Nutrition

Several people have asked me questions recently about nutrition.  I have to make it very clear...I am NOT a nutritionist.  I don't remember if I heard it, or if I read somewhere that anyone can call themselves a nutritionist but you have to be licensed to have the title "dietician".  Well...I did some research today and found that to be incorrect, at least in the state of Alabama.  (See the rules and regulations here.)  So...let me state again, I am NOT a nutritionist.  I'm not a dietician.  I'm just a person who eats food!  :D

Here are some things I believe.

You have to eat if you want to lose weight.

Yes...that's what I said.  If you want to lose weight, you have to eat food.  If you try to stop eating your metabolism will slow down, your body will not know when to expect you to fuel it again so it will start storing everything as fat.  Now, you have to be smart about what you are eating and when and how much...but not eating does NOT work.

Losing weight is not (usually) a simple matter of calories in/calories out.

That's right...it's nutrition not mathematics.  Back when I first started running I couldn't understand why I wasn't losing weight.  I was accurately counting everything but it wasn't working.  Well, come to find out the types of foods I was eating were causing me to basically retain water.   (Yes, water...not food.  That saying "you aren't retaining water, you're retaining food" sorta ticks me off...)  When I cut out those foods, I lost weight.  It's very important you understand, I kept the same AMOUNT of calories, and I cut out "good-for-you" foods like milk, garlic (not many calories lost there), eggs.

When I eat those foods now, I can gain 2-3 pounds in one day.  Those 2-3 pounds are NOT due to excessive calories (1 pound is 3,500 calories....I can tell you I'm pretty sure I haven't had 10,500 in a day, ever).  You need to know what works for your body and what doesn't.  Naturally if you are eating more than you are burning you will gain and theoretically vice versa, but that equation is too simplistic for such a complex process.  And, going back up to my first point, if you reduce intake too much, your body will store what you eat and you could end up gaining weight when, on paper, you should be losing.  Part of the reason you may gain is the "calories out" portion is going to be wrong.  If your metabolism slows down, you won't be burning as many calories as you think you are.  And, if you restrict too much, you're bodily functions will shut down and you'll die.  (Cold hard fact of life.)

If you want a healthy body, you have to give it healthy fuel.

If you have a car that runs on unleaded gas but you decide to put diesel in it instead, it won't run very long.  However, if you put gas mixed with a little water, it will run, just not very well.  Everyone knows you have to eat food to live, but a lot of people eat the "wrong" kinds of foods to allow their body to function at its best.  Everyone is different.  I do not think our bodies are "one diet fits all" so I am NOT saying you need to follow a "boxed" plan.  However, I am saying you need to be a student of what works for you.  Some people I know function at their best with a higher protein diet, others seem to do better going vegan.  The key is to know what works best--FOR YOU--and to DO IT.  This requires you to 1) pay attention to what you are taking in, 2) pay attention to the results and 3) follow through.

I remember when I was a teenager.  I went to see a dermatologist for typical teenage acne.  I wanted him to give me a list of foods I shouldn't eat.  He told me there are no foods that cause breakouts.  I told him I noticed every time I would eat chocolate my face would break out.  He said, "then don't eat chocolate".  I remember asking him why he couldn't just tell me that in the first place; he explained  chocolate doesn't cause everyone to break out.  He also said it may not be causing my breakouts; it may have been merely correlated in timing.  (Maybe it was hormonal; the same thing that was causing the breakouts caused the chocolate cravings.)

That doctor said the same thing I've been hearing my whole life-I need to know my own body better than anyone else, because I live in it.  Although there are some absolutes, after all, no one can live off rat poison!; there is far more grey area than black and white when it comes to food.  How many calories I need to eat, what kinds of foods will upset my digestive system vs rev me up, how long it takes for my stomach to process food to avoid intestinal distress during a race....these kinds of things (among others) are what people have to figure out for themselves.  Yes, there are some good guidelines and some starting points that work for a majority of people, but what works best for you requires a level of self awareness most people simply do not care to have.

Take the time and effort to get to know your body...it's the one you'll have the rest of your life!

Thanks for stopping in, come again soon!!
:D

I Don't Wanna'...(foot stomp)

I can remember throwing temper tantrums when I was little in my grandmother's hallway.  I would lay on my stomach while kicking my feet and pounding my fists into the floor, crying and screaming all the while.  I don't remember it ever having an effect on anyone else in the house.  In fact, I have a memory of someone (an aunt maybe) stepping over me to get into the bathroom.

For a long while now I haven't really "WANTED" to do my workouts.  The idea of doing them is okay until it's time to get it done, then it's like I have a 4 year old's tantrum in my head.  I have these flashes of just saying "I QUIT!!!" and then, in my mind's eye, I'm eating a pizza (or today it was a Ruben sandwich!).  I gave into this voice two weeks ago...but to be fair there were some other things going on that day which were more powerful than simple petulance.  Since that time I've been determined to persevere.

I thought it would go away.  I thought it would get easier.  I thought my desire to reach the goal I have set for myself would blast out the obstinate toddler in my mind.  I thought the love I have of what I'm doing (swimming, biking, running) would outweigh my desires to sleep in, take naps, stay in my PJs all day, eat anything and everything and be LAZY.  But, the only time I really feel good is when the work is finished.  And...then I'm sad because I feel like I missed out on the joy of actually DOING the workout.  When it's over I find myself wanting to do MORE.

On the schedule for today was a swim workout (which I've done already) and a strength workout (which I haven't done yet).  I woke up excited to get to the pool (the idea of swimming)...but as I began getting my bag ready I started dwelling on all the things I don't like.  "...the water is going to be cold, I'm going to have a hard time breathing, it's going to be hard, I don't know if I can really do what's on the plan, it's going to take hours out of my day..."  When the time came, I practically had to make myself drive to the natatorium.  I could feel my inner brat getting wound up.  It started with a pout and ended with "her" looking like I did at my grandma's house--crying, fists and feet pounding, kicking and screaming "I DON'T WANNA'!!!".

And...I, like my aunt, casually ignored her, put on my suit and jumped in the water.  I wish I could say the conniption ended...but it didn't.  I pretty much had to force myself to get through all three sets of the workout....until the last fast 50.  And then, as usual....that bratty little girl in my mind looked up at me with a tear-stained face and said with a voice raspy from screaming, "Is that all??  Is it really over??  But I wanna do more!!  Can I do one more set??"  I just laughed and thought, "well...no...but you can go do your strength workout now..."

You guessed it...  "BUT I DON'T WANNA!!!"

((Yes...my mind really is that complicated, just ask my husband!!))

Thanks for stopping in...come again soon!
:D

When I searched for a good picture, I came across this video...cracked me up, hope you think it's as funny as I do...

Dream BIG??

Dream big, but allow yourself the opportunity to start small, and have your share of struggles in the beginning. The world's great composers weren't writing symphonies the day they first sat at a piano.
--Kevin O'Rourke, Marathoner

WARNING:  I'm writing this in the middle of the night (well, early morning) so I'm probably actually really dreaming...that will be my excuse anyway if what I'm about to say is completely crazy...

 

I ran 20.22 miles on Saturday.  (Well...walk/ran some of it, but that was out of the need to stay with a running partner more than a need to take a walk break.)  (...and, yes, the .22 is completely necessary to add on!)  I was hurting, no doubt about that...but my last mile and almost a quarter was just slightly under a 9:30 pace, and I felt like I could "easily" finish a marathon right then.  Sunday I was a TINY BIT sore.  Monday's 4 mile recovery run was interrupted three times so I could stretch out my tibialis (see photo).  After the run was over, I felt GREAT!  (So that's why they call it a "recovery" run, huh?!)  Tuesday was a rest or cross train day so I rested.  

Yesterday was my group torture training day (maybe I've struckout the wrong word there??).  We did Yasso 800s.  Basically Bart (Chief Running Officer of Runner's World) says if you want to run a 4 hour marathon, shoot for 4 minute 800s.  He says to start out doing 3 or 4 of them several months out (with either 200-400 of recovery, or the same time it took to run the 800)...and work up to doing 10 of them about 2 weeks before your race.  The workout we did was a mile warm up then 8 X 800 with 2 minutes recovery between each one.

My A goal is 4 hours; B is 4:15 and C is 4:30.  However, initially I was hoping to push myself to a 3:40-3:45 because that would be a 2013 BQ for me.  (For my mom and any other non-runners reading this blog...that means "Boston Qualifier"...meaning I need to run a marathon (one that is labeled as a BQ race) in 3:45:00 or LESS between September 24, 2011 and September ?, 2012 in order to have even the chance to get into Boston.  (It's really more complicated than that because they do this rolling entry thing where the faster people have a chance to enter first.)  ((For the record-I COMPLETELY AGREE with this set up.  That's the way I think it should be.))  So the truth is, more than likely in order to have a shot at getting in I would need to run 20 minutes faster (so a 3:25) to get in the first day...but that's not really the point.  3:45 is still a BQ TIME even if it won't guarantee me a spot in the actual race.

In those early workouts of the training plan I would repeat, over and over, "I'm going to Boston."  Yes...I'm slightly embarrassed to admit this, but hey, who doesn't want to go to Boston if they are completely honest????  ((Well...I'm sure there are plenty of people who don't, and even plenty of runners who don't have their sights set that high...but I'm the kind of person who DREAMS BIG even if I lose the drive to make my dreams HAPPEN.))

So...getting back to last night's workout.  Since my A goal was 4 hours, my goal 800 time was 4 minutes.  That's an 8 minute pace.  Sure,  I've done that before, but could I do it EIGHT TIMES??  I was thankful there was a group of five of us doing it together...one other female, who is in my age group, who has been getting faster since we started...who I can't seem to keep up with anymore...who I desperately WANT to BEAT in the race...who will be now and forever called "Chickpea" in this blog.  (Yes, it's a silly name, but there's a reason...and that's all I have to say about that.)  ((Anyone who runs with us will know who it is, but I don't name people here, just nicknames.))  (((***WHY I want to beat her:  she's in my age group, she started out a bit slower but has really taken off, she's faster than me, but I feel like if I push hard enough I might be able to catch her.  Heck, I should really call her CARROT because that's the way it felt last night with me chasing her around the track!!)))

So...wow...8 minute pace for 8 X 800.  I knew from past experience I would have the tendency to start off fast and fade through the work out.  But, at the same time, doing them with the group meant I didn't have to pay as much attention to pace-after all there were 4 other people doing the same thing.  

When I do track workouts I divide up the track into sections and try to hit that spot in X amount of time.  800 is twice around the track, so we should have been around once in 2 minutes, and half-way around in 1 minute.  We hit that point in about :51.  My brain started firing 9 X 4 is :36...holy stink, that's a 3:24 800.  We slowed a bit and I stopped looking at my watch.  Lap 1: 3:50

With each lap they got harder.  But, they should have, we were running faster.  Lap 2: 3:48, lap 3: 3:38, lap 4: 3:37.

By lap 5 (3:50) it was taking me the full 2 minutes to catch my breath fully, just in time to start again.  I worried I wasn't going to be able to keep up, to be able to finish.  I wanted to quit, or at the very least slow down to my A goal pace time of 4:00.  My legs were so tired.  Breathing became harder.  But, dang it...Chickpea looked like she was out for a run in the park.  The leader of our pack was leaving all of us in the dust the last few laps...the other two guys were falling back and charging ahead...but Chickpea seemed steady and strong the whole time, and was JUST ahead of me each time (by split seconds).  Lap 6 (I think it was, maybe 7), I decided I would kick in a sprint for my sprint at the finish and made myself cross with her (in 3:45 for 6 and 3:43 for 7).

I thought I was going to puke...but only for a few seconds.  I asked one of the head coaches if it was supposed to feel really bad.  To my elation she said by all means YES.  She said it was supposed to feel like I couldn't take one more step.  Long runs are supposed to make me feel tired and ready to be done and maybe sore and achy...but this workout should make me feel COMPLETELY SPENT.  CHECK!!!  That made me feel surprisingly better because I knew at that point I was not failing.

Lap 8...last one...I wanted to give it my ALL.  Make it count.  Leave it all on the track for the night.  Maybe even puke my guts up for once.  As soon as we started the leader made time on all of us.  Chickpea was about 20 feet or so ahead of me by the end first lap.  All I kept thinking was that I wanted to finish with her...but my thoughts kept coming back to, "seriously...you can't catch her...give up...no shame...4 is good...let her be faster..."  But as the finish got closer I knew I would kick myself if I stayed in that place of passive resignation.  I ran as hard as my legs would go and closed in just a bit on her, but didn't quite get her before the "finish" (...if only I had that same resolve from the start).  3:43.

I came home, ate, got cleaned up and went to bed.  I always have trouble sleeping on hard workout nights, but last night I fell asleep pretty quickly...only to wake up 4 hours later (2:30am).  I couldn't stop thinking about my lap times and how good it felt to have some confidence in my 4 hour goal.  Again...Bart says the 800s are a predictor of the time it will take to run a marathon.

So...the average of my Yasso 800s??  3:44.25!!  And...remember what my initial A goal was when we started this program??  3:45.  And...remember why that was my A goal?  Boston Qualifier baby.

Dream big or go home.  I think that quote sums me up better than the one I started the blog with.  But, do I dare?  Can I even think in those terms?  It's 26.2 miles not 8 X 800 with recovery in between.  Can I be happy with a 4 hour this year and then work on BQ for the NEXT marathon?  Am I really going to go for another marathon before September?  My main focus is triathlon...but having a BQ under my belt is very appealing. 

I have no idea what I'll end up actually doing.  I have a half this weekend that should be a great litmus test...but the 4 hour marathon goal put me at a 1:53 half goal time according to one of my marathon coaches.  I don't know what a marathon goal of 3:45 would mean for my half.  I was just looking for sub 2.

Dream big or go home....or dream big but start small.  Didn't I already start small???

Discipline

Short and to the point.  I am undisciplined.  Now, I realize there are varying degrees and one person's idea of something vague like "discipline" or "determination" won't match up with everyone else's idea of what that means.  But I'm only speaking for myself here.

I think what I need is a pretty hard and fast PLAN of action, that I will work to maintain, and not let external forces get in my way.  I do have a strong will.  God made me that way for a reason.  It doesn't have to be a bad thing.  It can work to my advantage.

I am going to plan out meals and food to best fuel my workouts.  I've contacted a local place that does metabolic testing so I can find out "exactly" how many calories my body is burning (hopefully at rest as well as during exercise, but we'll see about that).  I want to eat a "balanced" amount of carbs, protein and "good" fats.  (Chips do not fall into this category.)  I don't know exactly what triggers me to eat foods that aren't good for me, I really don't.  But I think I'm done trying to figure it out.  I'm going to say it doesn't matter why I do it....it only matters that I don't do it anymore.  I need to have a plan as to what I'm going to eat so that I'm not staring into a pantry filled with the junk my family eats (something I have given up on changing) when I need food.  Also, I need to come up with something to do when I have the urge to eat out of boredom.  Like a smoker who "needs" to replace the physical action of smoking, I need something to do instead of walking to the kitchen to grab something to put in my mouth.  (That might be a speed bump for me...we'll see.)

Also, I have really rejected the idea of having a "set in stone" training plan because there are so many things that factor into when I run and how much I run and if I can get a work out in first thing in the morning.  Again, I am letting externals control what happens.  It's mainly because I want to run with friends.  I want to keep my schedule flexible so that I won't train myself into injury.  I want to make sure my schedule is flexible enough so that I can still do spontaneous things as the come up.  The problem with that is when out of the ordinary things happen (a blizzard in Alabama!) my training takes a big hit.  I was stuck without a car with snow everywhere most of this past week.  Now, I COULD have wrapped my feet in plastic bags and still gotten some miles in.  I could have done P90X or any of the other workout videos I own.  I could have done any number of the workouts from magazines I have taken the time to rip out and save in a file.  Instead I ate more and more garbage and watched stupid stuff on TV.  Most of the week was not only wasted (meaning no gain), it was spent backsliding (meaning I'm worse off now than I was this time last week)**.

**You know, that's not a good way to look at it.  My darling husband would say this week was a valuable lesson learned.  I'm a very experiential learner.  This week has been an exercise in what life without a solid plan of action looks like---and I can say I have HATED it.  Not to mention my monthly "friend" is about to make her appearance.  This particular week in my cycle is the WORST for everything, and it just so happened to have fallen on a week that I not only didn't have my car (it's in the shop, again), but we also had 8 inches of snow (something I can't stand).  If I had been better prepared for "PMS week", maybe it would have gone better for me?

So, for today...after church I'm going to go to the pool and swim 500 yards (that's 20 lengths of the pool, 10 laps-I still have to find a good way to count them).  Then I will put together a plan for the coming week (workouts and food).  It's time to stop blaming externals for something that should be under my control.

Jane was right in her recent comment to me regarding my food/training confessional, I punish myself.  And Katie was right when she said food is not the enemy...I do need it to fuel my workouts....but it needs to be good fuel.  I would never consider putting cough syrup in the gas tank of my car and expect it to work properly.

Discipline doesn't have to look like this:

But maybe it can look like this and still work:

Thanks for stopping in...come again soon!
:D