Yummm! Part Deux

This is a continuation from part one.

So the newly adopted pooch is eating raw and I’m thinking about food. 

I had read a bit on the Paleo diet, then read “The Paleo Diet for Athletes” by Joe Friel and Loren Cordain.  I am quite a skeptic about pretty much everything, so I continued to do a lot of research.  Slowly my initial thoughts on Paleo being a knock-off of The Atkins Diet melted away.  Matter of fact, the more I read, the more I started to understand that it wasn’t so much the Atkins Diet that was completely out to lunch, but the way that the adherents during its popularity applied the principles.  In other words, fair concept, poor execution.

Sorry, but you aren’t going to lose weight AND stay healthy by eliminating all carbs but sucking down a Low-Carb Double Whopper at Burger King.

Coinciding with this recreational reading, I was doing research for a school paper covering the rise of childhood obesity, focusing specifically on the rapid decline of physical education and  physical activity in general in our youth.  Things started really clicking then.  Especially when I started noticing that obesity rates started rising sharply soon after the publication of the “Food Pyramid” (right) in 1992.  That was the first time that such an emphasis was placed on breads, cereals, pastas, etc., for the entire population, although carbs had been the focus for athletes for quite a while.

So the concepts of the Paleo Diet made quite a bit of sense to me.  I didn’t buy into it whole-hog (pardon the pun), but decided to give it a try.  The timing was perfect, since I was deploying to Iraq.  I could try it without impacting the family and decide for myself.  Matter of fact, Goddess didn’t even know I had changed how I was eating until about four months into my deployment.  By then I had already experienced some pretty impressive changes.  I didn’t have a reliable way to measure my weight and no way to measure body-fat, but I could easily see the results in the mirror.

As I read and ingested more on the Paleo Diet, there were still some foods deemed “off-limits” for unexplained reasons (that I could find).  Which led me to do even more research (hey, I needed something to fill my time in Iraq when I wasn’t working or running).  Slowly I began to understand more, which also led me into reading up on things such as glycemic indices and ketosis. 

But all of this didn’t dissuade me from enjoying an occasional chocolate chip cookie or slice of carrot cake.

Then one day I stumbled across this post on Mark’s Daily Apple, the blog of Mark Sisson.  It opened my eyes to Primal.  Mark, way back when, raced marathons and long-course triathlons.  In other words, not much different than you or I.  So I spent a lot of time reading through the archives, where I saw a huge overlap between Paleo and Primal.  There were differences, especially Mark’s insistence that physical activity should be anaerobic for short periods of time, completely eschewing the endurance sports that he participated in earlier.  But he acknowledges that there are those of us that do.  And Friel’s work with Cordain acknowledges the unique needs of endurance athletes, especially during and immediately post training/race.

Here’s a very good discussion on the differences between Paleo/Primal.  And for a different point of view on the differences, Mark Sisson posted this.

In response to part one of this post, Tea made a very good comment – “Although, I really don’t like to tag foods as good or bad because it sets alot of people of for failure.”  That is one thing that both Paleo and Primal camps do is tag certain foods as good or bad. One thing I do like about both is that they give the medical and chemical reasons as to why a certain food is on the list.  Turns out that many of the foods on the “bad” list have a tendency to block the absorption of critical components of food, specifically proteins, glycogen, vitamins and minerals.  As I researched this more and more, it all started making even more sense. 

As I spent the summer in Iraq eating (OK, I did just a bit more than that), I started really paying attention to what everyone was eating.  I wasn’t sneering at anyone, just observing.  I noticed that, as a whole, we were eating beige.  Everything was either fried or battered.  There was very little color.  Now Goddess and I had always strived to eat colorful meals, but there was always a pile of pasta or something similar on the plate.  No more.

So sticking with the concepts of Paleo and Primal while training last year, I was comfortably able to complete my 40-miler.  Fueling was key during the run, but in my mind, the more important fueling occurred during my training of the previous months, especially the post-run recovery meals.  But the real proof was in the pudding:

1 May 2008:  204lb / 26.2% BF / Waist 35”   ———————->    20 Nov 2008: 182lb / 18.2% BF / Waist 31”.

Those results really aren’t too amazing.  Over the years I’ve watched plenty of folks come back from a deployment 20-30 and sometimes even 50 lbs lighter than when they left.  It’s not too hard to do while deployed.  The trick is to keep it off; most don’t.  I’ve been home five months now and while I’ve had little fluctuations, I’m still right around 183lb/18.5%/31”. My daily caloric intake hasn’t changed over the past few years, since I’ve been tracking it very closely.  Matter of fact, my average daily caloric intake is the same now as it was last year as it was in 2007 when I was training for my IM-distance race.  But I am 15lbs lighter than race day for the IM-distance race.  The key has been the elimination of processed carbs.

Goddess can attest to the fact that I’ve got definition in places where I’ve never had definition, even when I was 15lbs lighter during my high school track/cross-country days than I am now.

The first few months of eating Paleo/Primal were interesting, especially during training.  I didn’t feel either sluggish or overly energetic, as some have reported.  Over the course of a few weeks my body started adapting to using more fat as a fuel source, instead of the steady stream of processed carbs that I had fed it before.  I tracked my intake closely and made sure that I did not put my body into ketosis, which is one of the health concerns of the Atkins Diet.  But I did notice that during and after particularly long and/or hard workouts, my sweat started smelling like ammonia.  It was odd, but not worrisome as I learned that the smell was a result of my body switching fuel sources from glycogen to amino acids.  So I made sure I upped the amount of fruits and vegetables I ate before such workouts.  The smell went away.

I did notice that my daily energy levels started to level out.  Gone were the daily post-lunch crashes after a carb-heavy meal.  Now I may occasionally want a nap in the afternoon, but typically only after a long, hard training run or after a night of less than optimal sleep.  Goddess keeps me up late most nights, you know.  ;^)

Now I am far from being dogmatic about this.  There’s nothing wrong with having a small serving of pasta once in a while, or a bit of rice with that sushi that I love.  And the other night we were at a neighbor kid’s 18th birthday party, where I had a few Oreo’s and a piece of sheet cake.  I just chose to move from having that as a significant part of my diet and I firmly believe that it’s made quite a difference in my health and performance.

And recently I read another book that all but confirmed my decisions – The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan.  While following the industrial food chain, centered around grains, Pollan points out many of the significant health issues related to our over-consumption of corn and the myriad corn by-products.  I highly recommend giving it a read.

Anyway, instead of turning this into a diatribe, I’ll close here.  I’ve got some resting up to do before this weekend’s marathon.

And some carb loading, mainly with fruits and vegetables, but I’m sure a plate of spaghetti will slide in front of me Friday when my mom and sister are in town.

 

P.S.  Goddess found that she had to drop the cooking time of the Flourless Chocolate Muffins to 25 minutes.  They came out great, especially with a glass of cold milk.

Yummm!

I am spoiled.

Goddess sure puts up with me.  Even when I say silly things.  She tolerates my training and racing, although she will shake her head at times and tell me that I’m nuts.

I am.

To some, I’m sure.

The most impressive thing has been her support of my eating habits.  She’s actually adapted quite a bit and makes wonderful treats like these Flourless Chocolate Muffins for me.

So what’s the big deal about it?  It fits quite nicely into my Paleo/Primal eating habits.

Both concepts were something that I had been doing a lot of research on for quite a while.  As Goddess can attest to, if I get interested in something, I research the hell out of it.  Mostly to satisfy my curiosity. 

Because I am a sponge.

Initially I poo-pooed both as concepts that were capitalizing on the Adkins fad.  And that was one thing I stayed the hell away from.  I saw many friends and co-workers jump on that bandwagon and do some pretty rough things to their bodies that they did not understand, all while eating crap and claiming that all carbs were evil.

And that was one belief that I fought violently.  I knew, and still know, that carbs are not evil.  Matter of fact, we need them.

But a dog got me to look more closely at the carbs that I was eating.

Yep, a dog.

Growing up racing in the ‘80s and through the ‘90s, carbs were king.  Racing track, cross-country, bikes and building up to ultra-marathon bike races in the late ‘90s were a great excuse for me to inhale carbs.  The more the merrier.  Pile them high, pile them thick.  Matter of fact, I swore that I was an Italian in a previous life.

And no matter how active I was, the waistband kept expanding.  I got pretty thick, but could still ride hard and ride long.  Unfortunately, with the added girth, any time the road tilted upwards, I’d get dropped.  But on the flats, I was a locomotive that the teams would love to jump behind as I’d drag them across the countryside.  So I made sure that I kept the engine stoked.  But I was failing at simple math, so I was easily taking in more than I was burning.

Once I figured out the math, I worked on that.  So it dropped off quite nicely.  But even though I tracked everything as closely as possible, I still was softer than I needed to be.  Even in 2007 when I was training for my IM-distance race, I dropped a fair bit, but just couldn’t get below 190lbs.  I didn’t worry about that though, figuring that 190lbs was my body’s comfortable “floor”.

But then the dog came in.

In late 2007, we started looking at rescuing a retired greyhound.  While we were waiting to be approved and waiting for a dog that would adopt us, I did a lot of research on feed, especially after the dog food contamination scare of 2007.  One thing that I kept returning to was the concept of feeding raw or biologically appropriate raw food (BARF for short).  Basically the idea is to feed the same foods that the animals ancestors ate, instead of the processed food with additives and chemicals.  It made perfect sense to me.

So we discussed with one of the ladies that fosters and helps place the retired greyhounds in homes.  She was extremely supportive, especially since she feeds her dogs the same way.  The resident veterinarian for the group was there as well and she was supportive.  That vet support is something that we’ve found to be rare. 

So when Skinny adopted us late last January, we started easing him in to a raw diet.  The pooch took to it immediately.  And as I’d stand there, holding a chicken leg quarter while feeling him crunch his way through the bones and flesh, it got me to thinking about the foods that I ate. 

<…to be continued…>

Ace

This won’t mean much to most, but it’s a bit of bragging.

Being in the military, fitness is a significant part of our job.  Matter of fact, we’re actually afforded a couple of hours every day during work hours to work out.  How perfect is that for me?  So we set aside the first two hours of the day for organized Physical Training (PT).  The downside for me is that the workouts are basic enough to challenge those that aren’t in shape, but not so challenging that it breaks them (that’s not the goal).  So I’ll often run the five miles to work and then start PT.  Then I’ll run home at the end of the day, stretching my afternoon run from 5-13 miles or more if need be.  Rinse, repeat the next day.

Anyway, the proof was in the pudding this week.  We had our PT test, which consists of a waist measurement, crunches, push ups and timed 1.5-mile run.

The waist measurement has been the bane of my existence.  In order to get a perfect score of 50, one must have a waist measurement of less than 32.5″ (for men).  Age is not a consideration, nor is height.  It’s actually measured just below the navel.  And for every half-inch greater than 32.5″, one loses 1.25 points.  Even though I was in shape to race Ironman-distance races, I still had enough around the mid-section that I’d lose 8 points before I even started.

But thanks to switching to a Primal/Paleo diet at the start of my deployment to Iraq, those inches have all but melted off.  I did lose some weight by switching, but mostly the fat melted away as my body composition shifted.  But don’t mistake my use of the word diet to mean that I went on a diet.  No, I actually had done a lot of research and decided that the way I had been eating hadn’t been working for me, so I modified the way I was eating.  For those who don’t know what Primal or Paleo diets are (and don’t click on the links above), the gist of it is getting back to a more natural way of eating, minimizing the processed foods and eliminating grains (for many different reasons).  Some mistakenly call them “low carb” diets, which they are not; it’s just a matter of getting carbs from natural sources, not processed sources.  Perhaps that will be a different post, since this one is already getting sidetracked.

Anyway, thanks to the sculpting that the diet change has brought about, I now measure at a cool 32.0″ just below the navel.  So that hurdle is out of the way.  The rest is easy.

Crunches – must do more than 47 in one minute.  Done.

Pushups – must do more than 40 in one minute.  Done.

Timed 1.5-mile run – must run faster than 10:21 to get full points.  Done, with a very comfortable, evenly paced 9:45.  Even after putting  20-miles on the legs in the previous 36 hours.

Now, I’ll admit I took advantage of my age group.  Once one turns 40, the run time gets a bit slower and the pushups and crunches are a few less; only the waist measurement doesn’t change.  But I actually ran faster than the 35-39 and 30-34 age groups require for a perfect score.  So next month’s goal is to add the few extra pushups and crunches and then ace the 35-39 age group PT test.  After that…

Plus, it’s fun to leave the twenty-something’s strewn all over the track during the run.

I Want Credit For Trying It

OMG, this is so my situation right now.

Over here, KBR runs the DFACs (Dining Facilities).  Nope, we can’t call them Chow Hall’s anymore.  But we do anyway.

Well, the DFACs have quite a spread.  So good, in fact, that a significant portion of the folks over here actually gain weight.  Nothing like having an all-you-can-eat buffet for every meal of the day.

Quite a departure from 10+ years ago, where we’d deploy folks that were in danger of getting drummed out for weight issues.  Deploy them for 120 days and they’d come back 10-15 (or more) pounds lighter.

So what does that have to do with Frazz’s dilemma?

I have a co-worker here who talks every day, every meal about how he needs to lose weight.  Every meal he pushes back from the table and says that he’s headed to the desert bar because he can’t help himself.

And he’ll talk to every new person we meet about how he needs to lose the weight and control his eating.

So he got a used bike.  Cheap.  Like ten dollars cheap.  But you don’t want (or need) anything more than that.  He got it from someone who was heading home.  Certainly not a bike that I’d race or train with, but certainly something that would do a good job of getting around and maybe cranking a few laps around the lakes.

You know, something that would help burn off some of that dessert.

First ride, he comes back and says that it’s unusable.  Why?  Because the back wheel wobbles.

I offered to go after it with a can of WD-40 and a wrench to true the wheel.  Nope, that’s too much trouble.  Easier to complain about it

So I do feel Frazz’s pain.

Ass Sweltering Pain

Yep, that’s what I’m calling my race report. Three simple words, combined, encapsulate the week leading up to, and including, the National Marathon To Fight Breast Cancer, aka “Running with Donna 26.2″. Warning: This is a long, long, long post.

First off, the ass. I won’t include a link here, since most of you know what one is. Matter of fact, I’ve been called one from time to time. It’s even likely I’ve been called one in the past 24 hours. But I digress.

For those of you that follow this blog, you’ll know of my inability to run for the past month due to a very painful “calf pull” that I experienced in mid-January. A couple of weeks off from running, as well as stretching and massage, did seem to help. At least until I ran on it again. With only two weeks until the marathon, I was desperate to find something to fix my pain. So last week, while driving to the rodeo, I did some exploratory poking and squeezing on my calf (while driving, which I DO NOT recommend). The exquisite pain that shot up my thigh, into my glute and the small of my back got me to thinking and a bit of research once we got home that night. With the help of my Trigger Point Therapy Workbook and TriggerPoints.net, I was able to narrow down the culprit, which certainly didn’t cross my mind in the previous weeks.

Who would’ve thought that a debilitating calf issue would be caused by your butt? Even with my experiences and successes with trigger points over the past year, I certainly didn’t. In the picture below, my particular issue is the one on the right.

As you can see, the X’s mark the trigger points and the red areas mark the associated pain. I didn’t typically feel any pain in my hamstring area and had only felt the pain in my cheek area during my long runs leading up to my “calf pull”. The majority of the pain associated with this trigger point was in the area on the outside of my calf.

But that still wasn’t the “calf pull” area. That area was more associated trigger point #2 on the Soleus, but frequent massage and pressure on that trigger point did not solve the problem, so it had to have something else contributing. That turned out to be the Gluteus Minimus.

After referring to the book and the web site, it was time for a bit of exploration. For such a sensitive area, I’d normally turn to the Goddess for help, but one thing usually leads to another, so I had to do this one myself. Plus, since the gluteus minimus lies beneath the gluteus maximus, the probes had to be deep and forceful; not something she enjoys doing (she tells me “that’s your job”). The probes confirmed a line of large knots right where the muscle attaches to my pelvis. Let me tell you, there was no pleasant in this probing.

So all last week I massaged them by sitting on a tennis ball on the living room and slowly rolling over the muscle, working from one knot to the next. Quite a few times the pain took my breath away. Following each rolling session I’d stretch. I found the most effective stretch for me is the Prone Glute Stretch, which feels absolutely wonderful. By following this sequence on both legs last week, I was comfortable that I could start the marathon on Sunday.

In the final days before the marathon, I revamped my original goal (break 4:00) and came up with three separate goals, two of which I could fall back on if the previous goal was unattainable. They were:

1. Break 4:00. Even with one month off, there’s always the possibility that the forced rest from the injury would deliver me to the line so fresh that I would comfortably crank out the required 9:09 miles (which I was doing with ease on my long runs leading up to my injury last month).
2. Complete the race. With the most likely possibility that I would still be feeling the effects of my calf through the race, I would have to adjust my finish time goal on the fly and hold out for the finish.
3. Stop the insanity, wait for Goddess and my sister to catch up, then walk the remainder of the half-marathon with them. The intent of this goal was to continue to heal and hopefully set myself up for April’s Country Music Marathon in Nashville.

The overarching goal was to not injure myself any more. But doesn’t that go without saying?

Goal number three was the only goal as recent as 7 days out from the race. I had resigned myself to not running the marathon and would enjoy the morning with Goddess and my sister. That certainly isn’t a bad thing, not by any means, but my goal signing up was to race the 26.2. But with the “discovery” of my gluteus minimus, goals 1 and 2 quickly became more attainable.

After a gaggle at the start area (see “BAD” and “UGLY” below), we were off. I was very comfortable at a 9:30 pace for the first few miles, figuring that if I was to achieve goal 1, I would warm up during the first few miles and then be able to slowly ramp up the pace. That’s my typical race strategy anyway, since I don’t typically warm up for 4-6 miles.

By mile 4, I could feel my calf. No pain, but a steady discomfort; enough discomfort to back off the pace and toss goal #1 out the window. At no point during the 26.2 miles did my calf hurt like it had during the previous month, so that was a huge success.

By mile 6 I had passed the turn-around for the half-marathon, so I was committed to the full.

At mile 10, my quadricep heads started to cramp slightly. Not a good sign, but a reality of the day.

By mile 13.1, I was a full 20 minutes slower than my half-marathon split at the Flying Monkey Marathon, which had over 2,000′ of climbing. This course was flat, with only 215′ of total climbing! It was a run-walk strategy for the last 13.1 miles.

Why so slow? Other than the leg issues, for me it was the weather. Over the past several months, I’ve been running in a Kentucky winter. Runs in the snow, runs in some pretty cold wind chills, runs in dreary overcast days with temperatures hovering in the 20’s. The morning we left to drive to Florida, it was 19 degrees. And that was after a couple of days of ice and snow. In Florida, by the time the race started on Sunday morning, it was 69F with 75% humidity and continued to get worse, settling at 75F and 65% by the time I finished. In other words, relatively oppressive heat.

Although I knew it was going to be warmer, I failed to properly build my hydration and electrolytes in the days leading up to the race. It caught up to me.

I inhaled my Clif Shot Bloks, wishing I had more than just one pack of the Margarita with Salt. I started gulping the Accelerade that they provided and even talked a First Aid tent volunteer out of his bag of Lays Potato Chips at about mile 20. I was able to keep the cramping at bay for the most part, but it would rear its head enough to keep me focused on sucking down as much electrolytes as I could.

Goddess called and told me that she and my sister had finished. I was (and still am) so proud of them; neither had done anything like that before, not even so much as run a 10K. They committed to walking the 13.1 with each other.

Between miles 20 and 21, I had the most amazing walk with a lady. I first approached her because she was wobbling like crazy and I was worried about her. The heat was definitely taking its toll on everyone. Turns out she was a 68 year old who was using the marathon as a training run for an upcoming 50-mile race. She was quite upset with her performance thus far because she knew she was fitter than that, just coming off a 70-mile training week and had run under 4:00 in the past year. She was from out west, so the humidity was definitely getting to her. I waved down medical support, who had a talk with her and let her continue. I was quite pleased last night to see that she had finished the race.

By mile 22, I did some quick calculations and realized that I needed to pick up the pace if I was to finish in under 6:00. With the heat and cramping, it was going to be a challenge. At this point, everyone was walking. Occasionally someone would shuffle for a minute or so, but it really was the walk of the dead.

I revamped my walk-run strategy and threw time out the window. No matter if I picked a 2:1 or 1:1 time strategy, I just couldn’t get the legs moving very well after walking. So I decided on a 30:30 strategy, not of time, but of foot strikes; 30 left foot strikes while running, 30 left foot strikes while walking. It kept me focused and moving relatively quickly at a 9:45 pace during the run segments. In the next two miles I figure I passed between 75-100 people. That was a huge confidence boost.

At a mile-and-a-half out from the finish, the worst climb of the day arrived as we had to climb a bridge that crosses the Intracoastal Waterway. Past the last water stop and starting to cramp again, it was back to walking. Turning the last turn, greeted by the sign “The last .2 mile will kick you in the ass” and seeing the finish line got me moving again. The cramping got me walking again. Even coming up to the timing mat that they had set up with 100 yards to go, my leg locked. Luckily that didn’t come through in the pictures. I was passed by quite a few folks at this stage, but I couldn’t have cared less.

Finish time – 5:57:14 by my Garmin, chip time 5:57:18.

The Good -

• I finished. Thanks to the lack of running over the past month, this entered back into my race goals.
• I broke a rule of racing and was better for it. I wore my new pair of Injinji Toe Socks and they rocked! I had been wearing Thorlo’s for the past year+ and had always had problems with blisters on the balls of my feet, no matter how much or how long I ran. The Thorlo’s are thick and have good padding while the Injinji’s are very thin with no padding. So I discovered that with the Injinji’s I’ll likely have to come down half a shoe size to make up for the difference in sock padding. With the thinner socks, my forefoot was sliding around a bit in the shoe box, but absolutely no blisters!
• I had several mental breakthroughs during the race. Details are unimportant, but they happened.
• The communities of Jacksonville Beach and Neptune Beach absolutely rocked! A significant portion of the race ran through neighborhoods, which effectively cut them off to all auto traffic. So the residents made the best of the situation and stood out in their driveways, sprayed the runners, provided oranges and cheered. One group of guys even provided shots of beer at the 21 mile mark (it was GOOD).
• For a first-time event, the course was completely stocked with supplies on the course. There was never a shortage of water, Accelerade or Gu (I didn’t use it, but they had plenty). This was in sharp contrast to several of the more well-established events that I’ve participated in.
• The support from the community and runners (I know I mentioned the community before, but this is different). Since this event was to raise funds for Breast Cancer Research, each of us could wear a sign on our back that said who we were running for. Mine said simply “Mom”, who is a survivor. I had many folks run past saying “I’m running for Mom too”. That was always a great boost. More humbling were the folks who ran by with 7, 8 or 10 names on their sign. More amazing was running and talking with survivors who were out there pushing themselves. The couple of times that I thought about folding I thought about what my Mom and all of these others had gone through; my discomfort paled in comparison.
• The support and advice from those of you out in blogland. Thank you so much for the public and private advice and concern. That really means a lot to me.

The Bad -

• There weren’t corrals for the runners, just pacers with planned finish times, so you would look for your planned finish time and stand near that person. The gun went off and it took a couple of minutes to get to the start line (normal). But once we got moving, it was evident that several walkers had seeded themselves at the front, causing several traffic jams and collisions as the thousands of runners had to work around them. I applaud those ladies for getting out there and moving, but at the front of 8,000+ was not the place to be.
• This also goes for the folks following the Jeff Galloway plan. Overall, I believe that this group did great things for thousands of runners at the marathon, but sticking to the plan in the first mile was a recipe for disaster as the pacer yelled “Walk” and groups of 60+ runners stopped to walk just 3 minutes out from the start line; again, they caused huge traffic jams and many collisions in a very crowded situation. Tempers were flaring already and I’m surprised no one got hurt.

The Ugly -

• The race started a full 30 minutes later than the 8am start time. They knew it was going to be warm and were announcing over the loudspeakers that folks need to adjust their pacing and not plan on a PR, yet still started it late. It looks like they’ve fixed this and have adjusted the start time for next year’s race to 7:30am. Hopefully they’ll start it on time.

Lessons learned -

• Electrolyte loading – I can’t believe I still haven’t figured this one out. I’ve known for many years that I’m a very heavy sweater and that I lose a lot of electrolytes during a race. Yet I never remember to load up on them until I’m in the race.
• A stride-focused walk-run strategy is the key when I get to that stage. I was amazed at how easy it was to get moving once my left foot hit 30. And it was easy to hold an unflagging pace for “only” 30 strides.
• The Base layer is crucial. What’s that? A base layer in 70 degree weather? Yep. After running the Monkey and chafing my nipples down a full 1/32″, I learned that I needed to wear a skin tight layer under my shirt. Let’s just say it was a good thing that I wore a red shirt for that race. Since then I’ve always worn a skin tight technical shirt and haven’t had any problems. I did the same for this race and it was a godsend. Once the heat got unbearable, I peeled my outer shirt and let the slight sea breeze cool me. The wicking effect really kept me cool, even though the shirt was black. I’d even dump a cup of water over me and get chilled, which was great! So if you look at my race pics, you’ll see that I’m wearing two different shirts.
• Stretching, massage and cross-training. I need to do more of each to help with these injuries, all of which have been flexibility related over the past year. I’ve had much success with identifying the appropriate trigger point and relieving the pressure, but some have taken longer to solve and have kept me away from training longer than I’d like. So I now need to schedule more sessions each week.

Will I do this race again? Absolutely. The location was great, the community was great and it had the added bonus of allowing me to spend several days with my parents as well as my sister and her family.

From here it’s the Tom King Half Marathon next month and the Country Music Marathon in April, both in Nashville.

MS Blues Half Marathon: Race Report

In the words of S. Baboo Friday night as we ate dinner with him and GeekGirl – “Life is funny. You just can’t make up stuff this good”. But that doesn’t really have anything to do with this blog. We were already laughing and that line made me laugh even more.

It all started with checking in at our hotel in Jackson, MS. The guy in front of us, wearing his Boston Marathon Finisher’s Jacket, mentioned to one of the hotel staff that this race was going to be tougher than Boston, thanks to the hills. No one mentioned hills. Not in this race. The course profile showed some bumps, but certainly nothing to get concerned about, right?

So we check in to the hotel, grab a quick nap, then head over to the expo to sign in. I call S. Baboo and GeekGirl, who are out driving the course. The first thing he mentions are the hills. And it doesn’t sound good. Further discussion squashes any plans for a PR on this course.

Race morning turned out beautiful for a run, although a bit warmer than I like. But standing around before the start was pretty cool at 45F with a nice breeze. So I stood with Goddess, wrapped up in my sweats until just moments before the horn went off. Then I slipped into the pack, not 30 feet from the front, and started the run.

As expected the first 1/2 mile was pretty slow as everyone is packed together and shuffling along. It took a while, but then things started thinning and and I could move. The plan was to start out slow and throttle back for the first half, then pick up the pace. I planned this for two reasons: 1) with the hills, I didn’t want to go out to hard and blow up, and 2) this was always planned to be just a training run for me (definitely a priority B race, where I didn’t peak and taper like I would for a priority A race).

The first few miles were warming up, talking to Elvis (who invited me back to Graceland after the race), and working my way around the other runners. Not that I was flying, but it was pretty easy to pick out who had started out too hard. The first long uphill was between 3-3.5 miles and folks started drifting back. This hill even slowed my overall average pace a few seconds, but that was fine with me, especially this early in the race.

Through the mid-section of the race, I planned on keeping the pace nice and steady so I’d have something left for the last 4-5 miles. I actually ended up picking up the pace in the mid-section, shaving time off my average pace from miles 3.5-8. So far so good, but the hills just kept coming as we worked our way through the downtown business/capitol district of Jackson.

The last 5 miles started out quite hilly as we worked our way past the fairgrounds and climbed up into a residential area. This is where quite a few folks started walking, but that wasn’t in my plan. I started reeling in more runners as I picked up the pace, but now that I look at the data, I didn’t actually pick up speed. Matter of fact, over my last 5 miles, every 1/2 mile split was within 1 second of each other, either 8:45 or 8:46. How’s that for consistent? Here’s the pace chart and route (click on the picture to see the full image, which includes the full route):

I think the killer was the last 1/2 mile, where we made a left turn and went straight up. It sure felt like a wall at that point. I crossed the finish line at 1:55:46 , not a PR, but just 8 minutes off. Not too bad for a hilly course and a training run. If I remember correctly (the web site’s not updated), that made me 132nd out of 600. Also, I think they had me at 1:56:02, which would account for passing under a railroad track (more on that later).

After Goddess and I drove back to the hotel for a quick ice-bath and shower (Goddess refused to join me for either one), we grabbed the boy and headed back to the race. We sat at the finish “wall” and cheered the marathon finishers on, telling them it was the last hill. There were a few comments of “It sure as hell better be”.

We almost missed S. Baboo as he came sprinting up the top of the hill on his way to a PR! We cheered GeekGirl on as she went up the hill, but it was a few minutes later when we realized that it was her. She finished quite strong herself and I know she’s pleased with the race, especially considering the hills.

So we sat in the finish area, ate some food, listened to some blues and enjoyed the free beer. It was quite an energetic post-race.

After a few relaxing hours in the hotel that afternoon, we met up at a local bar, which sponsored the race. They definitely threw in a great deal, with free entry to all race competitors, plus two free drink coupons. Very nice schwag there! The bands were great, as was the beverage and company. But it all had to come to an end, especially since we had a 7-hour drive home the next day.

I did learn a few things during this race:

1). Pay closer attention to the race profile. Goddess even asked me afterwards when I was going to pick a flat course. My Garmin gave me 1,300 feet of climbing during the 1/2 marathon; BIM Active calculates 839 feet (I believe that more).  Either way, I don’t want to think of what it was for the full.

2). Turn off the “auto pause” feature on my Garmin. We went under a train overpass at one point and it turned off for about 15 seconds. All-in-all, nothing horrible, but just an odd event that took my mind off of my run.

3). Fuel. Making the transition from getting ready for a triathlon and getting ready for a run was difficult. My first half-marathon last year, I ate my normal 600+ calories like I would before a triathlon; too much to run on right away. I scaled that back for my marathon and felt a bit better, although I did suffer from some gastro-issues during the last few miles. This time I drank one Ensure (250 cals) and everything worked fine. Also, a few weeks back I found the culprit of my stomach pains during the latter parts of my runs- my long-beloved Hammer Gel. I was on a 10-miler and popped a gel at mile 7. By mile 8-9 I had the familiar stomach pain that I had throughout all of my races last year; the rest of my run wasn’t good. So I switched to Clif Shot Bloks and they worked fine during my long run last weekend. They worked great during this race, too. No issues at all, either during or after. So I ran with my Fuel Belt, water and a package of Shot Bloks. I drank the water at the aid stations and took the occasional swig from my belt. Absolutely no issues.

Anybody need some Hammer Gel?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not slamming Hammer Gel. I’ve been a big fan of Hammer products for the past 12 years and will continue to use them. But I’ll just have to limit the gel use to long training rides and races. No runs.

Pardon the pun.

Would I recommend next year’s Mississippi Blues Half-/Full Marathon? Hells Yes! An excellent course, with bands along the way, plenty of aid stations, enthusiastic volunteers, a welcoming community, great schwag and entertainment make this a race that needs to be on your “must-do” list. Plus, if you live in someplace cold (it was 9-degrees here the morning before we left), a place like southern MS in January is pretty darn warm (and humid). A nice change of pace for a few days.

Food Guidance

Reading Athena’s blog this morning got me to looking around at links.

I found the greatest news concerning dark chocolate. Seven ounces a week!

That on the heels of my doc telling me that two drinks a night is a good thing.

All this great news makes it a bitch to stay near race weight, though.

BTW, I asked the doc if I could bank my drinks during the week and make a withdrawal on the weekend. For some reason, the look was disapproving.

Hasher’s $4K Run

<rant>

Absolutely freakin’ amazing. Some Hash House Harriers do what they do all the time, sending an ignorant township’s leaders into a tizzy. Instead of facing a felony conviction, they pay $4,000 as a plea bargain.

People have lost their paranoid, freakin’ minds.

Perhaps, using prosecutor Marc Ramia’s words, we should prosecute all fast food joints because the spreading of such food “creates a dangerous situation for the public, who are not aware of what the substance is.”

</rant>

Full text follows:

Flour-sprinkling joggers out of trouble

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Charges have been dropped against two siblings who inadvertently caused a bioterrorism scare when they sprinkled flour in a parking lot to mark a trail for their offbeat running club.

New Haven ophthalmologist Daniel Salchow, 36, and his sister, Dorothee, 31, who was visiting from Hamburg, Germany, had been charged with first-degree breach of peace, a felony.

The charges were dropped Thursday after Daniel Salchow agreed he and his sister would donate $4,000 to local charities. Prosecutors could reopen the case if the Salchows do the same thing again in the next 13 months.

Dorothee has returned to Germany and prosecutors agreed not to require her to appear in court.

The siblings set off the scare while organizing a run for a local chapter of the Hash House Harriers, a worldwide group that bills itself as a “drinking club with a running problem.”

“Hares” are given the task of marking a trail to direct runners, throwing in some dead ends and forks as challenges. In August, the Salchows decided to route runners through an IKEA furniture store parking lot.

Police fielded a call that someone was sprinkling powder on the ground. The store was evacuated and remained closed the rest of the night. The incident prompted a massive response from police in New Haven and surrounding towns.

Daniel Salchow biked back to IKEA when he heard there was a problem and told officers the powder was just flour, which he said he and his sister have sprinkled everywhere from New York to California without incident.

Daniel Salchow and his attorney, Michael Jefferson, said they were pleased with the resolution but still believe authorities overreacted.

“We felt all along it was an innocent activity,” Jefferson said.

Many fellow runners sent letters of protest over the Salchows’ arrest, but New Haven officials maintain their response was warranted.

Prosecutor Marc Ramia said in court Thursday that spreading such material “creates a dangerous situation for the public, who are not aware of what the substance is.”

For the actual page.

To a halt

Well, if I was rushing on Sunday, Monday brought me to a screeching halt.

Feeling increasingly under the weather through the weekend, waking up early Monday morning was an experience. Flowing from the nose like a hose (hey, that rhymes) and sharp pain in the chest when I coughed or drank anything.

Walking out of the doc’s office, I felt like I needed a picnic basket to carry the bottles. Now there’s an image for you, Fe-Lady.- all 192 lbs of me, skipping with a picnic basket. Outfit is your choice.

Anyway, there went the rest of Monday, which I had off anyway. Goddess and I tried to think back to the last time I was sick. The best we can recollect was about five years ago. So I guess I was due.

Halfway through the day, Goddess walks out of the pantry with my new favorite snack – Special K Chocolatey Delight. Relatively healthy, with chunks of chocolate. What else can you ask for? One of these days I’ll try it with milk. But what’s the rush, right?

I’m telling you, yummy chocolate goodness.

So today I still wasn’t feeling right. So I went into work, grabbed the stack of folders off my desk and worked from home. No sense in getting everyone else sick. I’m just glad I have that sort of flexibility.

And I got to enjoy more of that yummy chocolate goodness.

And from the sounds coming from the kitchen, Goddess is digging in the box. Time to grab some for myself before its all gone.

Ever Have One of Those Races?

Or at least felt like this?

Taken during the Men’s 3,000 meter steeplechase at Osaka, Japan.

My first reaction was “oooommphhhh”!

Then it got me to thinking about my first (and second to last) experience with steeplechase. And as with any good story, it starts with that phrase. What phrase is that, you ask?

Well, there I was.

Senior year of high school. At a track invitational whose name has since escaped me. But it doesn’t matter.

Anyway, there I was. Done with my races, which results escape me as well. After my last race, it was time for a feed. And right next to the track of the school that we were racing at was a Carl’s Jr. How convenient! My favorite fast food joint to stuff my gullet while growing up. So, being a 17 year old runner who had already burned plenty of calories, I opted for my choice of meals – two (2) Double Western Bacon Cheeseburger’s. With fries and a Coke.

And during that time, what restaurant wouldn’t win a teenage boy’s heart with the slogan – “It doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong in your face”.

Anyway, back to eating. I scarfed it down. And it was good. All 1900 calories for just the burgers, plus the fries and Coke (no Diet Coke for me back then).

So afterwards, I rolled back over to the track to watch the rest of the races.

A little while later, the coach comes walking over and says “Bill, they’re going to run a steeplechase at the end. So I signed you up”. “Oh $h!t. Thanks, coach”.

Having never run the race, I had no idea how to approach it. Especially with 4lbs of meat in my belly.

I wish I had video. It had to have been the funniest thing ever. None of us racing had ever run the race, much less jumped the hurdles and vaulted past the water hazards. I’m sure that a few of the hurdles should have been shown on American’s Funniest Home Video’s.

I didn’t trip, I didn’t land face first in the water. I didn’t puke, although there were some serious doubts, especially during the last lap.

I did curl up into a ball on the side of the track after the finish.

Over 20 years later, I can still picture everything.

Good times.

Oh yeah. The second time wasn’t any better, although I had more notice so I didn’t fuel for it the same.