My appointment was for this past Friday, and the session went really well.  I was the first athlete of the day, and had the full and undivided attention of Coach Al Lyman and  Dr. Kurt Strecker (DC).  The evaluation included assessment of:

• muscle length
• joint mobility
• joint stability
• motor control and coordination
• appropriate muscle action
• resiliency and resistance to fatigue and
• functional strength

This was accomplished through a combination of static measurements, stretching measurements, and video recording of my running form on a treadmill, both barefoot and in my normal running shoes.

Here is the video evaluation:  (not pretty)

The evaluation lasted almost four hours and I came away with a very detailed and specific report.  Basically my core strength, stability and balance need a LOT of work.  Without this rebuilding, I’m on a course to get injured during training or racing, which will set back my long term goals of a Kona qualifier.  None of this was surprising to me.  I knew that I was hitting the limits of my run fitness based on how I felt after racing or running hard sets, or anything longer than about an hour.

I came out of the evaluation with a set of exercises and stretches to get me through the first phase of rebuilding my running.  The evaluation criteria and results and recommendations was presented in a printed guide, with photographs of the specific exercises and stretches, as well as a DVD with video examples of the same exercises and stretches.

So now, the rebuilding work begins!

The Whole30 program is a really strict approach to a Paleo diet, which is based around the theory that our hunter-gatherer ancestors were healthier, stronger and lived longer (excluding accidents and being eaten by saber-toothed tigers).  During my experiment, I focused on good quality, organic meats and eggs, lots of vegetables and fruits.

Some of the stuff I ended up eating weren’t Whole9 approved.  For example, Lara bars are considered a “sweet” and should be used sparingly in the Whole30 program.  I love Lara bars, and would occasionally use them as breakfast or a mid-morning snack when I had a early morning workout.  I also ate Kind bars for the same reasons.  Kind bars are less paleo because of the added honey as a sweetener, where Lara bars are just fruit & nuts.  I kept adding Hammer Whey to my breakfast smoothies because having a chicken breast for breakfast isn’t my thing (yet).  I also used Hammer Recoverite right after a hard workout because this stuff just works for me and really does help me recover faster.

I also had a couple of days where I just threw out all the rules and ate what I wanted for a particular meal  Those days were interesting experiments to see how my body reacted to the different foods.

So what have I learned from these last 30 days?

• I’m much more tuned into my body’s fuel needs.  Sometimes feeling hungry is my brain telling me I’m over-stressed.
• Having too FEW calories are as bad as having too MANY calories.  I get really grumpy the day AFTER I’ve shorted myself calories.
• Real foods taste great.  I’ve always liked fresh vegetables, salads and fruits, but I’m finding that I start CRAVING them right after a day where I’ve had stuff that isn’t paleo.
• I may not be celiac, but I have much less GI distress by eliminating all grains.
• Sticking to a paleo diet means that I’m thinking about my next meals frequently.  It takes more work to eat this way.

At the start of this experiment I was worried that I’d have problems keeping my energy levels high enough to maintain my workouts.  This was never the case.  In fact, I never had a serious bonk or even “afternoon dip” in energy levels.  I used to have both of these problems on my standard diet.  In fact, my energy levels seemed HIGHER when I’m on this eating plan.  That’s likely due to increasing complex carbs from fruit & veg and eliminating simple carbs from sugar and grains.

So what’s next?   Part of the program is the “reintroduction” phase where I’ll add back some of the eliminated foods one at a time to see how my body reacts.  I’ll probably start with some limited dairy.  Before I do start the reintroduction, I want to get my blood work done to get a new baseline.

Ever forward

It will be interesting to compare/contrast the EN camp with the Fireman Ironman camp this coming weekend.  While not exactly the same type of event (Fireman camp doesn’t have scheduled/coached workouts) I will get the opportunity to talk to a lot of other athletes with a lot of other coaching plans, including some pro and top-ranked amateurs.

I get bloodwork done today, so we’ll see if the REST of the numbers are moving in the right direction as well.

The MAFW picnic rides were cancelled today due to rain.  I was really looking forward to my first brick workout in a long, long time and was pretty disappointed when the rides were cancelled.  On the way home I suddenly realized that Ironman Wisconsin was going on today, so I decided to do an “indoor brick” on the CompuTrainer and the treadmill.  When I pulled the tri bike off the hooks in the basement I noticed that it still has the IMWI and Tri-Bike Transport stickers on the frame, both tires were completely flat and the bike was covered in a thick layer of dust.  I don’t think I’ve been on that bike since the race.  So I pumped up the tires, and loaded up the IMWI course on the CompuTrainer.  I also noticed that the workout room had cobwebs hanging from the corners and most of the light fixtures.  I supposed that was fitting as my workout room and my body appear to be in the same shape.

I rode for an hour at a nice aerobic pace, then hopped on the treadmill for a planned 20 min run.  After about 13 minutes the achilles started to ached so I cut the run short (15 min).  It’s a long way from being Iron Fit, but I’ve dusted off the cobwebs, literally and figuratively.

Time to start training!