¿Baño de hielo?

@titacabrera

Así como suena, ¿meterse a una bañera en agua con hielo? La primera vez que escuché esto fue con mi entrenador, Mario, quién es extremo en su entrenamiento porque es ultramaratonista (compite en montaña y corre distancias de 100 km, y diario por lo menos medio maratón); pensé que entonces era algún remedio también extremo.

Después de una carrera larga, sentí por primera vez en meses mucho dolor, pero no tanto muscular, sino en las articulaciones, principalmente en la rodilla izquierda, y la espalda... no sabía si era deshidratación, insolación, esfuerzo, alimentación... porque no era una distancia que no hubiera corrido antes.

Entonces Rolando, un amigo y compañero de entrenamiento me mandó info sobre baños de hielo ó terapia fría, él mismo ya lo ha hecho después de correr maratones.  Me puse a investigar más.

Resulta que no hay muchos estudios serios al respecto y los que hay no son concluyentes, más bien opuestos. Sin embargo, en la comunidad de corredores y atletas de alto rendimiento es una práctica común.  Y algunos dicen "¿acaso no te sientes mejor cuando pones hielo en una torcedura?"... Sí, claro, ¡pero es una bolsita en un área de 10x10cm!

Revisé algunas páginas, blogs y artículos médicos; lo que concluí es que debe llegarse a un punto medio en cuanto a tiempo, para que no resulte contraproducente, causando hipotermia o daños musculares por sobre exposición; ni tampoco hacerse diario, sino después de un esfuerzo muy intenso.

Funciona porque ayuda a reparar los tejidos musculares, aunque en sobre exposición, mencionan riesgo de que resulte en lo puesto.  Detiene la inflamación muscular y provoca vasoconstricción, por eso la sensación de adormecimiento ó analgésica; y al salir del frío el flujo de entrada de sangre es tan fuerte que ayuda a "limpiar" los músculos de las toxinas y sustancias que causan dolor como el ácido láctico, entra sangre oxigenada en donde se necesita para la restauración de fibras musculares rasgadas por el esfuerzo.  Estas rasgaduras son normales después de cualquier actividad física, y esta técnica ayuda a que sea un proceso más rápido.  También ayuda a mantener los músculos elásticos, mejorar la micro-circulación y prevenir lesiones.

Hay otras técnicas de frío como la crioterapia, o incluso contrastes (frío-calor); pero para tener mayor soporte científico, mayores pruebas deben hacerse en medicina del deporte, ya que esto tiene aplicaciones también para reumatismo, tratamiento de ansiedad, etc.

Funciona así: aproximadamente 30 min. después de la prueba extenuante (competencia, maratón, etc.), se debe llenar una tina con agua fría suficiente para cubrir el cuerpo sentado al ras, agregar 2 ó 3 bolsas de hielos (sí, las grandes como de fiesta), y dejar que se derritan un poquito, entrar poco a poco y sentarse.  Mínimo 10 minutos y máximo 20.  Dicen que los primeros 2 minutos son los más difíciles y algunos sugieren tener una taza de té caliente y ponerse una sudadera o gorro de invierno, el pecho no debe sumergirse, al menos para los corredores, atletas de otros deportes es otra historia... además de buscar en qué distraerse ese tiempo... revista, música, sudoku...

Me da un poco de miedo, pero vale la pena probarlo, este próximo sábado tendré un entrenamiento pesado, subiremos corriendo la Malinche (sí, la montaña en Tlaxcala); así que bajando probaré esto a ver qué tal me funciona.  Si ustedes lo han hecho, cuéntenme cómo les fue, y todos sus tips son más que bienvenidos.

Les mando un abrazo

PD:  Si no me funciona para los músculos, espero que sí contra la ansiedad que me está causando saber que faltan 7 semanas para el maratón...

Twitter: @titacabrera




Referencias:

1. Cryotherapy (Wikipedia)
2. Ice Bath (Runner's World)
3. Ice bath therapy: speed up recovery and enhance performance (Runaddicts)
4. www.icebath.org

Run for a cause

Follow me: @titacabrera

What is it that drives yo to run? What is it that you think of when you are in a race? feeling tired?

When i'm tired during races, I think of "Miguel Angel", my nephew... he passed away last year, and around his first death anniversary, I ran... and days before I told myself i was gonna improve my time cause I was dedicating my race that day to him. 

Don't get me wrong, is not a sad story; he motivates me and I'm determined to be a better auntie for all of my nephews and nieces, because we never know what's really coming up next.

The point of this is that wishing I could've done anything for him, I realized I couldn't back then, but everyday we got the chance to honor life and help others by supporting different causes.

Talking about this with my best friend, she reminded me of when a group of friends from college were raising money for another who got cancer, they were running and "selling" the kilometers as if it was a bet on "till which km they would get to". They really put effort on it. This is now becoming something more serious and permanent, this group of friends started to do this continuously to raise money for different charities.  I'm waiting to have the complete information about this, but this is really extra motivation.

Also, I wanted to go to the Chicago Marathon, my schedule that date was compromised, and now that it's free, it's sold out; the one way to participate is to run for a charity, which is really great cause you get to train with a special group (if you live in Chicago), or get the training program sent to you, and you fundraise around 1,000 dlls to get your entry into the marathon.  They have several charities you can support if you want.

Also other marathons, like NY, Seattle, Portland, etc.

This time i'll be running in Mexico City, for our kids; i'd love nothing but to run internationally supporting other charities; unfortunately these two dates are a month away and I've been told I have to leave 2 to 3 months between marathons, specially if I'm a beginner.

Bottom line: IF YOU ARE TO RUN, WHY NOT RUNNING TO HELP OTHERS??

Is a very noble cause and something to think of if you feel like you can't anymore...

FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER: @titacabrera

You can also watch this video of Chad Johnson (football player), who runs for a charity and races a horse... and wins...

Here are some of the links where you can find further information on this:

1. NY Boston Marathon charities
2. Chicago Marathon charities
3. Runners Web: Run for a charity
4. Bupa Great Run charities

Mental preparation as important as physical

Follow me: @titacabrera

Throughout my years of competition, I had several different group dynamics towards integration or physical preparation; never really thought of how much I learned from that; but after graduating I realized how important for major companies was having a candidate with extra curricular activities, preferably sports; and if that involved high performance competition, this became more interesting.  I thought it was because those persons can handle several tasks, fatigue, frustration and team work... "we" were the leaders all companies were seeking for! I wondered why sports and not anything else... lets say candle making, or any other hobbie. (Photo: Michael Phelps).

Turns out that athletes have interesting profiles, more than some A+ graduates.  Athletes know how to work as a team (not only dividing tasks and doing one's part), get things done instead of whining, cause athletes are competitive and that's a challenge; athletes always want more and better; perform better while working under pressure, handle frustration better, are empathic, extroverted, friendly and tolerant with others, tend to attract people's attention.  Why do you think the "popular guys" back in high school or college had most of the times something to do with sports??  Being in a sports team is like growing with a bunch of siblings, you learn how to deal with all the crowd, yet you fight for attention towards your "individual" being.

Even with all those things, there are differences among the preparation a group sport has to do and individual sports, mental wise.  Persons who practice solo sports are more self-assured and shy, strong determined, don't quit.  All this is important not only for sports, but is a big learning for life, you can apply all this in all aspects if you know how to take advantage of them.

Mental preparation for sports (and life) is not about setting your mind in "i'm gonna win, i'm gonna win", is about learning how to deal with different unexpected situations, keep focused, keep on control.

All this becomes stronger as you grow up, personally I see some traits of this myself on my day to day, more now than before, probably because I'm more conscious now than years ago.  In sports, and any situation, is not only about physical preparation; some times is about overcoming fatigue, being hurt, feeling like giving up... I would risk to say is 80-20, where bigger weight is on mental determination, psychological preparation.  TAKE THIS TO ANY ASPECT OF YOUR LIFE.

I relate this to something I once read from John C. Maxwell, lately one of my favorite authors, who stated "Talent is never enough".  In both, sports or work, you can have the material but you gotta learn how to work it.  John speaks about PASSION.  This is what drives us, our fire.  Around us are persons who might support us (fire starters), or persons who might be negative (fire fighters).  WE SHOULD GET AWAY FROM ANYONE WHO TELL US "YOU CAN'T".

This is where all the mental preparation takes importance, on your journey towards any goal, name it 42k or any dream, you'll find a lot of "you can't"s; but go back to basis on this: stay focused, keep on control, deal with unexpected situations.

Myself, I've found persons around me who've been really supportive about my training, others who are totally indifferent, and the ones who openly said "you won't finish, you are wasting your time".  If I didn't have all those traits I got because of sports, probably I would've been sad for over 5 mins and quit; I preferred to laugh and say "Thank you for saying that, I just reassured what I want, hope to see you at the finish line with a bottle of water!".  At the end, you are the one who knows what do you want, and how bad you want it; so NEVER QUIT ON YOUR DREAM BECAUSE SOMEBODY THINKS YOU CAN'T... the moment you think you can't is probably the moment you gave up the game.

DON'T QUIT, KEEP UP, AND THE WAY YOU HANDLE THE ROAD, IS A REFLECTION OF HOW YOU HANDLE THINGS OUTSIDE OF IT... How great are you?

I'll be glad to receive your comments, and tweets (@titacabrera).

Sources:

1. Importance of psychological preparation for athletes

2. Parents' expectations and effect on children's performance

3. Psychological characteristics of high performance athletes: individual sports versus team sports

4. Psychological preparation in sports

5. Psychological preparation for athletes: New Zealand Olympic Team

6. TALENT IS NEVER ENOUGH (John C. Maxwell)

The Importance of Nutrition

Follow me: @titacabrera

What did u eat today? By this I don't mean to ask if you eat a lot, if you are fit, or if you are starving.  Being "on a diet" doesn't mean starve yourself or decline all those delicious burgers or snacks we might be craving for.  Whatever is your activity (even if you decide not to practice any sports), different meals, vegetables, carbs, etc. are better for what you do, including intellectual activity.

Sports wise, there are three factors that combine to give the results we get: training, genetic composition and nutrition.

Training includes an adequate routine for you according to your fitness level, goal, age, time frame, activity and benefit you might be seeking for in your body. Genetic composition means how athletic your body naturally is, how easily you practice sports, ability and resistance wise. Nutrition means feeding yourself according to what your specific needs, your kind of sport, age, gender, etc.

WE GOTTA KEEP THESE THREE PILARS FOR THE PRACTICE OF SPORTS IN BALANCE

Exercise increases the caloric needs of a person, and depending on the kind of sports, the source of those calories. For example, someone practicing body building will need greater amount of proteins to create muscular hypertrophy anaerobic sports require; and someone practicing triathlon or cycling, will need carbs, due to the prolonged physical effort of an aerobic sport.

An adequate sports nutrition has to cover all the cycles in sports and the training program such as recovery days, active phase and proper rest.  

Realize how important is everything we ingest when we work out and when we don't

Wether you decide to start a training program or not, you have to be aware or having the food your body needs according to your physical need and have a proper sleep time.  Having said this, we all have to realize that everyone has different nutritional needs, even if you practice the same sport, everyone has different characteristics and goals.

The right nutrition is not to be followed only in a short term... is changing our habits what really works for the long term... so instead of starving right before summer time, or eating all the proteins because you want to get biceps in one week... if you balance all and combine work out with proper nurture, the benefits will be for the short and long term, and they'll last as long as your habit.

If you plan on making a diet, don't take the "pineapple diet" or "whatever miracle diet"; your health is first, and even if takes longer to notice results, you will notice them for more than what the spring break lasts. You can combine everything, even junk food, just watching frequency and quantity, don't quit your guilty pleasure, well all have one... or two.

I'll be looking forward to read your comments or tweets.

Happy weekend!

Tita.

Follow me: @titacabrera

Sources:

1. Longterm diet is the only secret to lose weight

2. Nutrition

3. Sports Nutrition

3. Sports Nutrition II

Improving your time when running

Follow me: @titacabrera

So well I'm particularly happy today cause I improved my running time yesterday!! 

Not yet till where I wanna get (4min/km), but each second down counts! 5:45min/km; this means I ran 10k in under 60min.

I'm happy because after having been a high performance athlete, starting over is really hard and frustrating, more than if I would've never done any training and have the same average speed; this is cause my mind is set into what my body "USED TO DO" before, not what I can actually "DO NOW", so the former athlete is more likely to quit. (This even has a name, I can't remember now, but i will get to that in a coming entry).

Anyways, I always trained POTENCE and strenght... not really a lot of resistance... (I competed in 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x400m, 800m and hurdles)

I can comfortably finish a 10k, just my best time was 42'. Last Nike 10k race i was over 60 min! Almost cried! But you don't wanna sprint next to me cause i'll kick your ass!

Training for resistance is of course different than speed, the more resistant you are, the slower you become.  In order to improve your time when running, you have to work your muscles towards supporting fatigue, that means "burning" your energy until you feel you can't run anymore, but you keep on running, so they "learn" to recover faster.  Over time you will resist bigger effort (faster runs) for a longer time.

This is earned by including INTERVALS in your training.  If you run same distance and same pace, you will get stuck there.  According to the race you are preparing for (5k, 10k, 21k, marathon, triathlon, etc.) you might adapt duration in different intensity zones, recovery times, reps, series, etc.

There are two main kinds of intervals*:

1) Continuous interval: You don't stop to rest, only make changes on pace. You run at your regular pace and every 4-8 mins, you speed up for 2-5mins and go back to regular pace.  You will be having an ACTIVE recovery, since you have to catch your breath while you are still running!

2) Fractional interval: This is known as "SERIES". Since you get to have pauses between groups of reps,  speed is expected to be higher, this is PASSIVE recovery. According to the race you want to run, these series could be short (sprints of 200 - 800 mts) for potence, or long (2000 - 5000mts) to improve your resistance. 

Remember to ALWAYS keep track of your improvements, this will keep your spirit up and let you see the results of your training, plus if you are to be tired, dirty and sweaty, you better make it worth it!

Also, be consistent, and don't give up!

set your mind in your goal, not your barrier.

*Here are the links I used to get the information about intervals, and some training plans to improve your running speed:

1. Interval Training to Improve running time

2. Intensive Continuous Method

3. How to improve your time in 5k

4. Runners World Mexico: Suggested training plans to improve running time

you might wanna follow on twitter @RunnersWorldMex

Ask experienced professionals, who have the proper knowledge to guide you towards your goals safely and effectively by customizing your training.

I'll be glad to read your comments, suggestions and feedback. ENJOY YOUR RUNNING.

Tita.

Follow me: @titacabrera

Running APPS: Nike vs. Adidas

Follow me: @titacabrera

I wanted to keep track of my distance when i started to run for 10k, so I started using Nike+ and Adidas MiCoach... these are running tools to keep track of the miles you've run, speed, time, calories burned and even offer a plan to train for an specific objective. They both speak to you and tell you when u complete another kilometer, and you have to register in the brands website to use both and get a username.

Nike+ has two versions, one that can be used with no internet and is combined with the sensor in Nike+ running shoes; and another called Nike+ GPS, with this you don't need the sensor, cause each step is measured by the GPS on your smartphone, keeps track of your route, elevation, kind of soil, etc etc. If you run indoors, you might wanna get the first one (free), or the bracelet that comes with the sensor and then sync to your laptop. Of course you gotta have the shoes that hold the sensor, identify them with the Nike+ logo on the sole.

If you got a smartphone, download the Nike app with GPS, is like $2 dlls, but is really nice, it syncs automatically and goes "live" with your facebook, when u start a new race, its posted on facebook asking your friends to cheer you up, so you hear some screaming and clapping while u run, that means someone "liked it" on fcbk or posted something... u can read it afterwards.  When I've been tired and about to stop, I've heard that and really gave me some mental stamina.

Also, the fact that Nike has an online community that u can make challenges with, play "tag", or make a running team with your friends or random people, is great, you are not alone.

So thats nice from Nike app.... BUT at the end is about keeping track and having an idea of your training. With Nike+ u can see the suggested training online, in your laptop, but you can't have it in your phone as in "tomorrow my training is planned to run 14k"... you get that with ADIDAS MiCoach.

I really love this one for that, cause i can see graphs online, but also a calendar, which tells me when i have to run and how long, the kind of training, and this tells you to speed up or go lower, according to the "zones" (or intensity level) that you gotta work according to your training that day. What I love with this is that I can be really objective and see if I missed a training, I see it on my track, so I can't fool myself... it's there...

The online program from Adidas also includes other kinds of workout (not necessarily running), according to your gender and what you might wanna work, call it strength, resistance, flexibility, etc.

Adidas also gives you a grade on your training, according to your timing, speed, consistency; and you can sync it with a heart rate device, to get an even more accurate training.

Another good thing is you don't need a sensor or special shoe gear, its all by GPS.  Great if you have a smartphone, not so great if you don't.

BOTTOM LINE:

I love that both have an online platform, I would add to Adidas the cheering part and sync with fcbk or twitter; I would add to Nike the training program track on the phone, not just the "select kind of training", what if you didn't check the site before, you would be running randomly, not to your program.

I used both at the same time... its kinda lame... I'd pick Adidas, plus i can use a heart rate device (I'll get it next week).

I SOOO wanna try the new Nike Fuel bracelet... and maybe it'll be usefull in a different way that might lead me to use it better.

For now, I'll use ADIDAS MiCoach app to hear and train according to it, but i use the Nike bracelet with the sensor, so when I sync, I still have both platforms updated.  That's cause my best friend gave me the bracelet as a present... else I don't think I would've gotten it... but I really do like it.

WHAT YOU GUYS THINK? YOU USE ANY OF THESE APPS??

Follow me: @titacabrera

42k... why?

Twitter: @titacabrera

I gotta start by introducing myself. I'm Martha Cabrera (but everyone calls me Tita). I'm 28 years old, born and raised in Mexico City and work in marketing.

I've been a "sport billy" since i can remember: track & field, basketball, dancing, cheerleading, flag football, etc. I competed in national and international tournaments and thought that after college my days of competing were pretty much over (since top age in Mexico is 25 years old for varsity sports), and me having a full time job, would leave me with no time to compete and most of my workout would be to try and stay fit, not really competition level.

As time went by (3 years), I became undisciplined and intermittent with my training... call it jogging, ballet, weight lifting, etc... cause I wasn't working for a specific goal more than staying fit or relaxing, so I did it couple months then quit, then again and so on.

For a former athlete, is not about having or not a "love handle", is more about having a goal, train hard with your team, challenge yourself, getting tired, frustrated, back on your feet, and win... compete.

After years and years of training at least 4 hours a day and not having much time for partying; I became a PARTY MONSTER! yayy! and don't get me wrong, i don't regret it... I had a lot of fun... but i was going against all i ever built... being hang over or smoking was just incongruent with me, and weird to people around me who knew how into sports I was.

I realized how much i missed competing, and needed a "new project", starting running 10k with my girlfriends, and really enjoyed it, being with "my team". One day I thought of how hard would it be to run a marathon... all the mind and body preparation... so I decided I wanted to do that, plus is how my all-time addiction started with: Olympic Games. Yes I'm an OG junkie, and love all the history around it. My next thought was "why I took so long on deciding to train for this?".

I didn't know if I could do it... discipline wise, but after some breakthroughs I realized THIS IS ONE OF MY DREAMS. I'm determined to live my dreams, and become a better version of me everyday, by setting goals, really high ones... hard, and remember that there's nothing I can't do.

I got really inspired by Constantina Tomescu... who won gold in marathon during past Olympic Games, in Beijing 2008. She was 38. So... me saying i was done with competing by 25... i was so bullshitting and searching for excuses.

I started this blog to reach others that might feel identified with this... that might be looking for a new passion, challenge, inspiration or a new direction in their lives... and do whatever you'd like. For me is this now: 42k.

For the more experienced, I hope u can share training tips, follow up, cheer me up (and let me cheer for you too)... and create a community of runners who share with others not just the physical effort that this implies, but all the mental preparation, own barriers and how to overcome... this is a reflection of how we live our lives, plus lets be honest, we get enough self conversations during all those kilometers, why not sharing??

I invite you to follow this blog, share your journey with me, and let me know what u think about what I'll be posting. You can also follow me on twitter @titacabrera

Mexico City International Marathon is this coming september 2nd, 2012.

I got 160 days to go!

Constantina Tomescu 2008

Here's Constantina: http://www.topnews.in/sports/constantina-tomescu-2008-olympic-games-track-field-23658