Class at 7:30 am Friday (11/4) is cancelled. 5:30 pm is still on and bring your outside running gear because we will be running in the cold!

"Off season"...doesn't mean, "ruin all you've worked for"

The last ‘big’ races/events are over for the season – triathlons, cycling, marathons, the Games – all done for another year.  It’s officially the ‘off-season’; the time for our bodies to rest, recover, and start preparing for the next go.  While the ‘off-season’ is commonly associated with athletes, it truly applies to all of us.  During the summer months we tend to be more active, eat differently, and in general are much more conscious of how we look, feel, and perform.  When the fall and winter months roll in we tend to ‘hibernate’.  It’s darker, colder, our clothes are baggier, the holiday eating season rears its head, and exercise takes a back seat.  Yep, it’s the ‘offseason’ for pretty much everyone – and while it does give our bodies a break it also sets us up for a massive spring ‘dig-out’ to recover from the time off and overly indulgent eating.  So hardcore athletes, average Joe’s, and paleo newbies listen-up.  The ‘offseason’ doesn’t have to set you up for extra work later; in fact, if you’re smart, you’ll use it to prepare yourself for next season and come out stronger and healthier than you were during the last go-round.

The “Get ‘On’ in the ‘Off’-season” Game Plan:

Step 1:  Set your goals and make a plan.  Look back at last season (or the last 5-10 years) and review what was good and what needs improvement.  For athletes, average Joes, and paleo newcomers alike, things to work on might include an aspect of training or exercise (strength, endurance, start workout program, etc.), nutrition/diet hurdles (weight loss, weight gain, eating for energy, improving a heath condition, dialing in training diet, etc.), life balance (family, work, fun, etc.) or something else.  Decide what you want to accomplish and set your priorities.

Step 2:  Enlist help.  Okay, this is where the experts come in.  Whether it’s a coach to help develop your training program, a Paleo Dietitian to help get your nutrition dialed in, or a life coach/mentor to assist in finding life balance; get the help you need now – don’t wait until next season.  This is the perfect time to work on your weaknesses and get everything dialed in!

Step 3:  Evaluate your progress often.  It’s easy to get lazy during the winter and holiday seasons.  What starts as one treat easily becomes six or seven; one or two missed workouts turns into a month of ‘couch surfing’; and jeans migrate to sweat pants with elastic waistbands.  This is not the direction we want things to move!  If you find yourself slipping -don’t quit!  Regroup, refocus and jump back in!  Use your ‘support team’ – coaches, Paleo Dietitians, etc. to hold you accountable.  Stick to the plan!

Step 4:  Don’t succumb to guilt.  It’s perfectly fine to decrease your training (in fact in many cases a little rest will help things), enjoy some holiday treats (some, being the KEY word here), and just veg out a little during the dark winter months.  Just don’t let a couple of cookies or a missed workout or two make you feel guilty and drive you into a downward spiral that ultimately ends in giving up.  Really focus on enjoying treats, time off, and a break from the busyness of the summer season.  Whatever you do DON’T let a few ‘off’ days make you throw in the towel.  Two cookies do not equal failure – two dozen cookies per day for two weeks – and we’ve got some problems…  Food and exercise should never control you or your life.  The steering wheel is yours – a couple left turns won’t hurt as long as you turn right a majority of the time!

Step 5:  If you follow steps one through four, you’re going to come out an ‘ off-season’ champion!  You will find yourself ready to take on the challenges of next season.  Your weak links will be stronger, nutrition will be dialed in, and trying on bikinis for spring break will actually be enjoyable for a change!

7:30 am class is cancelled. 5:30 still on

Whats Your Target Look Like?

Everything has its place in the target. Even like Starrett’s piece on mobility and knowing where he prioritizes and moves out. You must understand where you suck or are weak and focus on this first. If your hamstrings are your worst part of mobility, than that becomes the A priority and we move out. Spend the most time on Hammy’s, or squatting correctly, or deadlifting heavy, or the things that surround why your deadlift sucks. Maybe you need to run short hard intervals because you run long every other day (maybe remove the things that are making you shitty at this. i.e., running long every other day or sexy met cons every odd day)… maybe you need to go to 20m sprints, it doesn’t matter. What does matter, is if you are playing with reality or not. Exploit weakness, train it with purpose and watch what happens. Just don’t fall into that place where you get really good at being a sprinter and cant run that 5k or 10k well anymore, because then… we just flip the target around and start all over again.


If you know you're a heel striker and feel it is substantially creating adverse results, make it priority A and then work out from there into your other realms of suckage.

SMR vs Stretching

This Friday we spent almost the entire class doing intensive self-myofascial release (SMR) and figured out what each other's favorite pain faces were.  Hopefully everyone will learn to love that pain face and the many benefits of SMR

Self-myofascial release using a foam roller (or lacrosse ball, etc) keeps muscles from tightening up and exerting more force than your bones can tolerate.  The golgi tendon organ (GTO) exists in the muscle to monitor muscular tension.  When that tension reaches a peaking point, where there’s a high risk of injury, the GTO causes that muscle to relax.  A foam roller can stimulate the GTO, and in turn, allow you to stretch more effectively, and give you a greater range of motion.

Stretching a muscle can increase its length, but only with self-myofascial release does the issue of muscle tone get addressed.  Muscles can be full of scar tissue and soft tissue adhesions, or knots.  Think of knots in a muscle as knots in a rope.  If one were to pull on a rope with a knot in it, i.e. stretch a muscle that hasn’t been relaxed with a foam roller, the knot will simply tighten.  In order to lengthen the rope, the knot must first be taken out, meaning the muscle has to be inhibited and in a state of relaxation prior to lengthening.

There are various ways in which self-myofascial release can be applied.  Sports massages and other deep-tissue modalities are effective in bringing about desired change.  Unfortunately, from a convenience and financial outlook, going to a massage therapist may not be the most efficient way to address tissue imbalances.  Self-myofascial release with a foam roller can provide an inexpensive, convenient, and effective way to reduce scar tissue accumulation and adhesions, as well as provide other benefits.

 In summary, there are many benefits to using self-myofascial release techniques such as a foam roller.  Those who are able to consistently and meticulously address their body will see an increased range of motion and improved mobility, reduction of scar tissue and adhesions, decreased tone of overactive muscles, and an improved quality of movement.  Although it may be painful at first to those who aren’t used to the sensation of a foam roller, self-myofascial release has proven to be an important addition to any training regimen whose goals are to increase athletic ability, decrease the risk of injury, and improve physical appearance.  As someone who has seen firsthand an improvement across the board with my training simply by taking the time to address my issues at the neurological level, I highly suggest the addition of SMR to one’s training regimen.

(Sunday, Oct 16th) And so it begins!

First classes start this Monday (Oct, 17th).  Don't forget to check the updated schedule for the practice times.

What to bring to class:
Running shoes
Whatever you're comfortable running in

I also advise that you buy a metronome for pacing purposes we will be addressing.  These will be very very helpful to channel proper run cadence to maximize our muscle elasticity while running

Hope you all had a solid weekend and got out to enjoy the awesome weather!

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Sign ups

Thanks to those who came this weekend! Hope you all enjoyed the clinic!

The first skills/technique class starts next Monday, the 17th. The schedule that was given out at the clinic was not correct so check out the correct schedule under the schedule page! So sign ups for the program are open to those that want to start! Contact Tim to sign up.  If there are any questions you can contact Kirk and he address any questions or concerns that you may have about the program.

We look forward to getting this Endurance Program up and running (pun intended!)

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