training update and thoughts

took time off from crossfit today - good training method, but can be a little tough on lower back and shoulders if you're not careful - instead i went to gym and worked on single leg training skills  and overhead squat skills- then an easy twenty minutes on stair climber

the more i read about - and practise -  the single leg approach to training the more i am convinced that the major benefits of back squats and leg presses are that they make you proficient at those two activities; and that they do not correlate well to functional movement in sport

if you are a good leg presser and squatter and doubt this - try to do a full free standing single leg squat with both arms extended forward and the free leg held in front - you will notice issues with: flexibility, balance, strength, range of motion and coordination......... check these factors again and alarm bells should be going off

i am slowly arriving at the conclusion, that while commonly accepted strength bulding regimens have value in building an athletes ability to produce force,  these routines are wanting in their ability to improve functional athletic strength as indicated in the above listed parameters...... just a thought

what now?

two of the most interesting books i am currently studying are "advanced functional training" by boyle and "the big book of endurance training and racing" by maffetone.  the problem is that they have arrived at diametrically opposite conclusions regarding sports training....... boyle concludes that aerobic base training is useless and possibly detrimental; creating slow athletes  - maffetone treats anerobic training like poison,to the point of denouncing any strength training for endurance training...... boyle is a disciple of interval training to develope endurance, while maffetone is strictly low to mid-range heart rate .........maffetone avoids stretching to increase flexiblity - boyle is an advocate, with much of his range of motion improvement resulting from functional movements vs static stretching  - at this point i feel each is a bit too strident in advocating their positions; although as an older athlete i recognize boyles identification of  'overuse, reduction of power and mobility' that can occur through LSD(long slow distance) systems......i have recently joined  crossfit, which is strongly aligned with boyles ideas and have also added TRX suspension training.......the trick will be how to segue my triathlon training into all this.......my current thinking is that i will cut back on distances for bike and run, while increasing intensty through inserting intervals.....swimming will be strictly intervals of no longer than 150yds with an eye towards increasing cruising speed   - in the past i seem to always complete the swim phase of a 70.3 triathlon in 38 - 42 min no matter how much swimming ive done - so im going strictly with boyle on this one as a mini experiment........bored yet - ok - i'm done

i'm back

kinda gave up on the blog thing for two reasons - 1) stopped personal training      2) wasnt feeling chatty about hernia repairs, finding out about a myriad of cardiac issues  3) i can't count


well, i signed up for the show low half ironman a few months before the race to force myself to get back in action - it had been almost a full year since my last race.  three weeks before race date - sept 8th - i knew i was in trouble.  usually it goes kinda like this - train, eat well, sleep, recover, repeat - and you slowly get stronger and faster.... well it wasnt working - every training session seem the same or worse than the previous.  i attributed this to getting older, the a-fib, and not being completely healed from the hernia repairs. thankfully during the final three weeks i started to feel generally stronger if not too much faster.  as race date approached i resigned myself to completeing the swim and bike legs and call it a day.  during the race i was still committed to this plan, however, upon completing the bike i felt ok and trundled off  on a run/walk for the first 6.5 mile loop. about one mile from the end of the loop i came upon a guy in his thirties who seemed to be suffering as much as i was......well, we formed a pathetic alliance and shuffled through the second loop for my slowest half ironman

being dull-witted, i have entered the half iron distance race in lake havasu on november 10 - goal: do a little bit better

heading back to tucson tomorrow and will train for eight straight days until i leave for syracuse ny -have a bike at my dads and a kayak and river for substitute  swim training(it works!) - several good running venues also - then back to tucson for three more hard weeks - only a one week left