Health Benefits of Onions

Onions are an amazing food, and their use in herbal medicine has spanned centuries.  Onions are a favorite of many chefs due to their aromatic properties and their ability to add flavors.  Onions come in many different varieties and are grown across the globe.  Onions are a member of the lily family, which also includes other foods such as leaks, chives, garlic and shallots.  I wanted to do a blog on the health benefits of onions, as they are one of my favorite foods, and because they have the ability to enhance health in some pretty amazing ways!

Onions are effective against some very harmful forms of bacteria including salmonella and E. coli due to their antimicrobial properties.  Onions have both anti-septic and antibacterial properties and have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to treat bacterial infections.  Naturopathic practitioners often use onions to treat illnesses including coughs, colds, and asthma.

Studies have shown that onions can lower both cholesterol and blood pressure, similar to garlic (which again is in the same family as onions).  More research has been conducted on garlic in this area, yet studies conducted using onions have yielded similar results.  Both onions and garlic contain sulfides, which scientist report is the main property behind their ability to lower cholesterol and blood pressure.

Onions contain flavonoids which are important in cardiovascular health and can also reduce the risk of blood clotting.  Onions have a higher concentration of flavonoids in the outer layers, so it is recommended that you remove as few layers as possible for consumption in order to gain the most health benefits. 

Onions also have a relatively high fiber content.  Fiber is important in digestion and can also aid in weight management.  Onions are also high in both vitamins C and B6, and are a good natural source of iron.

Onions are linked to increases in bone density and are high in antioxidants.  The positive health benefits of antioxidants are well documented, as they have an ability to reduce the number of free radicals in our bodies, which can lead to disease and cellular death.  Onions, even when eaten in moderate amounts, have been linked to a marked decrease in risks of cancers including ovarian, colorectal and laryngeal types due to containing the flavonoid quercetin.

One area that I have become increasingly interested in is the research results linking onions to increased testosterone levels in males.  This can become a serious problem in males after the age of 30.  Low testosterone is linked to decrease sexual performance, loss of muscle mass and strength, hair loss, fatigue and other health issues.  A research study conducted at Tabriz University in Iran using rats found that fresh onion juice can raise testosterone levels by 300%.  This study linked onion juice to a reduction in a product in the body called malodialdehyde, which is the by-product of damage occurring from free radicals on unsaturated fatty acids.  The February 2009 issue of the journal Folia Morphologica also reports that onions have a positive effect on testosterone levels. 

If you aren’t already, start adding onions into your diet by including them on sandwiches, in salads, and other dishes you make in order to take advantage of these amazing health benefits!  Nutrition is paramount in living a healthy lifestyle and onions are a great ways ensure we are giving our body the nutrients it needs, as well as, a preventative means of avoiding serious health issues down the road.

In Wellness and Love,
Dr. Chris

Indoor Tri Recap

Ahh yes, the race recaps via the blogsphere!  Yesterday was my first indoor triathlon at the Rueter Family YMCA here in Ashe-vegas and I gotta say I had a boat-load of fun!  The race kicked off with a 15 minute pool swim, then a 45 minute spin class led by a spin instructor and lastly an outdoor 5k.  The swim went so-so for me. Nothing grand, but right where I figured it would be.  I completed 16.5 laps or around 825 yards in the 15 minute time span.  The spin class was really enjoyable and given me a whole new respect for cyclist that include regular attendence of these into their training routines.  The group energy was really bad-ass and I can totally see myself attending these ever-so-often at my gym.  The run was a blast.... didn't get that sub-20 minute goal I had for myelf...or even close for that matter.  I finished 4th overall (2nd male) on the run with a 24:40.  To be fair, there were only 18 participants so 4th overall isn't as awesome as it sounds I guess..... but everyone doesn't have to know that! Just all the training I am doing for this 70.3 and the fact that I didn't take any time off from training for the race maybe slowed me down a bit????  I can certainly say I don't feel like I had much more I could have given it, but being over 3 minutes slower than my fastest 5k was surprising.  Of course my fastest runs have been just that....runs and not du's or tri's.  Guess I shoulda thought of that before setting a run split goal....LOL!  Anyway what a nice way to start the season off.  The folks at the Asheville Tri Club were awesome.  The swag was incredible! Gave us gels, a glass mug, homemade pastries and free massages!  Can't beat that for $10!!!!  I also won a drawing for a $50 dollar gift certificate to a local running store, which totally blew me away!  Was just an awesome experience and totally got me stoked as I begin more tempo and speed workout for the duration of my 20 week 70.3 program! Nothing like a race to get ya fired up! Seriously if anyone reading this is in Asheville next March and looking for a great triathlon experience, you gotta do this!  It seriously was so much fun!  Sometimes we get so caught up in the competitive side of things, that we forget the real reason we do this thing called triathlon....to be healthy and have fun! 

Here's a pic of me in the pool awaiting the swim start (I am the one facing away, playing with my goggles on my head and have the big back/ shoulder tat:

 Ahhhh....May is gonna be here before I know it and my first long distance Tri is on May 20th!  And then my friends....it's GO time!  Next weekend we're headed to the 1st Annual Asheville Tattoo Fest!  Car shows, live music, tattoos, Pin Up contests, the artists from the TV show Ink Master are gonna be there doing tats!  Gonna be awesome I do believe, so can't wait for that!  Anyway hope all are well and Rock On Hommies!

What's Been Going On????

Training, training and more training....that's what's been going on in my life!  Still working this 20 week 70.3 plan in hopes that I can kick a lil' butt come May and my first long-course Tri!  At least I hope to finish with both lungs still intact.  Man speaking of lungs, I have been an ex-smoker now for 1 year and 4 months (couldn't resist patting myself on the back a bit)!  Hard to imagine that I smoked over a pack a day for some 15 odd years!   Looking back I never could picture myself not smkoing yet now I can't picture why I ever thought that it was a good idea!!!!????  It really bums me out sometimes when my legs want to keep going on training runs, yet my lungs are screaming at the top of their lungs to stop....wait do lungs have lungs????... well you know what I mean!  Anyhoo, where I am in terms of training time looks something like 2.5 to 3 hours of swimming time, roughly 20 miles of running per week, and 6 hours of bike training.  I am still hitting the weights at this point 4-5 times per week, yet limiting the amount of shoulder and leg workouts to no more than 1 time- every other week, just to add a little "muscle confusion" in there.  I feel exceptionally strong right now.  In fact the strongest I have felt since undergrad school...I won't mention how many years ago that was!!!!   Oh yeah...I also signed up for an Indoor Tri in a couple of weeks.  It's at a local YMCA and given the $10 fee, I couldn't pass an opportunity to compete and just see where I stack up against some of the local Tri-club members (they're hosting this event).  It is a 15 minute pool swim, 45 minute spin on a stationary spin-class bike, and then an outdoor 5k.  I really am anxious to see my 5k time in a sprint distance event.  I really feel strongly that I can push hard and break the Sub-20 minute mark on the run.  I haven't see then course layout so there might be a ton of hills given this is Asheville, NC, lol! Even so I really feel that I can have a 5k PR at this event.  Looking back at my last sprint race, I think I had a 21-22 minute 5k, but there were some brutal hills on the bike course and at the finish of he run at that one.  I have also certainly gained some fitness since last September as well, so it time to find out just how much I guess!

Man the weather here the last couple of days has been incredible!  Yesterday was almost 70 and sunny and earlier today it reached 61 degrees before rain showers sat in.  Of course tomorrow and Sunday are back in the 40's for highs, so that's a bummer.  That's been very typically this season...beautiful outside while I am inside at work and then rainy and cold when the weekend rolls around.  I did get a 5 mile run in today at my favorite park/greenway so that's exciting!  I have a 2 hour session with my bike trainer tonight...yip-peeeeeeeee!  Then an even longer ride tomorrow.... that's what happens when you skip a bike session last night, lol!  I'll push through them both and have a nice hour and a half run to look forward to on Sunday....in the low 40 degree weather (yuck). 

Some other things I have been up too include revamping my swim workouts drastically.  I gained a bit of inspiration from a guy at the pool that simply kills it in his swim workouts.  Well the dude looks totally familiar and I eventually put it all together.  You see dude rocks a blue XTERRA swim cap, which of course is the color given to the pros and like I had mentioned, looks like a fish in the pool swimming.  While watching a recap of 2010 XTERRA USA Championships on TV, holy crap...... there the dude is having a amateur profile bit!  Guys name is Shiloh Mielke and he's now a pro traithlete and has been an elite trail runner since college!  Here I am sharing the pool (and keep in mind the pool at the gym is only 3 lanes) with a pro triathlete... Not certain if he gained any inspiration from my swimming but....LOL!  Well since figuring out who he is, I of course haven't seen him since but will introduce myself next time I do.  With all that said, I have really been using drills as a way to improve my speed and technique.  I have started some bi-lateral breathing, but that part is still tough.  I am using my FINIS swim board and a pull buoy these days.  I have to say this makes the hour swim workouts much more tolerable!  I have also began using more focused "workouts" with specific sets and target paces.  Since converting in this manner several weeks ago, I can already see an increase in stamina, as well as speed.  Swimmings all about fluid technique and not raw power....despite what my macho side tells me.  I guess when you think about it, swimmings a pretty humbling sport in many ways....the skimpy suits, the fact that finesse and form mean speed, and managing to not curl up in a ball of embarrasment when you inhale water and leap up to standing mid-pool coughing!

Hope anyone reading is doing fantastic and taking life by the reins....so-to-speak anyway!  As I constantly remind myself, we can achieve any goal we make for ourselves as long as we want it badly enough, have the patience to do what necessary to achieve it, and are willing to work hard while on the journey to success.....

The Value of Progression

Wow, look at me bloggin 2 days in a row!  I sort of touched on progressive training in the last post, in regards to my 70.3 training plan, but I wanted to expand on that idea just a bit, to further explain how having a plan can be of immense benefit when training for a Tri-race. Once you begin racking up the mileage in all three disciplines, the danger of injury increases.  One way to offset the risks associated with overuse injuries is to gradually increase your mileage at a steady pace (progressively) over a period of weeks.  This is something that I have struggled with at times throughout my training days, and not just with triathlon.  I've added too much weight to the barbell when lifting weights, maybe tried to over-extend a posture in yoga, and even went with way-too-heavy of a ball in my bowling days.  The eventual outcome is always the same.....soreness and some degree of injury.  When I began doing endurance sports, my main focus was with running.  Like most I did the 5k, then the 10k, then worked up to a half-marathon distance, yet along the way I encountered tons of leg and knee pain.  Once I began to focus on triathlon training, the pain continued to my surprise....as I have read tons on how training for 3 different sports will actually increase fitness, yet reduce the likelihood of overuse injuries associated with single sport activities, because you are training within a different discipline each day.... typically.  Well, I discovered that running uses my knees, cycling uses my knees, and DARN IT I even feel my knees being taxed a bit in swimming!!!!  But what I didn't realize at the time is you can go too far, too fast.  Sounds simple and well, quite obvious yet we triathletes are a different breed of knuckle-heads!  You see we are all about going farther, and going faster while going farther!  A lot of triathletes try to push, push, push without giving the body an opportunity to heal properly.  I was driving this morning, and got this vision in my head (I had just come from the dentist and my gums were all puffy from the cleaning) and even though there is a bit of damage to the gums when they are scraped and cleaned.....uuhhh yuck......they regenerate and healthy growth occurs in TIME.  Now if I went back and had them cleaned again everyday, well that healing would never occur and if it did, it'd take forever!  Same thing happens to our muscles, tendon, ligaments, etc.  Exercise in essence damages these areas, yet when recovery takes place, healthy growth occurs.  We in the end gain muscular endurance and strength when we allow for healing. But the kicker is allowing that healing to take place before jumping back into the "saddle" and blistering through another intense workout. 

So basically, that brings me back to my point regarding progressive training.  All research I have evaluated since college (don't ask how long ago that was) is that a 10% increase in duration, intensity or distance per week is about the healthy limit.  Maybe those elite triathletes can push a bit beyond that percentage (maybe).  I have certainly been guilty of not adhering to that guideline and yes I have had horrific IT Band pains, behind the knee pains, and even lower back pain as a result.  Its funny how on a cardiovascular and muscular fitness level we can be capable of finishing a marathon, yet there are all those little connecting tissues and joints that cannot handle the stress of that distance without gradually acclimating to the demands of a marathon!  Knowing this going into a serious training routine for my upcoming 70.3 race, I searched for a plan that progressively worked me up to the point (and beyond) the demands of this race distance, using the 10% rule and having regular recovery weeks along the way where there is a 40% reduction in work load that week.  I also looked at it this way, I cannot afford to drop a couple hundred bucks to register for a race 5 months out, only to injure myself and wind up not being able to compete on race day!  Just some things to think about when trying to decide how far your long run or bike workout is gonna be this weekend!

So trust me I will always push, I will always be all out and wide open, yet as I get just a slight bit older....shut up......I think its important that I (and all of us) train smarter, as well as harder :)  I still want to be around beating those kids 10 years or more younger than me to the finish line!!!!

Wow It's Been Awhile!

Hard to believe that my last post was in November of last year....well I guess that kinda makes sense, given that most of us are so busy with the Holidays that we lose touch with many other things :)  Well the only "race" I have competed in since the last blog was the Gaston County Girls on the Run 5k with my daughte in December.  I gotta say this was another amazing experience for me personally.  My daughter really pushed and we finished this 5k almost 10 minutes faster than the previous one we did together in October and there were considerably more hills involved this time.  The Pre-race festivities were great, with live music, the Chik-Fil-A cow posing for photos and being in a really up-and-coming Chic town like Belmont, NC made for a great venue.  At the end of the race, all the girls received a nice medal, which really meant a lot to my daughter.  I can't say it enough how wonderful of a program that this is for young girls.  It totally builds confidence and self-esteem and the coaches discuss some of the common issues that our lil' girls will face heading into Middle School. 

The Holidays were amazing.  I have sooooo much to be thankful for, that its hard to even begin to list everything.  I just thank the universe first and foremost for family, health, a decent job and the opportunity to live in a healthy and beautiful city like Asheville, NC.  It really makes training outside wonderful and motivating!  The fam headed up the Penn. to be with the wifey's family and I was able to really get my running mojo back.  In the 5 days we were there, I logged close to 30 miles!  Not bad for me :)  It's totally rejuvenated my running spirit!

Training has ramped up as I am preparing for a pretty tough Half-Iron Distance Tri in May (The Beast of the East Half Steelman).  I must admit that I broke down and went with a 70.3 training program that seemed to fit my style to prep for this one.  I am in the 5th week of the program currently. I still throw in my "hard headed" style of balls-to-the-wall training, but I certainly see the benefit of progressive increases in both duration and distance in each of the 3 disciplines.  I still hit the weights hard 4-5 times per week and will continue the strength building type workouts until March, at which point I will focus more on muscle endurance (in terms of weight raining that is)= Higher reps, less weight sorta thing......  I am throwing in 3-4 yoga sessions per week and making a real effort to limit the sugars in my diet and making sure to drink a lot of H2O.  I also increased the protein in my diet, via a quality Whey Protein mix and I can tell I have added a nice amount of muscle thus far in the "off season" without adding any noticable fat.  I am trying to do some increased core strengthening stuff, plyometric based workouts from time-to-time, and jumping rope when I am bored, LOL!  Just keeping my body guessing, I suppose is the easiest way to look at it.  I really believe that variety does wonders in terms of keeping us motivated!  I couldn't imagine only doing runs, swims and bike rides.  The cross training, weights, and yoga are as important to me as the Tri-specific stuff.  Maybe I should call myself the Well Rounded Triathlete instead :)

Anyhoo, I am saving my pennies to purchase a wetsuit and found the one I want.  Should be getting that in the next couple of weeks and totally stoked about it!  If you haven't ever checked out the Wetsuit Outlet online, let me be the first to suggest it to you!  They've got Tri-items in addition to an amazing array of wetsuits!  I am also looking at buying some "aero" wheels for my bike.  I use the ""'s because the wheels are still 24 spoke, alloy wheels, but considerably better than what I currently have and I think they're gonna be a decent bang for my buck purchase to help shave a bit of time from my bike splits.

Here's a pic from the Girls on the Run 5k!!!!  Yes I had to carry the daughter's coat the last 2.5 miles of the 3.1 we completed that day!!!!

I reckon that's about it for the moment.  Wishing anyone reading this happy training and if you ain't rocking...you ain't living!!!!!

Bethel Half Marathon Race Report

Wow, its really been a while since I had a chance to sit down and post something!  What better reason to post than to recap an awesome race? Last Saturday I ran in the town of Bethel's Half Marathon. This race it actually the longest running 1/2 in Western North Carolina, celebrating it's 19th year!  Bethel is a really small town outside of Canton, NC which is the town we locals know by the horrible smell the paper plant pumps out into the atmosphere. Ugh! Anyway, Bethel sits at the foot of Cold Mountain, which yes, this is the same mountain made famous in the novel and the movie Cold Mountain.  It was a beautiful run, absolutely breathtaking!  It was by far my favorite running race of the season.  The weather was a bit chilly at the start, as there was frost on the grass, but as always, once you start running your body temperature rises and for a perspirator like me....the sweat starts flowing!  Thank God for headbands!  Anyway, there were a few hills here and there, but the course was suprisingly flat for this area of NC.  At one point I was running by a farm and these two beautiful horses came running out to the fence along the road and then ran beside me as I trotted my way by them.  Seriously, that was a pretty cool thing! Anyway, I ended up finishing in 1 hour 54 mins, which I was happy with being that this is my first 1/2 marathon and my goal was to finish in under 2 hours given the mountainous terrain.  I highly recommend this race and the small town charm was just lovely!  Lots of fresh baked breads, cakes, and cookies at the finish line!  They also had some kick ass homemade potato soup! 

In terms of training, I have laid out a pretty intense "Off Season" plan that includes 4 runs, 3 bikes, 4 swims, 5 weight training, and 7 yoga workouts per week.  I will post a seperate post hopefully tomorrow that lays out exactly what each workout consists of.  I have high expectations of increasing my fitness this fall and winter, so here goes nothing!!!!!  I am two weeks into the plan and have hit my workouts consistently, so its certainly do-able.  Right now I am doing 2-a-days through the week and oneworkout on the weekend days.

Got my indoor bike trainer and love it.  I have seriously been killing it with this thing.  I pop in a scary movie after the family is in bed and off I go.  I get to watch all the horror films I have missed in the last couple of years and I get some serious mileage on the bike at the same time! What's better than that???

So here's hoping anyone reading this happy training, happy life and happy loving!  Keep at it and train til' you can't train no more!

11th Annual City of Lenoir Triathlon Race Report

Well this past Saturday was the last multi-sport event of the season for me and what better way to end the season than grabbing my first age-group win of the year!!??  This was a sprint distance, pool-swim tri that was held in a beautiful area of the Western Piedmont area of NC.  It was great to see that my training seemed to pay off and I don't think I was completely off track with my training approach of hard, heavy and often verses going crazy over number of miles.......

So the morning started at 3:30 am, as this race was about 2 hours from the house and I knew I had to pick up my packet, and more importantly, find the venue, the morning of the race.  I grabbed a Power Bar and Powerade Zero, loaded my stuff in the car and headed out by 4:00 am.  I got to Lenoir about 15 til 6:00 am and found that my directions were completely off.  (No I don't have GPS....remember I am all about Old Skool) so the thought crossed my mind to find the police station and ask a cop.  Luckily I found downtown Lenoir, found the cop station, and got directions from a really nice officer that got me there in no time! (Later in the bike portion of the race, the same cop was stopping traffic for us....so thanks again goes out to ya!!!!)  So I made it to the aquatic center where the swim and transition area were, to find that no one was there and the entrance was blocked off.  So I went up the next drive, which was a church parking lot and saw that there were a few other racers there doing the same thing.  I met a really nice dude, Robbie, from the town I grew up in (holla' fellow Gastonians!!!!) and we decided that the Punk Rock thing to do would be to stay parked there and hope the nice church folks would not have our cars towed (they didn't by the way).  So after making the decision to stay parked here, I walked up to the aquatic center with Robbie to pick up our packets, made my way back down, grabbed my things and bike, then headed back up the 1/4 mile or so to set up.  Needless to say after all this, I didn't need to warm up!!!!! 

Ahhhhhhh....now to the race.  The swim was a 250 meter swim in a 50 meter pool, so it was 5 lengths, all zig-zagging through 5 lanes that were roped off for the event.  I did a 400 meter warm-up about 30 minutes before the start of the race.  Swimmers started in 15 second intervals based on our estimated 100 meter times.  I put down 2:20 as an estimate so I started 67th.  Looking at the swimmers before me, I saw that I had underestimated my swim abilities!  At least I was able to practice my draft passes, as I caught up to swimmer starting 2 minutes before me by the end of the swim!  So out of the pool and a 50 yard or so run up the side of the building into the transition area and then........... the longest transition in the history of sprint triathlons!  Seriously a 2 minute transition!  I couldn't get my damn shirt on to save my life.  It was like fighting a rabid raccoon in a potato sack!  Everything, including my bike shoes went on with ease, yet the shirt was a nightmare.  I learned a valuable lesson on this day....and that is from here on out in sprints, I will get a bib belt for the run, and just go shirtless on the bike and runs.  I could have totally taken at least a minute off my overall time if I would have went this route, verses worrying with a shirt.  I hadn't had this problem before, but man I won't risk it again after this experience.

Anyway, the bike course was beautiful!  A few more hills that I expected, but all my heavy hill training over the passed couple a months really paid off.  I passed quite a few folks and didn't get passed until the very end by one of those dudes on a 3,000 dollar tri/tt steed (including one of those sci-fi aero helmets) so I didn't feel too bad about that.  In fact I would have really felt bad for the guy if he didn't pass me given his whole multi-thousand dollar get up! LOL!!!!!  My bike did great, my legs felt fine and I really felt like I pushed about as hard as I could have to still have a semi-decent 5k run time at the end.  I could have probably shaved 20 to 30 seconds off my time by having a faster mount and dismount, as well as pushing a little harder on the initial downhill start that was 1/4 mile or so long.  I held back quite a bit on the decent, as it was a little congested with riders.  So we're up to a minute and a half I could have improved upon thus far.  Well, I know I could have pushed harder on the swim, so lets say there was 2 minutes up to this point in the race I could have improved upon.

And finally the run......  T2 was much smoother and much more like it.  Less than 1 minute this time, and that was with sitting down to change shoes and racking my bike.  The run was down the same 1/4 mile hill I have been speaking of, then to a really beautiful, scenic greenway with one turn-around before heading back.  A pretty uneventful run, that took me just over 26 mins. to finish.  So based on my 5k times I really think that I could easily shave 3 to 4 mins. off this time with some more speedwork and hill only sessions in the off season. 

All-in-all I was happy with my 1:06 time, which was good for 18th overall and 1st in the Male 30-34 AG.  I think that I can drop under an hour on this course next season if I do this race.  I'd really like to put this one on the schedule just to see if I can make that time goal.  So seriously if you are ever in Lenoir, NC in September, you should do this race!  A very charming little town and a very scenic little sprint! I met some really nice racers and the folks that put on the race were great!  The mayor even came out to wish us all good luck at the start!  The Lenoir Aquatic Center was actually the training site for the 1996 Netherlands Olympic Team!  They had a big photo and team flag in the display case and I just thought that was really cool!

So today is Labor Day and my wife and I are off with the little one.  I am going to try to sneek a run in, although its raining pretty steadily outside due to Tropical Storm Lee that hit MS and is heading North through our area of Western NC.  Training will be a little more run intensive, as I am doing the 13.1 next month!!!!! I haven't laid out my training calendar for September yet, but I want my weekly running miles to be around 30 to 40 by month's end.  I really feel like I want to keep cycling 3-4 times a week as well because this will more-than-likely be the last month of really warm weather here and it will be hit-or-miss with suitable riding temps from here on out til spring.  So I wish anyone reading this well and remember to keep training hard, heavy and often!  Eat well and get plenty of rest!  And most importantly, enjoy family, friends and life because these are the 3 things that are most important to our existance! Don't forget your yoga!

Namaste!!!!!


***Training update: I got in a mile swim and a 3 mile run with fartleks today