The Long Haul

Anatomy of a "Comeback" (well, attempted comeback) Part I

The picture above is the closest i got to cycling this past year until the middle of August. To be honest, the three years previous to that i didn't even have the fitness to warrant an aero helmet for any reason ;) That time period was a mix of life adjustment, physical problems (knee surgeries & broken arm), motivation problems and health problems that showed up near the end of 2006 and through much of 2007. It was during this time that i learned a lot ... mainly about about my body, my motivation, my clients, and how much my body needs simple exercise.

I'm writing this because I have had some inquiries to what "I am training for" and why I am doing things the way I am. I also think my clients and others can learn something about why I am going about it the way I am, and how this relates to my philosophy of working with athletes and people. I'll try to break this down to a few parts parts so it is more readable but also because these things, though related, run somewhat independent of each other. Here goes ;) ...

When i started back with the energy and motivation to exercise (which would eventually lead to "training") i had to look at it all in a big picture format and with the harsh reality that i was at ground ZERO, bottom of the barrel, almost sedentary. The items below were vital to address before I even looked at individual disciplines of bike / run / swim etc.

1) I was / am coming back from a period of illness and no activity (other than walking) and my metabolic system was a wreck.

2) I had gained almost 20 pounds but the reality is i lost lean muscle mass so the fat gain was more than 20 pounds.

3) Loss of muscle mass meant I was VERY weak ... not good for a 40 year old!

4) I hadn't run in more than 3 years (couldn't believe that until i looked at it closely)

With the above being the focal issues to address, I came up with the following regulations for myself.

* ADDRESSING #1 Do what i could on a daily basis so that i could do it again the next day. This meant always doing less than my brain said i could do and strapping on the heart rate monitor again. For the first 6 weeks i capped all my exercise at 140 beats per minute ... it didn't take much to get it to 140 running, uhhh - jogging ;) (more on the HR details later)

NOTE: There are a number of philosophy's behind the HR Cap that is used but mine is loosely based off of Dr Phillip Maffetone. The bottom line? The lighter exercise is easier to recover from and helps the metabolic system with it's steady state capabilities. In reality, instinct and "Yoda's Force" told me it was the right thing to do.

* ADDRESSING #2 Make simple changes nutritionally (for now) to keep energy up and stay healthy.

* ADDRESSING #3 Immediately add strength training into the routine 3 x per week (I have now adjusted to 2 x per week)

* ADDRESSING #4 I started with a protocol of walk running while all the time keeping my HR under 140bpm. (again, more on this later when i get to running) The raw reality with the is I hadn't done it for three years and I flat out REALLY missed it!

The main agenda through all this was; "stay healthy enough that i could do some exercise every day while maintaining my normal daily requirements of job, relationship, chores etc."

If I could address the items above, and not put a time frame on it (yeah right!), then i might be well on my way to actually "training" again. Remember, i never said anything about races or goal races or anything along those lines. BUT, if after 12-16 weeks I was in the clear with the simplistic guidelines then maybe, JUST MAYBE, the topic could be discusses. FYI ... i am currently at week 20 so we can discuss this now. Well, maybe in part II ;) ... until then, chew on the above a little bit!

Best,
DL