No Days Off

A conversation with one of our distance runners last week got me thinking.  I was trying to impress upon him the importance of taking advantage of the summer to develop good habits so that those habits will carry over into the fall.  One thing I was trying to get him to do was to spend some time each day addressing areas that needed work, one of which being he needs to utilize a foam roll to alleviate some soft tissue problems he has developed.

Me:  Do you have a foam roller?
Him:  No, but I've got a Nalgene water bottle that will work.

Part of me smiled at his resourcefulness...for about 2 seconds and then the rest of me got pissed off.  Why you ask?  This is why, and almost word for word what I told him:

That's bullshit.  You'll spend $100 per pair of shoes that last at most 3 months, if you're lucky, but you won't spend $25 on a foam roller that you will use for the rest of your life?  Even worse you'll spend way more money than that this summer on beer!  Stop making excuses and do what you need to do to be a better runner!

Then I recently watched a video on www.mobilitywod.com and it hit home that as athletes (and we are all athletes whether we play games, run races, etc - we all lift things like groceries, we all move our bodies up and down obstacles, stairs, etc) there are no days off.  We may not have a workout that day but we have to hydrate, we need to use the foam roll, we need to do our stretching, we need to eat better, the list goes on and on.

No days off.  We have to be focused on achieving our goals and doing all the little things everyday that will get us to that achievement.  Stop making excuses, stop whining and focus on what you need to do.

The hard part?  Listening to my own advice.  But I'm trying.

Not My Smartest Move

I'm a big fan of Vern Gambetta.

I've used his leg circuit progression with my athletes for years with great results.  As part of my "back to basics" theme for the spring/summer I'm doing the routine myself as a way to build some strength to help me as I get into what I hope will be some significant quality training in preparation for the Grand Rapids Half Marathon in Oct.

What I should not have done though is this:  do day 1 of the routine and then immediately go for a 5 mile run.  Holy rubber legs Batman!  This morning?  Legs.  Trashed.

The really funny part is that T tried to tell me that it wasn't a good idea.  Need to learn to listen to that intelligent woman.

Back To Basics

Spring sports are officially over.  Well, there is one last very small track meet Wednesday night, but only a small portion of the team will be competing.  Then it's time to close everything down, finish up paperwork, treat a few track kids who qualify for the outdoor national meet and get ready for the summer.

Life is much less hectic now.

Which is why I'm using this time to my advantage.  Adding some things back into my daily routine, or more aptly put:  getting back to my daily routine.  If I can manage to establish the habit now things will only get better and easier as the summer progresses and when things crank back up in August it won't be as hard to deal with.

At least I hope!