Body awareness

One of the things that really doesn't help me to stay in shape on a constant basis is that I think I am slightly deluded.  When I am buff, I look in the mirror and think "Hey, how you doing....".  Then the exercise routine slows down, I continue eating enough for an entire family (and their extended family too) and the slight bulges and droops start to come.  But I still look in the mirror and think "Hey, how you doing...".  It continues like this until someone asks me "Paul, are you the world's first?".  The world's first what I say.  "Oh the world's first pregnant man I mean".  Thats when I realise my six-pack has become a six-saggy-sack.

I think a good body awareness is key to staying in shape.  One way to keep body awareness is to dress in Spandex.  As you may remember the whole Spandex craze started because of Mr Motivator.  He was a classic.  You soon realise if you are bulging that way.  One of my friends Scott insists on wearing Spandex.  I am not sure if he is slightly deluded like myself, but he always seems to think he looks great in it.

How many ladies do you see too, wearing narrow waisted skin tight jeans, with a good generous portion of jello pouring over them.  I believe if I have got my terminology right that they are referred to as "muffin tops".  I mean please, try wearing well-fitted jeans.  They will make you look so much more attractive.  

Now for some amusing photos so you can see I am not exaggerating when I mention words such as pregnant and buff.

Not looking bad

Beer barrel with legs and arms

Bun in the oven

Strength training

Run Forrest Run!

Too much thinking can be a bad thing.  This morning I was thinking that July 2nd (the date of the Marmotte 2011) still seems somewhat in the future and not yet something tangible.  Plus I wont be doing much cycling over the winter, so I need another target and something earlier in the year.  Crazy thoughts did flash through my mind, like signing up for a X-country skating-style ski marathon, but then the reality kicked in that I have only had one lesson and am still falling over from time to time at the moment, so maybe thats not so realistic.  Next year maybe though.

Then I decided I will do a running event.  I was browsing through all the half marathons in April and May, but I had at the back of the mind the fact that although I have done various half marathons I have never yet had the guts to go for the full event, the killer marathon.  So I went for it, and I am now on the start list of the Zurich marathon taking place on April 17th.

There are so many training plans out there to follow, but I was looking for something aimed at people running their first marathon and something that would fit in with my work and personal schedule.  I found just the one I wanted on Runnersworld - a 16 week beginners marathon training program.  Here is the link in case you are interested to check it out http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244--6946-2-3X5X7-4,00.html

Pushing it too hard

When I used to run half marathons I never really followed a structured training program.  I think that this was a huge mistake as I would frequently overtrain and end up injured.  Two years ago I had a period where I was running a half marathon every couple of weeks, and it was just too much for my body.  During the Frauenfelder half my knee started playing up, and after finishing I realised it needed to be checked out.  I went to the Sports Clinic in Zurich and they told me it was an overuse injury and suggested a relative new form of treatment where a small device is placed on the knee and it pulses rapidly, delivering a series of small taps.  The taps don't hurt but it is certainly not comfortable.  The idea is that the soft tissues response to the small but firm taps by strengthening themselves.  After 5 sessions my knee was almost back to normal.  Since then I haven't really got back into the running scene properly, but running scene here I come with a vengeance.

Yoga is not only for women

Before I started doing yoga back in 2009, I thought it was just about stretching.  I had no idea how much core strength and balance it takes to maintain the poses for longer than one or two seconds.  At the beginning it was very tough - years of bad posture, pumping iron in the gym and no stretching had made my muscles so taut that you could have played them like guitar strings.  I couldn't even touch my toes, although I could see them at least.

Attempting to perform the dancer pose on a beach in SA

As the weeks passed, I could once again touch my toes.  My overall flexibility increased, and the lunchtime yoga gave a perfect escape from the stress of work.  Each day after the class I would be aching all over but it didn't stop me putting in even more effort the following week.  It paid off as my core strength increased and my posture started to improve.

The thing that I really underestimated though, is just how much yoga can assist your performance in sports.  For the 2008 Marmotte cyclosportive I had put in a fair amount of training, but the race was tough and my back ached from about 50km onwards.  Back then I hadn't yet started yoga.  Then, in the 2009 Marmotte despite the fact I had only done about half the training of the previous year, the race went much smoother and all I had was a dull muscular ache in the closing kilometres.  On top of that I even managed to knock 3 minutes off my previous time.

Yoga will definitely form an important part of my training, and I would recommend anyone who hasn't tried it to give it a go.  Even if you don't enjoy it there will be plenty of eye candy for you.