Running on the White Line

Episode 1 of Hopefully 5

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 15:10:00 +0000

A videographer named Ryan Rombough traveled to South Dakota from Salt Lake City to film this first episode to use a sort of pilot to pitch to Vibram. If they agree to help fund then we will film more episodes, including one at my Ironman, one at my Ultramarathon, one on training, and one on my nutrition. So if you don't mind, and like the video maybe pass it on, leave a comment, or go the Vibram's facebook page and like the link they post. Hopefully with enough views, likes, or comments they will more likely help fund the project. Without their help it is unlikely the other videos will happen.

Thanks all!

-Kyle

A Peak Into My Diet

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 14:38:00 +0000

As a raw plant based athlete, I get many questions about what I actually eat. I thought it would be interesting for anyone wondering, and for myself, to keep track and lay out what I do actually eat.

Normally I do not count calories and watch what I eat. In my opinion my diet is very solid and as long as I am sticking to the vegan diet I basically have allowed myself to eat as much as I have wanted. However with my Ironman fast approaching and the ultra a month after that I have made it a point to watch my intake a bit. My goal is to lose a pound a week up to the ultra.

On my iPod Touch I use a program called Lose It!. The application is easy to use and has a food data base that is very respectable, also there is no need to be on wifi to use it. The app takes my current body measurements, activity, and goals to give me a caloric budget each day. With my height, age, weight, and activity level I have a budget of 1,861 calories. Take for example Sunday July 18: My budget is 1861 to lose 1 pound a week. Now I ate 2134 calories that day, and exercised about 632. So my net calories were 1502, or 359 under budget. Lets say at the end of the week I was 3600 calories under budget, that would give me a 2 pound weight loss for the week.

Here is a three day diet recall to show you some examples of my days.

7-16-10

Breakfast
5 Banana
1 Avocado
1 Plum
2 Peach

Lunch
1 Banana
3 Plout
1 Small Salad

Exercise
10 Mile run
2 Tbsp Milled Chia

Dinner
4 Banana
1 Raisin Serving
1 Large Salad
4 Prune

7-17-10

Breakfast
1 Banana
2 Apple
1 Raisin Serving
2 Sprouted Buckwheat Tbsp
1 Ground Flax Seed

Exercise
3 mile run
53 mile ride
2 Larabar
4 Milled Chia Tbsp

Post Ride
1 Avocado
3 Cantaloupe Cups
2 Banana
1 Footlong Veggie
1 Baked BBQ Lays

Dinner
1 Large Salad w/ Avocado
3 Banana
1 Plouts
1 Raisin Serving
1 Peach

7-18-10

Breakfast
1 Apple
3 Banana
1 Peach
1 Plum
1 Avocado

Lunch
1 Large Salad w/ Avocado
2 Cantaloupe Cups
1 Peach
2 Plouts

Exercise
5.5 Mile run

Dinner
Large Salad
2 Raisin Serving
2 Cantaloupe Cup
2 Banana

I plugged that last day into www.FitDay.com and it gave me a very similar calorie count to Lose It!, around 2100 for the day. That coupled with the 5.5 mile run puts me just under my budget. Looking at vitamins and minerals, I was over 100% in everything except B12(8%), D(3%), Calcium(54%), and Selenium(38%). Most of them were far over 100% and many approaching two or three hundred. I do take Vit D3 pills, not because I am a vegan, but I believe most people should. I have read a column from a dietitian in Texas who tested low Vit D levels. I would easily bet half of the people here in South Dakota are low.

One thing I would like to try to implement is mono meals. This would be to eat one type of fruit at a meal instead of 4 or 5. So simply bananas or cantaloupe instead of my breakfast fruit salad of 2 apples, 1 banana, 1 raisin, flax, buckwheat, and whatever else such as sliced up plum, strawberry, or kiwi. A mono meal would be much easier and simpler to prepare. Of course I would not do that all the time but once in a while I would like to try to get those into my day.

Recently I read a distinction between being vegan and plant based. I never thought about this before but this person talked about herself being plant based. She talked about how her diet is vegan but her lifestyle is not. She does not mind leather purses or couches for example. I do not have a leather purse, but do not have a problem with hunting as it's done in a respectful way. Here in South Dakota the vast majority of hunters have respect for the animals and environment in which they live. They make a kill and will consume that dear or elk themselves. I obviously do not agree with the consumption of meat, but if it is to be done this is the best way.

The most common question asked when on a vegan diet is "Where do you get your protein from" Well here is the answer, from my friend and fellow raw athlete Tim VanOrden. Check out his other videos if you want, he's a really cool guy!

Thanks for reading everyone!

Vibrams at 700 Miles.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 20:11:00 +0000

Here is an update on how the Vibrams are doing. They have 700 miles on them as of today, and other then the small hole developing are in pretty good shape.

Looking at that hole, I am a bit worried about the shoes making it to the Ultra. I know they will be retired afterwards for sure. Unfortunately I will have no money to spend on a new pair between the IM and Lean Horse since I still need to actually register for that 100 miler. That and I will need money for September rent, and will miss two weeks of work due to the Ironman road trip that I leave for in a few days.

So I started taping them up as of today : (

At least once Desi and I leave for the road trip my running will be down to a minimum, which will add a bit of life to the Vibrams. And after the IM I will not be running a lot either, so it's all good. Notice my Vibram FF tanlines :)

Here is my previous pair at 750 miles. Those did a lot more indoor running though, and made it past 800 when I decided to retire them. They could have kept going but I simply wanted a new pair and got these.
I am considering purchasing a different pair of minimalist shoes after the ultramarathon, instead of Vibrams. There are many options out there so I have plenty to look into. But then again, I really love the VFF as well. We will see, but that point is a month and a half away still.

You know you have reached race weight when you can no longer pump your bike tires up to 110 PSI by yourself.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 14:08:00 +0000

The Ironman is just 17 days away, and it's 8 days until I leave for the road trip to Cali with my beautiful girlfriend Desi :) I am SOOO excited! Much more so for the road trip and to finally spend time with my girlfriend then the actual race itself :p

I have been thinking about what goggles I want to wear during the Ironman and both pairs I own have advantages and disadvantages. The TYR Speed Sockets have a good gold tint, but being sweedish goggles would not feel great if I were hit in the face, even slightly. The other pair are a pair of Speedos. I can see through them better and they have a bit of tint, but my nose started to hurt between them. I would like to use the Speedos but will have to give them a bit more swim time to decide.

Latex Tubes are something I want to look into as well. Apparently they decrease the rolling resistance of the tire they are in, thus increasing your speed dramatically. Unfortunately they are about twice the cost of regular butyl tubes. But there is a very real speed increase from their use. There may be about a 5 watt savings using them, which comes out to roughly 20 seconds in a 40k time trial. If I did not have one or two spare butyls laying around I would probably purchase a couple of latex ones and swap them in. Next year, for sure. Don't let me forget!

I did 16 last week at a really slow 11:30ish pace. Every mile I would walk for 2 minutes or so minutes, most of the time the walking coincided with going up a hill. This is common practice in ultra marathons, to walk every now and then on a semi regular basis. When I was running, it was at a pace that I could easily hold even with my mouth closed, somewhere around 120-130 beats per minute, pretty slow pace. It felt great though! Really, really good. I was done and totally felt like I could do it again, no problem. That was a faster pace, but similar style to what I plan on doing for the ultramarathon. A 24 hour 100 mile ultra is a 14:24 pace. I may go out at a 13 ish pace and hold that for as long as I can. If I do 50 at a 13 pace that will give me 50 more miles to run at about a 16 minute mile, to finish in under 24 hours, which is kind of my goal.

My grocery list when I go to Walmart is pretty much purely fruit and vegetables. A couple weeks ago the cashier, who is a friend of mine made a comment. She said "You know, whenever you buy all this fruit and vegetables, you make everyone else look bad." I thought for a second and replied, "No, everyone else never buying fruit and vegetables just makes me look so good!"

Here is my race rig. Other then bar tape she is pretty much ready to ride :)

The two more important things when participating in endurance sport are pacing, and nutrition. I have discussed what I plan to do nutrition wise for the Ironman, and here is my pacing strategy. I would like to do a 7 hour bike, but I'm not going to to fuss about speed. More importantly is the heart rate I will be riding at, since that gives a look into my effort. As long as I can keep my effort under control I am set for a solid run. A good race comes from a good run, which comes from a smart bike. If you think you had a good bike, but expired on the run, you had a bad bike leg.

Someone once said; "The Ironman run course is littered with fit dudes walking and talking about what a great bike split they had. Don't join them."

My purpose is not to compete with any of the athletes at the event but myself. However having a nice easy bike will hopefully allow me to pass the athletes that did not eat the paste and exercise their patience on the bike.

I have picked up a sponsorship from a really cool company, Nature's Chemistry. They call their chia seed Running Food, and there website can be found HERE.

They are the largest chia supplier, milling, and packaging operation in the US. They have specialty milling capability to mill chia in all different mesh sizes and for all different applications. Their cold fracture milling process is a proprietary process that does not apply any significant pressure of heat that could effect the nutritional factors of the chia. They also have a high volume oil processing cold press operation that produces Liquid Gold Chia Oil. They blend chia flour into smoothie mixes, meal replacements, and pre-bake mixes

From their website; The Running Food is packaged and distributed by Nature's Chemistry. The equipment they use to mill the chia is only used to mill the chia, so there is no risk of contamination. They also work with fifth generation chia farmers in Bolivia. Running Food is traceable from the fields to the customer.

Their mission is to "Bring only the purest chia to our customers in the most environmentally responsible way possible. Nature's Chemistry is dedicated to products that purify our bodies and packaging that won't damage our planet."

Nature's Chemistry is really cool in that they have a paperless work environment and use bio compostable packaging.

I have never used the milled chia until they sent me some samples and I really like it. I often put ground flax on my salads but have never done so with chia seeds because of the texture. However the chia flour goes well on the salads and in my fruit or vegetable smoothies. Also when training and racing Chia has been my main choice for fuel. The milled chia goes through the bottles better compared to the seeds, but still gelatinizes like the whole seeds do, so it is pretty smooth still.

This is completely off subject but I'm considering moving to Barbados after school. That way I would almost certainly be guaranteed a slot on their Olympic triathlon team and maybe the marathon as well. I'm also fairly confident I could win their national time trial championship, and maybe the road race.

My training has been pretty mellow this summer, but I'm really liking that. I have only been doing about 40mpw on the run, and two rides and maybe two times in the pool each week. Like I have said before, I am not going to get stronger during the month or two before my event. Two things can possibly happen. I can wear myself out from too much training, or maintain fitness and stay healthy with a more modest amount.

In the next few weeks I will be doing even less running. Studies have shown that when injured (not saying I am injured) cycling or an elliptical type workout is nearly as effective at helping you maintain run fitness as actually running for a period of time. That week of road trip before the IM I may get a few miles of running in, probably more walking to tell the truth. I am not concerned though, my training is just on coast right now and I'm enjoying the ride.

Here are a couple pics from my ride yesterday with Johney. It was either test our luck with going through a road blocked off for construction or adding way more miles then we were prepared to go. I gave the last quarter or so of my water and chia mixture to Johney since he was running low and both of us were getting pretty hungry.

I am so proud of Johney! His first year of really riding and he averaged 16mph for 43 miles! It was a very up and down ride, many steeper climbs. Kudos to him :)

Well Desi and I leave on the 22nd. I am not sure how much internet access and/or time I will have to do any updating before the IM so this may be it. I plan on taking lots of pictures along the way so hopefully I have plenty to show and tell :)

Later everyone!

50 Ways to Identify a Triathlon Obsession

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:59:00 +0000

I found this on a forum, not sure the source though.

50. You are over 30 and there is still someone in your life that you refer to as “coach”.
49. Your last bike cost more than your first car.
48. You have peed outdoors more times in the last year than you did in your first year of university.
47. You think of mowing the lawn as a form of cross-training.
46. You’ve worn a heart-rate monitor to bed.
45. And it wasn’t when you were sleeping.
44. You refer to the front hall of your house as the “transition area”.
43. When you get home from a training session at the pool, the newspaper is just being delivered to your house.
42. You have changed more flat tires this year than light bulbs.
41. The most frequently used software program on your computer is the one that keeps track of your workouts.
40. You have no idea why they call Cal Ripken Jr. “Iron Man” when, after all, he was a baseball player.
39. The first three items on your grocery list are Gatorade, power bars, and gels.
38. When you floss at night, it’s to get the bugs out of your teeth.
37. Your legs move in a cycling motion while you are asleep.
36. When you see a drop of blood, your first reaction is that you spilled some red Gatorade.
35. You know how far you biked and ran last year, to one-tenth of a mile.
34. You think the ultimate form of wallpaper is about 64 racing bibs.
33. A 19-year old kid who works in a bicycle shop knows more about you than your next-door neighbour.
32. Your children are more likely to recognize you if you put your bicycle helmet on.
31. You have a vanity licence plate with the word “Kona” in it.
30. About half the shirts you own have at least a dozen logos on the back of them.
29. You don’t find the word “fartlek” in the least bit amusing.
28. When you refer to your “partner”, you mean neither your spouse nor the co-owner of your business but the person you run or bike with three times a week.
27. You shave your legs more often than your wife.
26. The closest you came to punching somebody was when they disagreed with your position on whether wearing a wetsuit amounts to cheating.
25. It doesn’t feel right that you can’t “clip “ in and out of the pedals in your car.
24. There is a group of people in your life about whom you are more likely to know how fast they can swim 100 metres than their surnames or occupations.
23. Some of the shorts you wear today are tighter than the ones you wore in high school.
22. You are frustrated with the latest Garmin Forerunner because its live readings have a margin of error of approximately three per cent.
21. There’s a separate load of laundry every week that is just your workout clothes.
20. One of your goals this year is to be faster at getting out of your wetsuit.
19. You failed high school chemistry but you could teach a course on lactic acid.
18. All you want for Christmas is something called a carbon crank set.
17. You wore a digital watch to your wedding.
16. You have to have completely separate meals from your spouse because he or she is on a low-carb diet.
15. Your bicycle is in your living room. and bedrooms
14. You have stocked up on a brand of cereal because it has a coupon that will save you money on your next two pairs of running shoes.
13. In order to establish a new personal best, you considered peeing without getting off your bike.
12. One of your proudest moments is when you lost a toenail.
11. When a car follows too closely behind you, you accuse the driver of “drafting”.
10. When you went for a job interview, you wrote your social insurance number on your arm in black marker.
9. Your spouse cried during Terms of Endearment; you cried during the television coverage of the Hawaii Ironman.
8. You are comfortable discussing the sensitivity of your nipples with other guys.
7. Your spouse is looking forward to the day when you will slow down and just run marathons.
6. You have paused in front of the mirror in your wetsuit and thought, “Hey, I look like Spiderman.”
5. You see no issue with talking about treatments for chafing or saddle rash at the dinner table.
4. You recently asked your spouse out for dinner by asking if he or she wanted to “fuel up” together.
3. For you, “bonking” no longer has a sexual connotation.
2. The magazine secretly tucked under your mattress has pictures of really expensive bicycles in it.
And the No. 1 sign you’re obsessed:
1. Most of this list doesn’t seem like a joke to you.

I have 5 weeks to get my cycling under control. Then my only limiters will be my swimming and running.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 16:26:00 +0000

So I was sitting on my bed, eating raisins when it occurred to me that I was eating dried grapes, and that grapes are really expensive, and you are mostly paying for water. I thought to myself, "I wonder how many grapes are in a pound of raisins?" But let the thought slide. Then later that day I was with Johney and we actually put it to the test. What we discovered will blow your mind!

One serving is 1/4th cup or 40 g of raisins, which comes out to 60-70 raisins. There are 17 servings in the 1.5 pound of raisins I bought. That's 725 raisins in a single pound! I paid 3 bucks for 1100 dried grapes! That is just mind blowing, I would have said there was maybe 500 raisins in that container, not over a thousand. You get what, 30 grapes in a pound for $1.50. I got 550 for that price. AND most of the water was removed, so I'm getting more grape then you do when you buy grapes.

Mind blowing, I know.

Here is my breakfast most mornings. I use a food chopper to chop up an apple into small pieces. Next I mix in about a tablespoon of natural peanut butter, a table spoon of ground flax seed, and I sprinkle on some sprouted buckwheat. Then maybe I slice up a couple strawberries and a banana to put on top. Sooo much better tasting then oatmeal, which I used to think was amazing. Not any more.

I am going to let go of my ego for a moment and show you all my post ride picture:

All the more reason to make sure I wear a helmet. Which I lost for two weeks. I found it behind my wetsuit actually. And do not worry, the beard has been trimmed.

Speaking of the wetsuit, a couple weeks ago I did a test run. I had not swam in it since summer of 2008 at my Half Ironman. Thursday night I got it wet so hopefully it would soak up a bit of water. Over time they dry out and shrink. Anyway I fasted from 6:00pm before the group ride until 9am after a 5 mile run. Ate, went to clean out the old apt, and then went to the pool.

I was hoping to get 2.4 miles in, just to see how it felt. Unfortunately I bailed at 54 laps :( The swimming was totally fine, no problem with that. However I likely did not soak the suit long enough, so it was tighter then I remember. That or my chest is getting buff, that's actually probably the problem. Also the 100+ flip turns were a killer on my head. I get car sick easy sometimes and in the past have even gotten that same feeling from flip turns if I do a really long swim session. During the open water swim this will not be an issue, so no worries. That and the wetsuit will be soaked longer so hopefully fit a bit better. 54 laps and there were no hot spots from the suit rubbing, which is excellent. Even though I ran into problems and quit before I wanted, I am happy with the swim. Still, two or three weeks before the IM I would like to get a 2.4 mile swim in at the pool in the suit.

This last week was pretty slow, I actually only did two small days of training. Desi came to town for a few days so I took the Wed through Sunday off. It was a blast and good to see her for the first time in three months since she got back from Mexico. I stopped all training and let my diet slide a bit. We went out for food, have fun cooking at our apt, and I even had smores when she took me camping for my first time ever. I subbed in peanut butter for chocolate and it may have even tasted better! My normal diet is vegan and pretty raw, but we had spaghetti with my parents, the left overs the day after, some chinese, ect. With the extra food and the lack of exercise I weighed in about 7 pounds more then what I have been. This can easily be attributed to water weight since the day after getting back into training I was down a bit over a pound, and the next day I was down another four. Now I'm back under 150.

Recently it came to me that because I am a vegan I actually eat a larger variety of food then if I did not care and ate as much animal products, gluten, grain, cake, or processed crap as I wanted. I can't just eat the regular meat and potatoes dinner, or the same sandwiches or breakfast items. When I go to the grocery store, out to eat, or even to prepare something at home I have to be creative sometimes. When I became a vegetarian my diet variation improved. And it improved further when I recently became a vegan. I eat things I never would have thought of or looked into five years ago. It is interesting to think that because I have completely cut out animal products and almost completely cut out grains that I my diet has grown so much.

It is really horrible that the race is 5 weeks out and I just rode my race bike for the first time yesterday. The shifter piece I need arrived a few days ago. I posted a (Want To Buy) thread at beginner triathlete.com saying what I'm looking for. A member sent me a msg saying he has the piece. I asked how much and he said the cost of shipping it will be enough. That amazed me since I have come to the conclusion it would cost me 30 bucks for the single piece or 50 for the set, and he is sending it to me for what, 10 dollars? I give him my addy and he mails it off. He decides he does not need the shipping pays for. That's right, this guy sent me a piece that I expected to pay 30 dollars for, for free!

I am not entirely sure what I am going to do with my IM nutrition. Since my current training nutrition does not include any type of Gatorade sports drink or GU type gels, I would prefer not to consume them during the event. In the past I have done a 26 mile run on nothing but chia seeds and apples. Also the the 26.2 mile warm up for the Brookings Marathon was done with nothing but Lara Bars. So I know the two calorie sources work just fine for me, plus Lara Bars taste amazing.

300 calories an hour is the rough guideline for such an event, since that's about all most people can comfortably stomach when cycling and running. The bike course is two laps, and lets say I'm on each lap for 3 or 3.5 hours. I can do about 200 calories of Chia Seed per bottle. After one bottle is gone I can take water from the aid stations. Along with the seeds, 3 LaraBars come to about 600 calories, probably a bit more. Apple Pie flavor is 190kcals, Banana Bread is 230kcals, Cherry Pie is 200kcals. That's a bit over 1000 cals, which should work out just fine.

At T2 I will likely have another couple Lara Bars and maybe my Amphipod with some water and chia in it. The run is 3 laps so if Desi would be so kind, she could hand me a couple things during the marathon. I also thought for a bit of flavoring I could put Habiscus Punch tea in with the chia seeds in the bottles. That flavor tastes amazing so will likely be welcome during the IM.

It is funny but I have not even completed my two A races of the year and I'm already looking forward to next season. I can remember back to last winter and I was all excited to be running a ton of miles this summer, and I have only done about half the training that I was hoping for. The biggest part of this was my injury at the beginning of the year and me simply feeling I should be taking it light this summer to avoid any more injuries. This approach will help me in the long run for next year since I have gotten a good base in this season. After the Ultra I will likely do the Jack 15 out and back, and then take a couple weeks off before getting back into training during this fall. Someone once said that ultra running and triathlon are winter sports that are merely played out in the summer. I think I have realized this now. There is no point in me running too much right now as I am not going to get stronger five weeks before the IM or the month between that and Lean Horse. I can only hurt myself.

With taking this summer lighter then I thought will be more ready for this off season, when the training really matters. Bret at ZenTri has done a schedule where he does two weeks of hard running followed by a week of light running with more cycling and swimming added in. This allows for a week of recovery for your running legs and gets some extra cycling and swimming in there to help maintain that fitness. This may be a setup that will work well this fall and winter after the races come to a close.

Here's a picture of my Trek Y-Foil. The Scott Extreme bars feel good. I would like to get them a tiny bit lower and am still watching ebay for a stem to use. My neck was definitely feeling not riding in the aero position for a long time. It will be a bit until I put bar tape on to make certain that the cabling set up works and everything is where I want it to be. When not in the aero bars and holding on to the sides, it is not as bad as I thought. I can still stand and climb (not that I really ever do). Here's a view from above before it was complete:

Sorry for the long lag between posts. There have been days in the last few weeks that I did not even check my email. Kind of nice actually.

I'll leave you with Hanson's (yes, that Hanson) new single to their latest album. It's actually really great and I hope you enjoy it.

Burn Fat not Fuel

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 31 May 2010 14:47:00 +0000

I am doing a training format experiment with my summer and year. As far as future goals go, each year I would like to do one ultramarathon, one shorter ultra/or marathon, and one long course triathlon that is preferably an Ironman. That is a nice even spread I believe. A short prep race at the beginning of the summer such as a marathon, 12 hour race, or 50 miler. Then two long course races at the middle and end. This year I have the Ironman at the end of July and the ultra four weeks later at the end of August. As far as training goes I would like to keep it mainly ultramarathon specific. This year I am testing to see if ultra training along with 2 or 3 months of heavy swimming and cycling on top of the running is enough to carry me through an Ironman. A Kona qualification is not something I have any desire to seek in the immediate future. I simply do not want to put that much time into cycling and even less desire for the swim. I want to do them to the best of my ability, but I'm not shooting for spots. After that IM race I would stop the swimming and cycling. During the winter I would probably do some swimming but it's unlikely I would incorporate any cycling into my schedule. I would like to eventually become competitive or at least get some nice places at some of the lower key ultras. Take it one step above the "just finish strong" approach that I sort of have for the Ironman races and actually compete for spots. This will probably take 5-10 years but given my youth I can hopefully make that happen. Eventually once school is out I would like to go to some of the larger races as well.

This was the first week that I incorporated a low glycogen training session into my schedule. There are a few ways I have heard to do so. The first is complete your workout as you normally would. Next instead of a recovery meal wait an hour or two and go out for a short and easy 3-6 mile run. That first workout along with the two hours will usually be enough to deplete most or all of your glycogen stores. Thus for the second workout your body must work towards using fat as fuel. If you look at elite or pro level endurance athletes you will see that their bodies are actually more efficient at sparing glycogen and using more fat. This is an excellent skill to have since you only have about 2,000 calories of glycogen in your body, stored in your liver and muscles, while you can easily have 80,000 calories of fat to use.

A second way to "train low" so you can "race high" is after a late day workout, fast until the end of the next morning's training. This is the approach I did. The previous recommendation just takes up too much time with two sessions. I did a few hours of riding and then the next morning did a half hour of rowing and a half hour on a stationary bike. No lie, the last 15 minutes on the bike were kinda tough.

The third way that I recently heard about is to eat a good recovery meal after your workout and finish the day like you normally would. Then all of the next day and up until your morning workout a day later, only have water. That seems the most difficult since you are going 24 or 36 hours with no food. Where I went 15 without food and I was asleep for most of it.

One other good point that this type of training makes, is it really really sucks. That short easy workout while you are depleted of glycogen is kind of crappy. It is also training to get you a bit more used to that feeling.

Whatever way you do this, many athletes incorporate this into their weekly training. Along with the hopefully speed/distance increase that more efficient fat utilization will bring, there is a not so obvious way this will make you faster.

Simply eating less.

Boom, the easiest and cheapest way to go faster.

Your frontal profile is smaller if you weigh less, so you will be more aerodynamic. Also flexibility and ability to get into a better aero position will be improved with weight loss. Weighing less will allow you to climb hills faster when cycling and running. Also decreasing drag in the water. While the vast majority of triathlons are generally pretty flat, marathons usually consist of some hills. And when you get into ultramarathons many of those are excessively hilly.

Torbjorn Sindballe is a ogre of a man hailing from Denmark, and nicknamed Thunderbear. The man could eat me. He's 176 pounds and stands 6'4, huge for an elite distance athlete. He has acceled at the IM distance but has had to overcome many issues due to his size. Other then being less aero when cycling and much heavier when running his major problem has been heat. He was one of the first elite triathletes to utilize arm coolers when racing. These are white arm sleeves or tops that reflect heat and wick moisture off of your skin. This type of clothing has been used in ultras for years, mainly during the Badwater race. This event goes from Badwater Basin, Death Valley at -282ft and ends at Mt. Witney at 8300ft. Temperatures over 120 F are not uncommon in the shade during this event. Instead of wearing as little as possible many athletes run covered in white cloth, using it's reflective properties.

Another way eating less food will make you faster is that with the money saved you can purchase new, cooler bike stuff. It of course depends on what you eat now and what you could be saving. But a wheel cover from www.WheelBuilder.com is only 100 dollars. It would not take long for food money to add up to that. If any triathlete ever asks how to make their bike faster for the lowest amount of money, this is usually top three.

It is very frustrating seeing cyclists outside who I do not know. I wish there was a way I could get a hold of them so we could get together for group rides. Most Tue and Thursdays there are rides, but these guys have no idea. I see them ride by on main when I sit inside Cottonwood Coffee or when I'm out for a run but can't really yell out HEY STOP!!.

This may have been mentioned in an earlier post. I have found that I am really good at just letting go. A very Tyler Durden/Zen Buddhist thing. Something does not go your way, it is in the past and there is nothing that can be done. Let it go, let it slide, let it be. You are wasting energy dwelling on the past when as Qui-Gon Jinn told Obi Wan, keep your concentration on the here and now.

Things always work out in the end. If things have not worked out, it's not the end. Almost everything you will ever fear in your life will never come true. Again, more wasted energy.

If you let go a little you will have a little bit of peace. If you let go a lot, you will have a lot of peace. If you let go completely, you will have complete peace.

When I awoke at 6am on Sunday it was raining and a bit windy outside, making the apartment with the windows open quite chilly. As I was standing in the kitchen looking down upon the main west-east street thinking how I could just go to the Wellness Center and jump on a stationary bike for three or four hours. I did not want to ride my borrowed bike in the rain. Usually things you ride being wet and dirty are good, but not in the case of road bikes. As I was contemplating how mentally draining three hours on a stationary bike would be, a runner goes by on the sidewalk below. "Ah shit" I think to myself. He did not know I was even watching, but still managed to tell me to HTFU. Since, as I am fond of quoting, "There is no such thing as bad weather, only soft people."

Then I realized it was a holiday weekend and I hate holiday weekends. First, not being much of a holiday person myself, I rarely celebrate. Second, holiday weekends mean local health clubs are usually closed. This is the main reason I depreciate holidays though. Luckily the weather cleared, so there was no HTFUing involved.

The ride was a super good one. It really stood out as very relaxing. I went north and west out of town to Oakwood lake, which I think may be a state park. I took some pictures:

And I found a campfire

And this is the Bruce hill. Going up it sucks. Going down it, sometimes we play the fatman race. Everyone gets one pedal stroke down the hill and then coasts.

I also almost ran over a fish too! You are lucky I did not snap a picture of it though! The fish was half rotted and laying on a gravel road :p Yeah, I did some off roding. People think roadies have to stay on pavement but sometimes it's fun to downshift and spend some time on gravel, going where no roadie has gone before...

And finally, here is the bike I have been borrowing this week since the Y-Foil is being worked on:

I'm so grateful that she offered to borrow the bike to me, since it was just hanging in her garage. She has since updated to a 2009 Madone. It is really nice to be on a road bike again, mainly for the multiple options it offers me for my hand. However I feel like a huge noob for a number of reasons. Mainly I do not have my pedals on the Pilot, so am riding in my Brooks ST4 running flats. Second, there are giant reflectors and a dork disk on the rear wheel. Also you may notice the seat bag and slack geometry. If Kendra reads this, thank you so much for the bike and I am not sure what I would be doing without it since I have no money to get the part I need right now.

The blue and white pain does look really nice though, I am digging that.

I asked a friend who is also a raw vegan runner for some suggestions on easier ways to get calories in. He recommended Avocados and sprouted buckwheat. Luckily I LOVE an avocado with some cayenne pepper sprinkled on it, and a single one has upwards of 250 calories. That evening I also took a trip to Hyvee and purchased some raw buckwheat. The buckwheat was soaked in a jar in my kitchen for 20 minutes and then placed on a pizza pan and spread out between two damp dish towels. The next morning and later that evening the towels were dampened again. The next morning, this is what I had:

They have a really great nutty taste, very good. The sprouts can be put into pretty much anything. I have put them into pasta, salads, and my morning apple/banana/peanut butter/flax mixture, which I may take a picture of and show you next week. Being about 600 cals for a cup of these suckers, they are a very efficient and healthy way to add fuel to my day.

Here's the new art being put up at Cwood. This photographer is in here all the time. He may be retired and use this place as his "office" where he does whatever he does. I had no idea he did this though. So far what he has up is very good.

I'm going to head out for a bike ride and maybe a short brick run afterwards. Peace out all :)

Post Marathon Thoughts and Ironman Training. Why suck at one sport when I can now suck at three?

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Tue, 25 May 2010 02:48:00 +0000

Well, for if you are looking for the cliff notes: I ended up doing the two marathons in 9 hours, 50 minutes, and 55 seconds. The run went well and I am happy with the outcome, here's the long version:

Friday night Johney, Barb, and myself went to Robin Hood at the theater. The movie was pretty good, I like long flicks and this was 2.5 hours I believe. Definitely recommend it. After that I went home and slept for a couple hours before getting up at 1:30AM to head to the marathon start.

The first 26 was pretty uneventful. I only took a couple wrong turns but got back on course pretty easily. I spent the time listening to Zen and the Art of Triathlon and Urban Dharma podcasts. I did this one in a bit under 5 hours.

During the first marathon my right IT band actually did start to nag a little bit for the last six miles. This is likely due from running so slow. After the start of the actual marathon when my pace was a bit higher the IT pain went away.

I am honestly disappointed that I ran the second marathon so slow. What I mainly took away from this training run was that I need to learn to go through pain better. I held a 9:20ish pace for the first 13 miles almost, and wish I could have just HTFU and kept at it. You simply need to keep running. It hurt much more to stop and walk, but all I wanted to do was take a break from the running. I would probably have finished a half hour sooner if I could have just pushed through it. A 5 hour marathon is about 11:25 per mile, and if I was doing, lets say 9:45 to mile 13 that shows you how much my pace dropped from the short bouts of walking put in there.

It is hard to train for that though. That was the first time I have ever seriously felt like that. I need to run not only through the first wall, but the second and third as well. I am not entirely sure how to simulate that in training.

The sleep deprivation was nice though. Other then the 2.5 hour nap after the movie I was awake for 19 hours before the start of my first marathon at 1:30 AM. 10 hours later I was done running, and I did not go to bed until 9 or 10 that night. I never actually felt tired when running, but I'm sure it made an impact, however slight.

The only part of the run that I really felt "oh man this kind of sucks" was at was mile 13. It was at this point that I was pretty isolated. Also when I realized I was only half way done with marathon number two and still had a 13 miles to go!

My feet came out of it just fine. There was some blood from the seams on the inside right behind the big toe, as seen by the blood on the outside of the shoe:

And here's a shot of the skin:

Pretty awesome I know.

They never hurt during the run though. And not a single blister, amazing :) I know after 10 hours of running if I were in regular shoes they would likely have been much worse off.

A quick note on my nutrition. Everything with this went fairly well I think. During the first marathon I ate a Larabar every 4 or 5 miles and drank water when thirsty. I ate another bar and a few pieces of fruit between marathons. During the second one I only drank a small cup of Gatorade at each aid station. I never felt like I was short on calories. The Larabars were sooo good.. Oh wow I'm going to use them at all my races. One of the difficult things about races is that often you just do not feel hungry. They taste so good though, I don't think not wanting to eat one will be much of a problem.

Afterwards and the next day nothing really hurt. I was just overly tired, everywhere. My right back would sting a bit if I inhaled too deeply, but that's about it. Also during the run my forearms really started to feel bad. Two marathons worth of holding my hands up took their toll. Also the left hurt a bit more then the right, since the Garmin was on that side.

While I am a bit disappointed with myself during the last 13 miles of the run, I am grateful that I finished. Mainly because before this run I did not even have 400 miles yet this year. The few weeks before the marathon I was worried about injuries popping up. That was about the only thing I saw stopping myself from at least finishing the two marathons.

I have also been almost completely raw for the last month. This means a vegan diet of almost exclusively uncooked fruits and vegetables. People are amazed that I ran two marathons. Then they see that I ran them in Vibrams and are in disbelief. And finally they find out I am a vegan and cannot fathom how I am alive.

Here's some examples of my diet. Breakfast is often a mixture of an apple chopped up in a food chopper, a little peanut butter, some ground flax seed, and a cut up banana. Mmmmm soo good. Sometimes I will just sit down and eat half a cantaloupe or a third of a watermelon. Fruit salads are amazing, with apple, pear, banana, grapes, strawberries, etc. Or regular vegetables salads, I have one or two of those a day as well. Fruit smoothies are tasty and you can make tons of variations. The only times I don't eat raw is the occasional Subway at work. Or Johney and I had a cheeseless large pizza at Pizza Hut last week. That is really awesome by the way, and cutting out the cheese takes away all that grease that I usually would try to remove with napkins anyway :p

Honestly I have never felt better in my life. This last month has been the happiest I can remember. Like I said in a previous post, everything is just coming together. My diet, my training, and my life. Each morning I am up at 6AM. Working 30-35 hours each week. Training. Desi is wonderful and coming back to the states soon. I Am Feeling AMAZING. It's just hard to explain, I am so happy right now.

Just a few days ago my parents came to town so we could work on some financial aid stuff for school. My father is always worried or concerned about money. Money money money. Everyone needs it but no one has it. Each time I see him he asks me when I'm going to be done with school. Each time I tell him that next year will be my final undergrad year and then graduate school after that. He always goes on to say how much money that will cost and I better be making 50, 60, or 70 thousand after school. Dad basically told me that running and doing what I do is impressive, but it does not pay the bills. That I should stop doing so much training and...I don't know, does he want me to work more? Not training is not going to help me graduate sooner or prevent me from going to grad school.

I was a bit depressed for the rest of the day and some of the next day. But then realized that nothing is different. He still feels the way he does but my life is the same as it was a week ago and there is no reason his statements should make me feel worse then I did five minutes before he talked to me. So I'm back to feeling great :)

Now that the double marathon is over with I can start focusing on the Ironman. Vineman out in California at the end of July to be exact. I will be sticking to my regular run training but with the addition of some swimming and riding. At minimum I would like to add one three hour ride in each week. Speed or distance is of little importance to me. The time spent on the saddle is what matters, anything less than 3 hours is not going to do much in preparing my body for a 112 mile bike ride. As for swimming I would like to get three sessions in each week. I think the time in the pool will mainly be spent doing 100 repeats. The repeats are good since I still get the distance in but with the break between sets I do not fatigue. Once fatigue sets in that hinders a good stroke and good practice.

I have been trying to not think about how two marathons compares to an Ironman. Trust me there are many discussions about this on triathlon forums, and I have been avoiding them. I think an ultramarathon is more physically demanding then an Ironman, but the Ironman seems like it may be more...uncomfortable. That's not exactly the correct word. The IM will take longer, but it won't be as hard. You can bike an easy 112 miles, but you cannot really run an easy marathon. Running slow sucks more then fast running. But slow biking is nice, it's actually a rest or recovery. While slow running does not help with rest or recovery very well. We'll see.

Time to start adding swimming back into my routine now that the marathon is over with. It's been probably a month since I've been in the pool.

To quote Terry Laughlin:

To train effectively for distance races, you need to balance volume against intensity to manage the demands training places on your body. When you increase the volume of your training (both the weekly yardage total and the distance of repeats or sets), you have to compensate by reducing the intensity. This means your training will be more extensive than intensive. Moderate intensity works best for building your fitness base. It’s also best for developing habits of stroke length and fluency (the absence of struggle.)

As with swimming, biking, and running. Caballo Blanco said to go easy, light, and smooth. Once all that is in place, fast will come.

So this week I would like to get 40 miles of running, one three hour ride, three swims, and maybe one or two short bike rides in.

With the riding, my Y-Foil is out of action right now since I'm re-doing the cockpit and am missing a part. The brakes are good to go and the rear derailleur is working. But that front one is stuck in the pussy ring until I can get a new from shift lever. Kendra was gracious enough to borrow me her old roadie so I can use that for the training rides until I have enough money to purchase the part I need.

Here are a couple pictures of the new apt I have moved into:

Who needs furniture when you have bikes right? They were the first things I moved over. Now I have just about everything except the couch over there.

Here are a few pictures of my bike in progress as well:

I still wish I could have gotten the front end down lower. It has moved down a bit from the previous set up, but I could use more. That or switching to shorter cranks would allow me to raise the saddle a bit.

Ending with an article from Born to Run author Chris M, right here.

And this super cool commercial from Nike

5-12-10 Run Graph

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 12 May 2010 14:39:00 +0000

Here's the HR and Elevation profile from my run this morning. A few of us went to Larson hill and did repeats for 25 minutes and then did an easy mile and a faster mile back to the top of the hill. The hill tops out at around 17% but luckily it is very short! My avg HR for the 44 minutes was 175 bpm and we kept a pace of 7:18 minute miles, which I am really happy and shocked about honestly.

The first 3.5 miles were repeats, then 3.5 to 5 was an easy mile out on the bike course, and we finished with a faster mile on the way back in. This was one of maybe two runs I have done in the last four months that I averaged a HR above my lactate threshold.

Pre Marathon Thoughts

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Sat, 08 May 2010 05:14:00 +0000

There are two different types of runners that stand out in endurance sports. People that are either really crazy fast, or really crazy. I'm never going to be the fastest in the world, so I might as well do crazy stuff.

The marathon starts at 7am on the morning of May 15th. I would like to do the warm up in about 5 hours, which is a pace of 11:27 minutes per mile. This means I need to start by 2AM at the latest. The real challenge of the warmup will be holding back so I do not expire during the actual marathon. This will obviously include walking any of the ascents. Taking the time to walk a small "hill" will save me time and effort in the long run. I use the description term hill loosely here. Eastern South Dakota is generally pretty flat. The race stays in town and there is really only one significant incline, Larson Hill. Which is a 12% super short bump in the road. I have found that going down a hill is often more difficult then going up them.

For warm up nutrition I will be bringing a camel back with me since there will obviously be no sort of aid on the course whatsoever. In the bladder will simply be water. I like to consume chia seeds during my long runs but putting them inside a camel back would be a mess to clean. I will likely just have a small bag of them in a pocket and take a small amount every 5 or so miles. When I carry my Amphipod I usually take a small sip of (chia+water) ever mile so this will equal out. It will be very cool from 2 to 7 in the morning so I will not be sweating much. Also along the way I will likely chow down some LaraBars. Maybe two or three. Then after the warm up and before the marathon I will eat a couple of them.

Now that break between the warm up and the marathon is very tricky. There are few things that get more difficult after a break. Running is one of these rare circumstances when after a rest period the situation becomes substantially more laborious then it was before. I would like to arrive at the start with maybe a half hour to the beginning of the marathon. That will give me time to eat some LaraBars, drink some water, and perhaps change some clothes.

It is interesting but simply by not training as much and eating with no change my diet, there is carb loading being done. Way too often in the running and distance communities, you see people chowing down pasta the days or two before an event. I have made the same mistake. Well they will almost always be tapering at that time too, and have been for at least a week. During this time period their mileage decreases significantly. They are using less of their energy stores so will naturally be storing more. So these athletes who are stuffing their face with grain? Simply adding weight and GI stress before their race.

The weather has been less then favorable during the last week, and I have been seeing many cyclists, triathletes, and runners complaining about it on their facebook status'. There was even a chance for snow! Well I have been doing a bit of zen reading lately, and more and more I realize how it does fit my life philosophy. A big part of Zen is simply, letting it slide. There is a situation that is beyond your control and there is nothing you can do about that. Accept it, and things will improve. It is a very glass half full thing. There is a heaven and hell, and it's your life. You do not create the situation. You do create how the situation is perceived. You make your own heaven and hell.

Wishing and complaining about something is wasted energy. Being against something, disliking something, perhaps even hating something. Whatever that is, those feelings gives it power over you.

My bike had a mechanical at my favorite sprint triathlon last summer. I did not get angry or upset over it. It just is. Let it slide.

Another even larger and perhaps better example is my injury earlier this year. My right IT Band started acting up and I took some time off to let it heal. I believe the culprit was too many laps around a very short track with the corners. Well anyway my goal was to qualify for Boston at the marathon next weekend. Due to the injury BQ is out of the question. I could be upset about this but I really do not care. It just is, and there is nothing I can do about that. A new opportunity has arisen from the ashes. I have spent the last few months starting over with my running. The first weeks were something along the lines of 12 slow miles, total. Not just in one run, but in one week. I have learned about long slow running, and have become what I want. Now my focus and my energy is being steered towards true distance running.

One issue I have had since high school is not honestly knowing who I am. There are many chapters to this problem. Not knowing what I want to do in life. Not knowing how I want to dress. Not knowing my beliefs. Being stressed out. I feel that finally, in these last few weeks I am beginning to see through the curtains. Right now, at this very moment, I feel better than I have in a long time. Just...calm. When out on my runs I will sometimes sit down at my turnaround and just, take it all in. Or I am at Cottonwood Coffee right now, having walked here from my apartment. It is raining and quite cold, but the weather is calm and so am I. One thing I really enjoy doing, is simply walking slow.

Actually, now that I say that. Slowing down everything has been a big eye opener for me this year. With my swimming I started taking it easy. Jason Melby taught me that when you swim slower you will fatigue less. Doing so will keep your form correct for a longer amount of time. Doing so improves your swim. I have been running at a slower pace this year. That makes my chance of injury decrease significantly. Also that lets me run farther then I would normally be able to. Walking slowly as well. Instead of driving a car, or even riding your bike. Walking lets you take everything in. The sound of the birds, seeing squirrels running around, worms on the sidewalk, etc. Taking your time just opens you up to the miracles of life, the universe, and everything.

There is a form of meditation called Meditative Eating that is similar to what I am talking about. It works like this:
   First, really notice the piece of food in front of you. Feel it with your fingers, or how hard it is when you poke it with a fork. Or see the colors with your eyes. Most food is very interesting if you take the time to look at it.
   Now how do you feel. Hungry, bored, tired. Just feel the feeling.
   Think about how the food got to your plate. What did you do? Where did the item come from before you purchased it? All the way back to when it was planted as a seed.
   Next consider what had to take place for the food to exist. Sun, water, earth, air.
   Finally put the food in your mouth and experience it. Texture, taste, smell. With all our technology we cannot create something as sensitive as your sense of taste and smell.

Well I am going to walk back home. I do not really have a good ending for this post. It stopped raining out and the sun might make an appearance. School is out now and I am excited to start on some summer projects.

Mainly running, learning, and relaxing :)

Refurbished 3rd generation iPod Touch 8GB - What do You Get?

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Thu, 06 May 2010 16:55:00 +0000

The Ipod Touch is the holy grail among portable music players. Everyone wants one but with the price tag people are often steered away.

I wanted one for multiple reasons. First this last year was super busy, and especially the last semester. I realized I had three schedule books. One for work in my phone, one for classes in a schedule book, and one for training in my training diary. I very rarely use my phone other then schedules anyway. So I went ahead and put my work schedule into the calendar on the Touch. I found a good way to make a ToDo list and that seems to work well. The training schedule will obviously stay in the diary mainly, but I can still put a run or bike on the calender.

Another reason was that getting into the summer I will be doing longer runs and bikes. The same few hundred songs get old really fast! I have been listening to some podcasts lately but on the iPod Shuffle I have it is a bit difficult. My favorite podcast right now is from www.Zentriathlon.com. You can download them for free at the iTunes store. Also the Zencast ones are free from the store as well and very good. I would also like to start listening to audiobooks while out training, but those cost cash. If I can find some for free somewhere that would be super cool.

At www.Walmart.com they list the third generation 8GB model at 178.54 with free site to store shipping to your local Walmart. Now with that you get earphones and the data cable. You are going to want a case as well, which run $15 to $20 dollars, and screen protectors that are around $6.

That totals about $200. This is interesting because if you walk into a Walmart the unit alone will be $199. But if you are willing to wait a week, it's twenty dollars less online!

Now if 200 is still a bit much for you, the next go to is www.Ebay.com. I had an initial goal to get a refurbished 8GB Touch for $120. After some time I realized that this would be a great challenge. I decided that upping my limit to $130 would be acceptable since the cost of a new one is still $200.

This ended up working out very well as I won a third generation iPod Touch 8GB for $127.50 from Electronic-Seller-1. This seller has nearly 22,000 feedback with a positive rating of 99.7%. Now purchasing any not new electronic item (or any item really) is a bit of a risk. These are listed as not used, but refurbished. They claimed

"This is a 3rd Generation Apple iPod Touch (The Newest Model Touch) in Grade A Condition (This means that the Screen is in Perfect Condition with no Scratches or Marks at all, Back may have some very minor Marks) Comes in the Original Apple Acrylic Case"

And this is exactly what I received. The back was just slightly scratched, as you can see from the picture below:

The front is the important part though, and the seller claims there were no scratches. True to their word the front screen was flawless. Any of the marks you see are from the screen protector.

Now along with the unit itself, you need the essentials.

Screen Protector
Case
Charger
Earphones

And this came with the data cord and 2nd generation earbuds in the original Apple case, which all units come with. However it also came with a screen protector and a rubber case which would have to be bought separately.

So overall I cannot say anything wrong with this auction and unit. I won the iPod on a Sunday and it arrived Wednesday! Wow! Excellent packaging and shipping speed.

I also jumped on www.Amazon.com and picked up some accessories for the iPod.

Now I have not received this yet, but the first order was:

For $5.00 shipped! That's another case, an arm band, a screen protector, earphones, data cord, car adapter, and wall adapter!

Also since the earphones that came with the iPod are not the ones with the mic and controls on the cord I wanted my own just for the mic. I have heard horror stories about how the new Apple earphones freeze up and stop functioning during to sweat. I picked up these:

They have many good reviews and for seven dollars you can't beat that.

In review, for $139.5 I got:

3rd Generation iPod Touch
3 sets of earphones
2 screen protectors
2 cases
2 data cords
1 arm band
1 car charger adapter
1 wall charger adapter

At Walmart that would all cost....oh boy I'm going to make a rough guess and go with $300.00 minimum.

So if you are looking to upgrade or want something new and the price scares you away, don't be scared away from a refurbished iPod Touch!

RAW Zucchini Pasta Dinner

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Sun, 02 May 2010 04:26:00 +0000

This was sooo cool! Above is a RAW pasta dinner that I made tonight :) Here are the ingredients:

Zucchini

Green Onion

Radishes

Jalopeno

Black Olives

Mushrooms

Sauce

All I did was julienne slice the zucchini into 4 to 6 inch long thin strips. Next I sliced and cut up a bit of green onion, a little bit of a jalopeno, a few black olives, and a mushroom. I heated the sauce up a little in the microwave and BAM! Raw spaghetti!

The texture of the zucchini noodles is very similar to that of whole wheat pasta, maybe a bit more crunch if there's some skin. With all the sauce and veggies you can't taste wheat, quinoa, or rice noodles anyway. So the extra taste from the zucchini is a bonus!

Gluten free, raw, tons of veggies. And maybe 150 calories less then using grain noodles.

Pretty much love it

Only by risking going to far, can I find out how far I can truly go.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 03:48:00 +0000

I feel like there is so much I want to say, but I have so much school work to do that I should not be on blogger!

Last Sunday, in prep for the Brookings' Marathon, David and I ran 20 miles of the route. Here's the course we did:

Yeah it's all over the place, they do a 26.2 mile run in a town of something like 12,000 people so it's pretty condensed.

Here is my heart rate to speed chart:

Due to cardiac drift, staying at the same speed, my HR does increase slightly. We did an 8:20 pace at an avg HR of 147 for 20 miles. It was never a hard pace, but I could tell at mile one that my legs did not feel as good as they did during my previous 20 and 18 mile runs.

I got dog poop on my right calf. Thankfully I am not a barefoot runner. David and I stopped at mile 16 or something to check our map. We did some stretching and I peed on a tree, stepping in dog poop while doing so. It was a big light brown glob, pretty gross right. I even got some on my calf while stretching. so I tried to wipe it off with a leaf but the poop stayed right there. Good story right? Thanks come again.

Ok. I have a marathon in 15 days, 8 hours, 17 minutes, and 5 seconds as of writing this, and I have no idea how I am going to go about doing it. Qualifying for Boston is out of the question. On race day I will not even be at 400 miles for the year. This is due to an injury I sustained early in 2010 caused by, I believe, too much counter clockwise running on a short track. There been success in that I am currently running injury free. However to do so I have been running very slow, and only recently getting into mileage I like.

I mean, I do not run very many miles at the moment, and really have never really averaged a high weekly mileage. But when I do go run, it's usually pretty far. Like I have to do a half marathon before it qualifies as a "medium run" and I have to hit at least 18 before I feel like I have done a long run. So a 26.2 mile run is not that bad. Yeah it's a struggle, but still, come on.

Just a bit, I feel almost bad for saying that a marathon is not much of a challenge.

Now I could still try to run it as fast as I could. I'm fairly certain I could hit 3:30, and even 3:20 if I really wanted to. But I really don't care. It was Boston or bust, as they say. But now that it's bust, I'm honestly not very interested in going as fast as I can.

I want this to be hard.

When the end is reached, I want to feel like I have really accomplished something. I honestly don't really see a 3:20, and especially a 3:30 marathon giving me much feeling of accomplishment.

So I need a plan. Last year I was planning on doing the marathon route that morning, and then doing it with everyone else during the race, then I got PF. Maybe I should do that again? The double, not get PF. I know 52.4 miles will be a struggle, I'll have to reach deep inside my suitcase of courage, as Phil Liggett would say, to finish a marathon after a 26.2 mile warm-up. But that is the lure, not knowing if I can finish.

We'll see. I have 15 days, 1 hours, 5 minutes, and 20 minutes until I would need to start the warm-up to decide.

My new favorite cool down is...how do I explain this? I lay on my back in the sit-up position first of all. Then I lift my shoulders off the ground a bit. Finally I get my flotation device off the floor , feet off the ground, and start pedaling. That is an ab killer! I have done it after two runs, for 10 minutes each. I actually did it for the first time a couple days before doing the 20 with David and really felt it during the run. Like each time I would laugh it would hurt pretty bad.

Tuesday afternoon I did an easy 10 mile run. Went out and back on Medary. Before the run I was not sure on temperature and how I should dress. I've been running with my HR monitor lately and 1.5 miles out of town I decided to take my shirt off. Now the issue I had was, keep the HR monitor on or not? I asked some friends as Slowtwitch if it was kosher and the general consensus was it was ok. The tan line may not be, but I figure I have weird tan lines throughout my body so it won't really matter. My GPS leaves a pretty solid line on my right wrist, and just wait until I start cycling. Those tan lines are epic.

The halfway point of a 10 mile run north out of town happens to be exactly at a four way stop. When the Garmin hit 5 miles I sat down on the side of the road and did some stretching. This shiny Cadillac pulled up to the stop sign and I could see the fifty something lady look at me and mouth "A R E Y O U O K " and I simply smiled and gave her a thumbs up :) That's not the first time I have sat down at that four way and had someone ask me if I was ok actually.

I read an interesting training article. It was about treating the sport of triathlon as one sport, not just three individual sports. That does make sense, but why suck at one sport when I can just suck at three huh? Right, anyway it mentioned a theory on bike cadence. During the Lance Armstrong era of cycling he rode at a very high cadence compared to most other riders during time trials. Of course people tried it out and started liking it, and now higher cadences are the norm compared to the mashing the big gear like der kaiser Jan Ullrich. However, this theory in the article stated that triathletes should lower that cadence back down. You have two types of muscle fibers, fast and slow twitch. The slow twitch fibers are more dominant during endurance sport, while fast twitch during sprints. So riding at that higher cadence calls on more fast twitch fibers, fatiguing them. Then you get off the bike and run at that fast cadence again. But, if you were to bike at that lower cadence and use more slow twitch and less fast twitch muscle fibers, you would have more fresh fast twitch fibers for the run. Maybe. It's just a theory.

You know, I lick my heart rate monitor before every run so the sensors function ok. I also never wash my heart rate monitor after a run. Yet I also never think twice before licking the thing. Gross?

These last two weekends I went to the two triathlons in the area and took photos. Here is a link to my favorite ones from the I'm Ready For Summer Triathlon held here in town.

And both full galleries are at WhiteLine.smugmug.com

It's Thursday but every single day this week has felt like Friday. You know that feeling you get every Friday when you think about or realize that you have Friday night, Saturday, and Sunday free f classes/work? I have had that feeling all week, about the end of the school year. So always having that Friday feeling makes Monday and Tuesday feel like the end of the week. Ouch. It's been rough :p

Well ok, thanks for reading everyone. I'm off to work on a budget analysis of Applebees and IHOP for Cost Controls. It's fun and interesting, what can I say? /sarcasm

Do you think my muscles have anything to do with me being faster or stronger?

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:18:00 +0000

I have come across an interesting theory recently, known as the Central Governor Theory. It states that your brain is more in control of fatigue then previously thought. The idea is that a "central governor" controls what you perceive as muscular fatigue. Think of it like this. You are doing a marathon and at mile 22, still feeling fine, come to a hill you did not know about. Instantly you tire. This cannot be explained by muscular fatigue.

This idea was only "discovered" 13 years ago. During a test, cyclists were doing a 100k time trial on stationary bikes. Periodically they were instructed to execute interval sessions. The nerve impulses in the muscles were measured during the high intensity periods. Now during activity not all of your muscle fibres are used at once. Now during the 100k TT it was hypothesized that as fatigue set in, more muscle fibres would have to be called upon each time to put out the same power each time since others were getting tired. However, the opposite was found.

This is what stemmed the Central Governor Theory idea. There was plenty in the tank, so to speak. But the cyclists were still feeling fatigue.

More evidence exists. At the end of a marathon muscles still contain considerable amounts of fuel in the form of fat, ATP, and glycogen. You are extremely tired, but there is still fuel left!

Something else to think about. During an endurance run, your fastest mile is generally your last. However, according to generally accepted theory, that should be the slowest because of fatigue. The Central Governor Theory states that the brain is creating fatigue to preserve fuel. When you approach the end of a marathon or longer, your brain knows that fuel is close, and it lets you push a little faster to get there sooner.

Have you ever noticed that if you go out on a 10 mile run, the first mile feels easier then the first mile of a 5 mile run? The brain knows you have longer to go on the 10 mile run, so it sets the pace.

This has been seen when putting runners on a treadmill and telling them they are going to do a short distance. Half way through, tell them they are only a quarter of the way done. Fatigue will instantly set in. This is obviously not due to true muscular fatigue. The Governor, now knowing how far the body actually has to go to get it's next source of fuel, slows the pace down.

Often during extreme endurance events, the individual is moving their fastest at their most exhausted. During ultramarathons when the athlete begins to hallucinate mutant rats on the side of the road or indians chasing them in the forest, that is often when they run their fastest. Could this state be when the governor is shut off?

So what if your body, or your brain, or the Governor, realizes that you have more fuel then it thinks. And that fuel will come. Perhaps it is possible to shut the governor down for a bit. Turn the safeguards off. If you can honestly believe that, who knows how hard or far you can push yourself.

What if every mile was the last mile of a run?

What if you could turn your limits off?

Unstoppable, that's what

Here's my week training in review:

Monday

8.3 miles
1:24:52

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

20 miles
3:09:45
133 avg HR

Thursday

10 miles
1:32:04
133 avg HR

Friday

Rest

Saturday

5 miles
36:58
158 avg HR

Sunday

Rest

Monday night after getting off work at 10PM I went for an 8 mile run. As you can see I had my headlamp on and I was all set. I went north and then east out of town, so I was pretty much in the middle of nowhere for the middle four miles of the out and back. I run facing traffic and can hear a car coming form a mile away. If there is no one coming then I stick to the middle of my lane, but if a car is coming from either direction I get as far onto the other side if I can. So I am five miles into my run and heading back home, and about a mile down the road I hear/see a car gunning it. Some stupid hicks or college kid gunning it on a country road I figured. Then they approach me and slow down. "Shit, should have brought my pistol with me" I think to myself. All of a sudden I get a spotlight in my face, it's a fracken highway patrol man! He goes on to tell me how to run at night, facing traffic and getting off to the side of the road. I think he was parked off to the side with his lights off and I ran past him while in the middle of the road with my headlamp off. I did turn the light and my ipod off (only had it on in one ear) to enjoy the night. I told him I do run facing traffic, and I can hear anyone coming from a mile away. And whenever someone is coming towards me I get off to the very other side of the road. I appreciate his concern, but seriously dude?

Wednesday I did that easy 20 mile run. The wind was straight out of the south, so I ran through town and down for 10 miles, then turned around and ran back. It was 72F when I started and about 69F when I got back home, but the wind cooled me down on the way out and I ended up getting pretty hot on the way back with a tail wind.

I took only the Amphipod with me again, and with that wind blowing right at me for 10 years really dried out my mouth pretty fast. I had the chia in the bottle and a GU at mile 11 so was ok fuel wise, just bloody thirsty.

My back started to nag during the run and kind of...almost hurt after the run and later in the evening. I think that was from leaning forward into the wind for 10 miles. But Thursday it felt just fine again.

The 20 miles was done at a pretty sluggish 9:29 pace. I did 18 at a 7:56 pace four days before. The faster runs are nice but I think I get more out a slower long run instead. If I were to do 20 at an 8 minute pace I would have spent 30 fewer minutes running, which would have been a significant cut in time. However I know full well, that I would NOT have have felt like I could have kept running. And I am certain I would not have been up to running 10 the day after that 20. From an endurance training standpoint, the long slow distance seems to be a better choice.

I really like the benefits of doing runs of that type. More time on the road means more strengthening of the feet, more stressing your body (in a good way), much much lower chance of injury, and a greatly decreased recovery time. Lets say I would have done the 20 fast. I would gain some from really hamming it. But I would have done a lot of pounding on my body, increasing chances of injury. I am also certain that it would have been Sat until I could get a run in after that. I would need two full days of recovery from a hard 20 mile run, so there is time lost in training as well.

During the 20 I thought about doing some barefoot running. With the amount of traffic on that road and the lack of shoulder I only did the last mile out and first mile back unshod. That also happens to be the location of the only good hill south of town. It is a pretty decent .33 mile climb. It's the best around until you get 15 or 20 miles NE and past White where there are a few truly monster hills. I would like to drive out there and do repeats once in a while. I'm sure I could get a few friends to come out with me for that.

Also with the wind coming from the south that means every cyclist leaves town and gets back on that road to enter town on that same road. I saw Kendra and Dan, along with a few other cyclists. It was nice seeing them, good to get a smile and wave, or a quick chat with Dan. Helps when you are doing a long run.

Thursday I did another easy run, 10 miles at a 9:12 pace, with the exact same average HR of the 20 the day before. Felt just fine, no problem. 30 miles in two days felt really good.

Saturday I went to the sprint triathlon and took some photos, about 7 or 8 hundred to be exact. Once I get them online I will post a link to the gallery. Afterwards I did a faster 5 miles. I had two options, do 10 slow again or a faster 5. I decided to keep my weekly total closer to what it was last week and get a few faster miles in. I felt really warm and could have gone shirtless but otherwise it felt nice to run at a faster pace. But I won't make a habit of it :p

Time to do some more flashcards before bed. Medical Nutrition Therapy exam on Monday. Medical Terminology on Tue, and Advanced Human Nutrition on Thur. It's not even finals week yet!

You get to a point in some runs where it is easier to keep running then to walk.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 13:39:00 +0000

That is a good feeling, since you know that something has been accomplished. But it is a horrible feeling, because you are done running and need to start walking....or laying on the ground in the park for 10 minutes. The 18 miles David and I did on Sat was a bit of a shock to the system since I had not done that distance in three months. Too bad, 10-15 used to be a regular run for me. Hopefully this summer those type of distances become the norm again.

Here is my week, it was a pretty decent one.

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Ran 8 miles
Pace: 7:42
Avg HR: 165
H2O Loss: 3lbs

Wednesday

Ran 7 Miles (5 with Johney)
Pace: 8:30

Thursday

Ran 8
Pace: 8:31
Avg HR: 143
Swam .5 mile

Friday

Rest

Saturday

18 mile run
7:56 pace

Sunday

Rest (homework)

Totals week/year
swim .5/24.4
bike 0/18
run 41/252.5

Monday's run was a lot of fun. I was looking forward to it all day. It was a bit rainy and cold out so I decided to go up on the track. It was counter clockwise so I was not too worried about my IT band, but will not make a habit of running up there. I was going at a pretty conservative easy peasy pace but with other people running around you and being in a confined circle made running slow hard, so I ran at a slightly higher heart rate then normal. Felt super good though.

When I did a couple barefoot miles last week I noticed two things right away. First, I had a huge smile on my face. It was actually a lot of fun. There was no pain from running barefoot.The second was how great the road actually felt. The nice warm temperature felt good. It was interesting going from the grey pavement to the white or yellow lines and feeling the temperature differences. Or when you run over a shadow and it gets a little colder, but you look forward to getting past the shelter belt and into the sun again. Feels great, and I can't wait to do it again.

Just before I get back into town the roads get pretty dirty again so I put the Vibrams back on. Putting the Vibrams on after running barefoot is like...taking a drag suit off in the pool or putting a set of race wheels on the bike. I am not at the point yet that I can run at the same pace BF as shod. So when I put the VFF back on I feel more swift then I already did in them, before running BF.

The ability of Vibrams to block sensory information is not something I like when on a training run out of town. However during a race it is actually beneficial. Running faster then I should really physically and naturally be able to, due to the sensory inhibition between my feet and the ground, is acceptable for a race. However over and over again I see older or more experienced runners say the main cause of probably 75% of running injuries is too much running too soon. This is another benefit of running barefoot. Doing so really prevents you from doing too much too soon. You cannot up the mileage until you are ready.

And last Saturday David and I ran 18. We averaged 7:56 for the entire run. I was really amazed that other then the first and last mile, all mile splits were at a pace of 8 min/mile + or - 7 seconds. Perfect pacing is a great thing. I of course got tired during the run, but nothing ever hurt and I never felt really bad. I started the morning with some diarrhea unfortunately. Likely a result of my cheat meal the night before, oreos... Breakfast was...a grape fruit and a V8. I probably ate something else small but whatever it was escapes me. During the run I had my Amphipod with me. In it I put 50 calories of chia seed, half a tbsp of Powerade Endurance, and water. I drank most of that, taking a sip every mile, and a GU halfway for fuel. I think that served me well. If I were going longer, such as during the marathon, I probably would have put a bit more endurance formula in there. Overall I was happy with the nutrition.

Desi asked me why I wanted to start running barefoot. I thought about it. While I do agree that Cushioning in Running Shoes is a MASSIVE SCAM, I like the protection that Vibrams, or other very minimalist running flats offer. I think I'm just giving it a shot because people say it can't be done. Well I know many that have done it, running many marathons barefoot, doing ultras barefoot, or Boston qualifying barefoot. I think that the challenge is why I want to do it. But once you give it a try, seriously and correctly, it is not so much of a challenge. I gave BF running a shot last year and did not like it at all. However I took the Vibrams off with a negative attitude and of course I hated running without them. But go into it with a really nice positive attitude and it was not so bad, I actually enjoyed it. We will see what comes of it. If nothing, at least I can say I gave it a shot.

These past couple weeks I have also cut out pretty much all of the animal products from my diet. I have been a vegetarian for the last 3.5 years with about a year of that being a prescaterian as well, one who eats fish and no red meat or poultry. I have been interested in going vegan for a while but never took the plunge. However after reading an article about Scott Jurek, I got a bit inspired. The man has won the Western States 100 mile race 7 times in a row, and is probably the greatest ultramarathoner in history. He's also a vegan and big supporter of a simpler lifestyle.

Again, Desi asked me why I wanted to cut out all animal product. Well, the reason I went vegetarian in the first place was because I do not agree with the mass captivity and slaughter of millions of animals. It's funny how very few people agree where our meat comes from, "but it tastes so good." Well, I do not feel like supporting such an industry, and unlike most people, will stand up for my beliefs. I cannot morally support such acts. I think we are better then that.

Now I do not have a problem with eating meat. My roommates hunt, and that is totally cool. What is not totally cool is animals being scalded, skinned, or having their neck's sliced while still alive at industrial slaughter houses.

Also, like running barefoot, I think I am in it for the challenge. People think vegetarians or vegans cannot be healthy. Sorry folks, just because the meat industry tells you that meat, milk, etc are essential for life, does not mean it's true.

Ok off my soap box (is that the correct term?) Here some bike porn for you :) I snapped of my bike after I rode it to the cafe for the first time. She's a thing of beauty. Its unique and I get compliments on it often. I'm putting a new cockpit on it sometime soon and should get the disc this summer.

And here is the bike I just found. It is that time of the year when people put all their large trash out on the curb. If you see something you want, take it. When David and I started our 18 mile run I mentioned if we see an old steely roadie I want it. Well, literally two miles into the run there she was!

Check out the dork disc and crank guard, made of metal!

Might be a fun project for this summer :) It has Shimano Eagle parts on it, and it's a brand I have never heard of before. Other then the flat tires, I think it's in pretty excellent working condition.

Triathlon and Running Truisms from BeginnerTriathlete.com. Some of these are pretty funny, but totally true :p

My downhill running is slower then my uphill running
Ask one of your non triathlete/swimmer friends how far they can "front crawl"...they are a liar.
Consistency is king
The bar keeps getting higher
Not going to a doctor does not mean you are not injured.
It does not get easier, you just go faster.
The turn-around on any out and back bike or run should NEVER be at the bottom of a hill.
Your seat is too high
If you are out on a ride or run and thinking, "Wow, the wind sure is calm today" Things will be much less fun when you turn around to go back home.
If you post a question on a forum asking if you should go to a doctor...you probably should.
The hardest part about going for a run is getting out the door. The rest is easy.
Something will also go wrong during a race.
Recovery is just as important, if not more important, then the training itself.

Thanks for reading everyone :)

My legs feel how Campbells soup tastes.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 18:50:00 +0000

Sunday night I went out on a bike ride with some friends. The ride is through the Brookings Bike Collection, which takes old bikes and builds them up. Like a community bike shop. Ross invited me when he kicked me out of Cottonwood Coffee after he closed early to get to the ride. We started at about 8:15 and did 15 miles. a lot of it was on the bike trails. It was 9pm on easter Sunday so the roads were pretty much ours. Here's our route:

We went on many roads I have never even seen before. It was a lot of fun. Definitely not a training ride, but I hope to be able to do this every Sunday evening. Afterwards we stopped by Skinners, had a few drinks and played some pool. Then we walked a couple blocks to a couple of the rider's apartment and watched a movie and had some wine. I think I need to start drinking more often, so when I do I don't get tipsy so easily. There is a joke about the Ironman world championships after party. The cost of holding the party is so cheap because all of the athletes get drunk so fast :p That's totally me.

I also got, what I think will be, the final bike part I need to redo my cockpit. It was an adjustable quill stem, so I can get the bars lower. The problem will now be finding time to actually work on it.

Period: Patience

Monday

Distance: 8.83 miles
Around town
Time: 70.11
Avg HR: 161
Water Loss: 3.5lb

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Distance: 5.25
Woodway Treadmill
Time: 43:37
Avg HR: 155
Water Loss: 2lb

Thursday

Distance: 10.42
Around town
Time: 76:46

Friday

Rest

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Distance: 9
Out past the bypass
HR: 147 avg
Pace: 8:39

To further strengthen my belief that all of the treadmills at the Wellness Center of uncalibrated, I just have to run outside. Monday I did sub 8 minutes per mile at a very similar HR to what I do at a 8:20 or 8:30 pace on the Woodway.

Wednesday I ran at a 7:22 pace for 10.42 miles. It would have gone better, but I decided to run a high paced longer run while eating a 5 egg and veggie omelet, then went to run less then an hour after finishing that. The timing was a totally bad idea. I was just running around town basically and really started to feel the ill effects of dehydration by mile 6. At the time it was about 60 degrees outside. The first time I stopped for water was at mile 7 I believe when I ran by my apartment and drank a glass of water and sucked down a Tri-Berry Gu to finish the run.

Sunday's run was just fantastic. I fit in 2 barefoot miles once I got out of town. The roads out there are almost clean enough to eat on. Very few pebbles or junk on the ground, unlike in town. I did 4.5 out and took the Vibrams off. At a slower pace BF was perfect, absolutely glorious. At this stage, I would not want to push the pace without my Vibrams. However, at 6.5 miles I put my VFF back on and those felt better then they did 3 miles ago. Being barefoot made going back to the Vibrams and pickng the pace up to marathon pace more comfortable. I did the first 6.5 miles at what I call my super easy "singing Black Eyed Peas to the county" pace. The last 2.5 miles were at a 7:15 pace and felt fantastic.

A writer and runner is working on a book. The current title is "Barefoot Running in the Real World" and it is a more anecdotal (rather then scientific) approach to the BF running trend. He asked me to participate in the work he is doing. Graham has set up a site for contributors to write weekly summaries of their running and experiences with minimalist and BF running. I only did 2 miles this week barefoot but plan in increase this. I hope I can contribute well to his work.

So 33.5 miles in this week at an average pace of 8 minutes per mile. I felt great the entire week, and I am getting into longer runs. The marathon is in 39 days, 17 hours, 13 minutes, and 33 seconds as of writing this sentence. Next weekend David and I may go and do a long 18 miles at an easier pace. Two and three weeks out I plan on getting a few nice slow long runs in to get some distance and time under my legs. Probably just a couple really high mileage weekends. Then the two weeks prior to the marathon will be a good taper. I'm not going to gain anything from running long or fast two weeks out. But I will gain everything from fully recovering and getting to the starting line with my legs feeling how Campbell's soup tastes.

I will leave you a few touched up photos I have taken that I really like.

"WOODWAY: For your long run"...yeah my ass. It only lets you go 99 minutes!

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 02:50:00 +0000

Usually when you are running and a nipple starts to hurt to the point that every couple minutes you look down at your shirt to check for blood, such as the below example from earlier in the year:

it is not a good thing. However this last week I was really pleased to have a fear of my right nipple leaking blood. It is a good sign that I might actually be approaching the distance I would like to be at. Then it really started to burn when I jumped into the pool after the run for a short swim.

It is always with that same shirt too! Unfortunately that is one of my favorites to wear when I run as well. I better not be getting bloody nipples and I have not even gotten to any long runs yet.

I guess if I really wanted to stop the nipple chaffing, I could get them removed..

Week 3/22 through 3/38

Period: Patience

Monday

Run 7 miles
Pace8:26
Avg hr161
Wt. Loss .25lb sweat
Swim.5 mile

Tuesday

Rest

Wednesday

Run8 miles
Pace 8:25
Avg hr157
Wt. Loss1.25lb sweat
Swim.45 mile

Thursday

Rest

Friday

7 mile run
58:34
158 avg HR
2.5 lb lost

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

8 miles ran
67:34
2lb lost
HR not available
1.5 miles swam

It was a good week. I'm starting to get the mileage back up there, which is nice.

For the Wednesday run I tried to start off slower. The first three miles I did at an avg HR of low 150's. Then for the remainder of the run I did increase the speed a bit. This resulted in a pace similar to Monday's run but at an avg BPM of 4 lower. The run felt so great, the miles were going by very fast. I could have ran for quite a while. However, I have the marathon coming up and do not want to do anything stupid, but 26 miles would have been a blast.

Based on a 13.1 mile run I did early on this year at a pace of 6:50 per mile and the McMillan Running Calculator, my predicted marathon time is 3:08:41, or a pace of 7:12 per mile. Under my Boston Qualification pace. That, along with the 5k test I did a short time ago, tell me I have the speed to qualify. However I am worried I do not have the distance under my legs and the time to get that in before the race, to run at a higher speed for such a distance. I can only prepare and hope that it is enough.

Also, the McMillan calculator gives suggestions for what paces you should be doing your training at. For the 13.1 time I entered it suggests a long distance pace of 7:42 to 8:42, which is really what I have been doing. Maybe I'm on the right track....

This upcoming week before easter break I have a lot of work to do for school. Luckily that means that break will not be that bad, with little to actually worry about. I hope to work on the Y-Foil and perhaps do a run test. I am thinking about going out and doing a run at race pace. I have not decided how far yet, that may depend on how the run goes. But that run will basically determine what I do for the marathon. If I do not feel like I can hold the pace I want for 26.2 miles, then I will have to think of something else for the marathon. Maybe I will do the course twice like I planned on last year. That would be fun. We'll see, I just need to see what happens during the race pace test.

Sooo, next post will hopefully come with good news. We shall see!

Mexico 2010

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 17:13:00 +0000

Well for spring break last week for the first time I traveled rather then working a 40 hour week. Desi is studying abroad in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. This was a perfect, and my only, opportunity to visit her.

I flew out of Omaha NE, to Chicago, to Mexico City, To Veracruz. When I landed in Veracruz Desi was at the airport and I gave her a big hug! She looked super cute with the sun bringing out her freckles :)

Here is what our room looked like that first night.

And the view off that balcony was pretty good.

Right at the Gulf, it was really great. To the other side of this view there was a lighthouse off into the distance and I got a zoomed up photo of it.

Here is the house during the day, and a day view of the beach.

Before checkout Desi and I visited the Acuario de Veracruz, or Veracruz Aquarium. This was simply amazing and so much fun!

I really liked this photo:

We then took a bus ride of about two hours I think to the place she is staying in Xalapa. Here are some pictures of the city.

Those are two shots from by the house she is staying at. The place is owned by a very nice family who have a son Desi and my age. They are all super nice. Licha works at a hospital doing something with computers and Juan is a dentist. There son Javier likes to mountain bike and is in school for civil engineering.

A few of the adventures I went on included going to the La Monja Cascadas, near Xico, Veracruz, Mexico. Cascada is spanish for waterfall. The place was amazing, much like the black hills but a bit more hilly, tall, and dramatic. I liked that there was not as many distant paths or fences so visitors were free to go as we pleased.

It was a half hour fricken walk from Xico to the cascadas. Cobblestones are not amazing walking surfaces. All along the road were coffee plants and banana trees, which were pretty cool to see.

That house in the background was the destination. There was maybe 20 small shops lined up before that. People were selling food and many trinkets. I bought a coffee bean bracelet that is pretty cool.

There were two restaurants. One was near the above cascada and I ate my first squid.

The owner also told us that Arnold Schwarzenegger sat at that table!

It took forever to get up to the top, but here is the view. A photo does not do the location justice. We were so high up and it was simply amazing.

And we did not feel like walking all the way back, so we paid this guy 50 pesos (4 dollars) to give us a ride. This was both of our first time riding in a Vdub van. He pulled up for us and got out and opened the side sliding door. After he closed it and before he could get in the driver's side the whole thing started rolling down the hill! Luckily someone jumped in front and held the van until he could get it. He was really nice and took us right to the bus stop. Had to snap a picture quick :)

We also visited the Museo Interactivo de Xalapa (Mix) and Museo de Arqueologia (Interactive Museum and Archeology Museum) in Xalapa.

This museum is location of nearly all of the giant heads discovered in the state of Veracruz. We saw another one in a park and another on in a bus station. There is one in the city of Vercruz I believe.

And the mix was a pretty cool interactive museum with lots of little things to check out.

Here is a bed of nails. He told Desi what it was but she did not quite understand. I remember thinking the holes looked like a air hockey tables, so I said something about maybe air comes out of them. Turns out it was about the exact opposite of air.

And a giant..I'm not even sure what these are called...

Found this little guy

A life sized ship mast

It was a lot of fun. I remember going to a similar place as a grade schooler, and it brought back some memories.

We also visited the ruins where Cortez first landed. That's right, the guy that killed all the Aztecs, this is the same beach he was at. Pretty cool. Here are some photos of the tombs.

There was a bunch of those everywhere.

And if you look at the ruins, and turn around...right behind you is:

Villa Rica Beach, this was a lot of fun!

And here are some pictures from around Xalapa, loved the place!

There were statues and sculpture everywhere! I loved it :)

I thought the tower fell, but then someone told me they just never finished it!

The three dogs at the house we lived at, always licking me and Desi!

That is the view from the roof of the house. The entire city was weird like this. There would be a nice house are a nice bank or any other nice building, but right next to it was a crap hole. The inside of the house was very nice, however by looking at the outside you could never tell.

I loved all the colors in Mexico.

Found a cool tree at a park.

Had to try a bug, tasted pretty good. Crunchy.

Here is this super cool dining area at the "Mall of America" where the ceiling would change from day to night!

It totally felt like we were outside! But we were on the third floor of a mall! It was a lot of fun, and they had GREAT pasta there.

And I think, my favorite picture from the trip:

We did so much and I could write forever on all my impressions and everything, but the above pictures should be sufficient. Hope you enjoyed them :)

There are so many ways this can go wrong.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 03:43:00 +0000

I did a 5k on Sunday after an easy 3 miles and held a 6:12 pace. It would have obviously been faster if I was in an actual race. Using a McMillan Running Calculator the 19:40 5k puts me at a 3:12:00 marathon. Two minutes off the pace I am looking for. The marathon is seven weeks away and I really do not think it is going to go well. I'm going to head out at a 7:15 pace and hope to hold that for 26.2 miles. Looking at my 5k time I am at a similar speed as I was at my peak two summers ago. Unfortunately as of writing this I only have 148 miles under my legs this year. Even if I have the speed I only have 7 weeks to get a little distance in without getting injured.

Also during the 5k my right IT Band did start to twinge a tiny bit. There was a run a few weeks ago where I did pick up the pace for some of it since I ran pretty slow the first half, and upping the speed did aggravate my IT Band then as well. At least the next day after both instances there was zero pain.

The whole deal with an increase in speed increasing likelihood of IT pain worries me almost as much as not being able to hold pace for the distance. If it starts to hurt to the point where it effects my form I am simply going to have to DNF the race. I cannot risk a week or two (or more) of injury because I was stupid and wanted to finish the race. I have bigger races during the summer and cannot sacrifice training for the Brookings' Marathon.

There are so many ways the marathon can go wrong :(

I realized last week that in my mind's eye I still picture myself as short and fat. Even though people give me crap about being so skinny, that's how I see myself. If I'm picking out clothes or thinking about something looking good or not, I'm picturing it on a short fat kid. I'm 150 pounds, think it's about time I get over it :p

Oh oh oh! Here is a PSA. If you are at a register and someone is ringing up groceries or whatever you are purchasing, and the bar code does not work, never NEVER EVER say "If it doesn't ring up it's free!" Because it's not. And the cashier has heard that exact thing 500 times. uhg, just getting that off my chest.

Also. Pray to god, or allah, or whatever deity you worship, that you never have to help an old man find the enemas because "sometimes you just eat a block of cheese and it gets a bit clogged up." Nothing like a good ol' colonic irrigation I guess.

I ran up on the track for the first time in over a month this week. I wanted to compare my speed on the treadmill to actual speed, so I did the last 2.5 up in a circle. Not going to lie, it felt amazing to actually be moving forward instead of on the hamster wheel.

Ok so my profile picture on BeginnerTriathlete.com is my calves. Yeah I'm a tool, but they are very nice. Any time I go into a changing room to try some pants on, I do a quad flex and turn around and check the calves out. Sometimes I even say "Boom (flex left quad) Boom (flex right quad)" That's right, they even have sound effects. Anyway, this week a private message was sent to me at bt.com

"Not to sound gay or anything, just wanted to compliment you on the calfs. Can I borrow them for my Ironman?"

Totally made my day :)

Week 3-15-10 through 2-28-10

Period: Patience

Monday

Rest

Tuesday

Run 6 miles

Pace 8:35

Avg HR 163

Swim 1050 yards

Wednesday

Run 7.25

Pace 8:31

Avg HR 160

Swim 1300 yards

Thursday

Rest

Friday

Run 5 miles

Pace 8:15

Avg HR 158

Wt. Loss 1.75 miles

Saturday

Rest

Sunday

Swim 1.45 mile

Run 5 miles

Pace 8:40

Avg HR 162

Totals Week / Year

Swim 2.75 21.45

Bike 0 18

Run 25.25 148

Good enough I suppose.

This last week I realized what I would like to do later in my life. In the immediate future I would like to go to grad school for exercise physiology and do that for a period of time post school. However after all that, I would like to do three things. Open a cycling/triathlon/running/climbing/cool shit store, do an endurance athlete coaching service out of the store, and do race photography.

Speaking of the latter, I just bought a nice camera to start that goal off.

This is a Sony Cybershot DSC H2. A few years ago it sold for 800 I believe, and I payed 150 for a used one with some accessories. I also have looked at a few photoblogs that I can start putting pictures on.

I have come to realize that through all my races I have only a single actually, really nice photo. It was done by whatever professional photographer was hired at my half Ironman two years ago. The high res picture download cost me 10 or 15 dollars probably, which is crazy. But I wanted one for my mom and dad. I printed it off on nice paper and signed it to them. Being an athlete in these races I know what we are looking for photo wise. My 12 dollar bike picture is a front shot, and is the best they had. However triathletes and cyclists are generally looking for:

Instead of:

And that 12 dollar one of me below

It's a cool picture, but athletes would simply always have a side or front/side shot. To see a little bike porn. +2 points for quad overhand in my picture though. I also saw a gallery a while back and the bike pictures were taken right when they were leaving the transition zone. They the athletes were a mess, not aero and not ready to ride yet. There was also tons of background noise with it being at that location compared to out on the road a bit. Another gallery I recently saw was from a time trial and all the pictures were at the starting gate. Lame.

I'm hoping to take photos at the sprint races around here and provide the pictures to everyone for free. Perhaps next year I can charge a small fee. I was thinking three dollars for a download and for five dollars I will print them off and mail them to the person. We'll see, it will be fun and keep me out of all the sprint races. Maybe I can make a little money on the side and give people a service that is not readily available in the area. Also taking pictures at the races will keep me from doing them, lowering costs! Always a good thing.

I will leave you with some of my pictures from spring break, where I went to visit Desi while she studies abroad in Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico this semester.

Museo Interactivo de Xalapa (MIX) and Museo de Arqueología

Quiahuiztlan Tolten Archaeological Ruins

La Monja Cascadas, Xico Veracruz

Villa Rica Beach

Around Veracruz and Xalapa

Acuario de Veracruz

I really am starting to look forward to that sweet summer sweat.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 03:59:00 +0000

Those are the aero bars I have coming. They were popular 15 years ago but have not been produced in a few years. Here is what they look like on a bike

I will have the brakes on the inside of the bars though, for aerodynamics. This cuts down on weight since there is no base bar and it is more aero, also because of the lack of a base bar. However this cuts down drastically on the position options while riding. However during a triathlon you should spend 97% of the bike leg in the aero position anyway.

For obvious reasons, this set up is often referred to as the "aero or die" set up. It goes along with the saying "always use a rear disc. if it does not kill you, it makes you faster."

Because they are no longer produced, literally the only place to find them is in people's garages. I posted a "Want to Buy" add for these and someone said they had some in storage. He found them and said he would mail them to me for the price of shipping. Much cheaper then the 50 for a base bar, and 50 for aero bars, 30 for breaks. These will be, maybe 20 dollars and the cyclocross brakes were 10. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

So at Walmart if a person looks like they are 40 years old or less, you are supposed to card them when they ask for cigarettes. But sometimes, when a lady who looks 35 asks for some Marlboro Lights, I don't card her. Sorry lady, cigarettes will do that to you.

Also I noticed that Walmart has $9.00 pea coats. That is unfortunate, and may mean I can no longer wear mine next year since too many people are wearing them. Four winters ago when I got it few people wore them, now they are everywhere. Then again, I do make it look good.

I have developed quite a reputation in the past couple years with my running. Doing random marathons and all. People have these expectations that if I go for a run, I don't do less then 12 or something. Hopefully I can get back to the point where that is true, however I only did 17 this last week, total.

After my workouts I always walk a half mile or so around the track right before I leave. I've got my drawstring bag on with The Stick sticking out the top, and my jacket on. Just a nice relaxing walk, analyzing people's strides. You know, what everybody looks at when they are up on the track. There is always a wide variety of form up there. One girl's right foot from the ankle down kicks inward after push-off from the ground, the left is perfectly straight. That could be an injury waiting to happen. Also there were many people who bounce bounce bounce, like I mentioned in my previous post. There are the massive heel strikers, almost coming to a complete stop every time a foot slams into the ground. Once in while you seem nice form. Head high, back straight, feet not coming too high off the ground after push-off, little vertical movement, and landing under their center of gravity. It is nice to see on occasion. When I run on the Woodway TM I can see my reflection in the mirror in front of me, and it's good to see there is minimal up and down movement.

Tuesday I ate before my 2pm class and arrive there, to find rolls and cream cheese. I grab two halves and put some cream cheese on top. I munch on them and instantly regret doing so. I felt bad for eating them instantly so did not eat again until after my swim, which ended at 9. I had a water bottle of skim milk. I know I know this is bad but I felt guilty. I don't buy bad food (except for Fri night) however if it is free I will not hesitate, and then feel bad after eating it.

Wednesday evening I helped out with the Brookings Back Pack with filling bags. The mission of the non profit organization is to:

"Our mission is to assist children and youth in Brookings, SD, who are at risk of hunger by discreetly providing them with nutritious and easy-to-prepare meals and snacks for weekends and school vacations during the academic year."

We filled 140 plastic shopping bags with breakfast and lunch items, such as granola bars, oranges, apples, small packages of cereal, a piece of beef jerkey, etc etc. Every week these get distributed to children throughout Brookings.

I am trying to get more involved with volunteer work. A food scientist came and spoke to our FDH (Food, Dietetics, Hospitality) Club last month and showed us pictures from her trip to Africa. She really inspired me to want to help out more. I feel bad that I have been in college for 3.5 years and have not done any volunteer work. Desi has mentioned this before, but applying for the Peace Corp is something she is interested. I would also love to do so. Obviously to even be considered I need to get volunteer work done. Next year I also plan on taking Spanish, with Desi's help that should not be much of a problem, and will look good on my application if I do apply for the Peace Corps.

For Friday's cheat meal I made brownies and had to eat half the pan because I could not find anything to store them in.

Today's (sunday) swim was pretty brutal. Yesterday I participated in a climbing competition at the SDSU Rock Wall. That was my first time touching the thing in six months, so I was pretty sore today. Actually I was pretty sore the evening after climbing. Saturday was a case of super DOMS. That and I was stupid and did not eat anything between breakfast and swimming at 4. I drove 50 miles home to get my car back and 50 back. The Explorer was getting it's ball joints replaced, whatever those are. It was great seeing my parents. However when I'm there I always leave with a bunch of food. Literally, they go through the refrigerator and shelves asking me if I want stuff. I am not going to say yes give me your food, but I do not say no either, usually it is "well, I don't care.." I left with 18 cod fillets, a pack of gum, a Tupperware of cheese and potatoes, and a can of oysters. Before the swim I planned on eating at least a GU but was halfway from my car to the Wellness Center before I remembered, and it was too cold to turn around and walk back to my car. The swim was ok until we did 20x25m and I started to get a bit ill. But I made it through it, and it was good.

Alright, so the blog post is about me not eating some days and eating a pan of brownies the next. Someone has an eating disorder...hahaha, funny, right :p

Oh, last night I had a dream about my bike. I found some really great parts for it at great deals. It was a good dream.

Here is the rundown of the week, weight lost is sweat during the run.

Week 2-15-10 through 2-21-10

Period: Patience

Monday

Run 4.5

Pace 7:14

Avg HR 159

Wt loss 1.5lb

Tuesday

Swim 1 mile

Time 50 min

Wednesday

Run 4.25 miles

Pace 7:13

Avg HR 161

Wt loss 1.5lb

Thurday

Rest

Friday

Run 4

Pace 7:23

Avg HR 156

Wt loss 1.5

Saturday

Run 4

Pace 7:23

Avg HR 161

Wt loss 1.75

Sunday

Swim 1.88 mile

Time 2H

Totals Week Year

Swim: 3.44 15.15

Bike: 0 18

Run: 16.75 93.75

I leave you, with the perfect foot strike. Go to the link and see his other videos too, good stuff.

Every single decision I make goes through the "how will this affect my workout" filter

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 00:02:00 +0000

Have you ever experienced the phenomenon pausing or turning your iPod off and then hearing the same song you were just listening to, being played in whatever building or car you are in? This has happened to me twice, once last year with...shoot it may have been Thanks for the Memories by Fallout Boy and last week with Smile by Uncle Kracker. Both at the Wellness Center on campus, pausing the song to get undressed to shower, and both times it totally blew my mind! What are the odds?!?!

I found a Profile Design Fast Forward seatpost for a good price to put on my Y-Foil. The top part of the post I was using broke at the end of last season so I don't have one anyway. If you look at the below picture you will see it bends forward. Regular road bikes have a seat angle of 73 degrees because the UCI has regulations on bike design. However triathlon bikes have no such rules, so many go upwards of 76 or 78 degrees. My Trek is at the more slack road bike geometry, so this post puts the seat angle at a higher degree. Also in the future if I do buy a BP Stealth frame, it is also at road bike geometry so I'll be able to use it then. Here is a great article all about frame geometry.

Something totally amazing happened at work this week. A couple girls came through the and bought a few things, and the total was 14.92. And I'm like, "wasn't that when Columbus sailed the ocean blue, fourteen hundred and ninety two?" It was so funny :p I have honestly been waiting for a total to be 14.92, I knew it had to be coming sooner or later.

My hair has been getting more dry lately since I have been showering more after swimming and I doubt the soap on the wall does a great job of getting the chlorine out. I thought about getting a small travel container for shampoo at Walmart for like, 88 cents. However, being the penny pincher I am, found a better solution. You know those small hand sanitizer squeeze bottles everywhere? I took an empty one from the Wellness Center and just put some shampoo in that. Genius I know, I'm like fricken MacGyver.

Guidelines to Reaching Race Weight

1. If you are losing weight and family asks if you have been sick, you are within 10 pounds.

2. Eating after 7pm is only allowed if it is a post workout recovery meal. And by meal I mean:

1 GU and 1 fruit

or 1 energy bar

3. Ensure you are consuming adequate calories throughout the day.

4. Except you can only eat between 7am and 7pm.

5. If your friends are whispering to each other, wondering if you have aids or cancer, you are only 5 pounds away.

6. Sometimes all you need is a good stomach flu to get rid of the last stubborn 3 pounds.

7. Eat within 30 minutes of a workout.

8. Dinner is all you can eat, as long as it fits on a coffee saucer the first time, no refills.

9. Hungry at night, have some water and HTFU.

10. When your friends and family actually do an intervention, you are at race weight.

PS. My single cheat meal this week was a box of Cheez-itz while watching The Soloist. Great movie, you should rent it!

A thought came to me this week. It is odd how if you gain 20 pounds of fat no one will really say anything. However if you start to lose weight, you are suddenly anorexic and people start to worry.

This is not really related, but I read in Men's Health that for every 20-30 pounds you lose, your penis looks an inch bigger. A little more motivation a guess...

Ok switching subjects....

Recently I have done some reading on VO2 Max, which is the maximum capacity of a body to transport and oxygen, and how it may relate to endurance sports. My VO2 Max, taken two years ago, measured at 64.5 ml/kilogram/min. For a bit of comparison, the average young untrained male has one at about 45 ml/kg/min. A competitive club athlete may be 60 to 70 ml/kg/min, a World of Warcraft nerd is lucky to reach 32 ml/kg/min. Elite endurance athletes generally range from 70 as a low to 85 as very high. A thoroughbred horse comes in at about 180 ml/kg/min. It is kind of cool to see I am in the very high range as the number goes, and that was tested in 2008. It does not change a great deal over time, but I have no doubt it has improved since then.

VO2 Max is often used as a way to measure potential, sort of the way power to weight ratio is as well. However looking at two of the greats in running, Steve Prefontaine and Frank Shorter, the values are quite different. Pre's VO2 Max was 84.4 while Shorter's was 71.3, a 16% difference. However their mile time only differed by 8 seconds, or 3.4%, and their 3 mile time only differed by .2 second. Marathon WR holder in 1969 Derek Clayton only had a VO2 Max of 69.7, a number that with continued training I could very likely reach, while 2:17 marathon runner Gary Tuttle had a huge 82.7 ml/kg/min, but with a (relatively) much slower marathon time.

How are these drastic differences explained?

Running efficiency is the answer. In 1980 a study was done on 12 runners whose best 10k times were between 30:31 and 30:33. The VO2max numbers ranged from 67 to 78 ml/kg/min. Oddly enough the fastest runner had the second lowest VO2max value. However correlation was found between the amount of oxygen used by each runner at three different submaximal speeds and the best 10k times. So, the runner who used the lowest amount of oxygen at each of these speeds was therefore the most efficient.

Clayton, whom had a marathon WR but a relatively low VO2max describes how he become such an efficient runner:

"When I started training for marathon distances, my style changed naturally. running twenty miles a day cut down on my stride length. It also eliminated the tendency to lift my knees. Gradually, my power stride evolved into one of economy. Despinte the energy draining action of my upper body, I developed a very natural leg action I call the "Clayton Shuffle." Through miles and miles of training, I honed my leg action to such a degree that I barely lifted my leg off the ground. The "Clayton Shuffle" is probably the best thing to ever happen to my running. It was economical and easy on my body."

The idea is that there is minimal vertical movement when you run. You have all seen it, people running up on the track bouncing up and down, their back leg nearly kicking them in the butt. It hurts for me to just watch them run. I have actually been complemented on my stride. People with the shuffle stick out like a soar thumb, since most runners are not very efficient. Even most college cross country runners will have inefficient strides.

Here is a video of ultramarathoner Anton Krupicka doing what he does best, with an excellent example of an efficient stride.

So I believe my recovery from the injury is going well. I have stopped running up on the track, and am exclusively on the treadmill. Last week the ITB pain would start up as soon as I began running and would kind of nag for the entire three miles. Once in a while a sharp pain would occur. The pain would stop hurting once the run was over. I did 12 miles last week. This week I upped the count 10% to 13.2 miles. It feels weird saying that, since that was a usual run for me on a good week before getting hurt from the track. I will get it back though. Each run this week got progressively better. Eventually the slight nagging pain lessened and the sharp pains went away. At the end of the week both were nearly gone.

The more and more I read from experienced runners, about what they see the young do, it's too much too soon. So I started over last week. I ran four times, twelve miles total. The suggested rule is to increase weekly mileage no more then 10% week to week. 12 last week, 13.2 this week, 14.5 next week.

I have been keeping strict records of my runs. I have a spreadsheet with date, run time, pace, before and after weight, avg and max HR, calories, nutrition, course, clothing, etc. I try to run on the Woodway as often as possible to keep records consistent with distance. However it is also interesting to compare my stats on the Woodway to the other treadmills.

On the Woodway last week my average pace was 7:53 with an average HR of 159. What is interesting is that the only run I have not done on the Woodway was on a Starcraft next to it. At an average pace of 7:33 for three miles my average HR was only 152! Yup, drastic. Faster pace, lower HR.

Lets end with a video I just found yesterday. I get questions all the time about my Vibrams, this will help explain it.

You have not ran far enough if you have not lost a toenail doing it.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:27:00 +0000

Have you ever thrown your car into reverse at a red light to mess with the person behind you? Yesterday I was driving along the main road and a car from a side road turned left into the turning lane directly to my left. This is by far my biggest annoyance from other drivers. First off that is dangerous, turning into the icy lane RIGHT NEXT TO ME. Do you expect me to get over for you? So this particular car drives a quarter block in the turning lane and I'm right next to them. On goes their blinker, they want over. Excuse me, normally I am very polite on the road. But not for you, one who nearly side swiped me. So they brake and slow into the lane behind me. We both come up to the next red light and stop with her behind me. I'm annoyed with her, so throw the Explorer into reverse. I can see her face and it was pretty funny. She totally was not expecting that and was quite shocked. Priceless look, I would probably freak out a bit too, not gonna lie.

Obviously by my lack of posts in the last few weeks they have been pretty slow. Here is a post simply so you do not forget about me :)

I have not done dedicated swim training since my HIM was complete summer of 2008. However with a full Ironman on the schedule for this summer I have to get back into the pool! I have been swimming a lot more lately then I ever have, and some of it has been under the eye of Jason Melby. He is acting as coach for a "Tri Swim" group on Sundays. This was the first time I have had someone actually look at my form and give suggestions.

What he said was that my form looked ok other then I should be rotating my upper body more and my arms are crossing my center line. More rotation allows for more reach. Also the rotation takes some pressure off my arms and shoulders and puts more on my core muscles. You have heard of chicken legs, I could say I have chicken arms. That really doesnt make any sense. Anyway...to use my arms less is very much appreciated.

Another huge tip was to cut back on stroke count. He had the class swim some laps and count strokes and I was pretty high at about 25. Jason instructed us to glide more. With that front hand outstretched use it to feel when you slow down. As soon as that happens, engage the pull for another stroke. Now I am doing 20 or 21 stokes per length, compared to 24 or 26. After a few times in the pool I am now at the same speed i was for the short sprint triathlons a few years ago. The kick is though, I am doing it at a much much lower exertion, something I could keep up for much longer the distance.

Unfortunately a couple swims last week both had to be cut short because of the most painful headaches I have ever had in my life. I have only gotten headaches like this a few times in my life. Barb suggested with more rotation I am perhaps turning my neck more. Who knows. This week I stopped doing the 10 lap warm up and the headaches have gone away.

There are a lot of jokes out there about toe nails and running. The title of this particular post is an example, as is "toe nails are just nature's way of telling you that you are not running far enough." or "you know you are a true marathoner if you have lost toe nails and told people it's not that bad." I have even read about an ultra marathoner who had all of his toe nails removed so he did not have to worry about losing them. My latest victim is my left pinky toe nail. This happens if they get too long, the nail rubs against the shoe. The little guy didn't even have a chance.

My IT band has been injured from too much counter clockwise running up on the track. It is the same side that started hurting from the Jack 15 training with too much running on the same side of the road. I have decided to stop running up there for the sake of..well being able to run.

I believe for the upcoming season I am going to being practicing Low heart Rate Training. This is based off of the training Mark Allen did later in is career. When he was very successful. The idea is to find your heart rate that is the high end of fat burning, and aerobic. Train under this number. Do this instead of the "no pain no gain" training where you go hard almost every time. Eventually when training at a lower heart rate your pace will get faster over time. Allen claims when he started he was doing over 8 minute miles and within four months he was doing just over 7 minute miles at the same heart rate. After a year of this training he was doing sub 6 at that same heart rate.

A closer look at the year goes like this. The first three months of the year are trained exclusively under this HR, called the Patience Phase. this period would end when the occasional speed/hr test indicated that adaption is no longer occurring from the aerobic training.

The second phase was the Speed-Work Phase. Volume went down slightly to include a bike speed workout and a run speed workout each week.

Next is the Push Phase. This is usually before the big event of the year and includes four hard weeks and a four week taper. This will include a bit more speed work and higher volume. During the taper volume is dramatically decreased however at the same time keeping the intensity up. Of course find what works for you with a taper. I have not done enough big tapers to see what I need to consistently do.

One thing I am looking forward to is how cool recording and keeping track of HR, speed, weight lost, etc will be. Hopefully I see that speed increasing!

This type of training reduces risk of injury and burnout since the training is much lighter on your body. Less totally hammering it every session. This week only 12 miles will be done in four short three mile segments at an average HR of about 161 beats per minute. I am slightly concerned with how this will effect my Brookings Marathon time since I was planning to qualify for Boston and now am reduced to doing 12 miles this week at an average pace of about 8:06 per minute.

That pace is my 3 mile pace on the Woodway treadmill at the Wellness Center running at a 159 average HR. Outside or up on the track my pace would normally be faster at that HR or my HR would be faster at that pace. For some reason I believe the Woodway is more difficult then the track or the other treadmills. However even if it is harder then the track, it still works for comparison over the long run. Plus it is the best treadmill for HR training, so I'll use it.

My run on Monday and Tue were pretty identical. The IT band pain was a dull ache that slowly built up during the three miles. Never to more then a dull nag, like someone pushing their finger on my knee. Thursday I swam a half mile and tried to do some stationary biking. I think because I was doing intervals and sometimes the resistance would go way down my legs would be spinning at a high cadence, my IT band started acting up. Sharp pains started flaring up. Sort of what I would imagine a knife being driven into the side of my leg would feel like. After two or three of these I decided to call it quits for the evening. I probably was on the bike for 10, no more then 15 minutes. I did not expect today's run to go well, or even happen because of yesterday. However I woke up and spent the day relatively pain free. Surprisingly Friday's run was more pain free then the other two. Actually almost 100% pain free, only a few times did I get the IT pain, and it was not a almost constant ache like the other times. It would start and then go away. I finished the run feeling pretty good.

Basically I am starting over with my running, starting at zero. Or, 12 I guess. That is my mileage for this week. Next week I will add 10%, or 1.2 miles. Being injured right now I need to be super careful and will stick with the 10% rule.

This year I would also like to implement some low glycogen training into my schedule. Through distance work your body will adapt to using fat for fuel instead of glycogen. This is a good thing to become efficient at because your body unfortunately only has enough glycogen stores for two or three hours of running. The less glycogen you use, the longer you will last. Now some literature seems to support the "train low race high" theory. Doing your first workout like normal except avoiding any post workout recovery. A couple hours later again do a workout. This will not be your best PR session, since you will be low on glycogen from the first session. This second workout is simply to train your body's fuel system. Simply doing a lower effort bike or run will do, just get that body working on low fuel. It may not be the most enjoyable workout, but it will hopefully be worth it in the long run.

I have been doing very well at avoiding processed sugar lately. Really the only carbohydrates I consume are from fruit and the occasional bread or pasta I eat. This is to the point where a Dumb Dumb sucker gave me an upset stomach last week. I had breakfast earlier that morning, probably three hours before the sucker. I went to Hyvee to get a few things and they have teh suckers there where you go through the checkouts. I grabbed a blue berry one and within ten minutes my stomach hurt.

However once a week I have a single bad meal. I eat super clean throughout the week. But when Friday night rolls around it's another story. Two Fridays ago I rented a movie and ate about 1500 calories of cookie dough. Last Friday I bought some Turtle Brownies, you know the ones with caramel and walnuts. When most people binge it's a "I'm fat and depressed" binge. With me it is more like a "omg I'm so skinny I can't help it binge." Defiance and bought some Oreos. There was a coupon for free Oreo Cakesters so I picked up a box of those too :) No wonder my butt won't go away :p

I started a bike savings fund last week as well. There is a great site called SmartyPig.com that is made for savings. You create a goal and it allows you to put money into an account at the bank they are based at. I put my goal at 3 years to save $3,000 dollars for a bike. If I save 20 dollars each week for three years that is almost three grand. Who knows if that is what the money will go to, but I will keep telling myself that. The end of the goal would also be about the time I would get out of graduate school. Anyway I would like to build up a bike myself that will last me five to seven years with minimal change with the components. I do not want to purchase something that will need replacing each two years.

Some bike porn for everyone...

My current ride, a late 90's Trek Y-Foil

And for the frame I would like to build up in the future and ride for a long period of time, the BP Stealth the the most likely candidate. They are currently being produced so I would not have to buy an older frame. Directly from the company they go for 1200 I believe, which is very reasonable for a carbon frame. I could probably find one for less on Ebay.

And here is the Lotus frame. If I could get one of these on Ebay that would be so cool. However they are so rare and sought after that getting a hold of one would be unlikely.

Here are three other options. The Hotta in red is pretty rare but they are around. I have seen a few of those Giants on ebay so getting one is possible. And the last bike is a beam bike from Zipp. They are probably the most common of the alternative frame bikes. Not currently being produced but there's many out there.

Also for the component gruppo I would like to go with Sampson. Rather then the mass produced Shimano, SRAM, or Campagnolo components I would like to go with a more local manufacturer. He seems like a really down to earth guy and would be great to buy from I think. However that route could end up being more expensive because I will not be able to Ebay last year's used model for 25% off. Like how when the new Shimano and the big companies release a new line up or modify an existing one the old ones are usually reduced in price and often you can find people selling them on ebay to get funds for the new version.

;ljkn

Whoooo. I need a rest after all those pictures. Getting kinda hot in here....

To average 6:52 I'm going to have to run 6:30...

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 04:45:00 +0000

I never thought of this, but recently read it in an astronomy magazine. Rainbows, like vampires, do not have a reflection. When you see a rainbow you are seeing the refracted light from water droplets in the air. So if you turn a mirror to it and see a rainbow in the mirror, you are actually seeing a completely different one. The rainbow you see only exists on the back of your eye, only at that very point in space. Anyone else viewing the same water droplets are actually seeing a completely different rainbow from a different angle. Very cool :)

Monday I ran 13.1 at a pace of 6:59 minutes per mile. I started at 7:30 per mile on the dreadmill and increased it by .1 mph each mile. It probably would have been easier if I would have just ran the 13.1 at 7 minute pace instead of running easy for a while and then finishing at 6:30 per mile but it felt good.

After that I did not feel like I was done so did 100 front squats ass to grass with the 35 lb bar and then did 2 barefoot miles up on the track.

As an ultra distance athlete I have to teach my body and my mind to run when I simply do not want to. To run when I am lacking nutrients, strength, sleep, etc. Monday's run was done on nothing more than 3/4th a bottle of water. No nutrients were taken in during the run. Generally if someone is doing a workout longer than an hour some type of nutrition is consumed. I like to try to avoid this. I feel not taking in nutrition during a strenuous workout will make me mentally stronger since it does make the run a bit more of a struggle. That along with doing 100 35lb squats and doing two barefoot miles up on the track....that was tough. Oh boy, those two miles were a struggle.

Don't worry, it's not as bad as it looks. The sweat from the run diluted and really spread out the blood, I did not even notice it until I looked down while doing the last two up on the track. Yeah, I'm hardcore, just reminding everyone :p It did really hurt when I got into the shower afterwards though...

The treadmill tends to really shred up the bottom of my foot if I go too long without a long run on it. I can sometimes feel the heat through the Vibrams from the friction between the platform and the belt if I have it going fast enough. Also I believe the movement of the track and my foot in opposite directions causes movement and a great deal of friction between my Vibrams and my skin, causes blisters and lots of wear. Well after going on vacation to Rapid City and seeing Desi for a week and not running, then jumping on the treadmill for a 91 minute half marathon really shredded my soles. I probably drained three blisters, seriously.

With my nutrition lacking during many of my actual runs. My post run nutrition is very good. I always try to get a shake in as soon as possible and a good solid meal eaten within an hour or two of getting home.

Kyle Nickels is teaching a brick class that I may try to make it to each week. I believe it is a 40 minute spin session and then they do some type of workout up on the track. It would be a good way to get some biking in. If they have a deal on cardio cards once school starts I may pick one up.

Jason Melby is also doing a new Masters swim type class Sunday evenings. For my new availability at work I am going to make me unavailable during the class time so I have no excuses but to make it to the pool.

I had someone msg me on facebook who I have never met before, but she saw a post of mine on the Vibram facebook page and had some questions for me about them. I was also talking to someone recently about my Vibrams, cannot remember who it was actually, but the same thing came up about landing softer and the lack of cushion in the FiveFingers. Ok this is actually the FIRST thing to come up in almost every conversation about the Vibrams. People think it must be painful to run because there is no support and cushion in them. However the exact opposite is true. Shoes block sensory information that your feet and body would normally get from making contact with the ground. I distinctly remember how when running shod as speed would increase so would how hard my feet would slam into the ground. Now however wearing Vibrams the faster I go the smoother my stride becomes and the softer I contract the ground.

Wednesday my run was just brutal. Seriously I cannot remember a worse "easy" run. It was supposed to be eight miles but at three I decided to cut it back and stopped at five. I was running on a treadmill and my body just got super hot. I was sweating like crazy, and my stomach felt like some food was going to come up, so I called it quits. Not sure exactly what happened, no explanation, it was horrible.

Luckily Thursday's run went very well. Five miles at a pace of 6:45. The last two runs have been in my new Vibram FiveFingers Classics. They feel super heavy and stiff compared to my old model which is at 775 miles at the moment. I am afraid they may be too large of a size. Too large as in maybe 1/5th of an inch, super close. I have not been able to tighten them all the way yet though because of the strap design. It is a draw string that goes around the top of them and if it is pulled too far it hangs off the back. Hopefully just cutting this will allow me to tighten it fully and be able to run in them. I remember when I was first getting into the old pair of VFF I had the same blister issues and now they are perfect, so in time this new pair should be just fine.

Desi is all moved into her place in Mexico now (near VeraCruz) until Jan1st. She does not have a cell phone to use there so Skype will be just about the only way to talk to her now. Unfortunately her computer seems to be having issues with the webcam, I hope that gets figured out soon. The son of the family she is staying with uses Skype. Desi talked to him all the time here in the states so hopefully until her's is up and running she can jump on his computer. It is really tough not being able to talk to her between classes or when one of us is on a break at work. I keep my computer on at night now so if she wakes up and gets on her laptop in the morning I will hear her calling me and I can say good morning to her.

For as long as I have been a cyclist and switched to distance running getting in a good hammerfest workout has never been a problem. The hard part is taking those rest days. Even when I get to a rest day, I usually end up doing some lifting or getting on an elliptical, or anything besides running. That folks, is not a rest day. That is cross training, and there is a difference. Here is a page that every endurance athlete should read. It does a good job explaining that your actual training session does make you stronger. Your fitness increases during rest periods. Something I need start practicing more. Today for was supposed to be a rest day but I decided to do three miles since I cut a previous run short because of a super massive blister. After reading this I changed my mind and did not run. Yes I did 20 minutes on an elliptical and maybe 15 of lifting, but come on. If I would have done that run it probably would have been three 6:30's.

Last I have updated my 2010 race schedule. I have my three A races, the Brookings Marathon, Vineman Ironman, and Lean Horse Ultramarathon. However there are two more marathons out in the hills and now I found one taking place in a town near Sioux Falls. The entry fees for all of these are low. The Viborg one is only 50 dollars and it's only an hour drive away. A friend is doing the first Deadwood marathon with me so I could always carpool out there with him. However it would be more likely I would take a few more days off from work and go out there for a little extra time since I could stay at Desi's house for free. It depends on if she can come out with me or not. If she takes on the camp counselor job here again she will unlikely be able to make it out to the race at all.

Thanks so for reading :)

How I overcame ITBS and Plantar Fasciitis

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 16:40:00 +0000

So if you are looking for a quick fix this may not be the article for you. Few things are ever a quick fix when it comes to health and fitness. However, it has been a successful healing for me, so you may get lucky! This is a write up on how it came that I developed both Plantar Fasciitis and Iliotibial Tract Friction Syndrome. Also the important thing, how I am now running faster and farther, pain free. I am hoping with this some insight may be given and perhaps you can see something that will help you.

My IT band first became injured November of 2008. I was increasing my long runs before the inflammation occured. However I thought my ass was covered become I was very diligent with stretching before and after my workouts, and I always did a warmup and a cool down. However it just looked like the stretching and preparation were not enough. I did not run again until the very end of December, taking the time off to focus on finals for school. Nearly two full months off, it was horrible. I remember that my IT band did hurt for a while after starting running but it got better. I did purchase a new pair of shoes but ended up going back to my old worn out ones strangely enough.

Next I developed Plantar Fasciitis in early May 2009. It was really odd how and when it happened. This was right after the time of the four triathlons in three week period and I was running very low mileage during this time. However the weeks before I was running quite a bit. Also I was in a newer pair of shoes again. The last run I did before deciding to take the summer off my white flag went up early at mile 3 and I got a ride home after the run from a friend because I could barely walk. Often it is unknown exactly how these injuries develop, but they do.

So I took nearly the entire summer of 2009 off and focused on cycling. Finally early August I started running again in Vibram Fivefingers. I did roughly 30 slow mile weeks for four weeks and then one night at the end of August I went out and ran 26.2 miles for the hell of it. This was the first time I had felt my PF hurt during a run. The twinge only happened during the tail end of the 26 miles and went away before the run was over.

When I started running again I also began using a night splint, rolling the area on a golf ball, and icing the area. I would go a week in Spearfish and not wear the night splint or do any stretching, and feel absolutely no difference in my plantar fascia. Many people swear by one or all of the treatments I mentioned, I however noticed nothing. I found I was relatively pain free for the most part with our without doing them.

After the 26.2 mile run, for four weeks I did 70 miles a week. This ended with a 31.16 mile out and back. There is a race here where the runners are dropped off in a town 15 miles away and race back to campus. Last year I was dropped off four miles out of town by a friend and ran to the start and back, resulting in 26.2 miles. This time I started from my house and ran to the start and back with everyone. This made the run 31.16 miles. Again I did feel some PF pain a bit towards the end for a mile but it went away quickly.

Currently the only time I will ever feel heel pain is from standing too much in shoes with too much support. Oddly enough the one thing professionals say is to NEVER go without support when you have plantar fasciitis. I had a cashiering job so did a lot of standing. I found after a few hours my PF would start to become agitated. I purchased a pair of insoles to wear, but they did nothing, perhaps even made it worse. I also tried to wear a pair of your regular running shoes, but again the pain just got worse. Finally I tried to do what I was when I ran, go as minimalist as possible. I wore my Puma Speed Cats to work one day. These have no support and are just about totally flat on the bottom. It shocked me to realize that in these shoes I had no PF pain from even an 8 hour shift at work! I had another pair of super flat unsupportive shoes, and they were the same way. However if I wore a pair of one of my shoes with inserts, the pain would come back.

The week after the 31 miles I did get some ITBS pain again. A few times after that run I did go out again on Medary, same road, and do a few runs. Towards the end, 5 or so miles into them, I would get slight IT pain but finish just fine. Afterwards I simply took some time off and took advantage of a holiday to travel and see Desi. Unfortunately I left my Vibrams in Spearfish with her and was without them for a couple weeks, running in my pair of trainers. While running in the shoes the ITBS pain started hurting within a mile or two of the runs and I would cut them short after 3 miles and have to head home. After a couple weeks without the Vibrams I got them back. First run in them, zero ITBS pain. The experience was amazing. I went from getting the twinge within two miles and cutting the run show to not having any pain at all.

This time however, I knew exactly what caused this bout of ITBS and exactly how to fix it. The race took place on paved road out of town, so I did a great deal of training on that road prior to the run. Looking back 60% of the 167 miles I ran before the 31 were on that road with the center line to same side of my body. I suppose the slight incline of the road for 100 miles caused some stress over time.

Now with my Vibrams I was again back in business. All the races were behind me for the year so I had some easier weeks and the training was down a bit. The snow came and another issue arose. Here is South Dakota is gets really cold. As of writing this I am not sure if it has been above 30 for a few weeks. That tends to make long runs, or any running outside at all, very uncomfortable and difficult. Now comes the track problem. First off, the track at my local Wellness Center is horribly designed. 9 laps for a mile and it is almost in a rectangle shape with slightly curved corners. I have ran on smaller tracks before and this has the sharpest corners I have ever seen. And, who makes an odd numbered mile track?!?

Anyway I began to find that if I went for longer than eight or nine miles with my right side on the outside, my IT band would start to hurt. Nine miles is 324 left hand turns. Luckily though all I have to do is jump on a treadmill, run outside, or go the other direction on the track (if it is late and no one else is on there) and the pain instantly goes away. I am going to rant one more time about that track quick. The old building had five lanes I believe and it was kind of understood that the outside lane was for runners so they could go the other direction and switch it up. This new track only has three lanes so that is obviously impossible and also causes walkers to often take all three lanes.

But now after so many miles of running since my return I believe I have finally found what I need to run injury free and successful. I ran for a year and a half and was injured twice for about two months off each time. Now running in the Vibram Five Fingers I am going faster and farther, injury free.

Now if you are feeling any of these pains. Do not go out and switch into minimal shoes and start running again. There is an injury and some time off will be essential, duration based on how much and what hurts. If you have been running in the regular Nike moon boots and switching to minimalist running there should be a transition time as well. You will be using muscles with your new form that have been neglected for years of running. Here is an excellent post on how to make the transition. It refers to barefoot running but the transition is very similar to switching to running in Vibram Fivefingers or XC flats.

The point of minimal running is that it forces a midfoot strike and allows your foot to land how it should. We have been running so for the last 200,000 years and Nike comes along in the last few decades and tells us we are running wrong, I'm not buying it. Here is kind of the flagship article on the subject. Not the first, but one of the best IMO. If you are looking for more, please check this out.

Cliff Notes:

Shoes = injuries

Vibrams = Faster, farther, pain free

Distance running. If you feel good, don't worry, that will pass.

Ipull400watts@gmail.com (I Pull 400 Watts) — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 17:02:00 +0000

I was reading about the 100 top science stories of 2009 and there was many about vaccines. The article on a diarrhea vaccine brought this thought to my attention. The article said how there was currently 1.5 million people suffering from diarrhea or 1.5 mil that die annually, cannot remember, but the majority being in developing countries. Well what would those countries do with 1.5 mil more children?!? There are already food shortages and over population in these areas. Many people there are already dieing of so many other things I do not believe increasing the population when there are already food shortages is such a good diea. Yes, saving lives is good. However I could not help but think that it would just be giving these people the chance to die a slow painful death from something else.

Wed was just an amazing run. Felt strong the entire time, and had racing on my mind. Sometimes the feeling would get so powerful and I would find myself within the race. I feel a shiver go down my spine and across my shoulders and all I want to do is drop the hammer but I know I have to hold pace to continue the remainder of the run.

I have noticed lately a difference in how my head and upper body position effects my running. This is only possible when running up on the track when I can see every single lap pace. If I lower my head and eyes and stare only a few feet in front of my body I feel smoother and like I am moving at a pretty good clip. However when I check my pace it is generally slower then when running with my head up looking forward. I feel better with my head down, it feels like I am literally falling forward. Probably because when looking down I see the ground going past quickly. Very much like if you were to look out your side window when in a car and staring at the ground to your side. When I go and lift my head or eyes again, without consciously thinking about it my pace increases. Sometimes I think seeing other runners in front of me may have something to do with it. Maybe it's something with my body position. Or of course a combo of the two.

One of the common excuses for allowing the consumption of junk during the holidays is, well, because it is the holidays. But I believe that eating all this sugary fake food does nothing but reinforce the habit during the rest of the year. Diet soda is another example of this. True, by itself diet soda does not contain sugar. However it has that same taste of the oh so addictive substance and when you drink pop it gives you that amazing feeling so much akin to the first few inhalations of a cigarette to a smoker who missed their first break.

Speaking of soda I saw a man letting his two year old sip out of his Pepsi bottle at Walmart. I gave him the most "omfg are you kidding me you discust me" look I could, without being to obvious.

Here is an interesting thought. This came up a while ago when I was discussing the addition of a barefoot division at a race, along the same lines as age groups. First I said how I looked at age groups as a way of separating older runners from the runners in their prime, to equalize the placings. By making a BF catagory I believed it showed that they were at a disadvantage to regular runners, such as 60 year olds are at a disadvantage to 30 year olds. However thinking about it more, are shoes the disadvantage, being more like wheel chairs for the handicap? Are runners all disabled and incapable of running without the crutches(shoes)?

Such as a person with an amputated leg cannot run without a prosthetic leg, most runners cannot run without shoes.

It's ironic that the modern motion control shoe may be causing more injuries that would otherwise be prevented.

A good comparison I have read is how shoe companies promote their product like baby formula companies did a few decades ago. They told everyone formula was superior to breast milk, gave it away in hospitals and clinics. People started replacing breast milk with formula, and infants paid the price. Unfortunately society has not fully realized that runners are paying the price wearing motion control moon boots. It is turning around though. Look at the slowtwitch forums. Triathletes are the most tech savy athletes out there, and you can even see a movement to more minimal shoes there.

A friend wanted me to comment on Muscle Milk...

Serving Size 2 scoops (75.0 g)

Amount Per Serving

Calories

350

Calories from Fat

162

% Daily Value^*

Total Fat

18.0g

28%

Saturated Fat

8.0g

40%

Cholesterol

5mg

Sodium

200mg

Total Carbohydrates

12.0g

Sugars

6.0g

Protein

32.0g

As you can see it has sodium to replace what was lost through sweat. Lots of protein, plenty of sugar, and holy saturated fat! My ideal recovery shake that I like to eat as soon as possible after a workout is some whey protein and a banana blended up into some 100% fruit juice. My current media is the amazing apple juice Walmart has. Muscle milk is manufactured to be a recovery drink for lifters mainly.

It is important to note that no supplements are regulated by the FDA or any governing body. I talk a bit about this here. If it can be helped I would always opt for real food rather than some food like substance.

The book, Paleo Diet for Athletes talks a great deal about recovery and eating around nutrition.

Thursday Walmart closed at 8 on christmas eve. I worked 10.5 hours that day so obviously did not get a chance to run before work. However afterwards it was 12 below with wind gusting up to 28mph. So obviously I had to go run! I only did four but it was awesome. I told someone it was at my easy peasy "sing black eyed peas out loud while all alone running down main street during a blizzard" pace.

You know those arctic explorers you always see in movies with the beard covered in ice about to discover the ancient alien artifact. (transformers, the day the earth stood still, and alien vs predator if I remember correctly) That was me. Except I was running, which is much cooler than discovering an ancient alien artifact. My fingers lost feeling for the first half when I spent most of the time running into the wind. I even stuck them in my mouth and bit down, not feeling a whole lot. However as soon as I turned to a tailwind and was sheltered by houses and buildings more the feeling came back within a few miles.

I hate holidays for the main reason that the Wellness Center closes. I do two things in life. Homework, and run. I have no homework with it being Winter Break so must run, and it's really tough to do so when it's below zero and has snowed a foot in the last two days with another 10 inches to come.

During the next semester I would like to do a bit of studying at the Wellness Center. Bring a book or my notes with me and so some light reading after my workout. Jump on a bike and spend a half hour burning a few extra calories and getting some reading done. Can't hurt to try I suppose.

I was chatting with a coworker and he mentioned how he used to do marathons back in high school. "Oh yeah! Which ones?" I asked. "oh, some 5k's and 10k's" he replies.....I tell him that a marathon is 26.2 miles. He goes on to say how a 5k is a marathon to him. That is like calling a Ford Explorer a Lamborghin....even though it obviously is not. I have just never realized before that some people actually do not know a marathon is 26.2 miles.

Well I am out at Rapid City for a week with Desi before she leaves for school in Mexico until June. I may not run until I get back on the 4th but I am super excited to start a new training diary!

Later all! Thanks so much for reading :)