I’ve been avoiding writing this. While I have some good things to report, I have two major disappointments to air out. Normally I like to report the positives first, but just for today I want to delve right into the dark side. As I sit here, I know I will not achieve two of my goals for the close of 2007. I’m not all doom and gloom but I am especially disappointed in myself for not meeting the goal of completing 95% of my workouts. The last three weeks have been a total train wreck of my training plan. First I bailed out on my swim workouts, then I collapsed my bike training, and finally I lost 2 or 3 run workouts over the past 4 weeks. It all started with a scheduled recovery week when I cut out two entire days of training. Then the following week, everything seemed to get in the way of training. Work meetings, family obligations, holiday prep, you name it, it became a bigger priority than what was previously scheduled. I just fell apart. Stuff happens, I know it and I usually don’t dwell on it, but there are a few reasons that this is bothering me.
First, I know that this piece is critical to my racing success next season. If I don’t get 95% of my scheduled workouts in, I have no shot at achieving my best.
Second, I feel like I let myself down. I had 100% control over achieving this goal. I just had to show up and I didn’t.
Lastly, It is partially because I didn’t achieve this goal that I won’t achieve another goal.
The other goal I won’t achieve is a sub 90-minute 15K. I know, I haven’t run the race yet, but unfortunately I estimate my finish time at closer to 92 minutes. My previous ramble not withstanding, I’m less disappointed about not making this goal. I have raced some of my best times in the past few weeks. I PR’ed at the 5 miler and just finished a 4 miler at a pace of 9:17/mile. Again, in perspective, I began the year running a half marathon at a 12 minute per mile pace. I did continue to run and do my speed workouts over the past few weeks even though I dropped everything else. I’m open to the possibility that I’m wrong here and I fully intend to race my ass off on Saturday, but a 9:30 pace may be out of my reach. This is complicated, but missing my shot at a sub 90 was partially due to the demise of my training schedule, it is also due to my achieving another goal!
This is where the mood picks up a bit.
My goal of achieving an optimal body composition looks like it is within my reach! I have worked really hard at following the Paleo Diet to shed the extra weight. My weight peaked at about 167 pounds this year, as of this morning I am 146 pounds and my bodyfat is at 25%. I am extremely excited about this! The diet is hard. Very hard. It’s also working. My weight loss has absolutely contributed to my enhanced speed, but my diet has been counterproductive to my performance gains. I believe that a calorie and carb restricted diet and training to race don’t mix well. Here’s a quick Thanksgiving story to highlight this piece of knowledge.
Every Thanksgiving, there is one family member who tries to drag me into a political, religious, or social debate, knowing full well that our beliefs could not be more polar opposite. This year I was determined not to take the bait, even when Smedley (not his real name) told the same stupid Hillary Clinton joke he told last year, twice in a twenty minute time span. Then the table began discussing weight (like after we gorged ourselves?! Go figure.). My family was very complimentary of me, then Smedley chimed in, “All you have to do is to exercise and then you can eat anything you want.” That was it. I may have left my politics at the door, but my inner fat triathlete got her chamois in a bunch. See, I know this to be a myth. “Actually, Smedley, that’s unfortunately not true.”
“Oh Yes it is.” Smedley said confidently.
“If that were true,” I responded, “How is it I gained 4 pounds during the 20 weeks I trained for my first marathon?” I couldn’t help myself. “How many calories do you think I burned running 26.2 miles over the course of 5:47 hours? Probably around 3600. Do you know how many calories are in a pound of fat? 3500. All things being equal, without a decent diet, I would need to run 2 marathons a week to drop 2 pounds a week. Maybe more.” I broke into a discussion of the key energy pathways in the body and the ratio of fuel burned at different intensities. Some of the family was genuinely interested however; Smedley clearly was unimpressed with my extensive knowledge of fat metabolism and left the table. I was deeply satisfied. After having spent 3 years as a Clydesdale endurance athlete, I knew what I was talking about. Diet and exercise go hand in hand for weight loss. Later, reflecting on that conversation, I realized something else. For essentially the same reasons, weight loss and performance gains don’t go hand in hand. It is probably why I have been bonking on even short runs and lack the energy to go at a sustained pace for more than 7-8 miles. My caloric intake is hovering around 1500-1600 kcal per day. Even though I have been supplementing my runs with e-gel’s (which I love and highly recommend!) and Amino Vital endurance (also a great product). I simply can’t under cut my calories by that much and continue to push my body in training. It just won’t go. My body feels like I am perpetually in a state of overtraining. My resting HR is up by 4 beats per minute. My HR for a given pace is also up. I’m a little moody (more than usual) and generally unfocused. YIKES! It’s a good thing that I am moving swiftly to my goal weight of 139.
I guess to sum up this really LONG post:
I’m disappointed that I didn’t complete 95% of my scheduled workouts, but that’s history and I can refocus before I need to begin my 2008 racing season.
I’m happy with my running performance gains even if I don’t meet my goal of a sub 90 minute 15K and I wouldn’t trade my weigh loss for a better finish.
I’m ecstatic that I have finally been able to shake of the extra weight. Even though I have a few more pounds to go, I can begin the 2008 season in the best physical shape of my life and fuel my workouts properly to achieve maximum gains.
Finally, Smedley doesn’t know what he is talking about.
I promise to blog after Saturday’s race! Wish me luck.
683 days to Kona 2009.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Friday, November 2, 2007
A New PR, Diet, and Tri-geek in training
Man, I am so far behind in my blogging!
First, welcome Steve Nichols to the exciting world of triathlon! I’ve managed to rope him into giving triathlon a shot next year at Tupper Lake. Poor guy, he has no idea what he is in for! Steve, you’ll be a tri-geek in no time!
It has been a very busy two weeks, but I’ve got some great updates to share with everyone.
The Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5 miler: I had an awesome race! I met up with the crazies from RaceWithPurpose who were the only team on the course who had enough spirit to dress up in costume. It was great to see them all jacked up about the marathon and I was lucky to spot Coach Adam (aka Fred Flintstone) in the crowd before the race started. He ran the first mile with me and we chatted about all of the exciting things that are going on for the RWP team for next year. I love that guy! Before I knew it I had run a 9:00/mile and was well on my way to a PR. I ran the race in 48:30. A great comparison is the 5 miler on the same route I ran in June of this year at 53:28. SWEET! Yes, I’m enjoying my speed workouts, but I have to attribute the speed primarily to my weight loss. I’ve dropped about 13 pounds since June. Yeah, me!
While we are on the subject of weight, I was getting really frustrated with my lack of weight loss early in the month. I was eating a reasonable amount of calories, good health food choices, and averaging 8 hours a week of training. My weight was going NOWHERE. I needed to do something drastic, so on October 21, I began to follow the Paleo Diet. While on the surface it seems a little ridiculous to “eat like a caveman”, there are many very accomplished endurance athletes that subscribe to this eating plan, including Joe Friel. He even collaborated on the book “The Paleo Diet for Athletes”. There are about as many opinions regarding the optimal training diet as there are yards in an Ironman, but I really wanted to shake up my metabolism, so I figured what the heck.
The diet is a bit complicated, as it the theory behind it. You can go here: Paleo Diet, if you want to find out more. The very basic part of it is; no dairy, no sugar, no wheat, no soy, no grain, little or no processed food and high glycemic carbs only in the immediate post training window or during prolonged training. Yeah, I know, what CAN you eat?! That’s the hard part. Lean meats, nuts, fruit and vegetables are all fine, but really hard to create an appealing menu from. I find breakfast the hardest meal. I can only eat so many eggs and I still can bear the thought of chowing down on a pork chop at 7am. Having said all that. I committed to try it for 2 weeks to see the results.
My daily menu looks something like this:
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 cup of last nights vegetables and a piece of fruit
AM Snack: Diced apple, ½ cup shredded carrots, cinnamon and some walnuts
Lunch: The largest mixed salad I can choke down (2 cups or so) and 6oz of fish or chicken. A bowl of fruit salad and some sunflower seeds.
PM snack: A banana and a few nuts, a sliced cucumber or some other veg
Dinner: 6-8oz of protein, 2-3 cups of vegetables
After dinner: good guess= fruit
I know, no wonder I’m dropping weight! I’m sure I can be more creative if I tried, but I just haven’t had the time to really plan my meals all that well. I also know that if there is a Paleo Guru out there reading this, I’m probably not doing the program justice. I’m making a serious effort to drink more water as well, a lot more water. I hate drinking water, but I’ve been trying to get an additional 60oz a day. The biggest problem I had was that I totally bonked on a 4 miler run 4 days into the eating plan. I started the diet change on Sunday and Monday went for a 10 mile run. I did well. I used raisins to fuel for the run and they seemed to work well. Tuesday I swam and biked, Wednesday I went out for an easy 4-mile run and had ZERO in my tank. Nothing. I could get my legs to move. I hadn’t been eating to restock my glycogen stores after my training. The only time in the plan I should be eating more complex carbs like potatoes and such is right after exercise and I hadn’t been doing that, so BONK! I fixed that and added carbs in the meals directly after my workout, even if they are relatively short efforts. Bottom line: I’ve dropped 6 pounds in 10 days, not bad.
The other big change I made in my program was the addition of a new sports drink and gel combo. Up until this point I haven’t been using any supplements before, during or after my workouts. I know from experience Gatorade gives me diarrhea and while I’ve tried to “acclimate” my digestive system, it just didn’t work. I have used Amino Vital in the past and loved the taste, but it didn’t contain enough carbs to justify using it as a drink during long efforts and it didn’t work with gels. The gels were fine, but didn’t contain electrolytes and if I took them with sports drink, the sugar overwhelmed my stomach and I got nauseous. I just ordered 2 products that I’m going to test over the next few months. The first is a new Amino Vital product called Endurance. You can check out the profile here: Amino Vital Endurance. The thing I like about the product is it contains BCAA’s, a mixture of sugars, and some medium chain triglycerides. It’s a really comprehensive mix and the taste is nice. I used it the other night before my track workout and felt great. I also bought a mixed box of e-gel from crank sports. I haven’t tried them yet, but what I like about these is each packet contains 150 calories as opposed to the 100 or so found in other gels. There also electrolytes in the gel that means I can use them with plain water. I’ll keep you posted on how they work for me.
Well, that’s about it. I’ll be in the city on Sunday to root the Race with Purpose team on during the marathon. If you are in the neighborhood, I’ll be at 5th avenue and 97th, feel free to drop by the cheering zone. Good luck to anyone else running the New York Marathon. Enjoy every minute of it.
708 days to Kona 2009.
First, welcome Steve Nichols to the exciting world of triathlon! I’ve managed to rope him into giving triathlon a shot next year at Tupper Lake. Poor guy, he has no idea what he is in for! Steve, you’ll be a tri-geek in no time!
It has been a very busy two weeks, but I’ve got some great updates to share with everyone.
The Poland Spring Marathon Kickoff 5 miler: I had an awesome race! I met up with the crazies from RaceWithPurpose who were the only team on the course who had enough spirit to dress up in costume. It was great to see them all jacked up about the marathon and I was lucky to spot Coach Adam (aka Fred Flintstone) in the crowd before the race started. He ran the first mile with me and we chatted about all of the exciting things that are going on for the RWP team for next year. I love that guy! Before I knew it I had run a 9:00/mile and was well on my way to a PR. I ran the race in 48:30. A great comparison is the 5 miler on the same route I ran in June of this year at 53:28. SWEET! Yes, I’m enjoying my speed workouts, but I have to attribute the speed primarily to my weight loss. I’ve dropped about 13 pounds since June. Yeah, me!
While we are on the subject of weight, I was getting really frustrated with my lack of weight loss early in the month. I was eating a reasonable amount of calories, good health food choices, and averaging 8 hours a week of training. My weight was going NOWHERE. I needed to do something drastic, so on October 21, I began to follow the Paleo Diet. While on the surface it seems a little ridiculous to “eat like a caveman”, there are many very accomplished endurance athletes that subscribe to this eating plan, including Joe Friel. He even collaborated on the book “The Paleo Diet for Athletes”. There are about as many opinions regarding the optimal training diet as there are yards in an Ironman, but I really wanted to shake up my metabolism, so I figured what the heck.
The diet is a bit complicated, as it the theory behind it. You can go here: Paleo Diet, if you want to find out more. The very basic part of it is; no dairy, no sugar, no wheat, no soy, no grain, little or no processed food and high glycemic carbs only in the immediate post training window or during prolonged training. Yeah, I know, what CAN you eat?! That’s the hard part. Lean meats, nuts, fruit and vegetables are all fine, but really hard to create an appealing menu from. I find breakfast the hardest meal. I can only eat so many eggs and I still can bear the thought of chowing down on a pork chop at 7am. Having said all that. I committed to try it for 2 weeks to see the results.
My daily menu looks something like this:
Breakfast: 1 egg, 1 egg white, 1 cup of last nights vegetables and a piece of fruit
AM Snack: Diced apple, ½ cup shredded carrots, cinnamon and some walnuts
Lunch: The largest mixed salad I can choke down (2 cups or so) and 6oz of fish or chicken. A bowl of fruit salad and some sunflower seeds.
PM snack: A banana and a few nuts, a sliced cucumber or some other veg
Dinner: 6-8oz of protein, 2-3 cups of vegetables
After dinner: good guess= fruit
I know, no wonder I’m dropping weight! I’m sure I can be more creative if I tried, but I just haven’t had the time to really plan my meals all that well. I also know that if there is a Paleo Guru out there reading this, I’m probably not doing the program justice. I’m making a serious effort to drink more water as well, a lot more water. I hate drinking water, but I’ve been trying to get an additional 60oz a day. The biggest problem I had was that I totally bonked on a 4 miler run 4 days into the eating plan. I started the diet change on Sunday and Monday went for a 10 mile run. I did well. I used raisins to fuel for the run and they seemed to work well. Tuesday I swam and biked, Wednesday I went out for an easy 4-mile run and had ZERO in my tank. Nothing. I could get my legs to move. I hadn’t been eating to restock my glycogen stores after my training. The only time in the plan I should be eating more complex carbs like potatoes and such is right after exercise and I hadn’t been doing that, so BONK! I fixed that and added carbs in the meals directly after my workout, even if they are relatively short efforts. Bottom line: I’ve dropped 6 pounds in 10 days, not bad.
The other big change I made in my program was the addition of a new sports drink and gel combo. Up until this point I haven’t been using any supplements before, during or after my workouts. I know from experience Gatorade gives me diarrhea and while I’ve tried to “acclimate” my digestive system, it just didn’t work. I have used Amino Vital in the past and loved the taste, but it didn’t contain enough carbs to justify using it as a drink during long efforts and it didn’t work with gels. The gels were fine, but didn’t contain electrolytes and if I took them with sports drink, the sugar overwhelmed my stomach and I got nauseous. I just ordered 2 products that I’m going to test over the next few months. The first is a new Amino Vital product called Endurance. You can check out the profile here: Amino Vital Endurance. The thing I like about the product is it contains BCAA’s, a mixture of sugars, and some medium chain triglycerides. It’s a really comprehensive mix and the taste is nice. I used it the other night before my track workout and felt great. I also bought a mixed box of e-gel from crank sports. I haven’t tried them yet, but what I like about these is each packet contains 150 calories as opposed to the 100 or so found in other gels. There also electrolytes in the gel that means I can use them with plain water. I’ll keep you posted on how they work for me.
Well, that’s about it. I’ll be in the city on Sunday to root the Race with Purpose team on during the marathon. If you are in the neighborhood, I’ll be at 5th avenue and 97th, feel free to drop by the cheering zone. Good luck to anyone else running the New York Marathon. Enjoy every minute of it.
708 days to Kona 2009.
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