Thursday, July 31, 2008

3 days on

well it's been three days since i finished with the 30 day primal challenge. i will write up a post about my thoughts and experiences over the 30 days but for now there is a lot happening in my life and i am far too busy. hopefully things will sort out soon and i will find some time to blog.

one thing i am finding is that i haven't been able to switch back to my eating habits prior to the challenge. breakfast is still pretty much what has become the standard - bacon, eggs with some veggies. even lunch where i am faced with a selection of food choices i have still been going for the meat/salad option. and what's on today's lunch menu? salmon and asparagus with last night's roast vegetable leftovers. what about dinners? dinners well they are still typically meat (chicken, kangaroo, ground beef) with veggies (roasted, steamed, etc).

i have eaten two meals which i would classify as good "compromises" - oatmeal with berries and greek yoghurt with berries. i think after the marathon last weekend i didn't take in enough carbohydrates following the race to allow my body to replenish and heal itself. i consumed the bowl of oatmeal and berries prior to going to bed on wednesday evening and when i woke the following day i felt 100% better. strangely my weight had also dropped.

i have slowly started running again but am being a little more cautious than last year. this time last year when i was training for a 100 mile race i ran back to back weekend long runs of 40 miles on saturday and the marathon the following day and during some intense running the following week i tore the meniscus in my knee. the result was that i was out for a few months and i missed my goal race. hopefully i am smarter this time around, although running 90km only 13 days after the marathon may not be considered altogether sane.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (fluctuating between 164-165) - my new goal will be to get down to around 158 over the next month and hold that weight. for my goal races next year i might consider taking my weight down to the low 150s (race weight).
feeling: impatient (to get running again)
sleep: 5-6hr broken
legs: 80% normal (still some soreness/stiffness)

exercise:
running: wed- 15 min (felt like an hour), thu - 29 min (4 miles), fri -60 min

diet:
breakfast: bacon (or ham steaks), eggs w/ mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes etc
snacks: typically almonds, apples and/or carrots
lunch: canned fish (or chicken breast) w/ salad or veggies
snacks: same as am
dinner: chicken w/ roast veggies, chilli beef w/ steamed veggies, kangaroo steak w/ steamed veggies
primal compromises: 1 cup cooked oatmeal w/ berries and cinnamon, cooked berries w/ 1/2cup greek yoghurt

once i get into a routine i find it hard to break. i will start posting daily next week but i haven't decided on what information i will add to my posts. would anyone be interested in more details about my training, physical stats or diet breakdown?

all my running friends are asking me how i trained for and broke 3 hours for the marathon so i will try and put down a post outlining what i did differently this time round. considering i only did two runs over 2 hours (20 miles) in the 12 weeks leading up i think it worked better than expected. both long runs were run three weeks out and were really completed to boost my confidence, sneak in some last minutes fitness and for determining goal marathon pace.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I'd like to read more about your training, physical stats or diet breakdown. I'm also interested in your normal hunger levels?

Thanks!

Brett said...

I would be interested in hearing more about it. Thanks for posting.

Primal Runner said...

Hi Andrew and Brett.

Thanks for leaving comments. I have enjoyed posting my training and nutrition details here and will start adding some more details about my daily activities. I have a 90km ultramarathon this weekend but after that my training should become more consistent as I get back into base building. My plan is run about 10-12 sessions per week logging 100+ miles.

As far as hunger is concerned I did find that I was hungry during the first few days after eliminating most of my carbs. It only took a few days before the hunger subsided and now I realise a little hunger is a good thing when I want to get my weight down a little. I also find that I run better when I am a little hungry.

Drinking more water also helped me during times when I was hungry.

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