Vacations are essential

Becky and I had a fantastic time in Maui. We had the opportunity to scatter my dads ashes in the Maui Chanel. I am extremely grateful for the opportunity to swim in that awesome ocean every day I was there. We kayaked out in the ocean the first day to spread my dads ashes, then when I swam every day I felt like I was swimming with him. Becky and I also got to run every morning. We also ate GREAT food and did a bunch of fun stuff...even got a picture of a whale when we went whale watching. So even when you are on vacation you can maintain your fitness level and have tons of fun!

SURF CITY ROCKS

Becky and I had a fantastic time at the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach California! We flew down on Friday to an absolutely stormy Southern California. That night it must have rained 5 inches. Then on Saturday we ran around the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. Even though it was raining it was nice to be in balmy 54 degree weather , (we are used to sub 40 here in Oregon). On Saturday we had a fantastic time at the Sports Expo in Huntington Beach. It is always a good idea to check out all the cool stuff and also preview the course the day before the race. The Hyatt Regency is absolutely gorgeous right there at the starting line. We had no problem race morning. It was beautiful California weather. I did experience one glitch that might help anyone else out there that races with 20,000 other people. I was in the first wave but waited a little too long before lining up with my fellow athletes. When my race started I didn't quite make it up to the front and my wave took off. By the time I got to the starting line they held me back and had me go with the second wave. I thought it was pretty funny but those of you out there that absolutely need to go with your wave, make sure to get to the line early! I had a great race, broke my goal by 2 minutes. Again, the key is a negative split. Felt great after the race...even got a bit of a suntan!

KETTLEBELL MADNESS

Kettlebell Madness is out and is our most popular video ever! Functional training is made "easy" with the Kettlebell. This fantastic tool has been around for hundreds of years and is finally getting very popular! There are so many exercises you can do with the Kettlebell and just about all of them strengthen the entire body. The great thing about Kettlebell training is that it is "sports general training". Regardless of what sport you are in this form of training will help improve your strength, endurance, balance and reaction time! So go out there and grab a kettlebell and check out ourKETTLEBELL MADNESS video app at the itunes store!

LISTEN TO YOUR BODY

Sometimes ya just gotta take it easy. Every person that works out will at some time over train a bit. When this happens it is very important that you take a few days off. Use the extra time to do some stuff that you like. That can be relaxing by the fire or laying on a beach. Some signs of over training could be that you feel tired a lot, have trouble sleeping, or are just real irritable. If you train real hard I feel it is critical to take at least one week off from training each year. Cross training also really helps. Another sure fire sign is if you start attaching negative energy to your workouts....ya always want to keep it fun!

DUNDEE AND ME!!!

I love running with my good buddy Dundee! He lives right down the street from me with my friend Mary Ann. He, like so many in Ashland, Oregon, is a California transplant. He absolutely loves to run. I have the great opportunity to run with him every week and I can tell you it adds a fantastic element to running. The other day we decided to do some fast and flat speed work so we ran along the bike path here in Ashland to the YMCA and back. I figure it was about 6 miles. I decided to increase his speed work because my lightning fast wife, Becky, ran him the other day and he did have a tough time keeping up. She was going to take him 90 minutes but had to return to Mary Ann's after 30. Thus I have decided to alter his training program so that we can increase both his, and my, stamina so we can keep up with "Lightning Becky"! Dundee has great genetics for running, Mary Ann did some genetic testing that turned out quite fascinating. He does have some German Shepard in him but I believe the Setter in him counterbalances any German Shepard hip problems. He is so good natured and such a Great running dog. He stays right with you at a steady pace and is not distracted at all by other dogs. The only time he slows down is when he is a little tired. Becky and I were joking that it seems like he doesn't want us to think he is tired so he slows down and "pretends" he has to pee...What a smart Dog! I highly recommend anyone out there to find a dog to run with, it is SOOO COOL!!!!

GIVING IS GREAT!!!!!!

Becky and I had a wonderful thanksgiving! We went down to Sacramento too see my folks and had the fantastic opportunity to compete in the Feed The Hungry race on Thanksgiving morning. There were 31,000 runners and over $1,000,000 was raised for the local food bank. The energy at the race was incredible, everyone getting together in a very positive way, to me the real reason for Thanksgiving. There were so many people it took me several minutes to cross the starting line. At every mile marker I was shouting out the split times, it was so cool, so many people asked "is that the split from the starting line". I would say yes and so many times people were so gracious and positive. What an incredible experience, it reinforced my core belief that we are all here to help one another, and the all human misery stems from withdrawing from that beautiful universal connection! I had so much fun I am going to compete in the Surf City Marathon in Huntington Beach with the purpose of raising as much money possible for disabled kids. If anyone wants to contribute the can send me a check payable to "Free Wheelchair Mission" it is totally tax detectable and I guarantee it will make you feel FANTASTIC!

BOSU APP ON THE IPHONE

Our Iphone apps are doing fantastic! We just came out with the BOSU app...now we have 5 IPhone apps. It is really cool that that there are people all over the world using our videos to get healthy and strong! Anyone that wants to check out our apps can go to the Apple ITunes site, go to the app store and type in coachhacker. Let me know what you think!

I am posting a picture using the BOSU ball. It is a great tool that I use with just about all my clients. It really creates a functional program that increases strength, balance and reaction time. The great thing about functional training is that it is sports general in that it will help you in any sport that you are involved in. I highly encourage everyone to incorporate functional training into there program!