The Turtles and the Hair

In a fit of spontaneity this last week, I ended up succumbing to two impulsive urges. Don’t worry; my Lenten sugar fast still remains untarnished. I did, however, make an impulse buy, and now have the first three volumes of the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series on DVD. After watching the first volume (which consists of 5 episodes), I have decided that this was, in fact, a good decision! I was actually expecting to be disappointed, figuring that the series would not live up to the expectations of my childhood memories. This was not the case. I was surprised that the storylines were, for the most part, actually pretty good. I will admit that the Turtles let out some one liners that you can’t help but roll your eyes at, but I think that this was a part of the charm of the TNMTs of the 80s and 90s. My one complaint about the series: the turtle’s voices have a habit of interchanging from one character to the other. This was something I was expecting, as I recall that my 5-year-old-self noticed this. Also, whip cream pizzas? Cowabunga!
My other bout of impulsiveness? Well, I purchased an electric hair trimmer and gave myself a haircut. Good decision or bad? Well, you may notice that I will be wearing a hat more often for the next couple of weeks. While a large percentage of it doesn’t look that bad (I think), my lack of a second mirror to monitor the cutting in the back has resulted in a less than desirable look for me. So, yeah… bad decision! Definitely missing my older sister right now (she cuts hair for a living, for those of you who don’t know). I will probably try again in the future, if for no other reason than to off set the cost of the clippers.
Other things: Running has been going pretty well, although I’m starting to feel the past 5 weeks of 69+ miles/week. I did have a decent long run this week (a 17 miler with Jake, where we cut down the last 7 miles or so to the point that the last five miles were completed in 28:40ish, faster than my 8k PR for my freshman year of college!), but I’m planning on backing off a little the rest of this week for the Irish Jig (I’m excited to race, as I’ve only done two races in the past 5+ weeks: the mile and the 4x4 at the Concordia Alumni Classic). I’m actually amazed how well my running has been going considering how tired I’ve been feeling (and changing to DST this last weekend hasn’t helped much). Shoot, I may even take a day off this week.
As I mentioned, my Lenton sugar fast is still going strong, although, in all honesty, I haven’t had any real challenges as of late. The ECBoE has been fortuitously absent from the lab, and the Pharm and Tox seminar was on Tuesday last week, before the fast started. I did have to resist taking a cookie at the BMB seminar, but that wasn’t a huge loss (the cookies are OK, but don’t taste like baked crack- i.e. highly addictive- like the Pharm and Tox ones do), and I was offered a Boston cream pie sample while grocery shopping this weekend. One of the expected outcomes of this sugar fast is that my taste buds will get “reset,” i.e. eating excessive amounts of sugar dulls your taste buds to the flavor, and by removing sugar for a period of time, your sense of sweet becomes more sensitive. I’m eager to see if this is the case, although I’m thinking that I may have to cut fruit out of my diet for a week, and thereby avoiding all things sweet, to see if this is the case…
Well, I think that about does it for this edition. Blaze on, friends!

Lenten Sugar Abstinence

Happy Ash Wednesday! …Wait, I’m not sure that one works… Anyway, lets get this one rolling!

Lets begin with yesterday's workout, 8 x (400 meter uphill, rest for ~700 m downhill, 150 m stride, and 350 m jog back to start). The distances are approximate; uphill was actually 0.27 mi and overall one repeat added up to a little over a mile. For me, I started at a decent pace and got progressively faster as the workout progressed, something to be proud of in and of itself. But the real reason I am proud of this workout was because when the going got tough, I was among the tough that got going. After each repeat, my stomach began to churn more and more, until, on the last set, I had heartburn so bad that I wanted to vomit and was just miserable. But, despite this, I pushed through and turned in a good workout! Yeah me! :)

Getting heartburn while I run has unfortunately been a recurring theme for me. This has been a regular occurrence since at least sometime in high school. And at this point in my career, it has become pretty clear what triggers it for me: processed, and especially sugary, foods. Alas, to this point, I must admit that the Evil Chocolate Bowl of Evil, with his army of devious Hershey® Special Dark Chocolate Miniature minions, seductively cocoa-covered armada of almonds, and special strike force of assorted M&M® colors and flavors, have been successful in breaking through my defenses and assaulting by inner well-being. Today, it was not actually the ECBE that beat me, as his Special Dark minions only were able to land three successful blows, but rather, it was the equally evil offensive assault team of Cookies, Brownies and Muffins, from the nation of Free Seminar Food, that eluded my best defenses…

Well, today is my day to make a stand. Fat Tuesday 2011 will go down in history as the last day of sugar's dominance over me. As we march forward, I declare that the ECBE, and all of his sugary counterparts, will no longer hold siege over the nation of Awesomeness (i.e. me). Here and now, from the ashes of my most recent defeat, I will rise up again like the Phoenix of legend, and stand strong in the face of temptation and cravings. And henceforth, today shall forever be known as Ash Wednesday!

…I really hope that God doesn’t strike me down for that last bit. In all seriousness, I am giving up sugar for Lent. Why? Well, as I mentioned above, I really believe that it is behind my acid reflux problems, and, besides being uncomfortable, I don’t want to get esophageal cancer in the future. Also, it isn’t good for you, its addictive, and it isn’t conducive to my athletic goals. Why now? Because I always say I’ll start tomorrow, and tomorrow never comes. Because I can use Lent as an excuse for not eating sugar for the next 46 days (the 40 days of Lent does not include Sundays, for those of you who don't know). Because I’m SICK OF GETTING HEARTBURN!

I should specify that this 46 day sugar abstinence will have a couple exceptions: 1) Fruit is allowed. It does not give me problems, and is part of what I believe is a healthy diet. 2) I’m allowed to drink GU Electrolyte Brew as an athletic supplement. This is to assist me with my training, and, in all reality, GU Brew has significantly fewer simple sugars than other sports drinks and definitely tastes less sweet. It is my hope that after these 46 days that sugar will be allowed back into my life, but where it belongs: not as a forbidden fruit, with uncontrollable urges consume, but as an occasional indulgence to be enjoyed, without guilt or remorse.

Blaze on friends!

Cross-Training

So as I indicated in my last blog, I wanted to touch a little on the idea of cross-training. Why do I want to do this? Well, first off, I believe that cross-training has been a huge part of my success in the past, most notably when I've been dealing with and coming off from injury. If it wasn't for the all the biking that I did in the summer of 2006, I would not have been able to come back and have a successful cross-country season that fall, as I was unable to run due to an athletic hernia. More recently, I was side-lined with a near stress fracture in my cuneiform bone in my foot (the picture is not my MRI, but an MRI of a stress fracture in the same bone of someone else's foot). If it was not for cross-training (both pool running and road cycling), I would not have been able to come back nearly as strong as I am now (I believe that I am in the best shape of my life). In addition to my recovery, the benefits of cross-training through an injury are well exemplified in my roommate Scott's recent comeback, where he appears to be nearly as strong (or maybe even stronger) after a 3 month lay-off, mostly thanks to swimming and aqua jogging, with a little stationary biking thrown in for good measure.

 

 However, what I am currently wondering about is using cross-training as supplemental training while you are not injured. I am currently biking once or twice a week, and am weighing the costs and benefits of continuing this practice. I believe that my cycling is beneficial because:

1) Kick starts my metabolism in the morning

2) Helps to burn off a few extra calories so that I can reach my goal racing weight

3) Warms up my muscles in the morning, so that I can properly stretch them out

4) Strengthens muscles that are neglected by running, creating muscle balance and preventing injury

5) Wakes me up in the morning

However, these benefits must be weighed by the costs:

1) I'm more tired for my daily runs (I don't think this has actually affected them much, but I do believe that fatigued muscles are more prone to injury)

2) The extra time it takes to cross-training takes away from sleep or other daily activities (e.g. core work or self massage)

3) The lack of specificity results in me possibly building muscle mass for muscles that aren't used during running.

For me, I think that the benefits are definitely outweighing the costs right now. But the jury is still out; it may be that as I amp up my training, the costs will start to have a greater impact and I will cut this supplementary training out of my overall plan. I am curious to other peoples' opinions, so if you would like, feel free to comment (even if it anonymously). :)

Until next time, blaze on!

Graveyard Speed-Play

As the year progresses to March, we are seeing more and more of Spring winning a battle against Winter for climatic dominance. Yesterday was such a day, and the Playmakers Racing squad took advantage of it with a solid fartlek in Mount Hope Cementary. While some runners are coming back from injury and time off after a marathon/indoor racing season, a few of us who are just really beginning to gear up for racing really got after it. One such notable performance yesterday was that of my roommate Scott (who may be the only one reading this blog :) ) who, despite only starting to run about 6 weeks ago after a 3 month layoff due to a sacral stress fracture, busted out a solid performance that was even faster than when he did the same workout last year. Donnie Richmond, Jake Flynn, and Nick Katsafares are some of the others that were up there with Scott. Great work guys! I'm also going to take a minute to pat myself on my back, as Scott pointed out to me this morning that I ran the workout in about the same time that he did the previous year, when he was well ahead of anyone else that did the workout. So great job self! Keep at it. :)
As the racing season is starting to near, my racing schedule is becoming more definitive. Right now, I am planning on doing a rust-busting race in Port Huron with Scott and Jerome the weekend before Irish Jig, which will be my next race. After that, the Martian 10k at the beginning of April will probably be my last road race before heading to the track, with EMU twilight and Hillsdale Gina Relays on the Schedule. After that, I'll probably run either at Concordia or the University of Michigan, before returning to the roads at the Bancorp mile. My next race will be a mile put on by Playmakers during the Junior High Honor Roll Meet. I hope to find an 800 m to race shortly after that. My Spring season will likely conclude in Indianapolis, where I will be running in either the AMC race series or USA 8k champs, depending on how my season is looking at that point.
With a racing schedule more or less put into place, its time to start getting after it. I have some pretty high goals for this season, and its time to get after it. Lets get ready to blaze!

...I'm such a dork.  :)

Next up: Cross-training

I'm Awesome

Every now and then, I forget how awesome I am. Just thought I'd remind everyone. :)

Running has definitely been going well. Last week was pretty solid. I put in 69 miles in 6 days (and after today, my rolling total will be 77 or 78 mpw, a little higher than I would like), with two quality workouts. The first workout was a 3 mile tempo run, something that I really struggle with, in 5:08, 5:16 and 5:16. Easily the best tempo run I've ever done. The next day was an easy "10 miles at 6:20 to 6:30 pace" with my roommate. It was so easy, we finished it in 59 minutes and 20 seconds! :) Scott, you're a tricky one... The next day I did 8x800 with Scott in the parking lot around our apartment. I don't want to say that it was windy, but it did remind me of Nebraska... so, yeah, it was windy. We ran them in 2:16, then low 2:20s for the next six, and finished with a 2:17. Scott was pretty excited about how the workout turned out. Honestly, I was more excited that I kept up with Scott than with the actual workout. Part of it may be that I really haven't done a whole lot of workouts like it.

Wanna know what is not awesome? Going all the way to Ann Arbor to watch someone run, then missing the race by minutes. I went down there with Jake Crowe on Saturday to watch his run. I had to get in a substantial (but easy) run, which I planned on doing before the race. So after Jake ran his two miles for a warm-up, I proceeded to run 3.75 more before I watched him run. Somehow during this time, the meet got approximately 30 minutes ahead of schedule (it was already 15 when Jake went to warm up). I finished the run as Jake's race was finishing. Of course, I wasn't even aware that he was running when I walked in...

Other things... had to call the insurance and MSU health team today to figure out why they were billing $1000 for an MRI I had in October. Still not sure why. According to the insurance company, they sent a check, while the MSU health team don't have this on their records. Now I have to remember to call them next week to see if anything is being taken care of.

Looks like my next run is probably going to be the Irish Jig in Grand Rapids. Wish I could go home to run in the Shamrock Shuffle, take down the record, etc., but I can't justify paying >$350 dollars for a two day trip home. Especially if I end up having to pay $1000 for an MRI. :(

Well, I'm about to go run in the first snow of second winter (damn you, groundhog, with your incorrect weather predictions). I like winter. I really do. But only for 2 weeks. Then it needs to go away. And stay away.

Fail

The chocolate bowl was outside the lab today... and I failed. Hoping for better luck the rest of the day/tomorrow (by which time the chocolate should be gone)...
My weight is slowly progressing in the right direction. I'm weighing about a pound less in the morning than last week.
Training has been going okay. Felt awful on my Sunday long run. Monday, I was too exhausted to run, and instead took a nap. Not my proudest moment, but was probably necessary. Yesterday's run went okay, dropped a few sub-6 minute miles during a 10+ mile run.
Officially is 4 weeks and 3 days until my next race (a St. Patty's day race). I'm not sure where I'll race, (hoping plane tickets drop into my price range so that I can go home, but likely I'll be doing a Michigan race).
Of note: My right knee, which has been bothering for at least 4 years now (I haven't been able to fully flex it, as there has been a straining sensation inside of my knee when I try, preventing my heel from touching my glute by about 8 inches, while with my left knee I was able to touch my heel to my glute with no problem) has been feeling awesome for about a week now. I'm not entirely sure what to attribute this miraculous healing too, except maybe increased hamstring flexibility. I actually got an MRI about 3 weeks ago, and by the time I went to see the doctor about the results, my knee was feeling better. The MRI did show a large cyst behind my knee and in my gastrocnemius (calf) muscle. My best guess is that the increased flexibility due to my stretching has taken some of the pressure off my knee, and that the cyst was able to drain, effectively enabling the flexion of my knee. :)

So how about the new Boston qualifying procedure? I for, for one, like the idea that the faster you are, the earlier you can register.

Winter is starting to break here in East Lansing (I'm probably getting excited about this prematurely). Its been nice to be able to run without worrying about stepping on a block of ice and twisting your ankle (I did this last Friday) or nearly cracking your head open by stepping on a slick patch of ice (also a recent near occurrence for me). The next couple of days are going to be warmer than usual, and I hope to take advantage of them by getting in some faster running outside.

I guess that's how running has been going for now. Blaze on!

Racing Weight

Imagine for a moment, if you will, that you are carrying 15 pounds of excess weight. It could be fat, maybe muscle, whatever. But this weight isn't contributing positively to your running performance in any way. Now, imagine that you are free of this weight. You have suddenly lost 15 pounds of unwanted baggage. You feel lighter on your feet. Your belly no longer feels as if though a jug of water is sloshing around inside of it while you are doing your speed workouts. Heat is transferred from your body more efficiently, allowing blood to flow to working muscles instead of being directed to your skin to dissipate the metabolic heat waste that you are creating. Paces that used to leave you breathless now feel easy. You are free...
This is how I felt going into my senior year of college. The weight loss was not sudden, but had occurred throughout a summer, and could directly be attributed to my diet (I had a low calorie breakfast and lunch, then ate as much as I felt like for supper) as well as an increased amount of exercise volume (to compensate for not being able to run- I had an athletic hernia- I was biking about 90 minutes a day, a load that was significantly larger than the 55-60 mpw average that I had been putting in running the previous summers). Coming into the season, I was worried that I would not be fit, as I probably put in less than 100 miles total that summer. However, running quickly came back to me (a first, as other times that I had been sidelined by injury and forced to compensate by cross-training, I felt out of shape when coming back), and at one point in the season, I was our number two runner. I finished running nearly a minute PR in the 8k, and had the best indoor track season of my collegiate career. Somehow, the aerobic capacity gained from biking, along with the lightened work load thanks to the lost weight, I was able to set a new standard of athletic fitness for myself.
Fast forward to the present. I currently feel like I am still carrying excess weight. At 6 feet and 168 pounds, I am what you would describe as a large runner (at least for the level that I aspire to be). I mean, Chris Solinsky weighs about the same as me, but is also a couple inches taller, and he is described as being a very large elite runner. I realize that to continue to bring my weight down to what I believe to be my ideal racing weight, I will probably have to lose muscle. But I have muscle that is not supporting my running to lose. In the next couple of months, I plan to significantly bring down my weight to be a lean, fit racing machine. And I am blogging about this so that I will have people to keep me accountable.
To attain this goal, I plan to use vegetables, fruits and lean meat as the base of my diet, supplementing with small amounts of potatoes, seeds and nuts, and to eat sweets and grains sparingly. I will limit myself to a single glass of wine (I will indulge in alcohol socially). :) Perhaps the biggest adversaries that I will face will be the chocolate/candy bowl that frequents the dining table just outside of our lab, as well as the free food that comes with seminars. It is my hope that by posting about my progress and success (or, if my willpower falters, failure), I will be held accountable, and make steady progress toward my goals.

Blaze on!