in or scored highly in a given sport, that doesn’t necessarily disqualify them from successfully coaching it either. A final consideration should be the type and amount of communication you desire from your coach. Some services are online only; others include phone and/or face-to-face interaction.

"There are three things I have learned never to discuss with people: religion, politics, and the Great Pumpkin." – Linus van Pelt

Fresh pumpkin can be roasted and used in recipes, in place of canned pumpkin. But buyer beware, the devil is in the details. Check the Nutrition Facts label on the can so that you know what you're getting. Canned pumpkin products may be labeled as ‘pumpkin’ ‘100% pumpkin’ or ‘pumpkin pie filling’. The devil is found in the ‘Pumpkin pie filling’ product. This can be much higher in calories than regular canned pumpkin because of added ingredients, otherwise not found in plain, canned pumpkin. First thing that comes to mind when the calendar turns to October is ALL THINGS PUMPKIN… pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin lattes, pumpkin ravioli, pumpkin doughnuts (check them out at The Southern), pumpkin beer…I think you get the picture. In my years living here I have found that Chicago, more than any other city I have lived, seems to have this pumpkin thing nailed down. I guess this may be influenced by our proximity to self-proclaimed “Pumpkin Capital” of the world – Morton, Illinois – home of Libby corporation’s pumpkin industry. OR it is simply that Chicagoans know that pumpkin can be a healthy addition to the fall table. This little orange squash (yes, it’s a squash) is an excellent source of vitamin A - a powerful antioxidant critical for eye health – and potassium & iron – both important nutrients in the athlete’s diet.

It is not uncommon to ‘feel like a cold is coming on’ when training volume is at its peak. The following are tips to help maintain healthy immune function, as you place greater demands on your body:

• Eat colorful fruits & vegetables, especially the dark green leafy, rich reds, and bright oranges – These foods will provide antioxidants to protect your cells from exercise-induced oxidative stress and the inflammatory processes of exercise.

• Include foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids (salmon, trout, walnuts, and ground flax seeds) – It is well established that dietary omega-3s affect the composition of cell membranes of lung tissue, the production of local hormones that regulate the inflammatory processes, and the movement & activities of white blood cells on mucus membranes. Some clinical evidence indicates that omega-3s may reduce bronchial inflammation in asthmatics, even when they are deliberately challenged with known airborne allergens.

• Choose foods that contain probiotics (kefir & yogurt with live and active cultures, kimchi & sauerkraut) – Probiotics are beneficial forms of gut bacteria that help stimulate the natural digestive juices & enzymes that keep our digestive organs functioning properly. Probiotics can deliver health benefits when consumed live.

This week’s Nutrition Quick Tip, is part 2 of the 2-part series on minding your P’s & Q’s in the off-season. Although the 17th century English pub version “mind your pint’s & quarts” might apply to the off-season, our Nutrition Quick Tip series with continue with the SportWise Nutrition & Consulting version ­– Mind your Portions & Quality choices:

Quality:

• Make those calories count – get the biggest bang for your buck by consuming colorful fruits & vegetables.

• Eat your vegetables - try something new each week – golden beets anyone?

• Lighten up – reduce total calories by substituting lower calorie ingredients for higher calorie ones.

• Think ‘outside of the bag’ – instead of packaged snacks try fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy foods.

The following recipe is a loaded with quality nutrients provided by colorful fruits & vegetables and a healthy, lean protein - shrimp.

Tropical Shrimp Salad With Lime-Cilantro Dressing

Shrimp:

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· 4 tablespoons olive oil

Many athletes have faced some time away from competition and even training. It may have been for many reasons. Lack of interest, busy career and starting a family are a few of the more common challenges. So now you’re interested in getting back in shape, picking some goals and maybe even competing. The question that ultimately needs to be asked and what most athletes want to know is: “How long will it take and how good can I become?”

No matter the circumstances that led to a layoff, there just isn’t an easy answer to this question. In general terms, the shorter the layoff and the younger the athlete upon returning, the more success will be had. Older athletes and those with a longer layoff will have a harder time getting back. That is not meant to be discouraging, but it is the reality. Accepting that and setting realistic expectations is a key part of a successful return to sport.

The most important element is patience. Most people who have been athletic in their past have some memory of what it felt like to be on top of their game. How it felt to ride, run or swim fast, as well as the “good” feeling derived from working hard. When you return to exercise, you’re not likely to feel those sensations right away. Hard is just going to be hard.

This is part 1 of a 2-part series. As the summer race season winds down and you are kicking-up your feet for some well-deserved recovery time, don’t let your healthy habits slip away. Recall what your mother told you as a child – “mind your P’s & Q’s”. In nutrition terms, your P’s & Q’s are Portions & Quality.

Portions:

• Balance your energy equation. Think of eating like a transaction – if you ‘overdraw’ today, ‘payback’ tomorrow by reducing your daily intake, but don’t skip meals.
• Don’t deprive yourself the fun stuff. Just don’t over-indulge, share it with a friend.

• Set boundaries to avoid over consuming – don’t eat from the container and sit-down for meals & snacks.

• Stop eating when you are full – the “Clean Your Plate Club” has disbanded!

This recipe is a favorite of mine, it is light & lean, easy to prepare, and quick to cook. You'll need an hour for the tenderloin to marinate, but just 15 minutes to grill to perfection.

Margarita Pork Tenderloin

Ingredients:

August might be my favorite month.

Some people might argue that August is not the month to choose as a favorite. After all, it is the month when birds begin planning to fly south for the winter (Apparently this has been researched and they have been seen packing their little suitcases, I guess???), insects are the most numerous & noisiest, and anyone downtown or being active on the lakefront can tell you that most people take vacations in August – oh the masses of humanity! But alas, some good news to help you embrace August – 7/28-8/3 is Simplify Your Life Week (oops, sorry folks we missed that one, maybe next year. Press on!). BUT, we are in the middle of Farmer’s Market week (8/4-10).

Watermelon Day, National S’mores Day, National Ice Cream Pie Day, Waffle Day are yet to come. Allow yourself some of these treats, in moderation. This month, as well as throughout the year, dilute those less-than healthy choices with committing to make healthy decisions 90% of the time. The month of August makes it time to do this; all those colorful, yummy fruits & vegetables are at their peak freshness. Apricots, Bananas, Beets, Bell Peppers, Blackberries, Blueberries, Cantaloupe, Cherries, Corn, Cucumbers, Eggplant, Garlic, Grapefruits, Grapes, Green Beans, Honeydew Melon, Kiwifruit, Lima Beans, Mushrooms, Nectarine, Peaches, Peas, Plums, Radishes, Raspberries, Strawberries, Summer Squash and Zucchini, Tomatillos, Tomatoes, and Watermelon are in season and ready for the picking. Try the following recipe using some of the produce found at your local farmers market:

The outdoor road season has finally arrived! Now that you've moved your ride outside, make sure you maintain your focus on safety!

First a review…

1. Bike Check

• Ideally, have your bike checked by a professional mechanic
• If you’re taking on the bike check yourself, your goal is just to make sure everything is working properly
  • Drop your bike, listen for rattling sounds
  • Check tires for tread and air pressure
  • Ensure there is enough “meat” on brake pads
  • Are your skewers tight?

2. Obey Road Signs

• Put your foot down at stop signs
• Remain stopped until light turns green
• Use your best judgment; some things cannot be avoided/adhered to but the traffic laws are there to protect everyone on the roadways

3. Head Up!

• Don’t look at your wheel
• Don’t look at the next bike’s wheel
• Look ahead and you’ll avoid accidents!
• Seeing what’s coming provides the ability to anticipate and avoid danger
• Bonus: you’ll draft closer, hold a straighter line and still see what’s below you via peripheral vision

4. Communication is Key!

The following is an easy recipe using ingredients that are beneficial to your immune system and should found in that prime real estate of your refrigerator (slaw/veggies, pico/salsa, low-fat dairy).

Easy, Healthy Fish Tacos

Ingredients:

· 12-16 oz. fresh tilapia filets*

· 2 tsp. olive oil

· salt and pepper, to taste

· 1 tsp. ground cumin

· 1 lime

· 8-10 corn tortillas

· shredded cabbage or broccoli slaw

· pico de gallo

· guacamole

· shredded cheese

· Honey Lime Cream (see recipe below)

Directions:**

1. Heat non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-low to medium heat.

2. Drizzle tilapia with half the oil, then sprinkle with cumin, salt, and pepper. Place in pan, dressed side down. Repeat oil, cumin, salt, and pepper on exposed side.

3.Cook for approximately four minutes per side, or until firm and cooked through, but still flaky. During last minute of cooking on second side, squeeze juice from one lime directly on fish

4. Layer fish and other toppings, as desired, in a corn tortilla.

* Chicken can be used in substitution for fish.

Sure you will improve your fitness, but unless you fine tune your nutrition, like you do your training, you will never know your true potential. This fine tuning does not require you to read chapter after chapter of food rules or wade through lists of exceptions. Simply stated, it comes down to the old K.I.S.S. principle - Keep It Simple. Sure there are tweaks along the way, but your training varies as the season progresses as well. This is called Nutrition Periodization. This involves:

• adjusting your overall fuel intake
• manipulating proportions of carbs, proteins
• fats
• adjusting the timing of fueling your body

This is based on your activity level or training phase (base, build, taper, etc). In doing so and keeping it simple choose whole foods. This means build your plate to include a variety of textures and colors from fruits/vegetables & nuts, lean proteins, high fiber, complex carbohydrates, and don’t forget healthy fats. The benefits from whole foods just can’t be matched by bars or shakes, no matter how convincing the label reads.

It is well known that avocados are an excellent source of fiber and healthy (unsaturated) fats. But did you know, they are also an excellent source of potassium, an electrolyte vital for optimal performance and B vitamins, critical for energy utilization. Try sliced avocado on your next sandwich. Or better yet, top your favorite grilled surf or turf with this Award Winning Guacamole!

Award Winning Guacamole

· 2 avocados

· 3 cloves garlic, minced

· 1 medium tomato, diced

· 1 small onion, chopped

· tsp salt

· ½ c cilantro

· Juice of ½ of a lime

Direction

1. Coarsely chop avocado into large bowl

2. Mix garlic, salt, and cilantro. Add to avocado and stir.

3. Add tomato & onion, just enough to mix ingredients.

4. Add lime juice.

**Until ready to serve, press avocado pits into mixture. Place plastic wrap on surface of mixture, lightly press out any air. This will minimize the browning of the guacamole.

**Guacamole can be stored in refrigerator for up to 24 hours without losing quality of product.

Grilled Margarita Chicken Salad

• ½ cup frozen (thawed) nonalcoholic margarita mix
• ¼ cup olive or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (1 1/4 lb)
• 6 cups
• 1 cup sliced strawberries
• 1 medium mango, peeled, pitted and sliced
• 1 medium avocado, peeled, pitted and sliced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms

Direction

1. Heat coals or gas grill for direct heat.
2. Dressing - in small bowl, stir margarita mix, oil and vinegar with wire whisk until well blended. Measure 1/4 cup dressing for basting chicken; reserve remaining dressing for serving.
3. Cover and grill chicken over medium heat 15 to 20 minutes, turning and brushing occasionally with 1/4 cup dressing, until juice of chicken is no longer pink when centers of thickest pieces are cut.
4. Cut chicken into slices. In large bowl, toss salad greens, chicken and strawberries; divide among 4 plates.
5. Arrange mango and avocado around each salad.
6. Sprinkle with cilantro.
7. Drizzle with reserved dressing.

Don’t wish away the chill of spring just yet. Winter & early spring is the peak time for one of the hottest foods today – KALE.

Although kale was around during ancient Roman times and a popular vegetable of the peasant class in the Middle Ages, it is just gaining the respect of Americans today. In fact, it has quickly been hailed by the American, health food industry as a ‘superfood’. This is a label used to describe a food with high nutrient (vitamins & minerals) or phytochemical content that may provide health benefits. Kale, which comes in straight or curly leaves, purple, red or green colors, contains large amounts quercetin a known antioxidant (phytochemical). By adding kale to your regular weekly menu, you are helping your body sequester free radicals that are over produced during exercise and cause chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

You can buy kale though out the year, but it is most widely available and has a sweeter taste now. Try it prepared one of these ways today:

• Kale a la Mediterranean - Combine chopped kale, pine nuts, and feta cheese with whole grain pasta drizzled with olive oil.
• Kale and Caramelized Garlic - Steam chopped kale for 5minutes, remove from heat. In a pan, saute chopped garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Reduce heat. Add kale and toss.
• Kale Chips - Remove the ribs from the kale and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces. Lay on a baking sheet. Toss with olive oil & salt. Bake until crisp, turning the leaves halfway through, about 20 minutes. Serve as finger food.

The above question or some similar variation of it can probably be found on every endurance training-related message board in existence. The responses that follow from both experts and laypeople likely run the gamut of both extremes. It’s in our nature to try to answer questions like this in absolute terms, but when it comes to training, very few things are set in stone. Instead, look for common themes that provide useful starting points to determine what will work best for the individual athlete.

Another challenge is that less experienced athletes will look to more experienced competitors and try to mirror what they see. Intuitively, this makes sense. If you want to be as good as someone else, do what they do. The missing piece here is that the experienced athlete is, presumably, doing what is appropriate for his/her current level of fitness, developed through several years of trial and error, not to mention substantial effort. While some training principles are scalable across the fitness range, others are heavily dependent on a strong foundation in order to provide optimal benefits.

There are two potential paths to success. One is to do little training, but at very high intensity. The other is to become a mileage junky, pouring on the endurance miles. In the short-term, the high intensity protocol is likely to yield quick gains, but it also comes with diminishing returns. Because intensity training is so demanding on the body, it won’t take long to hit a tipping point where the body is consistently fatigued, meaning the quality of the intervals suffers and the athlete can no longer work hard enough to produce the desired gains. That athlete is also likely to suffer in longer events because the endurance and aerobic fitness to support several hours of exercise has not yet been built. On the other hand, the athlete who falls into the camp of “the more miles I ride, the better I will be” will see success for a period of time as well. Even if the intensity is very low, the volume is providing an overload for the body that results in growth. Realistically, however, there will come a time when most athletes can no longer increase their training volumes and those improvements will therefore cease. It may take longer to get to this point than with the high intensity approach, but it will eventually happen. To borrow a mechanical concept, consider sand and the “angle of repose”. This angle refers to the steepest slope a granular material (sand, snow, sugar, etc.) can be stacked without sliding. It is no accident that sand falls the way it does in an egg timer. The frictional coefficient of the grains helps it to maintain a specific angle. Wet sand will have a steeper angle of repose than dry sand because of greater friction. Training exclusively at high intensity is like stacking wet sand. The initial results will be encouraging, but when it starts to dry out, cracks will start to form and you will see the weaknesses of your plan.

Why do I do Triathlon? Let me start first with why I don't do Triathlon. I don't do triathlon to get up at 4:30am and jump in an icy pool at 5am. I don't do triathlon for the 6,000-KJ rides or 5-hour fartleks. And I certainly don't do it for the 8-pack abs and awesome tan lines. OK…maybe the abs part…but I don’t do it because of some sick and perverse fetish of running around in spandex for hours on end. I love Triathlon because of the friendships I have made and the lessons learned. I draw on both of these daily. What I learn in life, I apply in sport and vice versa. I figured I'd share a couple of lessons that I've learned, some funny and others serious…

1. Always use liberal amounts of body glide, chamois cream and sunscreen.
2. There will always be someone faster and slower than you. It's important to maintain perspective and have attainable goals. Enjoy the small victories.
3. It's important to get out of shape so you can get into shape.
4. Red wine is an antioxidant.
5. Know the reason and purpose behind each workout. Make sure a recovery ride is exactly that and a 20-minute FTP test is a trip to the hurt locker.
6. Don't forget to breathe. When swimming: bubble, bubble, breathe.
7. Your FTP can never be high enough. The best way to get faster is not only to get stronger, but get lighter. It's all about power to weight. Your run will thank you.
8. Ironman is really a glorified handicapped marathon.
9. Triathlon rewards those who are consistent, committed, dedicated, driven, hard-working and focused. If you take care of the small things, the big ones will fall into place. Enjoy the process and the journey.
10. In life and sport, there is really only one guarantee. At some point, you will face a challenge. Things are bound to go wrong, that's why we call it life, right? Whether it's a failed relationship, lost sale, difficult business meeting, broken chain, flat tire, injury or whatever. When shit happens, you need to wipe. How do we react, adjust and adapt to finish the race? Calm seas don't make good sailors.

In the last article, I talked about mapping out your racing and training schedules so that you can appropriately target specific energy systems and know when and how you need to move toward more race-specific training. This time we’re going to focus in on that race-specific training period and how to deal with the challenges you’re likely to face. For some athletes, this information can be immediately applied. Other athletes with late-season goals may want to file it away, as they are probably a month or two away from the start of their intensely race-specific preparation.

What you’ll find below is predicated on the assumption that you’ve put in your time building your energy systems and have a very strong and stable foundation of fitness across the board (aerobic, threshold, VO2). This should always be the starting point for any race-specific training program. When each system is strong and in balance, it´s much easier to hone the needed energy systems to a higher level for optimal performance.

Following the plan over the preparation period is pretty easy. Think of it as a ship heading from the UK to New York. Maybe when you first set out, your ship is pointed a little bit more toward Miami. Not that big a deal, you still have 3,500 miles to get back on track. The race-preparation phase is the last third of this journey, when you want to make sure your ship is on the desired course and make needed corrections quickly to avoid adding unneeded time, distance and effort to your journey.

My name is Gillian Forsyth, I am a type 1 diabetic. These are not my first words because I want you to feel sorry for me; these are my first words because even if one person with type 1 diabetes should read this, I want them to know that they can achieve whatever they put their minds and bodies to. Don’t let your doubts get in the way of your dreams or goals. I am a two-time ironman, have completed a Leadman Tri 250 and have cycled and run thousands of miles on my journey. Vision Quest Coaching has given me the strength to make that journey, complete my goals and dream big.

It is not just the brutally hard training sessions at Vision Quest that get you to your goal. It is the people: Dave, Robbie, Melissa G, all the other members that train with you--they make you feel that no matter who you are you should believe that you can do it. Believing is half the battle in accomplishing whatever goal you set for yourself.

One of the best memories I have is from the VQ Santa Rosa Women’s Camp in 2011. I never would have believed that I could have ridden so many days in a row and climbed such steep hills. It wasn’t just about the athletics though, many friendships were forged there and to this day I think I could call upon any of those women should the need arise. The trip was so well organized that not one of us felt we couldn’t keep up. That is not easy to do. We all learned valuable lessons, including the most valuable lesson of all: Robbie’s technique for washing your kit in a hotel room, complete with his snail/reverse snail drying technique. It was priceless! Believe me, this lesson alone was worth the price of the camp!!!

The outdoor road season is quickly approaching! Maybe you’ve already gone for your first outdoor ride, maybe you’re starting to get the itch. Your ultimate goal? Safety!

1. Bike Check

• Ideally, have your bike checked by a professional mechanic
• If you’re taking on the bike check yourself, your goal is just to make sure everything is working properly
  • Drop your bike, listen for rattling sounds
  • Check tires for tread and air pressure
  • Ensure there is enough “meat” on brake pads
  • Are your skewers tight?

2. Obey Road Signs

• Put your foot down at stop signs
• Remain stopped until light turns green
• Use your best judgment; some things cannot be avoided/adhered to but the traffic laws are there to protect everyone on the roadways

3. Head UP!

• Don’t look at your wheel
• Don’t look at the next bike’s wheel
• Look ahead and you’ll avoid accidents!
• Seeing what’s coming provides the ability to anticipate and avoid danger
• Bonus: you’ll draft closer, hold a straighter line and still see what’s below you via peripheral vision

4. Communication is Key!

The simple fact is that Robbie Ventura and Vision Quest Coaching gave me my life back. I signed up for my first Taste of VQ in February 2010, having been convinced by a co-worker who was transformed by VQ from a person who rides a bicycle for recreation to a cyclist completing centuries.

When I joined VQ, I was rapidly approaching 60 years of age and I felt like the remainder of my life would be spent carefully tip-toeing to the grave. My knees were arthritic from running. My right shoulder and elbow were sore and stiff from a bad bicycle accident in 2004. My flexibility and balance were history. Despite the fitness program I was on at the time, I continued to gain weight and lose fitness. My work as a surgeon and my family were the only things I had time for in my life. I sought salvation in the cult of VQ. I ended up becoming a member of the VQ family.

Now starting my fourth year with VQ I can reflect on the positive impact Robbie and VQ have made on my life. My testing numbers as well as ability to ride on the road and trails have improved. My understanding of cycling, training, wrenching, riding and equipment has evolved. I have traded some fat for fitness. I have short- and long-term goals in my new cycling career. I have a coach that supports my cycling.

Moderate exercise can actually have a beneficial, boosting effect on our immune health. On the other hand, intense & exhaustive exercise can contribute not only to inflammation and oxidative stress, but also immune dysfunction. Athletes who are adequately fed, and well-rested (both critical to stave off over-training syndrome), typically can handle the stress from exercise. Those who under-eat and fail to consume adequate carbohydrates and protein after exercise, as is the case with dieters and those who are ‘too busy’ to eat, are at greater risk of compromising their immune system. The best nutritional advice to counter this is as you plan time for training, also plan for adequate fueling. After all, you can’t out-train a poor diet.

In the past, I’ve often talked about the idea of taking some time off, changing your routine or at least letting yourself lose a little fitness during the off-season. Many athletes have never done this and are reluctant to give it a shot. That’s understandable: you’ve worked hard to reach the fitness level you have and the last thing you want to do is let it slip away.

In fact, Robbie has often said, we aren’t pro athletes and even the most compulsive among us doesn’t train that hard by comparison, so there is no need to take four to six weeks off from training. However, if circumstances mean you’ll miss a week or two, that’s nothing to fret over. Time away from structured training allows your body to heal nagging injuries, renews your focus and motivation and most importantly, absolutely won’t hurt--and most likely will help--your long-term performance.

Now that we’ve beaten that horse thoroughly, it’s time to shift gears in our thinking a bit. As the season approaches, training needs to become more regimented and focused. Notice I did not say training needs to increase in volume or become more intense. How those factors interact with your training at this time of year will depend on the timing of your goals, your current fitness level and where you want to be on race day. Armed with that information, you, and possibly your coach, should map out a progression plan that takes you from the present day to race day peak.

Did you contributed to the 30 million pounds of snacks consumed on game day? Research by the Calorie Control Council and Snack Food Association estimates that Americans will eat - 11.2 million pounds of potato chips, 8.2 million pounds of tortilla chips, 4.3 million pounds of pretzels, 3.8 million pounds of popcorn, and 2.5 million pounds of nuts! On average, one may consume 1200 calories from snacking alone, calories from meals are additional! In workout time, that is between 2-5 hours in the saddle or lacing up your shoes and going for a 2-2.5 hour run, depending on intensity and personal needs. Practicing the 90/10 rule – make healthy choices 90% of the time, 10% of the time you my slip-up, allows you to maintain healthy habits and be realistic. To stay the course, remove the indulgent snacks from the pantry to keep them from arm's reach, and plan ahead.

The following are tips to help you avoid making calorie-dense slip-ups:

1. Make room for healthy foods. The foods in your kitchen, where they’re stored, and how accessible they are can all affect how much and how well you eat. Start by tossing unhealthy items or putting them in places that are harder to see and reach. Reorganize the remaining foods, using the prime real estate in the fridge—accessible shelves and drawers—for healthy foods, such as vegetables and fruit and nonfat dairy. Do the same thing in your cabinets.

Tart cherries are available as dried, frozen and juice, so they are extremely versatile and always available, making them the ideal power food to bring with you anytime, anywhere, for any exercise occasion.

• Dried cherries make a good grab-and-go snack
• Add dried cherries to a hot bowl of Irish Oats for a breakfast boost
• Create a quick yogurt parfait with vanilla yogurt, granola and dried cherries
• Add dried cherries to a fresh spinach salad with walnuts for a light post-exercise meal
• Stir up whole grain couscous with grilled chicken, dried cherries and a splash of cherry juice for added flavor
• Rehydrate and refresh with the Red Alert - a mix of cherry juice, coconut water, and club soda
• Recharge with the Red Recharger Smoothie, a triple hit of cherries, antioxidants, and protein

Cherries powerful package of antioxidants and phytonutrients delivers:

• Anthocyanins –antioxidants that are responsible for cherries’ anti-inflammatory benefits. Cherries may work like common pain medications reduce post-exercise muscle soreness.
• Melatonin – a potent antioxidant that may help improve natural sleep patterns, which may impact overall quality of your training.
• Other antioxidants – cherries contain at least 17 antioxidants, including powerful antioxidants that may help boost immunity…keeping your training schedule on track.
• Essential nutrients – cherries are a good source of vitamin A (beta carotene) and also contain fiber.

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wa) is a pseudo cereal/grain that has been grown for thousands of years in South America and was called the “gold of the Incas”. Unlike most grains in our diets, quinoa is a complete protein, meaning it contains all of the 9 essential amino acids (our body’s building blocks) that the human body cannot manufacture. In addition to being source of protein and high in fiber, quinoa is also a good source of phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, copper, and iron - minerals that are important to keep up with the demands an athlete places on their body. Quinoa is also a gluten-free alternative for someone on a gluten restricted diet. Additionally, it is excellent for those who are busy because it is so versatile. It is delicious served cold or warm, can be frozen and reheated, and acts as a vehicle for flavors. To save time down the road, prepare the entire package of quinoa and freeze the unused portions for later use. One of my favorite things to make with quinoa is a mélange of fresh flavors with a ‘South of the Border’ flare:

• 2-3 c cooked quinoa - prepare to package instructions (I use chicken stock, instead of water)
• 1-2 cloves of garlic – minced
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro – chopped
• 3 green onions – chopped
• 1 Tomato – diced
• ½ Bell pepper (red or yellow) – diced
• Dash of cumin
• Squeeze of lime juice – to taste
• Optional ingredients – black beans, grated cheese (such as Chihuahua)

Registered dietitians are asked frequently, and more so at this time of year as athletes are getting back to training, “I want to gain muscle while losing fat, and still have energy to train. How do I do this?”

Unfortunately it is difficult for the body to do both, at the same time. Building muscle requires energy. If you are restricting Calories to lose undesired body fat, your body may not be getting the fuel it needs to create new muscle tissue. This is like going to Home Depot to buy building supplies, without bringing money to pay for the purchase – you will be sadly disappointed with the effort of the shopping trip without accomplishing the task. To minimize muscle loss and increase the potential for reducing body fat requires small changes and lasting lifestyle modifications. The following are helpful guidelines:

• Implement only a small calorie deficit
• Assure you have adequate protein intake
• Consume frequent small meals that provide adequate protein and Calories
• Incorporate resistance training to help protect against muscle loss by proving stimulation to those tissues.

The bottom line short-term diet restrictions that do not result in lasting, lifestyle modifications are short-terms fixes to a long-term goal.

Mushrooms stand out as the only source of vitamin D in the produce aisle and one of the few non-fortified food sources. In fact, the Institute of Medicine recognizes them as the exception to the rule that plant foods don’t naturally contain vitamin D. Vitamin D helps build and maintain strong bones by helping the body absorb calcium, in addition to other recently identified roles of vitamin D (immune system regulator, reduce the severity & frequency of asthma symptoms & attacks, and reducing the risk for heart attacks and developing cancer). Vitamin D can be acquired from the diet, supplements and sunlight, which is why D is also referred to as the “sunshine vitamin.”

Similar to humans, mushrooms naturally produce vitamin D following exposure to sunlight (UVB rays). Exposure of mushrooms to as little as five minutes of unfiltered sunlight can produce a significant quantity of vitamin D, demonstrating that this process could provide a significant, unique plant source of vitamin D for vegetarians and individuals who do not drink milk, the major fortified food source.

Enjoy mushrooms every day by simply adding them to soups, pastas, stir-fries, omelets, salads, or sandwiches; they work with nearly every cuisine.

Does stress (higher cortisol) lead to abdominal fat?

Yes. There is a link between stress (high cortisol levels) and storage of body fat, particularly “visceral” abdominal body fat (also known as intra-abdominal fat). Visceral fat is stored deeper in the abdominal cavity and around the internal organs, whereas “regular” fat is stored below the skin (known as subcutaneous fat). Visceral fat is particularly unhealthy because it is a risk factor for heart disease and diabetes. So, the next time you are stressed out, remember your body will be fat storing! Instead, try to think of ways to deal with stress- deep breathing, meditation, going for a walk, reading a good book, etc. It doesn’t have to be for a long period of time, just enough to bring those cortisol levels down.

“Gee thanks honey, a Crock-Pot. Just what I have always wanted!”

Not quite what was on your wish list, but with the right kitchen appliances you can spend less time in the kitchen, and more time doing what you really want to be doing. Plus they’ll help you get the most favor and nutrition from your food. I have listed a few favorites in my kitchen:

The Crock-Pot – you know, the things you would find line-up on the table, like soldiers, at the PTA potluck dinner. These are the ‘fix-and-forget-it’ appliances of yester-year making a comeback in the 21st century. This baby kept me fed in grad school. They’re ideal for simmering lean cuts of meat, which are healthier due to their low fat content, but also tougher for the same reason. Just put the ingredients in the pot, turn it on, and you are out the door - it works, while you work.

Smokeless stove top grill – We got this as a wedding gift - you know, one of those you say, “regift!” Well, it has turned out to on of our favorites for quick, clean cooking. The heavy-duty grill plate cooks food perfectly with even heat for low-fat or no-fat cooking. The water filled outer ring catches fat and juices as it grills, leaving it moist, juicy and delicious. We have used it for both meats & vegetables. Just Google stove top grill – yes, it’s the ‘As Seen On TV’ grill top. I told you, our first response, but you will have to try it yourself.

How do I get enough calcium in my diet if I am not eating dairy? Those looking to make the move to clean eating often question the nutritional value of “this way of eating.”

In the U.S., calcium intake is one of the highest in the world. Yet paradoxically, we also have one of the highest rates of bone demineralization (osteoporosis). Bone mineral content is dependent not just upon calcium intake but upon net calcium balance (calcium intake minus calcium excretion). Bone health is dependent on dietary acid/base balance. All foods upon digestion ultimately must report to the kidney as either acid or base. When the diet yields a net acid load the acid must be buffered by the alkaline stores of base in the body. Calcium salts in the bones represent the largest store of alkaline base in the body and are depleted and eliminated in the urine when the diet produces a net acid load. The highest acid-producing foods are hard cheeses, cereal grains, salted foods, meats, and legumes, whereas the only alkaline, base-producing foods are fruits and vegetables. Because the average American diet is overloaded with grains, cheeses, salted processed foods, and fatty meats at the expense of fruits and vegetables, it produces a net acid load and promotes bone de-mineralization.

Not all of us can afford to go 100% organic. The solution? Focus on just those foods that come with the heaviest burden of pesticides, chemicals, additives and hormones. Check out the top 12 foods you should buy organic whenever possible:

1. Meat

2. Milk

3. Coffee

4. Peaches

5. Apples

6. Sweet bell peppers

7. Celery

8. Strawberries

9. Lettuces

10. Grapes

11. Potatoes

12. Tomatoes

On a calorie-by-calorie basis, whole grains are lousy sources of fiber, minerals, and B vitamins when compared to the lean meats, seafood, and fresh fruit and veggies that dominate clean eating. For example, a 1,000-calorie serving of fresh fruits and vegetables has between two and seven times as much fiber as does a comparable serving of whole grains. A 1,000-calorie serving of whole grain cereal contains 15 times less calcium, three times less magnesium, 12 times less potassium, six times less iron, and two times less copper than a comparable serving of fresh vegetables.

Moreover, whole grains contain a substance called phytate that almost entirely prevents the absorption of any calcium, iron, or zinc that is found in whole grains, whereas the type of iron, zinc, and copper found in lean meats and seafood is in a form that is highly absorbed. Compared to fruits and veggies, cereal grains are B-vitamin lightweights. An average 1,000 calorie serving of mixed vegetables contains 19 times more folate, five times more vitamin B6, six times more vitamin B2 and two times more vitamin B1 than a comparable serving of eight mixed whole grains. On a calorie-by-calorie basis, the niacin content of lean meat and seafood is four times greater than that found in whole grains.

Throughout the year, but especially during the off-season, you hear Robbie and me talk about setting reference points. We are often talking specifically about supermax testing, which comes around every 8-10 weeks. But if you have a power meter on your bike, every single ride you do becomes a reference point. This doesn’t mean you always have to be working at your limit, but most workouts have something to offer if you’re willing to spend a few minutes a day on post-ride analysis. If you don’t, you might be leaving something on the table in terms of your development as a cyclist, not to mention only getting a small portion of the value out of an expensive power meter.

It’s true that the key reference points everyone should know are those associated with each energy system. We often look at peak sprint power, 4-minute power for the VO2 system, 20-minute power for the threshold system and a steady 3-hour ride for aerobic fitness. These values are useful not only for measuring fitness gains in each system over time, but also as anchor values that will help you make an educated guess on the proper power for intervals of other durations. The first time you perform a new workout, 2-minute intervals for example, you may use the 4-minute test as a starting point.

Included in this blog is a brief introduction to LBP and the steps you can take for prevention and recovery. As athletes, it is important to understand LBP, how to reduce the risk of injury and how to enhance your performance. Today we will provide you with a basic knowledge of LBP, if you have further questions feel free to call, email or just talk to one of us if you see us at VQ.

Let’s start our journey of LBP by understanding the anatomy of the spine. The low back is comprised of vertebrae, ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, nerves and discs. The vertebrae are the bones that make up the spine. The ligaments help to hold the bones and other structures in place. Muscles attach to the bones and help produce functional movements. Blood vessels run throughout the body and deliver nutrients to tissues. Nerves run throughout the spinal column to send and receive information. The most notable part of the nervous system found in the spine is the spinal cord. Lastly the most notorious anatomical structure in regards to LBP, are the intervertebral discs. Discs are fibrous and gelatinous structures that sit between the vertebrae and provides cushion for weight bearing activities and movement. Together these structures unite to form the low back, each having the ability to produce LBP.

Plantar fasciitis is characterized by stiffness, inflammation and gradual degeneration of the plantar fascia (fibrous connective tissue) on the plantar (bottom) aspect of the foot. A less common cause is associated with a bone spur of the heel.

WHAT CAUSES PLANTAR FASCIITIS?

There are a number of factors that can contribute to plantar fasciitis including:

• Repetitive impact resulting in micro trauma or stress to the heel tissues that may cause inflammation or calcification of the fascia
• Inflexibility of the calf muscles
• Flat (planus) or high (cavus) arched feet
• Unhealthy foot pronation
• Limited ankle range of motion
• Excessive body weight
• Poor footwear
• Irritation of the small nerve that runs under the foot where the fascia attaches to the heel bone

In our office we most commonly have patients with repetitive micro trauma to the plantar fascia resulting in adhesion and scar tissue formation.

SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS:

This injury can manifest in several ways. The most common signs and symptoms include:

• Pain and tenderness on the sole of the foot usually localized at the heel bone when standing or walking
• Pain following your activity
• Pain associated with the first few steps taken in the morning when getting out of bed or after prolonged sitting

Did you know the average person gains 5-10 lbs between Halloween and New Years Day?

This year, make a change. By making minor changes, you can start the New Year off healthier and lighter this year! Try focusing on cleaner eating over the next few weeks. Fill your plate up with protein, (poultry, fish, grass fed beef, wild game, and eggs) healthy veggies and fat. If you need those carbohydrates, try having them after a workout.