I have the pleasure of working with many elite level athletes but I get more personal satisfaction from seeing someone come so far in such a short period of time. To me, an athlete is anyone who sets an athletic goal and anyone can be an athlete.

Descending intervals train your body to buffer lactic acid, produce anaerobic power, and to sustain repeated hard efforts that often occur in a race. This is a very intense work out that should only be performed 1-2 times per month. You can perform DI's on your stationary trainer or a long flat section of road.

Start out with a high cadence (110) and a maximum effort. Your first effort can be 2-3 minutes in length. Recovery between efforts will be the same length as the effort. After each effort, cut the length of the next effort in half. A typical DI scenario would be 2 min. - 1 min. - 30 seconds- 15 seconds. I prescribe 2-3 sets of DI's with at least 10 min. recovery between sets. All efforts are performed at a maximum effort with a sustained high cadence.

Ilana Katz,MS, RD, LD "Calories in versus calories expended" is a simple equation to help you to determine ideal nutrition for an ideal weight. In other words, anyone wanting to lose weight, whether it is an athlete or a couch potato, needs to reduce caloric intake and/or increase energy expenditure. However, losing body fat is no easy task. An athlete wanting to lose weight while in training has to be smart about their choices, in order to prevent hunger and fulfill calorie requirements for their particular training intensity.

I think that a key reason for this, is people having difficulties with goal setting - it is really difficult when you have reached a suitable goal but don't have the knowledge to know "What's Next?" Goal setting is not a skill that's often taught, yet seems fairly central to success. In my view, personal success is directly related to the degree of personal difficulty required to reach a goal.

Training Technique

Seek instruction. You can not work on better form if you do not know what it is. A cycling or running coach can video your stride or spin and give you exact feedback on what you need to work on. Books and video tapes are helpful, but they do not have a discerning eye and can not give you the specific instruction you may need. Most coaches charge an hourly fee for one to one instruction.

Get Feedback. Visual feedback is the best. If you own a video camera set it up on a tri-pod to record your form. Playing it back in slow motion allows you to break down each portion of your stride or spin. A mirror in front of the treadmill or trainer is another inexpensive way to give your self feedback.

Conscious then unconscious. The process of reinforcing proper form is to consciously repeat a proper motion until it becomes automatic and unconscious. This process takes thousands of repetitions, and you must regularly focus on and check your technique and form.

Work on only 2-3 aspects of technique per session. If you try to adjust too many things at once it is difficult to focus on performing them all correctly. Take just a few aspects of your stride, stroke, or spin and work on perfecting them.

Slow then fast. Take a motion or even part of a motion and perform it very slowly and correctly. Gradually bring up the speed of the motion until you are at your race pace. If at any point you perform it incorrectly, slow down again and repeat until you have it.

I purchased this little beauty a few weeks ago and I have to say it is the most revolutionary training device for running since the heart rate monitor. On one screen you can monitor your pace, heart rate, and distance; real time. You can customize several screens to include a wide variety of data. Works for the bike too; you can view your speed and even hill incline.

I used the Garmin right out of the box without even looking at the instruction book. I found the unit to be intuitive and very easy to use. Although it is larger than a traditional heart rate monitor it is by no means heavy or uncomfortable. The software included is first rate and very easy to understand. Best of all it is uploadable to the coaching software system I use to coach my athletes. If you need to analyze your run training this is by far your best bet.