(Mod Post #10) From Gort to GaelForce

Hardball

Chris Harrington: DOB 22/1/1974, Weight 266lbs, father of 3 young kids working as a Production Manager for Snap in Galway has decided (with a gentle push from his boss Patrick Brennan) to compete in Gaelforce West on August 18th. Gaelforce West is the largest one day adventure race of its kind in the world. Ranging over 67km its a multi-sport adventure race involving cycling, running, hiking and kayaking.

We are going to help Chris on his journey. Greg is putting the training plan together, Alan is providing massage <<SNIP>>
Every week, Chris, Greg and myself will give updates on our journey <<SNIP>>

Hardball

11th Feb 2012:

Greg: After a good start in the New Year Chris has unfortunately had a small setback. He commenced his training with walking/jogging and cycling on alternate days. After 3 weeks however he noticed a pain in his lower leg which we have diagonised as an inflamed Achilles tendon. As Alan treats this however his training will continue with a few modifications (to avoid any further injury) to allow him to get the most from his training plan. Currently Chris is doing 2-3 30-40min bike sessions a week and he is also doing the following pool work out at least 2-3 x a week:

Warm Up x 4 (each) F/Style and B/Stroke

2. Resistance Walk in the Pool x 1 (Rest x 30sec) Repeat x 4 - Note use an aqua belt if available to help take the impact off the leg/foot.

3. 5 x 2 Lengths = (Swim F/Style 2 lengths) Rest 30-40secs - Repeat x 5

4. 4 x 2 Lengths = (Swim B/Stroke 2 lengths) Rest 30-40secs - Repeat x 4

5. Resistance Walk in the Pool x 1 (Rest x 30sec) Repeat x 2-4 - Note use an aqua belt if available to help take the impact off the leg/foot.

The Number One priority is to get Chris's injury healed. For anyone reading who has lower limb injuries yet still needs to keep training the above programme may help. The beauty of the pool is it allows for a good cardio work out while it avoids the impact. Furthermore water is very therapeutic and helps to heal as well. Keep following Chris's progress as we get him through this injury and onward toward his Gaelforce Goal in August.

Chris: Big thank you to Alan & Greg for all their hard work and to Patrick for giving me that BIG PUSH to do the race. I've set myself a goal of losing 3st and finishing Gael Force. The injury is a problem but hopefully with the training programme Greg has done for me, the Pure Athlete bath salts & oils and Alans magic hands and elbows I will be back to full training soon. The thing I've found since I got the injury and couldn't train fully is that I was eating a lot more of the things I shouldn't be eating. So for now it will be the bike 3 times a week and swimming 3 mornings a week.

Patrick: Chris I know you can do this, whilst some might ask why choose such a tough race to start with, well I have seen you set weight loss goals over the last 5 years and ever time for some small reason you stop, with a goal of this magnitude and knowing you as I do I really believe you will overcome every obstacle put in your way, like you are with your current injury, to get to Westport on the 18th of August. Getting to the start line of Gaelforce then you are already a winner, whatever happens in the race is a bonus.

Alan: Hopefully we will have Chris back in full training sooner rather then later. While he presented with a calf injury as we got into the treatment we noticed that the issue was really an inflamed achilles. Unfortunately with an inflamed achilles rest is what is required. I will keep working on the calves / tib posterior to help the healing process

Hardball

22 Feb 2012

Chris: Last week was a week of just doing 3 sessions in the pool, no walking, running or cycling. I really enjoy the pool but I find it hard to stick to the diet as I'm not doing the full training programme set out by Greg. But hopefully another week of swimming and a couple of sessions with Alan and his magic hands and elbows will enable me to start back with my 5k walks next week and then hopefully that will lead to running 5k. I was away for the weekend with my Scout Group and we went hiking for 3 hours in the Dublin/Wicklow mountains, I found it hard but managed to do it. When we finished I thought to myself that wasn't too bad even with the injury and I said to myself "Bring on Gael Force", but then I realised I would have a 46k cycle to do and I know now that I have a long long way to go and a lot more training, hard training to do. I was a bit stiff yesterday but worse this morning, but hopefully a session in the pool will loosen everything back up again. This week Greg is going to help me with my diet so Im really looking forward to that but hopefully he will leave a few sweet things in there.

Greg: Over the past week Chris has been following the exercise plan set out for him. Unfortunately he is still experiencing muscle pain in his lower leg which is preventing him from doing any cardio work which loads his legs. As always however there is a way around this and for this week Chris will be required to stay in the pool for 2-3 sessions and he will also complete 2-3 sessions of Exercycle work which will include 2 mins (Medium) Spinning, 1 min (Easy) Spinning followed by 1 Min of Roller work (using a plastic pipe to breakdown the density of the tight muscles in his lower leg). Repeat x 5 and finish with a 10 min spin on the bike. The key is to work the heart and lungs without causing anymore strain on his lower legs. Until next week


Alan: Unfortunately the calf has not reacted as fast as we would have liked this week so we had to really put pressure on Chris in the treatments. Greg decided to get stuck in on Tuesday and as you can see from the picture poor Chris was suffering. We have no choice as we need to get Chris back training and to do that the intensity of the treatments need to increase. I promised him I would not be as hard on him as Greg

siobhanb79

Siobhan here from Gaelforce, Sounds like your getting stuck in guys, good on ye and see ye in August!

Hardball

16 Mar 2012

Chris: Well the injury is still there so I have done no walking or running in the past couple of weeks. It is very hard to motivate myself as I would love nothing more than to get out in the evenings and go for a walk. But at the moment I am swimming 4 mornings a week and doing 3 one hour sessions on the Excerise Bike at home. Hopefully with Alan's help the injury will clear up sooner than later but even if I have to crawl I will finish Gael Force. Next month I'm hoping to get my real bike so drivers in Gort be warned. The most important thing at the moment for me is to stay positive and to do what exercise I can and not push it too hard too soon.

Greg: It has been a frustrating past 2 weeks for Chris as he has continued to work through his lower leg injury. We have maintained his work in the pool and the bike and although this is beneficial in order for Chris to remain on target for his Gael Force Goal we do need to commence more specific (and strenous -sorry Chris) training.

Over the past 2 weeks Chris has completed his Metabolic Typing Nutrition Test, which is an essential element for any athlete or individual seeking better health, energy and improved body tone. Metabolic Typing determines the right food and fuel mix for your individual body make. It is without doubt one of the best Nutritional tools available. Chris has also set an appointment to see a pediatrician to ascertain the cause of his lower leg injury.

Hopefully in the next week or two we will start to see some improvements with Chris and we can re convene with his more (strenous) conditioning. I know Chris cannot wait :-)

Alan: The injury is a frustrating one for all of us. A lot of it is down to the extra load on the calves due to Chris restarting training after a long break [10 years Chris? :-)]. I am trying to encourage the muscle to relax so not too much deep tissue work for the moment just a lot of light massage and lifting the muscle. We have even tried to change the way Chris is walking to take the load of the calves. He looks like he is training for horse dressage as opposed to Gael Force at the moment. We are all hopeful of sorting this out sooner rather than later.

donothoponpop

Hardball wrote: »

<<SNIP>>

<<SNIP>>

Hardball

<<SNIP>>

donothoponpop

Hardball wrote: »

<<SNIP>>.

You're pimping these products here based on one case study, a 266lb lad you expect to compete in GF, not international athletes. Your sample of one is showing immediate injury, and no recovery. Diet isn't being adhered to, and lets face it, for a 266lb man looking to run up and down mountains, that's the biggest mess that needs to be sorted out. Forget about injury, recovery, competing. Lose the weight, run a 5k, then start deciding on goals. There's far too many couch potatoes encouraged to go from 0 to 100 in too short a timeframe, and suffering breakdowns along the way.

MOD: Folks if you wish to debate the products please take offline thanks

Debate the topic all ye like

RayCun

But they contain the engineered nutrition of six kinds of apples!

shotgunmcos

I have reopened the thread on the condition that zero marketing connotations of the product are put forward by the OP.

If posters wish to draw out a discussion on Pure Athlete, please open a new thread for the purpose.

catweazle

It looks like a training Log to me at best, should it be in the main triathlon forum???

Hardball

donothoponpop - thank you for your comments but there a few points I would like you to take on board:

a) Chris approached us to help him get to Gaelforce as Chris wanted to do this. We did not ask him, it was his decision and his decision only. He also bravely realised that from him to achieve this goal he needed some help. With Greg's background of over 20 years as a professional high performance coach all over the world and with my expertise on getting bodies to the start line Chris asked us to help. We thought it would be a good idea to track his journey on a blog because from my experience in meeting people like Chris week in and week out we felt that the information we share would also help them.
b) I think Chris should be applauded for making this effort. It is a very brave move and your point is valid on aiming too big but hey what is wrong with that? We need to start thinking big again and Greg and me will help him. We have set goals and milestones for him along the route, which include his diet. We believe we can get Chris to the finish line and we intend to do whatever we need to do to get him there.
c) Finally I do not wish to get into a debate with you on the pro's and cons of what is happening with Chris and also Pure Athlete products. The aim of this thread is to help Chris and the 000's of others like Chris out there who need a little help along the way. Please just follow the thread and if you want to PM me on other issues you have raised, please do.

Thank you.
ps Chris's calf has improved so we are ready to step things up to the next level....

mloc123

Hardball wrote: »

Chris's calf has improved so we are ready to step things up to the next level....

Knee injury next?

donothoponpop

I'll contain my response to this part of your post:

Hardball wrote: »

b) I think Chris should be applauded for making this effort. It is a very brave move and your point is valid on aiming too big but hey what is wrong with that? We need to start thinking big again and Greg and me will help him. We have set goals and milestones for him along the route, which include his diet. We believe we can get Chris to the finish line and we intend to do whatever we need to do to get him there.

What is wrong with that is that he's not making the effort, as evidenced by the progress you've reported here. Diet and weight loss are difficult, and I applaud anyone who is preparing for an exercise regime by getting the weight down (I'm speaking as someone who used to be obese). That doesn't seem to be the case here, as evidenced by what you are posting. Simply deciding you're going to compete in GF, or any race, doesn't deserve any praise or applause. Certainly, its a move in the right direction, but getting off the couch is only the start of the hard work. Applauding people for just making a decision, tends to give praise for no effort.

Best of luck to him, if he manages to lose weight and complete GF, I'll applaud that, as I would anyone who puts effort into their achievement. If you don't want to get into a debate, don't post this on a forum that supports comment. If you want people to just follow the thread without commenting, ask for it to be put in training logs, with a request that there is no debate.

Hardball

mloc123 wrote: »

Knee injury next?

Would follow the usual pattern...

bryangiggsy

Hardball wrote: »

Gaelforce West is the largest one day adventure race of its kind in the world.

It sure is

Enduro

bryangiggsy wrote: »

It sure is

so hard to resist!!!

Hardball

Chris Well it's not long now until the big race and to be honest I'm getting a bit worried about it. I always knew the cycling wouldn't be a problem and over the past weeks I've being doing 20-25k 3 times a week and I have now done two 35k cycles and did my first 50k cycle yesterday. So the focus now turns to the 21k run, so the training plan for the next 7 weeks will be running 4 times a week, slowly building it up to 21k and doing 50k cycles on the weekends. Hopefully I will stay injury free and I will be ready for the big race on the 18th of August. I would like to thank, Alan, Greg and Patrick for all their support and not forgetting Lorraine who has put up with me going missing for a couple of hours every time I go training.
Cheers

Alan From an injury perspective we took Chris off the road and on to the bike as this would reduce the stress on the calf. We now have to move him back on to the road as he needs to start clocking up the miles. Loads of water and stretching and building up the miles slowly should hopefully keep Chris injury free until the event....

vasch_ro

Best of luck