Learn a lot again ... glad I brought my phone!

Blisters, cut on my arch, heat and wind ... what a combination!  I decided to move my long run from Friday morning to Thursday afternoon.  Then, on Friday I'd do a bike workout instead of a run.  So, Thursday afternoon I was to run 9 miles.

My new toe shoes have about 20 miles on them or so, including an 8 mile run and some mile repeats.  But, on Wednesday's two mile easy run, I developed a small cut on the side of my left foot, at the fore part of the arch.  I didn't want to use my old shoes on Thursday's run as they're cheapies and not as nice.  So, I threw a band aid on it, forgot to bring an extra, and headed off on my run.  It was windy and 88 degrees.  Since the route was new, I brought my phone and would use that to track my pace and distance.

Right off the bat my legs were DEAD.  But, I remembered reading not to judge a run until the second mile is done.  Mile 1 was on pace, around 9:30, mile two was around 10.  Ugh.  The rest of the miles through were right on track, around 9:30, even the 5th which was uphill and directly into the wind!  Still, at the time, I had just finished a hard day and was battling my own attitude.  I kept thinking, How am I going to run 13 miles faster than this in about six weeks?  Then, as my phone sounded off for the 7th time, quoting my pace and distance, the cut on my left foot screamed.

I stopped, pulled off the shoe and couldn't find the band aid!  What gives?  I felt all around, no luck.  I threw the shoe back on and tried again.  NOT HAPPENING.  Upon a second search I found the pad of the band aid, but the adhesive portions were long gone!  Where?  Maybe with my missing socks at home?

I tried running barefoot and made it a block.  But that created hot spots pretty quickly on my feet and toes (they later turned to blisters).  I called home and had my wife come get me.  I was two miles from my truck and 15 from home.  By the time she showed up I had walked, barefoot, a complete mile.

Guess I should've known better and should've worn my old shoes.  From now on, I'm bringing my phone.  I never bring it on runs.  So glad I brought it Thursday.

In related news, last week I ate four complete loaves of banana bread and two small loaves of apple bread.  I ate a full pot of soup and drank beer.  I ate and ate some more.  For the week I lost 4 pounds anyway!  Right now I'm really not trying to lose weight.

Tuesday I had a crazy bike workout.  I did half mile intervals, knocking them out in 1:20 or less, followed by two minutes of easier pedaling.  I also did a pair of five mile sprints, the first in just under 14 minutes and the second, into the wind, just under 16 minutes.  All told it was a 36 mile ride!  That's why I had dead legs Thursday.

Today my legs were a bit shot too, and I had a busy schedule.  But, I snuck in a tempo ride of about 24 miles of rolling hills in 1:18.  I can really tell that I have much improved power on the bike, even in a fatigued state.

Tomorrow is my first day off in two weeks.  Having three remaining weeks of training certainly provided me a spark today when I otherwise would've dogged the ride.  On 11/19 I'll be participating in El Tour de Tucson, and will be happy to finish under 6 hours.

Sunday will be my first century ride, and it contains about 2000 feet of elevation gain.  I've ridden 90 miles in a day, and it's really not the distance that worries me.  It's the distance AND the climbing.  I'm getting psyched up about the challenge already!

New Shoes, New Trail, New Pain, New (first) Races

I bought some new running shoes yesterday, New Balance MT101's.

Here's a good review of them if you want to get the details. Basically, it's a lightweight trail racing flat.

Where I live and run there are three major issues for shoes.

1. Traction
2. Protection from sharp stuff
3. Keeping debris out

Traction was surprisingly good. The widely spaced lugs really grabbed rock, loose soil and all on inclines and declines.

The protection from sharp stuff is yet to be determined. But they have a rock plate which is a good start! While having basically no padding, they felt very comfortable even on unsealed asphalt. My other trail shoes have more padding and are less comfortable.

The third thing, keeping out sand, pebbles and other debris. I went on a short 2 mile trail run that saw just about everything there is to see...deep course sand, soft sand, rocks, hard packed dirt, weeds, hills and dry washes. Now the trail was very short but my feet were clean save one small pebble which worked its way out of my shoe on its own. That seems to be an improvement over my other shoes. We'll see on longer runs when I'm running more aggressively.

New Trail

When walking the other evening with my wife I found a new trail. Well, new to me. It's a four wheeler trail cut through the desert. It winds around trees along a dry river bed, up and over a small but steep hill and then loops back on itself. The trail starts about 1/4 of a mile from my door step. Out and back from my house and just a hair over two miles! I could easily add a little road to the path and make a nice 3 mile recovery run route.

New Pain

Yesterday I had a sore knee (left) that caused me to stop mid run. I walked it off and finished the run, about another 2 1/2 miles or so. As the day wore on, my entire left leg was sore, especially the hamstring and hip. I iced everything and used compression wraps and decided to take it even easier than normal on today's recovery run. I warmed up and stretched before running and stretched with greater focus after. Right now I'm sitting on ice, have the knee iced and soon will take a cool bath and then wrap up with neoprene compression wraps. I think I need a wet suit!

New Races

I've signed up for some races. In the past I've competed in a road bike race (April 2011) and a Warrior Dash (April 2011). The road bike race I took very seriously, but the Warrior Dash was just for fun. So, these races I've signed up for are new for me. I'm excited about it. The races alternate between 5K and 10K races, and end with the Tucson Marathon

1. July 16th, Breeze Through the Trees 5K
   
2. September 17th, El Tour de Tucson 10K
   
3. October 9th, TMC Get Moving 5K
   
4. November 11th, Veterans Day Trail 10K
   
5. December 11th, Tucson Half Marathon miles

Well, I had a lot to share today. Happy running!

Stuff I've Learned

When trying to lose weight and get in shape a lot of things will change in order to meet that end. I do not have a large data bank of information, just my experience and the experiences of those I've known that have done the same.

I've still got a long way to go, but here are a few things I've learned so far.

1. Substitutions Aren't Natural

When substituting foods I was very hesitant. I didn't want to NOT eat meat for lunch. I didn't want to eat more fruits and veggies. I liked my diet, when it came down to it. Sure I could talk a good game and psyche myself up to eating a salad for dinner a few times a week. But when it came time to sit down and eat a salad when everybody else was having, well, not salad, I faltered.

I've learned to TRY a substitution, if only once or twice, maybe up to a week. Slowly your habits will change. It will be easier to substitute items in your meals, or entire meals because you'll see that you're not going to starve. You'll thrive. Also, strangely enough, what you crave will change.

2. Food is Energy

I love food. I appreciate fine food. I've had to realize that not every meal has to be a blow-your-socks-off meal. Food is energy and our bodies need a continuous, steady and high qualify flow of energy in order to run efficiently.

Sometimes it will be in your best interest to identify some macro-nutrients you need and then find an appropriate food. It may not be in your current menu! What you'll probably find is that you will soon crave that food because it's providing you something you need.

For me, that was tuna. I found myself insatiably hungry. I went rifling through the pantry and the fridge looking for something. I found a can of tuna, popped the lid, drained it and shoveled it down. It was fantastic. Now remember how I said I love fine food. It's true. Canned tuna is NOT find food. However, my body really needed either the fatty acids or the proteins and my pleasure sensors were lit up in reward for consuming the right thing.

3. FIBER

Fiber. Eat more of it. Insoluble fiber. Eat more of it. Fiber. Eat more of it.

Oatmeal, vegetables, fruits, beans. Wheat berries, Fiber One cereal. Fiber. It's awesome.

Basically, it makes you feel full. It promotes a healthier digestive tract. There is a huge list of benefits and they're all tangible, real, and begin very quickly. You'll notice.

A note of caution. Add fiber to your diet slowly! Increase water intake with increased fiber intake.

4. Variety May Be the Spice of Life...

When trying to lose weight, the bigger objective is really to keep the weight off! Studies have shown that people who tend to keep the weight off for a full year do a good job of keeping it off forever. However, the vast majority of people do NOT keep it off for a year.

So what do those long-termers do? They have a steady and consistent menu. That is, they eat the same thing for breakfast and lunch every day. Boring, right?

Through trial and error I'm developing acceptable menus from which I can freely choose meals five days a week. On the weekends, I'll just try and play it safe. The mantra, "You don't have to eat perfect all the time, just eat well most of the time," succinctly states the idea.

For a meal or food item to belong on my menu it must:

1. Fit within the dietary requirements
2. Make me feel full
3. Be enjoyable to eat

Now I've not kept my weight off for a year and I wouldn't even say I could start counting yet as I still have a considerable amount of weight left to lose. However, consistency is key for those who maintained their weight loss and healthier life styles.

5. Arm Yourself

Amazon sells 63,619 diet books. Most probably aren't worth reading.

Many diet books are written by people like me. I don't know anything. Many diet books are written by general practitioners. They have minimally more nutritional education than I have, and certainly nothing that you couldn't discover in a trip to the library. Am I making that up? Nope. I read it in a cited book. Does that mean it's true, I guess not! But it makes sense to me.

Nutritional books, written by people who specialize in that field, are where to look for information. Be cautious of any gimmicks or new spins or earth shattering break-throughs.

I'll share a few key points I've discovered in my reading.

1. Misinformation is more plentiful than accurate information. Most of the accurate information has already been printed, so if you want to be published, you have to have something new.
2. Eating after exercise is a must. Your body will use that food in ways different than if it were consumed at any other time.
   
3. All major diet plans ultimately restrict caloric intake. If you have a deficiency of 3500 calories, you'll lose a pound of weight. The problem is, are you losing fat or muscle, and for how long? (see #4)
4. Nutrition is a increasingly important as you age. Kids just need calories and they can perform athletically. That's not the case for the rest of us. If you're over 30, eat a candy bar and drink a coke, now go on a run.
   

6. Sssshhhhhh...

John Steinbeck's The Pearl, describes a cultural standard among the indigenous peoples along these lines: Speaking your intentions is to betray them. I've spent many hours thinking about this and have many arguments showing its merit. I'll spare you though. But...

Don't tell anybody of your intentions. Just do it. If you want to be healthier, start taking steps in that direction. Don't talk about it.

7. This is a Fight

"It's not an adventure until something goes wrong" Yvon Chouinard

Make no mistake. This is a fight. You're going to have to be tough, mean, steady and patient. If
there is a knock out blow delivered, you'll be on the receiving end. If you're going to win this fight, you're going to have to last the fifteen rounds. Then, you'll have to defend your title for the rest of your life.

Nobody can step in the ring for you. You have people in your corner though. The trick is to know what they can help you with, and what help will ultimately hurt your cause. See, methods used to attain your goal (win the fight) will not likely match what you envision, so keep an open mind. Along the way you'll get stuck, relapse and get frustrated. Refocus, regroup. When you get stuck it's not that you suddenly have a problem. You've always had that problem, it's just that now you're aware of it. That's an opportunity to improve and fix it! But it's your fight. You're going to have to fix it.

Or, you could resign yourself to your fate and only take what comes easy. Really, it's your call. People can argue the merits of either choice. But me, I'm a fighter. Why? Because I decide to be.


8. Set Goals That Aren't on the Scale

While a deficiency of 3500 calories will result in a pound of weight lost, weight loss is a tricky thing. Your body sometimes refuses to lose weight. Sometimes you'll burn fat really fast, regardless of what you're eating. Sometimes your body will build muscle. Sometimes something akin to voodoo is occurring because you'll have done everything right and yet the weight won't budge.

My weight has been the same for about 3 weeks now (well, within the normal fluctuations). However, I've dropped a pant size in the same time period. Why? I have guesses, but who knows.

The point is, if my main goal was seeing a lower number on the scale, I'd be frustrated. While it is mildly frustrating that the number isn't dropping, I know I'm more fit and have less body fat. I can see it. Everybody can see it. Not to fret!

It wasn't always that way. I hit plateaus about every ten to fifteen pounds of weight lost. Early on, nobody, save my wife, could really tell I was losing weight. Again, not to worry. It will come off.

This, when you get stuck and the weight will not come off, is a good time to revisit your plan. Don't make sudden, knee-jerk changes because these plateaus are part of the process. However, you may discover that you're eating too many carbohydrates. Or, maybe you'll rediscover that you're eating too many processed foods, but earlier you weren't motivated to give them up.

I found that when I hit a plateau, and stayed there for a while, I was more willing to make those substitutions that seemed unnatural than I was when things were going well.

9. Ginger

I do not subscribe to herbal remedies and holistic medicines. I'm not suggesting you shouldn't either. I do have an open mind. What I am suggesting is that if you are having swelling an joint pain you take 4 grams of ginger a day instead of ibuprofen or acetaminophen (Tylenol or Motrin).

Ginger has been clinically proven to be a more effective anti-inflammatory medication than all other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications. This is solid science. You won't need to believe it for it to work. Give it a week and you'll see. You can buy ginger capsules at Wal-Greens.

10. Sleep

Turn off the TV, put away the phone. Pick up a book, read. Go to bed. Sleep reduces recovery time. Try it.



Now, turn off the computer and go outside and do something.

Bike versus Run

I love riding. The distances that can be covered, the speeds attained and the sense of accomplishment after a long hard run is incredible. Riding helped me really get into fantastic cardiovascular shape, to the point where my resting heart rate was in the low/mid 40's! I probably could not have spent that much effort on running, not weighing as much as I did.

On April 16th of this year (my birthday that I share with my grandmother), I competed in a road bike race. It was the Tour of the Tucson Mountains. As races go it was an easy one. It was flat, never had to get out of the largest chain ring (big sprocket on the front) and 73 miles. I had hoped to finish the race in 5 hours, but finished in 3:45, way before my family showed up to cheer me across the finish line! It was a huge rush competing and doing well in that race. I can't wait to do more!
This is a picture shortly after the race, when I'd recovered.

As much as I love riding, and plan to keep riding, I prefer running. There's a zone I easily fall into when running that I cannot find so quickly when riding. It's something when I'm tired and my lungs burn a little but I just find a pace and push through. I love it.

I now find myself having to find time for riding. There's gear to wear, stuff to pack, and routes to be considered (for safety reasons, cars). But with running, throw on the shoes, look for a trail and go. So, here's to running.

Exploring

One of the nicer things about living where I do is the access to vast openness and all of the trails, marked and developed, or otherwise. I think I could run an entire year worth of trails within a 15 minute drive of my house and never repeat the same route.

On today's run I scared a coyote and a huge group of cows that were drinking at a stock tank, saw a lot of trash from illegal immigrants, and got all cut up from mesquite thorns. Awesome run!

Here's the GPS map of the run, though the return portion of the run is missing, for some reason. The software is a bit quirky, but free, so I'll deal with it!

At the turn around point of my run is a gas line road. If you're unfamiliar with those roads, they go perfectly straight between two distant points. This means, they do not contour to the surroundings. This road runs perpendicular to all of the hills.

When I reached the road, I knew I had to climb it. According to the GPS, it was a 100 foot climb over 1/8th of a mile. Pretty ridiculous. But I ran it and had fun. Coming down was a bit scary though!



This was the view from the top.


Here's my still chubby face! Runs like these will certainly help shave off some more body fat.

Yesterday's run was equally cool, though I had NO IDEA where the trail went. It was a Jeep trail that trimmed down to a four-wheeler trail that narrowed to a horse trail that narrowed to a game trail. It wound around the side of San Cayetano (the prominent geographical feature of Rio Rico) and then down into a canyon that opened up into Sonoita Creek. Definitely a lot of fun.

The thing I kept thinking of while running today, and the heat was bad, was the look a woman gave me last night. I told her that I had lost weight with diet and exercise. She looked incredulous. Her look said, "There's got to be more, you liar!" Nope. Diet and exercise. It's easy to say. It's not easy to do, but that's the beauty. Running is hard if you're doing it right.

Do what you love, love what you do

A lot of people would be happy if they'd lost the weight I have and were in my physical condition. But I'm not. I want to improve, a lot.

I don't just want to ride in a century (100 mile bike ride), I want to place. I don't want to just complete a marathon, I want to get the first one in 4 hours.

And while your physical activities have to be fun or you won't stick with them, even the most fun activities lose their appeal sometimes. Yesterday, for example, I did NOT want to run, and I love running. I was sore, the wind was INSANE, and I was worn out from a crazy year at work, poor sleeping the previous two evenings and a stressful day.

Here's a picture of a tree that had been blown over by the day's wind.


But I went anyway. Luckily it was a short run. I ran with a positive attitude and completed the run in a fashion I am proud of. But, change requires sacrifice. One of those sacrifices is sometimes a nap!

Today is an off-day. No running or gym. Tonight is high school graduation and I'll be sitting among the graduates during their ceremony. I hate ceremonies and would rather be doing something else. But, I'll do it with a positive attitude, while maintaining sincerity, and have a good time.

Do what you love, love what you do.

Running with Cousins

Tonight we (Brianna and I) ran with our cousins, Sarah and Alyssa. We did about 3 1/2 miles and had a great pace. Poor Alyssa does NOT run (yet) and looked miserable. But, being Alyssa, she was upbeat and happy and fun to be around.



The route we took is a portion of the de Anza trail that runs parallel to the Santa Cruz River. It's soft ground, well shaded and meanders. There are some fallen trees crossing the trail that must be jumped over and some pretty cool views of the surrounding mountains.

Today was supposed to be a recovery run. I'm not sure what happened, but Brianna was keeping pace. On the way back she took off like I'd never seen her do. We were booking! It was so much fun. The dog was BEAT, as were the two of us.

Here's the pace-setter today:



In this pic, a bit blurry on my face (you're welcome), you can see my cheap toe-shoes. I love these things.

It's so fun to run with my daughter and cousins.

And here's the route we took: http://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/34631194

Anyhow, here's to running. :D

Balance

One of the problems I have had to deal with is knee pain from running. I read Chris McDougal's Born to Run, and it struck a chord with me regarding shoes and running form. Since then I've tried a couple of things.

First, I got some $7 aqua socks from Wal-Mart. I ran the Warrior Dash in those. I ran as far as a 6 mile road run in them. I never had any foot problems. I did, however, have a lot of muscle pain from the ankle to the knee, all around the leg. Also, the muscles in my feet were screaming at me.


I then switched to a cheap set of Fila Skeletoes. They're knock-offs of Vibrams 5-fingers. However, I found them on sale and had a coupon and left with them for $40. I've run quite a bit in these with no problems. However, I would not suggest running near cactus in them.

It's been about two months of running in these types of shoes. I can definitely feel the benefits in my balance and my flat feet aren't so flat anymore.

But what about, "Can definitely feel it?" If you expect it, you'll probably notice it...if you expect it enough! That's the loop hole for snake-oil salesmen.

Well, I keep daily weight with a Wii fit. The Wii fit measures your weight on a balance board. The balance board measures pressure directionally and has a lot of ways to check your balance. This morning, which isn't any longer unusual, I had 100% perfectly distributed weight from left to right. That's because of the toe-shoes.



Beneath the red dot is the trace of your movement as you stood while the balance board recorded things. It's perfectly still. I'm not bragging saying, "Look at my balance!" But, I am saying that I've obtained real results from working out my feet! It's taken some shorter runs and a lot of muscle pain, but the pay off is there.

And the pay off is in running too. I have barely a fraction of the previous knee swelling and no knee pain. I run more lightly on loose terrain (I've broken both ankles and this agility is a big deal).

What's the down side? Well ... the shoes.