The June 6 Rock ’n’ Roll San DiegoMarathon and Half Marathon will finish at SeaWorld.

Scott Dickey, president of Competitor Group Inc., owner of the road races, confirmed the new site.

“We feel it’s an incredible opportunity to put together the premier tourist attraction in the market with the premier special event, the Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon,” Dickey said.

The Rock ’n’ Roll Marathon finished at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot the past nine years. MCRD barracks expansion necessitated the new finish.

SeaWorld represents one of many changes with the event, which started in 1998.

For the first time, race day will feature a half marathon and marathon. In the past, the marathon has been capped at about 20,000 entrants. 

Read the rest of the article here 

The Aztec Superfood of 2010
By Daniell LiVolsi
February 2010

How you take care of your body and what you eat affects your business. There’s a direct correlation between the food you eat and how productive you are in a day. If you’re feeling sluggish at 4 p.m. because you ate a high-calorie carbohydrate lunch and just had a blood-sugar crash, you’re going to struggle to think clearly and stay focused on the task at hand, which affects your production and the future of your company.

I recommend that you eat six small meals a day. This easy modification in your daily diet will keep your blood sugar level even. Clean eating (eating mostly raw, organic and unprocessed foods) is most advantageous to help keep your body functioning in an optimum state. On your next grocery store visit, try to stay only along the outer perimeter of the store where “clean” foods are most available.

The “must eat” superfood for 2010 is the Chia seed. Depending on how old you are, you may remember those great commercials with Chia Pets sprouting grassy hair instantly. The Chia seeds have a long history with the Aztec Indians; they used them as the sole food source on 24-hour voyages to trade on the west coast, nicknaming them the “running food” or “power food” because of their endurance properties.

These little gray seeds have the magical power of being able to absorb 12 times their weight in water, which means amazing hydrating qualities for your body. If you mix a spoonful of Chia seeds in a glass of water and leave it for 30 minutes, you’ll find a thick gel-like substance in its place upon your return. Researchers believe this same phenomenon happens in your stomach…and what’s great about that is the gel creates a barrier that slows down the conversion of carbohydrates to sugar, which helps you avoid sugar spikes. Also, Chia seeds’ capability to absorb water helps balance electrolytes, which is essential for healthy cellular function.

Chia seeds are the best-known source of plant-based Omega 3s ALA, since 60% of a Chia seed is essential fatty acids, which support cardiovascular health, healthy joints, immune system function, and overall cellular energy. Chia seeds are also high in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.

I suggest you purchase some Chia seeds and add them to your yogurt, smoothies, soups, cookies, or breads, or just put them in a glass of water or juice and drink up. You’ll know you’ve consumed too many when your bellybutton starts sprouting green Chia grass…but who knows, maybe you’ll start a new cool trend! Who needs a bellybutton ring when you’ve got natural Chia grass?

Danielle LiVolsi is the owner of NuttZo, an organic Omega 3 multi-nut butter. She’s dedicated to changing the world one NUT at a time by inspiring others to choose a healthy lifestyle and support a cause that resonates with them. Learn more at www.gonuttzo.com.

Hi Everyone!  We trust that everyone is having their perfect weekend!

Here is today's workout recap: 30 minute tempo run at 90% of your all out effort.

The focus of the workout was to get your heart and body working for longer than you would normally in your usual CF workouts.  Tempo runs are also a great opportunity to focus on an aspect of your running form.  Work on focusing on your lean, your pull, soft feet/soft knees, kissing the heels to the ground, etc.  

Please use the Google Pedometer <http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/> to calculate the total distance covered, and send the distance to us so that we can record it for our records. 

We had 17 runners this morning for the tempo workout, which is yet another weekend attendance record!  Please welcome Thom from CF Invictus and Brent from CF Team Savage who attended their first weekend SDAE workout!  We're looking forward to seeing you at the track on Wednesday nights!

Video taping was done today, and for those who are signed up for the LaJolla/Ragnar/RnR training program, you will be getting feedback on your form at the end of next week.  If you are not in a training program and would like video feedback, please discuss with one of the coaches.

We wrapped up the Sunday training session with a discussion on building a good foundation for training.  Highlights include:
- Nutrition: Really get dialed in.  Most were already "eating healthy", but when they got dialed in and strict with zone or paleo, results really took off.  Most felt the first 2 weeks was an adjustment period, but by week 4, almost everyone felt higher energy levels and improved WOD times.
- Sleep: It's essential to get enough.  How much is enough? When you don't need an alarm clock. =)
- Rest and Recovery days: Just as important as training days.  We recommend no more than 3 straight days of working out.  You can double up on a CF and SDAE workout on one day, but on the 4th day, get COMPLETE REST.  Schedule rest days.  If you are taking a rest day "when you feel your body needs it", you're already behind the curve.  We can't stress this enough. 

- We didn't really talk about this, but have fun, and smile.  This, above all, is the most important =)

Announcements:
1. We will be having Sunday weekend topics about every other week, bringing in a special guest to speak to the group.  In the coming weeks we will be having Michelle V from CF Invictus discuss nutrition and healthy cooking, Susannah Stucchio, former US National Team rower to talk about creating possibilities and goal setting, and the SDAE coaches will be leading a course on self myofacial/trigger point release. 

2.  Congrats to Mike Brown, who competed in the Tritonman, 500 m swim, 12 mi bike, 5k run in 1:03:27 (unofficial).  He's waiting for the official results, but he thinks he cracked Top 3 in his age group!  Let us know the official results Mike! 

3. We'll have an online order form for the group order for Inov-8 shoes next week.  There were some questions regarding which shoe to get.  We'll keep it simple: Choose between f-lite 220's or f-lite 230's.  How?  Which ever color/style you like more.  Don't get caught up with all the technical terms and features.  We took care of that for you.  All you need to figure out which style/color of the 220 or 230's will have you look cuter -- we will give Inov-8 feedback that some of our members would like "prettier" colors =)

http://www.inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG1&P=5050973021&L=27

3. We have negotiated a 15% discount for trigger point kits from Network Fitness.  These kits are GREAT for recovery and getting more flexible.  Get your kits now and you'll have it in time for the self myofacial release clinic that we'll be having in early March.

http://www.networkfitness.com/sdae/ 

4. We are finalizing the La Jolla/Ragnar/RnR training groups.  If you have not signed up and are interested, please contact on of the coaches!  We will be starting to assigning you a personal coach to support you with your goals.

Your SDAE Coaches

CrossFit Endurance Certification - Chula Vista, CA - March 20-21, 2010

Saturday, March 20, 2010 - Sunday, March 21, 2010

CrossFit Chula Vista
821 Kuhn Dr
Suite 106
Chula Vista, CA 91914 

Map and Directions

Start and end time: 9 am to 4 pm each day with a 1 hour lunch break.
Meals: On your own.
Other: Possible social gathering and dinner on Saturday night.

Spend 2 full days with one of the CrossFit Endurance staff learning, studying, and applying the principles of CrossFit Endurance. You will learn how CrossFit Endurance works for endurance athletes and CrossFit athletes. You will learn how to apply and progress training at an individual and group level. You will also learn basic mechanics of running essentials.

The endurance community is largely overtraining and this is an indispensable tool at learning how to effectively train someone and keep them healthy and ready for their next race.

Register here 

11-22-09 – Marathon

Today was the philly marathon. We had beautiful conditions (not too cold at the start either). The course is known for being pretty fast and flat (although we definitely hit some brutal hills).

This is my 9th marathon so going into the race I set a goal of sub 4 hours with sub 4:20 as my secondary goal in case 4 hours wasn’t reasonable. I have only ever run a sub 4 one time and that was after doing crossfit for 2 months (and having run a marathon 2 months prior). For this one, I did exclusively crossfit training. No Crossfit Endurance just the PCF WODs, hotel WODs, and WODs at other gyms. I wanted to see how far regular crossfit training will get you.

My final time was 4 hours and 12 minutes.

I am pretty happy with this time as it was my second fastest ever. I ran a 1:50 first half and had a disastrous 2:22 second half. I came out very strong because I knew at some point my legs would be sore from not having done a lot of miles so I wanted to get some distance and provide myself with a time cushion to do sub 4. All I had to do from the 15 mile marker on was average under 10 minute miles but I hit the wall…bad. This hasn’t happened for my last few marathons and even when it slightly hit it was normally around mile 20. At mile 15, my legs just told me they were ready to stop and my mind couldn’t get over how many more miles I still had to do (and at this point it is a point to point run so quite boring). However, crossfit mentality allowed me to push through and I did very little walking just very slow running. In fact for the remaining 10 miles, I basically ran a mile to the water station and walked 20 -30 seconds. I wish the legs could of moved quicker but they just had nothing left in the tank. I will say I think I heard my name called out more than ever before for support because I looked like death. I think I ran the last mile with my eyes closed for 10 seconds at a time to block out the pain. You cant really stop when rocky is blasting in the background and a little girl spectator yells “come on richard…you are a winner. no stopping now”

A couple after thoughts:

a) Crossfit works – I went back and looked at how many miles I have logged since March 09 through crossfit workouts and it was 46 total miles. That averages to about 5 miles a month or 1.25 miles a week. Crazy.  Keep in mind most of this was 400 to 800 meter sprints and the longest run I did in the last 9 months was 3 miles. Was I able to finish? yes Was I quick enough? sure Am I still able to out deadlift, sprint, complete more pull-ups, or any other varied workout better than the typical runner? absolutely. I wouldn’t trade generalization for specialization any day.

b) CFE will help to improve time – crossfit will get you across the finish line with a stronger mind and stronger legs, however, to put up a  marathon PR I am now a believer that the CFE curriculum would help you get there. What I was missing was the feeling of having pounded out a few extra miles to strengthen my running legs. I do not think that this 1.25 miles a week should get up to the typical marathon training of 20 miles but something more like an average of 3-5 miles (as CFE suggests) and mostly through interval running. For a 5 K to a 13 miler, I think crossfit is plenty as my half marathon time was my fastest ever.

c) Crossing the finish line still feels sweet and I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything.

Now, it is time to get back to the box and bulk up. I have fallen to around 185 these last couple weeks due to an improved diet and upper body injuries and need to get back up to 190-192 again so I will plan on thoroughly enjoying Thanksgiving.

If you'd like to participate in this event, we have a team registered as SD Endurance. It'd be fun to get a bunch of people to do this...Please let me know if you are interested in fundraising for this good cause and competing in this event!

2010 San Diego Undy 5000

Welcome to the 2010 San Diego Undy 5000!

Who: Over 1000 people!

What: Undy 5000 (5K) and 1 mile fun-run/walk

Where: NTC Promenade at Liberty Station, Point Loma

When: 8:00 a.m. on Saturday March 6, 2010

Why: To fight colorectal cancer

With the help of people like you, the Colon Cancer Alliance is battling colorectal cancer through patient support and education, increasing screening and public awareness of the disease, advocacy and supporting research for a cure.

Please welcome the folks that attend an SDAE track workout for the first time: Eddie, Stephanie, Matthew, Lucy, Darren, Rasa, Megan, Kevin, Tim & Trish - 10 new faces, how about that...Do you all think we can top that next week? We had 34 people in total, which tops last weeks record of 33, at the rate that we are going we are going to need additional coaches to support you. Great job everyone, we love having you all out there running with us!!!

If you missed the track workout tonight here is what you missed...

400M Sprint @ 75% 1 min rest 400M Sprint @ 75% 3 mins rest 1 Mile Time Trial (all out effort) 3 mins rest 400M Sprint @ 75% 1 min rest 400M Sprint @ 75%

The focus of the workout was to get your 1 mile time trial with some 400s sandwiched before and after :)  Originally we were going to have you do 800s instead of the 400s but thanks to Coach Ayo we realize that may just beat you all up a little too much.

Here are the results

Announcements:

1. Team discount for Inov-8 shoes, make sure you have a look at their website in the next few days and read up about how great these shoes are....we will be taking a group order if you want some fly looking shoes that are going to make you run fast; in addition to the coaching we provide!!!! Below is the link for the 220s which is what a lot of CFE athletes wear, i had on the 230 lite's tonight and I will definitely be racing in them in the near future.  They have both been highly recommended by CFE and one of the benefits of being on the team is that you will receive a 35% discount.  

http://store.inov-8.us/index.php/footwear/new-products/f-lite-220-pk.html

2. Triathlon programming for those that are interested.   I will be sending out more details on this over the weekend - be sure that I know you are interested so that i can include you in those emails that will go out at the beginning of the week.

3.  Marathoners - we will be giving you a weekly homework wod, ideally we'd like you to get 2-3 CFE runs, if you are coming to the track on wednesdays and sunday mornings, you can fit it into your schedule on Monday or Friday, whatever works best for your schedule.  Don't be afraid of running back to back days either - just notice how your body (legs especially respond)  as we add on the training we want to make sure you are getting proper rest - the key here is that more is NOT better, BETTER IS BETTER!!!  Be on the lookout for the weekly homework CFE WOD starting next week.  (Half marathoners can totally this as well, but do not replace your CF workouts with these)

Remember the formula - CF 4-6 x week, and CFE 2-3 x week

We leave you with this... "Come forth into the light of thing; let nature be your teacher." William Wordsworth from Pose Method of Running 

Have you ever wished there were just a simple, cut and dried set of rules you could follow to simplify eating? Well, guess what - now there is. The new book from Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food, is called Food Rules and is just that - a set of rules to follow for good healthy eating. For those of you looking for straightforward guidelines, this is a great book to get you started. For those of you who've already consumed tons of nutrition books, consider this -- I bought three copies of Food Rules the other day so I could send them out to family members. I find friends and family can get easily overwhelmed with different news reports, different doctors, and opinions coming at them left and right. Food Rules spells it out nice and easy by answering three questions -- 1. What should I eat? 2. What kind of food should I eat? and 3. How should I eat? 

Check it out and pick one up for a family member - it's a quick read that could change someone's quality of life.

If you are following our program to train for an event, please let us know how it is going and how we can support you.

What a way to get your heart pumpin' to start Valentine's Day!

Today's SDAE workout was a 5K time trial to get a baseline/benchmark for the upcoming season as we gear up for the Rock N' Roll, La Jolla Half, and Ragnar Relays.  Congrats to the 19 runners who brought some great energy to today's workout, and special thanks and congratulations to Megan D, who PR'd on her 10K race yesterday in 56:41, nearly a 4 min improvement, and also came out to take pictures and bring oranges for us on her recovery day.  Thanks Megan, you're a sweetheart! =)

The 5K TT serves not only as a baseline for our future tempo workouts, but it gives you an idea of your strengths and weaknesses.  Approach the time trials this season as if it was an actual race, and simulate race day conditions.  Areas to consider are your sleep, nutrition, hydration, etc.  

During the actual TT, learn your tendencies.  Do you charge out of the gate?  Lose focus during the middle?  Get real tight in an effort to gut it out?  Where does your mind go and how does your body feel during each segment?  Are you relaxed and flowing, checked out, or cursing the entire way?

There isn't a right or a wrong.  What we would like for you is to just notice and be present to your mind, body, and spirit, and over the training season we'll start dialing in on what energy and flow you would like to use to fuel your races.

For the athletes signed up for the RnR/La Jolla/Ragnar training, we'll be videotaping you next week so that we can start working on improving form and run efficiency.  We will also be assigning a personal coach to give you closer support in your training.  If you have had a history of any injuries or problem spots, please let us know now so that we can look closely at your problem areas to see where your form breakdown may be, and work on ways to prevent injuries before they occur.

The 5K TT results are posted below.  Happy Valentines Day, and thank you all for bringing your enthusiasm,  energy, and dedication to the workouts.  

<3,

Your SDAE Coaches

Results for the 5K TT, the first number is your halfway split, the second is your final time:

If you WHAM!ed, KABOOMed, ZOWIEd, POW!ed, ZAP!ed or BAM!'ed the 5K and got a PR, please let us know so that we can note it!

Recently I have become involved with an organization called KidSport (refer to Links) which is about removing financial barriers so that all kids can experience the positive benefits of organized sport.  The very first Kidsport event I attended was actually a financial donor recognition breakfast held in Vancouver earlier in the fall in which I heard some very inspiring people talk about their experiences and the value of sport for youth in the development of healthy bodies and healthy minds.

Continue reading article here - sportatitsbest.com/2009/11/26/3-the-value-of-sport/