The #intersciencechallenge is a double challenge between me and other person (or more people), from which it’s expected a double benefit towards a goal. The idea normally, as for me(coach) as for the challengers, is to improve a physical condition or to reach a goal that have been lagging. The roles:

1. The challenger: Is a person who has a personal goal in relation to physical activity (run a marathon, lose weight, learn to swim, etc.) or a desired learning, but he or she have not been able to do it, even doe this person have had the desire to, and currently don’t have an external guidance.
2. The coach(that’s me): Has the task to guide this person towards it’s goal and do all the work related to it (planning, training sessions, monitoring, measures, etc) adapted to the conditions of the challenger, when it’s a physical matter, or, to help to provide techniques and tools to make it possible, when it’s a learning thing . BUT, he also has his own challenge parallel to the one of the challenger.

*Note: I usually try to find a physical challenge to the other person, since it is the lifestyle I want to promote

The mayor goal:

• Provide a good experience that could stick as a lifestyle.

Head rule:

1. The integrity and well being of the participants is the #1 priority.

2019:

“I’ll, painless, hike in the highest mountain”

• Challenger:
  • He’s a student in Electrical Engineering and physics.
  • Currently also works.
  • Suffer from low back pain.
  • Has movement and motor control issues.
  • Is not happy with his current fat percentage.
  • Challenge:
    • Gain great movement patterns helping his back.
    • Develop a great body composition, getting fit and prepared to hike a mountain!.

• Coach:
  • After a period of excessive work the body composition and general fitness went down
  • Low muscle mass and high fat mass
  • Challenge
    • Develop a great body composition and fitness state
    • Run a half marathon
    • Complete an obstacle race

Current state: 

So far we both have been working for a year, our friend Luis had a muscular unbalance that forced him to an scoliotic posture. We have been stabilizing and strengthening his glutes, abdominal zone, scapulae and with the great work of Heriberto Gonzalez (expert in myofascial therapy), therapist and founder of the Instituto Icatema, he could overcome important posture issues that seem to be the main cause of his pain.

Right now we are moving from rehabilitation training to performance training towards his goal of hiking to the chirripó!

 

Previous Editions:

2018:

In this edition:

“No language barriers”

Russian version

• Challenger:
  • Currently doing in her post-grade studies in Chemistry  at ETH (Zürich). She’s Russian.
  • Challenge: The weather changed her physical activity patterns, got them more difficult. She wants to stay fit, keep good body composition and eventually run a half-marathon!
• Coach:
  • Learn the Russian language to an acceptable level

• Coach:
  • Besides all the planning part and workout development, he is just 9.388km away from her, so he needs to adapt all of the work and measures to it.
  • Challenge: Only Russian spoken!!! No English, no Spanish rule. Besides of having a little knowledge in Russian,  it is not enough level to have a conversation, so, I must earn a level of Russian to properly communicate.

•  

More about this challenge: I added a German and Russian translation of my site, they are both awfully translated, and as the challenge move on, and as the level improves, the translation will too improve. By the end of the challenge I’ll be reading a book or taking an online course in each language.

Results:

• I’m happy to say that our challenger is not only doing a great job as a scientist, but she also ran her first Half-Marathon! The Greifenseelauf Uster in 2hr06′, and a pace of 5:55 min/km, next to a really hot lake
• For me, Я просто магу сказать что нормально говорю, читаю и смотрю филмы по рускийю 😉

2017: Previously called #Reto42

“I’m a marathoner and an astrophysicist”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h1-1H1STdw

•  Challenger:
  • PH.D in astrophysics
  • With very limited time to train
  • Have tried before, unsuccessfully
  • Every time gets more difficult
  • “If I don’t purpose it to myself now, I will never take the tame to do it”
  • Time: only 9 weeks left (please don’t try yourself without the guidance of a professional)
  • Challenge: “I wish to do a marathon at least once in my life” 42km!!
• Coach:
  • In charge of all the macro, meso and micro planning and constantly adaptation of all of them in function of the emergent conditions and situations with the time of the challenger
  • Still not fully recovered from a health issue, stopped running
  • Running became really really hard
  • Challenge: train alongside with the challenger and do the marathon as well

Results:

• Our challenger successfully completed the Costa Rica Marathon, on the 3rd of December, 2017

• The coach kept with health issues and couldn’t keep going with the training (Rule #1), but was able to come back to the world of training everyday! And ran the last lap of the same marathon alongside with the challenger (14Km). Currently looking forward to make halfmarathon in 2018Posts related:
• “The Shoemaker”:
  • A shoemaker doesn’t give the same size shoes to all of his clients, but, when having a customer who wants to exercise he sells sport shoes and not high hills
  • Same way, a coach doesn’t give the same training plan to all of his clients, but fits the type of work to all of those under the same conditions
• Friction and long distance
  • When entering the world of long distance, after about 15km(maybe sooner) there are some factors to think about, that eventually can bring the athlete’s performance down, even when he’s well trained.
  • So, one situation is skin injury by friction, for what we recommend, for common friction places in the foot:
    1. Friction among toes: can be covered with micro pore, is easy to use
    2. Skin-shoe friction: First of all, NEVER use a brand new pair of shoes, by the first time, in a long distance run, second, cover the areas with micro pore, and wear appropriated running socks
    3. Friction among nails and socks and shoe: Long nail in long distance = loosing the nail, you may have severe pain during a race and it takes long to recover. Run with your toe nails short and without prominent edgy parts that may lift them.

• Statements:
  • 1# Law of the challenge!!
  • If a scheduled event must be postponed, it will be, there is no need to get sick or injured
  • If the level must get lowed, it’s ok, there are recovering principles to be applied
  • The exigence is based on 1) physical condition level and 2) training process, is not wise or responsible to force the body beyond it´s limits without proper preparation