An evening with the US Women's Olympic ski jump team

I should start this by saying I recognize how incredibly lucky I've been to have the opportunity to not just meet, but work out alongside, Olympic athletes. You might remember my swim with Nathan Adrian a few years ago before the 2012 Olympics in London. I certainly remember it well. Now, thanks to the Got Chocolate Milk? campaign who sponsors many of the athletes who represent the US on the world's stage, I was able to meet 3 more. Last week I had the absolute honor of spending time with the very talented and hardworking Alissa Johnson, Abby Hughes and Nina Lussi of the ski jump team, all hoping for an opportunity to jump (or FLY) in Sochi in February 2014. This is an incredibly special year for the women of the ski jumping world, not only are they going for gold, but 2014 is the first time that women will be allowed to compete in the Olympics alongside the men who have been jumping since the time of skiing in wool sweaters in Norway.
The fight has been epic, to say the least. The women of the US ski jumping community have been battling the IOC (International Olympic Committee) since their quest began in earnest back in 2002. In Vancouver the team sued the IOC for discrimination against women, but the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled in favor of the IOC, crushing their dreams yet again. There's a heartbreaking moment in the documentary "Ready to Fly" when Lindsay Van finds out they've lost the case and a reporter asks her what she has to say to the young female ski jumpers of the world and through tears she says "not to do it, there's no future." It's crushing to hear the #1 ski jumper in the world say that about her beloved sport. Luckily for those future jumpers, Lindsay and her teammates never gave up the fight and the women will jump in Sochi.

                                   

Lucky for me too because I got the chance to see some of these graceful, strong women in action on a recent visit to NYC. Alissa, Abby and Nina were gracious, fun and energetic last Wednesday evening despite having spent the day doing interviews all over the city. The ladies and their coach, Alan Alborn, were kind enough to humor me and 8 or 9 other bloggers and writers and let us join them for a strength workout lasting about an hour. We met in a sleek, clean, small, boutique studio called Uplift on 23rd St near 6th Ave and had time to meet the jumpers, mingle and change before diving into a warmup routine of running in place, high knees (their knees go much higher than mine!) butt kicks, and half squats all done for 1min each, 2x. We went right into a series of other activities like squat jumps, trunk twists, v-walkups, push-ups, resistance band rotator cuff/shoulder stability work and lots of other butt and hip work, as you might expect. I anticipated lots of glute and quad work, but I wasn't prepared for just how HIGH the women can jump from a simple squat. Wow. 

                                                                    

 

Not only can these ladies jump, but they do so in with their toes pointed skyward, whereas most of us jump by pointing our toes. It was harder than I thought when I tried it myself! Abby pointed out to me that her favorite muscle is her tibialis anterior (the muscle in front of your shinbone) and it was then that I noticed they all had bulging anterior lower leg muscles. It turns out that you need strong shins if you're going to FLY, and that's exactly why they do these workouts. Every aspect of their sport requires strength- the position they hold while flying downhill at 60mph, the push off that propels them for what can be a football field or greater length and the landing from that flight. Can you imagine landing that? I can't! Alissa mentioned that sometimes they work out in a pool to lessen the impact on their joints while still getting in the strengthening necessary to be so explosive. It was so exciting to have a glimpse into this very elite world of what seems like a very extreme sport. 

After the workout ended and we were all stretching out, someone walked in with a rolling cooler overflowing with various types of chocolate milk which everyone happily grabbed and drank to jump start recovery and refuel after a long day and a hard workout. The Got Chocolate Milk? campain has started the Built with Chocolate Milk campaign which consists of the women's ski jump team and an Olympic men's hockey player. My evening came complete with a bag of goodies from the Built with Chocolate Milk sponsors including tons of scientific evidence toting chocolate (or regular) milk as a superior recovery beverage to other recovery drinks. Chocolate milk has calcium, vitamin D, potassium, phosphorus and the perfect balance of post-workout carbs and protein that I read about in every running, triathlon and fitness magazine or website out there. It makes sense to me- refuel with carbs and protein for repair of muscle fibers damaged during strenuous activity and what young woman doesn't need more calcium and vitamin D to strenthen her bones? For the record, no one is making me say these things- I really believe in the science behind chocolate milk as a perfect recovery and refueling drink. If you don't believe me, check out their website for yourself: Gotchocolatemilk.com 

     

Check out some of the goodies I got from the evening, including the Ready to Fly DVD I talked about earlier. 

How did they know I'm a triathlete and love 2XU? 

The official 2014 Sochi ski jumping Olympic pin!! Rad. 

The perfect mug for morning coffee or post-run hot chocolate! 

2XU headband just in time for frigid temps in NYC! 

posted from Bloggeroid

Recovering faster, getting stronger, staying healthy.

These are all things that I always strive for after a big race, though it seems to have come easier this time around. I took it easy last week for a few days after the 70.3, but by Wednesday I was itching to run again. I held off until Thursday to give myself time to recover not just from the race, but also to adapt to returning to work after nearly a month off. I think a month is long enough to forget exactly how physically demanding my job is. I might as well count it as working out for the whole day. I actually lost weight the first week back, despite not doing much more than walking until Thursday night. Once Thursday afternoon rolled around, I was beyond excited to run again and felt like I could run forever (if it hadn't been for that insane thunderstorm, I might have!). I attribute this to my solid recovery plan. I stepped up my fruit, veggie, vitamin and probiotic intake on Monday and got myself a full 8 or more hours of sleep almost every night since the race. One difficult thing about working with so many children is that my exposure to germs is very, very high. Many of my kids have difficulty swallowing and therefore have trouble controlling their saliva and, well, I tend to get drooled on. It happens, I just have to be hyper-vigilant about keeping myself clean in order to stay healthy (same for the kids!) especially after a big race where my immunity is already compromised. The research is there, we're more susceptible to getting sick right after a big endurance event. Pair that with the first weeks of school and you've got trouble!
Sleep, eat your veggies, wash your hands, repeat.
In addition to resting up and trying to stay healthy, I'm hoping to maintain my fitness and build on it for a strong fall/winter. Since my training load dipped way down I have more time to focus on the things that get tossed out the Window when I'm busy- mainly strength training. I went to the gym on Monday and did some strength work, puttering around the weight room trying to remember what I'm supposed to do, when I finally decided to ask for help. I'd been considering a personal trainer for a while, but was reluctant to pull the trigger. I thought I could just do it myself, I am a PT, after all... But no. I'm pathetic and need some new ideas and someone to give me feedback on what I'm doing. Sure, I could do it myself if I really hunkered down and brought some sheets of exercises to the gym, but the odds of following through with that are slim. So slim. Anyway, I met a trainer who is also a runner and got a mischievous look in her eye when I mentioned wanting some plyos, core work and targeted strengthening for running and swimming. I think I'm in for an ass kicking tomorrow, but I'm actually looking forward to it, which is more than I can say usually. She was excited that I could do squats, push ups, step ups, bridges on a ball because apparently most people can't do those things. Bring it on! I'll let you know if I can walk on Saturday morning.

posted from Bloggeroid

Getting back into the groove, slowly.

The view from Inwood Hill Park last night of the Henry Hudson Bridge was beautiful.*

With many of the big fall marathons in the rearview mirror, a lot of people are tossing out their ideas about recovery and the best way to go about it. While everyone certainly takes a different approach, there are a lot of folks out there who (not-so) secretly believe that their way is "the best way" and will try to convince you that it will also work for you. Here's the thing: you may have run the exact same time or pace or slower/faster, but your legs are yours and only yours. Do what feels right for you, not what someone else is preaching.

That said, I decided that last night was the night to get back out there and get moving. I haven't run since the big day and have only been swimming and doing core work alongside my knee rehab strengthening. The mental and physical break has been great. At the end of last week I was jonesin' for a run, but I wasn't going to let myself back out too soon again. I got injured by running too soon after my last marathon and ended up sidelined for 6 weeks. Friday night I expressed my intent to run on Saturday morning and my husband promptly called me and said "no you're not going to run." I must have been one cranky bitch last time I got hurt. Instead I took a really (really) easy spin on the stationary bike and cranked out a solid swim before joining the Inwood runners for a celebratory pancake breakfast.

Last night, Tuesday, felt like the right time to try out the legs again though. Conditions were right, there was no rain and temps were warm so I headed out to meet my Inwood buddies for the first in a series of Tuesday night speed workouts. Obviously I had no intention of doing "speed" but I knew it would be great to see some familiar running faces. Captain T put up a few flyers around the neighborhood advertising the new Tuesday run and they attracted 2 new runners including a high school student looking for some way to keep herself active. We were stoked.

The workout consisted of a warmup, strides and intervals with a 200m recovery around a loop in Inwood Hill Park 560 meters in diameter. It's like having a large track with a small hill on one end. We consider it to be a topographical advantage. I of course trotted along at a super easy pace for the warmup and lagged way behind on the strides, but enjoyed the company. The nice thing was that J, the HS student I mentioned was running at my recovery pace for the intervals so I had company and so did she as we got lapped by the others. I tried my best to keep my Coach Amy hat off, but I hopefully provided insightful answers to her many questions, both running related and not.

I know I wont be able to fully participate in the speed sessions for a few more weeks because I need my knee to heal entirely, but I think these workouts are going to be a great addition to my winter running. I do love the Central Park crew on Tuesday nights, but having this so close to home makes a huge difference on those frosty winter nights. I can simply run home and avoid getting chilled on the subway ride.

All in all, I felt great out there. Running felt smooth and easy and I just felt right at home being back on my feet. I have no idea what my pace or mileage was, and don't care. I still plan on keeping the mileage really low and easy for another 2 weeks or so, but I'll be sprinkling a little more running into my schedule as time goes by. For now, I'm on a 3x week swim schedule and it feels awesome even though I'm having trouble finding my 2nd gear right now. It'll take time to get my swim speed back, damn you unforgiving water.

*photo from skyscraperpage.com