MVP #061 – Half Marathon Emergency Plan – Mark Phipps – Mocha Vegan Performance Podcast

In podcast episode #59 we talked about staying motivated when you aren’t seeing results. To truly BELIEVE and stay MOTIVATED, I suggested drilling into the details of what you’re trying to accomplish. Perhaps you have goals to run more or eat less or do something better or be less annoying. Whatever you think you want to do, you’d better get organized and DEFINE your target. Clear definition of your goal will allow you to set your trajectory appropriately. Without further adieus here is my Half Marathon Emergency Plan.  

Identify the goal
What: Half Marathon (run 13.1 miles in a day)
When: No later than 11.29.2015
How Fast: 1:50 (110 minutes)

Placing emphasis on exactly WHAT I want to do, WHEN I want to do and to WHAT LEVEL allows me to make a plan. The plan will be the stepping stones across the river of uncertainty that lies between my CURRENT SELF and my GOAL. Without knowing the appropriate steps to take, I start at the goal distance and work backwards. Knowing that I will peak with 13.1 miles on my “race day” I set up a reasonable number of steps based upon the amount of weeks I have to get the preparation work done.

Make a plan
Maximize my run distance at 14 miles the weekend prior (11.22.2015).
Add in tempo and speed runs during the week (must attain speed of 8 minute mile for shorter runs)
Base runs at minimum of 5k (3.1 miles)

** I typically would peak my long run distance  two weeks prior, but am going to stay with the increase, increase, fall back pattern as this plan is actually to achieve an interim goal en route to something greater that I disclose in the near future. **

Write it down
When it came time to put this in writing, I started with the structure of things I wanted to accomplish my goal. I know I want increasing long runs. That is not enough to achieve the time goal as 9 minute miles, like I can barely maintain currently, will not get me down to 1:50. That is why I chose that time goal – to force the issue of improving speed.

Look at the layout of each week in the table below. Each week focuses effort around the goal of the long run on Sunday.

Saturday: The day BEFORE the long run will be walking or something easy along with stretching / core work. Making a good habit of this will relax the mind the night before the race.

Monday: The day AFTER the long run will be leg recovery and strength-building. It will be a day to exercise the other leg muscles and then finish with slow building intervals with an overall distance of 3.1 miles.

Tuesday: Speed and or agility. Suicides, very short intervals, dynamic movements that are separate from movements used in a longer run.

Wednesday: Middle length run, about half of the max distance for this training goal. Resistance training is also on the menu for Wednesday.

Thursday: Tempo run. Try to maintain goal race pace or slightly quicker each week. Feeling uncomfortable and learning to train while uncomfortable will ease performance on race day.

Friday: Recovery run and third of my three resistance training days for the week. The resistance training for Friday and Wednesday will not include legs.

EACH DAY, some light stretching, core work or meditation to stay in tune with how your body is feeling is recommended.

That’s it. Adapt and adjust this to your goals. As always consult with your doctor regarding any physical fitness activity and listen to your body. Get good rest and put healthy foods with vitamins and nutrients in your body instead of simply avoiding bad things. It is easier to improve your diet be adding in good things. Good luck. Let me know how you do.

Mark

Visualize your future self at that goal and describe it
Adequate nightly sleep
Green smoothie each morning
Cardio training 4-6 days per week
Core training part of regular schedule
Daily stretching or meditation and relaxation breathing

Describe the same qualities of yourself at your current state
No regular core training
Lack of cardio conditioning
Joint stability for endurance training unknown
Whole foods minimized in diet, many processed foods being consumed.

Make a plan to connect your current self to your future self at the targeted goal
Add in 5 minutes of core exercises and some stretching each night and/or morning
Run at least every 36 hours
Make a quick smoothie first thing each morning
Sleep by 10:15 every other night
Stretch dynamically prior to runs. Cool down with Tater walk.

 Know the rules, and then play better than everyone else.

Mark
mark@mochavegan.com
@mochavegan

Teaching is fun and rewarding. It is good work. The benefit is creating a different perspective for students. Create a lasting memory for students to carry with them as they interact with others as they mature.  Make a difference! 

Mark
Email | mark@mochavegan.com
Twitter | @mochavegan

MVP #059 – How to Stay Motivated When You’re Not Seeing Results – Mark Phipps – Mocha Vegan Performance Podcast

Identify the goal

Make a plan

Write it down

Visualize your future self at that goal and describe it

Describe the same qualities of yourself at your current state

Make a plan to connect your current self to your future self at the targeted goal

Know the rules, and then play better than everyone else.

Mark
mark@mochavegan.com
@mochavegan

MVP #058 – DISASTER! - Recovery When Everything Goes Wrong – Mark Phipps – Mocha Vegan Performance Podcast

Imagine the moment, your basketball team takes the court at another school. Wearing their bright blue uniforms smiling and excited for the game ahead. The first half is played aggressively with tons of energy. Your team is up almost twenty points at the half and spirits are extremely high. The other team is good, but your team is still in control of the game. In the second half, a series of events takes place that challenges all preparation and mental toughness. That’s the topic of this week’s conversation with Mark Phipps, age 12, regarding a recent basketball challenge never imagined.

MVP #057 – Energize Me! – How to Energize Friends and Teammates

Volleyball season is in full swing here in Arizona. During the course of exercise or competition you may experience highs and lows depending on the progress of your activity. This episode is about how to counteract the negative and encourage the positive situations.

Emotional

Emotionally, friends and teammates pick you up when you are down. They calm you when you are upset. A good friend will energize you when you need it most. When you get in a rut: between matches, between sets or even during a timeout that your team has to call.

Draw energy from your friends and teammates.

Why are some teammates real Debbie Downers and others always cheerful and supportive? What kind of support can you expect from your friends and teammates?

Fuel

Be aware that your body is like a leaking boat when it comes to fuel. Just sitting and reading this your body is burning fuel, consuming calories. When exercising or in competition, you are burning calories at a faster rate. Depending on your size you may burn between 8 and 12 calories every minute. Let’s make this specific to the fuel to energize volleyball girls. Assume an average calorie expenditure of 10 calories per minute. A 40 minute match could consume 400 calories of fuel. In tournaments where matches are occasionally back-to-back this could pose a problem. Imagine having a good breakfast, but walking into consecutive matches where you burn 800 calories that you didn’t expect to burn. How do you get that back?

Planning

Similar to trying to energize is hydration. Drinking the equivalent of a half liter bottle of water every match might keep up with your sweating. To stay energized and hydrated, you must plan ahead. Bring snacks for before matches, between sets and be prepared. Drink water regularly and know where the restroom is. Have your body fueled, hydrated and ready to perform at your top level.

Bring snacks for your friends. Sharing is caring, people! Energize yourself and each other.

Mark
mark@mochavegan.com
@mochavegan

MVP #056 – How to Run a 6-Minute Mile – Breaking Through Barriers

So you want to run a 6:00 mile or an 8:00 or 10:00 mile. You want to improve. YES! Identify your goal:

Let’s use the 6-Minute Mile.

One mile = 4 laps around the school track.
4 x 1:30 = 6:00
Half-lap pace would be 45 seconds or a quarter lap at 22.5 seconds.

You get the idea. Break down the goal into a small enough piece so that you can nail it! Then each week try to increase the number of times you can repeat this ‘miracle’ of new performance. Keep score, track your results and let me know how you do.

Running faster, lifting more weight, eating something better than a sleeve of Oreos when you get home. Performing any of these activities will require you to endure some pain. You have to train yourself to deal with some discomfort in order to enact change.

Habits are difficult to uproot. Try something fun and brush your teeth with the opposite hand or put on your pants with the other leg first.

Keep in mind that in order to change a habit, you must add in a replacement for that habit and practice it. Stick with in and you’ll be reporting that 6-Minute Mile in no time!

Mark
mark@mochavegan.com
@mochavegan

http://veganfeed.com/" target="_blank">http://veganfeed.com/images/links/veganfeed_white_feat_160x60.png" alt="VeganFeed: Vegan Podcasts - Vegan Blogs - Vegan Videos" width="160" height="60" border="0" />

Is eating meat the right thing to do? Some situations require it. Understood.

We make choices because we are able to. Underdeveloped countries and poorer communities don’t have the same advantage of being able to choose the fast food drive through as opposed to food from their own fields.

What better choices can we make for our health? Consider a stronger whole food diet.

Educate yourself to the alternatives and the reasons WHY change is necessary.

Be thoughtful. Ask questions. Do good things. Help yourself and others live long and healthful lives.

Find community. Find support.

Infographic on grams of protein per 100g of a food:

Vegan

veg·an

ˈvēɡən/

noun

1.    a person who does not eat or use animal products.

"I'm a strict vegan"

A plant-based diet is one based on vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruit, with little or no animal products (including dairy). It may refer to: Vegan diet: a plant-based diet with no food from animal sources.

Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the flesh of some animals disgusting and the flesh of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all. But when eating animals is not a necessity for survival, as is the case in much of the world today, it is a choice - and choices always stem from beliefs.

MVP #055 – Focus and Mental Training

Professional athletes experience impacts from good focus and fail when they get distracted. Keeping your head in the game is critical to successful performance. There are things people do to prepare for performances. Train, be in shape, mental training. Let’s focus on mental training and how focus can work for you.

Attitude
Have a good attitude. Do your best. Don’t expect perfection.

Motivation
Be prepared for adversity or a slump. Trouble with fitness and diet happen. How do you maintain motivation when times are tough and you start to feel down? No self pity, no excuses. Be self-motivating. WANT to be there because you really don’t HAVE to be. Look inside yourself. Play for you.

Goals
Set goals, plan ahead. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Visualize that future version of you. Write down what you discover about your desires. Make a plan with steps along with way to achieve the success you desire. Train yourself to achieve skills you need for the next / higher level.

People Skills
Develop good people skills. Get along / play nice with others. Have an attitude of gratitude and enjoy what you love.

Self-Talk
Avoid negative self-talk. Deal with uncertainty by telling yourself that you can do it. You HAVE that skill and you CAN handle it! Positive self-talk and looking ahead to the next opportunity to perform well will take you far!

Visualization
See YOU making the right plays to eliminate stress in challenging situations. See the successful action in your mind’s eye.

Anxiety and Emotions
DON’T WORRY. Forget the free throw you missed. You can’t change the past, but you can focus on the next effort.  Don’t let your emotions get in the way. Remain level-headed minimize the highs and the lows and be an automatic performer.

Concentrate
Forget anything but how well you can do what you are getting ready to do. You have practiced this before MANY TIMES. Concentrate on what you already know how to do and DO IT!

You’re good enough, you’re smart enough and dog-gone-it, people really like you.

Be thoughtful. Ask questions. Do good things. Help yourself and others live long and healthful lives.

Find community. Find support.

Mark
mark@mochavegan.com
@mochavegan

MVP #054 – Your Morning Choices Could Save Your Life

WHY POWER

Are you working in a positive direction or slipping backwards?

Opportunity cost = missed opportunities caused by choices.

Opportunity cost can be good or bad? You can choose to get up in the morning and move your body and your opportunity cost was only a few minutes of sleep. Choosing bad foods for breakfast could cost you some of your performance during the day that day. Find good habits, clear out the excuses, help yourself and help others along the way.

Vegan

veg·an

ˈvēɡən/

noun

1.    a person who does not eat or use animal products.

"I'm a strict vegan"

A plant-based diet is one based on vegetables, whole grains, legumes and fruit, with little or no animal products (including dairy). It may refer to: Vegan diet: a plant-based diet with no food from animal sources.

Some meat eaters that don’t care about the animals welfare because their religion says the animals don’t have souls.

Carnism is the invisible belief system, or ideology, that conditions people to eat certain animals. Carnism is essentially the opposite of veganism; “carn” means “flesh” or “of the flesh” and “ism” denotes a belief system. Most people view eating animals as a given, rather than a choice; in meat-eating cultures around the world people typically don’t think about why they find the flesh of some animals disgusting and the flesh of other animals appetizing, or why they eat any animals at all. But when eating animals is not a necessity for survival, as is the case in much of the world today, it is a choice - and choices always stem from beliefs.

**SOME THINGS JUST AREN’T RIGHT**

Historically: Raising animals for your own consumption.

Now we have a several generation deep tradition of holiday meat feasts.

Dairy and meat industry have sponsored the food pyramid.

Is eating meat the right thing to do? Some situations require it. Understood.

We make choices because we are able to. Underdeveloped countries and poorer communities don’t have the same advantage of being able to choose the fast food drive through as opposed to food from their own fields.

What better choices can we make for our health? Consider a stronger whole food diet.

Infographic on grams of protein per 100g of a food:

Get educated so you can see the options available to you.

What’s in your salad? Lazy vegan salad toppings…

Where do you get your fiber?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ikwofGUtYY

If Vegans Said the Stuff Meat-Eaters Say

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) 

Make a difference. Be responsible. Speak up when you know something is wrong. Speak up when you can prevent something bad from happening.

Be the example. Become the person you want other people to be.

Are cattle keeping our water hostage?

We force the animals to reproduce. Reduce the demand, reduce the available profits, reduce the number of factory farmed animals.

How consistent are you ethically? Is it okay to kill certain animals and not others? Can we force feed geese, but not dogs? Where do you draw the line?

Milking cats? How is that different than what we do with cows?

Could you have a litter of puppies … and then eat them?

What beliefs were you brought up with?

Vegan kickstart
http://pcrm.org/kickstartHome/

Trying Vegan facebook group
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TryingVegan/

Nutritionfacts.org  contains an encyclopedia of research comparison to help cut through the acres of research. Nice work!

Educate yourself to the alternatives and the reasons WHY change is necessary.

Be thoughtful. Ask questions. Do good things. Help yourself and others live long and healthful lives.

Find community. Find support.

Mark

mark@mochavegan.com

@mochavegan

http://veganfeed.com/" target="_blank">http://veganfeed.com/images/links/veganfeed_white_feat_160x60.png" alt="VeganFeed: Vegan Podcasts - Vegan Blogs - Vegan Videos" width="160" height="60" border="0" />

MVP #053 - Being Vegan and Ethical Consistency

Isn't this really about milking cats?!? 

MVP #052 – Animal Agriculture is Killing Our Planet – Turn the World Upside Down

Responsible pet owners

Controlling everything

Would you EAT YOUR PETS?? Adopt a pet to eat it? Not what we do in the United States.

Disturbing videos online from Korea showing atrocities towards animals:

·         Cat being burned with a torch

·         Dogs being skinned alive

·         Dogs being force-fed to fatten them up. Assume the dogs are too stressed to eat knowing what is happening to them.

How much different are these videos to things happening here in the United States legally?

Chicken farmers start with a load of chicks and a quantity of food. They are paid based upon the live weight of chickens when the contract company returns to pick up the results of their time.

Pigs are skinned after being dipped in hot water to loosen the skin. We hope that the animals are dead before this happens.

Do we really believe that the animals have no idea that they are in line for slaughter?

YOU can make a difference! Shed the blissful existence of ignorance and stop eating meat.

The goal is to achieve alignment regarding veganism within the leadership. The leadership within our family, our community, our schools, our country, our planet.

What makes a more healthy meat / animal product?

Why is eating animal products unhealthy?

Are we being punished?

Educate yourself to the alternatives and the reasons WHY change is necessary.

We, as a species, must learn to create food to replace food that is being grown / farmed now. Find healthful alternatives. Make positive choices and impact your life and your planet.

Here’s to a less cheesy world. Evolve. Improve. Live!

Mark

mark@mochavegan.com

@mochavegan