The 4 Stages of Suck

Sometimes working out is fun. Sometimes it's tough. And sometimes it just flat-out sucks.

But how do you deal with the suck? What do you do when your legs and arms are dying and your lungs are burning? I think that it comes down to your mindset.

And thus, the 4 Stages of Suck

Definitely not a quitter.

Stage 1: Quitting

If you're just starting out on your fitness journey, you're going to hit a wall -- and probably pretty quickly. I would be that most people who've tried to set up a fitness routine have given up at least once. And it's usually because of unrealistic expectations.


Stage 2: Survival

Once you've gotten the basic hang of exercise and maybe set up a weekly routine, you'll probably get to the point where, when things really start to suck, you can at least slog through. Your form may suffer and your performance may slack off as the workout goes on, but you'll at least get it done.


Stage 3: Fighting Through

The New Jersey Marathon was a fight!

Regular Guys who've been working out for a while know that just getting something done isn't the same as doing it well. If you want to get the full benefit from a tough workout, you need to try to keep up your performance the whole time. And yeah. it really sucks to push that last interval when your body is screaming for you to slow down, but that's when the improvement comes.


Stage 4: Embracing the Suck

You may never experience this one. Or you might feel it once in a while, but not every time. Regular Guys aren't going to get to the point where this is the norm in a hard workout. But the big jumps will happen when you welcome the suck. You're looking for it. You want it. And you push your workouts to ensure you get it.

I want to add something about Stage 4: Be careful! It's easy to get overtrained or injured when you're actively seeking the suck.

What stage of suck are you at? Sound off on Twitter, on Facebook or in the comments below!

Am I Still a Regular Guy?

If you’ve been keeping up with my admittedly sporadic blog and Facebook posts over the past three or four months, you probably know that 2016 has been a breakthrough year for me. I’ve set major PRs in the marathon, half-marathon and, most recently, the 5K.

You may have seen this pic on Facebook recently.

You probably also know that when I’m not on the road, the trail or the track, I’m kind of a gym rat. I’m not afraid of free weights and especially not the “Big 3”: deadlifts, squats and bench press. I believe these have helped me both with general fitness and specifically with running.

I’ve come a long way since I started the blog back in December 2014. But it's also planted an existential question in my mind: Am I still a Regular Guy?

The whole point of being a Regular Guy is Keeping Fit and Living Your Life. It's about finding the balance between your real priorities and being healthy enough to engage fully in those priorities. Being able to keep up with your kids, keeping your heart strong so you can enjoy grandkids someday, having the physical dexterity and endurance to handle the housework and yardwork that comes with life. That sort of thing.

Here I am getting the yard ready for a party. Tough guy!

So what does it mean that I:

• Run advanced intervals, such as mile repeats, progressive repeats, etc.?
• Have bookmarked articles such as Perfect Supersets for Strength, Muscle and Spinal Health and The Role of Muscle Fibers in Running?
• Recognize all the regulars at two different gyms?
• Have to force myself, kicking and screaming, to take a week off to heal up some nagging injuries?
• Am in the Top 1 percent of runners in MapMyRun's You Vs. the Year challenge?
• Came in 11th overall at that 5K where I set a PR?

I'll admit: I don't know. I am by no means an elite athlete, that's for sure. I'm certainly not the fittest, buffest, most ripped dude at the gym. And I honestly do try not to be that guy at parties, on social media or anywhere else. 

And yet, here I am wondering. I'm definitely past the point of just trying to lose (or keep off) that beer belly. I'm definitely past the point where I go to a race with the goal of finishing and having fun. I'm at the point where I'm wondering just how good I can get. How much I can lift. How svelte I can look. How fast I can run (especially that one). 

But this isn't just about me and how I view myself. My goal is to have a Conversation about Keeping Fit and Living Your Life. To foster a discussion and a community where we Regular Guys can talk about our health and fitness without devolving into uber-competitive, crazy complicated, ultra-technical, totally unrealistic ridiculousness. It's only worth keeping up this blog and the social-media accounts if it's relevant to you guys.

I guess my challenge is this: Can I relay ideas that hit home for everyone -- or at least most of us -- while pushing myself further and further in my own fitness journey? Or will I just get too caught up in the minutiae of what I'm doing to have a basic, simple conversation? 

And not for nothing, but can I do it without being a jerk? This whole piece has an obvious undercurrent of "yeah, I'm in better shape than you are." Just because I'm at a certain point on my journey doesn't make it any better or worse than where you are on yours. We all have our own lives and our own priorities, and no matter how good the information and ideas in this blog are, you're not going to read it if you think the author's an asshole. After all, there are things in life that you're way better at than I am, too.

So my pledge to all you Regular Guys: I will do my best to keep doing what drew you to this blog in the first place. I'll work to relate my experiences and my reading to what works in your lives. And I'll try to remain humble while I do it. 

Because at heart, I really am a Regular Guy, too.

Me and some of my best tailgating buddies. (courtesy Lou Matino)

Taper Madness: The End of Marathon Training

Do you know what a taper is?

If you've ever participated in an endurance event, you surely do. But if you haven't, you may not be aware of how training changes in the last few weeks leading up to a race. It's kinda crazy.

The simple idea behind a taper is that in the two to three weeks before your race, you gradually dial down the intensity and duration of your workouts. So for runners, that means scaling back on the distance, and cutting out speedwork and heavy lifting. It seems counter-intuitive -- why wouldn't you keep working hard right up to the race? But studies have shown that a taper can improve your performance by as much as 3 percent. My goal is to finish under 4 hours, so 3 percent translates to more than 7 minutes.


What Actually Happens to Your Body?

As you probably realize, marathon training pushes your body well beyond what even reasonably fit people are comfortable with. My peak week, right before the taper, included 46 miles of running -- about 7 hours' worth of exercise. (And that doesn't even count warmups, cooldowns, walks to and from work or any other activity.) Really, you're on a razor's edge: You're maximizing your endurance and fitness just short of the point of overtraining or injury.

Lily has been resting up, too!

So by gradually dialing back on mileage, you really accomplish three big things:

• Replenish your energy stores, particularly your glycogen. Glycogen is the blood sugar your body prefers for energy.
• Gives your muscles a chance for recovery. In other words, get some rest!
• Allows you to heal up all those little twinges and dings and aches you've been nursing.

So How Do You Go About Tapering?

Experts say the taper begins "immediately upon completing your last long training run, which is usually between 20 and 23 miles." That's generally three weeks out from the race, as it was in my case, when I went just shy of 22.

You won't find me lifting!

Dial back the mileage. The idea is to start allowing your body more rest, but you don't want to give back all of your gains. So you can't just stop running altogether. Instead, you gradually decrease to the point where, in the week just before the race, you're running just enough to keep your muscles limber. My last Sunday run was 8 miles.

No strength training. The taper is a time for your muscles to repair. In three weeks, you're not going to lose significant strength. But you can do some damage if you keep trying to lift heavy. You want those muscle fibers to repair, not to get torn again. Plus, much as with dialing back mileage, cutting out resistance training will help build glycogen stores. Even non-aerobic training uses energy.

Dietary changes. This is when the carb loading really starts. To avoid the dreaded 20-mile "bonk," you want to go into the race with as much glycogen in your system as you can hold. In week one of the taper, you also try to ramp up on protein, to aid in muscle repair. But after that, you start building up your carbs. In order not to overload on calories, that means a big reduction in fat -- as little as 10 percent of your calorie intake. I've been eating so much fruit, rice, potatoes, pasta, bread and other carbs that I'm ready to cry. After the race, I may just grab a spoon and a jar of pesto. I've also cut even further back on alcohol and limited myself to one cup of coffee a day, since both are diuretics.


But Really, It's Mental

The hardest part of tapering for me is the mental game. I'd just spent the past three months or so working as hard as I possibly could to prepare for the rigor of 26.2 miles. And all of a sudden, you're supposed to take it easy. No, having an extra half-hour because you only ran 3 miles doesn't mean you should add in a HIIT routine. Yes, it's OK to stretch out on the couch. No, there's no benefit to adding in a few extra miles. And go ahead and eat, eat, eat -- just make sure it's carby.

When you've been driving this hard for this long, the idea of letting up is enough to drive you nuts.


Have you ever tapered for a big event? What successes and failures did you encounter? Sound off in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter!

Lessons From a Raccoon: Life Doesn't Stop for Your Fitness Training

My personal Facebook friends may have seen that Sunday night (actually around 4 a.m. Monday), we had a raccoon clambering around on our roof. I'd run 17.5 miles on Sunday, but instead of a good night's sleep, I was standing in the cold, dark rain trying to persuade a wild animal that my house isn't worth its time and energy.

And last night, even though my powers of persuasion seemed to have worked, I didn't sleep well either. Any little bump in the night got me going. My daughter got up to go to the bathroom around 3:00, and the dog jumped out of bed around 4:00.

Both of those things, especially the latter, kept me awake. So I wound up not doing my run this morning. I'm hoping to sneak something in after work. But there are a few things you can learn from this:

• You can do only what you can do. One of the big reason elite athletes are elite athletes is that it's their job. Regular Guys have to fit calamities into their everyday lives, and sometimes that means you're going to miss a workout. It's OK.
• Look for ways to adapt. Since we set the clocks ahead this weekend, I have an extra hour of daylight this evening. Perhaps I'll be able to get something done then.
• Focus on the long term. One missed workout isn't going to be the difference between fitness and obesity, or in your ability to hit your goal in a race, or whatever.
• Something is better than nothing. I'd initially planned 800-meter repeats today. I'm still pretty tired. I might just do a regular old run. That's better than no workout at all.
• Rest is so important. You don't realize just how important until you're really in a hole like I am. 
• Focus on what's important. Keeping your family safe, happy and healthy is always priority one. Staying fit is a means to that end, not the goal in and of itself.

How do you keep up when life throws you a curveball? Comment below, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Photo credit: *~Dawn~* via Foter.com / CC BY

You Have It in You: My Awesome Half-Marathon

Yesterday was a big test for me: the 40th annual E. Murray Todd Half-Marathon.

I've vowed to run this race every year, no matter what. It's run by our county's parks department and is no frills, but it's a beautiful course, and it's extremely well organized.


It Was an Awesome Experience!
I've improved my pace significantly in the past 12 months, and I wanted to see what I could do this year. I was gunning for a PR -- to beat 1:56:36. But my goal, which I didn't really tell anyone about, was to go faster than 1:50.

That was ambitious, especially since illness had interrupted my training two weeks earlier. I was very, very nervous. I worried I'd start too fast and wind up walking, or that I wouldn't be able to hold my goal pace for 13.1 miles.

Here I am just before mile 2. (courtesy Jackie Richter)

At 10 miles, I wanted to hit 1:25, which would give me 25 minutes over the final 5k to hit my goal. I hit that at 1:24:27. I knew the PR was sewn up. That last stretch has one downhill and then about 2.5 miles of flat terrain through a park. So the question was: What do I have in me?

Around mile 9. Needed to lose the hat. (courtesy Jackie Richter)

Well, it turned out I had another gear. As other runners were flagging, I was speeding up. I ran the final 5K in 24:07 -- which would be my PR in the 5K by almost a full minute. Apparently I was moving so fast at the finish that I caught my wife by surprise and she didn't get a picture. Final time: 1:48:23. A full 8 minutes faster than my PR!

OK, so I'm bragging a little bit. But that's not really my point . Yes, I'm proud of my accomplishment. The important message, however, is in what I learned about myself.


What I Really Learned: You Are Awesome, Too!
Despite running faster than a PR pace for 10 miles, I was able to sustain a serious finishing kick. Did I want to slow down? Heck yeah. Was I worried I was going to bonk? Definitely.

But I never did. I had it in me.

And you do, too. One of the unspoken truths about being a Regular Guy is that you're actually an Extraordinary Guy. You're capable of amazing things.

• Don't sell yourself short. So many people tell me they could never do what I do in a pair of running shoes. Yes you can! I'm living proof that anyone can do this.
• Set lofty goals. Regardless of whether it's running, lifting, biking or whatever, set the bar high. You'll never find out what you're capable of if you don't.
• Keep learning. A big part of my improvement has come from making changes to my training based on what I've read. I don't have all the answers, or even that many of them. But the more I learn, the better I get.
• Work hard. Being a Regular Guy means keeping fit and living your life. But your exercise time is You Time. Make the most of it. Push yourself beyond comfortable. You owe that to yourself.
• Stay consistent. Consistency is a big key to improvement. Create a routine in your life and you don't have to rely on "motivation."

Defining Your Awesome

The winner of the race finished in about 1:11 -- 37 minutes before me. My friend Dan finished about 14 minutes ahead of me -- a PR for him, too. But that doesn't diminish how proud I am of my accomplishment.

And whatever your endeavor, what other people do isn't a reflection on you. What matters is whether you're reaching new heights for you, and how that makes you feel about yourself. When you accomplish something that you would never have thought possible, it's just tremendous.

So what is your awesome? Let's hear it in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter!

Are You Overtraining?

This is a subject I've been giving a lot of thought to.

I'd been working hard at fitness in the six months or so leading up to when I started marathon training at the top of the year. Or so I thought.

The first full week of training beat me up, mentally and physically. By day three, I could not wait for my rest day -- and I was so beat, I asked my boss to let me work from home so I could truly rest. And I began to wonder: Am I overtraining?


What Are the Signs You're Overtraining?

Experts warn of some specific symptoms of overtraining; click here and here for some of those. But I'd like to add a few more general signs that I've noticed in my own life.

• You just can't get up. I'm not talking about the usual hit-the-snooze button mornings that every Regular Guy goes through. I mean you seriously can't get your head off the pillow. Your body is asking for rest.
• Recovery seems to take forever. If you're truly working hard, you're going to have soreness. That's a badge of honor. But when it's carrying over into the next workout, and then the next, and then the next, you need to think about whether you should back off.
• You dread your workouts. I get it -- it's not always fun or easy to exercise. But if you find yourself really worried about it, maybe there's a bigger problem. This is a voluntary activity, after all. Nobody's forcing you to do it.
• Stuff you should be able to do is hard. One morning in the early fall, I found myself unable to complete a set of dumbbell presses at a manageable weight. I was tired, I had a headache, and they just wouldn't go up. The prescription: a week off from all exercise.
• Stress disorders. Exercise should be a stress reducer, not a stress inducer. Here are some physical manifestations of stress that may be signs you need to ease off the throttle:
• Generalized chest pains. (Though don't mess around with this if you're not sure.)
• Irritable bowel syndrome.
• Prostatitis.
• Tension headaches.
• Acid reflux.
• Worsening of a chronic injury (e.g., a bad back, sciatica).

What Can You Do About It?

  

The obvious advice for someone who's overtraining is to cut yourself some slack. But that's easier said than done. Obviously, you don't want to give up hard-earned fitness gains. And perhaps you're in the midst of competition-focused training, like I am for the marathon. 

So what can you do to keep your momentum but get back to feeling right?

• Dial back the intensity. Not every workout needs to be done to exhaustion, every set of lifts to failure, every run to the point of collapse. Chances are, if you're overtraining, you've hit a plateau anyway. Give your body a chance to regenerate.
• Reduce the frequency. The magic number for the average Regular Guy is three days a week at minimum. If you're not on a competition-training plan, consider working in a few more days off.
• Shorten your workouts. If you're generally exercising for an hour at a time, try a few quicker workouts. Again, it's OK if you're not completely worn out at the end.
• Take two days off. Two days off isn't going to screw anything up. It might just be the recharge you need. Most scientists agree that you don't start to lose significant fitness for at least 10 days.
• Take stock of the other stuff. Is your nutrition on target lately? Have you been getting enough sleep? Are you exerting yourself physically in other aspects of your life? Maybe you can fix things without altering your training routine at all.

Whatever You Do, Don't Just Work Through It

If your car is almost out of gas, you don't just keep driving, so you? No. You refuel -- or you run out of gas completely. Likewise, if you're truly overtrained, simply trying to work through it isn't an option. If you keep going, you're just going to be more overtrained, and at some point, your body is going to stop responding at all. Next thing you know, you'll be out of the game for weeks or even months.

This is one case where an ounce of prevention is way better than a pound of cure. So take heed, look for the signs, figure out how you can combat it, and keep on rockin'.

What Say You?

What overtraining signs have you learned to recognize? What strategies do you use to get past it? And what hasn't worked? Comment below, on Facebook or on Twitter. And if you have a friend who seems to be overtrained, share this post with him!

6 Ideas to Make New Year's Fitness Resolutions Stick

First off, let me apologize for the absence the last few weeks. Winding down the year at work and the holidays got the better of me, and I've slacked off. And though I'd like to resolve to write at least an article a week, with marathon training on my plate this winter and spring, I don't want to make promises I can't keep.

But I Do Have Something to Talk About: Resolutions

A lot of fitness writers decry New Year's resolutions. They're arbitrary. They're unrealistic. They're too easy to give up on. Sure, that stuff is true. A lifelong commitment to Keeping Fit and Living Your Life shouldn't start with a simple flip of the calendar page. A serious commitment requires a concrete plan and the discipline to stick to it. I get it.

That doesn't mean you shouldn't make a resolution.

Cliche alert: Every journey begins with a single step. You have to start somewhere. If the New Year is what pushes you out the door, that's as good as anything.


So Let's Talk About Making Resolutions Work for You

Incremental Change: Set some achievable, concrete goals, and meet them. Once you do, you can set some more. Running a marathon -- or even a 5K -- might not be in your immediate future. That's OK. Maybe for now you can find time for a 15-minute walk every day. A brisk walk, not a stroll. Or if you're not sure about joining a gym and trying to lift, check out some basic bodyweight moves, like pushups and planks. You'll get better quickly, and then you can set new goals.

Do Stuff You Like: You're not going to keep doing something you absolutely hate. That's not just a Regular Guy thing -- it's just human nature. If you dread it, you'll find every reason not to do it. So find activities you enjoy. Maybe for you that's walking, or playing basketball, or riding a bike. Or maybe it really is picking things up and putting them down. Whatever you do, don't make fitness into a punishment.

Don't Overhaul Your Diet All at Once: A lot of people are tempted to cut their calories down to some tiny amount, ramp up the protein to 300 grams a day, cut out any trace of simple carbohydrates and keep a minimum 10-foot distance from added sugar. Slow down. You're going to make yourself miserable, which means you're destined to fail. And really, unless you have at least some understanding of what you're doing, you're as likely to do harm as you are good.

Learn Some Basics: You're not going to get anywhere if you don't understand the basic principles of nutrition and fitness. You don't have to get a PubNet subscription and bury yourself in research. But find a few good resources, like this one, to learn the essentials. Do you know what a macro is? How many calories do you have to burn to lose a pound? What's the difference between HIIT and steady-state cardio? The trick to achieving a goal is knowing how to get there.

Have a Back-Up Plan: Especially during the coldest months, you may not be able to exercise the way you want to. Weather is a major issue. So is daylight, especially if you live in a rural area where there's lots of wildlife. But even setting that aside, sometimes life gets in the way. If you want to run but can't hit the roads, find a cheap gym like Planet Fatness to use the treadmills. If you just want to get your heart rate up, find a good HIIT workout you can do in your living room. If you're snowed in and were hoping to lift, figure out some bodyweight alternatives. And can we talk about cold for a minute? 35 degrees isn't cold -- you just need warmer gear. I'm a notorious baby, but it has to be in the 25 range or below to keep me indoors. (Caveat: As I write this, it's 12 degrees with a wind chill of 0. I'm not running.) Don't let circumstances derail your progress.

Think About Future You, Not Present You: Many fitness-resolution articles suggest that after people miss a few days, or have a fridge binge, they say, "Screw it, it's a lost cause." Really? I don't think people do that. My wife turned me on to this concept: "Many of the decisions we make seem to suggest that we think about our future self as a different person than the one we are today." We're wired to make ourselves happy in the now. But you do lots of things for Future You. You save for retirement. You get your car's oil changed. You wash the dishes after dinner, not just when you need something clean to eat on. I'm not suggesting you pass up every opportunity for fun or enjoyment -- as I always say, if you really want the cookie, just eat the damn cookie. Just keep Future You in mind when making all these small decisions.


Tying It All Together

The bottom line with New Year's resolutions: The more easily you can fit them into your everyday life, the more likely you are to stick with them.

• Don't bite off more than you can chew, and make sure you enjoy what you're doing. Start with some basic activity, make some small changes in your diet and don't turn it into a chore.
• Understand the why of what you're doing. Think about Future You, and learn the basics to get there. 
• Know that it's not a straight line. You need a backup plan, and sometimes, it just won't work at all. That's OK if you're consistent in the long run. 

What are you doing about your New Year's resolutions? I wanna hear from you! Leave a comment below, or sound off on Facebook or Twitter.