Category Archives: exercise

We all have the athlete within

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The beautiful 4th of July weekend is over.  It’s time to get back to work.  Wasn’t that weekend invigorating!  It seemed every time I turned around someone was biking, running, kayaking, swimming, or water skiing.  This weekend always seems to get people outside and active.  Which is a great thing… unless you don’t have the physical abilities to participate. 
We all have an athlete within ourselves.  We see the runners, the bikers, even the water skiers and think, “Boy does that look fun.  But I can’t do what they’re doing.  They must practice that all the time.  They must have been doing that for years.”
But you know what?  At one time they were right where you are.  They’re right where I am!  I can run and bike, but I don’t swim or ski or kayak recreationally.  I’d get blown out of the water if I went and worked out in any of those sports.  I offer two suggestions.
Be self-taught

You do not need a professional coach or specialized training to go start these activities right now.  Sure, the water skiing will take a little more effort, but it’s not rocket science.  So maybe you start with the running and biking.  Teach yourself some basic form.  Go online and find a YouTube video tutorial.  Learn how to change a flat on your bike, put on a helmet and go for a ride.  Go rent a kayak at your local shop and paddle.  Teach yourself to run, bike, and swim for three days per week for one month.

 

Go

Don’t wait for a training partner.  Don’t sign up for lessons.  Don’t use the weather as an excuse.  Don’t buy $150 running shoes.  Just go.  Go now.  Why?  Because you’re good enough right now and you’ll be amazed at your progress after three weeks.  That’s all it will take for you to start a routine and see the results.

We all have an athlete within us.

The strength and beauty of the human body is a work of art.  Enjoy and train yours and you’ll feel so much better about your days and weeks.  Teach yourself and go.  Then come back and tell me about it.
As for me, I’m going for a bike ride and then starting my speed workouts.  You?

Workout Essentials: iPod Shuffle

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Simplicity is beautiful.  And nothing is more simple than an iPod Shuffle.  I’ve tried some of the others a few years back, but when Katie and I bought our first one, we never looked back.  This little music players holds plenty of songs for a workout, clips right to your shorts or shirt, and you hardly know it’s there.  Yes, your iPhone is also a music player.  So is the iPod Touch, but do they really look like they’re ready to go around the block with you?  Continue reading →

Training Tip: Go back-to-back

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Training can get boring – very boring.  It’s easy to lose motivation and that’s why I coach every client of mine to find a race or event to work towards.  Put something on your schedule.  Training with a specific goal in mind puts all your workouts into context.  I’ve organized workouts for the last six years around this idea and this summer I’ve taken it a step further.

I scheduled two half marathons for back-to-back weekends.  Madison half marathon was May 29 and Iowa’s Dam-to-Dam was the following weekend.  Now you might be saying “Hans, if you’re ready for the first, why wouldn’t you be ready for the second?”  When you get to the half marathon level, many runners upon completing 13.1 miles will take the next week off or at the most severely decrease their mileage. I didn’t have this luxury.  I needed to maintain my stamina and strength for the next weekend.  Two components further complicated things: (1) I ran a personal best in Madison, so my muscles were extremely fatigued, and (2) I didn’t have a full week between races.  Madison was on a Sunday and Iowa was the following Saturday.

"Done, and done!"

Still, it was a great experience.  The excitement between races was a new feeling for me.  Rather than peaking at one race for one day (really one morning) I had the feeling of being a competitive athlete for an entire week because I ran and had to come right back and do it again.

Training tips like this help keep things fresh.  They’re new and exciting experiences and make for great stories.  You may be asking “How did the second race go?”  I made an agreement to run with my brother-in-law and his wife so we ran an easier pace the whole way.  It was a great decision because it was the smoothest and easiest half marathon I’ve ever ran.  I walked away feeling very strong and confident in my back-to-back races.

Are you running any races this year?  Certainly it doesn’t have to be at the half marathon level.  What about back-to-back 5K?  You in?

Back to Back Races

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Last weekend I ran Madison Half Marathon for my first race of the season. I’ve documented the training (and injury) in earlier posts. But I’m excited to have another race this weekend – my first race outside Wisconsin. My father-in-law and I are going to Iowa to run Dam-to-Dam which is a 20K race. I’ve never done back-to-back runs. Thus will be a challenge.

I had a great race on Sunday, running a PR of 1:44, over three minute faster than my previous best. I’ve been running for World Vision this spring. I hope you will look at my previous posts and join my team.

I’m Running Madison Marathon this Weekend

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This weekend I’m running Madison Marathon for the third time.  It’s been a good (not great) season of training this spring.  I’m running for World Vision and I would be honored if you joined my team.  Hint: take your Starbucks money from this week and go donate to the Clean Water project at World Vision.

Here’s a few posts from my training this spring:

I’ve also gone on the record to say that one main goal of mine this year is to run my fastest half marathon ever.  I don’t plan on going for that this weekend or next weekend in Iowa, but rather compete this fall towards that goal.

You should consider joining my team and supporting World Vision’s Clean Water Project.  It’s an excellent way to join my efforts as I train for this half marathon and help nearly 1.5 million children who die each year from unsafe water and poor sanitation.

We would love to see you on the course in Madison this Sunday.  Bring your bikes, bring your chairs, bring your kids and cheer us on for a great organization.

Plan, Work, Perform, Succeed 26.2

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A couple years ago I was training for my first full marathon. It was Memorial Day weekend which also happens to be my birthday weekend. So Katie got me this iPod Shuffle with the following engraved on the back:

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"Plan, Work, Perform, Succeed 26.2"

PWPS 26.2

It stands for Plan, Work, Perform, Succeed in training for a full marathon. I absolutely love this iPod as a gift because it holds so much meaning. Training for a marathon is more work than most people know. But it’s also more doable than most people realize. One of the benefits of training for that inaugural marathon was a huge sense of pride as Katie was watching me throughout my training and as I prepared for the competition. The gift brought it all together.

Rewards are an excellent motivation for training. I can justify a new $49 iPod Shuffle because I’m using it 3-4 days per week and it helps me get through so many long runs. Same with apparel and even food – it’s a worthy expense. But these are still simply tools towards the bigger objective: train and succeed. And then repeat.

Sports play a beautiful analogy to life. The lessons of sport have been with me for my entire life. And as I’ve prepared for half and full marathons, I’ve grown into this PWPS mentality.

  • I’ll Plan out my training miles and put it on a calendar.
  • I’ll Work hard at the training and put in the time.
  • I’ll Perform to the best of my abilities based on the training I completed.
  • I’ll Succeed because I planned it out and worked hard.

How might you use PWPS in your life? Is there a project at work that needs a little attention to take to fruition? Are there chores at home that could get lined up and knocked out with this plan? Even relationship – does someone in your life need a little more intentional attention?

Life is a series of projects. And a successful life is full of doing good things for yourself and others. Go Plan, Work, Perform, and Succeed. Then buy yourself an iPod Shuffle as a reward and do it again.

 

Training: Back From Injury and Stronger Than Ever

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I use sport to relate to life.  The analogies are endless, even cliché at times.  But the bottom line is they work.  Sports give us a framework to make sense of other areas of our worlds and provide encouragement when we need it most.

I’ve written lately about my ankle injury as I prepare for Madison Half Marathon and Iowa’s Dam-to-Dam.  Seven weeks out from race day, I tweaked my ankle and had to stay off for almost three weeks.  But now I’ve had two long runs (ten miles each) and I’m feeling stronger each day.  While this situation is far from ideal I cannot be happier with my recovery from injury and recovery of performance.  There are two factors at play here.

Listening to your body

If I wasn’t acutely aware of my body’s warning signs and known limitations, I would have certainly caused more damage than a slightly twisted ankle.  My working knowledge of injuries combined with my perspective of running 13.1 miles on May 29th allowed me to make my adjustments to training (read: stop training) and get my body fixed.

Knowing I’ve been here before

There is a comfort and a learning process with familiarity.  I cannot fully explain how confident I am knowing that I’ve been through this training before so I know exactly what I need to do to get to where I need to be.  I also know how much I can get away with – like I said, this is less than ideal.  But it is what it is.

 

My goals for the year are still in line. My plan is to run the fastest half marathon I’ve ever run by season’s end.  The first hurdle has been this injury.  The next test will be Madison Half Marathon.  And much of my motivation is my decision to run for World Vision.  I invite you to join my story and join my team.

 

Are you training for anything?  How have you managed setbacks that were out of your control?

 

Patience in Training

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I’m up against a wall.  I had a good training program going this spring as Katie and I were getting ready for Madison Marathon on May 29th.  The miles were building on schedule and I went on the record to post some lofty goals.  I’m also running to raise money for World Vision.  Here’s where you can join that team!

But about three weeks ago I suffered a minor injury.  Working in the woods one day I slightly tweaked my ankle.  By slightly I mean I hardly noticed it.  But my ankles are very weak from too many basketball injuries.  When I got home that night I could tell it was more than I’d thought.  I couldn’t run on it.

So I’ve been patiently waiting for recovery.  Knowing the miles required for this race has made it difficult to stay off the ankle and wait.  I could go out tomorrow and run 13.1 but it would be slow and not enjoyable.  I need these miles to have a good race but the ankle was preventing that training.  Patience was essential.  Hurry up…. and wait.

Last week I got out for a couple short runs to test out the ankle.  Things went well, but I could still feel the ankle’s tendency to favor a certain motion.  Still, I knew I had recovered and I knew the limitations of my body.  I decided to join Katie for her 10-mile run on Saturday.  It went better than I expected for not having run for almost 20 days.  Then I’ve been out twice this week and I can already feel myself getting stronger.

It’s absolutely essential to listen to your body and be smart in your training.  It helps you grow more mature as an athlete and it makes the quality of your training better.  And true test of will and skill often arise in the face of adversity.

One of my goals this summer is to run the fastest half marathon I’ve ever run.  That won’t happen at the Madison Half Marathon, but I have a few more opportunities later this year.  Still, I’m running the race and asking team members to join me and donate to World Vision, a world-class organization.  Please consider joining my team.

Listen to your body

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Using Michael Jordan references is so cliche.  But they work and he’s the greatest, so what are you going to do?  One of MJ’s biggest strengths went unnoticed by the average fan.  In a couple different interviews he talked about how intimately he was in tune with his body.  Of course as a professional athlete you would assume that if your body is making you millions you would obviously take care of it.  But we can think of numerous examples where this just isn’t the case.  And MJ took it to another level.  He knew how lifting weights, cardio training, and time on the court all affected his performance on any given night.  Numerous times he talked about how in tune he was with this body and that his self-awareness (of his Airness) was a key component to his success.

The average athlete like myself has to follow this example.  Your body will tell you things – some will be obvious and some more subtle.  Two days ago I was on a four-mile run that was going really well until mile 3.25.  I felt a tender soreness in my right ankle and I tried to run through it.  I had never felt pain in this area before and it didn’t make sense to me where this was coming from.  Then I thought back to work that day and remembered that I had stepped a little awkwardly over some branches and tweaked something.  I stopped running right away.

Each situation is different.  Other times in similar situations I’ll run through those pains.  But the ankle wasn’t the only part of the equation: over the weekend I had run a fast seven-mile route and now on a fast four-mile run I was having foot problems.  I thought to myself that it’s entirely possible that I’ve over-trained a little and my body can’t take the increased pounding like it used to.  I may be right, I may be wrong; but I’m listening to my body and not taking chances.

Why?  Because this year I’m running for people other than myself.  Specifically I’m running for World Vision and you can join my team! I’m taking this training very seriously.  But whether or not your training for a race or improving your health it is essential that you listen to your body.

Who Is Pushing You?

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We all work really hard.  But sometimes we just need that extra source of motivation to take things to the next level.  I’ve done a few things this season to take my training for races to the next level.  I wrote about one of them just last week.  I’m forming a team to support me as I run Madison Half Marathon and the money will go to World Vision.  Here’s where you can join my team.

But sometimes the motivation needs to come in the form of small picture execution.  “How can I do better today?”  I usually train alone so I know that it’s really easy to get in a routine of going through the motions on my runs.  Well over the weekend a friend on Facebook (who is training for Madison full marathon) ran 8 miles in under 64 minutes.  That means he average under 8 minutes per mile, for 8 miles!  I was pretty impressed.  So I tucked that one away and brought it out for my next run.

I’m not fast enough or strong enough to keep up with my friend, and I knew that going into the run.  But his splits (“8 under 8” he called it) were repeating in my head during my entire run.  It helped me stay aggressive.  I ended up running 8:11 minute miles.  And I’m very happy with that.

Do you ever need motivation to take things to the next level?  Do you look for these sources or talk to others about taking things up a notch?  Successful people find ways to challenge the status quo and push the limits.