Stuff I tell the athletes that I coach: Developing Feel for the Water

Interested in a coach? E-mail coach Jon for more information at jafecik@gmail.com.

Injury Protocol

As a coach, I see a wide variety of athletes and how they deal with injuries. While some athletes are very logical about their approach, others get swept away by their emotions and just push through the pain (often to their own peril). I am not with the athletes I coach 100% of the time, so I cannot always tell an athlete to stop what they are doing. My solution has been to develop an injury protocol for the athletes I coach so that my expectations are clear: when an injury presents itself during a workout, the athlete doesn't have to think too much: he or she knows exactly what to do. I like to treat injury on a case by case basis, but I believe this is a good start if I am not on deck. 

If you feel an injury coming on during a workout or are dealing with an injury, follow this protocol:

1) Be realistic- Is this soreness from yesterday's hard workout or is this an injury waiting to happen?
2) Be conservative- Stop the workout if there is even a slight chance that you may develop an injury or that an existing injury may get worse. No one workout is more important than your long term health and development.
3) Be confident- Don't second guess the decision to stop a workout due to an injury or possible injury. It's ok to say enough is enough for today. As your coach, I trust you are making the right call.
4) Communicate- Let me know so I can modify your schedule and help you through this. This is something to text me about.
5) Ice it, rest it, take some Advil, don't test the spot that hurts
6) Call the doctor if needed
7) Make a recovery plan
8) Trust in your recovery plan and your team (coach, doctors, and yourself)
9) Don't divert from your recovery plan...it's best to stick to one plan and see it through instead of jumping from plan to plan to plan, looking for that silver bullet 
10) Modify your environment to the best of your ability- Try to prevent situations where your body could get re-injured

Looking for at triathlon coach? Give coach Jon a call at 717-368-7198 or e-mail him at jafecik@gmail.com.

Results 2016 Naples Half

Huge congrats to Power On Coached James Michael Harrington on his 15 minute PR at HITS Naples half. He showed up to his first milestone on his journey to IMLP and proved that he can fight. Great job!

Looking for a Triathlon Coach? Call coach Jon at 717-368-7198 or e-mail him at jafecik@gmail.com.

We Need Your Help!

Can you imagine having to manually pump your own heart to stay alive? You would have to pump it day or night or you would die. At first it would be easy and simple. All you have to do is pump. After a while, however, it would drain you. Your entire day would revolve around pumping your heart. You would have to pump it while you brush your teeth, drive to the store, ride your bike, or hang out with your friends. It never stops. The minute you forget to pump, you die.

We all take our highly functioning organs for granted, but my good friend, Grant Curry cannot. Grant has lived with type one diabetes for 40 years. That means that, for the last 40 years, Grant has had to act as his own pancreas. He has consciously managed his blood sugars with food and artificial insulin for 40 years because his pancreas stopped working when he was 8 years old. Even when he hangs out with friends or rides his bike, he needs to have his diabetes management on the back of his mind or he could become very sick within a few hours and die.

I met Grant at the Diabetes Training Camp three years ago and he is one of the most inspiring individuals I have ever met. You need crazy endurance to be able to live with diabetes for that long. I respect him for his strength and stamina.

The Diabetes Training Camp changed Grant's life. Diabetics have special mental, medical, and physical needs and camp provides individuals like Grant to learn to live, thrive, and exercise with diabetes. This year, Grant is raising money to celebrate living with Diabetes for 40 years by riding 400 miles with 40,000ft in elevation while attempting to raise $40,000 to help the Diabetes Training Camp Foundation. The foundation creates scholarships for diabetics to go to camp and learn how to live with their disease at little or no cost. Check out his website below and consider joining me in donating a few dollars to this important cause.

Ride40.com