I Have A Good Story

You just dragged your lungs through another kilometer, your heart is pounding in your ears, and then you see it: the turf. Time for the dreaded burpee broad jumps—the station where your heart rate redlines, your quads lock up, and your race plan goes to die. The Reality Check: If you are a back-of-the-pack or heavier athlete, running economy is already your biggest battle. You don’t have free recovery points to spare. When you hit those burpee broad jumps like a 20-year-old fire-breather, your central nervous system instantly flatlines. Look, at 58 years old and ten years into coaching, I’ve seen this movie a thousand times. You aren't out of shape; you're using brute force on a movement that rewards pure mechanical efficiency. Let’s fix that. Core Breakdown: Why Your Heart Rate Spikes (Three Painful Reminders) The Dead-Stop Tax: Dropping flat to the turf like a felled tree forces your entire upper body and core to dead-press your body weight back up against gravity from a comp...

Writing these words 36 hours after my race is giving me nervous shakes.  Everything hurts.   Everybody wants to know their limits.  Few are willing to find them.  I discovered mine on Saturday. I showed up at the park in Mexico at 3:45 pm for a 5:00 pm wave.  The hybrid race simulation was being sponsored by the best gyms in the city.  350 athletes, sponsors, vendors village, the whole 9 yards. I saw so many of the volunteers that I recognized.  It’s incredible how great it feels to give a big smile, a “buenas tardes” and a big hug.  You see them twice or three times a year and tell them how grateful you are for the opportunity to compete. I started my regular pre-race ritual at 4:30 pm. I ate a gel, tightened my shoelaces, and did the same 15 minute warm up that I do before every workout for the past 1244 days. At 4:45 there was a huge gust of wind that shook me out of my mental bubble.  The sky was a purple-black color, thick as cotton...

  "NO ONE TOLD ME TRAINING SLEDS WAS GOING TO BE THIS DIFFICULT." You watch the clock tick down, eyeing the turf. Everyone else is loading up plates for heavy sled work, but your brain is replaying that sharp, familiar ache in your patellar tendon. You want to push, but the terror of tomorrow morning's knee pain is screaming louder. After age 40, training isn't about throwing caution to the wind—it's about smart, bulletproof longevity. Bad knees don't mean a slow sled split; they just mean you have to train smarter than the twenty-somethings. Why Your Knees Are Screaming The Stance Error: A too-upright torso angle turns the push into a quad-dominant stabbing motion. The Mechanical Cost: That poor force angle sends shear stress straight into your kneecap. The Reality Check: Heavy sled work is entirely doable—you just have to fix how you apply force. 3 Low-Impact Regressions for Limited Turf (Plus Fuel) The High-Handle vs Low Chest Biceps On Poles Coaching Cu...

It’s Monday morning, and my glutes hurt. Badly. Literally. Both sides. Let me explain.  About 49 hours ago I woke up at 5:03 am to head to the gym to meet up with my team.  The last Saturday in September is an annual CrossFit event called Battle Pink.  The fine people at Our Town CrossFit in Listowel Ontario work their tails off to throw a great event to raise money for breast cancer awareness.  This year our club sent 4 teams of 3 to compete.  Two teams were in the Elite division and 2 in the Recreational division.  Myself and my partners David “Diesel” Pedrossa and Karen Lunn competed in the latter.  Our heat for Event 1 kicked off at 10:10 am.  It was the longest of the 3 events with a 30 minute time cap. It started with a 100 calorie team row.  Diesel was on the rower, with Karen up next.  The head judge yelled “10 seconds!”...the giant digital clock on the wall began to click down...then a loud chime...3!....2!....1!....GO!  W...