Active Rest

"Harder! Faster! Stronger! We must give 100% at all times. No Pain No Gain!" Every Coach in America

As much as I like to make my training resemble a Rocky training montage, it is impossible to give 100% at all times. Quite frankly it's also stupid. In the past week I have been updating my facebook status with my "active rest" week. Many have asked what this means. Many have told me to stop resting and get back after it.  The purpose of this article is to inform you what "active rest" is and to continue to encourage you Train Smart, Paddle Hard, Out Perform."

"Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” Ralph Marston

Why Active Rest?
Active Rest is the exactly what it sounds like. Letting the body recover from normal stress patterns and intensities yet remaining active through exercise that is designed to rejuvenate the body often in a manner that feels good or is fun. The strategic practice of active rest can increase performance and more importantly keep you stoked about your training. In an article called active rest makes you stronger on active.com the author states, "Although rest is needed, it is still important to remain active on those days. The body, just like the mind, needs stimulation every day. Even after a grueling marathon many people find it's a good idea to move around, maybe take a walk, as early as the day after to avoid stiffening up. Even people who suffer heart attacks are encouraged to get out of bed and move around as soon as possible." I find the concept of rest challenging yet active rest still gives me all the benefit without me going crazy. Intense training or racing breaks down the body. Only through proper amounts of rest and diet can we recover and come back stronger. Over training is the #1 source of injuries in endurance athletes. If these athletes simply took a break , varied intensity, or cross trained they could avoid over use injuries and increase performance. The National Academy of Sports Medicine defines the #1 goal of sports performance is to decrease injury. Therefore, if we systematically plan recovery periods or simply listen to the quote above, we are likely to avoid over use injuries and keep our stoke firing.

Examples of Active Rest
Walking
Static Stretching
Dynamic Stretching
Low Intensity Paddle (an eco tour, etc)
Light Yoga
Bike Riding
Playing with kids
Light sporting activities
Knocking out the honey do list ;)

My Active Rest Experience - These are my actual Facebook posts in my active rest week following the Key West Paddleboard Classic and the Gulf Coast Stand Up Paddleboard Championships.

I was absolutely fried after back to back races. I fell apart in the Gulf Coast Race and knew it was time to take a break. I normally do not get passed in races after the first few minutes and begin to pick people off in the 2nd half of races. I faded at the four mile mark and had about 6 people pass me loosing my chance at a top 10. I knew I need a rest. It has been completely worth it. I feel refreshed energized and as stoked as ever. I have begun setting my sights on the YOLO seaside celebration in September as my next performance goal.
Here's the posts.

Day 1 Active Rest, slow sunset beach walk. Doing my best to let these tired muscles rest.

Active Rest Week Day 2 is going good so far. I shot baskets for about 40 minutes and did about 20 minutes of foam rolling and corrective exercise for my shoulders. Today is a normal training paddle day I'm jonesing for the water, might have to at least go float around. Please encourage me to keep resting!

Active Rest day 3. Long beach walk to Caladesi Island park border. No one in sight besides my beautiful wife.

Active Rest day 4 took a little bit of a hit today when one light game of basketball turned into 4 competitive games. Whoops, still lighter volume than normal and it had the fun factor.

Active Rest Day 5. Got a light core and flexibility workout in on the TRX today. took about 25 mins. I am falling more in love with TRX every day.

Active Rest Day 6. 1 hour relaxing paddle with my lovely wife. No intervals, mileage goals, or stroke thoughts. Just enjoying the water and the stoke of this wonderful sport. Almost ready to get back to training mode

Active rest day 7. Swimming with sharks! We walked up to caladesi island and went swimming. Some fisherman comes running up and splashing. "No need to worry he's just a little guy" as a 4-5 ft black tip swims away. Awesome.!We stood an watched him stalk a school of fish after.

It's quite funny to look back at these days and remember how I felt on each one. It was really hard to rest at first, but I really began to enjoy the slow pace of things. Even though I was "resting" I still exercised for over 60 minutes a day. Best part of all my sore shoulder is recovered and I found a way to loose 2 lbs even with the holiday weekend! Time to get back after it. YOLO!

5/3/11 Training Journal SUP endurance intervals

I feel like a kid at Christmas. I am so excited to get my new QB paddle out on training paddle and see how it measures up.

Goal
6-8 miles of 1 mile sprints with 3 minutes recovery in between each mile.
30-45 min of cardio whatever I feel like
Indo Board Balance and core training/ freestyle

Cardio Summary
One of my co-workers wanted to get a piece in basketball so I promptly stomped him four games in a row of 21. This took about 45 minutes and was a good workout.

Indo Board Balance
After hoops I introduced my fellow trainer Mike to the indo board. I can not believe how far I have progressed in a week. I can stand on the board in different directions and have improved on the core moves I do from pushup position. Best of all I can feel the increased balance improving my paddle stroke and efficiency. So fun, so effective. I feel completely comfortable doing my buoy turns regardless the conditions.

SUP Training
I met Jason at his place for our training paddle. He lives near Rocky Point in the northern  section of the bay. I was amazed by how beautiful it was even though we could see the Courtney Cambell Causeway. There were acres upon acres of protected mangroves and tons of wild life! I drive past this everyday and never realized how gorgeous it truly is. There was a dolphin fishing in the channel right outside of  Jason's house. I saw so many fish and different kinds of rays. I was however quite mad that my Garmin was dead when we went to paddle so we did our best to simulate about 1 mile intervals. We went against the wind for the first 4 sprints and thankfully had the wind aid us as we mostly coasted back and worked on form. I estimate the total paddle at about 7 miles. It was one of those great paddles that was relaxing and I felt like I was exploring, but I kicked my ass. Love it.

Quick Blade
My paddle felt fricking amazing. I feel faster with it and the 110 blade doesn't seem to bother me. Jason even commented that I seemed faster. Watch out people.

5/2/11 Training Journal - MET con workout, hoops, and testing my QB

I am in hard core mode again. It is my goal to train about 2 hours a day up until the day I leave for Key West. Then I will give my body a couple days of recovery time to get ready for the big race.

Goal
Strength Workout
Bball for some fun cardio
Paddle Training my wife Erica

Strength Workout Summary
Today is designed to take about 45 mins and really tax the transverse or twisting plane of motion with a lot of SUP specific moves. I am having a lot of fun on the indo board, and can already feel a difference in my balance on my SUP board.

Core Warmup
Indo Board Freestyle
Square feet Triangles
Reach Triangles

Blocks are performed for time with no breaks. 3 minute recovery between blocks.

Block 1 X200
TRX Muscle Ups X50
TRX 1 arm Reach & Row X100
TRX Scorpion X40
Bball Court Sprints

Block 2 X 200
FM SUP Chop X50
FM Bar Press X50
FM Lawn mower X50
Rope Crosses X50

15 min shooting baskets cool down
Overall all I felt good. I can feel more mobility and power in my trunk and hips. All good things for a SUP'er.

Bball with Jason Grace
2 Games of 21 about 30 minutes
I abused Jason once again, but he keeps coming back. Gotta love it.

Training Paddle With Erica
Erica has 3 races in 3 weeks so I am helping her with a little technique and turning. She is not to concerned with placing just wants to feel comfortable on the board, enjoy the water, and work on her fitness. We paddled from the Clearwater Sailing Center Beach at Sunset. It was magical. Not many folks out. Just us, the dropping sun, and buoy turns. Erica is getting better at stacking her shoulders and beginning to add the "punch" to increase her RPM's.

My new Quick Blade!
Wow I am sold. This paddle lives up to it's name. I got a 110 in QB elite racer. I am very impressed with the paddle's efficiency. I feel like I am faster already. The blade does not "dance" in the water and enters and exits the water very smoothly. I didn't paddle very long distances on it, but I definitely feel more eefficient.

4/30/11 SUP Training Paddle 10.6 Miles around Caladesi

I couldn't make it to the Carolina Cup so I created my own Epic race course. Training Partner Jason Grace met me at my house on Clearwater Beach and we drove to my secret parking spot on North Beach. The goal is to head north and go all the way around Caladesi Island and travel south back to my dock. I approximated the course to be between 10-12 miles and take around 2:30 hours to account for breaks and the fact that Jason is on a stock board.

Gear Checklist
Garrett YOLO Prowler 14'
Jason YOLO Eco Trainer 12"

Hydration/ Nutrition
Camel Bak 50 oz Flash Flo filled with Power Aid Power Option -Green
Lara Bar
Shot Blocks

The conditions were glorious. A Cold Front had recently pushed through and it was actually kind of cool by FL terms when we started. The gulf was mostly flat with a predominant ENE wind that was blowing between 10-15 mph. It was absolute sserenity on the wateras we headed north towards the pass between Caladesi and Honeymoon Islands. There were no boats and only a few dominant souls walking the state park beach, as my friend Dave Matthews says, "It's good for the soul when there is not a soul in sight" We were set in a tempo pace with a focus on form. My only stroke thought was to pull my feet to the paddle not the paddle to my feet. I had been getting a little lazy with keeping my arms perfectly straight so this stroke thought really helps. Thanks Dave Kalama. It felt so good to finally have my own paddle back. I felt my normal stroke for the first time in a month. It is truly amazing how much comfort plays a role in performance.

Going through the pass can quite treacherous as there are usually some really funky tidal flows. This time was no different as we said hello to the Eastern Wind. It was almost treadmill conditions as we made it through the pass, but we powered through and took a 5 minute break at the beautiful point of Caladesi Island. The East wind absolutely kicked our ass as we headed south. The wind was a steady a 15mph plus gusts. Jason said he wanted to work on paddling on his right side he got what he asked for. The back side of Caladesi is equally as beautiful as the Gulf Side. We took another break around the 6.5 mile mark to explore some mangroves.

The rest of the paddle was mostly a blur as fatigue set in. I couldn't wait to find the opening to get relief from the east wind. Once protected from the wind I sped up and got a little closer to my race pace. It was nice to actually paddle on the left side. I left Jason in my wake and left him to fend for himself against the pirate ship as we got closer back to my dock. My wife was waiting for me on the dock when I returned with a nice cold beverage. What a great wife and what a great life to be able to knock out a beautiful paddle like that.
We covered around 10.6 miles in just under 2:30 of paddle time.