Big Changes!!

Hey everyone, been a while since I have posted, but a lot has happened since then!

I am a little more than 2 weeks away from being done with school at UNI. All I will have to do is defend my thesis and I will be an official Master of Exercise Physiology! Will be extremely weird not calling myself a student, but it will also be a great change. I wonder what it will feel like to go home on the weeknights or weekends and not have papers to write or study, or go to a coffee shop and just relax! I am looking forward to it!

Training has been going pretty well. Have been doing some minor base work so far, and will continue building up the hours over the next couple months, getting ready for next season.

With nothing much going on in training, I have a bunch of other stuff to say! This past weekend I traveled to Boulder, Colorado for a job interview. This is the mecca of endurance sport in the United States, and was quite the trip. I was interview for a position as a physiologist/coach for FasCat Coaching. This company is owned by Frank Overton, who is a very big household name in coaching and racing across the United States. One of his most notable athletes I believe would be Tom Zirbel. He is growing his business very well, and is in need of a full-time physiologist to conduct metabolic tests on the athletes.

It was the first time I had ever been out of the airport in Colorado, and I fell in love immediately. Spent an afternoon crusing around Boulder and investigating the city. Then had a great dinner at a cycling themed burger joint with Frank and Jason Hilmire, another coach for FasCat. I immediately realized that these two guys are awesome. Very nice, humble, and obviously very talented coaches. The next day, I went for my formal interview day at the performer center. This center is in North Boulder, and is located in an absolutely amazing place. There is an Italian restaurant, a coffee shop, bike shop, FasCat, and a Mexican dinner place in the same strip mall. Everything I would need to be happy. It was also a fun day as local pro and ex-Iowan Amanda Miller came in for her on metabolic test. It was nice to see her again, and met her coach Meredith Miller as well.

Moving on to keep this post shorter, Frank and I went to dinner before I left and flew back to Iowa. During the dinner, he offered me the job! I was so stoked, I am sure if I would have had food in my mouth, I would have choked! This is the job I have wanted my whole life. Not many recent college grads can say they have the job of their dreams right after graduating, and especially in a location such as Boulder. I will be able to coach/work with some of the best athletes in the United States, and also continue my quest as an endurance athlete. I may also try do some research with UC Boulder and get my name published in some scientific journals. It will be a great experience, and I am ready for the challenge.


*Professional Greg Henderson doing some testing (Not a bad client to work with ehh?)


It has been great living in Iowa these past 23 years, but I am ready for a change. I will experience new weather patterns, new cyclists, new food, etc. It has been great racing against everyone in Iowa, and hopefully some day I'll be able to race again at some local stuff. If anyone is ever interested in coming out to Boulder for some training, just let me know!

Time is of the essence, I move out at the end of December!!!

Cross Racing

This past weekend I decided to pack up the cross bike and head to Cedar Rapids for the Morgan Creek Park Cross Race put on by the Hawkeye Bicycle Association. This was the first team I ever belonged too, and owe the guys a lot of praise and thanks for everything they did to get me where I am at today! Another good part of the weekend, is that my parents, sister and aunt/uncle live in Cedar Rapids, and my grandparents were also down from Decorah. So I drove down Saturday after work and spent the evening with the family catching up, relaxing, watching football and having a great time.

The best part of the weekend yet was that the race was about 1 mile from my parents house! So I got up, took my time, watched the European cross race via internet stream, had a great breakfast and then road to the course to register and get my number. Was able to watch my newest coaching clients John Adamson and Kathleen Porter put in some great work in the masters races! So after, I rode home, pinned my number and had a quick bite to eat before the race, before heading back.

I haven't raced cross since last season (Jinglecross) and really haven't worked on dismounts/remounts, etc....so I went into the race with an open mind, and not expecting anything, but to have fun! I lined up with the other 25-30 riders and got rolling around 12pm. I settled into about 10th wheel after the start and tried to pick off some riders on the power sections of the course. My technical skills need some work, but weren't as bad as I thought. I did lay it down on some loose gravel half-way through the first lap, and lost about 5-10spots. I spent the next 3 laps or so picking off riders, and soon was able to catch up with Mario to battle for 3rd spot. He is a pretty good technical rider, and was able to bunny-hop the log on course and the only time I tried it, I endoed over the front of the bike. Ouch is right. So I lost time to him and never regained contact after chasing the last 2 laps, and finished with a 4th place finish. It was a fun time, and I wish I had more time to do more this season, but a poor graduate student can only work so many times during the week, and most are days on the weekend.


One thing to remember from this race! Wear gloves (my hands look like I took sandpaper to them).

It was nice to see my niece (Brooklyn). She is such a cutie, and is almost walking, but crawls all over the place! Spent the rest of the day watching the Raiders get a great win!

In other news, school is getting closer to being done. I have completed my data research and now look forward to defending my thesis and graduating with my Master of Exercise Physiology degree in December!!! Bethany and I are doing Farrell's Extreme Bodyshaping right now thank you to my client Lauri Lumm. It is a great strength routine and is going to be great for my functional strength training for next season! I am not going to lose 40lbs, but I look to tone up the body and gain some strength in the process!

That is it for now, stay tuned, as a few job opportunities have revealed themselves to me and I have a couple interviews in the next few weeks!!!!

Muscle Cramps and the Endurance Athlete

Check out this recent article I wrote for Zoom Performance on muscle cramps in endurance athletes. May be some information you didn't know about!

Exercise Cramps: how they occur and what can be done to prevent them

Article by Carson Christen, USA Cycling and Swimming Level 3 Coach, Graduate Student at UNI (Exercise Physiology)

Research presented over the previous few years has placed extreme emphasis on hydration with different solutions during events last longer than one hour. These drinks are usually simple sugar (carbohydrate) based and new market products are incorporating protein to prevent muscle degeneration. The evidence is not inaccurate, as it is very important to hydrate with something other than water during longer distance sporting events, such as Ironman, trail running, and RAAM. Recent research is taking a different approach to muscle cramps and have presented some new evidence as to the causes of these un-desired events.

Cramps Defined

An exercise-associate muscle cramp (EAMC) can be defined as “an involuntary painful skeletal muscle spasm that occurs during or immediately after physical exercise” (Schwellnus, Drew, & Collins, 2010, p. 1). I have had these cramps occur during important stages of a race, and they affect an athlete physically and psychologically. This study looked at 210 participants of Ironman South Africa to look at risk factors of EAMC. After this study was conducted, researchers found that factors other than hydration and heat play a factor in muscle cramping. Athletes who responded as getting muscle cramps both predicted they would complete the Ironman faster than the non-cramping group, and also exercised at a greater speed. The kicker is there were no significant differences in training volume or intensity for the two groups. There were also no significant differences in body weight and electrolyte levels from pre- to post-race measurements. Cramping athletes also responded as getting more cramps over their last 10 races then the non-cramping group. Researchers made the observation that muscle fatigue, and a previous history of cramping are more potent risk factors for muscle cramping.

Apply the Knowledge

With evidence suggesting that dehydration and electrolyte balance are not the sole causes of muscle cramps, what does that mean for us as athletes? This doesn’t mean you can ignore your hydration levels during a long distance event such as Ironman, but should also pay close attention to your training. If muscle fatigue is in fact a large part of EAMC, then it is important that an athlete not try to race at a pace much greater than one they train at. This seems like a no-brainer, but it happens about 80% of the time. It takes a lot of hard work and self-discipline to not become overwhelmed by race day or the paces of others, it is important to race your race! If your training for a race at a bike speed of 18.0mph and a run speed of 10:00min/mile, there is no reason you should be racing at 22:00mph and 8:30min/mile on race day. This will likely because the muscle fatigue/cramping towards the end of the event as was found from this scientific study.

Conclusion

So in conclusion, long distance events like Ironman or RAAM are extremely fun and rewarding accomplishments. It is an athlete and coaches’ responsibility to make sure an athlete is training at a level they can accomplish in a race to prevent over-pacing and causing excess muscle fatigue. It is also very important to remember, this study does not say that hydration and electrolyte levels are not key factors to success. You need to make sure you stay properly hydrated and fueled as well. If you can control these key elements to prevent exercise-associated muscle cramps, you will have the opportunity to produce the best race you can, and also have fun!! Make sure to practice these plans prior to race day so you know what works and what does not! Most of all, have fun and race hard!

References

Schwellnus, M. P., Drew, N., & Collins, M. (2011). Increased running speed and previous cramps rather than dehydration or serum sodium changes predict exercise-associated muscle cramping: A prospective cohort study in 210 Ironman athletes. British Journal of Sports Medicine, 45, 650-656.

Off-Season

Well my season has been cut short by an injury. Was planning on dominating the Olympic distance this weekend at the Peregrine Charities Triathlon. Was really pumped for it a couple weeks ago, but after my great first running race ever, I discovered that I had injured my SI joint. This is the first time I have ever had to cut something short because of an injury, and it is quite disheartening. With all my years of swimming, nothing ever happened, except for a small bout of inflammation junior year which was taken care of quickly. My body felt ready, but really wasn't ready to handle a 6 mile road race as fast as you can go.....so that is something I'll learn from.

This joint attaches your sacrum and illium, and boy did it ever hurt. I went to the chiropractor this past week for some adjustments and he discovered via standing x-ray that I actually have an 8mm shorter right leg. So I now have an 8mm heel lift in my shoes. This made my hips even again, and feels better.

Unfortunately, I went out and tried to run yesterday and didn't even make it a block before I had to call it quits. So this adds insult to the all-ready lackluster season I had...speaking of the bike. I'll offer a recap at some point, but I wish the year would have gone better, just never had any luck, and a bout of over-training did me in as well.

But on the bright side, I'll take a week or so recovery and gear up for some cyclocross action. Had a great time last year, and its a great way to stay in shape! I have been swimming very consistently, and I am starting to feel really good in the water again. This will hopefully help a lot with next season!

In other news, my thesis is coming along nicely and I hope to be graduated in December. As for plans after that, no idea!! Bethany and I are toying with idea of moving to Des Moines so I can be more involved with the Zoom and Z3 families. A couple of awesome opportunities are also in the works, and could be amazing job opportunities. More to come later!

Park to Park 10km

Long overdue update!

Been a long time since the state road race fiasco. School has started, and I am really enjoying my one and only class, muscle physiology. For my research topic this semester, I am studying exercise-associate muscle cramping (EAMC) that is often experienced by endurance athletes during the later stages of a race. Kind of interesting, it happened to me a little bit over a month ago! I am also continuing to work on my thesis, which is going awesome, I am really enjoying testing the kids and getting results. I will be done with coursework in December, and hope to also have my thesis defended then as well! Then it will be on to the real world!

I took part in my first running road race yesterday during the Park to Park 5k, 10k, and half-marathon. It was a lot of fun, with over 1300 athletes competing! I didn't know what to expect as I prepared on race day, and during the race. I figured a high fiber meal right before hand wouldn't have been good, so I stuck to cereal and a banana. I was off to George Wyth State Park at 6:15am and ready to race by 6:45. I got a 10min warmup in with a couple pickups. I lined up towards the end of the 7:00-7:30 pace line, hoping to maintain around a 7:20min/mile. Soon we were off, and after the first mile, I was at 7:10 and feeling really good. So I picked up the pace a bit and by mile 2, I had been at 6:55. WOW!!!! I was under 7min/mile pace, but could I hold it. The 10km race split from the half/5k and I was soon in a land by myself with only 1 guy and 1 girl ahead of me. I caught the guy in front of me, and then the lady at the turn around. My heart rate was still doing very well, at around 180bpm(Threshold) as I turned for home. As I made contact with the trail back to the finish line, 5k runners were on the trail and I made it a point to catch as many as possible. I sprinted for the line and finished with a time of 43:20. This time gave me a pace of 6:59min/mile! I was so stoked with this!! Couldn't believe how well I had done, for never running before in my life until about 4 weeks ago!

I ended up 4th place overall out of 62men, and 179 total 10km runners. I did win my age group by 40 seconds! The next Pre? I highly doubt it, but it gives me a lot of confidence that I can continue to improve my running this winter!

So what is up next? I am doing the Peregrine Charities Olympic Distance triathlon next weekend. I did the Pigman earlier this year, and had a lot of fun, and this is exactly what I am looking to do here. HAVE FUN! No pressure on myself, just go out and give everything I can. Swimming has been coming back to me, and feeling good, cycling is cycling and the running is coming around! I am stoked for the challenge!!!

Until next time! Live each day to its fullest!