Since I've returned to eating what Chris Carmichael tells me to eat, I have a food plan and last night night Doreen and I did our grocery shopping. The good news is that a big ole pile of whole and wholesome carb heavy food is satisfyingly big and bulky even if it's a bit spendy. One thing did annoy the hell out of me, especially coming from someone who REALLY should know better.
Whole wheat pasta. It's a small thing but if you don't know the hype from the science, it messes with my confidence. Here's the thing. There was a study a while back that showed that whole grains, have a wide range of positive effects. This was backed up by more studies and soon people began to clamor for them...without bothering to ask anyone who knew anything about nutrition what exactly IS a "whole grain."
The problem with whole grains is that the spoil absurdly fast. The parts of the grain that are stripped away in processing are stripped away to make the product more shelf-stable. This means that REAL whole grains are sadly food for people who can afford and are willing to pay a premium or those with access to farms and the knowledge/ability to deal with their own food...which is to say, not most of the USA. Market demand for a food brings out the food scientists trying to create a low-cost, shelf-stable, high profit version of whatever the public is "hungry" to eat and this is (as with many packaged foods) where the trouble starts.
Using the best technology at our disposal, it's possible to strip those grains apart and MAKE the parts that make them go rancid into something that will last a bit longer at the grocer...and be easier to adapt to machine production and a lot cheaper to make. The problem is, these properties that are undesirable in a food from a business point-of-view are EXACTLY the ones that make them good for you. Studies are now bearing this out. There might be minor nutritional content changes in processed "whole grain" foods but the mojo just isn't there.
This is good news! Most of the "whole grain" foods are not only more expensive than the traditional processed foods but let's be honest, they taste like shit. I got myself to where I like whole wheat pasta but really...REALLY? Just buy the box of Barilla and get REALLY good bread and brown rice and move on. Bottom line: Does this food LOOK like something that you would look more at home cascading out of a grain silo or a machine?
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Fear, blood and recess
Welcome to the inside of my head while I'm running. When you have two hours to do nothing but listen to the music, watch the world go by, wave to the friendly people and keep your body moving, there is a whole lot of time in there to think. If you aren't comfortable in your own skull, it's got to suck.
Today's run started with me thinking on the nature of fear and how endurance sports forces you past it. I'm going to let you all in on a not very well kept secret: You are tougher than you think you are, you can do more than you think you can. I'm not diminishing the amount of hard work that is required to progress an athlete from walking a 5k to running their first marathon but the toughest muscle to train is the one between your ears. By the time we are out of our teens risk avoidance creeps into our thinking. It makes sense in a way, we worked hard for our belongings, our station in life, our health and we want to at least keep what we have. As we all know, when you go at life strictly from a risk-avoidance view, progress is difficult. When you run more than a mile or so, your body starts to give off fairly serious alarms. It's trying to look out for your best interests by making your world very uncomfortable. Your nervous system is in constant overdrive trying to warn you away from this activity. Listening to fear is natural, normal, reasonable... and it holds a person back.
That was what I was going to write and what was in my head until the first mile. The river walk in Harrisburg is a bit ill maintained. The pavement is broken and heaved in many spots as you go south down the river and my foot snagged on one of them. I knew it before it happened...I was going down hard. I had at speed so I had several steps to decide the nature of the crash. I could drop off the edge into the river...the low and decidedly foul smelling river. I could try to get my rusty old body to take it on the shoulder and roll but that was a risky gambit at a run...or I could just put my hands out and hope for the best. I came up sore and missing a lot of skin on the palms of my hands. It started to throb and bleed in the messy manner that skin abrasions do bleed. I paused my Garmin (funny how that's my FIRST thing) and used my water to clean the bloody dirt off...which made it bleed MORE. I took a few steps and pain shot through my hip: No, this run is done.
Because you know...I've never bled before or fallen down. Standing there watching the blood drip down my hands I knew full well that this was a lie. When I was kid, play was a full contact sport. We were often forced to play "nice" at recess but even then, bumps, bruises and blood...lots of blood was just part of going out. At that age I was game enough to dust myself off, wash out the wound (often with saliva, yes little boys are beastly) and then...continue playing. Then I got to go home and face my mom asking why my clothes were ripped and bloody. Standing there I got a little angry with myself. I decided that this was really no excuse and if I was pompous enough to consider writing about how running is learning to deal with fear, discomfort and occasional pain, I could damned well practice what I preached. I think once we get to be "adults" we don't see enough of our own blood and just the mere sight of it makes us uncomfortable and alarmed. Go out and play! If you get a boo-boo, get someone to give it a kiss, put a bandaid on it and KEEP PLAYING!
I'd planned on going into comparing the spiritual aspects of my Sunday runs down by the river to the people heading off to church around me...but I've rambled on and that will have to wait for another post.
Today's run started with me thinking on the nature of fear and how endurance sports forces you past it. I'm going to let you all in on a not very well kept secret: You are tougher than you think you are, you can do more than you think you can. I'm not diminishing the amount of hard work that is required to progress an athlete from walking a 5k to running their first marathon but the toughest muscle to train is the one between your ears. By the time we are out of our teens risk avoidance creeps into our thinking. It makes sense in a way, we worked hard for our belongings, our station in life, our health and we want to at least keep what we have. As we all know, when you go at life strictly from a risk-avoidance view, progress is difficult. When you run more than a mile or so, your body starts to give off fairly serious alarms. It's trying to look out for your best interests by making your world very uncomfortable. Your nervous system is in constant overdrive trying to warn you away from this activity. Listening to fear is natural, normal, reasonable... and it holds a person back.
That was what I was going to write and what was in my head until the first mile. The river walk in Harrisburg is a bit ill maintained. The pavement is broken and heaved in many spots as you go south down the river and my foot snagged on one of them. I knew it before it happened...I was going down hard. I had at speed so I had several steps to decide the nature of the crash. I could drop off the edge into the river...the low and decidedly foul smelling river. I could try to get my rusty old body to take it on the shoulder and roll but that was a risky gambit at a run...or I could just put my hands out and hope for the best. I came up sore and missing a lot of skin on the palms of my hands. It started to throb and bleed in the messy manner that skin abrasions do bleed. I paused my Garmin (funny how that's my FIRST thing) and used my water to clean the bloody dirt off...which made it bleed MORE. I took a few steps and pain shot through my hip: No, this run is done.
Because you know...I've never bled before or fallen down. Standing there watching the blood drip down my hands I knew full well that this was a lie. When I was kid, play was a full contact sport. We were often forced to play "nice" at recess but even then, bumps, bruises and blood...lots of blood was just part of going out. At that age I was game enough to dust myself off, wash out the wound (often with saliva, yes little boys are beastly) and then...continue playing. Then I got to go home and face my mom asking why my clothes were ripped and bloody. Standing there I got a little angry with myself. I decided that this was really no excuse and if I was pompous enough to consider writing about how running is learning to deal with fear, discomfort and occasional pain, I could damned well practice what I preached. I think once we get to be "adults" we don't see enough of our own blood and just the mere sight of it makes us uncomfortable and alarmed. Go out and play! If you get a boo-boo, get someone to give it a kiss, put a bandaid on it and KEEP PLAYING!
I'd planned on going into comparing the spiritual aspects of my Sunday runs down by the river to the people heading off to church around me...but I've rambled on and that will have to wait for another post.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Movie Review: Hood To Coast
I don't often do movie reviews unless someone specifically asks for my thoughts on a movie. There are so many people who are better than I at distilling the worth of a film that I don't find it worth my time. Having found a very niche movie that I love makes it worth my time.
Hood To Coast is a documentary about the relay race of the same name. It follows four of the 1250 teams, each of them with a very different reason for running and each giving us a very real reason to be moved. Honestly, two of the more moving real moment only come across in deleted scenes, so the filmmakers dropped the ball a bit there...but I'll get to that.
The first team we meet is Dead Jocks, these guys are all struggling with the reality of advancing age sapping their athleticism. Jim, their team captain has a lot of interesting insights on running, aging and this race in particular. He pretty much sums up the draw of these epic relay races: "On your own, you can't do 'epic' but with a team of 12 people...you can do anything." In the DVD features you find out that after taking a year off, Jim failed to qualify for the team and has since pretty much given up running... age won.
The next team we meet is Heart n Sole. Their story centers around Kathy, the ultimate survivor. The previous year, this veteran of 75 marathons collapsed dead on the course. Since CPR was administered very quickly, she was dead and got better. This is her comeback on the course that killed her once. She struggles to balance her new limitations, the concerns of her team, her passion for running and her doctor's advice. The most profound scene regarding them was cut from the movie. It's an interview with her son. He's a grown man and as he discusses his mom, what happened and how he feels about her going back to the race. When he starts talking about the possibility of her having to give up running he breaks a bit. I've never seen pure love exhibited so plainly before. This young man has made peace with the idea of his mom dying but he grieves at the notion of her no longer being able to do the thing she loves.
Team R-Bowe is the most emotionally charged of the teams. This team formed out of the friends and family of a life long runner who died from a heart defect at the age of 30. Watching his widow and his mother in particular dealing with the still raw wounds is a bit painful. They are running for some peace. They want to know more of his spirit and be involved with another aspect of his life and celebrate it with his friends. Theirs is a moving story as you watch them search for and ultimately find what they need as exhaustion and pride replace grief.
The last team we meet is Thunder N' Laikaning..and make no mistake they are the stars. This team is a bunch of co-workers at an animation shop who are running the race. Two of them are decidedly not runners but are doing it for the experience. Following these two captured an amazing moment...we get to see a runner being born. Rachel not only grossly underestimates the effort involved but managed to volunteer for the second most difficult leg of the entire race. Grossly under trained she finds the courage to conquer a horribly brutal leg of this race and as she passes the chip, her face is aglow and she tells the camera: "Dude...it was awesome. It was completely the weirdest, coolest experience... It was FUCKING awesome. It was BRUTAL, it was so hard but...it's totally indescribable." She's still grinning, ear to ear as she gets back in the van and you know that a runner was just born. It's no shock at all in the "where are they now" feature that you find she's currently training for her first marathon.
All in all, this is a very well done documentary and I think anyone would find the very human stories to be interesting. If you are a runner... you will be utterly sucked in and find yourself looking for an adventure relay race near you or a ticket to Mount Hood.
Hood To Coast is a documentary about the relay race of the same name. It follows four of the 1250 teams, each of them with a very different reason for running and each giving us a very real reason to be moved. Honestly, two of the more moving real moment only come across in deleted scenes, so the filmmakers dropped the ball a bit there...but I'll get to that.
The first team we meet is Dead Jocks, these guys are all struggling with the reality of advancing age sapping their athleticism. Jim, their team captain has a lot of interesting insights on running, aging and this race in particular. He pretty much sums up the draw of these epic relay races: "On your own, you can't do 'epic' but with a team of 12 people...you can do anything." In the DVD features you find out that after taking a year off, Jim failed to qualify for the team and has since pretty much given up running... age won.
The next team we meet is Heart n Sole. Their story centers around Kathy, the ultimate survivor. The previous year, this veteran of 75 marathons collapsed dead on the course. Since CPR was administered very quickly, she was dead and got better. This is her comeback on the course that killed her once. She struggles to balance her new limitations, the concerns of her team, her passion for running and her doctor's advice. The most profound scene regarding them was cut from the movie. It's an interview with her son. He's a grown man and as he discusses his mom, what happened and how he feels about her going back to the race. When he starts talking about the possibility of her having to give up running he breaks a bit. I've never seen pure love exhibited so plainly before. This young man has made peace with the idea of his mom dying but he grieves at the notion of her no longer being able to do the thing she loves.
Team R-Bowe is the most emotionally charged of the teams. This team formed out of the friends and family of a life long runner who died from a heart defect at the age of 30. Watching his widow and his mother in particular dealing with the still raw wounds is a bit painful. They are running for some peace. They want to know more of his spirit and be involved with another aspect of his life and celebrate it with his friends. Theirs is a moving story as you watch them search for and ultimately find what they need as exhaustion and pride replace grief.
The last team we meet is Thunder N' Laikaning..and make no mistake they are the stars. This team is a bunch of co-workers at an animation shop who are running the race. Two of them are decidedly not runners but are doing it for the experience. Following these two captured an amazing moment...we get to see a runner being born. Rachel not only grossly underestimates the effort involved but managed to volunteer for the second most difficult leg of the entire race. Grossly under trained she finds the courage to conquer a horribly brutal leg of this race and as she passes the chip, her face is aglow and she tells the camera: "Dude...it was awesome. It was completely the weirdest, coolest experience... It was FUCKING awesome. It was BRUTAL, it was so hard but...it's totally indescribable." She's still grinning, ear to ear as she gets back in the van and you know that a runner was just born. It's no shock at all in the "where are they now" feature that you find she's currently training for her first marathon.
All in all, this is a very well done documentary and I think anyone would find the very human stories to be interesting. If you are a runner... you will be utterly sucked in and find yourself looking for an adventure relay race near you or a ticket to Mount Hood.
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mousepedals
I've not updated in a while so, let's see...
First is the happy news about my happy place. In trying to wrangle a way to get the free dining plan that Walt Disney World is currently offering, I was digging around in their reservation system and something extraordinary happened. For once since I've started going to the Happiest Place on Earth, staying on site is cheaper...and I mean SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than staying off site. In the past, when you factored in the price of the rental car, the difference in cost was, admittedly slight but with a car comes the freedom to hunt down cheap eats and to buy forgotten items (like sunglasses) at reasonable prices. When the difference comes to just short of $300 in favor of the mouse, things change. Now we are more excited than ever. Neither one of us has ever stayed at the resort and I very much enjoy the idea of not seeing the wrong side of the welcome sign until we head back home.
The other big thing was finishing up Doreen's Craigslist bike. This all started with the Catfish Triathlon. Doreen decided that a sprint tri was something she was interested in doing. It wasn't particularly obnoxious at any stage of the contest but combined was a thing worth doing. So, a proper road bike was in order. She drove up to her mom's to reclaim the bike she bought as a girl. An old school road 10-speed. The intervening 30 years wasn't kind to the bike. Compounding the rust issue was finding parts from a time when many parts were bespoke and tire sizes were dodgy at best. So we gave up and started keeping an eye on Craigslist. A few weeks ago, someone announced that they had given up on a project bike and left it on the curb. It was a 1972 Schwinn Varsity ladies bike...the bike that hers (and most bikes of that era) was based on. It needed tubes/tires, brake cables and a LOT of TLC. This weekend I had the time and all the parts. There were some missteps...like when I cut off the wrong end of a universal cable and had to go get another one. In the end it came together. The rear derailleur might need some tweaking still, the handlebars need covered, a more up-to-date saddle needs to happen and there are still some cosmetic issues but the bike works...and my goodness is it fast. I have a hybrid bike, a bike not good at any one particular thing but works well enough at everything and I had forgotten what a pure road bike feels like. It's even more astounding to me since, compared to a modern road bike, this thing weighs a ton but if it was fitted with some clips, this bike would be capable of downright frightening speeds. Beyond all that, there is something incredibly graceful about old-school ladies bikes and this one is no exception.
First is the happy news about my happy place. In trying to wrangle a way to get the free dining plan that Walt Disney World is currently offering, I was digging around in their reservation system and something extraordinary happened. For once since I've started going to the Happiest Place on Earth, staying on site is cheaper...and I mean SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than staying off site. In the past, when you factored in the price of the rental car, the difference in cost was, admittedly slight but with a car comes the freedom to hunt down cheap eats and to buy forgotten items (like sunglasses) at reasonable prices. When the difference comes to just short of $300 in favor of the mouse, things change. Now we are more excited than ever. Neither one of us has ever stayed at the resort and I very much enjoy the idea of not seeing the wrong side of the welcome sign until we head back home.
The other big thing was finishing up Doreen's Craigslist bike. This all started with the Catfish Triathlon. Doreen decided that a sprint tri was something she was interested in doing. It wasn't particularly obnoxious at any stage of the contest but combined was a thing worth doing. So, a proper road bike was in order. She drove up to her mom's to reclaim the bike she bought as a girl. An old school road 10-speed. The intervening 30 years wasn't kind to the bike. Compounding the rust issue was finding parts from a time when many parts were bespoke and tire sizes were dodgy at best. So we gave up and started keeping an eye on Craigslist. A few weeks ago, someone announced that they had given up on a project bike and left it on the curb. It was a 1972 Schwinn Varsity ladies bike...the bike that hers (and most bikes of that era) was based on. It needed tubes/tires, brake cables and a LOT of TLC. This weekend I had the time and all the parts. There were some missteps...like when I cut off the wrong end of a universal cable and had to go get another one. In the end it came together. The rear derailleur might need some tweaking still, the handlebars need covered, a more up-to-date saddle needs to happen and there are still some cosmetic issues but the bike works...and my goodness is it fast. I have a hybrid bike, a bike not good at any one particular thing but works well enough at everything and I had forgotten what a pure road bike feels like. It's even more astounding to me since, compared to a modern road bike, this thing weighs a ton but if it was fitted with some clips, this bike would be capable of downright frightening speeds. Beyond all that, there is something incredibly graceful about old-school ladies bikes and this one is no exception.Tuesday, August 9, 2011
Character is what you are in the dark
The title is a throw away non-sequitor from The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across The 8th Dimension but it has stuck with me as a fundamental truth.
How do you act when you have an excuse? What do you do when you know people will forgive you anyway? I was thinking about that a lot over lunch. The start of my week wasn't so good. I usually refuel on Sunday after my run but I went a bit further than usual. Last night I caved to a burning need for Mexican and I ate the hell out of it. It's very probable that I'm not going to lose any weight this week. I know full well that everyone would remind me that I've done so well so far and that I shouldn't be worried about a small gain.
That's one of the biggest things I've learned through this whole process. There is such a fine line between holding you accountable and beating you up more than darn few people are willing to go there...I don't blame them, when in doubt I default to cheerleading mode too. Bottom line: The only person who is going to hold you accountable all the time, is the one that can see you in the dark.
I put down the menu and ate what I brought with me...no one will see it on the scale this week but I know what I did.
How do you act when you have an excuse? What do you do when you know people will forgive you anyway? I was thinking about that a lot over lunch. The start of my week wasn't so good. I usually refuel on Sunday after my run but I went a bit further than usual. Last night I caved to a burning need for Mexican and I ate the hell out of it. It's very probable that I'm not going to lose any weight this week. I know full well that everyone would remind me that I've done so well so far and that I shouldn't be worried about a small gain.
That's one of the biggest things I've learned through this whole process. There is such a fine line between holding you accountable and beating you up more than darn few people are willing to go there...I don't blame them, when in doubt I default to cheerleading mode too. Bottom line: The only person who is going to hold you accountable all the time, is the one that can see you in the dark.
I put down the menu and ate what I brought with me...no one will see it on the scale this week but I know what I did.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Well that didn't suck
I posted another weight loss this weekend (two for two now) and I refused to let the Florida levels of humidity win so I ran on a treadmill. Since I mentioned it before, I'm all happy that my new Road ID arrived (we cancelled our land line service) and life really couldn't be better.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
One more darn Disney thing to do...
Doreen and I started with an innocent check of the Fantasmic! schedule and ended up having a few Disney geek moments. We were talking that maybe at some point, we should think about sucking it up with the crowds and doing a Christmas there. She says "I would have really liked to have done the Candlelight Processional with Edward James Olmos reading the Christmas story." As with most things, YouTube delivers.
"Stirring" is such a small word but now I feel a need to bake, decorate and wrap.
Joy To The World.
"Stirring" is such a small word but now I feel a need to bake, decorate and wrap.
Joy To The World.
Thursday, August 4, 2011
The OTHER reason my gear is important
I didn't want to admit this when I spoke about what I carry on a run or in reporting my most recent run on fb but there is a second reason why I like a consistency in most of my gear: It puts my mind in the right place for what I'm about to do.
As I was packing my gear for Tuesday's run, I couldn't recall where I had taken off my Road ID. So not wanting to be late for work, I dashed out and ran without it. I got the run done but it messed with my mojo. Mark's guest bloggers on writers' creative spaces, combined with this silly unease caused something I read a while back to gel in my head.
It's not just creative things that need some manner of sacred space to be at your best, physical pursuits are that way as well. In "To Be A Runner" the author mentions that he views pre-training stretching as very important not because it has any physical benefit but it gives the athletes time to transition their minds from their day-to-day lives to being athletes. So it is with me and changing into my gear.
Oddly the least of my gear is the most important to me mentally. Even if I'm wearing nothing more than shoes and enough clothing to keep me from getting arrested, I wear my Road ID. If something were to happen (and it has happened to people younger and fitter than I), it ensures that the emergency responders will have a bit more knowledge about me and my family will be contacted. So the first thing I do after I exit the shower on the morning of a run day is to put on my Road ID. The pretense on my wrist keeps me mindful of what will be expected of me today.
I did find it when I came home that day, hanging on the handle of my bike to dry out, in plain view and today, it's on my wrist. It reminds me that I have some tempo running to do tonight and it will be hard and it will hurt but I'll get it done. Because I'm a runner.
As I was packing my gear for Tuesday's run, I couldn't recall where I had taken off my Road ID. So not wanting to be late for work, I dashed out and ran without it. I got the run done but it messed with my mojo. Mark's guest bloggers on writers' creative spaces, combined with this silly unease caused something I read a while back to gel in my head.
It's not just creative things that need some manner of sacred space to be at your best, physical pursuits are that way as well. In "To Be A Runner" the author mentions that he views pre-training stretching as very important not because it has any physical benefit but it gives the athletes time to transition their minds from their day-to-day lives to being athletes. So it is with me and changing into my gear.
Oddly the least of my gear is the most important to me mentally. Even if I'm wearing nothing more than shoes and enough clothing to keep me from getting arrested, I wear my Road ID. If something were to happen (and it has happened to people younger and fitter than I), it ensures that the emergency responders will have a bit more knowledge about me and my family will be contacted. So the first thing I do after I exit the shower on the morning of a run day is to put on my Road ID. The pretense on my wrist keeps me mindful of what will be expected of me today.
I did find it when I came home that day, hanging on the handle of my bike to dry out, in plain view and today, it's on my wrist. It reminds me that I have some tempo running to do tonight and it will be hard and it will hurt but I'll get it done. Because I'm a runner.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
and the huge reason I love my Amphipod...
I realized that I really should have gone on about why I'm buying the next version of what I admitted to being a flawed product. Being able to add stuff to the belt at will is just the best thing since sliced bread.
Not only do I have the 20 oz. main bottle (almost always filled with water), the 10 oz snap bottle...which is very literal, it snaps on to and off of the belt (and is usually filled with Gu Brew) and the smaller 6 oz. snap flask is typically filled with GU Rocktane gel on runs that go substantially over an hour.
Gear!
A recent conversation with Katy regarding my running GPS made me realize that since I've moved...and in the hopes that one of them offers me a lucrative endorsement deal, here is what comes with me on my runs. Obvious stuff like a cell phone and shorts is left off the list. Funny that almost none of it is REQUIRED. A cheap pair of shoes from Target and a runner could be out the door. It's just that the longer I spend running, the more I treasure the few bits of gear that make the experience more enjoyable, both during and after.
Brooks Ravenna 2 - My latest tweak on running shoes. They are a compromise shoe offering some motion control while staying light and responsive on my feet.
Superfeet Green - The firmer foam in these things just eats up the impact.
Balega Enduro Socks - These things are magic. They can evaporate an 8 oz. glass of water in five seconds flat.
Amphiphod Full-Tilt - There is a lot I like about this bottle but one thing I don't. It moves around too much. It's getting replaced by the Full-Tilt AirStretch Velocity at the end of the season.
Garmin Forerunner 305 - I can't gush enough about a single piece of gear. Not only does it remove the tedium of a training log but it can be programmed to coach you through technical workouts and in a pinch has helped me navigate out of a trail run gone bad (sudden darkness and driving rain). I would replace it with one of the newer/cooler models but it simply refuses to die.
Apple iPod Shuffle (2nd Generation) - It's an old cheap iPod.
Road ID - Emergency contact and medical info on your wrist. It's so obvious that they should almost be compulsory.
Buff - I sweat buckets and this is about the only headgear that is able to keep the sweat out of my eyes.
Body Glide - I ALMOST didn't mention this but really, it's the one thing that's coming with me even when I run without the Garmin and the music. If you sweat for an extended period, sweat is going to evaporate, leaving salt. Salt that will abrade your skin to the point of drawing blood...and that's about as fun as it sounds.
Brooks Ravenna 2 - My latest tweak on running shoes. They are a compromise shoe offering some motion control while staying light and responsive on my feet.
Superfeet Green - The firmer foam in these things just eats up the impact.
Balega Enduro Socks - These things are magic. They can evaporate an 8 oz. glass of water in five seconds flat.
Amphiphod Full-Tilt - There is a lot I like about this bottle but one thing I don't. It moves around too much. It's getting replaced by the Full-Tilt AirStretch Velocity at the end of the season.
Garmin Forerunner 305 - I can't gush enough about a single piece of gear. Not only does it remove the tedium of a training log but it can be programmed to coach you through technical workouts and in a pinch has helped me navigate out of a trail run gone bad (sudden darkness and driving rain). I would replace it with one of the newer/cooler models but it simply refuses to die.
Apple iPod Shuffle (2nd Generation) - It's an old cheap iPod.
Road ID - Emergency contact and medical info on your wrist. It's so obvious that they should almost be compulsory.
Buff - I sweat buckets and this is about the only headgear that is able to keep the sweat out of my eyes.
Body Glide - I ALMOST didn't mention this but really, it's the one thing that's coming with me even when I run without the Garmin and the music. If you sweat for an extended period, sweat is going to evaporate, leaving salt. Salt that will abrade your skin to the point of drawing blood...and that's about as fun as it sounds.
Monday, August 1, 2011
First, let me get this out of the way: I've re-re-re-rejoined Weight Watchers. I've finally gotten okay with the notion that discarding "good" because it's not "perfect" is kinda silly. Yes, not everything they tell you is correct, yes some meetings are still soul destroying, yes the program isn't a perfect fit for my life. And yet... it fucking works. Week one, -13 lbs. It's really tough to argue with that. Of course there was the usually dismissive "because he's a man..." bullshit in the meeting...and as usual I was having NONE of that. "No, it's because I earned it. I work HARD for my loss. How many activity points do you have this week? I already have THIRTY." That kinda ended that line of discussion.
It was a decent week for running. The hamstring still isn't right but it keeps feeling better and I got 20 miles in this week. I'm going to have to take a look at my training schedule and make some changes. With the hamstring injury the 2:00:00 half just isn't going to happen. Not really a big deal, I just need to tweak the training and dump some of the speedwork for the next few weeks since that seems to aggravate the injury.
We picked up another bike for Doreen. She wanted to use her road bike from when she was a girl to start thinking about a triathlon but the problems are huge: It doesn't fit her, it's old enough and obscure enough that parts are a serious problem and it's in ROUGH shape. This weekend someone on Craigslist curb dumped a bike similar to hers but newer/better/in better condition so we drove by and picked it up. It needs cleaned, new brake cables and new tires/tubes but other than that, it's a fine example of an old school ladies 10 speed road bike. We should be able to put that back on the road for well under $100.
It's gonna be a rough week at work but so it goes. Speaking of, time to get back to it.
It was a decent week for running. The hamstring still isn't right but it keeps feeling better and I got 20 miles in this week. I'm going to have to take a look at my training schedule and make some changes. With the hamstring injury the 2:00:00 half just isn't going to happen. Not really a big deal, I just need to tweak the training and dump some of the speedwork for the next few weeks since that seems to aggravate the injury.
We picked up another bike for Doreen. She wanted to use her road bike from when she was a girl to start thinking about a triathlon but the problems are huge: It doesn't fit her, it's old enough and obscure enough that parts are a serious problem and it's in ROUGH shape. This weekend someone on Craigslist curb dumped a bike similar to hers but newer/better/in better condition so we drove by and picked it up. It needs cleaned, new brake cables and new tires/tubes but other than that, it's a fine example of an old school ladies 10 speed road bike. We should be able to put that back on the road for well under $100.
It's gonna be a rough week at work but so it goes. Speaking of, time to get back to it.
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