from super-size to superfoods

after running yesterday with my friend justin (a triathlete and speedy runner) he commented about how far i'd come since 2007 when i was a fairly dedicated fast-food junkie.  in fact, when the church that i was working at wanted to shoot a video mockumentary along the lines of "super size me" i was the clear nominee to star in it.

(sometimes i think that when it came to anything that the rest of the team didn't want to touch with a 10-foot pole, they figured that i would be the 'perfect guy' for it - case in point ...)

my wife remembers me on a regular diet of KFC.  my kids recall daddy's breakfast as consisting of chocolate chip cookies and orange juice (net nutritional value = 0).  the point is, i managed to get away with a lot in terms of eating practices because i was blessed/cursed with an unusually efficient metabolic system.

that all began to change when i started to run.

slowly i came to noticing that i felt horrible when i fueled myself with junk.  whether it was high cholesterol entrées or the bedtime snack of half a party-size bag of doritos, there was immediate feedback during the next morning's workout.  and it wasn't pleasant at all.  this started to deter me from equating 'fullness' with 'fueled-ness'.

then, as i entered the arena of road racing and set particular performance goals, i started to pay attention to the finer points of training - from supplements (including the composition of my multi-vitamins) to pre- and post-workout intake and eating volume and frequency.  i will readily admit to being nowhere near where i could be - my dorito obsession remains (though diminished), and i am not as savvy about supplementation as my buddy stan (a great blog post from him here) - but the truth is "you've come a long way baby!".

so what are my key dietary tactics?

1. post-run chocolate milk - feels like you're cheating when you're not!  a great mix of carbs and protein for post-workout replenishment.  those commercials aren't just a marketing gimmick y'all.
2. multi-vitamins - because i know that i'm not on top of things in terms of properly daily recommended values from the four food groups.
3. chia seed - yup, another convert as a result of reading chris mcdougall's born to run.  i'll sprinkle it on yogourt, on peanut butter toast, in banana-chocolate smoothies.  it just works with about everything, and is a great way to take it carbs, protein, omega-3s, potassium, calcium.  plus being hydrophilic it's a great way to create a slow-release of energy over distances.
4. beet juice - nothing conclusive here, but some studies have purported to show that beet juice (rich in anti-oxidants and the right kind of nitrates) aids in decreasing blood pressure and increasing transference of oxygen through the blood stream.  not the most palatable drink in the world, but i've found that adding a single sachet of juice crystals (i use President's Choice brand cool delight raspberry) and it's not bad ... not bad at all.
5. kale - this is the newest member of the dietary regime for me.  heard lots about it - it's probably the 'in-food' when it comes to the health conscious.  another one of these packed-with foods, it delivers iron, fibre, calcium, vitamins A, C and K, and is super-easy to work with.  i'll chop it up and put it on/in just about anything - "no meat athlete" has a great article on how to eat it.

as i say, i'm still learning how to better treat this biomechanical machine of mine.  what are your fueling choices?  i'd love to hear about them!

from super-size to superfoods

pre-breakfast of champions ...?

this morning my friend trevor helped me to put in my longest run in my training cycle (29km), and thereby wrap up the most mileage that i have managed to log in any one week period (110km).  if you read the previous post you'll recall that this morning's run was something of a late substitute for an originally scheduled 'simulator' run of 26.2km at marathon pace.  

i'm (still) glad that i made that switch.  whether or not it will pan out as being the best move possible for attaining that elusive BQ goal is yet to be discovered.

anticipating the strain that this particular early morning run would put on my system, i decided to incorporate a few nutritional elements that would hopefully help me stave off the dreaded wall effect, and fuel me through to a strong finish.  in particular:

1. i brought along some hydration (water) and fuel (homemade chia gel) with me.  this may not sound unusual to you, but for me it's not normal practice to take along any food or drink on training runs.  i always run before breakfast, and i find it to be of real psychological benefit to motivate myself with the allure of chocolate milk and waffles.
2. i did carboload a bit yesterday.  sticky rice for lunch, spaghetti for dinner - yum.
3. i started drinking beetroot juice this week.  i'd read this week that beetroot juice is apparently a natural (i.e. not banned!) performance enhancer for endurance athletes because it contains nitrates that can help your body to require less oxygen to do more work.  now, i'm not convinced that i'm the calibre of athlete for whom the performance benefits of beetroot juice will make any more of a difference than making sure to not go out too fast at the start of a race ... but i also figure that it can't hurt me.  except that i don't find beets all that super tasty - so in order to down the appropriate amount i 50/50 blend it with apple juice.  

end result?  today's run felt really quite good.  i managed (or at least think i did) to keep decent form through all 29km, and while the legs inevitably felt fatigue i can't say that i ever felt like i hit the wall.  plus i imagined that i would do well to finish up with a 5:08-5:10/km pace, and by the time i rolled back into my driveway i'd completed at a 4:58/km pace (even with walking breaks to make sure that i wasn't wearing spreading the chia gel all over to become the marathoning chiapet).  chalk it up to what you will, but i think that i just might try downing some more beetroot juice in the next few weeks, and packing a bit of fuel for the long runs.

oh, and breakfast was still oh so good when i got home. 

pre-breakfast of champions ...?

homemade chia seed energy gel failure

with permission to turn the kitchen upside down as necessary, i embarked yesterday on making my own energy gel. 

i've often wanted to tinker with this - partly because i'm as cheap as they come (and would rather homebrew something that would price out at a fraction per serving of most retail gels) and partly because chris mcdougall's Born To Run inspired me - as it has many others - to explore the benefits of chia seeds.

so armed with the recipe from "no meat athlete" (found here) i followed the recipe down to the letter.

or so i thought.

as i tried to work my magic with the various ingredients, i got caught up in the fact that i didn't have all of the right measuring tools.  not the main problem - the main problem turned out that i can't read.

better put, that i trust my instincts more than my fact-gathering senses.

in the midst of various 1/16 cup, 1/8 and 3/4 cup measurements, i read "1/4 cup salt substitute" and "1/8 cup baking soda".

except that the clearly printed instructions call for "1/4 tsp salt substitute" and
"1/8 tsp baking soda".

i didn't realize my mistake until this morning's first ingestion of the homemade energy gel right before embarking on my 27k training run.

oy.

how's the old saying go?  "measure twice and cut once"?

new batch coming up.

homemade chia seed energy gel failure