Friday's Quick Intervals

Friday, January 10, 2014 · Mike Davis

Fill that mug up to the brim, pull up a stool and have coffee with me. There's nothing like the ritual of having coffee with a friend. This morning I placed one of my various coffee mugs on the Keurig, pressed the appropriate button to get the coffee rolling and went about setting up my computer. When I went back to grab my mug the coffee was one drop from spilling over! Some days it the Keurig fills the cup barley 2/3rds and today it gives me my moneys and then some. I often miss a coffee pot. I for one am glad to see the 'Polar Vortex' moving on. I often speak proudly of running in some of the coldest of weather, but this week took it to another level of cold! We ran Monday and Thursday, but passed on a Tuesday run. There might have been a time when I felt like I let myself down by missing a run, but no longer is that the case. Tomorrow I get a good run in and that will give me 3 good runs for the week along with a couple strength training days so overall I will be pleased with my week. I find it a whole lot more motivational and enjoyable when I revel in what I accomplished and not worry about what I missed. Now hold on clients of mine or those that are training for a race. I am not expounding the concept of being okay with missing training days regularly because that may not be helpful, but if missing a run or a workout happens, be okay with it but keep your eye on the goal. In my case any goal I might have is 9 months away so the pressure is minimal to hit every scheduled run. Yesterday's run was great and the weather wasn't a factor at all thanks to the New Balance cool max half zip that my wife got for me at the Portsmouth Runners Alley. That thing is amazing and kept me comfortable the whole time. We did a 5 miler on the Tradeport out in Newington, out toward the Wildlife Refuge. If you haven't run out that way, you really need to run out there. The road is being worked on, but they have added bike lanes that give you lots of room but that's really not needed because there's very little traffic. There's on hill that is longer than it is steeper but it is a good hill for training. My suggestion is that you park at the Wildlife Refuge and run toward Portsmouth and then back. Very nice and worth trying. I am into day 8 of my "Intermittent Fasting" and I honestly couldn't give you an opinion at this point. I am not necessarily happy with my eating outside of the hour I’m not fasting but that is also a work in progress. This week I have gone back to eliminating deserts during the week and will try to narrow that down to one day on the weekend. I had my annual physical this week and I was told this: "Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!" Despite having very few perfect weeks in 2013, I am happy that running and strength training make a difference. Yesterday morning (5:30am!), I met with a client that has been with NFLR for over a year now and her health has improved immensely! Previously she had been on high dosages of meds to control blood pressure and some other issues and she has reduced her dosages to barley nothing with some. How sweet is that! Nice to know that we have assisted in helping this woman, but truly at the end of the day she gets it done. Tuesday I went to the Newington NH Starbucks after work to meet my daughter Jennifer for coffee and while waiting for her I ran into Jim Flynn. Jim is a great inspiration in that he is an older gentlemen yet he is still running and skis as well. I have had Jim in a couple of my past training groups and he is always fun to have around. Jim was also the first person to participate in our gait analysis charity event back in November and he shared a great post gait testimony with me. His words: "You know Mike, I ran the New Year’s 5K race in Portsmouth and because of the temperature I was forced to stop 4 times to get my wind. However, after getting my gait analysis and some instruction I actually had a better time than previous 5Ks." Well if that doesn't show the value of gait analysis! We spend a great deal of time looking at each foot strike, leg swing and arm motion and then spend even more time giving instruction on how to improve in various aspects of their gait. Listening to Jim give his testimonial was awesome and I truly enjoyed working with him. This weekend’s weather in the Dover, Portsmouth and Seacoast looks much warmer so while we may get a little wet, we should be much warmer. Hope you can get out and run! Thanks for having coffee with me and have a great weekend!