Invictus Vires

I'm Moving

2011-09-06T23:34:00.001-07:00

http://www.invictusvires.com

Moving the blog over to the .com and retiring the blogspot.

Crutches are Dangerous

2011-09-06T21:57:00.000-07:00

I finally fell over. It was bound to happen at some point. Especially with me now trying to "walk" on them with my legs in the air.
Of course, that wasn't when I fell. It was when I was going down a flight of stairs. I was going very slowly too, because I was exhausted, and my pain had kicked up after doing a lot of crutch assisted walking and seeing how sitting treated me. So I just lost my balance and fell backwards.
Highly unpleasant as it put my hip at a 110 degrees of flexion. Tissue is still a bit swollen for that range of motion. Highly embarrassing, fortunately nobody was around. Which is why I'm putting it on the internet. It was really funny.

Stairs are my nemesis.

I'd Forgotten How Awesome This Is

2011-09-05T16:02:00.000-07:00

It might have the best take away lines of all of the Arnold trailer videos.

I am Awesome

2011-09-02T21:47:00.000-07:00

at going up and down stairs on crutches. Also getting pretty good at walking with just a touchdown by the right foot with crutches. Got up to three sets of 60 feet today. I've been experimenting with how much time I spend on my crutches verses lying down as well. So far I'm not doing well with predicting when I should get off of them so I test every minute or so. The drugs probably aren't helping with feedback.
The only bonus to my very limited mobility is that it is allowing me to catch up on a lot of reading and work on some articles. I'll have some book reviews coming soon. Some more in-depth writing as well.

End of day 3

2011-09-01T23:13:00.000-07:00

Pain levels are still fluctuating throughout the day. High fatigue levels today. Spent a bit longer on the crutches, it was exhausting. Though I'm developing some awesome crutching skills. Right foot dorsiflexion a few degrees better today. Mind is still spinning from meds.

Two days

2011-09-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

I've been out of surgery two days now, and so far I've spent a lot of time on my couch/bed. Pain has been fluctuating up and down, I'm unsure right now of what I can associate with the increases that I occasionally experience throughout the day or at night, as it seems irrelevant to where I am at on my post op narcotics, or cold therapy.
My first full day out the most I managed was to hobble around ten feet on my crutches to the bathroom on occasion. I stepped it up tonight and made it to the front door of the house and back. Other than that my movement has been limited to micro movement with my ankles and feet. Even that is severely limited as I notice about a 15 degree difference in dorsiflexion from my left to right foot.
I’ll be testing more metrics tomorrow.

My post surgery thoughts. Sideways.

2011-08-31T15:04:00.000-07:00

A little background

I'm Back

2011-08-31T13:39:00.001-07:00

I’ve been MIA for a while now, and a lot has happened in that time. I’ll have a lot of articles coming soon on where I’ve been and where I’m going. At the moment though I’m just out of surgery for hip labram repair and osteoplasty. So here are my thoughts that I had regarding that prior to getting cut.

Pre-op Reflections

I’ve made some highly questionable decisions in my past. Recently, a lot of those have come back at me and I’ve been dealing with them face on for the first time in my life. One of the major ones I’ve been looking at lately is the string of actions and decisions that led to me requiring surgery to deal with some mechanical issues in my right hip.
I’ll start with a bit of background. In August of 2007 I had a cycling crash where I t-boned the side of a car going over 30mph. The immediate result of this was acute pre-patellar bursitis in my left knee and generally being banged up and covered in road rash. I was incredibly lucky to walk away from the crash in that condition as the general medical opinion seemed to be that I should have died.
I spent the better part of the next year putting almost all my weight on my right leg and changing my gate to accommodate the rather prolonged recovery of my left knee. At the time it was not something I thought much of, but we should always remember that we never stop adapting. A while into the following year, and some heavy training cycles that I was into at the time, I began experiencing what I though was iliopsoas tendonitis, and some severely limited range of motion in my right hip extension. I rested, let the inflammation go down, and continued business as usual. The injury came back. I did the same thing. This cycle repeated itself with range of motion getting worse, and longer times without training for the next 3 years. Somehow during all of this I maintained the firm belief that I could fix this on my own.
In late May of this year I finally mentioned the issue in an offhand manner to my primary care physician while discussing something else. This got me sent in for a bone scan with the idea that I might have a recurring stress fracture. Cut to several more tests, and MRI arthogram, and it turns out I have a massive labral tear and some excess bone growth causing a cam impingment. Info on these here.
Looking back this is something that I quite possibly could have addressed some time ago and possibly avoided a lot of current pain. What to take away from this? Mainly, that doing the same thing over and over expecting different results is not a good idea. I seemed to forget everything I knew in my obsession to fix myself without medical assistance. Also, being a stubborn idiot is not all its cracked up to be.
As of now, I will be going into surgery for hip arthroscopy. I’m looking towards progressing forward again. I will be documenting my recovery both in terms of my physical and mental state throughout. My starting points are as follows-

Physically
• Severely limited range of motion in all planes with right hip
• Severe tissue damage and inflammation around the right hip
• High pain levels associated with most movement
• Limit to almost all activity due to pain and limited ROM

Mentally
• Lack of forward progress due to physical issues and mental blocks
• Obsession issues
• Dealing with long term substance dependency
• Depression

Getting Advice on Internet Forums is Still a Dumb Fucking Idea

2010-10-14T19:35:00.000-07:00

I'm re-posting this article I put up awhile ago because every recent post I've read on endurance forums has made me want to put my head through my computer due to the sheer idiocy of the questions that people are asking. The options for the responses that the poster will receive usually fall into three categories: option a) totally useless; option b) off topic; option c) will either get the poster injured, or if already injured will make them more so.

Now for the original article

Recently, after a couple years away from them, I've started to frequent several prominent forums for endurance sports. Posts there seem to break down into a few general topics which repeat endlessly. 1: Pointless observation on a professional athlete and how they're doing something wrong/doping/killing babies/etc... 2: Check out my awesome gear! 3: I'm injured and my X hurts when I train, it's a good idea for me to train harder right? 4: How can I get to X speed by X date?
Now I know I can't change people making idiotic comments about pro's and I certainly can't stop people showing off gear. However, while the first two are harmless, the second two topics are dangerous, because the questions and responses are fucking idiotic and can and do injure people. Let's examine.
First off, if you're injured, or have a certain pain when you swim or bike or run, take that as a major hint that something you're doing is not a good thing for you at this point in time. So what exactly is expected if you keep training? Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. If something hurts when you move a certain way, and you keep moving that way, you sure as hell won't get better.
Going into this further, I often see people posting vague symptoms and receiving a diagnosis of an injury from another poster (this is often followed by the advice to train through it). Would you blindly seek medical advice from people with no qualifications? That's exactly what this is.
As bad as this is, I am personally more pissed off by all of the responses I see on a daily bases telling people to do X workout for a certain number of times per week and they will hit their goals. Really? People, stop relying on random, cookie-cutter programming! All of the answers might have worked for someone at some time, but that doesn't mean that they will work for you. There is no one size fits all program that allows you to bust your ass and automatically hit X speed. If you want to get better, you need to be able to have your body dictate your training. It's the only way to actually have a program that is specifically designed to make you consistently better. For the last 3 months I've trained solely according to the feedback of my body. Not how some guru tells me to train, not how a world champion did it, not how my friends train, and not how I think I should train. I've hit PR after PR after PR. I am better every single day.
So If you're on a forum for endurance sports, please try your best to refrain from asking for medical advice from the general public, and please don't let people throw a bunch of random training ideas at you.

Introduction to Gym Movement and Endurance Athletes

2010-08-31T13:55:00.000-07:00

Get Faster Daily While Eliminating Pain and Injury by Learning How to Program your Training of Your Own Body

Come down to Invictus Vires Gym on September 5th at 1pm for a FREE workshop on how to use biofeedback to program your endurance training and make it the best possible for you on a daily basis.

In one hour learn how to

•Make every workout better than the last

•Eliminate overtraining and overuse injuries

•Increase your mobility safely and effectively

•Move better and easier for faster times

•Crush your old PR’s

This is a one-time event! Space is limited, call now to reserve your spot! 503-530-0621

2010-08-24T21:48:00.000-07:00

2010 Invictus Endurance workshop with Adam Glass and myself will happen September 18th at Invictus Vires in downtown Portland, OR. We will make you better.

August training

2010-08-02T14:47:00.000-07:00

Saturdays Race

2010-07-14T23:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday I raced the the Hagg Lake Triathlon Sprint. It wasn't planned this year but as I've just been recovering from about a month and a half of cmv mono, I decided I needed to give myself a short course race to gauge my recovery.

Planning is always a crap shoot anyway.

I had done somewhere between little and no training since the end of May. During the first week of June, I completed one decent run day in where i hit a 5k pr, but other than that, I had no other training.

I had at least been feeling greatly recovered in the week leading into the race (in that my hours awake had gone from around 6 to 12).

Due to that I figured I was good to go.

My goal going in was simply to have a race where I was able to cruise all the way through.

All I cared about was seeing that I could race any distance at all, as two weeks prior, I couldn't make it 1.5 miles running while in Texas as race support/coach for my father at Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 (epic swim pr).

To cut immediately to the end of the race, it went very well. PR'd the course, finished second in my division, and didn't go through hell.

The very little I've done in terms of movement which tested well paid off.

More on what I did to make it so my fitness didn't totally collapse while I was sick soon.

CRRRRROM!!!!

2010-07-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Conan wheel might be the greatest strength tool of all time, and this musical version just makes the movie all the more epic. Many valuable lessons are contained in Conan the Barbarian. Destroyer too. Watch them often.

July Training

2010-07-07T12:25:00.000-07:00

June sucked. Knocked down with CMV Mononucleosis Syndrome for almost the entire month. Back in action now and getting better. Logged here.

Post Race Breakdown for 6/6/2010

2010-06-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

Blue Lake Olympic Triathlon
I went into this race knowing something was off. I haven't felt 100% in over a month and a half now. Ever since being on a 10-day course of antibiotics in May, I've been excessively fatigued everyday, without any change based on increased sleep. In the past couple of weeks I've noticed my recovery from training actually getting worse, with DOMS happening after training which tested well and I would consider to be very light work.
In the week leading up to the race I did almost nothing. I believe I have maybe 4 or 5 short training sessions logged. They managed to put me in a position where two days out I was in substantial discomfort from walking. I still had relatively high expectations for my performance.
The idea for this race was to use it as a training session for my goal pace at Buffalo Springs Ironman 70.3 on June 27. So I was looking for a 25-27 minute swim, 60min or less on the bike, and a sub 38 10k. Although 2 months ago I wouldn’t have been even close to being able to hold these paces, biofeedback based training has allowed me to get to the point where I felt more than confident that these would be easy.
Race day morning brought torrential rains. What fun.
Anyway, the race went off and I felt ok on the swim. At least better than I had recently in the pool, and I didn't tighten up at all. Smooth swimming the entire way, though I took the course a bit wider than I should have. I came out of the water in 27 minutes, slower than I should be, but nothing terrible, and still set for a good race.
The bike course for Blue Lake is almost entirely flat and straight. Which was a good thing as if I had to do any breaking that day, I would have been in a world of trouble as I realized that morning on the drive out that carbon rimmed wheels don't stop well at all in wet conditions. I was able to get up to my goal pace of 24 mph shortly after leaving the transition area and getting around some slower athletes. The bike went great, although after losing my reception on my speedometer at around mile 15 I must have subconsciously dropped my speed since my average had dropped by about .6mph by the time I finished the bike. Looking back, the bike seems like it took more effort than it did when I rode a similar course at a faster pace the weekend before.
Still, I came off the bike into the swamp-like transition feeling relatively good. That changed within 100 meters of starting the run. I had definitely not recovered from my short run Thursday. As I worked my way through the course and the ponds that were covering it due to the rain, each step caused more and more pain in my calves. I held on to a decent pace for the first couple of miles, after which I consistently slowed. By the end, with pain at about a 10, I was basically hobbling through the line. Pacing per mile went 6:50, 6:55, 7:10, 7:45, 9:15, 9:50 and then 3 minutes for the last .2 miles to the finish. One of the most painful runs I’ve ever experienced.
Following this I made the decision that it was probably time to get some blood work done. I’m still waiting on the results as I write this.
Stepping back post race to evaluate my training and racing, I’d say that the number one benefit of the race was that it is forcing me to look at what’s been going on with me health wise. Which gives me a place to move forward from on that front. Other than that I also was able to test out my actually race setup, which I did not race on earlier this year at Escape from Alcatraz. After working out some kinks earlier in the week, every part of my gear except for the bike computer performed well. As far getting ready to race Buffalo Springs, health issues and this race aside, I still am constantly progressing, as my training still see’s consistent PR’s. So assuming I can take care of this before the end of the month I still see myself breaking 4:20 at Buffalo Springs on the 27th. Not bad for a couple months into training.

Internet Forums and Advice (It's a Dumb Fucking Idea)

2010-06-03T22:33:00.000-07:00

Recently, after a couple years away from them, I've started to frequent several prominent forums for endurance sports. Posts there seem to break down into a few general topics which repeat endlessly. 1: Pointless observation on a professional athlete and how they're doing something wrong/doping/killing babies/etc... 2: Check out my awesome gear! 3: I'm injured and my X hurts when I train, it's a good idea for me to train harder right? 4: How can I get to X speed by X date?
Now I know I can't change people making idiotic comments about pro's and I certainly can't stop people showing off gear. However, while the first two are harmless, the second two topics are dangerous, because the questions and responses are fucking idiotic and can and do injure people. Let's examine.
First off, if you're injured, or have a certain pain when you swim or bike or run, take that as a major hint that something you're doing is not a good thing for you at this point in time. So what exactly is expected if you keep training? Insanity is defined as doing the same thing over and over expecting a different result. If something hurts when you move a certain way, and you keep moving that way, you sure as hell won't get better.
Going into this further, I often see people posting vague symptoms and receiving a diagnosis of an injury from another poster (this is often followed by the advice to train through it). Would you blindly seek medical advice from people with no qualifications? That's exactly what this is.
As bad as this is, I am personally more pissed off by all of the responses I see on a daily bases telling people to do X workout for a certain number of times per week and they will hit their goals. Really? People, stop relying on random, cookie-cutter programming! All of the answers might have worked for someone at some time, but that doesn't mean that they will work for you. There is no one size fits all program that allows you to bust your ass and automatically hit X speed. If you want to get better, you need to be able to have your body dictate your training. It's the only way to actually have a program that is specifically designed to make you consistently better. For the last 3 months I've trained solely according to the feedback of my body. Not how some guru tells me to train, not how a world champion did it, not how my friends train, and not how I think I should train. I've hit PR after PR after PR. I am better every single day.
So If you're on a forum for endurance sports, please try your best to refrain from asking for medical advice from the general public, and please don't let people throw a bunch of random training ideas at you.

Training Update

2010-06-01T13:15:00.000-07:00

Went of grid for a little over a week at the end of May. Over the course of that time, I did very little training as i let my health get back to 100 percent. Followed it up by hitting huge PR's. It's now becoming routine for me to put in an incredibly small amount of training, and then make gains that a year ago I would have thought would take 6 months of 20 to 30 hours a week of training.
For example, after no training for almost 2 weeks, I went riding at my goal race pace for an event at the end of June. I'd done this same thing 2 weeks prior. So, with nothing done in between these two rides, I doubled my distance at race pace before experiencing any disproportionate elements of effort, and my average heartrate for the ride dropped by 14 beats per minute.
I really can't wait for Buffalo Springs 70.3 at the end of this month.

Training Log for June

2010-06-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

New month, new log of PR's

Grip and Rip 2.1 out now!

2010-05-21T10:23:00.000-07:00

Don't hesitate. Pick up your copy now and begin making perpetual progress. Get it here

Grip and Rip 2.1

2010-05-17T12:59:00.000-07:00

Grip and Rip 2.1 is being launched on Friday. If you missed out on the initial release, get ready and don't hesitate on Friday when the release happens. If you didn't read the post I did prior to the initial release you can find it here. If You miss it again, kick yourself. Repeatedly. I'll have a link up as soon as it's released.

Another Day, Another Absurdly Easy PR

2010-05-16T22:55:00.000-07:00

So it's been a rough few weeks. Health has been all over the board and eventually, after succumbing to the temptation to get checked by a doctor, I ended up on a 10 day course of antibiotics last Monday. Training has not exactly gone as I would have liked during this time as what led me to go to the doctor was no form of movement testing well for over 4 days straight.
Yet, this seems to have done almost nothing to stall my progress. When certain movements started test at least marginally well again (in particular cycling) PR's kept coming like I wasn't sick at all, or worn down by antibiotics.
Over the course of the weekend I nailed an intensity PR on the bike. Solid mark of progress for some results I'll be looking for later this year. This was followed up today, when I decided to take a new pair of Vibram Fivefinger KSO Trek's for a test run. They tested well, so I went out and nailed a crazy easy volume and density PR. All after no running whatsoever for over a week. I say this was getting way too easy except...I really like easy. This is awesome.

Guest Post I Did at Walk the Road Less Traveled

2010-05-11T18:02:00.000-07:00

A guest post I wrote last week for Walk the Road Less Traveled on my experience with training and racing triathlon using biofeedback.
If you are not already regularly reading this site, you're only hurting yourself.

Training Log

2010-05-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

New month. Time to log me getting better and faster.

Endurance Work

2010-04-28T13:00:00.000-07:00

I've been working on what as far as I can tell is a totally new way of training for endurance sports over the past couple of months. I'm still in the early stages of testing it, and will soon be able to see what the results are like in racing. First race of the season for me is in four days, when I'll jump off of a ferry into San Francisco Bay and race the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon. Should be a nice warm up for the rest of the season.
Anyway, I don't want to get into too much too soon in terms of details involving training, but I'll give a brief example of results. I've ran twice in the past two and a half weeks, spaced 7 days apart. Both days involved a long steady distance portion. With no change in effort I dropped my split's by an average of 45 seconds per mile on the second run. Exciting times. More to come on this later as I get more data, and race results.

It's Here

2010-04-05T11:51:00.001-07:00

Grip and Rip DVD is now for sale. Only 100 copies, don't sit on this!

Unbeliebly Awesome

2010-03-26T16:34:00.002-07:00

If you've had to spend anytime around me in the past three months it's almost certain that I started talking to you about training. In particular you probably heard the term "biofeedback" come up several times, with me going off about how awesome it was and how it was changing everything I was doing and how I was training my clients. If I've actually worked with you in the last three months, then you know that its one hell of a way to train and worth using, (even though what I've taught is one phenomenally small piece of it).
Either way, whether you've been exposed to it in practice or just me talking about it in an excited fervor using the word awesome way too many times, you have got to check this out. Adam Glass (world class strongman and trainer) is getting ready to release a DVD filled with footage of a workshop he did in February detailing exactly how to use biofeedback to crush whatever your current goals are an progress forward indefinitely. Perpetual progress. I can't think of anything better. You'll learn exactly how to train for your body on any given day.
Once the DVD comes out I'll be selling it as an affiliate. Until then, there's a bonus video Adam's released which you can view if you sign up here I can't recommend this enough. This is changing the face of fitness and physical transformation. Get on board and start PRing everday.

BUP PR

2010-03-26T16:34:00.001-07:00

VWC Practice

2010-03-08T17:50:00.001-08:00

Client Training Log

2010-02-06T17:30:00.000-08:00

Third time shearing the cambridge phonebook

2010-02-02T21:05:00.001-08:00