Happy New Years Eve

Tomorrow we can truly say is the first day of the rest of our lives. I for one have some changes I want to make. New Years, is our traditional time for new beginnings. I want to put more intensity into everything I do. I want to strive to be the best I can be in every part of my life. I want to be the best person, the best husband, the best athlete and the best friend that I'm capable of being. I want to live, train, love, even laugh with more passion. I want this to be a not a New Year where I did everything new but the year I started doing everything better.

Can the decisions you make today make a difference in your life? Sure they can. When you can believe that your life has meaning and potential, you can go forth toward your destiny with the confidence that you are worthy. The important thing is to make sure your new goals are realistic. If you put impossible demands on your life you are setting your self up for failure. Some people unconsciously do that on purpose because they don't believe in themselves and expect failure. So when they do fail they can say it was just to much.

What you can do is make a commitment to change your attitude first and then your actions. If you do everything you do with the confidence that, if you do it, it's worth doing and it's worth the best you have to give. So many people do the minimum necessary to get through each day. Most of those people don't take much pride in anything. Be more like a craftsman that makes things and considers each of their creations worthy of their best efforts.

The people who stand out from the crowd are not always the most beautiful or the most talented but the people who live everyday with passion and desire to be the best they can be. There is a saying that "Hard work will beat talent, if talent doesn't work hard". That is true for everything we do, if we give it our best then it will always be enough. There is never shame in failing when you gave it all you had to give. That lesson is one that athletes must always remember. If you held nothing back and came up short then you were victorious regardless of the score.

Thank you for reading.

Intense Panda

What the heck happened?

I know we have all gone through them, those times when you figure that your lucky star must have gone Nova and blinked out. When everything seems to be going south faster than you could ever catch up. It's bad enough when it happens to you but it can be just as bad when it's happening to a good friend or family member.

We never know what, why or when life will jack slap us. Erica had a hard lesson in this about 7 years ago. She is an RN and at the time she was taking a break from being a staff nurse in a hospital, she was the head nurse at a nursing home. I got a call from her at work and she asked if I could come and get her as she had hurt herself. When I arrived I found that she had injured her back giving a patient in one of those low beds a shot. She couldn't even stand let alone walk.

This started a 2 year period of no income from her and we had to live on my much lower pay, with bills enough for two incomes. We survived that and came away stronger knowing we can cut back everything and go into survival mode. But it was tough real tough. The stress of trying to make ends meet was a constant monster living with us. Once she was healed and could go back to work it took years to pay off the debts and to get us close to where we were before the accident.

We never know when something like that will happen and we can never completely plan for the disasters that can come up. But what we can do is keep our friends and family if we have them close. There is a saying that you can measure a person's worth, not by the size of their bank account but by the number of people who call you friend. Real friends are there for you in the rough times as well as the good.

Have you been putting off calling a friend to say hi, how about a family member you have been thinking about getting closer to again? Remember to have a friend you have to be one. Keep those friends in your life you need them as much as they need you.

Thanks for reading.

Friendly Panda

Good Sunny Winter Morning

For a while now it's been cloudy and gray outside and looking so winter. Today is a wonderful bright sunny day, still a little chilly but the sun makes up for that 10 fold. It's amazing how much a bright sunny day can make you feel so much better yourself. It's like a fog has been lifted and you can see clearly again.

We will take advantage of it with a 10 mile walk in the warming sunshine. There is a saying that a bad day of fishing is better than even the best day of working. That works for walkers and runners also. A walk especially on a day like this is some of the best of times. Unfortunately most of us must work in order to finance our eating habit. There was a time that I enjoyed my work so much I hated to see the work day end. That was when I was the First Sgt of the base hospital. Of course a lot of my day was running and exercising with my troops.

One of the things you have to remember about walking and running this time of year is that a warm up is even more vital with it's cold out than when it's a warm day. I know that sounds like a no brainer but a lot of us athletes get to feeling we are invincible and do things when we should have known better. Your muscles need to warm up slowly and gently, a sudden burst of speed or other such act when you haven't warmed properly can side line you for a while with a strain or worse a pull.

I have discovered this bit of wisdom the hard way. I was watching a squadron football game in 40 degree weather when I was stationed in Okinawa. The running back for the team was hurt when he sprained his ankle stepping in a hole on the field. So I went in to replace him. Being young and strong and stupid I ran right out there and a few plays later got the the hand off and took of. I tore my right hamstring pretty badly. I had a huge bruise there on the upper back of my leg for about a week and about a month of healing before I could do even brisk waking without discomfort.

This goes for any type of sport, warming up is for all your muscles not just your legs. Your arm muscles need warm up before you do any racket sports. Especially important is warming up before stretching. Do not EVER stretch cold. You can do dynamic stretching (gentle swinging of your legs and arms, through out the full range of motion) is fine but the classic static stretching can leave you hurting if you go at it cold.

I hope everyone is having a bright sunny day the way we are here in Southern Kentucky.

Thanks for reading.

Sun Loving Panda

Thank God it's New Years!

This last year has been a challenge for a lot of us. I for one am glad to see it come to an end. With the economy such a roller coaster all year we are still wondering, "Just what the heck happened". The news is more grim everyday, we hear about bank and cooperate executives, stock brokers and auto industry employees raking in sinful amounts of money while our country goes into a depression. We were scared by gas prices going to over $4.00 a gallon and we saw more and more big stores and companies either close or go to Mexico for the cheap labor. It's enough to make you run screaming into the night. Just how the heck are we supposed to cope with all the ugly things going on all around us.

To start with we can continue to believe in ourselves and not lose sight of our own self worth. The old year is almost over, look at the new year as an opportunity to make some changes you need to. We can't do anything about the bad news all around us or can we? We don't have to buy into the negative. This is a good time to do some introspection and find out just where you stand on things. Give it some thought, get some more information about some of the things going on and see what you think.

I have a personal mission, if you can call it that, to do something about what I see is wrong with our wonderful country. I see an epidemic of unhealthy living. I'm standing strong in my beliefs that it doesn't have to be that way. I also see a down turn in our compassion and our morals. I don't like the way the popular 'prime time' viewing on TV is reality shows that dwell on the pain, suffering or humiliation of others. There is a book written my Steven King called 'The Long Walk", where teenage boys walk from Maine to the coast, when a boy falls behind the required pace they are shot for the viewing pleasure of the Television audience. Is that the direction we are headed?

I for one don't watch those shows. As the saying goes "I vote with my feet". If I don't like a show or a store or a product etc... I don't support it with my time or money. My business isn't going to make any difference by it's self but if enough people stopped supporting the things they didn't agree with it would. Notice that McDonald's isn't hurting in the slightest during this slow economy?

I'm a believer in the concept that we can make a difference. We certainly can make a difference in our own lives and the lives of our families. We can choose to be in better health and save a lot of money on medical bills. We can control what we watch and what we buy. We can live or life by our rules and our own morals. There are so many people out there that are looking to be "entertained", because their lives are so dull and meaningless. They are just going through the motions. When you take charge of your life you'll find that you don't have the time for the canned entertainment any more, you are to busy living.

My challenge for everyone this coming year is to make a decision to live by your rules and morals and don't be lead around by the nose. Be the master of yourself and be in control of your life. If you follow a religion then buy into it all the way, don't just think about living right on Sunday.

Thank you for reading.

New Beginnings Panda

Target Pace

I'd like to mention something for Danno and anyone else going into the marathon or even the half without the training you would like to have. It will take you longer to get in your grove on race day. Plan on a longer warm up period when the race starts. Then when you do finally get into your planned pace if after 10 min or so it's still a struggle, back off on the speed for a while, a half mile or so, then get back up to pace and see how it feels. What ever you do DO NOT get to your planned pace, realize it feels to hard and panic. I promise if you back off a little and then go back to it after your warmed up good, it will feel better. Normally when we are training regularly a mile is plenty of warm up but if it's been hit or miss training then it could take 3 miles to get the grove. So don't panic it will come, just be patient.

I was reminded of that this morning. I went to the treadmill for the first time since last Friday. I had done a little mall walking on Monday but the crowds made it a little too interesting. I did my half mile warm up at 3.5 mpm and then a half mile at 4 mph, (15 min per mile). That is usually plenty to get me ready. So I went to my target pace for the marathon, 4.5 mph, since I was doing it with some friends that were not as fast I was planning this as our catch up pace to average 15 mpm. Well I did a half mile at the 4.5 mph which is usually very easy for me. I was struggling and started wondering what the heck is going on here, I couldn't have lost that much fitness after only a week. So I dropped back and did 4.0 mph for another half mile. After that I moved back up to 4.5 mph and this time it felt smooth and easy like it should.

Another thing to remember is that the stretching is even more vital when your training isn't as regular as you would like. Keeping the muscles free of lactic acid goes a long way toward keeping your muscles strong and maintaining their fitness. Stretching should always be part of your work out anyway but now more than ever. It's also a good time to be regular with the massage. If you can't get a pro to work you over you can still do a pretty darn good job with a stick or rolling pin. I had a patient the other day stop in for an adjustment and he was complaining about hip pain. He had strained his ankle and the act of limping around had inflamed his IT Band and maybe his hip flexor on the strong side. I told him about using a rolling pin to work it out. He called the next day to thank me for the advice, he said it stopped hurting and he was walking much better.

I hope everyone got some good walking/running stuff for Christmas. It helps to keep you motivated if you have new toys or fun new clothes. Many years ago I think about 1980, I got a Timex watch for Christmas. It was one of those that had a full calculator on the front. It also had a pacing feature. It would beep and you coordinated you pace to where your left foot hit the ground with the beep. You could set the pace where you wanted it and also increase it as you warmed up. It was awesome, that was the best pacing feature I have ever had. I have looked for years for another watch with a beeping pacer and have never found one. I was able to use that to train for a couple of years and then it quit working. That $25 watch taught me a lot about training and pacing.

Everyone doing the Disney in 2 weeks good luck and I'll see you there.

Thanks for reading.

Pacing Panda

Merry Christmas

Sorry I have been MIA the last few days but work has been hectic. I'm off tomorrow for Christmas, although Erica does work till 7am. This Christmas I'm going to think of friends who are going through hard times. You hear on the news about how rotten the economy is, about how horrid the job market is and how much the housing values have fallen. It kinda goes in one ear and out the other till it starts effecting your close friends.

We don't understand as much about life as we sometimes think we do. It's easy to be objective when you are not being knocked senseless by it. Once you are and it can happen to any of us when we least expect it, it's hard to cope. Hard times can effect you in ways you didn't see coming. To start with the stress is a beast, it can consume you. When you are under the weight of such stress you strike out at what you value most, the ones you love. When married couples fight it's usually not about the real problem but a result of the enormous weight you have on your shoulders.

What can you do about it? Well to start with you can try to keep under control by constantly reminding your self that neither you or your spouse caused the problem. You have to fight it as a team. When you can work on it together you can come up with better solutions. When you fight all you do is blow off steam and you still have the problems to face.

Right now we have to invent new ways of coping and new solutions. Most of us are not hardened to face the problems that are looming out there. But we do have friends and loved ones we can rely on. We just have to believe it. We are often pretty dumb when it comes to asking for help. We just sort of expect others to read through our bad moods and realize what we need.

This Christmas make sure you reach out and touch those friends and family members who are your life support system. You need them and they you.

Thanks for reading

Panda.

Marathon Weekend

Those of us doing the Disney Half and/or Full Marathon are within 3 weeks of show time now. Most, depending on what plan you are using should be in taper mode. Taper means the cut back and rest period before the race. About this time most have legs that have residual aches and pains, this is normal. The goal now is to get your legs feeling fresh and energized by race time. Right now is the time to make sure you stretch everyday if you haven't been all along. Doing a daily or even several times a day self massage is good also. If you have a stick or rubber/foam roller now is the time to get regular with it.

When you start with fresh legs the last few miles will still be difficult but not anywhere near as bad as you probably feel now after a long run/walk. You recover faster also. Should you exercise during this 'taper period'? Sure but not anything extreme. Remember we talked about the way to build: Stress your muscles, rest them and repeat. Well now it's more warm up good do some exercise at a much less strenuous pace and not nearly so long. I don't do anything over 8 miles easy during this period. The time for the long building miles are over, you gain more by being fresh now.

A funny thing about taper is you feel guilty about now doing as much. This year for us it's so cold that we don't wanna go outside anyway. It's 5 degrees outside right now so a few miles on the treadmill and some light weight training is all we want anyway.

Big caution here, "Warning Warning" you are not not working as hard so you don't need to be eating like you were. That can be the biggest challenge for most of us. We got used to eating more because we were putting in so many miles. If you have been thinking about going to a little different eating like semi vegetarian or as in my case just fish, chicken and turkey for my meats, now is the time to do it. Keep the calories where they need to be. I never count calories I just make sure my meals are healthy and low fat.

The last week before the marathon is usually a time for major sessions of self dought. Don't fall in that trap, you are ready, relax and get ready to have a great adventure, one that you will never forget.

Thanks for reading.

Taper Panda