Connecting You to a Healthy Life!

Local

It’s Farmers’ Market season. 8th Street in Holland was packed this morning on my run. The scent of strawberries filled the air.

I love to eat local food and support local farmers. Did you know that eating local honey can help reduce the impact on allergies?  Also, local food tastes better because it is picked when it is ripe intead of picking unripe food and allowing it to ripen inside a semi.

This better tasting food also requires 17 times less gas and oil according to 100milediet.org. Did you know that most people’s food travels 1200-25oo miles before it reaches their plates?

It’s good for me and good for my neighbors. My money spent on local food supports people in my community. If they continue to support other locals, it’s better for all of us. If we don’t spend our money locally, then the local producers will probably stop producing. It won’t be available any more.

Please join me in supporting local farmers and local businesses. Oh, and if you get some strawberries at the market, you could always come in the store and share some with me. Thanks.

11th June 2011
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________ is eating carbs.

Is this on your Twitter/Facebook?

I know some of you are tapering or about to start tapering for your spring race. A customary part of the taper is carbohydrate loading.

Historically, some runners have done a carb depletion in order to trick their bodies into hoarding the maximum amount of glycogen. During this carb depletion, the athlete would shun carbs and work out strenuously. This would make their muscles starved for carbs.

Anyone familiar with dieting history knows that the body can enter starvation-mode where it hoards calories. The body will adapt similarly during the carb-depletion phase and begin storing any possible carbohydrate like a person on one of those hoarding t.v. shows. Then, when the runner gets closer to the race, he will consume mass amounts of pasta, bread, rice, and potatoes. The body still thinks these carbs are rare and stock piles as many as possible. That’s what exercise scientists used to believe anyway.

Most experts now agree that the difference between carbo loading with the depletion phase and carbo loading without the depletion phase is pretty minimal. Most coaches skip the depletion phase because it just doesn’t make enough of a difference to be worth the hassle.

Now, like most things distance running related, carbo loading can go too far. How far is too far? Take a look at these pictures from this blog. This is too far.

Is this you at meal time before a big race?

Before my first couple marathons, I had spaghetti twice a day for five days. That’s too far. Try for a variety of minimally processed carbs, cut back on your general calorie consumption, and rest. Think about how you ate before your long runs. You probably didn’t eat 12 servings of pasta before that 20-miler, did you?

29th April 2011
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Use Vacation for Something Else

If you frequent the Holland Gazelle Sports you may have noticed that I haven’t been around to assist you in your Body Glide or shoe buying needs. I have moved on from the Gazelle team to embark on a new-post-grad life. However, I do still love to run and write so the great folks in administration at Gazelle have allowed me to continue blogging! (Can I get an AMEN?!)

I haven’t written in a while because I have been traveling. I’m currently in Long Island, NY but have been spending a lot of time in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, a few trips to Coney Island and the Bronx. While I’m on vacation I like to be able to not only relax and visit amigos but I want  to taste the local faire and not feel guilty about indulging myself a little bit.

Overall I’m a fairly healthy eater, but I do love a slice a pizza, a burger and fries, perhaps even a Nathan’s Hotdog from the original hot dog stand on Coney Island, okay, maybe two of those, I had one at the Yankee game last night too. But my body still craves a good run or work out while I’m vacationing and overindulging myself. It’s hard to get in the same kind of run or work out I would get at home, but I can try and at least get moving with a couple miles under my feet.

My friend that I was staying with in Brooklyn pointed me and my running shoes South and told me to run until the brownstones got big and fabulous and then turn around and head back to his near-Chinatown neighborhood and that would give me a few miles for the morning. By the way, those big fabulous houses are, according to my friend, the present day Mafia—so as long as I wasn’t stepping on any toes in that ‘hood I should be fine.

Somehow running in a new neighborhood is exciting and exhilarating. I feel so free and aware of my surroundings when I pass by people and places I’ve never seen before, stores and coffee shops catch my attention and make me want to try them after my shower. So that’s what I do—take note of the cross streets, run home (literally) shower and get back out the door to try the Hong Kong Asian blended bubble tea with tapioca bubbles for $2.50! (Kinda weird, not sure if I actually liked it or just liked it because it was new to my taste buds.)

Summer time is a time for family vacations, travel and exploration. Use your time in a new place to discover something else! Take 30 minutes to yourself to run out your vacation craziness and find something great you wouldn’t have seen from the road via car/bus/family outing.

More to come on my Long Island backyard yoga session from yesterday and my nude beach experience that I’ll be having this afternoon!

21st July 2010
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Flavor of the Week

What’s your flavor? I heard that several times at the store this weekend as I discussed the need for in-race nutrition.

In my experience, once your runs start approaching the 90 minute mark, you really need to start experimenting with different foods. There’s a lot of science-y stuff to explain why you need food. Here’s the short version. Your muscles can hold a certain amount of glycogen (gas). This is the stuff that really burns most efficiently for a long distance runner. Once it is gone, your body can burn other stuff,  but it doesn’t burn it as well. If you can absorb some sugars from Gu, Accel-Gel, Luna Moons, etc, then you can delay the burning of this less efficient stuff. You’ll be less likely to run out of “gas.” Let me tell you, hitting the wall is not a fun experience.

I say experimenting because we’re all really an experiment of one. The things that work well for me may not work well for you. You’ve got to try all of the flavors and consistencies to find out what works. PLEASE try them BEFORE using them in a race, though. If a flavor/brand doesn’t work for you, it will ruin your race.

I love the Accel-Gel Vanilla and the Espresso Love Gu, but RunnerGirl can’t stomach either of them. Find what works for you and then buy a case (15% discount on a full case).

One thing I’ve been doing lately is taking an Accel-Gel before I start running. I’ve been getting up ridiculously early to get my long runs to fit into my schedule, and I can’t eat solid food immediately before running. I take a gel as soon as I wake up and about every 40-45 minutes after that on the run. It feels weird to eat a gel in my kitchen, but it works.

Monday: Rest Day w/ Core workout

Tuesday: sloppy, slushy 10 miles

Wednesday: easy 5

Thursday: Tempo run 8 w/ 5 @ 6:52 and gradually increasing incline on the treadmill (0-2.5%)

Friday: easy 5

Saturday: 17

Sunday: Football in the snow with friends

Weekly Total: 45 and 1 core workout

Yearly Total: 238 and 5 core workouts

8th February 2010
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People’s Choice Awards

What makes a race good? I wondered this as I watched a recent race finish. I’ve run the race before, and it is a fun race. As I watched runners finish with cars buzzing by them on the busy street (the roads were not closed), I wondered why people run this race, though. There’s no clock, only one aid station, roads are open and busy. It is less supported than the training group’s long runs, but it is still wildly popular.

On January 20, the Runners’ World Daily awarded their “people’s choice” awards. They named things like most popular article and most popular video. I liked the idea so much that I decided to ask you all to vote for your favorites in a variety of categories.

Of course, no one shoe is perfect for everyone. Many people are intensely loyal to their brand, though. What works for you?

You’re a well-balanced athlete, so you do all of these workouts sometimes. Which one do you love most, though.

Back to where we started, what’s your favorite race?

Weekly Training Log
Monday: 6 easy (nasty cold/congestion)
Tuesday:6 easy (nasty cold/congestion)
Wednesday: 5 easy (nasty cold/congestion)
Thursday: 8.5
Friday: 8 w/ 3 X (2X 1200 @ 5:52 with 2:00 recovery) and 4:00 recovery between sets
Saturday: 5 plus core workout
Sunday: 15 with significant hills
Totals for the Week: 53.5 + 1 core workout
Totals for the year: 193 + 4 core workouts

1st February 2010
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Hay in the Barn

If you’re training for River Bank, Bayshore, Boston, or any big spring race, then now is the time to be puttin’ hay in the barn. Now is the time to be building that base that will allow you to enjoy your race. During this phase of training, you should be doing the occasional “quality” workout, but the miles are what really matter. Every mile run during this phase is moving you one mile closer to your goal.

That is why it is important to increase your mileage carefully. Most injuries occur because of overuse, and I think most cases of overuse come from increasing training demands too quickly. An injury during the base building phase hurts your training twice. It hurts originally because it takes away time to train, but it hurts later even more. Athletes with interrupted base-building phases are less prepared for the sharpening speed workouts and tempo runs, too. So be careful out there. Listen to your body and take an easy day (or even rest day) if necessary.

By the way, last week I tried the new Gu flavor, Jet Blackberry with 2X caffeine. It tasted the the grape Tootsie Rolls to me. If you like the fruity Gu flavors, then you’ll like this one.

Monday: Easy 5 miles (at 5:30 a.m.)
Tuesday: Hilly 7 miles (ave. heart rate 150)
Wednesday: Easy 5 miles (at 5:30 a.m.)
Thursday: 6.5 miles on treadmill 2 X (6X400 @ 1:24 w/ 1:30 recovery interval) 2:30 recovery between sets (at 6:00 a.m.)
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: 12 miles (ave. heart rate 140)
Sunday: Easy 6 miles
Totals for the Week: 41.5
Totals for the Year: 96 miles

18th January 2010
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