Running Principle #1 (Specificity)

To get better at something you have to practice doing that activity (regularly). Runners would naturally spend most of their time running, while Triathletes have to try and balance their cross training efforts. However, Triathletes have to realise that swim, bike or gym training may well limit their development as a pure runner, even though it prepares them for the rigours of running after a swim/bike.

As we are focussed on Running here it is important to acknowledge that to get better at running, that is what you need to repeatedly stress. Distance runners will avoid heavy cycling, swimming or gym work, as the extra body or muscle mass will impede their running ability.

For Ironman participants, Specificity is extremely important. Read more…. http://ironmansa.com/2011/11/27/7-tips-for-im-running-tip-5-specific-conditioning/

How to break the Rules and Still Win!

Breaking all the Rules

I’m sure there was a song about Breaking all the Rules and I certainly broke most of them this past week, which is a setback but not a disaster. You see I choose not to be a Victim, I choose to accept Responsibility and ultimately what set’s us all apart are the choices that we make in our everyday life (when faced with challenges) and the consequences that arise from those choices.

This past week (week 7) I had to go to Johannesburg for two days, then I flew to Cape Town to support my son at a Water Polo Tournament before driving back to Port Elizabeth. So my training routine was upset and of course my nutrition plan was also unsettled. I know I should not be making excuses, but we are all human and we make bad choices or mistakes.

Being an extremist, once I had broken one rule (eating plan) the whole damn rule book seemed to fly out of the window and I was enjoying beers, cake and chocolate (my weakness) on my travels. So now I’d fallen off the wagon, or the horse and it was a case of do I just accept my fate and return to my old ways, or do I pick myself up, dust myself off and get back into the saddle? (Goal = Less Carbs or #LCHF)

How True is This?

It’s all about Challenge; Choice: Outcome!

Here I was faced with a Challenge (or an Obstacle) and the outcome, or my future, would be determined by the choices I was going to make.

The bottom line is that I had broken the rules and was about to disqualify myself from my goals, or the race. It would all depend upon the choices that I would make as to whether I decide to become a Loser or a Winner? So I chose to get back on the Horse and take responsibility for the fact that I had gone off the rails temporarily, but would re-commit myself to my Goals, my Challenge.

If I can get back on the Horse and stay in the saddle I will still win, even though I broke the Rules!

Should we Focus on the Winning the War or the Battles?

I know this could sound contradictory, but there is a time for both.

In terms of the bigger picture, it is important to focus on Winning the War and not every single one of life’s daily Battles. My WAR is to get on top of my Nutrition over time, to ensure I do more right than wrong and to gradually move towards my destination. If I had to focus on winning every single Battle, I would be a nervous wreck, I would be disillusioned and quite depressed.

However, if I focussed solely on Winning the War it would be far too daunting a task, thus I also need to focus upon the Journey. In other words I need to try and win more of life’s daily battles than I lose, but understand that I cannot win every single Battle. This past week I probably won 4 days and lost 3, so I still came out a winner and I suppose it is all about how you view things.

I guess the mental challenge (approach) is much like racing an Ironman, there are times when you need to push hard and dig deep and there are times when it would be wiser to back off, recover before getting back into the mix.

“How do you view yourself? 

I guess it is all about how do you view yourself? Do you see yourself as Middle Class or World Class and I’m not talking income or assets here?

How you view yourself has an impact upon how you face up to your everyday challenges and the goals that you set for yourself. This has an impact upon the choices that you will make and ultimately the outcomes that will result from those choices.

Most people are satisfied with their everyday life, or they pretend to be and they try to live life in a comfort zone and they don’t like to take risks. Very often they are frustrated, as they are merely existing and every time a challenge or an obstacle crops up they view it as a problem. In certain cases they think they know enough and have stopped learning, dreaming and aspiring.

However, if you are reading this then I think you may be looking for something better or a new way of doing things. Do you embrace all of your challenges and are you looking for the solution or the opportunity therein?  Do you live life beyond your comfort zone and do you enjoy doing so? Are you grateful for the challenges and the opportunities that cross your path? Do you try and manage Risks and are you prepared to take calculated risks? If you fail, do you strive to learn from the mistakes? Are you casting new Visions, Dreaming or aspiring to new challenges? If so you are well on your way to World Class!!  

Remember when you stop Dreaming or Learning is when you start declining!

It’s your Choice, but here is what I choose to do:

-To Dream, to take Risks and to learn from my experiences or mistakes.

-To Aspire, to live life beyond my comfort zone.

-To be grateful for both the Opportunities and the Obstacles.

I am living proof that we can reinvent ourselves and that we are never too old to Dream.

 What will your choice be?

I’m already back on track and hope to bring you a positive report back on my progress next week, until then focus upon making the right choices.

From: @alecriddle

YES, you Can, you Will, you Want to!!

When will you make One Day your Day One? (Week 6)

Most of us want immediate results from the numbers on the scale, but that is perhaps the last thing we should be focussing on in the first month or two, as it is our Body Composition that starts changing first and I certainly am starting to detect that now. What is important is to increase lean body mass and reduce body fat and one of the reasons we strive for that, is that muscle burns far more calories than fat, so it stokes your metabolism. (Not sure how accurate this is, but I read somewhere that muscle burns 10 x more calories than fat?)

Reminder to Self: Get into the Gym!!

My Nutrition Plan:

So I’ve been following a new Nutrition Plan for 5 weeks now, which in a nutshell focuses on cutting out refined carbohydrates (certainly reducing them), so now I’m trying to get my Carbohydrates from Vegetables and Salads and a few Fruits and not from breads, cereals and sweet things. Yes, when I am training I do take some Cytomax Supplements, particularly when I run beyond an hour or bike more than 90 minutes.

To say it’s been a test of my resolve is an understatement, but only because, I like you, had probably hoped for more instant results. However, I’m very comfortable doing what I’m doing and I am feeling better, sleeping better, am rarely hungry (no longer an emotional eater) and I am committed to the bigger picture, which is 2014 and beyond.

How am I Progressing?

Lost another Kilo, so that makes it 3,5 Kg in 6 weeks. Sure, it’s not fast or instantaneous but I’m a long term planner. When I set about trying to qualify for the Kona Ironman in 2010, that Goal was set 5 years earlier in 2005. From a Nutrition, or Health perspective this is a lifelong Goal and from a sporting Goal I’m trying to fine tune for October 2015!

This past week has been solid, some good training sessions and good discipline on the Nutritional side. I must say I’m very comfortable with my new nutrition plan and can even break a slab of chocolate into pieces for the family and politely decline my portion (something I could never do before)! To be honest, I no longer have a desire or craving for Chocolates or sweet stuff.

I’m very grateful I’ve changed my habits as I am starting to believe that many of us have been overdoing the Carbohydrates, which raise insulin levels. Insulin is required to deal with the Carbohydrates, but if you eat too many of them, especially High GI Carbs, without exercising like an obsessed Ironman, then you are likely to start adding body fat.

My experience is that previously when eating High Carbohydrate (Low Fat) foods, it felt like I was the Hamster on the ‘hunger’ treadmill because I was forever hungry and looking to snack on something. It’s like you are never satisfied and always trying to use your will power to stop yourself from eating. Sure every now and then during the past month I’ve had a few of those moments, but the majority of the time I haven’t felt hungry, nor have I felt the need to snack.

And when I do have one of those moments, I simply look at the culprit, be it a Muffin or a Chocolate and ask myself “Will you take me closer to, or further away from my Goal?” It answers itself and the moment is well and truly over!

When will you make One Day your Day One?

How often do we think our current circumstances have come about by chance? Well, it’s time for a Reality check as your current ‘You’ has more often than not come about not necessarily by chance, but because of the choices and thoughts that you made in the past.

If you look in the mirror and ask yourselves honestly, you may well find it’s True and one day you may realize that your “future” is going to be determined by the choices, the sacrifices and the thoughts of today. We all think ‘Sure I will get to it One Day, but tomorrow never comes, so why not make today Day One and change your future?’

Have you ever thought of living life on purpose, instead of by accident?

Have you ever thought of paying yourself first, before paying everybody else?

Sometimes you reach a T Junction in your life and you are faced with a choice. It’s certainly not the end of the road unless, of course, you fail to make the turn. Well I’ve stumbled upon many T-Junctions in my life and making the turn is often intimidating, but every single time that I have stuck at it long enough I’ve looked back with immense satisfaction and sometimes wondered just how did I manage to do this or that.

Why is it so difficult to Change?

Well if you have reached the T Junction and you plan to make the Turn, my advice would be to set a Goal, commit to a Plan and be prepared to Persevere. We do live in a world of instant gratification, but when it comes to changing your body composition or losing weight, you are setting yourself up for failure if you are looking for instant results.

Change will not happen overnight and a Nutrition plan is like training, you will improve after a month but you may not detect the improvement. You simply have to focus, have faith and you have to persevere to achieve anything truly worthwhile.

Think of it like this, if you have a Bucket of water and you take a syringe and squeeze a drop of red dye into the bucket, you won’t detect anything different. In fact you could inject a drop a day for a few weeks and there would be little noticeable change. However, if you keep on doing it, week after week, the water will gradually take on a pinkish colour and if you persevere long enough it will get darker and darker.

The benefits of Change?

There are numerous, but today I simply want to focus on one, which was always a major concern and a problem for me = SLEEP!!

I have started to Sleep so much better’s almost like day and night and I am just loving having largely uninterrupted sleep and much more of it. Today I extracted this little Gem of information from one of Mark Sisson’s e-mail lessons (Primal Blueprint) which encourages me a great deal on so many fronts.

Sleep is part of our Recovery and when we don’t get enough of it, it is BAD for us. Our genes are not used to artificial lights, Television and I Pads keeping us awake at night and disrupting our natural sleep patterns.

So what happens when we don’t get enough Sleep?

-Affects the sensitivity of our Insulin Levels, reducing our ability to tolerate carbs and burn fat.

-Increased risk of Depression

-The normal secretion of hormones like testosterone and growth hormones, which usually happen while we sleep, are interrupted.

-It raise Blood Pressure and boosts the risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and obesity.

But, when we do get enough Sleep:

-Fat starts to dissipate & Carbohydrate tolerance increases.

-Sporting performance improves. Speed, strength, endurance, recovery all increase.

-Your immune system works best when you sleep, improving resistance to viruses and infections.

-Your brain works better. Memory and problem solving abilities improve.

Wishing you all the best, from @alecriddle