September 2012 - Mind & Body issue

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Contents

September '12

@AustinFit

Freediver Tanya Streeter reflects on her most famous plunge, her sport, ecology, and motherhood 34

37

A deep look at the ultimate mind/body test

39

Tanya Streeter dazzles with her TEDxAustin talk

46

How (and why) to fight the overtraining urge

50

54

C o v e r a n d C o n t e n t s P h o t o s by B r i a n F i t z s i m m o n s

One formerly reluctant yearround swimmer grows to love the sport Author and ultrarunner Dane Rauschenberg shares strategies and philosophies

September 2012 Contents

9

Contents

SEPTEMBER '12

@AustinFit

Publisher/CEO Louis M. Earle eDITOR-in-Chief Melanie P. Moore Managing Editor Leah Fisher Nyfeler

Fit x Family Are club sports helping young athletes or hurting American families? [page 24]

Medical Tent Dr. Clement explains how breast reduction can improve well-being [page 30]

Recharging your kids—the developmental importance (and delight) of sleep [page 28]

Recipe Garbanzo beans bring healthful goodness to salad [page 32]

FIT AFter 40 Exercise keeps your body—and your mind— young and fit [page 60] AFMDC AFM Distance Challenge hits the ground running [page 74] Austin Olympians Recognizing Austin-area Olympians [page 52]

Kick Mo’s Butt!

Fish out of water? Monica Brant faces her demons with T3’s Maurice Cully [page 92] AFM FITTEST Awards Ceremony Did you make it into the magazine? [page 100] mIND & bODY gUIDE Find your workout bliss with these studios [page 66]

Good racing requires balancing the mental and physical sides of training [page 76]

Be smart about cycling in the blazing Texas temps [page 82] photo by Brian Fitzsimmons

Muscle Movement of the Month

Sharpening your mental edge can bring running success

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64 Fit Finds 88 Events Calendar

September 2012

VP, Sales & Marketing Alex Earle Director of Marketing & Communications Carrie Crowe Advertising Consultants Emily Nash, Amity Ponsetti Contributors Carmen Ayala-Troncoso, Monica Brant, Robert Clement, M.D., Maurice Culley, Brian Fitzsimmons, Carson Hooks, Jody Kelly, Stephan Schwarze, Alexa Sparkman, Diane Vives, Anne L. Wilfong Operations Assistant Jessica O'Brien General Inquiries info@austinfitmagazine.com

Story Ideas ideas@austinfitmagazine.com Event Listings events@austinfitmagazine.com Subscriptions austinfitmagazine.com/subscribe 2201 N. Lamar Blvd., Ste. 220 Austin, TX 78705 p 512.407.8383 f 512.407.8393

[page 84]

Every Issue 14 From the Publisher 18 Moore Fit Musings

Assistant Art Director Sarah Schneider

Advertising Inquiries ads@austinfitmagazine.com

Sometimes getting in the water is the hardest part of swimming [page 78]

The knee bone’s health is connected to the leg bone and hip bone [page 94]

Art Director Weston Carls

90 Rides & Races 102 By the Numbers

Austin Fit Magazine assumes no responsibility for the content of articles or advertisements, in that the views expressed therein may not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher or any magazine employee or contributor. This publication and all of its contents are copyrighted.

Austin Fit Magazine is the assumed name of its publisher, Louis M. Earle, who has no interest in the business of Denis Calabrese who operates an exercise program under the assumed name of Austin Fit, which trains individuals to improve their jogging or running skills to participate in marathons. The views, opinions and other representations published in Austin Fit Magazine are not those of Austin Fit or any of its directors, officers, employees or agents.

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Letter from the Publisher

Intersections

by Lou Earle, Publisher | photo by Brian Fitzsimmons

O

ur issue this month focuses on the mind and the body. And because each of us has a very personal connection with these two, one would speculate that we should have a reasonable understanding of their relationship together. But, just as knowing how to drive a car doesn’t mean one has an understanding of how the car works, it’s more complicated than it may appear.

Let’s begin at the beginning. Who is in charge, the mind or the body? “Are you kidding?” you scoff. “Of course it’s the mind.” But the next time you stub your toe and yell “@&%*” in pain, consider how much you thought about your phraseology or why you were hopping up and down, rubbing your foot. Ok, then: am I arguing that the body controls the mind? No. My view is, actually, that the two are so tightly integrated that they each have a profound affect on the other, almost to the point where one might argue they are one and the same.

Historically, there have been many theories about the duality of the mind and the body, but more and more evidence demonstrates that there is a direct linkage between the two in terms of their ability to change each other’s state. We see this manifestation at work when we examine how attitudes can change body chemistry. High stress can negatively affect the body’s immune system, which then affects one’s health and well-being.

Competitive athletes routinely win because of their “mental focus or toughness.” Solid training creates strong “muscle memory” and improved reaction times so that performance is enhanced.

These are not really new ideas. Many of our ancient philosophers and Eastern belief systems teach this interconnectivity. Consider Buddha’s comments: “To keep the body in good health is a duty, for otherwise we shall not…be able to keep our mind strong and clear.” Buddha is not alone; our past is riddled with quotes of counsel about the mind/body connection.

• “Early to bed and early to rise, makes a

man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”

(Benjamin Franklin) • “Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the

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September 2012

basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.” (John F. Kennedy) • And the comical conclusion to all this is captured in the statement, “Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.”

(Jim Rohn) The implications of this line of thinking are very exciting. It suggests that many of the outcomes that we each experience can be managed much more effectively. It hypothesizes that we can establish more aggressive goals and achieve them if we really believe in ourselves. Tanya Streeter, a world record holder in freediving and our cover feature this month, exemplifies how the wonderful relationship between mind and body can work in absolute harmony to achieve results that appear superhuman. She has defied enormous pressures at over 500 feet under water while enduring over three minutes without a breath.

Such a feat could not have been achieved without the mind and body being totally connected in ways we may never understand.

Sure, Tanya’s feat is clearly extraordinary, but everyday, normal folks are doing extraordinary things by believing in themselves and you can, too. Read Tanya’s story and be inspired.

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Moore Fit Musings

Minding Your Fitness

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by Melanie P. Moore, Editor-in-Chief | photo by Brian Fitzsimmons

A s we put this, our “Mind/Body” issue, together I kept thinking of that old bumper sticker: “If you don’t mind, it doesn’t matter.” A mildly amusing phrase, but true of so many situations. You only get angry about things that matter. You only seek out and work hard for accolades, money, status, or whatever it is that matters to you. Physicians tell us, for example, that if a patient has a lack of libido but does not have a complaint about it, then it is not a medical issue.

If the patient has a complaint, if s/he minds that there is a lack of libido, then it becomes a medical issue.

If we apply this to health and fitness, we may see people who are too thin, or weak, or (as we are all too aware) obese. These are the people for whom and through whom an entire industry of diet and exercise solutions thrives. Some of these people—okay, maybe we are the people—are perpetually starting over after falling off the workout or diet wagon. Nevertheless, it matters to us that we are not as fit as we could be. It is a problem that we seek to fix.

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But what of the people who do not mind that they are unfit? If you don’t mind that you have trouble getting in and out of a car, if you don’t mind that you can’t lift or stretch to reach certain items in your activities of daily living, wouldn’t that mean there is some underlying reason? And wouldn’t it be worth it to try to look into that? Of course it’s easier not to explore the reasons. It’s less risky because you may wind up having to confront old (or new) conflicts that you have safely shelved. You may wind up changed.

In watching documentaries or reality TV shows about physical transformation, there is inevitably an emotional breakdown, or breakthrough, that—at least in these neatly and professionally edited versions of life— becomes the turning point. Why? Because the obese or unfit person ultimately uncovers something that matters. Usually it matters a lot. Often, the thing that matters is something the person felt unable to change for whatever reason. It would follow, then, that what we feel unable to change we must, therefore, stop caring about; it has to stop mattering to us.

But minding is what we want to do—in fact, we want to do it so much that we sometimes try to mind someone else’s business…until they tell us to mind our own.

What are you minding these days? Are you minding things that other people are doing to you more than you are minding what you do for yourself? Are you more negative about things that are happening rather than finding the positive things that make you

and your family happy? Alternatively, what matters to you? It seems like this would be the place to start. How often do you take time to assess what matters most to you?

It’s sometimes associated with a New Year’s resolution ritual, this concept of reflecting on what matters.

The start of the school year is as good a time as any to contemplate what matters to you and then see if you are minding those things. If you are fit and healthy and your family is fit and healthy, then (with apologies to Descartes and his arguments for Dualism), your mind/body integration may be in a place of balance. If you have family or friends who are not healthy, maybe it’s not such a bad idea to mind their business in this way. It is a common situation—one of the most popular stories from our website last year was Tricia Minnick’s piece on her intervention with a relative who was not fit.

If you mind, it matters; and if it matters, you should mind—for yourself, your family, and your community.

Minding the health and fitness of people who matter to us is not always well received. But just like any other intervention, the alternative is to watch bad things happen and then regret not saying something when there was still time. Good luck out there and let’s help each other mind what matters!

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Letters to the Editor

Hi Guys,

I

just wanted to write you all because I’m hearing a lot of feedback over the AFM FITTEST competition and people’s opinions on how they felt I should’ve won, in addition to the article in Austin Fit Magazine from Michael Madison. While I appreciate everyone’s support, I wanted to make sure you guys as well as Diane Vives know that I am not bitter in the least bit over the competition. I understand that it was a first of its kind in Austin and I had fun without getting hurt. I’m cool with the whole thing and will participate in any other future events.

I don’t want people thinking that I’m sitting over here complaining about a damn softball throw!

LOL! That test reflected me 100 percent. I’m strong, fast, and can jump, but I’ve never been good at ball sports like football, basketball, or baseball.

Anyway, hope you all have a great day!

David Braswell Speed & Conditioning Coach

AFM Survey Results AFM surveyed our competitors in the 2012 AFM FITTEST presented by Nexersys.

Here's a sample of what they had to say (responses were anonymous).

“I'm proud to have been part of this inaugural event. Everything seemed to run very smoothly, volunteers and helpers were extremely polite, positive, and knowledgeable. My one concern is that in the August issue, there isn't any acknowledgement of ALL of the participants. While the 10 deserve their spread and cover, I believe the rest of us deserve to be mentioned in some way, as well, even if it's just a list of participants.”

“Need to change the scoring. Look at the decathlon and take a similar model.

Points are based on reaching certain standards (i.e., a 5 minute mile run is worth 100 points regardless of whether you place 1st or 25th). This will help find the most FITTEST rather than having a bad one or two events take a person out of the competition.”

“I thought this well a very well-run event. Excellent communication. I was one of the older competitors (58) and this was way out of my comfort zone. But doing it gave me confidence and encouragement to perform even better next year. I did very little event-specific training because I wanted to see how effective my normal fitness program was. I liked the variety of the tests and all the staff were incredibly friendly and encouraging. Overall wonderful experience!”

“I would suggest changing the burpee movement standards for next year's challenge. The standards this year seemed to be more difficult to judge, left room for interpretation and inconsistency. Clearer/more obvious/easier-to-judge standards would help ensure consistency across judges. Possible standards could include requiring the athlete's chest to touch the ground at the bottom and either jumping onto an object (weight plate) or jumping and touching something hung overhead the athlete at the top of the movement.”

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Fit x Family

The Most Expensive Game in Town

The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families

by Tracy D. Nelson

T

he setting: 1979, in a middle school gym with hazy morning sunshine streaming in through windows high above the bleachers, fans straining to keep the Texas summer heat at bay. I, along with dozens of high-school girls, had lined up outside the gym doors, waiting in eager anticipation for the doors to open at 9 a.m. Once the doors were unlocked, we all ran in, did a quick warmup, split into teams, and spent the next three hours scrimmaging. There were no coaches, no referees, no parents. At noon, we streamed out—happy, tired, and already thinking about playing again the next morning.

Throughout the summer, the gym was open for us five days a week. On each of those mornings, Duncanville High School coach Sandra Meadows, then Texas’s

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September 2012

winningest high school girls’ basketball coach, unlocked the doors, sat at the top of the bleachers for three hours, then locked the doors behind her, without ever saying a word to any of the players.

We were told the University Interscholastic League (UIL) rules stated that high school players could not attend any summer camps to improve their skills.

UIL wanted to promote fairness across all income levels so that those who could afford expensive camps would not receive an unfair advantage over those who did not have the means to attend such extracurricular luxuries. Therefore, Coach Meadows made the gym available in silence so it could never be construed as a summer camp or instructional program.

Fast forward to today. Children play on “select” sports teams, with hefty registra-

tion fees and a year-round season full of travel. Elite summer sports camps abound, costing thousands of dollars. More children than ever receive private lessons to improve their skills. And it’s all happening earlier and earlier—usually as young as elementary school.

Mark Hyman explores the increasing price tag of youth sports in his new book, The Most Expensive Game in Town: The Rising Cost of Youth Sports and the Toll on Today’s Families (Beacon Press, 2012).

This is a follow-up to Hyman’s previous book, Until it Hurts: America's Obsession with Youth Sports and How It Harms Our Kids, in which he investigated how today’s manifestation of youth sports has had negative effects on kids and families. He described the negative effects of how organized youth sports have become

adults’ “hostile takeover” of kids’ athletics, including the alarming rise in youth sports injuries.

The Most Expensive Game in Town continues along similar themes, focusing on the business of youth sports (a $5 billion industry) and the detrimental effects that it can have on families, children, and the youth sports community.

Hyman researched the business of youth sports through responses from his own online survey as well as extensive interviews with those who are buying (parents) and those selling (tournament coordinators, DVD producers, organizers of sports combines, and the like). He also spoke with numerous experts, including sociologists, physicians, and leaders in education.

Hyman provides in-depth insight to the economy of youth sports. He lists experiences that range from commonplace to shocking: • The rising cost of team registrations, uniforms, and equipment. Most families will spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on their children’s athletic pursuits. Hyman lists examples of some families who have spent close to $10,000 per year to keep their child in elite sports leagues.

• Sports teams whose seasons get longer and longer each year, with more and more out-of-town tournaments added to the schedule.

He describes one 8-year-old girl whose softball team played 70 games in one season (including 11 road trips).

• Mega-sports complexes, including Old Settlers Park in Round Rock, which play host to mammoth youth tournaments, and the economic effects from “youth sports tourism.”

• Programs for babies and toddlers, including sports DVDs for babies, toddler gyms, and a soccer class for 18-month-olds.

• The increased exposure to children from corporate sponsors such as

Mountain Dew, Red Bull, Gatorade, Nike, and dozens of equipment manufacturers.

• The commercialization of high school football, including the profit-seeking objectives of major corporations like ESPN and Nike, and the entitling effect it can have on teenagers.

Hyman has no solution. In fact, he identifies the paradox for well-meaning parents: parents may not like early specialization in sports and having to shell out hundreds or thousands of dollars but, in order for their children to improve in their sport and remain competitive with other kids, parents often feel they have no other choice.

Hyman does a good job of describing the excesses, emphasizing how, in many cases, the organizations who stand to profit from the youth sports machine are more interested in the almighty dollar than the well-being of those involved—at an age where sports should be just plain fun. I wish Hyman had reported more in-depth about how the youth sports machine has been detrimental to the players themselves. And he does not spend much time describing the benefits of sports for youngsters: learning self-discipline, following instructions, winning gracefully, losing with class, working within a team, goal-setting, and so much more. Most parents will agree that it’s worth spending some money to help instill these values; Hyman’s message is that it’s become a runaway train.

As a parent, I witnessed the youth sports phenomenon within my own community. And as a former high school and collegiate athlete, I recognize the values that sports can promote. However, I have often wondered whether these values are being pushed upon children too early these days, often at ages where they’re too young to really grasp the lessons to be learned.

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few “for-fun” Little League and Pee-Wee football teams and lots of pick-up games in neighborhood fields or sandlots. Now kids are encouraged at a very young age to participate in structured year-round sports teams, try out for select leagues, travel to out-of-town tournaments, gear up with expensive equipment, and spend hundreds of dollars on private lessons.

By the time kids can try out for their middle school teams, they fall into one of three camps: 1. Those who have played their sport for years and, as a result, have developed terrific skills.

2. Those who have played their sport for years but are burned out, tired of playing, and ready to quit (this is especially true with girls).

3. Those who have not been playing for years but, because they’re trying out against the other kids who have been on select teams for years, they haven’t got a shot at making the team.

The paradox is that the kids in the last two groups will likely not get to participate in youth sports at the age when their minds and bodies are most primed for it. By the time children reach adolescence, they begin to change physically and mentally.

Their bodies become stronger, taller, and faster. They develop better coordination.

They begin to understand how to set goals and work hard to accomplish them. They learn how hard work at practice reaps benefits on game day. They learn how to be self-motivated.

Contrary to when I was growing up, it’s not likely for kids without experience to try out for and make a 7th grade team and then get enough playing time to be able to mature into the sport by 9th or 10th grade.

And the irony is that parents either don't get sucked into the mega-intensive youth sports trap (but then worry whether their kids have any kind of chance of making the school teams) or get sucked into the trap (and end up feeding the machine—the haves vs. the

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have-nots, the commercialization of youth sports, and the possible burnout and/or overuse injuries of their kids).

Mark Hyman says the businesspeople who offer elite camps and leagues, high-end equipment, DVDs, and the like are selling hope. Parents are investing in the hope that their kids will eventually be able to make the high school team—hope that their kids can earn a college scholarship, hope that money can buy athletic excellence.

In poorer communities, most children don’t have access to the camps, lessons, and leagues. Inner city schools must compete against richer suburban schools and, all too frequently, there is an obvious difference in the skillset of the more affluent teams. It’s a blatant display of the haves vs. the have-nots and a marked digression from UIL’s noble goals of yesteryear to promote fair access to interscholastic sports for all income levels.

The Most Expensive Game in Town is a worthwhile read for parents and coaches alike. It helps open eyes to the excesses that have plagued the youth sports industry in the last decade (a decade ago, the term “youth sports industry” didn’t exist).

I can’t help but wonder if high school coaches and collegiate coaches are going to realize that their athlete pool is actually diminishing as a result of the uber-intensive youth sports machine and whether, one day, they might band together to say “enough is enough.” afm Tracy D. Nelson is a head coach and cofounder of Tri Zones Training and trains adult runners and triathletes, many of whom did not get to participate in sports when they were young. Nelson played high school varsity and collegiate basketball (having been told by teammates that she was “awful” in junior high, and the only reason she made the team was because she was tall). She looks forward to cheering for her daughter at the Vandegrift High School Viper swim meets next year.

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Fit Kids

Fit x Family

Balancing Up Time with Down Time

by Carson Hooks

O

ur toddlers are nothing if not energetic. Unlike so many adults, our little ones don’t have to push themselves to be active.

Instead, we have to urge them to occasional moments of relative inactivity. And even with those brief moments of calm, they seem to operate in an almost constant state of motion.

As exhausting as this often can be for us as parental units, we recognize the natural developmental role of their energy-burning waking hours. We also realized long ago the key to semi-tolerable non-stop waking hours—those coveted non-waking hours.

I read recently where someone likened having toddlers to having permanently drunken houseguests. I find nothing hyperbolic or misleading about that comparison. But while often hyper, randomly aggressive, aggressively random, and slovenly to the point of sometimes peeing themselves, toddlers/drunken houseguests are somewhat predictable and manageable.

That is unless there haven’t been enough non-waking hours.

With less than adequate sleep comes the real chaos. Their minds go first, slowly but surely dragging their little bodies along.

Our toddler houseguests become bellig-

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erent, borderline schizophrenics. Their randomness slides into delirium, with bouts of stuttering, incessant whining, and stubborn streaks that are immune to any and all attempts at even the slightest logical reasoning. Their already short attention spans become painfully so. Or, alternatively, their focus narrows to the most trivial minutia as their obsessive-compulsive tendencies take over their little brains. And they are now ticking time-bombs, as complete meltdowns are imminent.

Sure, sleep isn’t the only element in the toddler hierarchy of needs. Just as with active people of any age, eating enough of the right foods at the right times is essential in maintaining a consistently high energy level. And having access to constructive energy outlets allows the mind and body to flourish. Our toddlers, when hungry and cooped-up, very soon shift their reserve energy supplies to the pursuit of destruction.

But sleep is the grand poobah of variables, the very foundation upon which nearconstant motion can be maintained without slipping into outright insanity. After all, we’re dealing with little people who don’t know what they need or when they need it.

If left to their own whims, they will continue to go until they can no longer function.

They need someone to shut them down in order to recharge so they may once again operate at their optimal breakneck pace.

In our experience, nowhere is the integral nature of toddler sleep more evident than after their time away with the grandparents.

We all love the grandparent getaway. Julia and I love it for the break from toddlerdom.

But we also value the experience for our kids. We want them to enjoy spending time with their grandparents in a different setting without us parents as intermediaries. And I’m pretty sure they do enjoy it. Too much.

The sleep schedule at the grandparents’ house is, shall we say, a little looser. Our boys pack in their usual array of activities but in a binge-like fashion, spending less time recharging their depleted batteries as they spiral into a growing sleep deficit. By the time they are returned to our house, they are running on fumes. They are still in motion, but rudderless. There is no gradual parental reentry period as we are reunited with exceedingly irrational heathens.

And so it is, “To bed with you!” Sleep is forced upon them—that wonderful medicine that rejuvenates both the mind and the body, even in the case of a grandparent hangover. Like a drunken houseguest, they are required to sleep it off. afm

I l l u s t r at i o n by J o r d a n g o l e m b e s k i

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Health

The Medical Tent

Breast Reduction

by Robert Clement, M.D.

B

reast hypertrophy (excessive breast tissue) is a fairly common problem that affects one physically, mentally, and emotionally. As both women and men develop breast buds, they are affected by the amount of estrogen production or the estrogentestosterone balance as puberty advances.

The other factor in breast tissue development is its responsiveness to that estrogen, which is hereditarily dictated. When breast development usually begins, the breast buds respond to the estrogen and have an increased deposit of fat and fibrous tissue to increase their size. If a person is hereditarily predisposed to large breast development, this usually starts at age 11 to 13 and continues through the mid to late teens.

In males, estrogen increases the breast bud and fatty deposits. As puberty progresses and the amount of estrogen decreases and testosterone increases, the breast buds usually reduce in size and the fatty component is reduced, especially if the male is physically active. However, there are many males, probably 15 to 18 percent of the population, who will have residual breast tissue and fatty development on the chest wall through puberty and throughout life. This usually increases in volume, especially from the fat deposit as one reaches middle and later age.

This condition in males is called gynecomastia and can be corrected with surgical excision of the breast tissue and removal of fat with liposuction. If there is very minimal breast tissue and it is predominantly a fatty issue, then liposuction alone will improve the contour dramatically. It has been my experience that, in nearly

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all males, there is enough breast tissue present that it requires surgical removal of this breast tissue to get the male chest configuration that they want. This will be a permanent cure unless the patient gains a significant amount of weight. At that point, fat would be redistributed over the chest wall, especially if there is an increase in the estrogen level.

In females, large breasts can limit the ability to exercise, cause back and neck pain, and sometimes subject the person to unrelenting teasing. If the problem of weight is so severe as to limit activities or cause pain early on, the correction or reduction can be done as early as 19 to 20 years of age. If the problem is moderate, patients may elect to wait until after childbearing age or when breast-feeding is over. However, breast reduction does not mean that a woman cannot breast-feed. One of the reduction procedures, the inferior pedicle, can make it possible for the patient to be able to breast-feed even after a breast reduction procedure as a significant amount of breast tissue is left attached to the nipple and this tissue is capable of producing enough milk.

I have had several patients write me after having breast-fed their children when their reductions were done at an early age.

As a group, breast reduction patients are probably my happiest patients. It changes their lives, allowing them to wear clothing that matches top and bottom, to exercise without discomfort, and to live without the constant shoulder and neck pain even when they are not exercising.

There are multiple patterns used to reduce the breast including the circumareolar, an incision around the areolar complex with

liposuction. Liposuction alone can be used for reduction but this has no ability to lift the breast. In order to lift the breast, some of the skin must be removed. There are two primary patterns that are used; the anchor, which is an inverted “T,� and the lollipop, which is a circumareolar with a vertical component. In larger breasts, the anchor is more supportive and gives a better contour because more skin can be removed and the breast tissue can be contoured in a more defined manner.

Physical advantages of breast reduction are decreased back and shoulder pain, increased mobility, a decreased fatigue factor, and the ability to buy the clothing with the same size top and bottom. Running or any other type of bouncing exercise can create significant problems with these patients due to the breasts’ extreme weight and the shift in the center of gravity forward in their body. Following the breast reduction, I still suggest wearing a good support bra while doing heavy exercise like running and aerobics. There are several good brands of support or exercise bras on the market. One is called the Ta Ta Tamer, from lululemon Athletica, which I think is very supportive and works extremely well.

After surgery, the return to full activities is approximately four weeks (walking after one week to ten days and mild swimming at two weeks). Patients may increase activities to an elliptical trainer or treadmill at three weeks and then, at four weeks, return to full activities. The risks include the usual surgical problems of bleeding, infection, skin problems, and the fact that there will be a permanent scar, which usually is of fairly good quality. afm

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Recipe

Did you know?

A quick way to increase your intake of nutrients such as fiber and folate (a water-soluble B vitamin found naturally in food) and decrease your saturated fat intake is to substitute beans for meat in your diet.

Roasted Chickpea Salad

by Anne Wilfong, RD, LD & Alexa Sparkman, MA, RD, LD photography by Brian Fitzsimmons

Roasted chickpeas are a healthy way to add crunch and nutrition to salads. They are also great served as an appetizer. For this recipe, try using a mandolin to cut the vegetables thinly.

Nutrition Calories 187 Fat 8 g

Serving Size: 2 Cups Salad

Protein 8 g Carbohydrate 21 g

Fiber 5 g Sodium 533 mg

Makes approximately: 9-10 cups salad

How You Make it What You Need 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1 teaspoon olive oil 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup spinach 1 cup romaine 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced (approximately 1 1/2 cups) 1 cucumber, thinly sliced (approximately 2 cups) 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced 3/4 cup feta, cubed 1/4 cup low fat vinaigrette dressing

Price per serving: $3.23 Restaurant Price: $6.95

Roasted Chickpeas: 1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. On a baking sheet, toss chickpeas with olive oil and salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes until crispy.

3. Set aside as topping for salad.

Salad: 1. In a large bowl, toss spinach, romaine, radishes, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, red onion and feta together.

2. Add roasted chickpeas to the bowl and toss salad gently with dressing.

This recipe is brought to you by Whole Foods Market.

Registered and licensed dietitians Alexa Sparkman and Anne Wilfong can provide reliable, objective nutrition information, separate facts from fads, and translate the latest scientific findings into easy-to-understand nutrition information. For more information about their nutrition counseling practice, contact Alexa or Anne at 512.257.0898 or SparkmanNutrition.com

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Tanya Streeter Redefines Limits—Her Own and Yours

by Leah Fisher Nyfeler photography by Brian Fitzsimmons

Ta n ya S t r e e t e r

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M Mermaids have captivated human imagination for centuries. All sea-faring cultures have mermaid tales—stories of beautiful women, half fish, half human, who live in the sea. While modern science has debunked the myth of the mermaid, it has also made it possible through scuba diving, snuba (a hybrid of snorkeling and scuba diving), and a variety of underwater vehicles for people to play at becoming a sort of clunky, artificial marine animal, able to inhabit the underwater world for extended lengths of time.

But there have always been those who long for a more pure relationship with the sea. Some, like world-class athlete Tanya Streeter, have found such purity through the sport of freediving. But Streeter will tell you that her relationship with the sea transcends her world records—all the way to the essence of life and the way she moves through the world.

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It’s important to get the hyperbole out of the way. Streeter has been called a Caribbean diving queen, blonde beauty, extreme diver, and “the world’s most perfect athlete,” just to list a few of the superlatives, all of which make the 39-year-old athlete, wife, mother, and Austin resident recoil with distaste.

“There’s a line in a film that was made about me, ‘the deepest anybody’s ever gone and survived’ or ‘lived to talk about’ or something, and it just makes me cringe,” Streeter explained. She was curled in an armchair in her south Austin home, her long, tanned legs tucked beneath her and her shoulder-length blonde hair loose about her face. What Streeter can neither deny nor cringe at is the fact that she has set numerous world records in freediving, a sport that involves diving without the aid of breathing apparatus. In fact, one of her records still stands; in 2002, Streeter dived to 525 feet (160 meters) in the No Limits Apnea category (the diver descends and ascends using her method of choice), breaking both the men’s and women’s world records. Two months later, Loïc Leferme reclaimed the men’s record with a dive of 162 meters, just six feet deeper (the current men’s No Limits Apnea record was set in 2007 by Herbert Nitsch at 214 meters, or 702 feet). But no other woman has since dived deeper than Streeter’s 525 feet, the length of five football fields and ten feet deeper than the Frost Bank Building is tall. That

dive took Streeter three minutes and 26 seconds…on one breath of air.

Descending to Look Within

T

he easy answer to Streeter’s underwater success would be that she is a physical anomaly. It is human nature, after all, to relegate that which is not understood to the vague area that lies beyond the accepted capacity. Streeter strongly disagrees with this position. “I still don’t believe that I’m physically and physiologically any different,” she stated. What she does believe is that her mind and her approach to freediving are different from others.

“I was so happy that this article is for the ‘Mind/Body’ issue,” Streeter said in her polished British accent, ever so slightly dampered by 12 years of living in Austin. “Freediving is nothing if it isn’t about the relationship between the mind and the body.”

Streeter attributes much of her success in freediving to her unique relationship to the sea afforded by a childhood in Grand Cayman. “I love the ocean,” she explained. “I literally grew up in the sea. I know that I’m the best diver I’m going to be, I’m the best woman, the best Tanya, the best athlete, the best individual I’m ever going to be when I’m in the water. Because I’m the most honest with myself there, oddly, and that comes

from a comfort level that I have in that environment, which comes from growing up in that environment.”

When Streeter and her brother fished, she often got bored and jumped out of the boat to chase after fish. There was no TV or selection of extracurricular activities to distract the children.

The sea was quite literally their playground. Later, when her parents divorced and things became “not so fun,” the sea served as Streeter’s refuge as well.

“The sea was my safe place. And it was my playground and my safe place as a kid and, as an adult, it was my proving ground,” Streeter reminisced.

“I started to dive because somebody said I should try and I’d be good at it…but I also didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, and I don’t think I knew who I wanted to be, and so I went to the sea just to have the question answered.” This mindset, this questing aspect to both her sport and her beloved ocean, began to shape Streeter’s life.

Streeter began freediving in her 20s, training under noted diver Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras, and records fell by the wayside. Because of the natural way she had been introduced to the sport, she had never realized her talent for deep diving and had assumed her comfort in the water to be easily achieved by others. She began to train, learning specific techniques to extend her ability to hold her breath and working to strengthen her body against underwater pressure.

“I think I’ve said it 100 times,” Streeter said with a wry smile, “what suddenly made me better at freediving was moving to Austin, oddly, where there is no water [deep enough to train]. I had to do gym training and I had to do weight training because it was the only training I could do. I HATED it. I went to the gym this morning and I’ve learned to love it ten years later. But back then, when I made that shift…I guess what came with maturity was being able

to be headstrong with those things I didn’t like because I understood the equation of ‘hard work equals results.’” Streeter’s hard work paid off in the form of world records and sponsorships. She set her sights on the No Limits Apnea record. However, the sport began to take its toll on her, both mentally and physically.

“I had done a No Limits dive before to 375 feet, and that was early on,” Streeter remembered. “That was hard, but then to tell everybody that I was going to go not just into the unknown of myself but into the true unknown of human potential, that was hard for anybody who cares about me to deal with.” She gently chuckled that her mother had friends all over the world lighting candles for her safety when she announced the new record attempt. Combining the realization of the hardship on her loved ones with the “dancing monkey” nature of freediving as business (“I lost some of the magic with that”), Streeter came to an important internal decision: “The

What is Freediving?

by Ben Kendall

D

eep in the ocean, hundreds of feet below the surface, Tanya Streeter is in her element. She wears a skin-tight, silver body suit over her tall 5-foot 7-inch frame and a pair of conjoined fins that look like a tail when she kicks her feet together in one fluid motion. Streeter looks like a dolphin underwater until she opts to let her long hair flow instead of hiding it under a swim cap. Then she looks like a mermaid. In a way, Streeter is a mermaid; she can swim underwater for minutes at a time all in one breath and with no oxygen tank.

Streeter is a world famous freediver. Freediving is a sport that involves diving into unfathomable depths of the ocean in a single breath and holding that breath until resurfacing.

Freediving is one of many different types of apnea (absence of breathing) competitions. The United States Apnea Association (USAA) holds apnea competitions in three difference categories: time, distance, and depth. Freediving involves pushing the limit on how

deeply one can dive on a single breath, and there are several different formats. In all depth competitions, a guide rope is used in order to judge how far a diver can go, but there are different rules as to how the rope can be used. In Constant Weight freediving, the rope can only be used as a guide and not for propulsion. In Free Immersion, divers use the rope to pull themselves down and back up to the surface. No Limits diving, arguably the most dangerous form of freediving, allows divers to actually ride a weight (called a sled) on the rope down to great depths of the ocean. They then utilize a buoyancy bag (a balloon filled with air from a scuba tank) and can either fin or ride back to the surface.

Whether or not a diver can use equipment depends on the type of dive, but one thing remains constant—all of these dives prohibit the use of breathing apparatuses.

Streeter discovered freediving in 1997 while she was still living in the Cayman Islands. She was out with friends on a spearfishing trip, spotting fish and diving in to retrieve the catches. Her friends, noting

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No Limits dive was going to be a great big thing, this great big thing for freediving, for women in sports, and for sports in general. And then I was going to retire.” What Streeter did not foresee was the impact that her experience at the bottom of the ocean would have on her life.

Make Your Mind Your Weapon, Not Your Weakness

W

hile one might think that Streeter’s absolute comfort in the sea might cause her to be cavalier in her approach to dives, nothing could be further from the truth. Her respect for the sea included a healthy dose of fear: “It’s immensely powerful and unknown, and every time I dived, I dived into an unknown part of myself.”

While Streeter had seen other divers

Video of the dive

www.dailymotion. com/video/ xvrk1_160m-tanyastreeter-no-limits_ sport

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her abilities, invited her to come along with them to a clinic presented by the well-known freediver Francisco “Pipin” Ferreras. She decided to join them and impressed everyone with a dive of 100 feet. Among those impressed was Ferreras himself, who called Streeter that night to ask if she would come to America to train with him. Ferreras wanted Streeter to attempt to break the American Constant Weight record (then 175 feet), which had previously been set by another Ferreras-trained athlete. It took Streeter over a month to be convinced, but she finally accepted the challenge. “What fascinated me was just the idea of trying,” Streeter said. “I wasn’t doing it for the record. I was doing it for my own journey.”

Ferreras put Streeter through an intense training program, which included cardio workouts, strength training, and a series of breathing exercises that she calls “specifics.” Despite her athletic background, Streeter claimed she had never set foot inside a gym until she started training to break the record. It was hard on her body, especially on her weak legs, because from the waist down she “was a mess, muscularly speaking.” However, after

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make “offerings” (tossing coins, saying prayers) for safe returns, her bargain with the sea was much more intimate. “I sat by myself in the front of the boat and listened to Bob Marley and I zoned out,” she explained, “and it was more of an internal conversation—‘If you just watch my back now, I’ll watch your back later.’ And that was it.”

Aside from Streeter’s mental preparation, her husband Paul had assembled a highly trained crew of safety personnel for the dive.

Divers from all over the world— Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Turks and Caicos—made up the deep sea team. Not just any scuba diver could assist: “It’s one thing to go that deep and that’s your only job, to go down and come back up. There’s a lot involved in technical diving to those depths.

It’s the difference between being a passenger on the plane and flying the plane.” The crew and Streeter

only three months of training, Streeter was able to break the record.

Streeter returned to her day job as a social secretary and office manager to the governor of the Cayman Islands. However, she soon realized she’d been bitten by the freediving bug; she wanted to see what she was made of and how far she could push herself. Her trainer proposed that she go for the world record and Streeter accepted the challenge. She got back in the gym and back in the water. Streeter went on to break a total of ten world records (both men’s and women’s) during her career.

According to the Women Divers Hall of Fame, Streeter became “…the only woman in history to break a man’s world record in any sport when she freedived to 525 feet in 2002”, and that No Limits freediving world record still stands for women today. That dive took Streeter three minutes and 26 seconds…all without breathing. afm To read more about Streeter’s record-breaking dive: www.apneamagazine.com/tanya_record-eng.html

photo by Cory Ryan

worked together to prepare for more than five weeks, starting with shallow dives and gradually working deeper. This allowed the team to get to know each other and practice the routines of the dive over and over. Streeter emphasized that each member of the crew had the ability to call off the dive, and she recalled one instance involving an inquisitive 12-foot oceanic whitetip shark bumping his nose into the dive line. “They eat first and figure out later that they shouldn’t have eaten that,” Streeter said, “I polled all of the crew. Everybody had the same degree of control; if anyone had said, ‘I don’t want to do it today,’ then okay, but one by one, ‘Nope, you’re good.’” Streeter laughed and said, “Of course, I’m the only one that’s wearing a silver diving suit and looks like a giant bait fish.” In another instance, the boat captain did call off a dive; a tropical storm was coming in and, while the team had assessed and felt conditions were good (they were all actually in the water, preparing to descend), the boat captain noticed that the wind and high seas had caused cracks in the fiberglass of the boat where the sled arm was attached. Had the arm come crashing down, lives could have been lost. Calling off that dive “took the biggest set of balls,” Streeter said with admiration.

Even with expert knowledge and careful planning, things can go wrong and her official No Limits dive started poorly. In February 2012, Streeter gave a TEDxAustin talk where, for the first time, she revealed all that had happened during that record-setting dive.

The first issue was that Streeter actually blacked out while doing her preparatory breathing. While this wasn’t clear to the more casual spectators, the safety crew, her husband, and the judges certainly knew. Streeter had to assess the

impact on her, not the least of which was the mental upheaval of a poor start to an important dive. She opted to proceed. Her next hurdle was at the bottom of the rope, at maximum depth, when narcosis set in and she was unable to process a simple task: releasing the pin to activate the lift bag to carry her to the surface.

The safety diver, stationed about 75 feet above in the clear water of the Caribbean, had started his descent to Streeter and had pulled out the secondary lift bag. But in those seconds, Streeter had found her mental focus and it came from a surprising place. In that short time, “the only thought I had was that [the end] was going to be sad.

And I was at peace with it, and that peace scared me into thinking, ‘Ok, you’re done down here. You can’t be that comfortable down here. I understand that I’m human and it’s not going to serve me or the sport to be that comfortable with dying down here.’” Streeter recalled with a grim focus that, after surfacing, the minute she was able to reach her husband, she told him, “I’m done. I never want to do another one again.”

Racing Around the Track without a Helmet

T

he Streeters kept this resolve to themselves and were in the process of tying up loose ends when about six weeks later, Audrey Mestre announced that she was attempting to break the No Limits record. The freediving community is a small one, and Mestre and Streeter knew one another, as Mestre was married to Ferreras, Streeter’s former coach. Streeter was immediately concerned—not that her record would be broken but that she felt

Sharing Ideas to Better the World

by Leah Fisher Nyfeler

I

n 1984, the world was introduced to the TED conference. “TED” is an acronym for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design,” and the TED conference was designed to bring people from these three fields together to share information and learn from one another. Since then, the nonprofit organization has grown and expanded beyond the original areas to encompass an amazing variety of fields.

There are two annual conferences, the spring event in Long Beach, California (with a simulcast held in Palm Springs, Florida) and the summer session—known as TEDGlobal—in Edinburgh, Scotland. Over the course of four days, fifty speakers take the stage. These are “thinkers and doers,” described as “the world’s most inspiring voices,” who are challenged to give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes or less.

The concept is that these inspiring voices bring listeners to another level. “Every so often, it makes sense to emerge from the trenches we dig for a living and ascend to a 30,000-foot view, where we see, to our astonishment, an intricately connected whole,” reads the website.

These inspiring talks, which reach some 1,000 conference attendees at their original presentations, needed to be shared and so TEDTalks were released online in 2007. More than 900 videos are free to be shared at www.ted.com/talks and are arranged by all sorts of interesting categories, such as “rated as jaw-dropping” and “courageous” and “global issues,” to name but a few (there’s also a great search engine). And, again, all talks are 18 minutes or less in length.

Because of the popularity of the conference, there are now “TEDx” events, which are “designed to give communities, organizations, and individuals the (continued on page 41)

Ta n ya S t r e e t e r

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Mestre was being pressured to perform a dive she didn’t want to do under unfavorable circumstances without the proper regard for her safety. The attempt ended horrifically, with safety divers plunging from the boat to retrieve the unconscious Mestre after almost nine minutes underwater.

Her death had a strong impact on Streeter. “There were just too many parallels that both shook me and gave me a sense of peace for her death,” Streeter recalled with controlled emotion.

“I just didn’t panic so I don’t think she would’ve, and the nature of blackout is that you don’t see it coming. There’s no panic to it—it’s just like falling asleep,” she explained. “So I derived a good deal of peace from knowing that there was probably never a time where she would have fought and panicked and thought, ‘Oh, I’m going to die’ …She was probably very happy down there, that she was finding her own sense of peace….But it shook me to the core that I shared that in common with somebody who died—and somebody who died trying to break my record.”

There was also anger for Streeter in dealing with the accident; Mestre’s death had delivered a blow to freediving. “I’ve spent my whole career being very protective of the sport. I hated being referred to as a superhero or as being any different from anybody else or a freak of nature,” Streeter vehemently stated. “It’s a legitimate sport, not a stunt, and I hate all the salaciousness that goes with the way freediving is often times presented. So to me, a death in the sport is so damaging and

I hated being referred to as a superhero or as being any different from anybody else or a freak of nature.

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Audrey’s death, due to poor safety, was just horrible for the image of the sport.” As a result, Streeter put off her retirement, resolving to dive again within a year in order to show that freediving could be done safely. Streeter’s 400-foot Variable Ballast dive on August 4, 2003, was the first attempt by a woman at a freediving record since Mestre’s death in October of 2002.

But what of the risk in making another attempt? Educated at a prominent girls’ school in the UK, Streeter is extremely thoughtful in her responses. She parsed the definition of “risk”: “I don’t minimize the risk. Don’t forget, I woke up every morning with a huge safety team who reassured me, who we’d handpicked. And we studied safety and put procedures in place that hadn’t been used before. We looked at what the rules called for and quadrupled it. We did everything to make it safe. So I didn’t believe that what I was doing was risky. You take all of that and put it against the backdrop of my relationship with the sea so, no, I don’t believe there was a risk to what I was doing.”

Streeter explained further with

this analogy. “If I were to get in my car and go race around a NASCAR track in the opposite direction with those drivers while not wearing my seatbelt or my helmet, if I were to do the equivalent of that while freediving, then I would be taking risks. But I wasn’t. I had my helmet and my seatbelt and a whole bunch of other stuff.” Had Mestre utilized the same safety procedures, Streeter posited, she would still be alive today. “What Audrey was doing was racing around the track without her helmet and her seatbelt,” Streeter said.

A Redefined Relationship with the Sea

S

treeter officially retired in 2006 and a few years later welcomed the birth of her daughter, Tilly, who’s almost 4 years old. The Streeters are doting parents; the day of the AFM photo shoot, Paul preserved the Saturday morning pancake ritual at home while Streeter posed, and then the family reunited around a neighbor’s pool.

Mother and daughter swam and

photo by Cory Ryan

played; Tilly is, as Streeter said, “a complete water baby” who swims comfortably and is able to dive to ten feet to retrieve objects from the bottom of the pool. Her comfort around water speaks to the Streeters’ parenting philosophy: “Paul and I believe there are three ways to learn and to teach: you tell somebody, you show somebody, and you do it yourself. You hear it, you watch it, and you do it.

We’ve never been afraid to let her do things herself.” If her daughter came to her with the desire to be a freediver, Streeter would feel fine about it, “though I’d tell her that her daddy has to manage her so she has a chance at making some money,” she laughed.

This methodology of telling, showing, and doing reflects how becoming a mother changed Streeter’s relationship with the ocean. Before Tilly’s birth, she’d begun to take a look at what freediving meant for her. “There were periods where I’d go, ‘What is the point? So she can hold her breath,’” Streeter said. “I did not discover a cure for cancer. Let’s keep this in perspective.” What was the purpose behind her ability to dive to great depths? After the new records in 2004, Paul encouraged her to look into a TV career, which Streeter described as “a sort of moving forward in life.” It took some mental fortitude to overcome insecurities that Streeter had about being on camera: “I’m thinking, ‘Oh, God, this is just so scary.’ And I’ve got a devil on one shoulder— ‘It’s way too scary!’—and an angel on the other shoulder—‘You’re going to love it!’ And so we pounded a lot of pavement and banged on a lot of doors to basically put ideas in front of commissioning editors and agents.” Despite Streeter’s stature in sport, her articulateness, and camera-friendly physique, she remembers that “I

heard lots of ‘no’ and when I was 28 or 29, I heard, ‘Oh, there’s lots of blonde 30-something presenters out there.’ And that just hurt because I wasn’t even 30; it was a bit harsh.”

Eventually, some TV opportunities arose through the BBC in the form of a series of films about encountering marine animals around the world. The series put her face and graceful swimming form in front of a wide Sunday night audience, featuring her in the type of family-friendly documentaries the BBC reserved for the timeslot between dinner and children’s bedtime. Filming forced her to face a different set of challenges. At the end of the first day on location in Belize, she found herself emailing Paul, writing, “We’ve made a big mistake. I suck at this. This is too hard.” The cumbersome underwater equipment and the show’s scripted nature had thrown her off. So Streeter did what she’d always done when things weren’t going well; she grabbed her mask and went snorkeling. “I swam to the reef and I had a good cry and I came back to the boat and called Paul, who reminded me, ‘You’ve got to find a way; we’re committed.’ And that’s the thing— when I’m committed, I’m good and I’ll figure it out.” Streeter assessed her capabilities and redefined her limits. “I flipped my mental switch, something like I do when I’m diving, and I said, ‘OK. No more breathing underwater, no more scripts. Let’s make this not quite so hard for me.’ And we figured it out.”

While Streeter will modestly demur when asked if fans recognize her, Paul smiled to say that she is, indeed, recognized by many, mostly when they are in the UK. “I got used to being Mr. Tanya Streeter,” he said. “The truth is, she doesn’t see it as much as the

(continued from page 39) opportunity to stimulate dialogue through TED-like experiences at the local level.”

Austin has its own TEDx conference, which is typically held toward the first of the year (the next upcoming TEDxAustin will be on February 9, 2013. To learn more, go to http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/6310).

But don’t go to the website expecting to learn the speaker lineup in advance.

Shawna Butler, TEDxAustin organizer, explained that the Austin conference is the only one that withholds the speaker list until midnight before the start day. “We want to encourage people to come with an open mind and an open heart,” Butler explained.

This keeps attendees from forming set notions about the information they will experience and challenges them to come with “a different orientation and paradigm.”

Butler compared finding out the speaker lineup to Christmas morning: not knowing in advance “adds to the magic.”

This last February, the theme of the TEDxAustin conference was “Beyond Measure” and it’s no surprise that Austinite and world record freediver Tanya Streeter was tapped to give a talk. Butler had met Streeter at Lifetime gym where the two work out. They had gotten to know one another and, when the theme for 2012 was announced, Butler felt that Streeter would explore the topic in an “interesting, nonobvious, and personal way.” Streeter’s talk was titled “Redefining Limits” and she gave a riveting account of diving and expanding her boundaries. A clip from the upcoming Plastic Oceans documentary is included in her presentation as well. afm TEDxAustin Video

To see Tanya Streeter’s TEDxAustin talk, scan the QR code with your smart phone or go to http://youtu. be/odIXWv1m2a8 Ta n ya S t r e e t e r

41

people who are with her do. But people on the street or in the shops will say, ‘That’s Tanya Streeter.’”

That star quality, though something Streeter doesn’t particularly relish or seek out, has lead to the role that she believes gives purpose to her freediving accomplishments.

The State of the Ocean as Legacy

B

eing a celebrity wasn’t as palatable to Streeter as getting her hands dirty tackling marine environmental issues (“I wanted to be that crazy girl who put herself between the harpoon and the whale”), but she began to see the good her celebrity could bring. “I talked to organizers and they said, ‘We’ve got thousands of people to go and pick up stuff

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off the beach. What we need is somebody to say it’s cool to pick up the stuff on the beach.’ So I get it now,” she stated. “I understand that that has a value to it and I’ve made a career and a living out of it.”

As many parents can attest, the birth of a child changes everything and this was true for Streeter.

Getting pregnant was difficult and then Streeter suffered from severe post-partum depression. Her attitude toward the environmental issues she’d championed even shifted. “Because I have a daughter, a legacy, you really start to understand a legacy and your own mortality. Everything is put into perspective when you have a child,” she explained.

Streeter became involved with the Plastic Oceans Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in

the UK devoted to “significantly reduc[ing] plastic pollution in the environment by supporting and funding targeted solutions.” She is a patron of the foundation, which means that Streeter acts as a spokesperson and representative.

She is also involved in a major documentary of the same name, which Streeter describes as “a cinematic release similar to ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ and ‘The Cove’” which should be coming out in 2013. Streeter feels that the scope of the Plastic Oceans film is greater than what people typically associate with marine ecology. “It’s the human health issue,” she revealed.

“I really feel like that’s what all the diving was for. In many ways, it’s led me to be responsible about the way I raise my own child. If that’s the only impact I have, then

Freediving Depth Records—Human and Animal The Association International pour le Développement de l'Apnée (AIDA) recognized these freediving world records as of August 16, 2012. The marine animals included below give some perspective to these human accomplishments.

Constant Weight Apnea (CWT) Men

Alexey Molchanov

Date: 2012-06-06 Place: Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt

Green turtle 25m (82 feet)

Constant Weight Apnea (CWT) Women

Natalia Molchanova

Constant Weight Apnea Without Fins (CNF) Men

William Trubridge

Date: 2011-09-22 Place: Kalamata, Greece

Date: 2010-12-16 Place: Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas

Variable Weight Apnea (VWT) Men

Variable Weight Apnea (VWT) Women

Herbert Nitsch Date: 2009-12-07 Place: Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas

Natalia Molchanova

Constant Weight Apnea Without Fins (CNF) Women

Natalia Molchanova Date: 2012-05-08 Place: Dahab, Egypt

Free Immersion Apnea (FIM) Men

William Trubridge

Date: 2010-04-10 Place: Dean's Blue Hole, Long Island, Bahamas

No-Limits Apnea (NLT) Men

No-Limits Apnea (NLT) Women

Date: 2007-06-14 Place: Spetses, Greece

Date: 2002-08-17 Place: Turks and Caicos

Herbert Nitsch

Free Immersion Apnea (FIM) Women

Natalia Molchanova Date: 2011-09-24 Place: Crete, Greece

Tanya Streeter

Date: 2012-06-06 Place: Sharm El Sheikh Egypt

66m (217 feet)

88m (289 feet)

101m (331 feet)

101m (331 feet)

Orcas/Killer whales 100m (328 feet) 121m (397 feet)

125m (410 feet)

Oceanic whitetip shark 150m (500 feet)

127m (417 feet) 142m (466 feet)

160m (525 feet)

For more information about apnea world records, see www.aidainternational.org/competitive/worlds-records/ 214m (702 feet)

Ta n ya S t r e e t e r

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The Plastic Oceans film crew and Streeter work on location. Photo courtesy of

Tanya Streeter dives beside crew in a submersible while a cameraman films.

Plastic Oceans Foundation

Photo courtesy of Plastic Oceans Foundation

thank God I dived to the bottom of the sea to get it because she’s an angel. I get this extra soapbox because of my diving to be involved in a film like this and to get the message out to other people.”

A key point for Streeter is that “disposable” products are made of an indestructible material. She shook her head: “I remember the color of the paper that I read that fact on; it was that high impact for me. I thought about all those single-use things that we expect and it’s hard. But it’s almost harder to accept the impact and the contribution that we’re already making than it is to make the changes.” The goal is not to do away with plastics but to get people all over the world to be conscious of the choices they can make in products and to reduce the amount of materials dumped through that changed behavior. And Streeter practices what she preaches. She carefully removed plastic products from the backgrounds of the photo shoot locations and regaled the photo crew with several stories, one involving plastic cutlery at a home barbecue, which illustrated how “really annoying I can be” with that message.

producers had hoped that her women’s No Limits Apnea record would be broken before the documentary was finished as a way to add closure to the story. That hasn’t happened and Streeter is disappointed. “I want that chapter of my life done. I want to see somebody safely and successfully break the record so that the rest of us aren’t looked at as anything other than what we are—just athletes in a sport, trading the podium now and then,” she declared. “We’re not defying death at all. To me, that’s the best end of the story and, on a personal level, would give me the greatest satisfaction. I don’t want the world record.”

As Streeter sees it, the more people who break the record, the more separation the sport will derive from the “stunt” status that the media grants with each death. The longer the record stands, the easier it is to surmise that Streeter is, in fact, different. There are so many factors that go into taking on a world record—funding, skill, desire—but paramount in Streeter’s mind is realizing capabilities. “You have to strike the balance between pushing yourself and realizing your limitations. My catchphrase, ‘redefining limits,’ was born of this idea that that is the very first thing you have to do­—accepting that you have limits to what you are capable of doing is the very first thing you have to do.”

Streeter strongly believes that her abilities are no different from anyone else’s: “I’d never have said that I’m any different… it didn’t serve me as an athlete, because, to me, if I was different than everybody else, then I was only ever as good as the

Is Your Body Strongest or is Your Mind

I

n addition to the Plastic Oceans movie, Streeter is also currently working on a film with ESPN about Audrey Mestre, and the topic brings Streeter back to contemplating the deeper issues of freediving. She and the

www.KellyKeithDDS.com 44

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September 2012

Plastic waste collects on an uninhabited island off Marseille, France. Photo courtesy of Plastic Oceans Foundation

difference. Again, it gives me chills because it’s very real. To have no difference means that I have the whole of human nature’s potential to be ‘as good as.’ To know that this part of me is different is to believe that all I have is this part. I still don’t believe that I’m physically and physiologically any different but I guess that, mentally, I am.”

For Streeter, competition involved a constant questioning: Is your body stronger or is your mind stronger? She expounded: “I don’t think it’s too much of a stretch to say that the better you get at a sport—or anything you set out to achieve—the doubt grows at the same sort of rate that your skill level grows. Certainly, the way I was wired, as much as I believed in myself, right behind it was my disbelief in myself. And, ultimately, in the end, because of the nature of my sport being to defy instinct, and to defy the instinct to survive—which goes across genders, across ages, across everything—because of that, it had to be mind over body.”

The No Limits record must fall because its standing flies in the face of Streeter’s belief that by “taking your mind out of the equation at all, you get to tap into what I guestimate is 30 percent of our physical ability that we just don’t know that we have.” She recounted a story she saw on the news about a war veteran who’d lost both

his legs and was recovering in a wheelchair.

His 2-year-old daughter asked him to play on the floor. “He said, ‘Oh, I can’t. Daddy can’t get on the floor.’ And she turned and said to someone, ‘My daddy can’t do anything.’ And it was like this (Streeter snapped her fingers). Now he’s done an Ironman and climbed Mount Everest and done all that stuff…but the point is, we do these things that really push us to the edge of ourselves, physically and, therefore, mentally, when we need to have a better understanding of ourselves or we need to prove something to ourselves.” It’s certainly true for Streeter, who revealed that, “when I pushed myself, it was always at a time where I was having some kind of personal crisis. It’s not something I’ve talked about a lot but it’s true. It’s always been about getting strength and understanding myself, about accepting myself. And pushing yourself really hard is just a really good way to do that.

“I don’t know if 525 feet is my limit. It may well be but until I try to beat it and fail, I won’t know. If I repeatedly try and don’t make the depth, then at some point I will be forced to accept that 525 is my limit.

“My story is so simple. I just wanted to see if I could do it.”afm

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Overtrai Who,

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ining? p , me?

LIFT YOUR SEAT TONE YOUR THIGHS BURN FAT IN RECORDBREAKING TIME.

By T i m Z e d d i e s , P h . D .

M

any of us fitnesscrazed adults have surely been on the receiving end of some mixture of astonishment, confusion, intrigue, befuddlement, skepticism, and judgment from friends and family members who question what would ever possess anyone to exercise at such an intense level. This reaction may, in part, help to explain the explosion in popularity over the previous five to ten years of boot camps, runners’ groups, master’s swimming classes, CrossFit, “hot box” gyms, P90X home exercise DVD programs, and on-line fitness chat-rooms where the fitness-crazed not only connect with likeminded individuals but also receive ample doses of motivation and inspiration to push harder. While participation in the aforementioned groups is, in my mind, entirely positive in manifold ways, there may also be risks associated with that nagging and discomforting question raised by our more sedentary friends and family members: are we training too much?

Stated more precisely, are we at risk for overtraining as a direct result of our zeal for and dedication to intense training?

Overtraining occurs when we exercise beyond our body's ability to recover. But here’s where it gets tricky—in order to make athletic and performance-related gains, it is necessary to push our limits.

©

RESULTS IN 10 CLASSES OR LESS. The more fit we become, the harder it is to reach beyond our limits. In short, we must place increased stress on our body’s muscular and cardiovascular systems in order to improve. But without enough rest and recovery, our body does not get an opportunity to heal and grow, and our strength, stamina, and performance may thereby suffer.

The line between intense exercise and overtraining presents a difficult and vexing problem, one that deserves serious consideration and attention. I think one reason this problem is so vexing is that it contrasts so much with what we train our minds to overcome related to increasingly intense forms of exercise: fatigue, doubt, fear, laziness, muscle burn, and, yes, even pain.

Ask personal trainers about the difficulty they experience in talking to their clients about the pain associated with intense exercise. Many of them will probably tell you that there’s “good pain” and “bad pain”; the first is a natural consequence of pushing muscles to their limit of strength and endurance and the second is an indication of injury to a muscle, bone, and/or soft tissue. But how do we know which is which?

Many of us strive for the first and go to great lengths to avoid the second. For better or worse, distinguishing between “good pain” and “bad pain” is not something anyone can really tell us but something that we have to learn on our own, many times as a result of getting injured.

Overtraining

47

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September 2012

FIRST SESSION HALF OFF! Although injury is not the only sign or indication of overtraining, how do we minimize the risk of injury? First of all, we need to realize that if we choose to train at an intense level, the risk of injury always increases. Warming up and cooling down properly, maintaining good form throughout an entire exercise movement, and avoiding overexertion of an exhausted muscle are all important. We need to exercise intelligently. This starts with being informed.

For starters, here’s a list of common indicators of overtraining, which I believe is one of several factors (including age, health status, training protocol, etc.) that is at the root of injuries sustained from intense training:

• Disrupted sleep, including initial in-

somnia (getting to sleep) and terminal insomnia (getting up too early)

• Excessive and prolonged aches or pains in muscles and/or joints

• Dizziness and lightheadedness • Increased susceptibility to delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)

• Excessive and unremitting fatigue • Frequent headaches • Elevated morning pulse • Sudden inability to complete workouts

(or completion only with great difficulty)

• Decreased energy • Feeling unmotivated • Increased susceptibility to colds, sore throats, and other illnesses

• Decreased appetite • Decreased physical/athletic performance

• Decreased libido (i.e., interest in sex) To be sure, various items from this list can also signal that we may be struggling with other problems and if anyone experiences any of the above signs for longer than a couple of days, particularly if the pain and/or

discomfort worsens, it’s probably a good idea to consult with a health care professional.

With respect to the topic of overtraining, suffice it to say that we ignore these signs at our peril. After all, why would anyone not listen to his or her body? We might even say that one of the indicators of fitness pertains to increased body awareness, such as in yoga and barre workouts. However, if it becomes necessary to over-use pain relievers just to make it through a workout or to stick with an intense training block, this indicator is lost. Of course, one reason for a reluctance to listen to physical messages of pain has to do with an athlete’s devotion —or what others might call addiction—to exercise. Like anything else, too much of a good thing is, well, not so good. Staying in a healthy training zone—whether this is measured by heart rate at rest or during training*, identifying appropriate exercise goals, and/or forming realistic and achievable expectations related to physical appearance and performance—is key to getting the most from our exercise routines. It also happens to be the best way to avoid the pitfalls of overtraining.

photo by Brian Fitzsimmons

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(512) 900-3838

6836 Bee Caves Rd. Building 2, Suite 101 www.AustinCryo.com

* There are numerous Internet resources to assist in calculating the best range for heart rate during exercise. One of my favorite sites is www.teambeachbody. com/get-fit/fitness-tools/target-heart-rate, which provides information across five levels of exercise intensity. afm Tim Zeddies has a private practice in clinical and sports psychology. He has been the consulting psychologist for the University of Texas Football program for the last eight years. Recently, Zeddies won the 40-49 male division of the 2012 AFM FITTEST presented

by Nexersys and won the 2012 Austin's Fittest Doctor competition, a division of the Fit Company Challenges

life is a race. be comfortable.

RUNNINGCHICS.COM Overtraining

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Finding Zen in the Water How I made peace with swimming B y C o u r t enay V erre t

I

t ’s 5:45 a.m. and I’ve already hit snooze once. I slowly fumble out of bed. Boudreaux, my yellow Lab, barely raises his head off his pillow to acknowledge my presence—even he thinks it’s too early to be awake. I grab a Clif bar and my swim bag and head out the door at 6 a.m. to meet my friend, who is already waiting for me in the car. By the time we arrive at the lake, the sun has just started peaking over the trees, and the sky is bright red. The water stretches out before us and is flat as glass, reflecting the morning light. We are the only ones out here, besides the turtles that are lazily peeking their heads above the surface. They, too, are enjoying the stillness of the morning.

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This is why I wake up at the crack of dawn.

I jump in and slice through the water, steady and strong. I focus on my stroke, on bilateral breathing, on sighting the buoys, on the way my body feels in the water. For two glorious hours, I don’t have to think about my job, approaching deadlines, paying bills, to-do lists. For two hours I can be in the present moment: It’s just me and the water.

This is why I swim.

If you had told me 20 years ago that I’d be extolling the virtues of early-morning swimming—let alone a two-hour training

session—I would have smirked or responded with a snarky comment. Growing up, I was a marching band geek, a drama club nerd. At the insistence of my mother, I was also a long-time member of the local swim team. In spite of my years of training, I was always the slowest, the least athletic. I placed last in every meet I competed in.

When I was finally allowed to quit, I stayed as far away from the pool as I could—for almost ten years. I rolled my eyes at my friends who went on to college and then Master’s swimming; I sneered at the Olympic swimmers on TV. But then one day I slowly, gradually began to dip my toes back into the pool—for fun, for recreation—only this time, it was on my

own terms. Then I discovered triathlon and I realized that all those years in the pool, once the bane of my existence, were now a huge asset in my newfound sport. I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud when I was moved to the fast lane of my training group.

It’s all about perspective, I guess. I began to make peace with swimming.

A year ago, a friend from my triathlon group participated in a four-mile open-water swim benefitting Colin’s Hope, a nonprofit organization that promotes water safety and drowning prevention. It was an amazing accomplishment—and it stirred something inside of me. I loved the idea of such a challenge, a chance to train for and compete against only myself. I tucked the info away in the back of my mind.

When registration for the 2012 Colin’s Hope Got2Swim team rolled around, I was in dire need of something to look forward to. It had been a difficult year of Job-like proportions, and I was feeling beaten to the ground. I applied for the team, unsure of whether I would be accepted. When the email came that I was in, I was overcome with emotion: Some inner part of myself knew that this was the right challenge at the right time. I needed a physical outlet. I needed a boost of confidence.

Throughout my training this summer, I have continually battled the indignation of my inner 14-year-old, who still can’t believe I voluntarily signed up for a swim team. I remind her that this is no ordinary swim team. And this is no ordinary swim.

I look forward to practices. I look forward to seeing my teammates. Most days I even look forward to waking up early so I can swim before heading to work. Ironically, I am once again one of the slowest on the team. But each week, as my mileage increases, so does my confidence. And on race day, my swim time and ranking won’t matter. Whether I come in first or last, I will have achieved something great in the face of what continues to be an incredibly difficult year. I will also have brought awareness to a very important and worthy cause—water safety and drowning prevention—which makes me doubly proud.

And, perhaps it’s Olympics-induced fever…but lately I’ve been considering joining a Master’s team so I can work on my speed. I’ve already got my sights set on the Colin’s Hope 10-mile swim next year. afm Courtenay Verret is a freelance writer in Austin. She hates to admit it, but these days, swimming is her life.

Swimming

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real yoga • real people • real change

North Hills Center 10710 Research Blvd #326 Austin TX

Austin Fit Magazine would like to recognize the outstanding Austinarea competitors who represented the United States so well at the 2012 Olympic games in London.

Congratulations, athletes!

R e s u lt s

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2

Bronze

Silver

4

Gold 52

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Micah Lawrence, Women’s 200m Breaststroke (Finals, 6th) Kathleen Hersey, Women’s 200m Butterfly (Finals, 4th) Brendan Hansen, Men’s100m Breaststroke (Bronze), Men’s

4x100m Medley Relay (Gold)*

James Feigen, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay (Silver)* Troy Dumais, Men’s 3m Synchronized Springboard (Bronze), Men’s 3m Individual Springboard (Finals, 5th)*

Destinee Hooker, Women’s Volleyball (Silver)* Michelle Carter, Women’s Shot Put (Finals, 5th) Sanya Richards-Ross,

Women’s 400m (Gold), Women’s 200m (Finals, 5th), Women’s 4x400m Relay (Gold)*

Leo Manzano, Men’s 1500m (Silver)* Michael Tinsley, Men’s 400m Hurdles (Silver) Marquise Goodwin, Men’s Long Jump (Final, 10th)* Bianca Knight, Women’s 4x100m Relay (Gold)* Amy Acuff, Women’s High Jump (Qualifications, 10th) Mike Rogers, Men’s 4x100m Relay Trey Hardee, Men’s Decathlon (Silver)* *Denotes former and current University of Texas Longhorn athletes

A u s t i n Oly m p i a n R e s u l t s

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The Mental Aspect of Taking on an Ultramarathon B y Dane R au s c h enber g

Dane Rauschenberg is an accomplished runner and author. Rauschenberg is perhaps best known for running a certified marathon every weekend in 2006 as part of a fundraiser called "Fiddy2," which benefitted the Mobile, Alabama, chapter of L'Arche Internationale.

He raised $44,000 for the group which works with people with intellectual disabilities and went on to take the world of marathon running by storm. Rauschenberg chronicled his 52-marathon adventure in his first book, See Dane Run: One Man, 52 Weekends, and 52 Marathons. In 2010, Rauschenberg took on the 202-mile American Odyssey Relay, a run from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Washington, D.C., in which teams of six or 12 people participate. Rauschenberg, however, ran it solo, completing the full 202 miles in 50 hours and 16 minutes. Just recently, he ran the length of the Oregon coast, 350 miles, over the course of seven days, averaging 50 miles a day. As he made his way along the coast, Rauschenberg stopped to talk to several schools and send a healthy message to kids of all ages. He also has a new book out: 138,336 Feet to Pure Bliss: What I Learned about Life, Women (and Running) in my First 100 Marathons. You can follow Rauschenberg's adventures on his website (danerunsalot.blogspot) and on Twitter (@seedanerun).

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T

he great ultrarunner

Ann Trason was asked how she runs 100-mile races. This was not a deep philosophical question posed by an experienced runner looking for that little tidbit of information that would finally give them the edge to winning a race. It was one posed in the format that our NRF (non-running friends) ask us about any race longer than about 100 feet. It was more like “How can you possibly run 100 miles?!” Her answer? “One tree at a time.”

Very akin to the old joke about how you eat an elephant (one bite at a time), Trason detailed her strategy for taking on an event

! ion ite at Wh c Lo n w Be Ne o @ C So

SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE

SCHEDULED SCHEDULM

30K-60K-90K 30K-60K-90K TUNE-UPS TUNE-UPS ENGINES•BRAKES ENGINES•BRAKES TRANSMISSIONS TRANSMISSIONS EXHAUST EXHAUST CUSTOM MODSMODS CUSTOM COllISION, COllISION, pAINTpAINT & BODy & BODy

call for call for estimates estimates

Crews are an important part of successful ultraruns. Rauschenberg (center) stops for a drink and a chat.

compared percentage-wise to the overall goal. It would never make any sense in an actual marathon to sprint for one-half of a mile three miles into the race, so I kept that same mindset with my 52 marathons task. Why did I do this? Because each marathon was my “one tree at a time.”

On two other occasions, I have taken on an event that goes longer than even the most traditional longest of ultramarathons out there, the 100 miler. In 2010, I ran the 202-mile American Odyssey Relay, from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, to Washington D.C., completely solo. Earlier this year, I ran the entire coast of Oregon, from the California border to the Washington border, all 350 miles plus, in seven days. These two events required me to not only push myself in ways that I had yet to do physically but included aspects of mental gymnastics the likes of which I had never attempted.

For the 202 miler, I had to wrap my head around the fact that I had never run continuously for longer than 87 miles.

The 87-mile mark was where I had dropped out of my first 100- mile attempt at the blistering hot and humid 2007 Old Dominion race. Now, it is not really uncommon to run far less than the race distance in training, even for ultras. The great Karl Meltzer, having run the entire length of the Pony Express Trail, states he rarely runs more than 20-30 miles while training for his 100-mile races.

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that would comprise three million steps (give or take a hop, skip, or a jump). Her point was, more or less, that you can’t see the finish line when you start so don’t worry about it until you can. It was the mental aspect of the task that she was trying to impart upon the questioner and her response could not be more true.

I was asked to discuss in this article how the mental aspect of an extremely long run (or one that takes multiple days to complete) comes into play. Like Trason said, it is paramount. I made my bones in the running world when I ran 52 marathons in 52 consecutive weekends back in 2006. Unlike now, I knew not one bit about running or how to handle those types of events back then. But I grew up quickly that year. While each race was its own event, I soon realized that the event itself was the completion of the year, not just one marathon.

I had made it abundantly clear to those following me that nothing short of an actual marathon race each and every weekend would do. No doubling up. No treadmill runs. No running the course prior to the day of the race. I started when everyone else did and (hopefully) finished quicker than most of them.

Because of that, I made each 26.2-mile run into its own subset of the 1362.4mile adventure. Each marathon became, mathematically, one-half of a mile when

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like running 50 miles a day for seven straight days, I no longer do what I used to do and what I know most people still do.

The immediate inclination is to picture a place where you can comfortably run at a moderate pace somewhere near your home that is familiar and safe.

You then picture the weather being perfect and supplies always at hand. Further thought is not wasted on where you will be sleeping because you immediately think that you will

thought is removed by doing multiple loops of 1-mile courses over and over again.

This sounds horrible until you realize how nice it is to not have to think. Both my 202-mile run and the 350 miler were not so lucky.

The 202-mile run is probably the hardest physical task I will undertake for quite some time, even more physically difficult than the 350 miler. But it was dwarfed by the mental energy and preparation needed for the Pacific Coast 350. Sure, the weather was brutal on some days but, given what the Oregon coast had been beaten with this winter/spring (even just one week prior), the weather was a relative non-factor. Even the topography was far from the biggest challenge. Going from sea level to 900 feet in just a few miles on many occasions was not exactly ideal but this wasn’t what made each day difficult.

Pounding 350 miles on pavement definitely put some strain on my feet but the surface of the road wasn’t the addition that made everything so challenging.

The hardest part of each day was quite tellingly the most rewarding as well.

Stopping in mid-run and addressing a student body at one of the many schools along the coast, sometimes with runners in attendance and sometimes to just the general assembly, is what made this adventure what it was. Starting in Gold Beach, moving to Bandon, heading up to Lincoln City, stopping off in Tillamook, and then eventually talking to inner-city Portland schools, I probably had over 1,000 kids in front of me, total—impressionable, eager-to-learn children, many of whom were wondering how the guy in the saltencrusted shirt had the power to get them out of class for a few minutes and what he was doing or had just accomplished.

Eventually, they were won over and the questions flowed. Some questions were about the run itself while other students

The hardest part of each day was quite tellingly the most rewarding.

Rauschenberg addressed students at several Oregon schools, including Taft High School (center). Photos by Shannon Mitchel

He just happens to do them two to three days in a row. However, the difference between a 100-mile event and running 202 miles solo is more than just doubling the distance. There comes a point when the amount of miles begins to add up exponentially. But it is not just the miles run that takes a toll.

For example: with my 350-mile run up the coast, running more miles in one week than I had in any month in my life was quite an undertaking. But if the feat had just been running lots of miles, that would have been infinitely easier. It would also not have been really worth it for me to do. How is that possible? Let me explain.

Now, when I picture doing something

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stop running and be back at your own door, with your own foods and your own bed and your own toiletries. You’ll drop off your dirty running clothes and pick out fresh ones from the endless supply of things you have in your closet. Your brain does this so it can think of the easiest way to go about doing something harder than anything you have ever done. It is self-preservation.

But that was not what I did in either the 350-mile run or the 202 miler. In the 202 miler, I was running from point to point with an ever-ticking clock, and I had to deal with ever-changing weather and topography. When I finished the 202 miler in just a hair over 50 hours, I was stunned.

I hadn’t expected to come anywhere close to that time. Not because the time in that distance is astounding (my friend Phil McCarthy set the US record for a 48-hour run with 257 miles last year) but that I was able to do it in this sort of race. In McCarthy’s race, and in other races of similar ilk that I have done, much of the

wanted to know how I could possibly fuel myself properly to do this much running… and still more curious, brave souls wanted to know if I shaved my legs.

Almost without fail, I began one of my speeches to the kids within 15 minutes after many hours of running. Almost without fail, I was pretty exhausted when I started.

Almost without fail, I left more energized than when I began.

Which brings me back to the mental side of preparing for these types of events.

Obviously, undertaking one long run or a longer run over a period of days requires a different set of calculations, crewmembers, and tactics specific to that run. So to tell you how to prepare for all of them without knowing what you are planning to do would be folly on my part. The best thing I can possibly say is to know you are not alone in trying to ignore the impossible. If you think you are the first to worry whether you have trained enough, prepared your crew enough, or done the right homework, you are wrong.

Many have been in your exact situation.

There will be setbacks before, during, and most definitely after.

The finish line does not mean you are done. When I finished the 202 miler, I jumped right back into racing as soon as I could—just a few weeks later—as I had no specific or obvious problem. This left me with a deep-seated exhaustion that hung with me for months. When I undertook the 350 miler, I reminded myself that, chances are, the same thing would happen again.

To no one’s surprise, it has and knowing it would has allowed me to handle the let down much better – key word being “better.” I am not enjoying my downtime. I do not like the soreness that is hurting parts of my body that never hurt before, months after the event was complete. But this time I am aware.

In a play on the old cliché, Bill Rodgers once told me, “Running is 90 percent mental. And 10 percent mental.”

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Fit After 40

Youthful Body, Youthful Mind?

Don’t Lose Your Marbles—Exercise!

By J. Jody Kelly

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or a long time, everyone has known that exercising as you age keeps your body as youthful, strong, and healthy as possible, but what about cognitive function? Is there something you can do to stay mentally sharp? Until a few years ago, scientists surmised that mental activities such as working crossword puzzles and

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reading deep books would do the trick.

Keeping your mind active was supposed to keep your mind active! Mental activities do no harm and probably help a bit, but according to several researchers, including Dr. Denise Park, co-director of the University of Texas at Dallas Center for Vital Longevity, a growing body of evidence supports the efficacy of exercise in maintaining cognition.

Recent animal studies led the way to this change in thinking about the way the human brain functions late in life. Aging rats on an exercise program could make their way through mazes with better memory and decision-making skills than sedentary rats. In studies using human beings, Dr. Park found that older people who self-reported walking several times a week also performed better

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on mental tasks than those who engaged in complex crafts while seated and even better than those who neither walked nor did crafting projects.

Cognition is all about blood flow and connectivity in the brain, both of which improve with exercise. A little over a year ago, the Archives of Internal Medicine published an important study summarized by lead author Dr. Laura E. Middleton of the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery at the Sunnybrook Research Institute in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In “Activity Energy Expenditure and Incident Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults,” contributing neuroscientists found that physical activity protects your brain.

The Canadian study started with the premise, based on previous research, that “physical activity appears to be one of the more promising preventive strategies against cognitive impairment in the elderly population. In most studies, people who are more physically active in midlife and late life have lower rates of dementia and cognitive impairment in late life. In addition, people who participate in higher levels of physical activity have slower rates of cognitive decline compared with those who are less active.”

However, the Canadian study not only included all of the daily activity that their test subjects performed, including such motions as housework, gardening, and fidgeting, but the study also followed the test subjects for three to five years and applied the most rigorous scientific method of determining energy expenditure, the doubly labeled water (DLW) method.

According to the Exercise and Physical Activity Resource Center of La Jolla, California, the DLW, which assesses “freeliving energy expenditure,” is “currently regarded as the gold standard technique. With a reported precision of ± 3%, this method serves as a reference for validating other in-

struments or methods designed to measure energy expenditure.” Further, “as energy is expended in the body, carbon dioxide and water are produced, and the differences between the isotope elimination rates are used to calculate total energy expenditure. This method can be carried out on a wide range of individuals over lengthy time periods, usually between 4 and 21 days, which is advantageous for capturing habitual energy expenditure patterns.”

The conclusion of the Canadian study confirms that “activity is inversely associated with the likelihood of developing incident cognitive impairment.” Yes, moving around saves your brain. The study didn’t investigate the amount or type of physical activities that are best for maintaining a healthy brain, but future studies will no doubt investigate this promising idea.

Another avenue that the Canadian study may explore is an investigation of whether exercise can prevent or at least delay the onset of such conditions as mild cognitive impairment, dementia, and Alzheimer’s.

Another widely respected researcher on exercise and the aging brain, Dr. Art Kramer, director of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, is already convinced that aerobic exercise, such as walking, jogging, and bicycling, is the best way to preserve brain function late in life. He and his team conducted research that focused on one of the circuits in the brain, the default mode network (DMN).

The DMN is most active when someone is paying the least attention to the outer world—daydreaming or passively observing without actively engaging in something that’s going on.

In a healthy young brain, the DMN rapidly transfers control to another brain circuit when a person suddenly focuses on an activity related to the external world.

This transfer might resemble what happens Fit After 40

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when a driver zones out a little on a highway but sees his exit ahead. He promptly engages his brain and makes the turn successfully.

Studies have shown that in sedentary older people, this sudden switching of attention can be slower and less efficient because connectivity among the various brain circuits is low and uncoordinated.

Dr. Kramer also investigates the frontoexecutive network that controls such complex functions as planning, scheduling, coordinating, handling ambiguity, making judgments, multitasking, and using the working memory, previously known as short-term memory.

Like other researchers, he also concludes that moderate exercise, especially aerobic activities, can improve the connectivity in and among brain circuits and can delay or prevent

the kind of shrinkage and impairment that are sometimes seen in the aging brain.

Perhaps one of the most helpful activities Dr. Kramer has provided to the general public interested in the function of the aging brain is to post short talks on these topics on YouTube. Instead of, or in addition to, reading his scientific articles, you can see and listen to his explanations of why exercise is so important in maintaining a sound mind as we age. afm J. Jody Kelly, owner of Strengthmobile, is an ACE-certified personal trainer who conducts sessions in the homes of the elderly or disabled. She races triathlons, lifts weights, and takes Pilates mat classes.

Bonus Videos

Use your smart phone to scan the QR codes for additional information on cognition, fitness, and aging.

Dr. Art Kramer discusses the effects of fitness training on cognition. http://youtu.be/o98aYKPAs34

Seniors discuss the effects on cognition they've seen from exercise and testing with Professors Edward McAuley and Art Kramer. http://youtu.be/QAGnmcdPzHo

Award-winning neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki gives a TEDxOrlando talk: Can going to the gym improve learning, memory, and cognition AND make you more creative? http://youtu.be/LdDnPYr6R0o

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he digital scale tracks your weight, body fat/lean mass, and BMI by connecting to your Withings account (setting up your online account is part of the scale setup). Scale setup is easy once you find where to plug the USB cable in (hint: the port is next to the batteries). Note that the scale must be connected via USB port to your computer for setup. Withings is a Paris (France)-based company so you have to switch from kg to lb in the app and on the scale (there’s a switch on the bottom of the scale). The company also makes a blood pressure monitor which works the same way. One user review of the scale on amazon.com noted that the product does not work if you have metal body parts (presuming pins and plates also fall into this category), but we could neither verify nor dispute this point by press time.

What Makes It Cool: Free apps for iPhone, iPad, and Android devices allow you to track your body metrics from any device. Perhaps frighteningly, you can also share your metrics all too easily via social media with a click of the Twitter, Facebook, or other icon. The real power of the product seems to be in the long-term tracking (cool graphs and charts) and it seems that having both the blood pressure monitor and the scale would provide more comprehensive data especially for those individuals managing health issues primarily through diet and exercise.

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What Makes It Cool: The Spry has about a million uses (the demo video on the website demonstrates even putting a one-liter bladder in the back pocket).

It’s a versatile piece for any runner and hiker who likes to carry a hand-held water bottle and wants more room than a waist pack can provide.

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any athletes are trying out physio tape to help with recovery, as the tape lifts skin away from muscles, which promotes blood flow. RockTape has been specifically tested for race conditions. Made from a special nylon, it has 190 percent elasticity and has a unique “plow pattern” design to the backing that channels away water.

RockTape comes in several sizes to fit all types of bodies so there’s no cutting to fit, and there are a wide variety of cool colors and patterns to choose from.

What Makes It Cool: Physio tape isn’t going to help if it’s not applied correctly, and the RockTape website has great videos which show how to dress various issues, such as swollen ankles and a compressed disc (to name but two). You can also print out instructions for easy reference.

Fit Finds

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Special Advertising Section

The

Mind & Body Guide Photography by Brian Fitzsimmons

There's so much information bombarding us each day, and that makes it hard to stay focused and yet find a way to relax our minds. AFM has opened up this Mind & Body Guide for a few select local yoga, dance, barre, and Pilates studios to provide information and help you find your way to an integrated, fit body. Open up your mind, flex your body, and try a few classes—you'll thank yourself!

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Special Advertising Section

Dance Austin Studio Dance Austin Studio 9012 Research Blvd. Suite C-5 (Corner of Burnet Rd & Hwy 183 inside Furniture Row Shopping Center) | Austin, TX 78758 512.323.9760 | www.DanceAustinStudio.com

t first glance, Dance Austin seems exactly what you’d expect from a quality dance studio: fun décor, big mirrored studios, beautiful dance floor, and lots of classes. Take a closer look, and you’ll see much more than the average studio. With over 40 different classes which offer something for everyone, whether you’re a seasoned dancer working on technique, an athlete looking for a fun supplemental workout, or an Austinite looking to learn a brand new skill.

Owner and instructor Chi Chi Randolph had a vision to create an uplifting place for everyone—not just dancers. “Dance Austin Studio is a place where people can come and feel good about themselves while receiving quality dance and fitness training,” says Randolph. “I wanted to bring a taste of my dance experiences from Atlanta and New York to the people of Austin in a welcoming, non-judgmental, yet challenging atmosphere.”

For Dance Austin, that meant gathering the highest quality instructors from all different aspects of dance and fitness, and these instructors and classes at Dance Austin are as eclectic as it gets. All of the instructors bring their own professional experiences to their classes in a fun and exciting way. Their collective list of accomplishments is nothing short of exceptional: The Black Eyed Peas, Nelly, LMFAO, Trey Songz, Grammy Pre-Show, Soul Train Music Awards, BET Hip Hop Awards, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Blue Lapis Light, American College Dance Festival, and many more. Several of Dance Austin’s instructors have a BA and master’s degrees in dance and kinesiology, AFFA

certifications, and choreograph professionally. To top all of that off, Randolph is constantly bringing in top dancers from across the country to teach master classes and workshops.

Because of the wide range of experience, each class has its own unique quality.

Before long every student finds the perfect combination of classes for their own goals and needs. Dance Austin offers plenty of non-intimidating classes if you are brand new to dancing, and also offers lots of classes for dancers training for a professional career. Traditional classes include beginning and intermediate ballet, jazz, and modern. Dance Austin is most known, however, for their signature classes such as Go-Go Cardio

Mix, Sexy Stiletto Fit, Dance AusTONE, and of course their multiple styles of hip hop. There’s also belly dance, hot hula, yoga, and 25 minute express fitness classes for the mom on-the-go or busy college student. There’s even something for the kiddos: creative dance, preballet, pre-hop, jazz, break dance, and hip hop.

Try just one class and Dance Austin’s fun atmosphere will have you hooked. No matter your experience, age, or background, you will feel at home with the Dance Austin family and leave with a bounce in your step and confidence in your smile!

B e c a u s e o f t h e w i de ra n g e o f e x p e ri e n c e , e a c h c l ass has i ts ow n u n i q u e q u a l i ty

Mind & Body Guide

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Special Advertising Section

sunstone yoga 10710 Research Blvd. Suite 326 | Austin, TX 78759 512.287.7047 ex. 114 | www.sunstoneyoga.com t Sunstone Yoga we teach fitness styles of yoga performed in a heated environment, including traditional hot yoga, power, vinyasa, and core classes. Our most popular series is called FIRE, in which the postures are practiced in a specific synergistic and cumulative order. The warmth of the room allows you to work deep into your muscles, tendons and ligaments, changing your body from the inside out. Through regular practice you will reduce stress, increase strength and flexibility, balance the weight of your body, and improve the quality of your life.

We have a diverse group of students and a strong core of regular practitioners who will share their passion for yoga with you. Our students come from all exercise backgrounds. All of our students are focused on developing a personal yoga practice, and regardless of your starting point you will be comfortable developing your own practice at Sunstone Yoga.

Whether you’re looking to improve your strength, flexibility and conditioning, or simply trying to find a way to reduce stress, Sunstone Yoga is the perfect activity for you. You will realize the most benefit from regular practice, but even those who can only attend an occasional class will enjoy yoga’s calming effects and

health benefits. Many regular students are actually able to reduce the symptoms of chronic diseases (e.g. arthritis, diabetes and thyroid disorders). If you have an open mind, positive attitude, and dedication, the positive effects of yoga are unlimited.

Our 4000+ sq. foot state of the art facility had two yoga rooms and shower facilities. We offer 9 classes a day beginning at 6 AM and ending at 8 PM. Additionally, we supply mats and towels to every customer free of charge. We hope to see you soon!

Total wellness austin 4220 West William Cannon, Suite 130 | Austin, TX 78749 512.892.3434 | www.totalwellnessaustin.com ori owns Total Wellness Austin, a clinic in Southwest Austin that provides clients with a wide range of healthcare services. Lori graduated from Stephen F. Austin State University with a BS in Interdisciplinary Studies.

She received her Hatha yoga teacher certification from Yoga Yoga and is a registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. Lori has advanced training in yoga practices benefitting people who suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Lori's primary focus in her yoga teaching is to develop individualized programs to fit the needs of each client. Total Wellness Austin is one of the only clinics to offer yoga classes in sign language targeted towards hearing impaired clients. They keep the class sizes small in order to focus on the needs of each client and focus on healing various injuries in private yoga sessions. They work hand-in-hand with the chiropractor in office to ensure the safety and health of the client. Recently, they have been picked as a certified physical education alternative for Austin Independent School District for individuals to receive their PE credits with Total Wellness Austin doing yoga instead of the typical PE class at school. As well as 68

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yoga, Total Wellness Austin includes many other services including acupuncture, therapeutic massage, personal training, fitness boot camps, life coaching, nutritional counseling, chiropractic, Doga, pre & post-natal yoga and kid's yoga. Doga is a class that uses massage, deep breathing, and yoga poses to relax both dog and owner. Lori volunteers her time Sundays to provide free Doga at the Austin Humane Society to the shelter dogs. They offer free and discounted services to active and retired military, law enforcement, fire and EMS. They are also committed to helping the community of Austin and recently formed a non-profit organization called Keep Austin Well.

Special Advertising Section

barre 3 Austin barre3 Austin Hill Country Galleria 12800 Hill Country Boulevard Suite G100 | Bee Cave, Texas 78738 barre3 Austin Downtown 115 Sandra Muraida Way | Austin, TX 78703 Downtown 512.391.6200 | Hill Country Galleria 512.243.5233 | www.barre3.com

arre3 Austin is a highly effective 60-minute workout combining the grace of ballet, the wisdom of yoga, and the strength of Pilates. The ballet barre is designed to support the body in both static and dynamic movement which leads to long, lean muscles.

Classes are designed to transform the body to one of equal balance, strength and flexibility. Each class follows a thoughtful sequence for fast body shaping results and long-term postural benefits.

With lots of variety and an ever-evolving routine, barre3 strives to break each individual's personal plateau in every class. All ages, fitness levels, and both genders are welcome. Plus children can chill in the "Play Lounge" while parents can find balance- mind, body, spirit. barre3 Austin opened two convenient locations in 2012. barre3 Austin Downtown debuted May 1st and barre3 Austin Hill Country Galleria opened late July. Both studios are locally owned by sisters, Kimberly Miller Goldberg and Tara Miller Heavner. Together they have a genuine love for family, fitness, and adventure. Over the years, both have

devoted endless hours to their yoga and Pilates practice. Kim co-owned an Austin based outdoor boot camp since 2004. Back in 2006, she discovered the benefits of the barre-based workouts and began incorporating barre movements and postures into her daily workouts and boot camps. Tara, a seasoned runner has completed 9 marathons. After a hip injury sidelined her running, she diverted her attention to the barre-based workouts.

Within in a month, Tara gained much needed strength and flexibility, and was on the road to recovery. In the summer of 2010, the sisters did extensive research on which barrebased philosophy honored their fitness interests and backgrounds. They fell in love with barre's focus on balance, proper alignment, intense core work, and strong yoga influence.

Currently the "barre3 Austin family" consists of nine fully-certified barre3 instructors, and nine Play Lounge attendants who share a passion for barre3 and zest for life. The inviting barre3 staff warmly welcomes everyone to experience barre3. New clients can take

. . . ba rre3 st ri v es t o b re ak e a c h i n di v i du a l' s p e rso n a l p l at e a u i n e v e ry c l ass.

advantage of two specials: 3 classes for $30 and the $99 Unlimited Month. Schedules and reservations are available at barre3.com.

Both studios boast natural light, modern decor, and huge picture windows creating an energizing and zen like space for the 60-minute concise workout.

Each location includes a spa inspired locker room with shower, free garage parking just steps from the front door, and a cozy on-site 'Play Lounge' for children of all ages. Kim and Tara, both mothers of young children, find it imperative to offer a safe place for children to play so parents have an opportunity to enjoy a challenging, incredibly effective workout, no matter the fitness level.

Kim and Tara are excited to introduce barre3 to Texas residents. "We are on a mission to 'Keep Austin Balanced... Mind, Body, Spirit'. We strive to be a '3rd place' after work and home, so leading a healthy lifestyle becomes an integrated way of life." The 3 in barre3 symbolizes balance, a core value of barre's business, practice and life.

Mind & Body Guide

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Special Advertising Section

The bar method 1611 W. 5th St. #125 Austin, TX 78703 512.391.0921 austin.barmethod.com ontinuing to set the standard for bar fitness in Austin, The Bar Method workout combines dance, interval, and isometric training to create a uniquely lean and sculpted body.

The Bar Method instructors quickly learn everyone's names and give encouraging feedback during class (which makes being a newbie easy). Each one-hour session is set to fun music as it works through exercises that sculpt targeted areas to quickly reshape your muscles.

Yes, you will be sore. The resulting bod is worth it.

After a brief warm-up, you'll tackle the upper body with handweights and the workout flows into a challenging set of lower-body positions at the barre. From there, you will move to the floor for a series of exercises that are designed to pleasantly torture your abs and glutes.

Twirl your way to a total body makeover at 5th Street Commons with free and easy parking, a locker room with full amenities, multiple showers, and two full-size studio rooms so you can choose from over 35 classes per week.

Stop by, email, or tweet so you can learn about our Austin Fit Special for new clients. Your 30-day trial is incentive to dive into the practice and watch your body change dramatically.

It’ll be hard, but after a month, your butt, abs, and thighs will be, too.

Fitness 360 4601 N. Lamar Blvd. Suite 508 | Austin, TX 78751 512.233.0100 | www.fitness360.net itness 360, a locally owned, independently operated gym, is an innovative concept in the health club industry, offering: • 24-hour keycard access to all members • Premium equipment • Tailored personal training • Group classes which include: Barre, Yoga, Body and Core Barre 360 is a workout combining ballet and pilates-style movements and is a low-impact, full-body workout that delivers maximum results in record time. Individuals at all levels can achieve the coveted dancer’s body–long, lean, lifted, and toned.

In Yoga 360 we focus on breath control while steadily increasing the heart rate and strengthening muscles along the entire centerline of the body. We end class by steadily decreasing the heart rate and moving into stretching postures. This class promotes physical strength and emotional wellbeing.

A strong core is the groundwork for every athlete. Core 360 will challenge the entire circumference of your core, from the lower back all the way around to the front abdominals.

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In Body 360 drills are multi-dimensional and movements are multi-directional in order to build on the fundamentals of strength, core and cardio training. Get ready to be motivated and physically challenged.

Whether you prefer free weights,resistance training, or cardio, Fitness 360 features top-of-the-line equipment Precor, LifeFitness, and Technogym.

At Fitness 360, we’re committed to the best member experience possible. You’ll never wait for a machine. Parking is convenient.

Cleanliness is paramount and, we have the friendliest staff in Austin!

Special Advertising Section

pure barre 3267 Bee Caves Road | Austin, TX 78746 | 512.574.8644 10710 Research Blvd. Suite 316 | Austin, TX 78759 | 512.574.2344 www.purebarre.com

legence meets Strength…LIFT . TONE . BURN is the motto by which pure barre is known and for a very good reason as it has created the best seats in town! Pure barre has swept the nation with the best barre technique out there and has taken Austin by storm with three locations. This technique delivers a lifted seat, toned thighs and a burn that hurts so good, focusing on the areas women want to work. Pure barre fuses elements of dance, pilates and yoga but takes a very athletic approach to these techniques, in turn creating a workout that everyone can relate to. It also lends the fastest results by working to maximum fatigue with clients seeing changes in 10 classes or less. You do not need years of dance experience to attend classes. There is a fit whether you run marathons or haven’t worked out in a few years. Classes are friendly, fun, upbeat and fast pace while still allowing you to work your personal zone.

This 55minute full- body workout is your personal time to escape both mentally and physically. We utilize small isometric movements to work your muscles to fatigue and then we stretch to lengthen them. The workout is challenging and includes both elements of repetition and inventiveness. This allows you to monitor your progress while experiencing new

challenges simultaneously. The class requires a strong mental focus training the mental aspects of personal growth along with the physical aspects.

At pure barre our mission is to inspire and motivate our clients to be their best self. This mission has created the business from top to bottom and you can feel the sense of community at our studios.

Our owner, Rashanna Moss-Lowry created this mission out of her own personal desire to help others. She was completely inspired by the technique when she first attended the studio in Nashville, TN where she lived at the time. Pure barre truly is an environment where everyone knows your name. Our teachers are thoroughly trained in the technique itself, while creatively encouraging clients to put their best efforts forward.

Upon your first visit, come open-minded and expect to be challenged as the technique requires a strong mind/body connection in order to perform isolated movements of certain muscle groups. Arrive a little early so that we can walk you through the process and of course…do not forget a pair of socks. We encourage you contact us with any questions and we look forward to having you join our movement to keep Austin tucked!

El egance meets strength. . . pu re barre fuses el e ments of dance, pi l ates and yoga bu t takes a very athl etic approach to these techniqu es, i n tu rn creati ng a workout that everyon e can rel ate to.

Mind & Body Guide

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2012-2013 AFMDC

2012-2013 Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge Opens Registration!

Be in the magazine!

The male and female winners of the Distance Challenge will be featured in AFM.

by Leah Fisher Nyfeler

W

hile the days may feel

more like summer right now, it’s not too early to start thinking ahead to the fall racing season. And for those Austin folks who love distance road running, fall means one thing—the Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge (AFMDC)!

Austin Fit Magazine is proud to be the title sponsor of the Distance Challenge again this year, as our 2011-2012 partnership with the Austin Runners Club (ARC), who manages the Distance Challenge, allowed AFM to cover some great athletes from October through February.

This year promises to be even more exciting. Vance Taylor, AFMDC managing director, announced that as of August 6, 200 runners had already signed up, putting 2012-2013 registrations well ahead of the previous season. Runners register for the AFMDC first and then sign up for the races that comprise the series separately.

Registration for the AFMDC is $50 and $45 for current ARC members.

Last season, there were five races in the series; 2013 sees the addition of a sixth race with the return of the 30K (18.6 miles). It’s been five years since there was a 30K between the half and the whole marathon (longtime Austin runners may think back fondly on the RunTex 30K in Buda) and the distance is a great stepping stone for those working up to the full marathon distance of 26.2 at the LiveStrong Austin Marathon.

Another change to the lineup is that the date of the 3M Half Marathon has moved up two weeks.

This fast half was run at the end of January 2012, only three weeks before the Austin LiveStrong Marathon. This schedule made recovery chal-

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lenging, especially for those who were running their first 13.1-mile races. In 2013, runners can recover for two weeks before their next AFMDC race, the Rogue 30K or 10k.

As in last season, there will be both a half marathon track and a full marathon track. Those runners who wish to cap at the 13.1 half-marathon distance will run all six races but will register for the 10K option at the Rogue race in January and the half marathon at the LiveStrong Austin Marathon in February. Not sure if a marathon is in your future for February? Runners have until January 4, 2013, to declare whether they are in the half or the full track.

In addition to the new race, there will be two new award categories. One award will go to the fastest male and female runners who moved up from last year’s half track to the full 26.2 this season. Another award will recognize the most improved male and female runners to complete the AFMDC in the same track for both distances. Each award category seeks to recognize those who have returned to the series and progressed in their running.

All net proceeds will benefit The Trail Foundation, the nonprofit organization that is responsible for so much of the wonderful improvements on Austin’s beloved Roy and Ann Butler Hike and Bike Trail.

Watch AFM as we bring you news and results each month from the AFMDC. We’ll see you at the IBM Uptown Classic 10K! afm

Race line-up

IBM Uptown Classic 10K Oct. 7, 2012

Gazelle Foundation Run for the Water 10 Miler Oct. 28, 2012

ARC Decker Challenge Half Marathon Dec. 9, 2012

3M Half Marathon & Relay Jan. 13, 2013

Rogue 10K & 30K Jan. 27, 2013

To register for this season’s AFMDC, scan the QR code or go to www.austinrunners.org/ AustinDistanceChallenge/ Register.

LIVESTRONG Austin Marathon & Half Marathon Feb. 17, 2013

P h o t o by B r i a n F i t z s i m m o n s

FiTx3

Mental Strategies for Your Best Race

by Stephan Schwarze

T

here is a Latin saying:

“Mens sana in corpore sano”—a sound mind in a healthy body.

This is true. But the reverse applies just as well when it comes to training and racing; your mental strengths and the state of your mind very much affect how successful races can be.

The following gives some strategies and ideas on how to plan your overall training season, how to approach the days before a race, and how to handle race day for best success.

Overall Training Setup and Season Planning When you set up your race season, decide which events will be your important “A” races. Make sure you can dedicate enough focus to the races during the weeks and months leading up to them. To have successful races, training needs to become

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one of your priorities in life. Your mind needs to be focused on it. Don’t, however, make the mistake of making training your first priority all year. The athletes I coach who have the most successful races are those who have their minds on training and racing in phases and then work very hard and are dedicated for some weeks or months leaving their primary focus for the rest of the year, while still training, on work, family, or other things. Athletes who have their minds only on training all year long often get burned out when it matters and cannot take it to the next level on race day.

Find a balance between group and individual workouts. Training needs to be fun, and some of my favorite workouts are long bike rides with friends. It’s important to have groups of friends to train with; otherwise, working out can become a mental

drag. On race day, though, you are on your own and it’s important to prepare your mind for this. In order to be prepared, I make sure that some of my training is done alone.

Finding the right balance of social and solitary workouts is different for each athlete.

Since I have a full-time job, I usually do lunch and evening workouts on my own as scheduling is easier that way.

Don’t race in training workouts. Pushing it to the limit is tough, not only physically but also mentally. Race day is when you want to “go all out.” I never leave it all out there on a training day. This doesn’t mean not to train hard. There are plenty of tough days in my training, but it’s only on race day when I let my mind “ignore all pain.”

Days Leading Up to a Race In the last days before a race, no athlete will catch up with the training that

2

has not been done. You won’t fix things in these days, but athletes often break things then because of outside impact on their minds. The following behavior has worked well for me before races: Don’t surround yourself with other athletes who just talk about their training and how they will approach the race. The risk of doubting and questioning your own race preparation is too high. Instead, focus on some quiet time with family and friends who talk about “non race” business, read a book, or catch up with other things you neglected in the weeks leading up to the race.

Visualize race day. On the day before the event, lie down somewhere, relax, and think through race day and everything you put into getting here, and what to expect on race day.

Think through the course, your nutrition plan, and, most importantly, through some “what if” scenarios in case anything goes wrong. Visualizing these things in advance will calm you down prior to going into the race. You want to avoid surprises and situations you are not mentally prepared for in a race.

and stress during the event. For example, I know swimming is my weakest discipline.

Instead of being frustrated with my time and placement every time I exit the water, I’ve learned to accept that I am a weak swimmer.

I do not let a bad swim time “mess with my mind” anymore; I see the positive instead— there are more people to pass on the bike or run. Those races where I kept a bad swim result in the back of my mind all day never turned into successful finishes.

Overcome your weak points. There are always tough spots in races, especially in longer events. That’s when it gets painful. Be prepared for this in advance and EXPECT these phases to come. Racing is tough. If you don’t hit these spots you may not be pushing hard enough.

Secondly, instead of getting frustrated with such phases, strive in them. Look around yourself: most likely everyone around you hurts as well when you in pain. Tell yourself that all you need to be able to do is handle the race conditions (or pain) better than anyone around you. That way you see a positive side of being in pain—a strong mind can overcome a temporary weakness. Think “Pain is your friend….”

A strong mind can overcome a temporary weakness.

Race Day Know your weaknesses and strengths. Don’t expect miracles to happen in a race but be aware of your weaknesses and strengths so as to avoid disappointment

3

Train smart—only with a healthy mind will you achieve successful race results! afm

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• Sport and event-related anxiety • Increase focus and concentration • Improve post-injury performance • Individual and team • Get your game back!

2012 Austin’s Fittest Doctor 2012 AFM FITTEST Age Division Champion

Stephan Schwarze Stephan Schwarze has been active in triathlon for over 20 years as an athlete and coach. He raced his first triathlon in college in Germany in 1988. Since 1990, he has finished 45 Ironman races, winning his age group seven times. Schwarze has raced at the World Championships in Hawaii eight times, finishing on the age group podium there twice.

Over the last ten years, Schwarze has worked as a coach with many Austin-area athletes.

He passes on his experience, sets up training schedules, and works with them toward specific goals and target races.

Schwarze is married to Illiana and has lived in Austin since 1996. As an amateur athlete, he has a full-time job with a local technology startup company.

F i t x 3 Tr i

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Consulting Psychologist, Texas Football Program

Tim Zeddies, Ph.D. 4409 Medical Parkway | Austin, Texas 78756 512-495-9556 www.centralaustinpsychology.com www.psyched2win.com

Swim

Let's Get Mental!

by Maurice Culley

T

hat doesn’t sound like a very catchy song title, does it?

In 1981, Olivia Newton-John came out with a hit song called (Let’s Get) Physical, but she never got around to our version. How come? The original song was designed to motivate people to get fit and work on their selfimage while becoming healthier adults. A lot has happened since 1981, and people are not getting fit just for health reasons. They are getting fit in order to become more competitive, more successful athletes, and they want to improve their fitness while also participating in timed events. Adults are often too busy and lacking in motivation to attend classes offered at a gym, and so they require a challenge. The health craze that started back in the ’80s has transformed

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into serious training for performance gains as folks are looking more and more at how they perform in these events, while letting improved fitness become the side effect and not the main focus.

The number of individuals signing up for triathlon events has gone up as much as 25 percent every year for the last ten years. Athletes are keeping more regimented training schedules, getting more sophisticated equipment, and paying for coaching programs. Most triathletes handle the running and cycling training pretty well on their own, but I meet many who are frustrated with the swimming side of things. Part of this is due to lack of skill in the sport but another part is lack in athletic background with experience that then feeds the mental side of the sport. An adult who

was a swimmer for multiple seasons in high school or college will have experienced the peaks, valleys, and plateaus that come with this sometimes-frustrating sport.

Why can swimming be so frustrating anyway? I tend to see a lot of the mental symptoms that cause people to shy away from the training. People often experience one or more of the following: worry, doubt, lack of concentration, images of failure, and decreased confidence and mental acuity.

What causes these? Well…let me start by pointing out a few things that make the sport of swimming unique. First, there is the issue of getting into water that may be colder than we might like…a balmy 90 degrees is more my style! How about being caged into a 25-meter-long by six-feet-wide lane, staring at a line on the bottom of the

pool as the only visual to keep things exciting? The social aspect is also minimal, as people can only chat between swimming sets (I personally like to be able to say something sarcastic at least every minute or so during training). Swimmers can find it hard to know whether they are even doing things correctly while trying to get enough oxygen to avoid passing out. The swimming sets don’t really get very interesting as they are usually a bunch of repeats of 100, 200, 300 and up. How creative can someone get with that? Driving all the way to a facility and then having limited swim time can get really old. Consistency can be very erratic from workout to workout. Some may even experience the feeling of starting from scratch if they’ve missed a week or two due to travel or busy schedules.

Maybe you have experienced all of these frustrations at some point or another.

Experience and time will help you deal with these issues but I’m going to give you some quick and simple tips to help you work on the mental side of things along the way. Why? Most adults give up on swim training within about two to three months, and most of those lose their motivation due to lack of the mental preparation needed to keep things going. Only 15 percent of triathletes train in swimming for the entire year. If performance is your goal, then this needs to change.

Work on goal setting with 1 themes.

You might say, “No kidding; goal setting is what I do in all the stuff I train for!”

True, but the kind of goals you set are more important than just completing them by a certain date. You might have to break them down so that you can achieve smaller goals to keep yourself motivated on a daily or weekly basis. I also recommend that you work on a different theme every week of the month or training cycle. If you use a month as your training cycle, then you’ll have four different themes. If you use a different training cycle, you might have to switch it up accordingly. A theme may be as simple as just defining what you are going to work on. The following themes yield proven results: technique work (bio-

mechanics), distance per stroke (efficiency), body balance awareness (fundamentals), and pacing/effort maintenance (heart rate control). Whether you are getting coached or following some sort of plan, you should have the challenge of doing these themes on top of the workout you are completing. For an entire week, you’ll keep that theme in mind, no matter what the workouts might be. Having these goals in the background will help you focus on what you are trying to achieve rather than on the mental issues that keep you from going.

Strengthen your self-image.

The nature of athletics also involves the mental side of self-image. It is natural to sometimes have the feeling of failing instead of conquering. You might notice it as negative thoughts on the drive to practice or training. This is okay as long as you don’t let the negative thoughts start taking over. Confronting those thoughts head-on is important if performance gains are your focus. As mentioned earlier, swimming comes with a lot of inconsistencies (peaks, valleys, and plateaus). When training becomes scarce and performance goes down, we tend to become unhappy with the sport and to shy away from it for fear of failing. Change your outlook and lower your expectations when you are going through this phase. The types of sets that you do or how you handle a practice are very important when you have not been consistent. Be sure to set realistic expectations when you are getting back into things. If you have fallen off, give yourself sets where you know you will have success. Conquer these realistic sets first—don’t let yourself fail during times when you are having a low spell in your training. Get that confidence back up and don’t let the downward spiral continue. If you are in a training program, talk to your coach so that he/she knows you are going through this phase. Your coach will help you with these expectations and get you back on track with realistic goals to make sure you start conquering sets again.

Those of you with high-performance goals will experience training getting much more difficult. While training should get harder, it should not be impossible. Remember:

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Swim some workouts are designed to make you fail but this should not last for longer than two or three weeks at a time. If you design your own training, be sure your schedule is flexible and make changes when you recognize this change in attitude. Success and failure are part of the competitive process, and those folks who have never experienced this may need more work or simply more time in the sport.

Develop focus and concentration.

Training is tough enough when we challenge ourselves with the desire to improve.

If you don’t have focus and concentration when showing up to a swim training session, you are going to have more of these inconsistent days. I mentioned the line at the bottom of the pool earlier. Making sure you are focused will keep what you are supposed to do firmly in front of you.

I find that some athletes show up to swim practice with a lot on their minds, and they lose focus on the sets at hand or become distracted by some theme imposed prior to showing up. This becomes very apparent if the training doesn’t seem to go your way or if the sets don’t seem like they make much sense. Be sure to keep your concentration and focus by leaving any thoughts or distractions out in the car when you walk into a swim training session. Most adult swimmers or triathletes don’t come from a competitive swimming background, and all attention and focus is needed to have a successful practice.

You hear the cliché that swimming is 90 percent mental and 10 percent physical

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m o l P ro g ra H ig h S c h o s te L e s s o n

thrown out there…but don’t read too much into it. Some sound training advice that I’d like to give everyone is to find a good balance in life and make sure you don’t get too caught up in the training. Even if your dreams of becoming a professional athlete are behind you, staying on the physical side is very important if you want to improve your performance. Paying more attention to the mental side of things will help you stay in it. These days, I see more fit adults transform into athletes by signing up for triathlons or racing events. I hope learning a bit more about dealing with the mental aspect of that process makes things easier. Balancing your lifestyle of working and playing is always a chore but having more insight into the connection between the physical and mental side of training will help you perform better. I’ve given you some goal setting tips and a few ideas on how to stay more focused so your emotions don’t get the best of you in such a complicated sport. I’d like to see more of you swimming on a year-round basis, experiencing the peaks and valleys more frequently, and working on the mental edge. It will help you with your swimming and it will also help you with your racing and overall performance.

“Let’s get Mental!” afm Maurice Culley gives specific tips to help with setting themes for practices and developing focus to promote workout success Online at

austinfitmagazine.com

P ri v a

v e n ts S p e c ia l E

m o o l P ro g ra M id d le S ch

Maurice Culley Maurice Culley is the owner and director of Austin T3—Team Triathlon Training, one of the largest triathlon training programs in the country, serving athletes in all three sports and at all levels. Culley has an extensive swimming background; he was a member of the University of Texas Longhorns from 1992-1996, which included membership on a National Championship team (1996). Culley went on to coach and took Austin ISD’s Bowie High School’s varsity team to a state championship and won a National Championship with the Circle C swim team. As a triathlete, Culley was a qualifier for the World Championships in 2007 (IM70.3) and 2009 (ITU) in the half Ironman distance. In 2009, he was also a member of Team USA (35-39) at the World Championships in Perth, Australia.

for more info call

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September 2012

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Bike

Cycling Deep in the Heat of Texas

by The Staff of the pedal hard training center

I

t’s easy to get out and ride in the spring when the bluebonnets have exploded in all their glory. We truly believe that Texas has some of the best riding in the country, and those beautiful flowers, rolling hills, and the sweet temperatures of spring are just right. However, the flowers fade as the thermometer rises with summer. And in central Texas, summer heat can last well through September. Here are some tips to help you manage the heat on your rides as best as possible.

Photo by Brian Fitzsimmons

Tip #1

Tip #2

It doesn’t take too long after sunrise for temperatures to start climbing, so do yourself a favor and get an early start. We know it’s tough at times, but this is the number one thing you can do to help yourself stay cooler.

Not too mention that, if you start early, you’re done early, and this gives you more of the day to do those other things you love to do. Some more tips for timing your ride:

What you wear has a big impact on how you get the heat and moisture off your body. Try to wear lighter fabrics. Cycling apparel has come a long way from the days of Jacques Anquetil. The newer technical fabrics help to pull moisture off your skin and, as that moisture evaporates, it helps to cool the skin. Some general rules that we follow are:

When should you start your ride?

>> Get out just after the sun comes up (during September, sunrise ranges from just after 7 a.m. to as late as 7:23 a.m.). >> Aim to be done before noon. >> If you are an earlier bird and ride before dawn, be sure to have adequate bike lighting on both front and rear. >> Pay attention to the direction of the sun and be aware that it could affect drivers' ability to see you.

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Take a look at apparel.

>> Stay away from all black clothing. >> Pick summer-specific jerseys. These tend to have more mesh and lighter material to help facilitate airflow. >> Wear something to help wick sweat from under your helmet (headbands, cycling hats, bandanas, etc.). This helps trap and redirect sweat from dripping into your eyes and keeps your sunglasses from getting caked in dried sweat. An old trick some of us use is to cut the top off of a cycling cap. And an extra bonus is that the visor helps with keeping the sun off your face. >> Try a pair of arm “coolers.” Several companies are making these sleeves and they seem to make a noticeable difference, not to mention that they are SPF rated as well. These are also great for layering when temperatures start off cooler and then warm up as you ride. >> Invest in a decent pair of sunglasses, which can make all the difference. They help to protect your eyes from sun, debris, and the occasional bug. >> Find a good sunscreen. Put it on before you ride, even if it is still early when you start.

Then, reapply every time you stop to refill your bottles.

Keeping the Feet in Your Family Happy & Healthy for Over 20 Years!

Tip #4

>> Find a specific electrolyte/sports drink to use, preferably one you think tastes good.

In the heat, it’s not enough to replace water alone, and you need to supplement with something that contains sodium, potassium, chloride, and magnesium. >> Carry enough fluids. When the temps really start to climb, plan to drink one and a half to two bottles per hour or so. This means multiple stops; one solution is to plan rides around convenience store locations.

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The most important thing to remember here is that staying properly hydrated is a lifestyle. You can’t just drink water on the bike and expect to stay hydrated, especially during hotter temperatures. It is a good idea to carry a bottle around with you during the workday. Fill your bottle with a diluted mixture of your favorite sports/electrolyte beverage and, when you’ve emptied it, refill it.

When you are on the bike, here are some things to follow:

me

Hydration is key.

Ja

Tip #3

Often the heat can hold you back from having the optimal workout, especially if you're trying to hold paces and push your efforts. In times of excessive heat, or if you cannot ride until the afternoon, it may be best to take your ride indoors. Several options include using a bike trainer at home or taking a spin class, as well as utilizing the Pedal Hard Training Center at Mellow Johnny’s, which incorporates fans in front of each trainer. Regardless of whether you ride at home, in a gym, or in a center like Pedal Hard, make sure you have adequate air movement to help keep you cool. afm

St.

Take it indoors.

.

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Steven M. Krych, D.P.M

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Old School Video

www.KrychFootAnkle.com

Jacques Anquetil was a renowned French cyclist during the '50s and '60s.

He was the first cyclist to win the Tour de France five times. Scan the QR code to see an interesting video on Anquetil.

Take note of some of the past cycling gear—no one is wearing a helmet and riders are using cages on their pedals!

>> Experiment with other ways to carry larger amounts of fluids. Two methods riders use often are the Camelback pack hydration system, which is carried on your back, and aero bottles, which sit between your aerobars. >> Know the signs of dehydration and overheating. If you start to feel tired or clammy, find some shade. Along the same vein, it is always best to ride with a friend and, when this is not possible, be sure to tell someone where you are riding, an ETA, and carry your cell phone.

http://youtu.be/u3sOezcnHoU

The staff of professional coaches at the Pedal Hard Training Center at Mellow Johnny's collaborated on the writing of this article. They draw upon their personal experiences from the intercollegiate, national, and international levels. The team specializes in services for cyclists of all abilities, which includes expertise in CompuTrainer training classes, private coaching and training plan development, threshold testing, and Retül bike fitting.

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Run

It's the "Thoughts" That Count

By Carmen Ayala-Troncoso

A

sk any professional athlete whether he or she gets nervous before a competition, match, or race and all will say the same thing: “Yes; no matter how long you have been in the sport, there will always be a degree of prerace jitters.” The difference is that an experienced athlete has learned to control the degree of “jitteriness” just before the race starts.

I’m writing this having just returned from Eugene, Oregon, where we watched the USA Olympic Track and Field trials, and so the topic of mind-body connection is fresh for me. By the time you read this, the Olympics will be finished; a few dreams will have come true and many dreams will have been put on hold. Thousands of athletes will already be at home, thinking and planning for 2016.

Throughout my 30 years of running and coaching, I have seen all types of runners/athletes, from extremely talented runners who would fall apart on race day to extremely confident runners who will always race better than their workouts indicate. Is this confidence something you are born with, just like physical talent? Or is it something you can learn as you go along, improving your physical fitness?

I believe that achieving your maximal potential, whatever that

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might be, also involves learning to deal with butterflies in your stomach as well as learning techniques that will elevate your running to the next level. I believe in doing this in workouts so that when you get to the races, you will not have to think about it; it will happen automatically.

Athletes and coaches often neglect the “mind” part of that mindbody connection. Many coaches and runners feel that it will just happen as we get faster or as we get into better races. And if you think I’m talking just about elite runners, you are mistaken; I’m talking about anybody who wants to find out what it is to “tap into your psyche.” There is a line that I love from Pearl Jam’s “Crazy Mary”: “that which you fear most could meet you halfway.” Well, in this business of tapping into your psyche, you have to not only be willing to “meet your fears halfway” but to plan to meet them halfway and look them in the eye. You will be surprised at what you learn in the process.

The following are some techniques most elite athletes practice at some point or another. If you watch re-runs of all races at the Olympics, you will see the determination and focus in their eyes and

the relaxation in their bodies. I’m sure that each one of those athletes spent thousands of hours preparing not only physically but also mentally for that moment in time.

Visualize a positive outcome. Practice going over your race plan. Your race plan should have a positive outcome, right?

Focus solely on that positive outcome; reject any other outcome.

Practice positive self-talk and internal affirmations. I always tell my runners that it takes as much energy to pump yourself up as it does to pump yourself down, so choose wisely. I start by changing any negative thought into a positive—the more you practice this, the more automatic it becomes and, pretty soon, your mind will not allow a negative thought. For example, on race days, as soon as I wake up, I look outside and say “my kind of day,” whether it is -10 or 90 degrees. If I chose to race, I’m not going to be bothered by the weather; I will adjust my effort, but I will not use it as an excuse. The moment I let myself go there, I’ve already lost to everyone who said “my kind of weather.”

Relax/psych up. Personally, I like to practice this as much as possible so during each of my warmups, I think about what the day’s workout should accomplish. I focus on one part of my next race’s strategy. When race day comes, this helps me with pre-race jitters because I would have thought about and maybe experienced all possible race scenarios in my head.

Focus. This is the most important of all techniques for me, as it involves blocking out unnecessary stimuli. Learning to focus

is not easy. It means to “be present, in the moment” and requires a lot of practice, discipline, and energy. A perfect example of this is when you see a gymnast performing a routine in the uneven bars. She misses the bar and falls…she has, I think, 30 seconds to gather herself up and start again (or not).

Those who get back there and continue with a flawless routine were able to “stop the world” for a few seconds in order to do what they have been training to do.

Find external affirmations. This is like “piggy-backing” on someone else’s advice.

When I hear other coaches or family members yell positive phrases to their athletes during a race, I like to borrow them if I need them, pretending that they are meant for me. Knowing the course I’m racing on is very important as well. I can visualize how I will approach every part of the course. I will not be surprised by a hill at the end of the race or how many turns there are; I can plan ahead.

Reframe results. This has to do with the aftermath of a less than satisfactory race— what are you supposed to do? What I do is objectively analyze the race, good and bad, learn from it, and move on, never dwelling on the negative when there is another race around the corner that I could try.

The glue that holds the mind and body connection together is confidence. Confidence starts with realistic goals and a well designed plan of workouts to achieve those goals.

It is the coach’s job to help athletes develop enough confidence so that when they get to the staring line, they know exactly what they can do. afm

Carmen Ayala-Troncoso Carmen Ayala-Troncoso is a nationally known athlete who has been coaching Austin-area runners since 1987. Ayala-Troncoso received her Masters of Exercise Physiology (minor in Kinesiology) from the University of Texas in 1985. She has been running competitively for 30 years; during that time, she has qualified for three Olympic trials (1992, 1996, and 2000) and represented the United States at four World Cross Country Championships (1994, 1995, 1999, and 2000). As a Masters runner, Ayala-Troncoso made the United States Cross Country open team in 1999 and 2000 and qualified for the Olympic Trials in the 5,000 meter in 2000. She has won numerous Masters and age group championships. She is currently coaching a small group of elite runners at Rogue Running.

Fitx3 R u n

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Old Pecan street festival // photos by john doye, jack t., Leah browning

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FILM

OUTDOORS SEPTEMBER 1-2

SEPTEMBER 4-9

Austin Cactus & Succulent Society Show & Sale Browse hundreds of species of succulents at the Zilker Botanical Garden. The plant show includes specimen cacti and succulent plants from around the world. The plant sale includes vendors from Texas, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, handcrafted pottery by Austin artists David Gutman & Rick Van Dyke.

There will be a daily silent auction and hourly plant raffles. Free with paid admission to Zilker Botanical Garden ($2 adults, $1 children & seniors). Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m.-5 pm. • Austin Area Garden Center at Zilker Botanical Garden) • austincss.com

Austin Gay & Lesbian International Film Festival Founded in 1987, this film fest combines entertainment with community outreach and education. More than 150 films will screen. Symposia and panels explore current political and social trends; and increasingly the festival serves as a venue for first-time filmmakers. Check the website for details and to purchase tickets.

Paramount Theater • Alamo Drafthouse Ritz • Violet Crown • agliff.org

SEPTEMBER 9

Lake Travis Underwater Cleanup The Lake Travis Underwater Cleanup is the biggest scuba diving and shoreline cleanup in Texas. The event invites several hundred certified scuba divers and shoreline volunteers to help round-up trash from the bottom of Lake Travis and 11 Travis County Parks around the lake. The cleanup is followed by a volunteer thank-you party, a great event for all ages.

Sunday 8 a.m. – 11 a.m. • 11 Travis County parks keepaustinbeautiful.org/underwater

M-F 10–6:30 • Sat. 10-5 88

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September 2012

SEPTEMBER 6

Paramount Theater Summer Film Series Closing Party The Summer Film Series wraps up with a get-together and the classic films “Rio Bravo” and “Casablanca.” The party starts at 6 p.m. with beer, wine, and popcorn in the Mezzanine Lounge while “Rio Bravo” starts at 7 p.m. Events are free to members of the Paramount Film Fan Club. Non-members can purchase advance tickets online ($8) or general admission tickets at the door ($10).

Thursday, 6 p.m. Paramount Theater • 713 Congress Avenue • austintheatre.org/site/ Calendar?view=detail&id=29599

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SEPTEMBER 20-27

Fantastic Fest A weeklong exploration of sci-fi, gore, horror, and glitz, the Alamo Drafthouse’s annual genre fest is a must for “just plain fantastic” film lovers. The $399 VIP Badges are sold out, but other Badges ($59 - $234) are still available. Some individual shows may have individual tickets available. Check the website for details.

Alamo Drafthouse • fantasticfest.com

FUN SEPTEMBER 2

Free Day of Yoga Yoga studios all over town offer free classes all day. All styles, including Bikram, Ashtanga, and Tantra. Beginners welcome.

An Opening Festival is planned for 9 a.m.

– noon at 525 N. Lamar. For details and participating studios, visit the website.

Sunday • freedayofyoga.com SEPTEMBER 16-JANUARY 13

The Rules of Basketball: Works by Paul Pfeiffer and James Naismith’s Original “Rules of Basket Ball” This unique art exhibit combines photographs and video from contemporary artist Paul Pfeiffer with the text of the original 13

rules that James Naismith developed in 1891 to create “basket ball.” Also on display is a new video based on Wilt Chamberlain’s amazing 100-point game in 1962. This show is a must-see for any basketball fan! The Blanton Museum of Art, MLK at Congress • see website for hours and admission (free admission every Thursday) blantonmuseum.org

512.467.7799 www.texasrowingcenter.com

SEPTEMBER 23

Austin Museum Day The day features free exhibitions and activities at participating Austin-area museums and cultural sites. For a full list of participating museums and their hours, visit the website. www.austinmuseums/museumday.org SEPTEMBER 29-30

Old Pecan Street Festival Nearly a quarter of a million people attend this twice-a-year arts and crafts festival on Sixth Street. Saturday, 11 a.m. - 10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. www.oldpecanstreetfestival.com

Eating shouldn’t be a mystery Pantry Purge Cooking Lessons Meal Planning Grocery Store & Farmers Market Tours

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512.294.2447 Ev e n t s Ar o u n d A u s t i n

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Rides & Races Around Austin

Muddy Outlaw // photo by Bobcat13 Photography

September 23

September

RetailMeNot Austin Marathon Relay

September 1

Capt’n Karl’s Night-Time Trail Running (60K/30K/10K)

Reveille Peak Ranch, 105 CR 114, Burnet, TX tejastrails.com/CaptKarl.html Keep Austin Well 5K Run/Walk

Arbor Trails, 4301 W. William Cannon Drive, Austin, TX • totalwellnessaustin.com September 3

422 West Riverside Dr., Austin, TX austinmarathonrelay.com

Reveille Peak 100 Mountain Bike Race

Reveille Peak Ranch, 105 CR 114, Burnet, TX rprtexas.com/2012/01/September-23-reveillepeak-100-mtn-bike-race/ September 28-30

Kerrville Triathlon Festival (Expo, Sprint Distance and Fun Run, and Half IronmanDistance)

Land Rover TriRock Austin Triathlon

Inn of the Hills, 1001 Junction Highway (SH 27), Kerrville, TX • kerrvilletri.com/default.asp

September 5

Dare to Ascend Trail Run

Auditorium Shores, Austin, TX trirock.competitor.com/austin/

September 29

Five55 Series Triathlon

Russell Park, 2101 CR 262, Georgetown, TX ascendoutdoor.com/dare-to-ascend-trailrun.htm

September 15

Casa Superhero Run

18216 Weiss Lane, Pflugerville, TX five55series.com/race-info-austin.php

September 30

Vern’s No Frills 5K

Georgetown, TX • noexcusesrunning.com

Mueller Lake Park and Hangar, 4550 Mueller Blvd., Austin, TX • casasuperherorun.com

Muddy Outlaw 5K Dash

OCTOber

Travis County Expo Center, 7311 Decker Lane, Austin, TX • muddyoutlaw.com/home.html

October 5

Five55 Series Triathlon

September 18

Pure Austin Splash & Dash

Quarry Lake, 4210 W. Braker Lane, Austin, TX highfiveevents.com/events/splash-n-dash/info.asp

18216 Weiss Lane, Pflugerville, TX five55series.com/race-info-austin.php October 6-7

IBM Uptown Classic 10K (#1 in the Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge)

IBM Campus near the Domain, 11501 Burnet Road, Austin, TX • uptownclassic.com 90

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September 2012

Tough Mudder

Cross Creek Ranch, 2924 Highway 21 East, Paige, TX • toughmudder.com/events/austin-2012/

Dash for Dad 5K and 1-mile Fun Run

Camp Mabry, 2200 W. 35th Street, Austin, TX dashfordad.com/races/Austin/

October 20

October 28

Spooktacular Seek and Sprint

Ironman 70.3 Austin

Walter E. Long Park, Austin, TX ironmanaustin.com

Vern’s No Frills 5K

Run For the Water 10-mile Race (#2 in the Austin Fit Magazine Distance Challenge)

Frankenthon Monster Marathon

Brushy Creek Park, Cedar Park, TX frankenthon.com/index.asp

Old Settlers Park, 3300 Palm Valley, Round Rock, TX • bluedogrescue.com November 17

Austin State Supported Living Center, 2203 W. 35th Street, Austin, TX • aussicfriends.org/ Berry Springs Park & Preserve, Georgetown, TX noexcusesrunning.com/

November 11

2012 Run for the Rovers

Vern’s No Frills 5K

Berry Springs Park & Preserve, Georgetown, TX noexcusesrunning.com Walk to Defeat ALS

South First Street Bridge near RunTex Riverside gazellefoundation.com/runforthewater2012/

Mueller Lake Park, Austin, TX web.alsa.org/Austin

November

Wild Hare 50m/50K/25K/10K

Bluff Creek Ranch, Warda, TX • tejastrails.com

November 3

River Region Bike Classic

October 21

Team LiveStrong Challenge Austin Bike Ride

Palmer Events Center, 800 W. Riverside Drive, Austin, TX • livestrong.org/Take-Action/TeamLIVESTRONG-Events/Ride/Team-LIVESTRONGChallenge-Austin October 27

Cactus Rose 100 mile/50 mile/4 x 25 mile relay

November 22

Parkview Riverside RV Park, 2561 CR 350, Concan, TX • riverregionclassic.org November 10

Juggernaut Ultimate Extreme Adventure Race

Stunt Ranch, 13317 Fitzhugh Road, Austin, TX beatthejuggernaut.com

ThunderCloud Subs 2012 Turkey Trot (5 miles)

The Long Center, 701 W. Riverside Drive, Austin, TX • thundercloud.com/index.php/trot 2012 Tanger Outlet Turkey Trot (4 miles)

Tanger Outlet Center, San Marcos, TX tangerturkeytrot.com

Hill Country State Natural Area, Bandera, TX tejastrails.com

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R i d e s & R a c e s Ar o u n d A u s t i n

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Kick Mo’s Butt! monicabrant.com

Austin T3 – Team Triathlon Training with Maurice Culley www.austint3.com

Workout Warm-up: 300 swim with a swimmer’s choice drill every 3rd 25

Upper Body with Cardio Work: 2 X 10 Push-Ups followed by a 200m swim at 75% effort 2 X 10 Press-Outs followed by a 200m build swim (from 70-80% effort) 2 X 10 Push-Ups followed by 200m swim at 75% effort 2 X 10 Press-Outs followed by 200m build swim (from 70-80% effort)

Core Work: 1 minute Ab Kicks (broken in 20 second segments) Flutter/Over-Under/Apart kicks 1 X 300m (100m swim/100m kick/100m swim with a board) 1 minute Pike Crunch – full extension 1 X 300m (100m swim/100m kick/100 swim using fins and board)

Power Set: 3 X 10 Power Rack Set 1 X 500m Freestyle (easy pace) 2 x Power Rack Set 1 X 400m Freestyle (build pace) 1 X 10 Power Rack Set 1 X 200m Freestyle (fast pace) Power Bands (with paddles and/or fins) 3 X 25m Freestyle Sprint with power bands SWIM 3 X 25m Fins Kick Sprint with power bands KICK 3 X 25m Freestyle Sprint with power bands SWIM

Cool Down: 200m EASY!!

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September 2012

To Swim or Not to Swim

by Monica Brant | photography by Brian Fitzsimmons

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kay, so I have probably spoken about my track workouts with each column of late but each session has had something to do with my renewed love affair with track meets and sprinting. This month’s featured swim workout doesn’t have much to do with track but I can definitely see where it would come in handy to improve my sprinting performance.

I have to back up to give you more details.

I arrived home on a Monday night and was scheduled with swim instructor Maurice Culley for Tuesday morning. I’d been out of town for two weeks, hosting my F.E.M. Camp in Canada and competing at the USATF Master’s National meet in Chicago, so I’d come home fairly beat up from four days of sprinting, jumping, and throwing. I was dreading the swim session on Tuesday partly because I knew waking up Tuesday morning would be pretty hard and also because I have never gotten over my slight panic at having to “swim for a purpose.”

Let me explain. When I was between 9 and 11 years old, my mom took me to the local pool in Castroville, Texas, for the standard lessons every kid should take. We practically grew up in the water at Medina Lake and I was comfortable skiing and playing in the lake all day long but Mom felt I needed to “learn” to swim. Those days seemed like an eternity for me. Though I’m sure it was only an hour or two, I would much rather have been at the barn playing with my horses than treading water and learning to “freestyle” back and forth in the pool. Not only did I not like it, I was bad at it. I felt claustrophobic when I had to put my face in the water to swim and I never really got the hang of it. I always felt panicky; I’m sure the instructors let me pass just so they didn’t have to have me back in class again.

Fast-forward to Tuesday, August 7, 2012.

I was trying to be brave, as I had committed myself to this feature and workout, so I put on my happy face and gave it my best effort.

Thankfully Maurice understood what I was saying as I voiced my issues with “swimming for a purpose” and he didn’t make me feel bad; come to find out, I’m not the first client who has had these issues.

We started the workout on the pool deck with some core work and a nifty device that

simulates some of the movement the body performs while swimming.

After going through these exercises, it was time to get wet and face my fears!

Maurice gave me some fins and goggles to wear to avoid splashing my eyes (yes, I was wearing my contacts!). He hooked me up to a pulley so that the further away I got from the side, the harder it was to swim. It was challenging—I almost reached the other side of the pool! As we went through each part of the workout, he gently took pieces of equipment away until it was down to just me and my hands and feet (he let me keep goggles on, though!). I was still dealing with my panicky feeling every time I had to put my face down and turning for air was also challenging, but I kept working at it. As my breath and heart rate increased, I had a harder time keeping a steady pace so, every few strokes, I had to stop and gather my wits before continuing. Maurice was super patient and never made me feel bad for not being a graceful swimmer. He allowed me to face my fears on my own terms and speed and he modified the workout where I needed.

Maurice definitely knows swimming and he has invited me back so I can continue to build my confidence. If this workout was indeed something I could add in to my schedule, it would increase my endurance and lung capacity for sprinting without the severe banging on my body and joints. Maybe I can make time to go…it was definitely interesting, and I’m thankful AFM and Maurice kept harassing me about doing a swim workout (ha, ha)! And yes—I was worn out all over after the workout, so I allowed myself a few minutes to enjoy the beautiful location of Lost Creek Country Club at the leisure pool. afm Special thanks to Hair Goddess for continual great hair design KMB K i c k M o ' s B u t t

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Muscle Movement of the Month

Get Hip to Prevent Knee Injury

by Diane Vives, MS, CSCS | photography by Brian Fitzsimmons

E

njoying sport and an active lifestyle motivates us to stay healthy and prevent injuries if possible. Knee injuries such as injuring the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) can be devastating to many athletes and fitness warriors alike and can result in dropping out of beloved sports and can even become a catalyst for depression. For this reason, injury prevention and integrating functional strength movements can enhance the body and mind. In an attempt to prevent injury, people sometimes narrowly focus only on the targeted joint when it is the joints above or below that have the most impact on performance and injury. I would even say that the knee is a “dumb� joint in that it only does what the ankle and hip tell it to do. Because of the larger and stronger muscles that surround and guide it, the hip has powerful influence on the strength, power, and control of the movements that involve the knee. So when the hips’ prime movers and/or stabilizers, which guide successful movements for the lower body, are

3-Point Arm Reaches on One Leg Purpose: Strengthen the muscles of the hips and maintain vertical alignment in a single leg stance. Balance, stability and strength are all required to maintain vertical alignment in the lower body while the upper body acts as a driver to shift the load in three directions with an arm reach.

Start: Stand on a single leg, fully extended and tall, with three cones placed in front of you. The center cone should be directly in front of your foot. a. Bend at the ankle, knee, and hip maintaining vertical alignment while reaching your opposite hand over the center cone at waist height. Push through the heel, keeping the core engaged as you return to your standing position. b. Repeat the movement with the same leg and arm but now reaching over the left cone. Be sure to continue to maintain

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vertical alignment of the ankle, knee, and hip. c. Repeat the movement with the same leg and arm but now reaching over the right cone.

Be sure to continue to maintain vertical alignment of the ankle, knee, and hip. d. Now repeat the sequence with the other leg and arm reaching over each cone.

Tweak: If the reaches are too easy, increase intensity by squatting deeper in your stance and reaching lower to the top of the cone while maintaining good form.

September 2012

weak, the knee takes a beating and its ligaments and joint structures are primed for injury. Therefore, being proactive means focusing on exercises that can be integrated for enhancing hip strength.

There are multiple planes of motion and loading forces that the hip joint needs to strengthen in order to flow through movements with strength, power, and coordination. An example would be controlling and preventing unwanted side-to-side movement in order to effectively propel your movement forward. Not only does the lateral movement waste energy on your targeted path, it forces joint segments such as the knee to collapse inward excessively and increases the potential for injury. For this reason, we have focused on two exercises that strengthen the hips in multiple directions and one exercise that works to strengthen the ability to decelerate. Most non-contact knee injuries occur during the deceleration phase of movement, so this becomes a powerful training strategy to prevent knee injuries.

3D Reaching Lunges Purpose: The functional position of this hip-dominant lunge is used in acceleration and deceleration of locomotion in multiple directions. Strengthening these muscles will enhance performance and decrease risk of injury.

Start: Stand tall with the core engaged and feet hip-width apart. Hold the medicine ball or weight with both hands in front of the body. a. Forward: Step forward, bending just slightly at the ankle and knee while bending more exaggeratedly at the hip. At the same time, reach over your knee and toward your toes. Maintain a long spine with core engaged.

The trailing leg remains extended, weight shifting to the lunging leg. Return to starting position by pushing into the floor with your foot until standing upright and fully extended. b. Lateral: Step in a straight

line laterally while keeping the toe facing forward as you perform the reaching lunge. c. Rotating: Imagine you are standing in a square box and you are rotating as you step so that your foot faces the back corner of the box. Use the same form to perform a reaching lunge. d. Now repeat on the other leg and with arm reaching over each cone.

Tweak: Start with body weight only, just reaching with the hands until you become stronger and proficient at the movement.

Then you can progress by adding weight with a medicine ball or dumbbell.

Muscle Movement

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Muscle Movement of the Month

Drop Squats Purpose: This exercise focuses on loading the muscles eccentrically to gain strength while at the same time teaching the body to emphasize the posterior muscles of the lower body and hips. This reinforces strong landing mechanics and prepares for the deceleration phase of lower body movements.

Start: Stand tall with the core engaged and feet hip-width apart. a. Split the feet quickly into a wider, shoulder-width stance as you quickly sit back into a squat position b. Keep chest up and eyes forward as you quickly raise your arms forward to assist in counterbalancing your body weight as you sit back into the squat. c.Make sure the body comes to a complete stop at the bottom of your squat and that your ankle, knee, and

hips are aligned to make sure that the knee does not collapse inward.

Tweak: Start with just your body weight and drop only to a half squat.

Once mastered, then drop into the squat until your upper leg is parallel with the ground. Another way to increase intensity is to keep the arms up and hands clasped behind your head, which loads the body more.

These may not be the “sexier” movements in our exercise menu but they are definitely “big bang for your buck” exercises that are harder than they look and yield very positive returns, especially for knee injury prevention. So go give them a try and get more hip! afm Diane Vives, MS, CSCS, is an Advisory Member of the Under Armour Performance Training Council. An internationally recognized fitness expert, she has appeared in several publications such as Women’s Health, Shape, and Muscle & Fitness Hers.

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A F M F ITTE S T C e r e m o n y R e c a p

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By the Numbers: Freediving and the Mind/Body Connection It’s like the age-old question, “ Which comes first, the chicken or the egg?” AFM looked for mentally engaging facts about how the mind and body work together (or against each other) to create fitness.

1913

Year Stotti Georghios swam 200 feet below the surface to retrieve an anchor and became the first recorded freediver

100

Number of meters (328 feet) freediver William Trubridge plunged without aid, setting a world record in Constant Weight Apnea with Fins (2010)

30

Number of seconds the average person can hold his or her breath underwater

19

Number of minutes Swiss freediver Peter Colat held his breath underwater

3

Weight of an average, fullygrown brain in pounds

100

Number of billions of neurons in the brain (the same number as stars in our galaxy)

11

Percentage of adults who write with their left hands (89 percent are right-handed, while .34 percent can use either hand)

30

Percentage of 80-year-olds who perform as well as young people on cognitive tests

58

Percentage of Americans who believe that good physical health is not possible without good mental health

986

Average number of Americans diagnosed with Alzheimer’s daily

87

Percentage of daily energy intake from food needed to supply the brain as an infant

25

Percentage of daily energy intake from food needed to supply the brain as an adult

300

Billions of dollars spent by the American industry on stress-related issues

42

Cost in billions of work-related medical losses from anxietyrelated disorders in 1999

43

Percentage of all adults who suffer adverse health effects from stress

12

76

Percentage of risk reduction given by frequent dancing, the only physical activity found to offer protection against dementia

4

Times a week a senior needs to do a crossword puzzle to gain a significantly measureable lower risk of dementia

10

1996

Year that the Surgeon General’s report released the finding that “physical activity appears to relieve symptoms of depression and anxiety and improve mood”

8

Hours of sleep the average adult needs to properly function

96

Minutes of physical activity in school shown to benefit attention and problemsolving skills in children

Percentage of doctors in a Chicago-area study who believed that placebos could have real positive therapeutic effect

1

45

Number of Americans out of 20 who suffer from hypochondria

6

Number of billions of dollars spent on yoga products in 2011

Percentage of doctors in the same study who had prescribed placebos in their regular clinical practice (half of those within the last year)

14

Number of millions of people who said their doctors prescribed yoga

Number of weeks of exercise needed to show benefits in mood and cognition for overweight people

61,974

Average number of results Amazon provides for a search on “yoga”

4,000

Age in years of the Chinese mind-body exercise Qi Gong, which uses gentle, flowing movements while maintaining balance and focus

Sources listed on www.austinfitmagazine.com

102

austinfitmagazine.com

September 2012

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AUSTIN FIT MAGAZINE

AUSTIN FIT MAGAZINE

SEPTEMBER 2012 + THE MIND & BODY ISSUE

WORLD-FAMOUS FREEDIVER

TANYA STREETER KNOWS NO LIMITS

by LEAH FISHER NYFELER

AVOIDING THE OVERTRAINING PITFALL

EST. 1997 ISSUE #180

THINKING THROUGH AN ULTRA WITH DANE RAUSCHENBERG SEPTEMBER 2012