Life would be so much easier if my workouts were as short as my shorts....

I have experienced a great deal during training these past few years. Before this week, bloody nipples has not been one of them. I have seen the pictures, heard the stories. But never experienced the phenomenon until now. The nipples would burn a bit towards the ends of my recent runs, but there has never ever been any blood before. During my 12 miler on Tue though my shirt got two small red circles on it. Just enough of a twinge to keep me awake! But I did hammer out 12 at 7:30 pace. My legs were tired from the hill workout on Monday. It was hard to find a good groove during this run though.

A comment towards myself when I was over 200 pounds back in middle school that I never forgot was spoken by my uncle. Back then I did a lot of snowmobiling during the winter with friends, one of whom was a tall skinny guy also named Kyle. Anyway my cousin told his father something like "Kyle is coming over to ride" and my uncle asked if it was the fat one or skinny one. He did not say this in front of me but my cousin told me he said it, jokingly. Not knowing how much it really hurt, and years later I still remember the comment.

Now I know it is wrong but I cannot help but feel...a jokes on you feeling. I know the cousin closest to my age who I spent a great deal of time with during my childhood is, well a pretty big guy now. Him and his oldest brother did make fun of me for being overweight once in a while. Now both are still in Watertown, went to tech school and working.

Speaking of back when I was huge. Last week I was sitting in the bath tub one morning. The best way I have found to wake up is to fill the tub with nice hot water and lay/sit in it for 5 or so minutes. Talk about relaxing. Anyway the water was draining and I was sitting up watching it go down. I remembered back home when I could sit just right in the bath and actually block the water behind me from getting past, utilizing my butt and leg fat as a Hoover Dam if you will. Then all of a sudden I would shift and the water from behind would go rushing past towards the drain.

I had an easy short run planned a few days ago and was really not feeling it. Work was on the schedule for that evening. I took a nap and was just sitting around, not really feeling like doing anything. Then I saw my Reasons I have Overcome to Run list on my wall, and knew if I got out there I would be glad I did. So quickly, before I could give me a chance to talk myself out of it, I threw on my running gear and got outside. Within two blocks I happy to be out there :)

A few miles into that run I kind of felt sluggish though. Thinking to myself how I am lucky if I am pushing 9 minute miles. So for the first time during this run I pulled my sleeve up to view the Garmin, and see an average pace of 7:23 HOLY COW :p I felt slow but in reality was only a few seconds slower per mile then my marathon pace. I told a friend, that is great motivation to keep going during a run that feels like crap :)

Again in the last week I have had someone ask "are you that guy that's always running?"

"Ah, yeah that's probably me."

"Crazy, are you training for something or do you just like to run." they always say.

"Well I like to run, but I am training for triathlons, ultramarathons, and to qualify for Boston."

And it goes on, they are impressed. Usually say they could never do it. And tell me to keep it up.

If I get the "I could never do that" I just put out the "well I used to be 230 pounds, so anything is possible" line. That usually makes them pause and think for a second :)

A friend also told me my legs are ripped. That is the best complement I can ever get! Now if my butt was not so fat...

Speaking of my fat butt. Barb told me she did something like 1,000 pull laps in the pool on a certain time, which she has never done before. I told her I am faster with a pull buoy, which is odd among swimmers. However it helps raise my butt and legs out of the water a bit, reducing drag.

My butt is like a sail ( )( ) like that. Creates a lot of drag pulling that thing through the water.

I did not go home for Thanksgiving since I had the opportunity to get eight hours in at time and a half at work, so I took it. I made my own food however. A $3 pumpkin pie, some Nutella and whipped cream, whalla! It was glorious.

Desi and I talked on the phone for 58 hours on her last phone bill. Two days of talking on the phone in a one month period. And for a few of those days we were actually together so not using the phone.

Friday after Thanksgiving I had a great treadmill run. Here was the breakdown:

4 @ :30

1 @ 6:58

1 @ 6:54

1 @ 6:50

1 @ 6 45

1 @ 6:40

.5 @ 6:00

.25 @ 5:27

.25 @ 5:00

For 10 miles at 7:05 pace. The entire run felt great. The only thing is my soles get hot sometimes. From the treadmill's track under my feet going over whatever is under it. Especially when I finished, doing that last mile in something like 5:30 my soles were hot.

It is interesting moving that fast. I remember when I first started running, I could not image what seven minute miles felt like. Now I can do them no problem. My 5k PR is at just above 6 minute pace, and I am at the stage where I cannot fathom doing something like 5 minute miles for a 5k. I am not saying I will ever push that pace for a 5k. This is just a great example of how anything is possible if you do the work. I am doing now what I could not imagine possible for myself just a few years ago.

I finished up with an easy 8 on Sunday after work. That gives me 44 miles for the week if I counted correctly. Good week. Now starts the last two weeks of class. This is going to be busy busy busy. Hopefully I can still keep my running up. That may be my stress reliever.

Thanks for reading all :)

I have been vaccinated against the seasonal flu and H1N1, running is my vaccination against boredom.

Last Wed I ran 13.1 up on the track at the Wellness Center. I went there planning on 5 to 7 miles. I found a good speed workout online before hand. I did a mile warmup and did 4 miles at 1200m fast and 400 recovery. I do not remember exactly, but somewhere around mile 6 or 7 a girl came up from behind me and passed me on one of my recovery laps. I did my three laps and started my next 1200. Her only being a quarter lap ahead of me I caught back up, passed, and she tucked in behind me for six laps. I then started my recovery and let her pass. She was running a bit slower so I just let her pace me for three laps, and then started my fast 1200 again. Her and another guy actually ran right behind me in single file for another 1200.

I love it when you find people to run with up on the track. There are no words spoken between you and the other runner(s) but you come to an understanding. Pushing off each other, going a little faster then you otherwise could. That girl and I did it for a few miles and the guy joined in for a few as well, it was awesome. A few weeks ago Barb was down on a treadmill and I was up on the track running. She said some guy was pacing off of me for most of my run. It was light outside so I could not see any reflection in the mirrors, and never noticed him until he came around me on his last lap that was sprinted. It feels awesome when you have two or three fast people running together in single file up there, I bet it looks cool as well.

Eventually the girl stopped running and the guy passed me when I started my recovery laps. He was doing roughly 6:30 pace so I said screw easy laps and tucked in behind him and we maybe did two miles before he stopped. I kept going...lap after lap after lap. I was eventually the only runner on the track. I still felt pretty good. I would be on the last lap of mile 8 or whatever, and turn the last corner....and keep going. Thinking to myself, "you know, I feel pretty good still." and then I would be just a few meters past the last mile mark and "well I am a quarter lap into mile 9, 10, 11, or 12, so I might as well finish the mile, can't stop now!" I decided that doing 13.1 with no hydration or fuel would be just fine. The 118 laps, 13.1 miles, ended up taking exactly 98 minutes. Resulting in 7:29 minutes per mile. I am extremely pleased with this since the only time I was really actually pushing it was that mile or two running behind the guy in the red shirt at 6:30 to 7 minute pace. That happened somewhere around the seven mile mark, and it was not even much of a struggle.

Our Food Science instructor Padu handed out the beef jerky we made the week before in lab. I was not eating any, obviously because I am a vegetarian. Now most of the people in my group know me pretty well, but that is not something that comes up in conversation a lot. So they are all freaking out, with the typical question, "Where do you get your protein?!?!" Fish, nuts, beans I say.... I think to myself "Where do you get yours?" And I know the answer is "corndogs, fast food, too much meat, too much protein." Sounds like I am the one who should be concerned about your diet. I tell them that I get 12-15% of my daily calories from protein, and most of it is fish. So much for those dangerous vegetarian diets eh? I know what these guys eat, and I know my diet is straight up better then 75% of theirs. I get over 100% of nearly all vitamins and minerals, good Carb/Pro/Fat ratio. But people hear vegetarian and they automatically are concerned...

Our Medical Nutrition Therapy class visited the Avera Heart Hospital and one of the dietitians there talked to us about heart health. It was amazing, not going to lie. The entire lecture what on the diet I have been eating for the past three years. Fish, very little red meat poultry and beef (none for me) and mainly fruit, vegetables, and whole grain. It was great sitting there listening to her talk, confirming and assuring what I have been eating for the past few years when I get all those doubters about a diet with less meat. The entire hospital's diet is based around the Mediterranean diet, even the kitchens and what is served to the workers. I loved it :)

Friday I did 7 at Boston Qualifying pace up on the track. The last part of the run was 10x100m sprints. I would sprint 1o0m as fast as I could and jog the remaining 80 back to the start, repeat. That got tough, fast. Especially after the 6 miles.

I ran into Jason Melby at the Wellness Center before a run. It was nice to see him. He swam in college I believe so offered to give me some pointers next time I see him at the pool. Might have to take him up on that, I do not get there in the mornings that often though.

THIIIISSS is interesting. But did you know that white chocolate is not actually white chocolate? There is no chocolate in white chocolate bar! Check out the ingredient list next time you are in line at a grocery store.

Also this made me really angry. I was up at the Union doing homework at Grocery Bingo started. I saw what they were giving away to the students. The big packets of Ramen, lots of soda, and other JUNK. Way to contribute to the obesity problem idiots.

My Vibrams broke on Saturday! The strap snapped:

I finished the run, it happened during the last mile. I went to Walmart and purchased a sewing kit and some fishing line. Did a pretty decent job if I don't say so myself....which I just did. Hopefully this holds up. I REALLY want these to hit 1000 miles :) Only 428 more to go!

A lady came through my line and she was using food stamps. What did she buy?

White Bread

Cheese Puffs

Great Value Sugar

Chocolate Bar

Root Beer

You are getting free money because you are poor, and waste it on shit like this? K good. Please do not procreate.

On the 16th I did four at 6:27 pace, the first two where with Josh Thill, nice to chat with him, he is a nice guy, very good runner. After this I only had time for 20 laps in the pool before it closed so hammered though out. The Vibram repairs held up. I am not sure if they will last to 1000 miles like I was hoping but this will get a few more out of them. Wrapped some electrical tape around the sew job and a forming rip on the other shoe. So we will see how long this lasts.

Again I had someone whom I do not believe I have ever talked to ask me if I was that "decamarathon guy" and that is crazy :p He said keep it up too. Makes me feel good when people notice me like that.

What to do in the next few weeks? I am so busy. I have a paper to write on Maple Syrup Urine Syndrome, an article to write for an ADA practice group for Weight Management. Lots to do, the semester is almost up!

Later all :)

Forget speedwork. Speedwork is the icing on the cake and you don't have a cake yet.

Monday I ran twice. At 6am I did a slow 3 on the Hobo Day 5k route just to get started for the day. Later on with Jenna I ran 5 more. It was a good 8 mile day.

Tuesday up on the WC track I hammered out 5.22 miles at 7 flat minutes per mile. The Garmin is AWESOME for running up there. I have it set where every time around I hit the Lap button it tells me which lap and what the last lap time was. On the display screen I have it set to tell me how many laps I have complete, the average lap time, the total time, and the current lap time.

After the run Barb and I went out to eat since I had a secret shopper assignment. How this works is I signed up at the secret shopper website and they call me about once a month with an assignment. Restaurants pay this company to have people do this. I simply go eat there and check the place out. The particular restaurant I went to this time has very specific things they look for on their evaluation. How are the parking lots and bathrooms? Is the music and temp ok? Is the manager out among the tables cleaning? Etc etc. I have to give a pretty detailed account of my visit, including estimated time spent in line, how many people were before me, etc. I get reimbursed on my meal up to $10.00 and another $5.00 for doing the survey after the shop. There is no way to make money off this but it accounts for a free meal once a month, not too bad :)

This made me laugh. As I was waiting outside the Union after the run for Barb to pick me up some student walked by me and said something like "if I ran as much as you I would be in amazing shape!" I believe I have seen him before, but pretty sure I have never spoken to the guy in my life. I have found that people whom I do not know at all recognize me and will talk to me, just from seeing me running at the Wellness Center so often. Barb pointed out, it was a compliment after!

Again Tue I went to the WC after finishing up my microbiology lab report and did 3.5 more miles. The half was just a warm up. Here is the speed session I did, remember each lap is 178m, not 200...

1x3laps w/ 2 lap recovery after each

3x2 laps w/ 2 lap recovery after each

6x1 lap w/ 1 lap recovery after each

I missed a recovery lap midway through so did one extra fast lap at the end to get 27 laps in. The average pace for the three miles was 6:36 miles. I may try to do more speed work on the treadmills since with the track being such a stupid distance and having the tight corners it makes getting any speed difficult.

A speed session here and there throughout the week or maybe a mile or two of strides at the end of a run are my only main training changes for Boston qualification. The title of this post is something I read once on SlowTwitch, one poster to another. I think I have the cake, so do not feel bad adding in a little speed. I also find that running inside, I go faster but it is much harder to go as far. On the track or dreadmill there is no "Ok I am 7 miles out of town, time to turn around...". However with people around, or others running with me on the track, you tend to go faster. I can pace myself off someone running a bit faster then me. No worries though, if I ever get past, it is by someone who is not running as far, or probably just sprinting a lap or two.

One thing I regularly notice doing real fast speedwork is my calves actually get quite sore. This is from planting more forward on the foot, and harder.

Wednesday I woke early, at 5:54am. I literally laid there for 20 minutes trying to decide what to do. Not to get out of bed or go back to sleep, but if I wanted to run or lift or what. I decided to go lift at the WC since after my classes later in the day I had a couple meetings that ended at 6:30. After which I planned to run and swim. So at 6:30am I get half a step out the door and decide to go for a run. So I turn around and take my Brooks off, put the Vibrams on, and do a quick and cold two miles to get started today.

For the first time ever, I sat in one of those blood pressure chairs you see near the pharmasies at Walgreens, Hyvee, and Walmart. Here is what came up:

Pretty good. 51 is actually a bit on the low side.

Here is one of my new favorite foods. It is tuna fish but I sliced up avocado, celery, radish, carrot really finely and mixed that in with the tuna fish and mayo. Few slices of toast, imitation cheese, piece of spinach. Yum!

Also this week my Vibram Five Fingers got to 500 miles! They are holding up pretty well. The left has a slight one inch separation of two fabrics and the right has two small wear marks on the bottom. I have heard about the fabric separation before, and I believe it can simply be stitched if it gets bad. I expect to get another 500 out of these babies. If I ran on something other then road I could probably get 1500. The two wear marks on the bottom only developed within the last 100 miles.

Here is a larger picture.

Wed was also the first time in six months I have swam. I did a third mile and it felt like I died and went to hell. Michelle wished me a good swim when I saw her up on the track. There is no such thing as a good swim. I do have a 2.4 mile swim for my Ironman next summer to train for, so I figured I should get on to training.

Last I want to talk a bit about The Paleo Diet for athletes.

THE PALEO DIET

The basic premise of Dr. Cordain’s research on paleolithic nutrition is that certain foods are optimal for humans and others are nonoptimal. The optimal foods are those that we have been eating for most of our time on Earth—more than 4 million years. Only in the last 10,000 years, a mere blink of the eye relative to our species’ existence, have we been eating nonoptimal foods. Unfortunately, these foods comprise the bulk of what western society eats today and include such foods as grains, dairy and legumes. Given that our bodies have not changed, we are simply not well adapted to these nonoptimal foods and they moderate health and peak performance.

On the other hand, we have been eating optimal foods – vegetables, fruits, and lean animal protein – for hundreds of thousands of years and we are fully adapted to them. Science tells us that these foods also best meet our nutritional needs. Eat these and you will thrive. Avoid or strictly limit them and your health and performance will be compromised.

I like the Paleo Diet For Athletes because it not as strictly restrictive as the regular diet. Because athletes put more stress on their body those carbohydrate nutrients are needed more so. The book is less of a diet book and more of an instructional book on how to best optimize your nutrient eating and timing. Instead of your typical distance athlete carb loading....well all the time, the book shows that there are better and worse times to eat carbs, and when and how this should be done. The best diet advice I can ever give a person is to "Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants" (In Defense of Food). This takes that one step further and says, "and this is how and when you can best eat that food."

The book breaks the athlete's day into several stages. I love how this was done, very easy to understand.

Stage One: Pre Workout.

Before a long or intense workout it is recommended to eat a couple hours before hand, and some carbs that are lower on the glycemic index. Everyone knows to to not eat too close to your workout or race. This is a good way to get a sick stomach or to see the food a second time.

From, www.glycemicindex.com,

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

The glycemic index of a food item shows how quickly the carb's sugar gets into your blood stream. A fast release of sugar causes insulin to be release by your pancrease. this cases a rapid decrease in blood sugar levels, also causing hunger.

By eating something with a low glycemic index, you give your body more time to process the carbohydrates.

Stage Two:During Workout

During a long or hard workout or race you will mainly be fueled by GU and liquid. Higher glycemic food will get that sugar into you faster so you can utilize it quicker. Of course this depends on the length of what ever is going on.

Stage Three: 30 Min Post Workout

This is the most critical time for recovery, your body is sucking up nutrients like crazy. The goals here are to rehydrate, replace carbohydrate stores, and provide protein. As most athletes know, liquid is the easiest and quickest to digest, so that is what is recommended. A smoothy with a 4:1 Carb to Protein ratio is what I see recommended the most often. The book recommends a mixture of fruit juice, protein powder, glucose and a piece of fruit thrown in and blended.

Stage Four: A couple hours post workout

This is when they recommend eating those pastas, bread, etc etc. To replenish those glycogen stores that you tapped into during your workout. A quick and easy one that I like to make is the tuna fish sandwich shown above.

Stage Five: Until the next Stage One

This is the regular Paleo diet again. Basicly avoid carbs and eating lean meats, fruit, and vegetables.

Well Desi will be here for the weekend so I thought I would go ahead and update today. I also have two exams next week and all of my end of the semester projects are coming up so I need to finish/start those. It will be a busy rest of the semester.

Thanks for reading everyone, and until next time :)

You will never, ever, regret a workout upon it's completion.

Just wondering if this is normal. I am running and lets say I come up to an alley or a street and a car stops in front of me, so I stop. This same thing is even applicable on a track if some brain donor walks in front of me or there are three people taking up all the lanes. Does anyone else do the quick stop, slump shoulders, and stair directly ahead? Other than stopping, in no other way actually acknowledging the existence of this car/person at all. And in your head you are thinking "FUCK YOU JUST MESSED UP MY STRIDE, MY BREATHING, AND MY GROOVE YOU INCONSIDERATE NON CONTRIBUTING LAZY PIECE OF SHIT" Everyone thinks that....right?

Athletes praying before a race/game was brought up by a friend of mine on facebook, and I have thought about how absurd prayer is in the first place. Are you actually praying for a favor from god? And people pray for stupid things too! Now I understand people wanting prayer for a sick friend, but god has nothing to do with the outcome. Get real people. This quote puts it nicely:

by Epicurus: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? If you believe that a god can/will grant success, then it necessarilyy follows that same god also must then deny it, which would seem antithetical to the idea of a god.

Something else interesting I found...

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. - Stephen Roberts

Now I have no problem with people having a faith. I have faith in myself, others have faith is something else. If that helps them through the day and make their lives better, so be it and good for them.

Ney Way...

I have been noticing people purchasing Airborne more and more often lately at Walmart. Is this the same stuff that had a law suit filed against it a few years ago? I did some research and this is what I found.

The makers have paid at least 30 million dollars in lawsuits and settlements because of false advertising and making unproven claims. If you look closely, you will see the claim on the box went from "Can prevent your cold or ease the symptoms" to it can "support your immune system". However, there is actually zero proof that the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, electrolytes, and amino acids in it can do anything for your immune system.

Also a bit of info on the differences between supplements and drugs. Supplements do not have to be under any regulation at all. They can put whatever they like into it, and put whatever they like on the package without the FDA looking at it first. I have talked to people who have worked in the supplement industry, and they no longer take them. That should tell you something about some of the companies products...

A drug has been looked at, tested, and its production is regulated.

How do you tell if what you are holding in your hand is a drug or supplement? Look at the food label, if the title is supplement, that's what you have, if it says drug, there you go.

Back to Airborne. In August 2008, the Federal Trade Commission made this statement:

"there is no competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claims made by the defendants that Airborne tablets can prevent or reduce the risk of colds, sickness, or infection; protect against or help fight germs; reduce the severity or duration of a cold; and protect against colds, sickness, or infection in crowded places such as airplanes, offices, or schools."

So the question is now, what does help the immune system? Look no further then common sense, once again.

1. Sleep is a big one.

2. Protein. Your immune system is actually comprised of many many proteins. A risk of that weekly long run is you may tap into your PRO stores during the run, reducing the amount in your body. These little guys are the building blocks of your immune system.

3. Do not focus on one system, focus on your entire body. A healthy body equates to a better everything.

And that myth about bundling up before you go outside during the winter to avoid getting sick, do not buy it. The cold does not make you sick, germs make you sick!

Wed Dave Graves and I met at the stadium at 6:15am to do stairs. I did about a half hour of stairs total, with some sprinting on the football field halfway through and at the end of the stairs, going down and back twice on the field each time. Afterwards I stopped by the Wellness Center to get some good stretching in, and headed back home, getting about five miles in before you woke up :p

I told Dave most of my running has been done at night. This was at 6:30am and he goes "well technically it's still night!" Yeah...thanks for reminding the sun still was not up Dave.

Later that day I ran to the Wellness Center and hammered out three miles of speed work. It was a half mile there and half back. On a dreadmill I did 12x400's. 400 at 6 min miles and 400 at recovery, off and on for three miles. The recovery varied between 7 min miles and 8 min miles.

Friday was a good day. I hope to use the 2010 Brookings' Marathon to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon. Well I ran 10 miles up on the track at the pace I have to run the full marathon to qualify. For my age group, the marathon needs to be completed in 3:09:59, which is 7 min 24 second miles for 26.2 miles. The 10 up on the track were done in 1:12:37, so the time was perfect. It was not too difficult until maybe mile 8 it became a little harder to keep pace. This was a test to see at what level my fitness was at. I was surprised I did not struggle more with the 10 miles, but that gives me more hope than I had before this run as to the possible, and hopeful, outcome of the May marathon.

To end the week I watched the New York ING Marathon Sunday morning. My favorites both finished 4th I believe. Paula Radcliffe had some problems and was dropped off the front group at mile 22ish. She has won the race three times already, and is likely the most dominant marathoner of the last decade. There were two really fast miles, I am not sure where at, but Ryan Hall was dropped off there and came in fourth still. Here is great news. American Meb Keflezighi was the first American to win there in 20 years I believe. And representing triathletes, Desiree Flicker placed 10th at 2:39:30, 10 minutes behind the winner. Amazing performance by her :)

I watched the first few miles and then went for a quick 4 miler to get 40 in this week. Here is the run:

4 miles

26:28 (6:37pace)

The run was amazing. Running from the High School to Hyvee I got sprinkled on and even for a few minutes there was a pretty significant downpour, and it was fantastic. This run puts me at 480 miles in the Vibrams, I will probably post pictures of the bottoms when I hit 500 or so.

I ran three with Barb this week on...Thursday and told her I have lost a lot of speed since my return, but can run much farther. The run mentioned above had my pace at a 20:30 5k, however my PR is just above 19 minutes and I would have difficulty breaking 20 at my current condition. Barb asked if it bothered me. I told her no, I am not training for a 5k, I am training to run a hundred miles in 24 hours and Boston in 3:09:59. Speed will come.

After that I drove home quick to see the parents and sign some papers for insurance. My home is a little farm house 10 miles out of a larger town. I love driving there because once I get off the interstate and onto the smaller roads everyone waves at you! It is the "hand on top of steering wheel, and raise two fingers" wave. There is a new adorable dog at the farm named Cow with one blue eye and one brown eye.

Well I am off to work now for a few hours and then I need to get crackin on some school work. I also need to write out everything I need to do in the upcoming week and month.

There is a lot of construction on campus these days. And whenever I see the guys working I cannot help but think....

Thanks for reading all

Kranz out