A little Friday funny for ya!

Have a great weekend and safe stretching!

Back on the road for my final race of the year, the White Rock marathon. I really like this course as it has a little bit of everything (hills, flats, lake, city).

This is the event I qualified for Boston a couple years ago and this year will be a unique experience as I will be running with a friend that is aiming for a Boston qualifying time (3:40). My plan is to support her in whatever way I can. This may include very dry humor (since that is all I got), singing, humming, throwing cold water in her face, and even a bit of conversation for the first 15 miles before things get exciting.

Steph’s only request is that I wear some pink so we can match. This was a bit of an odd request but it must be a girl thing. I will see what I can do. Maybe my wife has something I can wear. (That may be even stranger sounding!)

My only real concern is being healthy enough to run the goal pace of 8:11 min/miles. All of my trail running has put me in the 9-12 min/mile range. I need to step it up or be left at the side of the road.

The Plan

For the next two weeks I am planning to run 45-50 miles a week with the following basic weekly structure. I would like to run 6 days per week with 1 rest/cross-train day.

Day 1: 5.50 mile run - Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 2: 10 mile run -  Easy effort over rolling terrain with some tempo inserted within the run

Day 3: 3 mile run - Easy outside or 2% treadmill run

Day 4: 5.50 mile run - Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 5: 15-20 mile run - Easy effort over rolling terrain with some goal pace inserted within the run

Day 6: 5.50 mile run - Easy effort on local flat loop or 2% treadmill run

Day 7: Rest or cross-train

Two weeks of this plan and then the one week taper.

Training Paces

My training paces will be based on Jack Daniels VDOT 43.

Easy - 9:37 min/mile (In reality I will probably run in the 8:50-9:00 min range)

Pace - 8:15 min/mile

Threshold - 7:42 min/mile (one mile or longer)

Outcomes

Outcomes can be fun to think about but our (my) main goal during the race is to execute each mile to the best of our ability. By doing that, we greatly increase the change of reaching her goal.

We also need to accept that there will be a challenging moment or two regardless of the amount of training we have done. We must acknowledge the challenge and be confident that we will get through it and it will pass. Or we could just cry and get it out of our system, whatever works.

There even is a possibility that we may learn something about ourselves along the way.

We will give it our best and have some flippin fun!

Happy Training!

You need love. I need love. Children need love. We all need love.

Although not endurance sports related, I feel this is worthy of our attention.

Hands to Hearts Intl, a small non-profit based in Oregon is doing big things in the spreading of love and personal power to orphaned children and economically disadvantaged women around the world. This is group of our global society that is often forgotten and ignored. HHI is focused on changing this.

Vision

Hands to Hearts International (HHI) envisions a world where all children are nurtured and loved and where all women have the opportunity to actively contribute to their communities.

Mission

HHI is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the health and well-being of orphaned and vulnerable children and economically disadvantaged women around the globe.

How and why was HHI started?

Hear it straight from the Executive Director and founder herself, Laura Peterson.

You can read more about HHI’s program and history on their About Us page.

How many people has HHI helped so far?

HHI has reached 1,812 women and 15,159 children from January 2006 through November 2008. A large portion of their mission has occurred in India so far.

The true impact of HHI’s work won’t be seen for many years as the children grown and mature but I do feel pretty confident about this - A loving and empowering environment are elements that can help an individual and society thrive.

Of course, all of this effort does require resources and one of those is money.

How can we double our investment guaranteed?

Here is the cool part of how you can provide 100% increase in your donation investment while helping make a positive impact in the world - our world.

The James R. Greenbaum, Jr Family Foundation has once again made a generous matching grant available to grow the efforts of HHI to the next level.  This means that any new donors, or donors giving at a higher level*, will be have their contributions matched dollar for dollar, up to $50,000!

So for a new donor, your donation of $25 now becomes $50. Your donation of $1500 turns into $3000. Your donation of YY turns into 2 X YY. Simple math - large impact.

If you have donated to HHI in the past and you increase your donation amount, the same doubling occurs.

This donation matching opportunity last only until December 20th.

Don’t forget any donation to HHI is also tax deductible.

One World

Our world is One, as we have recently seen by our global economic situation. We have observed that greed, corruption, and ignorance can negatively impact the entire world.

The empowering side of this is I also believe love, compassion, and education can positively impact the world. HHI is one such example.

If this organization resonates with you, please donate whatever you can. Every dollar can make a difference.

HHI Donation Page

If this organization does not resonate with you, find one that does.

Let’s change the world!

Who doesn’t like a sale, especially in this rather interesting economy?!

Hammer Nutrition is having their year end sale on all of their endurance sports nutritional products and gear. Prices are reduced by as much as 50%. (50% is on some clothing items) If you are a current user or would like to give Hammer Nutrition products a try, now is the time to either stock up on your favorites or do a bit of product sampling.

What I like about Hammer Nutrition is their focus on both health and athletic success. You won’t find artificial anything in their products. This is a reason why I am a Hammer Nutrition user. They also provide great resources of information to help an athlete succeed such as their Endururance Sports Fueling Guide.

After taking a bit closer look, most of the endurance fuels and supplements appear to be reduced by 20-30%!

Various Hammer Nutrition clothing items are reduced by as much as 50%. Note, that their clothing items are all high quality as well. Here are just a few items that caught my attention:

• Cycling shorts and jerseys for $25 - Quality and price cannot be beat.
• Tri tops and shorts for $20 - In triathlon, $20 means free for most athletes.
• Multisport socks for $2.50 - Good luck in finding a better price.
• Race-Ready running shorts for $23 - My favorite ultra running shorts with plenty of pockets and storage area (as weird as that may sound).
• All Patagonia clothing 50% off - Nice stuff. Discontinued items so will go fast.

Some of my favorite Hammer Nutrition items include:

• HEED - Electrolyte/carbohydrate sports powder - My favorite product!
• Hammer Gel - Carbohydrate gel
• Recoverite - Post workout recovery powder.
• Endurolytes - Electrolytes
• Hammer Bar - High quality food bar.
• Tissue Rejuvenator - Joint and tissue support.
• All of their clothing items - High quality and great prices.

This sale goes from Nov 10th - Dec 17th. Unfortunately prices are for quantity on hand so when they are gone, Say Goodnight Gracie. As lame as this sounds, I would act fast especially on the clothing items because it seems like some of the items are going quickly.

Happy Training!

Do you prefer ethical versus unethical?

Do you prefer highly conscious versus low consciousness?

Do you prefer “clean” food versus drug filled food?

According to the article below, Tyson Foods had labeled their chicken to be “Raised Without Antibiotics” yet inject antibiotics into the chicken two to three days prior to being hatched. Since the injection occurs before the second day of life (USDA standard), they found their loop-hole. Tyson Foods has supposedly removed the label due to various pressures and has filed a lawsuit against the USDA. What a joke!

Full Article: Tyson Foods Injects Chickens with Antibiotics Before They Hatch to Claim “Raised without Antibiotics”

Did Tyson Foods provide full and truthful disclosure? What else are they hiding? I won’t even get into the treatment of these animals on the “production” farms. USDA needs to remove the loop-holes as well.

I firmly belief the food you eat impacts your athlete performance and your health / quality of life.

Better chicken choices include organic and buying from trusted local farms. Local Harvest is a nice website that can help you find local products in your area.

The greatest way to influence the direction of our country is where and on what you spend you money. Take a conscious look at where your dollars go.

Happy Training!

Update: Tyson Foods has provided a response (press release) to the article and the link is noted in the comments.

Over the weekend I and 249 other athletes got to enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather along the shores of Grapevine Lake as we participated in the 13th Annual Rockledge Rumble 50k/30k/15k trail run.

It has been a fall full of big races (Superior trails 50 mile run, Palo Duro 50 mile run, now Rockledge Rumble) for me so it feels like I have either been racing or in recovery mode. I jumped into the 50k and had no idea how this race would go since I had put in a total of 5.5 miles of running and two hours of elliptical work at the club since Palo Duro as I tried to heal some nagging tweaks.

The course is an out-and-back (~19 miles) and shorter out-and-back (12.xx miles) to complete the approximate 50k distance. The trail is flat to rolling terrain that contains plenty of roots and loose rock to keep you alert. The weather for the day was perfect; clear skies, temps in low 40s and peaked in 70s F.

Memories from the day:

9.5 mile “out” section

I took this section out at a very easy pace and walked many of the steeper hills. I also got to chat with a few local trail running friends about some of their recent adventures. Aid-station stops were fast and efficient. I have finally started to get a bit more prepared (put HEED in bottle, take bottle top off) as the aid-station approaches so I can quickly fill with water and go. I have wasted way too much time at aid-stations in the past.

Watching the leaders coming back from the turn-around was fun to watch. They were running extremely hard.

9.5 mile “back” section

I began to run (or so I call it) nearly every hill. This was an on-the-fly decision. Why not? I did not run them fast by any means but as steady as my legs could move me. With the leaders heading back “out”, I noticed a lead change and the top three guys were still really close to one another…and still flying.

6.xx mile “out” section

This is that point in the race that I get a bit of false excitement that the end is near. Another 12 plus miles of trail running is far from a gimme. Fortunately I was able to keep things rolling and kept running the hills. I definitely didn’t feel spunky but had enough energy to share some “goo shob” with my fellow runners.

6.xx mile “back” section

After finally hitting the final turn around, things got interesting. This is where you get to see how close you are to the people in front of you and those behind for the final 6 miles. There was only one guy in front of me that I thought I was within range to catch him and he wasn’t looking extremely energetic when we passed each other. Who knows what I looked like to him.

As I started heading “back”, I begin seeing the stream of runners between one to four minutes behind me. (Gulp!) Just when you think you don’t have another gear, all of a sudden I find a little extra spunk. The two runners closest to me (a male and female) seemed to be cruising along very easily.

“All right Dave, I guess you are going to have to hurt a bit more on the way back!” - my fairly big thought at this stage in a race.

I kind of went into fluid, let-the-body-go mode. Let’s see what happens. With three miles till the finish, I was holding my position. Then I started to notice a slight bonk setting in. As long as I kept running I didn’t really notice it but once I walked for any brief period, I felt a bit wobbly. Oh Oh! Unfortunately no more aid station until the finish so I gulped the remaining HEED in my water bottle and did what any smart man would do - I kept running.

With about 1.5 miles to the finish, my spidey senses felt someone approaching. The female runner that looked great at the turn-around had caught me and quickly left me in the dust. I babbled some kind of encouragement as I humpty-dumptied a bit during a short walk break. She was quickly out of sight and out of my mind as it began to fade a bit.

This is when the self talk kicked in. I was beginning to get so dang hungry so I began to visualize the beans and rice waiting at the finish. Yummmmmm! That was enough to get me to refocus and push ahead. I got myself back running and put myself into a numb gliding state where I felt like I was flowing along the trail. I could feel no aches or pains, just the soft texture of the trail under my feet.

The Finish

Finally the finish was in sight. A short run along the shores of the lake and then a left turn up to the finish which requires getting up 15 or so giant sand stairs. Please no cramps! Only in trail running!

I crossed the line in 5:44:12 (12/51 OA) and was warmly congratulated by those hanging around at the finish. The RD presented a unique, locally made, environmentally friendly finishers medal. We also get a bottle of the Rocks and Guts home brew generously made especially for the 50k finishers! How cool is that!

I then quickly made my way over to the beans and rice and other tasty treats. It has never tasted so good. What a fun race!

The Schwag

Nice long sleeve Tech shirt and Hammer Nutrition Sample

NTTR puts on this race and does a fantastic job! The aid-station volunteers were so accommodating that I had to force myself to leave. The out-and-back course allows you to interact with other runners so you never really feel alone.

With the 15k and 30k distances, there is an opportunity for everyone to give trail running a try.

Complete race results can be seen at the NTTR site.

For the data geeks, my Garmin Forerunner 305 data can be dug through at MotionBased.

Wow! Wow! Wow!

I thought Crossfit was intense. Well, I found this video on Free Running and it takes things to an entirely different level.

So what is Free Running?

Free running is a physical art, in which participants (free runners) use the urban and rural areas to perform movements through its structures focused on freedom and beauty. It incorporates efficient movements from parkour, adds aesthetic vaults and other acrobatics, such as tricking and street stunts, creating an athletic and aesthetically pleasing way of moving. It is commonly practiced at gymnasiums and in urban areas that are cluttered with obstacles.

Who says you have to go to the gym to get in a good workout?! Can I say WOW, again.

Remember that when I talked about our limitless potential? Is our imagination the only thing that holds us back? Reach…reach…and reach some more.

I won’t be jumping across my neighbors roofs anytime soon but this video sure inspires me to stretch beyond what I think is possible and I hope it does the same for you.

Happy Training and have a great weekend!

A colleague of mine had a large blueberry muffin sitting on his shelf and it looked like it had just recently been purchased. Well, actually it had been sitting on his shelf for over ONE YEAR.

How can this happen?

Is this some toy food made of plastic?

Toy food - no. Plastic, well sort-of.

The simple answer is hydrogenation.

Natural News has a great article explaining:

• The process of creating hydrogenated and partially-hydrogenated oils.
• Reason why some food manufacturers use it. Duh!
• The serious health ramifications associated with consuming processed products that contain these preserving oils.

This information is not new so why are processed food manufacturers still using it? People are still buying the darn products!

How to stay away from these damaging oils?

Read the nutritional label on processed food items you plan to purchase! It is as simple as this. The five seconds it takes to scan the ingredient list is well worth your time. If you pick up an item with a hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated oil in the ingredient list, put it back on the shelf. If you really need this type of item, look at other brands or alternatives.

Of course the more unprocessed or minimally processed foods consumed the better. These items provide the most nutritional bang for the bite! Plus no labels to read. Your current and future health will thank you. Those athletic performances may improve as well.

Read the article. Inform yourself. Then get back to training!

A recent favorite mid-afternoon snack of mine is 1-2 tablespoons of Almond Butter spread along an organic banana. Simple, nutritious, filling, and tasty!

This little snack provides all kinds of beneficial vitamins, minerals, carbohydrates, fats, and some protein. NutritionData provides some great nutritional insight into both of these items. Select the desired serving size to get the most accurate information.

• Banana
• Almond Butter

Calories will range from 200-300 based on the amount of Almond Butter used.

Give it a try and let me know what you think.

What are some of your favorite healthy snacks?

Happy Training!

After dealing with some stomach issues during the Palo Duro 50 mile trail run, I decided to take a bit closer look at the heart rate data from my Garmin Forerunner 305.

Garmin 305 Data (click on thumbnail to see complete data)

The stomach cramps kicked in at the end of lap 3 (mile ~37ish) and looking at the heart rate data (red) from this lap (miles 25-37), it became pretty clear why it occurred; my heart rate was way too high based on the amount of calories I was consuming. Duh!

This course allows a person to run for nearly the entire race if they wanted to so there was plenty of running involved for me even though I did walk some of the hills. My heart rate danced in the 150s for most of the lap (section highlighted in yellow) and then hit 170 bpm over the last few miles. (Max heart rate is ~195 bpm)

Knocking down 200+ calories per hour at this effort leads to nothing but stomach issues for me. This effort is closer to what I would exert in a marathon and in those races, I am putting in 100-150 cals per hour without stomach issues. I have tried putting down 200 cals in an hour and I ended up dealing with cramp issues the rest of the run.

The other element that I feel didn’t help with the absorption is the amount of running I was able to do. If I was forced to do more hiking, I probably could have handled a higher calorie intake.

What what am I going to do about this?

I am going to try and implement the following nutrition and pacing guide for future 50 mile races:

• 150-225 cals/hr for heart rate less than 145 bpm
• 100-150 cals/hr for heart rate greater than 145 bpm
• miles 1-25: maintain heart rate in the 130-145 bpm range
• miles 26-50: Based on perceived energy levels, maintain heart rate in the 140-165 bpm range. If energy levels are low, reduce heart rate to the 130-145 bpm range and increase calorie intake.

This looks like it has enough geek-dome in it! Ready to give it a try…umm…next year.

What strategies have worked for your 50 mile races?

Happy Training!