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Vitesse Press Blog
Fitness advice and examples from Vitesse Press
Tag >> training
Over the years, one of my best exercise motivators is to look ahead and pre-register for a road race. Even though I’m pretty far back in the pack these days, looking forward to a race definitely improves the quality of my training. I work a little harder, perhaps a little longer. It’s probably the frugal Vermonter in me – “I sent my money in and damn it, I’m going to do that race.”
The roads and sidewalks in upstate Vermont have just recently got cleared and runners are out in force. (Of course, die-hard folks training for Boston have been running in snow, sleet, and freezing rain all winter.) As I start to get my legs accustomed to the pounding of running once again, I began to look ahead. We are going to Massachusetts after Easter and perhaps I can coax my daughter into running a race with me. (One of my joys is to be able to run in races with all three of our kids -- and hopefully before long, with our grandkids.)
 I go to Cool Running for race schedules but also check local running clubs like the Merrimack Striders in MA. I found a race that sounds too interesting to miss, a 5K in Ipswich called: Chase the Gorilla Down Argilla. I’ve checked it out online and it may be my next race.
As an aside, one of the coolest races I ever did was a 5K in rural Gillett, Pennsylvania called “Monkey Run Down.” It was all downhill on a road called Monkey Run Road. There was a school bus ride to the start -- or you could jog up -- and it was by far, the fastest race I ever did. The hand carved award has been lost in moves, but the memory of flying down the race course is a fond one. We’ll see about the Gorilla course, somehow I think it will be tougher.
Of course, goals don’t have to be road races or don’t have to involve competition or money. It can be “let’s hike to Lost Pond next month” or a walkathon, a charity bike tour, or a xc ski tourathon. It’s good for most of us to have some sort of target up ahead to motivate us. What works for you?
Finding Time for Fitness: priority & planning with a dog keep a log If you enjoyed this article, then please subscribe to our RSS feed or via email to receive all the updates
I ran wearing my heart rate monitor today for the first time in ages. Of course, I forgot to moisten the chest sensors enough so five minutes into the run when the watch was going from 60 bpm to 175 and back, I stopped, took off my shirt, smeared saliva on it, and off we go. Real classy way to start an outing -- it’s a good thing we live on a back dirt road.
 Back when heart rate monitors first came into vogue, back in the 80’s, I used one a lot for training. Of course, then as now, the plain vanilla way to estimate maximum heart rate (so that you could then train at 75% or whatever) was to take 220 and subtract your age. (226 for women) But it was well-known that the results were very rough and individuals could vary a great deal -- so it was good to calculate your personal maximum and go from there. I remember doing steep hill repeats using ski poles and just before collapsing, reading the watch. And then adding a few beats for good measure and going from there. These days, it’s ok to try that in a treadmill test with professionals monitoring but my days of charging up hills to get a “do-it-yourself” max reading a long over. I’m not aiming for a tombstone etching, “His max heart rate was 160.”
From Bicycling Magazine: New research shows that listening to upbeat music can help you burn an extra 40 calories per hour.  "Every gym-junkie already knows it, but listening to fast music helps you get a better workout, according to new research published in the Journal of Exercise Physiology-online. In a study that compared volunteers exercising to fast, slow, or no music, the fast-music group burned more calories..." (read more) If you enjoyed this article, then please subscribe to our RSS feed or via email to receive all the updates
Fitness trainers and coaches all suggest that you keep track of your exercise. It's something I've done for decades, using paper pads, special logbooks, Excel spreadsheets, a Franklin Planner, and now, electronically on MacJournal. I find that documenting what I did, how I felt, where I was, and special events helps me mix up my workouts and also allow me to compare times for specific running routes. At times, I don't look at logs for weeks but, on a cold March night, it can be fun to read about last July's runs on hot, humid days or the hike where you fought mosquitoes all day. Yeah, I know -- get a life -- but it beats reality TV. One of the more intriguing systems these days is the online systems for running, hiking, cycling, and triathlon training at MapMyFitness. You can map your training routes, keep a log, track calories, share with friends, and keep track of all sorts of records. Here is a map I did of a run in our town:
 Another winter cold, probably exacerbated by the wood stoves, and I'm feeling like the last thing I want to do is workout. But, I remembered a New York Times piece that I referred to on my old blog. It said in part:
"YOU have what seems to be a really bad cold. You are coughing and sneezing, and it is hard to breathe. Should you work out?
And if you do, should you push yourself as hard as ever or take it easy? Will exercise have no effect, or make you feel better or worse?..." Read articleI guess it's time to get on the wind trainer and ride for a while, sniffling all the way. There seem to be different schools of thought on this ... what works for you?
My friend Linda Freeman recently had both hips replaced. She writes about it in this moving article:  "There are both expected and unexpected events in life with which to deal. Some blindside us as calamities. Some are simply goals established that need to be met. Some include negative stress, some include positive stress. Some are completely out of any sort of control.
Based on recent personal experience, I believe that there is a positive link between training and the challenges presented by injury, surgery and rehabilitation.
Each of us, at some point in our lives, will face disappointment, discouragement, accident, loss or illness — often caused by factors out of our control and requiring courage and energy to combat. I have just experienced eight months of physical challenges, resulting in surgery, and have some thoughts I'd like to share.
Because of my previous life as a professional ballet dancer, I had badly damaged hips. Notwithstanding, I had switched careers to that of a fitness professional-athlete and have devoted the past 20 years to teaching and living a strong and healthy lifestyle. Those 20 years have rewarded me with huge interest.
When it became apparent that the degeneration in my hips was no longer tolerable, I was scheduled for bilateral, total hip replacements. Yup, as we say in Vermont, that's right: I had both hips replaced. And that's where the 20 years of regular strength training, good nutrition and a healthy lifestyle have come home to benefit me...." (read complete article)
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training