Primal Runner

2011 Challenge: Becoming Superhuman

2011-01-20T19:28:00.000-08:00

Training 200km per week trying to push my fitness to the highest level in order to run an ultramarathon seems like a necessary evil but when injury two weeks from the main event results in a DNS (Did Not Start) it leaves me to wonder what my fitness and life goals are going in to the new year and beyond.

Week after week of high volume run training takes time and a high level of commitment that often leaves a shortfall where other areas of my life are put on hold or attacked with only enough enthusiasm and desire to get them done. The weeks leading up to the big day also become more and more stressful as you doubt everything you have been doing and what needs to be done including training, nutrition, race planning nutrition, sorting out crew teams, accommodation, travel, and the list goes on and on.

Past experience has shown me that injury often results in a change for the greater good which is what I’m hoping for now.

So, leading on to where I am now. Time away from running, allowing my body to heal gave me time to reflect upon what I want to achieve with my fitness, nutrition and body composition. I’ve become very one-dimensional and have made sacrifices in areas of physical performance mainly centred around but not limited to strength, flexibility, mobility and desired body composition. Not only is my fitness/physical training in need of a major revamp but also I need to rethink my nutritional philosophy and become a little more rounded.

Since the inception of this blog I’ve gone full circle from primal (meat based) eating where I started with the successful 30 day primal challenge via a year or two as a raw food vegan and now back to… well I’m not entirely sure yet but over the weeks I’m taking some of the slow carb suggestions in Tim Ferriss' book The Four Hour Body and will mix it up with things I have learnt from the Primal Blueprint, Robb Wolf’s Paleo Solution podcast, Paleo Diet for Athletes and other sources.

I reflected back over my diet and training over the last few years and discovered some truth’s. A raw vegan diet provides me with high energy and lower bodyweight but in comparison the paleo diet not only produced the same body weight but I was also noticeably leaner, more muscular and better body composition. I had veins on my stomach, ran a sub 3 hour marathon (a 26 minute PB at the time) and enough endurance to run a course record over 90km without the excessive volume of training that I have been putting in to run ultra events in 2009-2010. I did podium at The North Face 100 in 2009 though as a raw vegan but the year since have also been marked with a number of DNS and DNF’s as I’ve failed to live up to the expectations I had set upon myself after discovering some talent for running the longer distances.

I’ve also had more illnesses over the last few years since going meatless – repetitive sinusitis, flu and even chicken pox to name a few.

I feel like I’ve had my head in the sand trying to convince myself that I could achieve everything I wanted as a plant-food purist but thankfully I’ve awakened from my meatless slumber.

The title heading of this post “Becoming Superhuman” will be my 2011 goal inspired from the book The Four Hour Body. The book is meant to be read as a kind of choose your own adventure where you choose your desired goal – i.e. get faster, leaner, stronger etc and then you choose what chapters to read to take you along that path.

As diet always fascinates me I started with the getting leaner section, before jumping into the ultra endurance chapters and then sunk myself into the Effortless Superhuman chapter. Strangely a lot of what I read in the book came as no surprise but seeing it all laid out together and his style of self-experimentation has excited me to conduct with my own self-experiments to see what the outcomes provide.

First up – Becoming Superhuman

OK some quick tips and modifications I have taken from the book and will modify a little

Slow Carb eating. I’ll follow most of the recommendations from 4HB but I’ll make allowances at times to facilitate my endurance training to include some non-approved foods including fruit. At other times I’ll focus my meals to resemble a more traditional paleo meal approach by excluding legumes and centring the meal around meat and veggies. I also like his thoughts about protein cycling and intermittent fasting which I’m going to try and fit into my weekly schedule.

Binge Day. I’ve never really gone for an assigned binge day (except for a brief stint nearly 20 years ago when I was playing with a Bodyopus inspired Cyclic Ketogenic Diet) but I think it will work well for me as I like to have some non-paleo foods from time to time and this will make it easier to have those food items without ruining things too much. I remember listening to a Ben Greenfield podcast where he recommended a day of higher carbs to replace the muscle glycogen depleted during the week of training. OK either way it sounds good to me!

Ultra Endurance. Tim works with Brian MacKenzie of Crossfit Endurance who advocates limited endurance training to his athletes in order to run 100 mile races. His focus is on strengthening the body and training it to be more fat-fuel efficient and most of his run training recommendations include fast 400 to 800m repeats with a couple of longer runs up to the Half Marathon distance. Here I think he makes some good points but for someone who runs towards the front of the pack I think it is lacking in run volume. While he may get you across the distance with his training methods I believe these is no substitute for ultra specific long runs and course specific sessions including long hills to build other areas of your physiology and more importantly your mental fortitude.

Effortless Superhuman. Getting stronger, lean and faster is definitely something I want and this chapter really stands out in terms of getting the greatest gain with the application of the Minimum Effective Dose (MED) prescription. This chapter along with my wife’s favourite chapter getting Michelle Obama's arms have resulted in the garage being set up as a makeshift gym, the barbells and weights being dusted off and the purchase of my first kettlebell. After completing my third session for the week this morning I think I’m starting to feel Superhuman. Oh and I've already dropped 2kg...

The Four Hour Body is my new go to book and one I would recommend reading for anyone that likes to think outside the box.

VO2max Booster Completed

2010-08-09T22:12:00.000-07:00

it's now two days after finishing the VO2max Booster Program and i'm actually finding the thought of just going out for an easy run hard to fathom. especially considering the rain that is falling outside.

while i haven't run a test to check out if i gained fitness (improved VO2) i'm definitely feeling fitter as a result of the intensive 14 day training block. from start to finish the workouts actually started feeling easier and on the last day i even needed to up the pace during the final 30-30s session to try and max out rather than quit because of boredom.

ok i'll give a brief overview of my day to day while on the program.

day 1: skipped the 5min VO2max test scheduled and used my VO2max speed (3:20 pace) taken from my physiological test results conducted at the NSW Institute of Sport. next time (yes thinking about repeating this program in two weeks) i'll run the test to get a picture of my current physical status.

during the week (monday to friday) i also included a 8-15km easy run maintaining a HR effort below 75%max.

day 2 (wednesday) - before commencing this program i had already ran the previous three days with moderate-high intervals.

20min warmup, 10 x (30+30sec), 30min easy

Got through the warmup feeling good and when it came time to run the intervals for mathematical ease i extended the interval from 30sec to 200m so that i didn't have to constantly look at my watch. ran all intervals around 40sec and the recovery was extended to 100m but run slightly quicker than prescribed. legs felt fast, bouncy and surprisingly fresh.

day 3: legs felt awesome and less fatigued than is usual while training with high volume.

10min warmup, 3 x (5+10min), 5min easy

i increased the warmup to 20min and then ran the session as 5min @ 3:42 pace with 10min @ 6:40 pace (which felt too slow but i kept to the program), 10min cooldown. felt comfortable throughout the session.

day 4: recovery great

20min warmup, 3 sets of 6 x (40+20sec) 4min easy, 14min easy

another session which felt easy. maybe next round i'll increase the repeats up to 10.

day 5: felt fresh after yesterday's short repeats

10min easy, 20 x (15+15sec), 10min easy

today was a scheduled recovery day with short sprints. i actually liked this session and will continue to use this a short recovery day. it really helped to flush the legs. i also ran the 15sec fast segments closer to 110% of vVO2.

day 6: felt rested after yesterday's short session

20min warmup, 4 sets of 5 x (30+30sec) 5min easy, cooldown

when it came time to do this session didn't have it written down and ended up running five sets rather than four. still found that i could do more sets especially with such a long (5min) easy jog between sets.

day 7: happy with the thought that i'm almost halfway through this challenge

10min warmup, max x (30+30sec), 15min easy

went into this session with my stomach a little off but thought 20 would be a good number to hit. ended up stopping at 24 repeats due to stomach and not my legs or lungs which was a good result. it is suggested that it is better to stop a session knowing you could do more rather than going to complete failure. of course not going to the brink leaves you with the question of where your failure point is. need to push through sometimes in order to find your limits.

well that's a short seven day summary of the program. i'll try and post the next seven days of the program when i have some more time.

Finding one's limits

2010-07-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Finding one’s limit, to push (break) the boundaries, to extend one’s frontiers, to expand one’s horizons, to seek the unknown, to experiment, to explore the realm of possibilities, to boldly go….

Actually I like to think that I’m trying to push beyond my boundaries and see what’s on the other side (or on the inside). Hopefully I'll discover a higher realm of fitness and understanding about what my body can absorb and adapt to. Everything I do with my body, mind and soul is an experimental journey to find out what works and what doesn't. I generally take everything to extremes some healthy and some not so (drinking, smoking, insert other bad habits here...) but the path that I'm trying to follow will hopefully bring me to a higher level understanding about me.

Which brings me to now...

I was reading a post from the fitness black book (i think) and from the page I followed this link and after reading through the program I decided to adapt it to running and give it a go. Looking back at my training this year it looks like I’ve either been building or maintaining my base fitness from the early season ultra-marathons but as I’ve decided to try to get faster and race more often I need to incorporate some regular speedwork sessions into my program to improve and take it to the next level.

So now that I’ve completed Day 3 of the program and started to maintain a training log again I can see that I’ve actually run 5 days (maybe more but no memory or records of runs prior to Sunday) of quality sessions back-to-back. Sunday was an 80min longish run which out of boredom necessitated that I include 4 x 10mins at marathon pace effort (~4:00/km) to reduce the mental strain, Monday included a 15km moderate run (61mins) at lunch and after work I ran a hard 30min tempo session at close to 10k race pace (3:50/k), Tuesday morning I ran an interval session which included 1x1000m (3:36), 3x800m (2:52, 2:53, 2:50), 6x200m and then ran another 9km at lunch. So why would I then decide to move my training right into a 14 day VO2 boost program. Doesn’t make sense does it but a lot of what I do is considered a little crazy and on the brink of insanity which is often pointed out to me by my endurance junkie mates. Well Day 3 (or Day 5) has come and gone and I am laughing in the face of fatigue. My legs feel great, no niggles whatsoever and I'm feeling very fit... and very hungry.

Here is an outline of what I'm doing for the next two weeks.

VO2 Max Booster Program

This training program will dramatically boost your race performance in only 14 days. The training program can be used by any cyclist… or in my case adapted for running. On top of what is set out below I’m also keeping up with my twice daily runs making a second run either before or after the VO2 boost session an easy run of 40-70mins or a cross-training session which will either be a ride or a spin class.

I’ve often included “crash-training” principles into my training from time to time but I was attracted to this program after reading the following statement “The VO2 Max Booster Program is intended to be used by healthy athletes who want to increase their performance in just 14days. It’s clear that this short time limits the improvements you can achieve. Still, you will probably be amazed how much this time effective training program can do for you!”

Day 1
Total time: 1hr training
20min incremental warm up
5min easy rolling
5min VO2 max test
30min Easy/medium rolling

Now it is time for you to enter the VO2 Max Booster Program by performing the 5min test as the first step out of 14 steps to a higher VO2max. Good luck! OK I skipped the test as I had a physiological test done for both VO2 and LT when I ran my last marathon and I feel that my fitness is currently close to that level. After the completion of the program I will do the test (or enter a race) and see if I’ve effectively improved my fitness.

Day 2
Total time: 1hr training
20min incremental warm up
10 x (30+30sec) 100 / 50% VO2 Max
30min Easy/medium rolling

Day 3
Total time: 1hr training
10min incremental warm up
3 x (5+10min) 90% / 50% of your VO2 Max test result
5min Easy rolling

Day 4
Total time: 1hr training
20min incremental warm up
6 x (40+20sec) 95% / 50% of your VO2 Max test result
4min easy rolling
6 x (40+20sec) 95% / 50% of your VO2 Max test result
4min
6 x (40+20sec) 95% / 50% of your VO2 Max test result
14min easy rolling

Day 5
Total time: 30min training
10min incremental warm up
20x(15+15sec) 100% / 50% VO2 max test result
10min easy rolling

Day 6
Total time: 1hr training
10min incremental warm up
5min 70% VO2 max
3min 75% VO2 max
2min 80% VO2 max
5x(30+30sec) 100 / 50% VO2 max
5min 50%
5x(30+30sec) 100 /50% VO2 max
5min 50%
5x(30+30sec) 100 /50% VO2 max
5min 50%
5x(30+30sec) 100 /50% VO2 max
5min easy rolling

This is a super hard VO2 max interval session that will dramatically boost your VO2 max. It is time effective and guaranteed to change your view of what interval sessions can do for you. Go for it!

Day 7
Total time: app. 1hr
10min incremental warm up
5min 70% VO2 max
3min 75% VO2 max
2min 80% VO2 max
10min 60% VO2 max
?? x (30+30sec) 100 / 50% VO2 max (close to your max repetitions, but no failure training)
15min easy rolling

Day 8
Total time: 1hr
20min incremental warm up
3x (5+3min) 80 / 50% VO2 Max
16min min medium/ easy rolling

Day 9
Total training: 1hr15min
15min incremental warm up
50min race/fartlek
10min cool down

Day 10
Total time: 30min
10min incremental warm up
5 x (30+30sec) 100% VO2 Max
10min easy rolling

Day 11
Total time: 1hr
15min incremental warm up
6 x (3+2min) 85% / 50%
15min easy rolling

Day 12
Total time: 1hr
12min incremental warm up
3min 80%
3min 50%
2x(3+3min) 100 / 50%
10min 50%
2x(3+2min) 80 / 50%
10min easy rolling

Day 13
Total time: 40min
20min incremental warm up
5min 85%
5min 50%
10min easy rolling

Day 14
Total time: 1hr15min
20min incremental warm up
8 x (30+30sec) 100 / 50%
7min 50%
8 x (30+30sec) 100 / 50%
7min 50%
?? x (30+30sec) 100 / 50% (Maximum number of intervals possible!)
10min easy rolling

Congratulations! You’re have completed the VO2 Max Booster Program! Afterwards I recommend you to take some easy days, maybe a day off, to recover from this overload of VO2 max intervals. Remember what I said about overreaching? You are not overtrained now, you are overreached and in the next couple of days you will begin to super compensate for the last 14 days impressive workload.

5min max test to find your new VO2 Max - Well I think I can find a race instead.

north african goat curry

2010-04-07T03:42:00.000-07:00

ok here is the recipe for the goat curry that i substituted with venison...

North African Goat Curry (recipe from Sporting Shooter, dec 2009)

Ingredients

1kg goat meat, cut into cubes
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 large onion, peeled and chopped
1-2 tablespoons Ras el Hanout (see below)
3 tablespoons cooking oil (I used coconut oil)
1 cup veggie stock
1 tin chopped tomatoes
500gms sweet potato, peeled and cut into large cubes
500gms baby potatoes, peeled and cut into large cubes
100gms dried fruit (apricot, prunes or raisins)

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 180C/350F.
Combine goat, garlic, onion, Ras el Hanout, cooking oil, tomatoes and water in a deep casserole dish. Stir well with wooden spoon to combine. Cover the casserole dish and bake for approximately half an hour. At the end of this cooking time, add the dried fruit, sweet potato and potatoes. Mix well again, recover the casserole dish and continue to cook for about an hour and a half or until the goat is tender, veggies are cooked and the dried fruit is plumpy delicious.

Serve with plain or savoury couscous for a touch of the authentic.

Ras el Hanout (spices)

2 teaspoons black peppercorns
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cardamom pods
1/4 teaspoon paprika
3 cloves
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice

Grind all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle (I used a coffee grinder). It made up 2 tablespoons worth.

venison african curry

2010-03-22T18:02:00.000-07:00

on a visit to my folks the other week i scored some of last season's venison and a recipe for african goat curry with recommendations to give it a go...

here's how it turned out.. (not the best picture)

it was great and the older kids loved it too!!!

120210

2010-02-11T18:48:00.000-08:00

yesterday: 1h run w/ 3k progression + 6x800m moderate (~MP) in around 3:05 with 200m jog recovery + 20min easy spin on bike

friday training and diet:
5:00am - black coffee (organic) + small snack (nuts, seeds, raisins)
6:45am - 10k run to work (44mins) - ran with pack loaded with clothes & food (heavy!)
8:00am - smoothie: coconut water + flesh, hemp protein powder, chia, cocoa, banana, berries and kale
10:00am - 3 hard-boiled eggs
12:30pm - cottage cheese/sweet potato
2:00pm - almonds, dried apricots (pre-workout)
4:00pm - run: hill workout - about 2 hours worth
6:30pm - large salad - cos, tomatoes, cuke, peppers, red onions w/ beef and cheese. steamed sweet potato (another big run in the morning out on the race course).

rediscovering self worth...

2010-02-08T20:28:00.000-08:00

with a few setbacks behind me i think i've finally managed to get over them, rediscover my self worth and regain my focus. success over the years has made me question my ability after reaching and often exceeding my expectations. often success has brought on a feeling somewhat akin to depression and with that a loss of focus. time to find the value within myself and set my sights on the achievements i set out to conquer.

here we go...

yesterday: 70 minutes running; food = paleo; weight 78.8kg

today (tuesday 9feb):

0700: smoothie - coconut cream, 3 organic pastured eggs (raw), hemp protein powder, chia, LSA, organic cocoa (3 fish oils, 4000iu D3)
1000: 1 cup plain yogurt, 1 banana, 1oz almonds, 2 hard-boiled eggs, black coffee
1200: 40min run - felt tired and a little run down
1330: 106g sardines in oil, small salad (carrots, tomatoes, sprouts), 2 golden peaches
1530: 1 apple, 1oz almonds
1700: 50min run
1900: kangaroo, steamed veg (kale, spinach, broccoli), sweet potato (steamed) - a little fuel for a hard day of training tomorrow.

finding the routine...

2009-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

life outside of running is starting to get back into the normal routine which has made my training easier to fit it. so far i have managed to put in three double sessions of the four that were in the schedule which has helped with recovery between runs and helped to pad the weekly mileage closer to a target which actually makes me feel like i am training for an ultra-distance event.

training update -

monday am: 45min (10km) easy run
run to work carrying backpack full of food and clothes.
pm: 60min (12km) steady run
run home including a 3km climb. the ache in my quads which i've been carrying around for the last two weeks has finally subsided and over the last 10 minutes with a few strides thrown in they were feeling particularly lively.
tuesday am: 1h25min w/ 33 x 100m hill sprints with fast jog back recovery
early start for this session to meet up with a couple of other runners who were all performing their own form of hill tortue this morning. good session which i managed to hold a good ratio between the ups and downs.
pm: 25min (5.2km) recovery run (on grass)
planned to run 8-10km but the legs decided otherwise and i listened (for a change)...
wednesday pm: 1hr50 (24km) trail run
a great run in the national park from the gate to the lookout and back. stopped off at the end for a soak in the creek to cool down. beautiful day out in the bush...
thursday pm: 1hr15 easy run
dropped the car off at the mechanics and ran home to pick up the kids from school. it was hot, the climb was steep, i was tired...
friday am: 45min (10km) easy run
the usual easy run to work. still tired...
pm: 1h30 run home w/ intervals
plan is to run home and stop at the local grass oval and run the intervals that i was scheduled to do yesterday...
the plan for the weekend (subject to change) is:

saturday am: longish trail run (around 35km) with 30-40minutes hard tempo plus some hill repeats thrown after about an hour of easy running.

sunday am: long trail run of around 3 hours followed up later in the day with an easy run on the flats

summary: volume for this week should top out around 160-180km. happy with that!

time for an update...

2009-11-26T14:34:00.000-08:00

now that i have recently signed up for another ultra-marathon it's time for the serious training (and diet) to begin. i'll be recording my daily activities to see what works out and what doesn’t. my big focus is on diet is to try and drop 7-8kg (15-18 pounds) over the next six weeks to get to race weight. i’ve done it before and the way to do it is go back with what has worked for me previously.

on the recent training front things are starting to pick up. not quite where i would like the volume to be 43 days out from my next race but i’m happy that i've had a couple weeks focusing on quality rather than quantity.

training update-
after a couple of weeks in the 100-135 km range this week has been a little diffcult with a two day conference monday and tuesday along with a full day training on wednesday. not the typical week...

monday pm: 30min run @ 4:08 / km + strides
on the way home from the conference managed to slip in a quick loop of the river.

tuesday am: 75min run w/ 10 x 560m hill loop (average 5km race pace)
legs felt tired but managed to get the run in early (5am). loop included two tough climbs (180m and 100m long).

wednesday pm: 85min trail run (another hot day 35C)
planned to go out for 1h40 but by the time i reached the gate 8km in i was feeling toasted. turned around and headed back before hitting the creek for a little leg soak.

thursday pm: 95min run w/ 2 x 3’ (1.30), 2 x 2’ (1.30), 4 x 1’ (3’ easy), 30’ hill climbing (gradient 10-15%), 5 x 30” hard (1’ jog), 10’ easy
another hot day around 35C and i went out with the intentions of running 5 x 6min hard but 3 minutes into the first interval i was feeling the heat and starting to struggle to hold pace. changed the workout to something more manageable and enjoyed putting in the work. the hill climbing had my quads and calves screaming for me to stop and i was loving it.

still to come…

friday pm: 60min recovery w/ strides // 30min steady

saturday am: 10 km time trial (90% effort) w/ long warmup and cooldown

sunday am: long run 32 km/2:30 pm: 10 km easy

i’m working with a coach again and next week will be my first week back over that magical 100 mile target.

diet:
on the diet front i’ve starting eating more meat (mainly fish and eggs) again as my diet had gradually shifted towards a more vegan eating regime. while i felt amazingly healthy and vibrant my running and recovery were impaired.

yesterday’s food log-
breakfast: oranges (4) + nuts and seeds
morning snack: almonds, dates (4)
lunch: smoked salmon salad (spinach, carrot, cuke)
pre-run: banana
post-run: small protein drink followed up 30min later with yoghurt mixed with protein powder and LSA
dinner: porterhouse steak with roasted veggies and steamed greens

back to basics...

2009-10-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

the world masters kind of brought my season to a close and while it didn't go as planned (came down with chicken pox midway through) i decided to end the speed phase of my training and get back to re-building my base endurance. this time of year i usually just play around with my training but after some thought i have decided that in order to take my athletic ability to the next level i need to start my preparation a little earlier this time around.

my goals going into next year are all centred on the ultra-distance with maybe a quick marathon or two thrown in and a couple of epic journey runs to please the adventurer within.

my base building recipe:

endurance

build mileage over the next few weeks to around 160-200+ km per week
maintain mileage for the next 12 weeks
include double runs on at least 4 days per week
run 2 medium long runs and a run of 4-5 hours each week
maintain a hill/short repeat session, one longer interval session (6-10 minutes) and some threshold work on the trails each week
include a monthly mountain or trail race

flexibility & strength

perform at least 3 yoga sessions each week
start doing 2 strength sessions each week focusing on building leg and core strength
add in some cross-training and start riding my bike to help build leg strength and hill climbing ability

nutrition

continue to focus on optimal recovery nutrition (waiting for a recent book purchase to help)
focus on ensuring that i hydrate sufficiently during the upcoming summer months

barefoot

start running in my vibram fivefingers on my recovery runs

i'm starting out with a good fitness base and after a week off from running due to sickness my body is feeling ready to get back into it.

think i'll start with a 3 hour trail run before work in the morning...

recovery week

2009-08-10T20:48:00.000-07:00

didn't plan for this week to be a recovery week but after making the decision to run 50km on the trails on saturday my quads are particularly smashed. luckily i didn't go the whole way and complete the 90km so hopefully i won't miss too much of training. steep descents though are unkind to the legs...

i took sunday off from running and just concentrated on eating plenty of good high nutrient foods to help speed up recovery - mainly green veggies, fruits, whole grains and protein.

waking up on monday morning to day two and the dreaded delayed onset muscle soreness, it was time to get active again. with this need i headed out at lunch, walking and stretching for the first 10 minutes and then jogged around the park for 20-30 minutes. legs felt sore but my running felt smooth and not as slow as i expected.

tuesday and another run for 45 minutes (about 9-10k) following the advice that i gathered from listening to barry mcgee's interview on imtalk and ran for 10 minutes at a steady pace and then walked for 1 minute. i repeated this throughout the session. i did find it hard to get back into a run after the walk but it got easier to do the longer i went. i don't plan on using this protocol for anything shorter than a marathon but i might consider training with it for the longer distances. today i just used it to ease the strain on the legs until i'm fully recovered.

hopefully tomorrow the legs will feel almost back to normal...

going harder

2009-08-06T21:58:00.000-07:00

yesterday i could hardly walk after three hard back-to-back days but today i'm feeling good. actually better than good. i had to stop myself during my recovery run today from doing something crazy which i'm known for doing. with my first higher intensity week almost behind me i'm looking forward to the next 10 week training block with a couple of races along the way. just need to get the volume back up to a respectable level. probably hit around 110km this week. a good start...

heading over to New Zealand in two weeks and i'm contemplating jumping in and running a 100km ultra race down near dunedin. probably decide next week. i'm not ultrafit but i'm good at bluffing my way through it fueled on gels and hornet juice.

psyched for a hard session in the morning... 1km repeats until i've had enough (at least 8 i hope).

on the diet front things have been going well this week and when i weighed myself yesterday and this morning my weight is down about 2kg from the weekend. the plan is to drop 7kg over the next 10 weeks. hunger is my friend.

my diet is not strictly primal but after spending a good portion of the last 6 months eating a largely raw fruit and veggie diet and reading about eastern philosophy, traditional chinese medicine and wholefood nutrition healing etc i have gone back to eating more protein and have reduced my fruit intake to help drop a little weight. my eating probably follows closely with the recommendations suggested in friels paleo book for athletes with changes made to focus on health and healing. typical post-exercise eating has included sweet rice (pre-washed/sacked brown rice cooked with raisins and spices) or oats (steelcut or whole) and a portion of protein - fish, eggs, nuts or seeds and/or maybe some fruit (a couple of pears, bananas or dates at the moment). breakfast this morning was stirfried chinese greens with 3 eggs and an orange. snacks have included carrots or apples with almond butter, a handful of goji berries and a lara bar. dinner will likely be a large green salad, some steamed veggies and will finish with some cooked protein.

training summary:
monday: 50min easy run
tuesday: intervals 2000-1000-1600-800-4x400m
wednesday: 90min steady run with half @ marathon pace
thursday: 40min fartlek (5-4-3-2-10x1min with 1/2 time recovery jog)
friday: 50min recovery run
saturday: 1k intervals @ race pace (tomorrow)
sunday: long trail run (2-3 hours - maybe more if i'm feeling ultra frisky)

picking it up...

2009-07-16T16:20:00.000-07:00

starting weight: 76.9kg (169 lb)

training this week (so far)- adding both volume and intensity...

monday am: 10km easy (44') // pm- 19.2km steady w surges + 3k hill climb tempo

tuesday: 14km easy (60')

wednesday am: 1h30' trail run - steep climbs // pm- 14km (60') w intervals 2x2000m (7'30"), 1x1000m (3'30"), 3x500m (1'35"-1'40") (2' recovery).

thursday pm: 19km (1h30) depletion run - 60' easy (75%HRmax) + 4x400m (av 79"), 4x300m (57"), 4x200m (37") w 60" recovery to 100bpm.

typical days eating-

breakfast: 3 eggs scrambled or hard-boiled w olive oil, turmeric, salt, pepper + black coffee + piece of fruit (apple, orange or banana)

snack: apple + almonds (before run)

lunch: salad (greek, garden etc) w protein (fish, chicken) + green tea

snack: fruit + almonds (before run) :: maybe another piece or two of fruit after run

dinner: lamb roast w steamed veggies + green salad

Body composition...

2009-07-13T16:18:00.000-07:00

For my birthday last year my wife sent me to the Sport and Recreation Academy for a VO2/LT test. The test was undertaken two weeks after I ran the course record 90km at 12FT so aerobically I was very fit but I struggled to get my top end up as I was still struggling with fatigue.

I'm taking this as my starting point and following the recommendations of the testers I'm thinking about taking the test again in 15 weeks to see if I have improved on the results. At least I'm already 1kg lighter than last year.

Body composition

Height: 175.3 cm
Body mass: 77.2 kg
Body fat: ~8%

Comments:
Body fat within ideal range for an endurance athlete. Reducing body fat will enhance your exercise efficiency and ultimately improve your running performance. Aim to decrease weight by 0.5-1.0kg over the next training cycle.

Aerobic Fitness

VO2: 4.84 L/min
MaxHR: 188
AT2: 87%VO2/90%MHR
AT1: 73%VO2/75%MHR

Comments:
A good aerobic threshold is thought to be 70% of max heart rate. Your score of 75% well above this range, indicating that you have an excellent aerobic base. A good anaerobic threshold (AT2) for endurance athletes is thought to be round 90% of max heart rate and above. Your AT2 at 90% is just within the ideal range. You can improve your AT2 running speed with 40min or 2 x 20min runs @ 169 b/min. An improvement in AT2 running speed will enhance your 10km run performance. Aim for two of these sessions per week in the first 1-8 weeks. Your final lactate of 11.6mmol/L was not especially high for an endurance athlete.

You can help improve your peak lactate and running speed with interval style training (using hills or flat 200m – 3km intervals) e.g. 4 x 400m hard, 3-5 mins rest between sets.

Aerobic Power

Comments:
Your aerobic power (4.84 L/min) is excellent. This may continue to improve with higher intensity training.

Weeks 1-8
It is suggested that the majority of your training be centred on your anaerobic threshold. Aim for two anaerobic threshold runs per week. You should also add one VO2max run per week (1km to 3km efforts @ 178-188b/min) with a long rest. Eg; 2 x 3km, with 4min rest. This will improve both your lactate tolerance and VO2max. Also include one to two long duration, low intensity runs.

Weeks 9 - 15
Increase the frequency and intensity of interval training to two long interval sessions per week (1km to 3km, close to maximum heart rate), one short interval session per week (400m to 1km, hard) and one anaerobic threshold run. Also include one to two long duration, low intensity runs to maintain your great base.

The North Face 100

2009-05-18T17:02:00.000-07:00

On Saturday I had the much anticipated pleasure of lining up at The North Face 100 with 333 other runners. This challenging course takes in some of the most beautiful trails and views within the Blue Mountains World Heritage Park and surrounds. As I was to find I think it also included every set of stairs in the area.

In the minutes before the event starting I caught up with a few friends and familiar faces that I have come to know over the last couple of years and I was looking forward to possibly running with one or two throughout the race.

Just after 7:00am at the conclusion of the race briefing we moved up to the start area and I found myself a few back from the front just behind Dean Karnazes. I thought that was pretty cool and I hoped that I may get a picture running with DK to share with the family.

The race started out at a solid pace at the front and I immediately felt flat and lethargic but I was hoping that would pass quickly. We were led around the golf course and I slotted in comfortably a few steps behind DK.

Following the group we hit the climb out of the Resort and I started to move a bit more freely but I couldn’t believe how weak my legs felt. Tackling the first of the steps I was beginning to entertain thoughts that this was indeed not going to be my day and I was going to have to prepare myself for a long day out. I did however notice that I was moving a lot quicker on the flats and descents on the way to CP1 than the other runners around me. I believed that was my saving grace and I started to push the pace a little harder through those sections. Losing a little time to walking the steep climbs was where I would allow myself to get a little recovery and prepare myself to pick it up at the next opportunity.

While I have never really imagined quitting during an event I did contemplate it and I started running through a list of plausible excuses that I had been subconsciously working on over the previous weeks during a couple of bouts of sickness one after the other and other personal events which disrupted my planned long runs and high volume weekends (maybe a blessing in hindsight). But of course letting myself down would not be as bad as how I would feel facing my wife and children knowing that I didn’t gut it out and make it through this challenge before me.

So much stuff happens inside your head during long events when much of your time is spent alone and this day was no exception. I started formulating plans and playing games to get me through to the end but the one thing that stuck with me was my need to keep up with my nutrition and hydration strategy which I formulated a few days prior based around what had worked for me at 12FT the previous year and the simple strategy Ben employed in his stunning victory at Six Foot a few months earlier.

The climb up the Golden Stairs to CP1 was grueling and I was happy to put an end to it and get up there alive. I downed a few cups of sports drink, grabbed a handful of jelly lollies and headed off. I was surrounded by only a few runners and I thought it was likely that I was sitting in around 20th position (the results later had me in 14th). I climbed the first steep section while slowly eating the lollies hoping that the energy would somehow make it into my legs. It didn’t but I felt neither good or bad and I was happy to just keep slogging away while I could see that I was reeling in a couple of runners up ahead on the track. I was happy to maintain the effort and I was starting to think that I might just get through to the end. Waiting for Jo Blake to get off the ladder at Tarros I started climbing down a little carelessly and my foot slipped on the rung sending my shin smashing into the steel. I almost screamed out with pain but strangely it felt good and the adrenaline was exactly what I needed to kick me into gear. Stepping off the ladder and calling “all clear” I took off and found myself in the zone running quickly along the singletrack. I moved past Jo shortly after and before CP2 I had caught and passed at least another five runners.

The trail down to Dunphys proved a little frightening as the Mizuno race flats that I picked up on Mother’s Day gave little traction on the steep descent. Note to self: I need to find a good light racing trail shoe with a mildly aggressive tread.
Enough can be said for having the support of people you know out on the course cheering you on and when I came into Dunphys to see Ben and Berro (both members of the Blue Mts Marathon Clinic) I was stoked to hear that I was in tenth place and that the few runners just ahead were close and not looking as fresh as I was looking. A quick refill and couple of pieces of banana and I was off.

I chatted with Prince Donges heading out of CP2 on our way to Ironpot finding out that he was another local Blue Mountains runner before moving ahead at the start of the long steep climb up the ridge. At the top I caught up to another runner and I followed him through to the turn around. On the return I was able to pick it up and run quite quickly through this technical section and following my new race plan I fanged it on the way down to the creek. At the creek and for the remainder of the course through the private property I hit another low point but quickly emerged from that at the start of the long climb up the road. I walked nearly all of this section except for the areas where it flattened out a little on the curves and as I crested the hill my legs started feeling nice and springy and I was able to turn over my legs without what felt like any appreciable effort. I reined in another two runners heading down Megalong Road getting high fives from Long Arms and Ben heading into CP3 at which stage ST told me I was in 5th or 6th position. I still couldn’t believe it.

A quick stop and a mandatory gear check and I was on my way. Running out of the checkpoint full of smiles, energy and on a high... that was until I rounded the corner and out of site where all of a sudden I hit an unexpected slump. I couldn’t believe it. I took in a big drink and started running and within a few minutes the feeling passed and I was happy to start running on familiar track (the Six Foot). After two successful attempts running the 12 Foot Track I was happy to find that my legs were good at this stage. That was until I jumped off the ladder crossing the fence to find that the instant my foot hit the ground my left quad seized into the worst cramp I have ever experienced. No warning beforehand either and I didn’t know what to do as my leg was locked and I wasn’t sure how to stretch it out. I started massaging it and I took two S-Caps in a hope that the cramp would pass and about five minutes later I was able to start walking again and then running.

By the time I hit the stairs both my quads were cramping up but I was able to use my arms on my quads to limit the strain and keep the cramps at bay. As always the climb up Nellies is tough and turning right on the track at the top I expected to be able to start running again with some relief that it was behind me but I was mistaken. Probably the least enjoyable section of the race for me and emerging onto the asphalt on the outskirts of Katoomba I have never been so happy.

I felt good again knowing that I was only moments away from CP4 and I would make first contact with my support crew Simon. Running into the checkpoint to see Sean and his partner Mel also lifted my spirits as they were obviously stoked on my performance. I was currently in fifth place and I was told there were a couple of runners not long ahead so with the help of Simon and Sean I ate some more banana and my bladder refilled, downed some coke and gatorade and the aid station volunteer handed me a couple of gels which I was relying on to get me through to the final checkpoint.

I sprung out of the checkpoint feeling absolutely magic – my legs felt springy and I felt like I was just starting out on what was promising to be a great run. I found myself picking it up even more when about a kilometre down the track I realised when I went to grab some scheduled fuel that I had left the gels on the table. Shit... no fuel except for the diluted 1.5 litres of sports drink and the few snakes I had in a plastic bag contained inside my pack. I did have two sports bars (mandatory gear) but I couldn’t bring myself to eat them. With 23 kilometres, at least 2 ½ hours and some significant climbing in front of me I was concerned how it would play out but I wasn’t about to back off while I was still feeling good.

I got down the giant stairs uneventfully and was excited to be running along sublime point as I couldn’t find this track during earlier course recon. I was powering along on the flats and downhill sections and I quickly caught and passed the fourth place runner. It started to toughen up through here as my energy levels starting falling and I started playing a game in my head trying to work out when the next marker would be. I kept hoping it would say 80km thinking that I had passed the 75km marker without noticing but when I came to the next marker to find that it read 75km I was shattered... but only for a brief moment. I shook the feeling aside and set myself the task of getting to Jamison Creek and the start of the climb up Kedumba which I was sadistically looking forward to all day. I slowly reeled in third place runner Clarke and after a brief chat I told him that I would try and start running where I could and said my goodbyes and good lucks. He hung with me nearly the whole climb up till I got to the park gate and I managed to put a bit more effort into it knowing that the hospital was only a few short kilometres away. Spurred on with dehydration and a need to get some fuel in I managed to put a couple of minutes on Clarke heading into the final checkpoint.

It was great to see Simon there along with Ben and Berro (they must have logged some kilometres in the car out there on Saturday) and after a quick refuel (water bottles only) and some more banana I headed off for what I thought would be a relatively easy 11km to the finish. I had already called my wife heading up Kedumba to let her know that I was running well and would probably finish a little over an hour (OK I was a little wrong) and she was already excited as she had been watching the live results and saw that I was running in fifth place at the last checkpoint. She was even more excited when I told her that I had passed two runners over the last 10km to move into third.

I was feeling great heading up along Tableland Road and down Hordern onto the trails but with the fading light my pace slowed. I pulled out the headlamp I had borrowed from Mister G to find that the batteries which I thought were new weren’t and quickly either the light faded or my eyes blurred (I wasn’t sure at the time which). With a few minutes between myself and fourth place behind me I decided to take it as easy as possible while still moving as quickly as needed to avoid rolling my ankle or worse through this section.

The last five kilometres dragged on and when I finally came up out of Lillians Bridge and started circumnavigating the golf course I realised I was almost there. Or so it seemed. The trail around the golf course went on and on and finally when I got to the point when I felt like I was running away from the finish it finally turned and started heading uphill. Seeing the glowing sticks were indeed a relief and I was thankful that a volunteer pointed my in the right direction to the finish line.

Finish: 11:39:22 - 3rd place (out of 333)

Sharing the finish with my wife and kids there was one of the happiest moments of my life. It was also great to have a few friends which made the finish feel like it had been put on just for me. A cherished moment!

Watching the other runners come in shortly behind and sharing their race experience with as they got warm and enjoyed some drink and food also made the event more special than any other event I have participated in.

Congratulations to the phenomenal performances of the ever humble Andrew Lee and Tim Cochrane – you guys are legends. I also want to take my hat off to and give my congratulations to Clark McClymont and Doug Grubert two of the nicest people I have met during an event of this magnitude.

Congratulations to everyone who endured at The North Face 100. I hope to see you all next year!

Primal for 60

2009-05-14T19:55:00.000-07:00

Inspired by the fresh new look of MDA and a strong desire to get myself into shape I'm starting a new challenge in 12 days. Actually I'm never really out of shape - running 100km tomorrow but I just enjoy setting myself goals and experiencing the changes that occur along the journey. It's never really about the outcome for me.

This is nothing new for me. Over the last year I undertook the 30-day Primal Challenge, went on a raw food journey for almost 3 months and trained for and completed a number of events including running a marathon (Cities Marathon in a personal best time of 2:57), setting a course record at a 90km trail ultra and set another PB at the Six Foot Track. My wife has come to expect something new from me and she is also starting to ask me what's next. Better not disappoint.

The inspiration to attempt last year's 30-day Primal Challenge came from the inspiration found within the pages of Mark's Daily Apple. Here is what I wrote about that experience...

30-day Primal Challenge Results (2008)

Wow! The month seems to have flown on by without me realizing. The main reason I hadn’t noticed was because nothing has really changed since the challenge finished up. I have continued along eating what I have been eating while following the primal challenge and even though I have given myself the freedom to choose to eat whatever I wish I still choose more primal options. I can’t seem to bring myself to eat the usual processed sugars, pasta, rice, bread etc that was a big part of my diet prior to the 30 day challenge.

My diet prior to the challenge was the typical of the endurance athlete diet consisting of cereal and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, pasta and rice based dinners and throw in the several snacks spaced throughout the day that I consumed when feeling hungry or prior to or after a run. Snacks of course were of the processed variety and included sports bars, muesli bars, meal replacement snacks, pretzels, chips, cookies, chocolate etc.

With the challenge my diet drastically changed to include more fruit and vegetables but the biggest change was in the amount of protein and fats that I consumed at every meal.

While losing 10 pounds was an added result of the challenge, what I really discovered (almost day one) was that my energy levels where high throughout the day and replacing the fluctuations of low energy periods following my usual high carbohydrate feeds. I also noticed a reduction in post-run muscle soreness and enhanced day-to-day recovery. My legs almost felt like they were buzzing.

The final week:

Summary:
Starting weight: 172 lb
End weight: 163 lb
Exercise total: 49 miles (including race 26.2 miles)
Marathon finishing time: 2:57:10

Nutrition:

I followed the old school carb depletion-loading scheme which was popular amongst marathon runners a few years back. It made following the primal challenge easier during the depletion stage but I had to make some small departures in the form of added oatmeal, sweet potato and additional fruit (mainly bananas and dried fruit) in the days leading up to the marathon. I viewed oatmeal and sweet potato as being a good compromise.

Of course during the depletion stage the main challenge was getting in my runs and resting up for the race on Sunday. Actually stopping myself from going on long runs on the trails was my biggest challenge.

Results:

I stopped focusing on weight goals this week with my whole focus on being ready to go on race day. My weight probably dipped a little during the first four days when I eliminated nearly all carbohydrates but during the 24 hours leading up to the race I tried to top up my glycogen stores by adding in enough carbohydrates. The day before this ended up being around 600-700g of total carbohydrates.

Race day came and I woke 4 hours early for a good feed of oatmeal w/ honey, a banana and some apple juice (usually I eat two English muffins with jam and PB before a race). Two hours before I started drinking some sports drink (for the electrolytes) and just before the race I consumed the first of five gels. On the race I either drank water or sports drink.

I felt great at the start. Well rested and ready to run fast but by about 9 miles in I was thinking that I tapered a little short and was still carrying some leg fatigue. It didn’t get any worse and I was able to embrace the pain and fatigue over the final 6 miles to bring home a sub 3 hour marathon.

One mistake I did make was that I probably didn’t eat enough carbohydrates during the post-run window to help speed up my recovery in the days after and I suffered a little more than usual. Will rectify next time around.

As an endurance athlete it makes me aware that I still have a lot more to learn. While much of my learning will come from sites like this one and from books like the Paleo Diet for Athletes (although haven’t read it yet I plan on buying it) as an example I think much of the learning will take place while experimenting and finding what works best for me. So looking beyond this challenge I am going to continue on and for those that are interested I will continue to post my results and discoveries on my blog. It will be an interesting journey as I get back into running what I hope will be 100+ mile weeks with my end goal of running a 2:40 marathon.
Thanks everyone for sharing your results during this challenge. It has been great that to read how others are going and knowing that other people are reading with interest or even taking part in their own personal challenges makes sticking to my challenge easier. The changes I have made to my diet have been taken up by friends and they are all experiencing good results also.

So what's next...

The next installment: 60-day Primal Challenge

Goal: to achieve "ideal race weight"

Race weight challenge

Dr George Sheehan and British running coach Frank Horwill believe that distance running success is governed by a runner's weight relative to height.

Stillman developed a height to weight ratio that stipulates that the non-active man's average weight for height follows this simple formula. He allocates 110 lbs (56.2kg) for the first five feet (1.524m) in height and 5 1/2 lbs (2.296kg) for every inch (0.025m) thereafter.

My starting point -
Height = 1.754m
Current weight = 77.0kg
Average weight = 77.3kg (from Stillman table)

So according to the Stillman table I'm currently at average weight for my height. Actually I might already be below this as my weight has been fluctuating between 76 and 78kg for the last few months.

So now having calculated the average weight for my height the next step is to find what my ideal weight would be for me to achieve my athletic performance potential. According to Sheehan and Horwill my ideal weight should be as follows:

Sprinters (100-400m): 2.5% lighter
Middle-distance runners (800m-10k): 12% lighter
Long-distance runners (10+ miles): 15% lighter

OK...so as a long distance runner my ideal weight should be:
Ideal weight: 77.3 - 15% = 65.7kg (145 lbs)
Shaping up to the Stillman table has me at the same weight as the average person. Supposedly I can improve my performance dramatically by losing weight. As I document my challenge I'll be interested to see if and how my training, recovery and performance improves.
I'll part now with these words...
"if you are going to be an athlete - look like one." - Percy Cerutty

"When you become fully responsible for your life, you can become fully human; once you become human, you may discover what it means to be a warrior." - Dan Millman (Way of the Peaceful Warrior)

New challenges

2009-05-12T18:54:00.000-07:00

The joy of running over the last few days has continued to improve and the experience of running effortlessly has begun to creep into my legs. Ah, how I love taper time.

But it wasn't this way during the last two weeks of training. Unfortunately my motivation to succeed and perform at a high level very often exceeds my rationality for incorporating rest and active recovery into my life. Knowing full well that taking a day off or swapping a run for a cross-training session (bike, swim, yoga etc) will help enhance my recovery and improve my long term athletic performance doesn't stop me from running into the next energy bonk (the dreaded wall) or potential injury. But hopefully this will change. I don't need to exceed 200km (120 miles) of running a week to continue to improve. Well I don't think so anyway.

In an attempt to improve my endurance and running ability over ultra-distances I have been enjoying eating primal again and with the 100km race only a few short days away I have already found myself looking beyond to set new goals for myself. New goals help me to keep going and maintain my motivation to continue to improve my running, fitness and health to achieve all sorts of athletic pursuits.

I'll discuss my new challenges (goals) in my next post.

i've been gone...

2009-04-08T18:46:00.000-07:00

sorry haven't been posted for a while.

i have been updating my training blog but have neglected this blog for a while as my diet has been less of an interest to me as i've just been trying to get on with training for some upcoming ultras, long distance adventure runs and speed record attempts.

but with an event looming my focus has been switched back on as i attempt to get in to peak fitness and trim some unwanted baggage from my frame. being lighter will hopefully have it's advantages running up all the hills on race day...

my diet has been largely organic and raw but i'm feeling the need to get back into some good old primal food as my training exceeds 200 kilometres (124 miles) running per week...

food on the run...

2009-04-08T18:44:00.000-07:00

i'm on the search across the web trying to find food that i can put together to carry while running or to have as a quick snack between meals.i'm building my personal resource page for links to various recipes and i'll update regularly.

to start with i came across the site primal fusion and they have the following recipes i'll give a go or modify to fit with what i eat...

primal bar - lara bar (alternative)

from checking out the running raw site it seems he nearly lives of these things but eating processed sports/nutrition bars can get quite expensive. but as they are made from two of my favourite food groups (nuts and fruits) i'll be giving them a go shortly.

peanut butter powerballs

they are made with peanut butter but i might try substituting these with almond butter.

another great site i've found which i highly recommend is vo2 maxxed and some samples of their recipes include:

oat power cookies

m&j's cranberry pumpkin power snacks

other inspirational nutrition and training sites include:

simon whitfield's blog - see this post

mark's daily apple

chuckie v

Taper update...

2009-03-11T16:40:00.000-07:00

While training during the taper is largely going to plan everything in life else isn't flowing so smoothly.

For those few who read this thing I thought I had better check in for the last time before race day and log what I have been up to...before I forget more of the details.

Thankfully I'm on the back end of life's current dramas that affected my training and everything is starting to sort itself out. Hopefully for the better so that I can resume my dedication to training to achieve whatever goal I set myself next. At the moment I'm in two minds about what I want to do. Go long or get fast? Or can I do both at the same time? Perhaps someone reading this can help me out there.

Coming off last years running highs and expecting my training to climb up and stand on the back of those triumphs was a little naive of me. I should have focused on the moment instead of trying to relive my training glory. With lifes ever changing processes I should focus on the NOW!! I'm beginning to see this reality and I'm learning.

With all that said and done I'll get into my training, which thankfully (but a little late) has turned a corner and I can feel myself improving (getting fitter) almost every day. Much of the speed that I had built last year has come back into my legs and the big question that is now before me is whether or not I'll have the endurance to go with it on race day. OK enough rambling and time to get down with the numbers. Actually now that I have looked at it maybe I have done a little too much. Time will be my witness.

Training log:

Friday: 90 minute run w/ repeat miles @ marathon to tempo pace
A great run on a glorious day. Ran out to the Nepean Lakes and ran the mile repeats around the 5km path. The effort felt comfortable during the faster running with the first few repeats at around 3:50 pace, finishing up with the last two repeats averaging around low 3:40 pace. Great run.

Saturday: 16k w/ MP (effort) tempo
Bit vague on the details here but I'm thinking that I ran about 11k+ at marathon effort (168bpm) which worked out to be around 3:50 pace. Felt good.

Sunday: 8km w/ 5-6km @ MP
Again can't remember too many of the details but another good effort at around 3:50 pace. My average heart rate during faster running was around 158bpm (79%MHR) which previously was the effort I ran my easy runs at last year. Perhaps I'm fitter now.

Monday: 17km easy in 1:12
I ran the same run that I ran last week and while it felt easy I improved the time by six minutes. I wasn't wearing the GPS on this run, only a watch as I didn't want to get too hung up on the numbers and start pushing myself. Big surprise to see that I finished the run so much quicker. Feeling great.

Tuesday: 11.5km in 0:48 - Treadmill session
Spent the day with my son so booked him into childminding at the gym while I put in my last speed session. Nice and short and felt great. Ran two 1600s at tempo (around 6:00) and two 1200s in around 4:00 flat (5k effort). Couldn't believe how easy they felt. Four 30 second strides at max (treadmill) speed to complete the session. Bouncing of the walls now. Had to convince myself to get off and stop running.

Wednesday: 7+km w/ 3.2km at marathon effort (~29mins) + 30min soccer coaching (before rain)
Really had to check myself during this run and stop running faster. During the warmup and cooldown I almost felt like I was stumbling along at an easy effort but every time I looked at my watch I was hovering around marathon pace. During the faster running I stopped looking at the watch and ran by feel. Post run the watch revealed that I was gradually increasing the pace each km split from 3:50-3:46-3:42. It didn't feel like I was running that quickly.

Thursday: The hardest day of the week - the day of rest.
A 30 minute run wouldn't kill me though would it?

Friday: 20-30 minute run w/ fast finish
Last run before race and the start of the carb loading

Saturday: Race Day
Having only run the race once I expect that I will at least set a personal best (as I have already run the course faster on two separate occasions - once as a training run and the second time when I ran 12FT last year).

Diet:
Same carb loading protocol and pre-race routine as last time (see blog entry before Cities Marathon last July)

Next post: the race result...

the end of the week...

2009-03-05T16:32:00.000-08:00

My effort to post an entry everyday failed quickly. Nearly through the first week of my two week taper and I'm starting to feel aerobically fresh. Of course my legs are still sore and I have some niggles and a small injury which concerns me. My achilles are particularly sore but I'm hoping with some reduced volume next week and less running in my flats they will heal up.
My small injury is not of major concern but I managed to hurt my upper hamstring/glute and shin when climbing (and falling) over a steel fence on Wednesday. Should be OK though.

Training update (from memory):

Wednesday: AM) 70 minutes w/ ~7k @ threshold 1x3k, 1k, 6x500m + 15 minutes hill running @ 12.5%
Felt stronger as the session progressed.

Thursday: Noon) 75 minutes steady ~17km
Great run out to the Whitewater stadium and back. Took it out at a relaxed pace and gradually picked it up on the way back. Starting to feel my fitness coming on.

Friday (planned): Noon) 90-100 mins w/ 5 x 1600m @ HMP w/ 400m steady

Diet:

Decided not to carb deplete for this event after feeling like absolute crap during my runs on Monday and Tuesday. With the addition of some carbs (fruits) I have started feeling much better and my runs have continued to improve. Thinking about targeting a race in May which I would like to peak for instead.

The diet has been very simple and something along the lines of:
Breakfast: handfuls of nuts and seeds, and a little dried fruit (apple, dates, raisins) + black coffee
Snacks: Fruit - Bananas, etc
Lunch: salad with more nuts and seeds + green tea
Dinner: some protein with more salad and veggies

I'm trying to watch how much I eat as my training volume tails off as I get closer to the event.

tuesday 3 march

2009-03-02T19:16:00.000-08:00

Training:

noon) 46 min easy w/ surges (about 10k)

While I planned on running 3 x 3k at lunch it ended up not fitting into my schedule. I had forgotten about a mandatory work function that I have to attend over the next two days which will make finding the time to train somewhat difficult. During my second run this afternoon I'll give the session a go if I'm feeling up to it.

Diet:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs (3) w/ spinach in olive oil
Snack: carrots (2), walnuts & sunflower seeds
Post-run: small yoghurt, peaches (2), banana - note: kept carbs to 1g/kg of bodyweight (~70g)
Lunch: sardines, carrots, cherry tomatoes
Dinner: Meat w/ steamed veggies

sunday to monday 1-2 March

2009-03-01T19:27:00.000-08:00

Training:

Sunday - Long run 36km in 2:40 - Blaxland to Hawkesbury Heights LO out 'n' back

Felt terrible during the start of the run and I wasn't thinking that I was going to make it through but about 10 minutes in everything fell into place and the running got easy. I started feeling good and the pace picked up. Hit the turn around right on 1:20 and came back in the same time. Groin started feeling a little niggly at the turn around but was no trouble after. Have to keep an eye on it. Smoothie and ice bath helped with the recovery.

Monday - 1 hour easy w/ 4.5km @ marathon pace + 6 x The Sanctuary Drive Hills

Legs felt loose and relaxed but my left Achilles was a little sore before warming up. Parked the car at the River Road carpark. Ran easy for about 5 minutes then decided to pick it up to marathon pace running along the eastern river bank. Crossed over the river, headed for the hills and then ran six fast repeats up the notorious road (rise between 12 and 15 percent). Legs felt good during the repeats (averaging 3:30-3:40 pace) and the cardio was worked before heading back along the river for the cooldown.

Diet:

Breakfast: oats cooked in rice milk w/ 3 eggs and maple syrup (last carb meal)
Snack: peaches, walnuts
Lunch: sardines w/ chilies, avocado, cherry tomatoes, carrots + 4 fish oil capsules (immediately post-run)
Snack: carrots, walnuts
Dinner: porterhouse steak w/ fried peppers, mushrooms and tomatoes

Taper time again...

2009-03-01T16:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday's long run signaled the start of the taper period leading into my next race. A hilly off-road 45km ultramarathon. Usually not my happiest time as it usually brings around a lot of self-doubt and worries that I haven't done enough or perhaps I have done too much or.... well you get the idea!

My plan is to follow what worked for before the Cities Marathon in July last year but with a few tweaks here and there with my training. I'm going into this event a little under-trained compared to last time so I'm going to try and hold a little more volume in the first week before a big reduction in race week volume trying to freshen up.

Training plan:

sun - 36k in 2:40 (1:20 out/1:20 back) - already run
mon - 1h easy + 6 x short fast hills
tue - 20' warmup + 3-4 x 3k MP-LT + 1 x 2k fast (am) // 1h easy (pm)
wed - 45' easy (am) // 16k w/ 8k @ MP (noon)
thu - 90' easy (am)
fri - 13k w/ 10k MP
sat - 1h easy + 12k MP or 5 x 2k LT
sun - 90' easy
mon - 45' easy (am) // 1h w/ 4 x 1200m @ LT + 6 x 100m hill sprints (noon)
tue - 8k w/ 5k MP
wed - 6k w/ 3k MP
thu - REST
fri - 20-30' easy w/ last 2.5' fast/ 30" flat out (before carb load)
sat - RACE

Taper Diet:

- 9 days carb depletion
- 2 days start adding carbohydrates while reducing protein and fats
- 1 day carb load (10-12g carbohydrates per kg of bodyweight)

During the carb depletion phase I'll eliminate all carbohydrates except for a small amount in the post-exercise window following longer and hard workouts to allow for some glycogen replacement to provide for some recovery between sessions.

Pretty much the same taper program as last time which I felt worked and I hope will give me a similar result in two weeks time.

I'll try and post a daily account of my training, diet and thoughts leading up to race day as I did in the past.

Rest day?

2009-02-19T13:19:00.000-08:00

After running about 400 miles in the last month and finishing up another hard running workout yesterday I am contemplating taking a day off. Off as in no running whatsoever. It is a hard thing to do as a running obsessed individual. Even knowing that taking a day off to allow my body to rest and repair itself will undoubtedly help me run faster and/or harder in the long term I struggle with the thought of not having a run today. Perhaps I'll just go out for an easy 45 minutes tonight after work.

Diet:

After reading the Paleo Diet for Athletes I have made a few changes but nothing too drastic. Just a few compromises in the primal diet to ensure that I restore my glycogen levels and aid recovery between sessions.

Today's diet:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs, bacon, mushrooms + black coffee
Snack: carrots, sunflower seeds
Lunch: garden salad w/ chicken
Snack: apple + green tea
Dinner: fish and veggies

Stats:

Weight: 167 lb - weighed myself for the first time in months
Legs: 4/10 - Achilles tight and sore
Sleep: 6hr - poor

Training update:

Last four weeks have averaged 90-110 miles per week with 2-3 quality sessions per week. Struggled for a few weeks with the higher mileage but have started feeling better during the last two weeks. The diet has helped with the recovery but I still need to focus on some other areas of recovery including hydration, ice baths, compression clothing, stretching etc.

A down week?

2009-02-11T14:47:00.000-08:00

Last week was another hot week of training. Every day saw temperatures exceeding 35C. It made training much tougher...

DIET

I've gone back to eating a more primal diet with the inclusion of protein and fat at every meal and it has made an immediate improvement to my ability to recover between sessions. During the transition period while adjusting to the changes in my diet I'm finding my endurance and energy are lagging behind. Previous experience ensures me that it will only last a week or two before I see an improvement in my running.

Recent additions to diet: eggs, nuts (almonds and walnuts), lean and not-so-lean meat.

I've finally read the Paleo Diet for Athletes which I purchased over Christmas and will modify my primal diet to ensure that my glycogen levels are replenished between workouts to ensure a fast recovery. I do believe that working out in a semi-depleted glycogen state over a period of time can have significant performance gains in the short and long term but I will have to go over my old training and diet notes to work things out.

TRAINING

Another good mileage week but after a few bigger weeks it feels like a recovery week.

Monday:
AM) 6 mi Easy run - to work
Felt a bit during the morning's run to work.

PM) 7 mi Moderate run - work to home
Any run that starts out when the temp is hovering around 40C is always going to be hard. Throw in a 2 mile climb towards the end and you can see where things can go wrong. Actually legs felt stronger on climb.

Tuesday:
Three runs today -
AM) 8.8 miles - Easy run
Ran to work but took a longer route.

Noon) 5 miles w/ strides

PM) 7 miles
Another tough run home as it was hot again.

Wednesday:
N) 5 miles - Easy run
Planned an easy run during my lunch break with the ambitions of running a longer 13 mile run after work with some friends but ended up bailing out because of the heat.

Thursday:
AM) 6.2 mile Easy run

PM) 12 miles w/ intervals (7 x 4min w/ 2-3min easy)
Hit the trails with a friend. Ran the first four intervals running uphill before turning around and running the last three downhill back to the start. Felt stronger and averaged a good pace.

Friday:
AM) 4.4 mile Recovery run
Just an easy run around the shortest home loop.

Saturday:
AM) 22 mile Long run (2:50)
Started out running easy for the first hour before adding in some sections at marathon pace. After two hours of running the heat and humidity finally kicked in which hurt making the climb back home.

Sunday:
AM) 7 mile Fartlek run
Felt good on this run and decided to try and run with a little more intensity and see if I could add some life back into my legs. Felt good to be running fast again.

Total running: 90.4 miles

Training

2009-01-26T20:20:00.000-08:00

I've noticed people having been stopping it to check things out so I thought I had better get back to this blog thing. So here we go...

Diet-
Diet has been very good over the last few months. I have been eating mainly raw uncooked food and have even enjoyed the very primal activity of foraging for my food while on a long run in the urban fringe. Carrying a pack enables you to fill it with all sorts of goodies.

Weight is hoverying around 166lbs and with an important race only 6-7 weeks away I hope that I can get my weight around 155lbs by then. I'm confident that I'll get there. Race fit and ready!

Training-

Monday:
AM) Trail run - 12 miles (1:40)
After a steep drop down to the river the trail climbs for a steady 5 miles before swinging back onto the road for the return journey. Feeling tired.

Tuesday:
AM) Easy run - 15.8 miles (2:02) - 145HR
Good run in the rain. Legs starting feeling fatigued over the last 20 minutes. Need to work on that...

PM) Easy run - 7.5 miles (1:00)
Easy run home. Hot!

Wednesday:
AM) Easy run - 6 miles (0:42)
An easy run to work before the day gets hot although very humid. Legs felt a little fatigued from yesterday's run but about 20mins in they started feeling better. Finished up running the last 15mins around marathon pace.

PM) Will be the run home via the long way ~12 miles
The plan is to run hard for the first 6 miles before the start of the hills and then push myself on the climbs to work the legs. Already 33deg Celsius and rising... better start drinking water now!

Thursday:
AM) Recovery Run - 3 miles (0:22)

PM) Workout: 5 x 6mins hard w/ 4min easy - total 11 miles (1:40)
Ran the workout on the trails. The first three intervals were run uphill and the last two were run downhill back to the start. Tough session but one I need to repeat weekly if I'm going to run well at next month's race.

Friday:
AM) Easy run - 11.9 miles (1:31)
Met Simon early to run a few quarters at the track (cracked a fast one in 66 seconds) and followed up with 8 x 100m striders before heading off to run to work.

PM) Easy run - 6.2 miles (0:54)
Death march home. Another hot day left me baked on the exposed hill.

Saturday:
AM) Easy run - 4 miles (no time)

Sunday:
AM) Long 19.4 miles (2:30)
Ran down to the National Park to spend some time on the trails. Felt tired during the first hour, good in the second hour and then things went downhill quickly from there (although the course went uphill).

Total running: 108.8 miles

The wheels of change

2008-11-30T20:18:00.001-08:00

The wheels have slowly started their rotational journey bringing my life onto the pathway of change. I’m not entirely sure where I am heading with all this but I like challenging myself when faced with the unknown.

After reading a rather interesting post by the paleo runner last week in which it lead me to read about Tim VanOrden and what he has achieved with running by adhering to a strictly 100% raw vegan diet has inspired me to make some changes in my own nutritional habits. His site also led me on a path to other raw eating websites, communities and podcast interviews and my interest has been captured.

My reasoning behind thinking about making the transition from the paleo diet to a largely raw vegan diet is based on a number of reasonings.

The main issue I have at the moment while following paleo/primal eating guidelines is that while the diet has provided everything that I expected from it and what others have claimed it would. It’s just not giving me everything I need. The diet stabilized my energy levels so that I don’t experience the post-carb lows that I used to have before but the trade-off was that I don’t seem to be experiencing any highs - physical, mental or spiritual. Everything feels just a bit - how do it say it - BLAH. I am also missing what I will call my vitality or life energy. Running is not the only thing in my life that defines who I am and what brings me joy and I am in need of feeding my other personas.

Vitality is something that I experienced strongly during my university years (my mid 20’s) when I ate basically as a vegetarian/vegan for three years and during the period of time I regularly practiced periods of fasting and raw food eating (mainly fruits). I read a lot of Arnold Ehret’s work I don’t ever remember thinking about my lack of energy for any of the numerous physical pursuits that made up much of my day. Perhaps too much at times when class lectures needed to be attended.

Arnold Ehret has been described as inspiring many prominent people in the raw food movement including Gabriel Cousens and David Wolfe amongst others whom I am yet familiar with. I still have on my bookshelf at home two of his books – RATIONAL FASTING and THE MUCUSLESS DIET HEALING SYSTEM. During my first year at uni these books became my bible. At the time I was searching to rejuvenate my physical, mental and spiritual aspects of my life and over a period of 12 months I had completed a big change.

Other reasons for wanting to make a transition are based on some changes that we have made in respect to the health of our children. We have virtually eliminated all preservatives from our menu due to health reasons and have introduced some non-dairy items as one of our children appears to be lactose intolerant. Our shopping cart is also being filled with more and more organic products as we are questioning the way products are grown and produced. This is also leading us on an ethical journey as our family is questioning how our food reaches the shelves of the supermarket and into our homes. I won’t go into ethical arguments here as there is a lot of information out there to provide some interesting reading for those so interested.

And finally on a last note I’m just starting to get sick of cooking and consuming large amounts of animal-based proteins. I’m even losing the taste and smell for it. It’s like listening to new music released on the radio – it sounds great at first but after listening to it over and over again you end up not being able to listen to it anymore.

The next challenge

2008-11-24T15:41:00.000-08:00

Finally after months of waning motivation since running my marathon and 90km ultra run in July and August I have been presented with the next life challenge. With only a few weeks to get myself in shape it will be an interesting experience to see what I can do when push comes to shove.

During some quiet introspective thought last weekend I was toying with the idea of finding another challenge. I looked through my books, notes and blog favourites - ultra books, 50 marathons-50 days, detox, master cleanse, crossfit, raw food, primal blueprint, paleo diet, etc. By the time Sunday evening had rolled around I was ready. I had decided that I would jump back on the paleo diet but I had also set myself a daily mileage goal minimum of 21km which I would try and stick to for the next 21 days - 21 in 21 had a nice ring to it.

Well by the time Monday evening (day 1) was upon me, things didn't go quite to plan and thoughts of a 90 minute run were laid to rest with the setting of the sun. It also signalled the end of my motivation. However a text message from a friend which I read while getting the kids ready for bed was enough to change everything.

More details to follow....

A good start

2008-11-06T16:54:00.000-08:00

Five days have passed and while I have been eating well following the paleo diet guidelines my running is lagging behind. I have had breaks up to 6 weeks due to injury or rest in the past and have found that I can usually jump straight back into and quickly rebuild my lost aerobic fitness. But this time around the running is a struggle. Not sure if my problem is physical or mental but I need to sort it out quickly as I need to get motivated.

I have run every day this week for about 20 to 50 minutes (covering about 3-6 miles) and together with my diet I have lost the 5 pounds that I gained during my holiday and exercise lay off. At least that is a good starting point for next week as I increase the volume of training.

While I had my break I spent some time thinking about my training and decided that I need to add more volume and increase the duration of my daily runs. I find that my fitness quickly improves when I increase my run duration to longer than 100 minutes of running. On some runs it takes about an hour for me to feel comfortable and I generally start running better for the remainder of the session. So as I like to have a written plan to follow I have roughly drafted my weekly schedule to look something like that shown below.

Monday - AM) Run easy 1h-1h40 (8-12 miles) PM) Ride home
Tuesday - AM) Ride + Short interval of fartlek session // Easy run
Wednesday - AM) Run easy 1h10 (10 miles) + Strides PM) Ride home
Thursday - AM) Tempo run + Hills (total 12-14 miles) PM) Run home 1h
Friday - AM) Long trail run 2-3h (20-25 miles) + Strides (barefoot)
Saturday - AM) Easy run 1h30 + drills, hill strides or bike if tired
Sunday - AM) Longer tempo run or long intervals

Along with all the running I'm hoping to get in at least two yoga sessions per week.

The Offseason

2008-11-03T13:57:00.000-08:00

I have been away from it all from a while. Away from running, diet, work and other stresses. I have just returned from two weeks in Thailand with the family and after enjoying the break and the food I have decided that it is time to get back into it. The extra pounds I have also put on hear my body crying out for me to quit this offseason hedonism.

I started running again yesterday. Well actually that statement is not entirely true as I was forced to run to work yesterday as my stepson had borrowed the car while I was away on the weekend and drove several hours away to spend some time with some friends while he is over here on holidays from the UK.

The running felt OK but the heat was something I wasn't expecting and about 30 minutes into the run I was overheating. I also decided to wear the polar to see how my heartrate responded. Well it looks like I have some work to do as my HR drifted up to around 185bpm and sat there until I decided to walk to allow it to drop back down to a more acceptable 150bpm.

I just checked my Garmin and it is evident where I went wrong. The kilometre splits started out at 4:30 pace before dropping to 4:15 and then I followed it up with another two kilometres at sub 4:00 pace. Strangely this happens whenever I start back running as my legs are refreshed, refuelled and free of the usual niggles and fatigue that they are plagued with from the repeated abuse they receive.

Gradually after a few weeks building the volume back up my pace gradually goes back to a more sustainable pace and the HR drops.

Post-run my legs feel completely toasted and it took several hours before I could walk without discomfort. I'm not a fan of the transition period as my legs and body become reacquainted with their friends the road, pavements and trails.

I am weak...

2008-09-11T22:43:00.001-07:00

Friday’s morning run started out with a surprise. I felt better than good! My legs, body and mind were all agreeing that it was a beautiful morning to run to work and that’s what they did.

I had planned yesterday to make this morning my longer run of the week when the alarm went off. But at 5am after a restless night of sleep I made the decision that an extra hour of snooze time would be time well spent. When I climbed out of bed an hour later I expected to feel some soreness after yesterday’s hard interval session and the run home that it came as a shock that my legs felt exceptionally good.

During the run this morning I really tried to keep this run easy and not get too carried away pushing the effort so that I can go into the weekend feeling as fresh as I can considering that I have run about 75 miles this week since last Sunday. My running this week has gone great and I want to have a good hard run tomorrow and back that up with a long run on Sunday morning to complete the week on a high note.

Diet -

On the diet front, things had been going well all week and stepping on the scales yesterday I could see that I had lost a few pounds since last weekend but sadly I caved in today. During another work colleague send off I slipped and ate some very non-paleo foods. I also had lunch with an old colleague at a local Indian restaurant and ate some more non-paleo but terribly yummy food stuffs. I’ll call this my day of reckoning and will get back onto it tomorrow. Dinner will be a salad! I am weak!!!!

Training-

Thursday (PM): 5.8 miles (0:46) – nearly all of it uphill. Completely empty!

Friday: 6.3 miles (0:45) – nice and easy.

We're back!!!

2008-09-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

We’re back!!!

Well that’s what my legs were telling me this morning. And it was great to see that they have returned and they are feeling stronger than ever. I find it amazing that I have to run close to 60 miles in four days with 1-2 higher intensity sessions thrown in to get some life back into them but that’s exactly how things have gone down.

I went into yesterday’s run with some doubt about how the run would go. I was right to be a little concerned as from the start my legs felt tight and heavy from the previous day’s killer hill session. Running with a couple of fast dudes kept me honest though and didn’t allow me to slack off for one second.

I don’t know why (but perhaps it has something to do with my enjoyment for pain and suffering) but even though I felt like I was struggling I was the one that was pushing the pace at the front. We started off easy through the first few miles as we talked about our previous training and races and upcoming events but shortly after I barely uttered another sentence or sound other than the occasional grunts. We covered 9 miles in just over an hour but then if that wasn’t enough we left the road to head onto the trail which parallels the river and we started surging the small climbs and the pace got faster. I’m already looking forward to next week’s run!

Personal stats-

Weight: 166lb and dropping

Feeling: Great

Sleep: 6h good

Legs: Awesome

Training-

Wednesday: 12.8 miles in 1:27 – I was hurting.

Still to come -

Thursday: Track session (lunch) and run home (PM)

Diet-

Feeling good is good enough!!

Breakfast: Typically 3 eggs (any style) with spinach, mushrooms, etc, piece of fruit (cantaloupe, orange, berries, etc) + coffee

Snacks: apple, mandarin, almonds, carrots, etc

Pre-run (2 hours prior): Some form of carbohydrate (fresh and dried fruit about 200-300 calories worth) - need to experiment more here.

Post-run: Will try and get in 20g PRO and 80g CHO to optimise recovery. Oatmeal, dried and fresh fruits, smoothies, protein drinks etc.

Lunch: Typically tinned fish w/ small salad

Dinner: Typically meat (kangaroo, beef, chicken, pork) w/ vegetables

the midway point...

2008-09-10T03:20:00.000-07:00

Well I'm midway through what is quickly becoming a big week. I pulled up feeling good this morning after yesterday's hill session which came as a welcomed suprise as I had planned to meet up with a couple of faster runners after work.

I decided not to go out for a run either this morning or at lunch and instead try and go into this run feeling as fresh as I was going to get with only day between my last hard session.

I have been reading what I can find on the internet about the Paleo Diet for Endurance Athletes as I am still waiting for the book to arrive. It was purchased as a birthday gift and has mysteriously got lost in the mail somewhere. What has got me interested is the ideas about the various stages and I look forward to get a better understanding when I get the book.

I have been trying to follow along with what little information I have. So today I followed typical paleo eating for breakfast and lunch and two hours prior to heading out I consumed some high GI carbohydrates in the form of a couple of organic date and coconut rolls that I discovered in the local fruit markets. I had better be careful as they are a little addictive. I did however check the nutrition label and try to stick to no more than 80grams of Carbohydrates.

I won't go into the details about the run but it was tough. We covered almost the half marathon distance on a rolling course in about 1hr 27mins. The last 4 miles were covered in just over 24 minutes which brought me a little undone and brought on the dreaded bonk. Strangely enough when I started falling apart I started running faster as my sole goal was to get done.

Thankfully the car was full of healthy goodies and a large bottle of water and I consumed most on the drive home. Food included an egg salad wrap which I scored from the leftovers of a meeting at work, a banana, several organic date and oat rolls and a litre of water.

Returning home I continued with the recovery nutrition theme and enjoyed a smoothie which I made for the kids consisting of milk, honey, cocoa and goji berries.

tuesday hills...

2008-09-08T22:42:00.001-07:00

My legs are starting to come around again. After what has been a very long period of recovery following my marathon and ultra races in July and August I’m finally starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I logged my fifth run session in three days and it was a tough one. The session called for hill repeats and looking around I found a nice hill close to work. During my initial investigations I checked it out on the computer and I was thinking that it was about 8-10% gradient but after running it today and checking the map again it turned out to be in the range of 13-15+% gradient. The last 120m was a real heart burster!

During the final two repeats I’m sure I maxed out my heart rate as I started feeling the light headed sensation of working at close to 100%. Great stuff!

Starting to feel fit again and this is getting me excited to run. Tomorrow evening I am meeting up with the fast guys that I ran with last week and I’m looking forward to getting smacked.

Diet:

Almost predominantly fruit and nuts today. Post-run meal consisted of a tub of berry yogurt (high protein and fat) that I picked up earlier from the fruit market.

1 slice of fruit loaf with 100%PB and a banana (pre-morning run)

3 mandarins

2 apples

150g dates

200g almonds

250g yogurt

60g goji berries

Tin sardines

Think I’ll pick myself up some kangaroo steak for tonight’s meal…

cresting mount fatigue...

2008-09-07T22:49:00.001-07:00

Another weekend has come and gone and I can at least say that I found some time to get out and run. With father’s day on Sunday my wife encouraged me to get out for a long run before the day of family action started and that’s what I did. While the scheduled run was for 2hr 45mins or something I decided to just get out and start with getting in a 2hr run and see how I felt. Well I never really felt that great but after 2hrs time spent recharging the soul I felt much better than I have in weeks. Followed that up with a full day of family action including a game of ten pin bowling and a couple of hours spent at the indoor climbing gym. Recovery sessions? Maybe.

So with a long run yesterday which I struggled with over the last 30mins it came as a surprise during today’s run to see just how good I felt. On Monday’s schedule are two easy runs with one including some strides at 90% effort. After an easy 20mins I found a nice stretch of road before the turn around and started opening up with the 80m of effort. All my focus was on maintaining good form and picking up the pace gradually with each subsequent effort. During the first I started feeling lose and by the last I felt like I was flying with very little effort. My average pace during the strides this week was also much improved by about 30sec per km. Hopefully this indicates that I am finally cresting the mountain of fatigue. Getting excited to get out and train again.

I still have loads more running to get through this week.

Personal stats-

None recorded. I don’t think I will bother about the daily weigh in at this stage.

Training-

Saturday: 35mins with 6k hard - struggled in the wind and rain.

Sunday: 2hr long over undulating terrain – the hills during the last 30mins felt like walls.

Monday: (noon) 45mins (6.5 miles) w/ 5x80m strides @ 90% (1min jog) – and then I felt great!

(pm) 60min run home w/ 30mins on long climbs

Tuesday: (am) 40min easy run to work (pm) Big Hill Session!!!!

Diet-

I gave myself the weekend off. I enjoyed a nice Thai meal with my wife during which a bottle of white was consumed and followed this up with an ice cream cone. I was hoping to get in a long run the following morning so wasn’t too concerned about my over indulgence. During the week while at work I usually find it easier to make good choices but at home with the family during the weekends it is easier to consume meals together which we all enjoy. More often than not they contain a few extra carbohydrates to replace my depleted glycogen reserves.

day 5...

2008-09-04T18:43:00.001-07:00

After a long day at work, a hard running session and three hours spent at the shops picking up some clothes for the children and a gift for father’s day by the time I got home I was completely stuffed. That is when I weakened to the smell and look of the blueberry and white chocolate scones that my wife had made. There were also some very yummy biscuits that contained apple and cinnamon. A favoured combination of mine and even harder to resist. I gave into temptation and enjoyed every morsel. I can’t be 100% primal and continue to enjoy some of the happiness around me from time to time. My wife and young son spent yesterday cooking together and I was excited (as my son was) to enjoy his offerings. Very special indeed.

After the late night eating though as much as I tried not to, I fell asleep sitting on the lounge while my wife finished reading the last of her book.

So where is this all leading? Well when the alarm went off at 5am to get up for my planned weekly long run of 2.5 hours I hit snooze put the alarm under my pillow and sleep through the next two wake up calls. When I got out of the house at 6:30am it immediately felt like the right decision was made. I struggled through a 30 minute shuffle around the neighbourhood and hopefully that will now allow me to recover before the weekend of intensity that I am now planning.

Now that today’s focus will be on recovery tomorrow’s plan for a long tempo and big hill climbing session – think about 90 odd minutes of solid work in the middle of a 2 hour plus session is back on the agenda. Sunday will hopefully be the long run that I missed today but at a somewhat easy pace.

With the sessions getting longer, harder and more specific the next step in my education will be on the recovery side of things. I am going to try and go with the small window prior, during and immediately after my sessions to get in all (well most) of my carbohydrates needed to fuel my workout and replace the glycogen that I use during the session so that I can go into the next session ready to perform at an optimum level. I am also going to look at using recovery aids such as cold baths, hot/cold, compression garments, massage, etc and see if that helps too.

Personal stats-

Weight: 168lb (still no change)

Feeling: Tired

Sleep: 6h

Legs: 6/10 they feel good but rather lifeless.

Training-

After three solid days of back-to-back-to-back it came as no surprise when I got out the door that I was a little less than enthusiastic to run either long or fast. With the well-worn Nike Frees on I tried sticking to the grass verges and enjoy the increased cushioning to give my legs a little break. The cool of the winter rain was a refreshing way to end the run.

Diet-

The email reminder about the morning tea for charity at work made me think today was going to be a little less than primal. Perhaps a traditional low fat, low protein, high carbohydrate eating plan typical of most endurance athletes is the order of the day. I will be interested to see how I perform during my training over the next day and two. If they go well then I will look at eating more carbohydrates prior to hard intense sessions and reserve the low-carbohydrate, high protein and fat days for the days when training is low intensity, highly aerobic and on recovery days.

Breakfast: 3 hard-boiled eggs and 2 blueberry and white chocolate muffins with butter + black coffee

Snack: goji berries

Morning tea: where do I start – homemade pastries, date scone, gluten-free chocolate cake (made with 85% dark choc), lemon cake, and a few others a less grandeur

Lunch: yoghurt w/ berries, date/coconut rolls (better not buy these again except to carry while running perhaps)

Late lunch: 200g salmon, carrots, tomato

Dinner: bacon and spinach quiche w/ salad

day 4...

2008-09-03T17:19:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I really made sure to get in enough energy for the anticipated 90+ minute run and really focus on nailing my post-run recovery. Stepping on the scales this morning I think I got it right. No change in bodyweight from the day before and I am feeling great. My legs aren’t even as sore as they have been day-to-day over the last few weeks. And this is where I have noticed the greatest benefit of eating primal. I’m not exactly sure what, how or why my recovery is boosted but I’m not going to argue about it.

Sessions lasting about 100 minutes also seem to be my training sweet spot. They get me fit and leave me feeling good.

I also noticed someone commented on the primal compromises for athletes post and I need to read it more closely when I have some free time but he made some interesting observations. I can confirm after having my VO2/lactate tested only a few weeks back that following a lower carbohydrate diet limits your ability to sustain speeds close to or above your VO2max speed. My aerobic system is very efficient though. The lactate test produced some interesting results and I need to explore this topic further to see what’s going on there. Do you need more carbohydrates to be able to handle and produce higher levels of lactate?

Personal stats-

Weight: 168lb (no change from yesterday)

Feeling: Great

Sleep: 6h broken

Legs: 7/10 feeling a good tired, no niggles.

Training-

After a great run yesterday I’m hoping that my session at the track (or on road) will be as successful. Coach has given me some hard sessions over the last few weeks and what’s coming up over the next three days should leave me nice and toasted and looking forward to an active recovery day on Father’s Day (Sunday).

On today’s schedule is a solid fartlek session of descending intervals from 10 minutes in length down to 30” all out. I’ll start at 10k race pace and work my way down aiming to run faster throughout the session. Can’t wait!

I think I might be in for some new shoes. I have been doing all of my running in a pair of Adidas Adizero RC racing flats and they have been great but I am looking for something that is light but has a little more forefoot cushioning for some upcoming time on the trails. Perhaps some mountain races during the summer months coming up.

Diet-

Diet has been going well and I will continue to refine it until I get it right.

Breakfast: 3 scrambled eggs w/ mushrooms and spinach, carrot, a handful of goji berries + black coffee

Snack: banana, apple

Post-run: Up'n'go drink, banana and goji berries. Will try and get in 20g PRO and 80g CHO to optimise recovery (?).

Lunch: 200g salmon, carrots, tomato

Dinner: Warm Moroccan lamb salad

day 3...

2008-09-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Personal stats:

Weight: 168lb (-4lb…I was nearly 172lb 3 days ago)

Feeling: Good

Health: Good

Legs: Good

Injury: slight Achilles tendonitis (getting better)

Training:

Session: Run (MLR)

Time of day: 4:30pm

Course: streets around work

Shoe: Adidas RC

Distance: 14 miles

Run time: 1:40

Comments: Met up with 2 very fast dudes after work. Great run!

Diet:

Breakfast: fried mushrooms, peppers, spinach w/ 2 eggs and corned beef + orange

Snack: carrots, apple, figs

Lunch: cold meat, ½ avocado, tomato, carrot

Snack (2h prior to run): bananas

Pre-run (10mins): Sports drink

Post-run: bananas, goji berries, walnuts

Dinner: bolgnaise w/ steamed broccoli

day 2...

2008-09-02T19:15:00.001-07:00

Personal stats:

Weight: -2 pounds (from yesterday)

Feeling: Good

Health: Good

Legs: Good

Injury: slight Achilles tendonitis

Training:

Session: Running (HM pace tempo)

Time of day: 4:00pm

Course: bridge to bridge river loop

Shoe: Adidas Adizero RC

Distance: 7.1 miles steady

Run time: 46:30

Comments: It felt harder than it should. Struggling to regain fitness and speed that I had prior to July’s marathon.

Diet:

Breakfast: roasted corned beef and ¼ cantaloupe + black coffee

Snack: carrots (2)

Lunch: sardines, ½ avocado, tomatoes (2), apple and figs

Pre-run: figs

Post-run: figs, banana

Dinner: cold meat w/ green salad and steamed broccoli

Late snack: apple, carrot (2)

primal day 1...

2008-08-31T21:50:00.001-07:00

Day one and while I have stated that this is a 30 day challenge for the month of September I plan on continuing with it beyond the end. But we have to start somewhere, right?

Personal stats:
monday-

Weight: 169lb about 6 pounds more than last month…

Feeling: Good

Health: Good

Legs: Good

Injury: slight Achilles tendonitis

Training:

Session 1

Time of day: 5:00am

Course: streets around home (undulating)

Shoe: Mizuno Wave Rider

Distance: 5.5miles easy

Run time: 45mins

Comments:

Session 2

Time of day: 12:30pm

Course: streets around work (undulating)

Shoe: Adidas Adizero RC

Distance: 6.2miles easy w/ 5 x 20sec fast (1min easy)

Run time: 45mins

Comments:

Diet:

Pre-run: black coffee

Breakfast: fried mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes w/ 3 eggs + banana

Snack: carrots (2), handful almonds

Lunch (post-run): chili tuna (tinned), ½ avocado, tomatoes (2), apple

Dinner: roast corned beef w/ green salad

going primal again

2008-08-31T21:27:00.001-07:00

With the completion of my goal races for the year I have been less than strict with my diet and training. While I mostly make good choices along the guidelines of the primal challenge (see www.marksdailyapple.com for details) during my downtime I have also indulged in many a sugar-laden carbohydrate treat. Last night signified that last day before I start on a 30-day personal primal challenge again and I was happy to enjoy three whole servings of self-saucing chocolate pudding, custard and ice cream. While I have more control when I am working towards a goal like a race I am not too concerned about what I eat at other times.

I had a fitness test two weeks ago which had measured my bodyfat levels at less than 8% which was a surprise to me. My VO2 and aerobic condition were all good too. Now I just need to work on my anaerobic ability to get faster at the shorter distances.

Today marks day uno of my primal challenge. If anyone wishes to join me add your name to the comments or drop me an email and together we can help each other achieve our 30 day goals. And for those that read this or followed along on the last 30-day primal challenge and wanted to give it a go….. START TODAY!! What are you waiting for…. you’ll have more energy, feel good and along the way drop a few pounds. Sounds good?!?

need more sleep...

2008-08-19T21:14:00.000-07:00

woke up this morning and was surprised that i wasn't as stiff and sore as i thought i might have been after yesterday's hill rep sesssion. i was scheduled to run for 90 minutes this morning but after a late night and a restless night due to one of the children being in bed with us i hit the snooze button one too many times. got out before lunch for a shortened run and with the wind blowing found it hard to find a good rhythm. feeling good though!

personal stats:
weight: not recorded
feeling: good but a little heavy/bloated
sleep: a poor 4 hours
legs: worked but good, niggles improving

today's exercise:
run: am) 45' easy (6.2 miles) w/ 5x80m strides (1min jog)
pm) another planned easy run

today's diet:
breakfast: scrambled eggs (3), eggplant, spinach, corned beef
pre-run: handful of sultanas
post-run: bowl of oats w/ orange juice and dried fruit
lunch: cold meat (turkey and leg ham) w/ blue cheese, lettuce, carrot, red pepper, black olives and strawberries
snack:
dinner:

tomorrow's run:
planned am session: 6x4min hard w/ 90sec recovery

a new age...

2008-08-18T19:50:00.000-07:00

turned 36 yesterday. not a big milestone but it did coincide with some new changes in my life.

after achieving all of my running goals that i had set myself over the last few months i have decided to take the plunge and get myself a running coach. i'm quite excited as he thinks i can improve significantly if i focus on a few areas of my training. he also knows something of me having competed with me at some of the ultra events and has been behind my thoughts of having a go at some of the overseas ultras like western states to see how i would stack up.

well after considering a few things i have decided to take a break from the ultras for a while and try and concentrate on improving my speed across distances ranging from 5k all the way through to the marathon.

i also started a new 28 day primal challenge (ok it's more a paleo modified endurance challenge but primal challenge sounds simpler). i started it yesterday to signify the start of the four week program i received from my coach and well it was my birthday so i thought now was a good time to get back into it.

update:

personal stats (starting point):
monday and tuesday:
weight: 168lb (5 pounds up heavier)
feeling: great
sleep: always poor
legs: a few niggles but getting stronger

exercise:
monday: am) 50' run (7 miles) // pm) 40' run w/ 9x80m strides (6m)
tuesday: am) 75' run w/ 30x100m hills (9m)// 40' run (6m)

diet:
monday -
breakfast (post-run): oatmeal w/ honey, cinnamon
lunch: bbq chicken, blue cheese, berries
dinner: chicken & veg korma w/ sweet potato

tuesday-
breakfast (post-run): chocolate milk, powerbar, bananas (2)
snack: apple
lunch: smoked salmon, prawns, blue cheese, dates, berries
dinner: bolognaise w/ steamed veggies

one week after...

2008-08-15T19:24:00.000-07:00

it has been a week since i ran my 90k trail run and the physical healing feels almost complete. i had a few short runs last week which all felt painful and difficult but today while i struggled aerobically i feel great now.

yesterday was my last day at work before taking a week off and starting a new one. i had a couple of farewell meals out and can honestly say that i made some good choices.

thursday's lunch out was grilled snapper (fish) with vegetables (no chips) and on friday i chose the 400g grain fed steak with vegetables and salad. of course there were some none primal additions to my week like beer and cake. but when work colleagues have gone out of their way to say thank you for the work you have done you can hardly say no can you?

last week's food choice freedom and rest was exactly what i needed to help restore my somewhat broken down body. next week i plan on resuming my training and will start eating more primal.

i'm getting excited and feel ready to go again. breaks are great to rekindle the motivation.

see you next week... stay primal!

rest, recuperation and restarting...

2008-08-13T16:04:00.000-07:00

it's time for a little rest and recuperation but i'll be back starting next week. as it's my last week at work before starting in a new position closer to home i'll be embarking on some non-paleo food consumption as i attend numerous farewell lunches and afternoon teas.

this week i am taking as an opportunity to embark on a little detraining as i aim to lose a little fitness and condition before beginning on the next cycle of athletic pursuits. i have recently hit a new performance level and i think i need to back off and allow all the gains i have made to be absorbed before laying down the foundations to take it to up another level or two.

with a little down time i am trying to make some decisions on what my next goal should be. my focus will likely change from ultramarathons to faster, shorter races on the roads, trails and in the mountains.

but serious goals? break 35mins for 10k, 2:4x something for marathon perhaps, make a national long distance running team, mountain running....? someone even put the idea on me that i should run an international ultra like western states and see how i stack up.... maybe 2010!

i'll leave you with a photo taken at the start of last weekend's run. enjoy!

race report and a new course record...

2008-08-11T21:33:00.000-07:00

Race Report (the long version) - go and grab a cuppa before sitting down to read...

When I started running in 2004 I discovered an online running community and was in awe of people that would run these crazy fatass events (generally long trail self-supported running events). There was one event that really stood out for me. The people that I would see on the finishers list year after year and get to know a little about in their race reports gave them in my eyes a certain legendary status.

Who knew that two years ago when I responded to a message from one of the famed ultrarunners looking for someone to run with on the trails around home could it lead to so much? I have to someone to blame for getting me into this. During a somewhat innocent hill session at Kedumba in preparation for the Western States 2007 assault he mentioned that he was thinking about organising a "Rebel" 12 Foot for himself and other WS participants who were all heading over. Even though I had never run longer than 45km (earlier that year) I thought that I would maybe give it a go. Well that was last year where I amazed myself and finished in 11:10 (6th fastest time). It also got me thinking that a sub 11 hour time was possible but when it came around to run the official 12FT in August I was injured and unable to run. I would have to wait another 12 months before I would get another chance.

This year 2008 has been a roller coaster of highs and lows. The year started with some health issues which resulted in me not being able to compete at 6FT this year as I had surgery scheduled eight days prior to the start. Thankfully the surgery went much better than expected and I was able to resume running a couple of weeks later. I have to say a big thank you to my wonderful wife and friends who helped me though this stage of my life.

After running a 100km event in May this year my running hit a bit of low point as I struggled with motivation to start getting back into it and picking up the volume. I was eagerly reading everything I could absorb about running and training but when it came time to lacing up the shoes and getting out there I was finding too many excuses to leave it for another day. But things started coming around and I found myself entered in a local marathon. I made up a rough schedule to follow with the thoughts of running my first sub 3 hour. While the training didn't all work out as planned I found myself getting much quicker during my sessions but I couldn't get excited about getting in my long runs. With two long runs completed in the three weeks prior to the marathon I managed to achieve my sub 3 hour goal. But my body paid a penalty.

The two weeks between the marathon and 12FT was a lesson in terms of recovery and running. It took nearly a week of rest before I could start running again and in the second week I found it mentally hard to run slower than the marathon pace I had recently set. I don't think runs quicker than marathon pace for up to an hour were a good thing during a taper but I was finding myself quickly bored while running over the same routes that I regularly use in training. By the time Wednesday came I was worried that my legs would not recover enough to get me to the starting line. Thursday night I considered not running and I even told my wife that this was going to be my last ultra event for a long time.

Friday night before the event I was ready to pull out but I had offered to drive my mate up and he was meeting me at my house in the morning. I was thinking damn I'll have to run now!

After a short, sound sleep I got up early and ate my bowl of oatmeal made with rice milk, berries and dates and followed that up with a glass of apple juice, a banana and a strong cup of coffee. Mty friend arrived on time and we headed up to the start getting there nice and early which allowed us time to organise the last of our gear and catch up with the other runners. I was surprised after two days of rest how good I was feeling and it made me think that I would be able to run close to the goal I had messaged a friend the night before.

After the obligatory photo the race started right on time and we were under way. I was feeling relaxed and was running behind one of the faster runners thinking I would try and stick to him as long as I could (which I didn't expect to be very long). The track was quite wet and 300m from the start my foot slipped out from under me and I came down hard on the rocks. The pain was intense and I was immediately thinking that was it I'm heading back to the car. Runners around me offered to stop to make sure that I was alright but I didn't want to ruin anyone's run by having them wait for me. So I told them to go on. I was feeling crushed and a little emotional at how quickly my race had changed. I started running again and fell in behind just trying to take it easy down the stairs. Every step hurt and all my thoughts were of dropping out. I was thinking that I could at least get to the river and I will then see how it goes from there. This thinking started getting me angry with myself and when there was a bit of room on the trail I decided that I would start running and see if I could catch up to some of the runners ahead. I was mainly thinking that I might be able to catch up with spud and run some of the way with him.

While it hurt to run it felt great being out there again enjoying the day and trail with some other runners. I opened up my stride a little and it felt like I was running with a limp but I was making progress and before the bridge I had caught up with spud. The running between the road and the river was sensational single track at its finest and I was moving fast.

Together spud and I reached the River in 1:24 and we managed to get across without getting our feet wet. I was worried about how I would fare on the climb up to summit as my hill training was limited to a single session during my marathon preparation and I had only been on the trails once since my 100km in May. I was thinking that I would try and run with Spud as long as I could and when I went on ahead of him I fully expected that he would catch me on my next walk break. It didn't turn out that way and as I had made an arrangement with myself that I would take two of my four nurofens at the top that is what drove me on.

It felt like a real struggle on the hills reaching the top in 2:46 but luckily I felt no worse. I was running along the Range with not a lot of speed but I was still running which was a good sign. Moving along it was with some shock that I saw Tim moving up ahead and I could clearly see that he was shuffling and not having a good day. For me it was good to have his company and we ran, shuffled and walked our way to the Cabins. I was struggling a little through here but I told myself that I would be able to have a good walk break and something to eat when I reached the Caves. So with that thought I started pushing a little more and didn't realise that Tim was no longer there. When I turned around I couldn't see him and I while I thought of waiting I wanted to keep moving to closer towards the finish as I could get.

As usual the run down to the Caves felt long and steep and I was trying as hard as I could to take it easy to avoid killing my quads with the impact as I still had a long way to go. I reached the caves in 4:39 and was amused when I was running down the road towards the tap to fill up my camelbak to see someone taking pictures of me. It was great to meet Kevin Cassidy who had just made it out there to report for one of the running mags. After a brief discussion and a little difficulty turning the tap handle I filled the bladder up about three quarts and said my farewells to start the arduous climb back up.

I actually enjoy the climb from the caves as it allows me time to enjoy my surroundings and eat and drink a little more than usual. Also the pressure of running is removed for some time. I consumed a powerbar, a packet of salt and vinegar chips and washed it all down with a good swig of water. The climb out was long and uneventful and it was great when people starting passing me on the way down to the caves. I passed Tim while he was walking down to the caves and he was not looking good.

About 15 minutes later spud passed me and we exchanged encouraging words and a little after that the slow flow of other runners began passing by. By this time I think I had nearly completed most of the hard climbing and I was about ready to start running again. It's always a fun game to play with oneself trying to guess who the next runner that comes into view will be and today was no different. I expected to see some runners further along than they were and there were some that looked like the were having good days and were further along than I expected. The encouragement from a passing runner is a much welcomed reprieve from the endless hours of time spent alone on the trails.

Running from the Cabins to the campground became a bit of a blur for me and I found that I fully entered the zone where just running along is about all that I notice. I passed a few runners but the time and distance was moving along and before I knew where I was I was running down the Range. The sound of rain falling snapped me out of my trance but then I realised I wasn't getting wet and upon closer inspection I could see tiny balls of ice bouncing off me. Wow it was sleeting. I was thinking that I hoped it would snow.

By the time I had reached the summit before the long downhill back to the river it was about 2pm (6:58) and I realised that I had forgotten to fill up my bladder at the campground. With the cold weather I wasn't drinking much but I knew I was dehydrating and I needed the fluid to be able to take in my main source of calories - energy gels. I was worried being seven hours into the run with no food or water but I spent the next hour running down to the river feeling the best I had all day.

Arriving at the campground at the River I made my way straight to the tank and filled my bladder and started taking in some food, another Powerbar. Everything from my waist down was tight and feeling like it was on the verge of cramping up so I decided to wade straight through the river and see if that would bring my legs back to life.

It was now 8:06 into the run and with the coldness of the water, the food in my stomach and the drink picking me up I had a good run from the river along the single track to the Road and I was even beginning to entertain thoughts of a low 10 hour finishing time. Well those thoughts were quickly diminished when my legs starting seizing up and I was finding it harder and harder to lift up my feet. Thankfully by the time I reached the stairs (in about 9:36?) I still had plenty of light as I wouldn't have liked to have navigated my way up there in the state that I was falling into. I was now forced to use my hands on my thighs to push myself up each step and I was quickly forgetting about finishing in 10 hours and more interested in reaching the top so that I didn't have to take another step. I wanted it to be over and done with. By the time I had reached the car park it had taken me a full 46 minutes to get up those damn stairs and with Kevin and Brick egging me on to break the course record I found myself running again to the finish and the tree. I hit the stopwatch and looked at the time. 10:23!!!!!

Yahoo.... a new course record!

Here is a list of my nutrition for the 90km/10 hours or running:
* 15 Energy Gels (assorted brands and flavours)
* 2 Powerbars
* 2 Muesli bars
* 1 packet Salt and Vinegar chips
* 1 Turkish Delight (small)
* 3 litres of water
* 1 litre of Coke
* 600ml of Gatorade
* 10 Succeed caps

Looking at the list now it doesn't appear to be a lot of food considering how much energy I was likely to have burnt. Someones garmin GPS recorded 57+ miles with over 13,000 feet of elevation gain.

a quick update...

2008-08-10T16:45:00.001-07:00

just a quick update before i get around to writing a full race report for the run on saturday.

finished the 90km run first in a course record time of 10:23. it was tough.

will report in more detail later when i have recovered a little. even my fingers are tired!

gear selection...

2008-08-07T19:00:00.000-07:00

with news that it snowed yesterday on the course that i will be running tomorrow i think i will need to be a little more meticulous with my gear selection. it's going to be cold!

my gear i have selected already:
my shoes: inov-8 roclite 315s
backpack: camelbak cloud walker (i did buy a new one for the event but it looks like it won't make it to me in time)
my socks: injinji toe socks
electrolytes: succeed caps
fuel: gu energy gels and hammer
sports drink: gatorade/coke
secret energy drink: hornet juice
shorts: desoto
shirt: regular running shirt
compression tights: skins (after race)
watch: either garmin 205 or polar

other stuff that i'm considering: arm warmers, gloves, beanie, basic first aid stuff (emergency blanket, tape etc), ipod (?), sunglasses, phone.

food: the usual choices are sandwiches either pb&j or vegemite, sv chips, energy bars, snickers, creamed rice, fruit cake, snakes or jelly beans.

friday 8 august...

2008-08-07T18:51:00.000-07:00

waking up today i am feeling good but a little bloated with the addition of more than my usual carbohydrates into my diet. in the future i will test my carbo loading principles on some smaller races so that i can find what works and what doesn't.

even with only two days of complete rest i can feel my legs starting to get that springy but somewhat heavy glycogen loaded feeling that is usual in the day prior to race start. i'm hoping with this rest the last of my niggles will work themselves out and when tomorrow comes they will be chomping at the bit to get going. looks like it's going to be fast from the get go.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (but i feel heavier)
feeling: relaxed
sleep: 7 hours (good)
legs: right achilles still sore but legs starting to buzz with anticipation (and stored energy)

today's exercise:
none complete rest day 2

today's diet - planned for ~600-700g of carbs:
breakfast: oatmeal cooked w/ rice milk, sultanas, nuts, honey, cinnamon + banana + black coffee
snack: fried eggs (2), bacon rashes (2), toasted turkish w/ PB + coffee
snack: banana, fruit juice (350ml)
lunch: chicken breast, egg, veggies, salad wrap, a banana
snack: oatmeal soaked w/ apple juice
dinner: chicken breast w/ veggies and baked sweet potato
snack: blended banana, apple juice and rice milk

what i have to look forward to...

2008-08-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

i'm sitting in front of my computer at work and thinking about my upcoming run this weekend. i have ran over the same course a few times now but there is nothing that quite excites me like an out and back course with a handful of runners all looking at completing the full 90kms of trails and tracks. while much of the day will be spent alone knowing that others are out there enduring their own private battles makes all the more enjoyable. can't wait!

with the mistake made when i ended up with a plate of rice with my chicken stirfry for lunch i decided then and there to begin loading the carbohydrates. with only 40 hours or so until race it's better to start now and make sure that i have my glycogen stores loaded rather than finding out several hours into the day that i made an error.

this is what i am looking forward to this weekend.

after consulting a few ultra running websites i have also decided that taking two full days of complete rest will leave me in much better shape than trying to run some extra miles. there are no fitness gains to be made now and with the marathon two weeks behind me and the running base behind that i should be ready to go.

i'm feeling quite relaxed now but after my carb feed at lunch i felt like i had just consumed the equivalent of 10 cups of coffee. i was on an energy high! while i was initially concerned about my plans on eating non-primal foods during the carbo load and during the event itself i'm thinking it's better to play it safe and go with what has worked well for me in the past. trial and error can be something i play around with next month.

bring it on!

tonight i will begin packing and sorting through my running gear and try and decide on the details. what shoes, what pack, nutrition, hydration, electrolytes, clothes.....etc???

just heard frrom a friend that it's snowing on the course. need to carefully think about equipment now.

thursday 7 august...

2008-08-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

when i woke up this morning and took my first steps i felt like an old man. my legs where stiff and sore and my achilles is feeling particularly tight. time to rest up and allow my fitness to pull me through the next few days. i face the internal struggle of satisfying the animal inside that likes to get out and run for endless hours at a time and the voice of reason which is telling me to rest up.

i will attempt to restrain the beast and give in to the voice. i'll save the beast for saturday.

personal stats:
weight: 163lb and holding
feeling: restless
sleep: 6-7hr ok
legs: stiff and sore

today's exercise:
morning thoughts - the beast wants miles but the voice is telling me to rest up. i'll compromise and probably go for something in the middle.

today's diet:
breakfast: bacon, eggs, blue cheese, raisins + black coffee
snack: almonds, carrots
lunch: chicken stirfry w/ salad and rice, apple juice
snack: blueberry muffin, banana + black coffee
snack: oatmeal soaked in apple juice
dinner: some yummy stewed meat dish w/ mashed swede
dessert (i'm running 90k in 2 days so thought why not): chocolate pudding w/ icrecream and custard

while i considered not eating dessert the family were all seated together for a meal and i thought with a big run less than two days away i could use the additional carbohydrates to resupply my depleted muscles. i'm not much of a dessert eater (or chocolate for that matter) but thoroughly enjoyed it as i love ice cream and custard. i do have some food weaknesses but generally when i am focused on a goal i have the motivation and control to make good choices. after the run this weekend which i am planning on being my last long distance ultra run for some time i am going to focus instead on improving my performance at the shorter distances from the marathon down. to achieve these goals i will have to train hard, log the miles and be focused on my nutrition and weight management goals.

while i am excited about the run this weekend i am really looking forward to seeing if i can achieve my athletic potential. of course i will trying to achieve this as an average 36 year old male balancing all my other demands in life - husband, father of many, worker etc....

my wife has given me a vo2max/lactate threshold test for my birthday which i am excited about also. hopefully it will provide some useful information that i can use in my next phase of training.

wednesday 6 august...

2008-08-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

well another primal day has passed and while i have emerged from the cave i was living in for 30 days i am finding it more and more difficult to re-enter the nutritional society that i left behind. i am no longer looking for that quick, convenient snack to get me through the first signs of hunger or to pick me up when my energy has dipped in the daily ebb and flow that was the day-to-day norm.

while i have stuck with my primal way of eating, there have been challenges put in front of me to test my will. over the weekend my wife baked some yummy cookies and while they were considered healthy (pre-primal thinking) they were still full of sugar and grains. the second temptation was when i came into work on monday to find that my favourite vending machine cookie is on sale at the cafeteria. while i was thinking about buying a whole heap to store in my drawer for times of need i realised now that i am no longer needing the quick sugar fix and subsequent high to keep me going. the best outcome of eating primal is that i am always energised.

if you're reading this and haven't gone primal...... start today! what have you got to lose?

personal stats:
weight: 163lb
feeling: good, almost euphoric
sleep: 6hr good (restful)
legs: good but niggly

today's exercise:
run: while i am yet to run i am feeling the desire to go out for a solid 12-14 miler at lunch but i'm sure that it won't do my upcoming race any good. i'm known to do stupid things though. i didn't succumb to the inner voice and kept it short.
actual: 6 miles (40') w/ 5 miles moderate in 32'

today's diet:
breakfast: fried pork mince, bacon (2), eggs (3), mushrooms, peppers, eggplant + black coffee
snack: carrots (2), almonds (12) + coffee
post-run (10' prior): banana + coffee
lunch: herbed chicken breast w/ roast veggies - sweet potato, eggplant, peppers, honeyed carrots, a banana + orange juice (350ml)
snack: almonds
dinner: chicken korma (made with coconut milk) w/ veggies (sweet potato, zucchini, carrot, eggplant)
snack: raisins

i feel great!

tuesday 5 august...

2008-08-04T22:15:00.000-07:00

the legs are starting to feel a little better after putting them through their paces today. decided to i need to put in some intensity but i wasn't sure what i was going to do until i started.

i'm also trying to keep my weight steady with the big run this weekend and i am going about that by making sure that i take in a big post-workout feed of carbohydrates to keep up my glycogen stores. i'm trying to add any more stress to my system than is necessary. i still haven't worked out how many carbohydrates i need to take in after a session but as i either run with a garmin or polar hr monitor i am using the calories used as a guideline and trying to replace about 50-75% of my energy output. how much fat would i use to fuel an hour workout at say 70-80% heart rate max. i'm sure there is a formula or calculator out there somewhere. i just don't have the time to find it right now.

personal stats:
weight: 163-164lb
feeling: good
sleep: 8hrs broken but good
legs: about 90% (hamstring better but right achilles still sore to touch)

today's exercise:
run: 7 miles (53') incl. 2 x 1600m in 5:50-55 (1' rec), 2x1000m hills @ 10-15% gradient in ~5:30, 4x200m in ~:37

today's diet:
breakfast: rump steak, mandarin, carrot + black coffee
snack: banana + coffee
post-run: wholegrain oatmeal (1 cup) soaked in apple juice (250ml) w/ greek yogurt (175g) and banana
lunch (late): chili beef, carrots (2), apple (1)
snack: almonds
dinner: bok choy stuffed with pork

primal challenge results...

2008-08-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here are the results of my 30 day primal challenge that i forwarded to Marks Daily Apple...

Wow! The month seems to have flown on by without me realizing. The main reason I hadn’t noticed was because nothing has really changed since the challenge finished up. I have continued along eating what I have been eating while following the primal challenge and even though I have given myself the freedom to choose to eat whatever I wish I still choose more primal options. I can’t seem to bring myself to eat the usual processed sugars, pasta, rice, bread etc that was a big part of my diet prior to the 30 day challenge.

My diet prior to the challenge was the typical of the endurance athlete diet consisting of cereal and toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch, pasta and rice based dinners and throw in the several snacks spaced throughout the day that I consumed when feeling hungry or prior to or after a run. Snacks of course were of the processed variety and included sports bars, muesli bars, meal replacement snacks, pretzels, chips, cookies, chocolate etc.
With the challenge my diet drastically changed to include more fruit and vegetables but the biggest change was in the amount of protein and fats that I consumed at every meal.

While losing 10 pounds was an added result of the challenge, what I really discovered (almost day one) was that my energy levels where high throughout the day and replacing the fluctuations of low energy periods following my usual high carbohydrate feeds. I also noticed a reduction in post-run muscle soreness and enhanced day-to-day recovery. My legs almost felt like they were buzzing.

The last week:

Summary:
Starting weight: 172 pounds
End weight: 163 pounds
Exercise total: 49 miles (including race 26.2 miles)
Marathon finishing time: 2:57:10

Nutrition:
I followed the old school carb depletion-loading scheme which was popular amongst marathon runners a few years back. It made following the primal challenge easier during the depletion stage but I had to make some small departures in the form of added oatmeal, sweet potato and additional fruit (mainly bananas and dried fruit) in the days leading up to the marathon. I viewed oatmeal and sweet potato as being a good compromise.

Of course during the depletion stage the main challenge was getting in my runs and resting up for the race on Sunday. Actually stopping myself from going on long runs on the trails was my biggest challenge.

Results:
I stopped focusing on weight goals this week with my whole focus on being ready to go on race day. My weight probably dipped a little during the first four days when I eliminated nearly all carbohydrates but during the 24 hours leading up to the race I tried to top up my glycogen stores by adding in enough carbohydrates. The day before this ended up being around 600-700g of total carbohydrates.

Race day came and I woke 4 hours early for a good feed of oatmeal w/ honey, a banana and some apple juice (usually I eat two English muffins with jam and PB before a race). Two hours before I started drinking some sports drink (for the electrolytes) and just before the race I consumed the first of five gels. On the race I either drank water or sports drink.

I felt great at the start. Well rested and ready to run fast but by about 9 miles in I was thinking that I tapered a little short and was still carrying some leg fatigue. It didn’t get any worse and I was able to embrace the pain and fatigue over the final 6 miles to bring home a sub 3 hour marathon.

One mistake I did make was that I probably didn’t eat enough carbohydrates during the post-run window to help speed up my recovery in the days after and I suffered a little more than usual. Will rectify next time around.
As an endurance athlete it makes me aware that I still have a lot more to learn. While much of my learning will come from sites like this one and from books like the Paleo Diet for Athletes (although haven’t read it yet I plan on buying it) as an example I think much of the learning will take place while experimenting and finding what works best for me. So looking beyond this challenge I am going to continue on and for those that are interested I will continue to post my results and discoveries on my blog. It will be an interesting journey as I get back into running what I hope will be 100+ mile weeks with my end goal of running a 2:40 marathon.

Thanks everyone for sharing your results during this challenge. It has been great that to read how others are going and knowing that other people are reading with interest or even taking part in their own personal challenges makes sticking to my challenge easier. The changes I have made to my diet have been taken up by friends and they are all experiencing good results also.

Good luck everyone.

*************************************

And finally for those who have stumbled across my blog I encourage you to give it a go. Take it from me it works. I was able to lose some weight while training intensely and long in my build up to running a marathon. Which I completed successfully and achieved my goal of breaking 3 hours.

For others who are already following paleo (primal) eating and undertaking endurance training and activities feel free to email me at primalrunner at gmail dot com to ask questions and to exchange ideas and information. I will try and post regularly but I am starting a new job in a few weeks which may mean less time at the computer and thankfully more time to do what I enjoy most which is to train.

several days on...

2008-08-03T21:02:00.000-07:00

several days have past since the primal challenge was completed. i can safely say that i have largely stuck to the primal eating diet that i have adopted. although during a dinner party last weekend i did eat a bowl of homemade apple pie and ice cream. mostly it was easy to keep primal while at the dinner party and safely eat from the cheese and nut platter, avoiding the chips and crackers. dinner was a nice lamb stew with steamed green beans and i avoided the bread. but when it came to the pie i was always going to eat some. i also enjoyed two glasses of great red wine.

post-primal challenge i am allowing myself to eat without guilt as long as i largely make good choices throughout the week. the odd compromise whether within guidelines or not will be included when i feel the impulse. mostly i will try and live as close to 100% primal as possible with compromises to be able to train as an endurance athlete.

it's funny though when i weighed myself in the morning following the dinner party i was a full pound lighter. i think i have found the eat more, lose weight diet plan.

personal stats (4th august):
weight: 163lb
feeling: great
sleep: 7hr good
legs: a little niggly (right hamstring and achilles are tender)

today's exercise:
run: 60min moderate - 9 hilly miles

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacon (2), eggs (3), tomatoes (2), mushrooms (6) + black coffee
snack: carrot and 100% natural peanut butter
pre-run: coffee
post-run: chocolate milkshake + banana
lunch: salmon (tinned), asparagus, greek yoghurt, avocado w/ turmeric + apple
snack: carrot w/ PB
dinner: chilli beef w/ fried veggies (peppers, squash, zucchini)
snack: raisins, grapefruit

summary:
was a bit sceptical about today's run prior to heading out but about 5 minutes into it i was moving quicker than usual at an easy effort. looking at the garmin i was seeing sub 6:30 per mile pace. i'm finding it hard whether physical or mental to run slower than the marathon pace that i have been working on over the last few months. it also appears that with the reduced training volume due to the taper and post-race recovery allows me to run at a quicker daily pace. when the volume returns the pace on most of my runs will slow down as i accumulate training fatigue.

as i think it is especially important to recover from my runs at the moment so that i can back up and run more often i am focusing on what i have picked up in the research. like today i had a chocolate milk post-run to aid recovery. i will probably buy some protein powder and make my own fruit smoothies to consume after long and intensive runs but at the moment i am going with what's available to me....chocolate milk.

3 days on

2008-07-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

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.

day 30: the last day...

2008-07-29T20:23:00.000-07:00

is this my last day of the 30 day challenge? that came around fast. i am contemplating the big 'what next?' well instead of resuming life as it was before the primal challenge i am leaning towards continuing on with what i have learned about eating and endurance training over the last month. i have set some new running related goals and it will take a lot of effort (and energy) to be able to train my way towards achieving them. this blog will now act as a record documenting my ongoing quest to achieving what i hope is the next level in my athletic capability. to those readers who have followed my primal challenge progress please bookmark this blog and drop in from time to time. if anyone is interested and wants me to change format or detail about what i post here please leave some comments.

daily update:

two days after the marathon and i'm still very sore! the foot is much better but my calves are still tight and painful to the touch. i have been doing some light stretching and i even managed to make it to a spin class at lunch. took it relatively easy but it was good to be moving again.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-8)
feeling: great (mentally), sore (physically)
sleep: 6hr good
legs: argh...

today's exercise:
spin class: 45mins easy to moderate effort

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacon, mushrooms, spinach, eggs + mandarin + black coffee
snack: apple, almonds
lunch: salmon, avocado, cherry tomatoes, carrots
snack: almonds
dinner: chili con carne on a bed of steamed broccoli and spinach
snack: blue cheese + raisins

results:
the way i feel now towards food is that i am much freer with my choices and selections. as someone who generally trains for a minimum of 1-3 hours of running and or x-training per day i felt like a slave to eating high carbohydrate foods in order to maintain my fluctuating energy levels. often my daily food choices while mostly healthy would also include selections made from the vending machine and the chocolate boxes. the end result was that i would often feel increasingly tired throughout the day while at work.

from day one of the challenge i changed my diet by eliminating processed sugars and foods and thus reducing my emphasis on carbohydrates while increasing both protein and fat content in my diet. by the end of the first day i was already amazed at how good i felt and i had an overwhelming feeling of being extremely mellow and energised. i was worried that my performance would suffer while in my last month of training for the marathon and it did. well it did until i started adding in some carbohydrates during exercise and in the post-exercise window to replace my lost glycogen. it worked great and i was able to get through the rest of my training. my run volume suffered a little but i could still achieve the intensity so i focused on that. i still managed a couple of really great long runs on nothing but a few dates, a couple of bananas and some sports drink.

the end result for me was a total weight loss of eight pounds (starting weight of 172 and end weight of 164). I achieved a lowest weight of 162 pounds right before i carb loaded for the marathon in which my weight finished up around 165 pounds on race day. my waist decrease from 33 inches down to 31 within the first three weeks. i also achieved my goal of running a sub 3 hour marathon.

time to chase the 2:4x marathon train!

thanks for reading and i will continue to keep you posted.

day 29:

2008-07-27T21:11:00.000-07:00

i'm sore!

well as expected the day after the running of a marathon soreness is to be expected. this time around is no exception. my calves are tight but worse is my left foot. it feels like a bone on the outside is a little bruised. i'm hoping recovery is swift and i can get back into it quickly as i have a 90km run in less than two weeks. while it's not a goal race i still want to be able to complete the run to my expectations.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-8)
feeling: on a high
sleep: 6-7hrs (broken)
legs: sore, sore, sore....

today's exercise:
cross-training: 25min eliptical + 5min treadmill

today's diet:
breakfast: ham steaks (2), scrambled eggs (3), sauteed mushrooms + black coffee
snack: apple, almonds
lunch: bananas (4), almonds
snack: sardines
dinner: butter chicken w/ steamed veggies
snack: walnuts, rainsins

weighing myself this morning for the first time in a few days i found that i am two pounds heavier than i was prior to adding the carbs three days out from the marathon yesterday. after eating quite a bit and making sure that i hydrated well i am thinking that i got it about right.

day 28: marathon day

2008-07-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

race day! day started at 3am (t-3.5 hours from race start).

personal stats:
weight: not recorded
feeling: good/tired
sleep: <3>
legs: loose

today's exercise:
run: marathon race - 2:57 (26.2 miles)

today's diet:
t-3 hours: 1.5 cups oatmeal, 1 cup apple juice, 1 banana + black coffee
t-2 hours: 1 gatorade (600ml), 2 s-caps
t-10 mins: gu + water
during race: 4 gus (2 x standard, 2 x double caffeine shots), gatorade and water from aid stations
post-race: 2 hard-boiled eggs, 2 bananas, 1/2 orange, slice watermelon, gatorade (600ml), 1 cup raisins + large mocha
post-race+2hrs: 1 cup oatmeal w/ berries + black coffee
lunch: scambled bacon, mushroom and eggs
snack: walnuts, raisins
dinner: bolognaise (ground beef) w/ steamed veggies

day 27:

2008-07-27T18:40:00.000-07:00

after a short run with a few strides at faster than race pace i got home and started out with the plan to consume about 8-10g per kilogram of bodyweight of carbohydrates throughout the day. my main source of carbohydrates came from fruit and veggies but i also added in some oatmeal and sweet potato to reach my target.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (guess as not recorded)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr
legs: rested

today's exercise:
run: 15-20min easy w/ 3-4 x fast strides @ quicker than race pace

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: 1.5 cups oatmeal (cooked) w/ dates, blueberries, strawberries, honey + banana
snack: banana, orange, apple juice
lunch: sweet potato, tuna mixed w/ greek yoghurt and avocado
snack: banana, apple juice
dinner: sweet potato, scambled eggs w/ steamed veggies
snack: banana, apple juice

might have eaten more but i have forgotten. might have been some more fruit consumed.

race day tomorrow!

day 26:

2008-07-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

only two days out from the marathon and i wasn't really thinking about things too much! i starting adding in some carbs yesterday on what was going to be a three day carbo load but after a day of adding carbs i couldn't really face it today so i went back to what i have been eating over the previous weeks. as today was a planned day of rest i only ate some extra fruit (a little apple juice) and veggies to get in some carbs to continue to load my glycogen stores.

the plan is for a 24 hour carbo load following a short intense running session in the morning based on research i had read about.

personal stats:
weight: didn't bother as i expected with the loading and reduce exercise to add a little
feeling: tired and lethargic
sleep: not enough
legs: heavy (typical taper feeling)

today's exercise:
run: day off

today's diet:
breakfast: fried eggs, bacon, mushrooms
snack: almonds, fruit
lunch: salad w/ tuna, avocado + apple juice
snack: almonds, fruit
dinner: chilli con carne (ground beef) w/ steamed veggies
snack: fruit (?)

the marathon update

2008-07-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

i haven't posted for a few days but will get around to it on monday.

i just finished the marathon and am stoked to report a new pr of 2:57:10. i had a good run but died a little towards the end but it wasn't the result of nutrition, more a result of carrying a little too much training fatigue going into it. i started feeling deep fatigue (almost pain) in my quads at around the 9 mile mark and new that i hadn't rested enough in my taper. perhaps the couple of long runs a few weeks out were the main culprit. this is something i will address before my next race.

i'm also happy to report that after a big post-run glycogen replacement feed of oatmeal and lots of fruit (watermelon, bananas, raisins, blueberries, strawberries) i am back onto the program. i am starting to think i will keep going beyond the 30 day challenge and see how i can refine things. i don't think i need to consume the daily carbohydrate eating frenzy that is typical of the endurance athletes diet. perhaps a single post-exercise carb feed and a few carbs during the activity is all that is needed to top the tanks off.

see you monday!

day 25:

2008-07-24T18:40:00.001-07:00

to help loosen up the legs, back and hips before the marathon this weekend i decided to head to yoga with my wife this morning. it has been a while but it felt great to activate some of the muscles that i have neglected while being in heavy marathon training. i will definitely be trying to add more yoga to my weekly exercise program. it not only helps the body but frees the mind but removing some of the stress that is built up within.

i left my run till early evening so that i could take advantage of having some carbs in my body. i noticed an immediate difference in pace related to heart rate and i found it a struggle to bring up my heart rate to what i am planning on racing at over the marathon on the weekend. at about 10 beats below my marathon heart rate effort i was needing to run quicker than 6 minute mile pace to sustain that level of intensity. it felt good but i think i will be racing significantly slower than that on sunday.

personal stats:
weight: 162lb (-10)
feeling: tired
sleep: poor
legs: loose but lethargic

today's exercise:
yoga (am): 60 minutes
run: 32 minutes - 4.5 miles w/ 2 miles @ mp (6:00-6:20 pace) + 2 x 30-40" @ 5:00 mpm

today's diet:
breakfast: oatmeal w/ dates, banana + black coffee
snack: raisins
lunch: chicken mediterranean salad, apple juice + coffee
snack: bananas (2) + dried fruit + black coffee
dinner: pork vegetable stirfry
snack: raisins, cantaloupe

day 24:

2008-07-22T22:57:00.000-07:00

starting to get a little impatient now. this is pretty typical in the last stages of the marathon taper. as an endurance athlete who enjoys long training sessions often on my own on the trails not far from home all this short easy stuff is killing me mentally.

i struggled waking up to the alarm this morning after a very sleepless night with my 18 month old son who had a high fever and a vomiting session from our bed halfway through the night. when i finally got out of bed i felt dizzy and was a little disoriented. seems after two days of eliminating nearly all carbs including fruit and most of my veggies i am seriously depleted. well that was the plan all the time and from the onset of my morning struggle to get ready for work i was not too concerned. after a coffee and what is slowly becoming my usual breakfast i was feeling ok but very tired on the drive in.

during today's run at lunch i was considering going to town on the carbs and fuel up ready for my last run tomorrow morning after the run but i compromised and ate only a banana and a small apple juice before my main lunch meal ... pork ribs with small salad.

personal stats:
weight: 162lb (-10)
feeling: impatient, dizzy, depleted
sleep: less than 4hr (broken)
legs: great - loose but lethargic

today's exercise:
run - 30' easy - 15' easy, 10' marathon effort (~6:30 pace), 5' easy

today's diet:
breakfast: ham steaks (2), eggs (2) w/ sauteed spinach and mushrooms + black coffee
snack: apple, almonds
post-run: apple juice + banana
lunch: pork ribs w/ small salad
snack: almonds + black coffee
dinner:

after today i am looking forward to slowly adding some carbs back into my diet tomorrow and will only carbo load for one day prior to the race rather than my usual two to three days as recommended by the normal crowd. not entirely sure how i am going to carbo load and try and keep as close to my primal nutrition plan as possible. if anyone is reading this and has any thoughts please add them to the comments.

day 23:

2008-07-21T16:07:00.001-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr
legs: good (some niggles but ok)

today's exercise:
run: 47' - 6.2 miles 10' warmup + 4x30" fast strides, 4x1200m (4:30, 4:23, 4:14, 4:13) w/ 2-3' easy + 5' cooldown

today's diet:
breakfast: ham steaks (2), eggs (2), avocado (1/2), olive oil (1tbs) (47g protein (29%), 45g fat (63%), 18g carb (8%)) + black coffee (2)
snack: blue cheese, walnuts
lunch: green salad w/ chicken breast, olives and blue cheese
snack: walnuts, avocado (1/2)
dinner: salmon steak w/ roasted veggies

last run workout has been completed. it went well and now all that's left is to take the next few days to rest up, let the legs heal and freshen up and get ready to run the race of my life. i'm hoping that i can find the zone and embrace the pain in the later stages to keep pushing through to the end.

day 22:

2008-07-20T21:52:00.000-07:00

taper thoughts:

going into the final days before the marathon thoughts of what to do are flooding my mind. do i lower the volume, increase the intensity, rest, take it easy, sharpen up with short fast runs or run marathon paced sessions, carb deplete, carb load...etc, etc. in the past when preparing for an event i usually keep the volume up until the last week before the event and then give myself a short 5 day of reduced volume and the usual rest day two days out. i generally only carb load 1-2 days before the event because i think this can be over-emphasised by many runners.

coming into the marathon my training has been very different this time around. instead of the usual high volume with a twice weekly track session plan i have been tailoring my workouts towards more marathon specific preparatory sessions hoping that i can become more comfortable running marathon pace while increasing my functional threshold. over the last 2-3 months i have also only completed 1-2 longer runs (20+ miles) which is typical in most runners build-ups.... but i've completed some great sessions running between 14-16 miles of volume at marathon pace and faster.

i have also completed three weeks (21 days) of following an un-typical low carbohydrate, high protein-high fat based nutrition plan. over the next few days i am going to be even stricter with the diet and eliminate the excess fruit and hidden carb sources that i have included in the primal challenge to continue to deplete my muscles of their glycogen stores before short 2 day carb replacement/load. the plan is to start eating carbs while reducing the protein and fat content slowly into the diet on day -2 and then on the day before i will try and continue to increase my carbs being careful not to take in too many.

still a little undecided on what i will eat on the morning of the race but i have a few days left to think about that. in the past the good old english muffin with honey or PB&J has served me well but i am still planning on staying away from the grains. i had some success with eating bananas and dates before a long run a few weeks back so i might go with some of the same. taper nerves are starting!

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr (interrupted, tired)
legs: good

today's exercise:
run: 33' - 5 miles w/ 4 miles mp (hr effort) - averaged 6:25 pace

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacons, eggs, mushrooms, salmon + black coffee
snack: walnuts, carrot
pre-run: black coffee
lunch: tuna, egg, avocado, tomato, carrot + apple
snack: egg + black coffee
dinner: kangaroo steak (300g) on a bed of spinach and mushrooms + green salad w/ balsamic vinegar
snack: blue cheese, black olives

day 21:

2008-07-20T17:36:00.000-07:00

i was planning on getting out of bed and running my last long run prior to next weeks marathon but i slept in. sleep was what was needed and i appreciated the extra time i got to spend with my wife. as i was only planning to go out for 90 minutes i thought i would be able to squeeze my run in some time during the day. time flew and before i knew it my window of opportunity got smaller and i was only able to get out for 70 minutes before cooking dinner.

with that 70 minutes i tried to push the pace and run around marathon effort trying to get my mind and body used to it before next sunday. but i was fully energy depleted. while i could pick it up and run as fast as usual i struggled to maintain a hard effort for anything longer than a few minutes before the monkey would jump on my back to slow me down. when this happened i backed off and allowed myself to recover as i didn't want to push myself into a whole only a week out from my goal race.

my wife was also a little concerned about my weight loss so i made sure that i ate a little more today to keep my bodyweight up rather than lose any more. i plan on dropping a little during the next few days prior to a short carb load starting two days out from race day.

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
sleep: 8hrs (good)
feeling: good
legs: a little tight

today's exercise:
run: 70' easy w/ surges - 9 miles

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacon, mushrooms, pepper, tomato, GF sausage w/ eggs + orange
snack: almonds, cheese
lunch: spicy sausage, olives w/ cheese on a bed of fried spinach and mushrooms + "winter warmer" (chili soy chocolate drink)
snack: almond, raisins, cheese
dinner: red thai curry chicken w/ veggies (carrot, sweet potato, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant)

day 20:

2008-07-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

although it was only two days ago I have forgotten most of the details....

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
sleep: ?
feeling: good
legs: good (lacking energy but springy)

today's exercise:
run: 53' moderate - 8 miles w/ 7 miles @ marathon pace effort

today's diet:
breakfast: eggs, bacon + banana + black coffee
snack: apple, almonds
lunch: large salad, cold meat and salmon w/ balsamic vinegar
snack: almonds, cheese
post-run: juice (apple and vegetable) + banana
dinner: grilled chicken, gluten-free sausage, roast veggies (egg plant, red onion, pepper, tomato)

day 19:

2008-07-20T17:25:00.000-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 162lb (-10)
feeling: good
sleep: 5hr (good)
legs: good

today's exercise:
run: 40' easy - 5.5 miles

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ bacon, mushrooms, tomato
snack: almonds
lunch: large green salad w/ chicken breast and avocado
snack: apple, almonds
dinner: ground beef w/ veggies

day 18:

2008-07-16T15:08:00.000-07:00

today i woke to the alarm and discovered i am feeling quite refreshed. allowing myself a little extra sleep by skipping my usual morning run session in favour of a lunch session did the trick. unfortunately getting out of bed this morning i made the discovery that my legs are feeling a little beat up. not to worry yet still 10 days out but hopefully after an easy run today (instead of the planned workout) they should feel better.

it is amazing how quickly weight drops off when i take in no carbohydrates and exercise. i ate what i thought was quite a lot of food and i hydrated throughout the day but when i stepped on the scales i found that i am the lightest i have been for years. dropped two pounds in a single day - yes i know glycogen depletion is responsible for this. after my run at lunch i might need to add a few carbs just to restore some lost glycogen to my muscles.

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr (good/refreshed)
legs: average

today's exercise:
run: 60' - (8 mile total) workout: 1.5mile LT, 1mile LT, 2x3/4mile @ 10k, 1x1/4mile hard, 1x 3/4mile @ mp (2-3' jog/walk).

today's diet:
breakfast: fried bacon (diced), eggplant, chilli beef, turmeric, carrot
snack: almonds
pre-run (10' before): banana + sports drink (also during)
lunch: salad (lettuce, tomatoes, avocado) w/ sardines + apple and orange + black coffee
snack: carrots, almonds
dinner:

today's summary:
i had a good run session considering how depleted i was feeling earlier in the day. my legs were a little sore but i decided to give the session a go and use the next two days to get in the recover that i need to run a reduced long run of 13-15 miles on sunday morning. as i wanted to have a good session i took in some pre-run carbs 10 minutes prior and finished off a sports drink throughout the session. the session went well and i managed to push myself out of my comfort zone with some longer intervals. i pushed the pace progressively faster from threshold to 10k and faster before settling down for a cool down which also include 4 minutes at marathon pace.

My pace for the session averaged out to around LT pace ~6:00 per mile, 10k ~5:55, MP ~6:30-40 with some faster running (30 second striders) at closer to 4:40 per mile pace. they felt good and helped get the legs turning over. i love the feeling i get in my legs after a hard interval session. all i need now is to focus on recovery with the last longer workout completed successfully.

day 17:

2008-07-15T16:17:00.000-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 165 (-7)
feeling: good
sleep: 6hr
legs: good (recovered)

today's exercise:
run: 50' - 7.5 miles w/ 4.5 miles @ marathon heart rate effort
second run: 12pm) 48' - 6.5 miles easy (legs felt great)

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: kangaroo steak, carrots, blue cheese + banana + black coffee
snack: almonds
lunch: kangaroo steak, carrot, cucumber, 1/2 avocado + apple
snack: carrot, almonds
dinner: scrambled eggs w/ diced bacon, eggplant, broccoli

snack: almonds

day 16:

2008-07-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-8)
feeling: good
sleep: 5hr (dead tired)
legs: tired

today's exercise:
run: 50' - 7 miles w/ 3.5 miles @ faster than marathon race pace

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: poached eggs, bacon, spinach
snack: apple
lunch: smoked salmon salad
snack: almonds, apple
dinner: kangaroo steak + steamed veggies
snack: cheeses, cold meats, apple

day 15:

2008-07-13T16:24:00.000-07:00

the taper continues....day 2

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-8) - well hydrated
feeling: still on a high
sleep: 6hr (tired)
legs: good (achilles & calves a little tight)

today's exercise:
run: 40' easy (5.5 miles)

today's diet:
breakfast: 3 eggs, spinach, prosciutto + black coffee
snack: carrot, almonds
per-run: handful sultanas + black coffee
lunch (post-run): chicken breast w/ mediterranean style roast veg
snack: almonds, apple
dinner: chilli con carne w/ steamed veggies

week 2 results

2008-07-12T18:50:00.000-07:00

Starting weight: 172 pounds. Count down to marathon: 2 weeks (from end of week)

Nutrition:
After suffering through a few workouts last week as my glycogen levels in my muscles quickly depleted I decided I needed to add in some additional carbohydrates to fuel my workouts. With exercise a high priority for me this week (3 weeks out from goal marathon race) the post on primal athlete compromises for athletes came none too soon. To handle the increase in volume and intensity this week I increased the amount of fruits (raw and dried) and also added a cup of oatmeal to some of my post-recovery meals. Allowing myself to consume carbohydrates during exercise and in the hour immediately after only allowed me to be able to back up for the next day's run workouts.

My typical week while training for the marathon includes many sessions which are either intensive and/or long (up to 2.5 hours) which requires the increase of carbohydrate intake during the period of exercise and in the critical period for glycogen refuelling (first hour).

Doing a quick search on the internet and calculating my energy expenditure I settled on a post-run carbohydrate intake strategy of around 0.8-1g C per pound of bodyweight (about 130-165g). Also during my longer, more intensive sessions (e.g. 2.5 hour long run with the last 50 minutes at marathon pace) I consumed sports drink at 15-30 minute intervals for the duration of the run.

After my long Sunday effort (which went phenomonly well and helped redefine my marathon goal race pace) I ate a variety of fruits only (dried and fresh) and felt fantastic all day. The high lasted all the way into bed that night.

Exercise:
Total 78 miles

Monday: 10 miles w/ 3-4 miles @ marathon pace (mp)
Tuesday: 25 miles (3:05)
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 6 miles w/ 3x3min hard + 6x20 sec sprints
Friday: 8 miles w/ 4 miles @ mp // 3.1 miles hard
Saturday: 6 miles easy
Sunday: 21 miles w/ 7 miles @ mp (marathon pace test run)

Results:
Before sunday's long run I had a lowest weight of 163 pounds but after the long run and post-run food and drink consumption my weight climbed back up to 164 pounds (2 pounds down from last week/8 pounds lighter than starting weight).

Diet and energy wise I feel like I have hit the right pattern at the moment with my endurance and activity requirements. After my marathon race in two weeks I am really looking forward to seeing how I can improve my diet in this area to only take in what I need. I have some epic long mountain runs (40-60 miles) coming up and I am going to experiment with taking in higher quantities of protein and fat and only rely on carbohydrates from natural sources like friut.

day 14:

2008-07-12T18:09:00.000-07:00

last long run today....

personal stats:
weight: ?
feeling: great
sleep: 4hr (poor)
legs: great

today's exercise:
run: 2h30' long (21 miles w/ last 7.5 miles at marathon pace ~6:30mpm) - awesome run!

today's diet:
pre-run: banana, dates, sports drink + black coffee
during run: 800ml sports drink
post-run: 2 bananas, apple, orange, sultanas
breakfast: eggs, bacon, blue cheese + berries + black coffee
lunch: roast pork w/ salad and blue cheese
snack: walnuts, raisins
dinner: chicken vindaloo w/ veggies
snack: apple

today's summary:
one of the best runs i have ever head! just a banana, a couple of dates and a black coffee 90 minutes before starting and i was ready to go. i planned on running with a friend through the first 14 miles and then try and pick it up to marathon pace over the final 7+ miles. starting the run i immediately felt good. the legs felt loose and the effort felt easy. i only carried 800ml of sports drink in my fuel belt so i was expecting some trouble later in the run (but it never came).

after running an easy 14 miles in about 1:40 i could feel myself chomping at the bit to put the hammer down and when we finally hit a flat stretch i told my mate i would meet him back at the car and took off. i ran well over the final 7.5 miles (sub 50min) averaging a pace slightly quicker than goal race pace which really built up the confidence. think i will need to re-evaluate my goals in line with today's outcome.

the last long run is safely in the bank and with only two weeks left to taper i'm feeling ready to go.

over the next two weeks i plan on following the primal diet as closely as possible eliminating all excess carbohydrates until the final day or two when i will try and increase my carb intake with additional fruits and veggies. i've never followed a tradional depletion/carb reload phase popular amongst marathon runners in the past so i will be interested to see how it goes come race day. basically this means that i won't be worried about focusing on post-run nutrition and glycogen replacement but will instead allow my muscles to deplete their glycogen reserves over the next 10-12 days before refuleing them prior to the race. trying to maintain the intensity will prove more difficult as the week progresses.

yesterday was a real eye opener for me and it made me realise how little emphasis i need to place on carbohydrates to provide the energy i need to be able to train hard and maintain the volume that i would like to be able to put in when training for ultra endurance. after this 30 day challenge i plan on taking it even further and see what i can achieve at the longer distances (40-100+ miles).

day 13:

2008-07-12T18:03:00.000-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 163lb (-9)
feeling: good
sleep: 5hrs (good)
legs: tired

today's exercise:
run: 45' easy (6 miles)

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: oats w/ honey, dates, nuts, cinnamon
snack: walnuts, apple
lunch: scrambled eggs w/ spinach, mushrooms, tomato, smoked salmon + berries
snack: walnuts, raisins
dinner: salmon, avocado, chilli + green salad

day 12:

2008-07-10T16:45:00.000-07:00

a very sleepless night has left me feeling extremely tired this morning. my intentions of getting up early for an easy run were put to rest when the two young boys were up and down. the final time i had to get up to them was 30 minutes before the alarm was scheduled to go off and i'd had enough. reset it to get some extra rest before getting up for work.

no stiffness or soreness from yesterday's run is providing me with the confidence that my change in nutrition is directly behind it. i'll be interested to see how my run goes at lunch - hoping for an hour at marathon pace effort.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-8)
feeling: great
sleep: 4-5h (poor)
legs: great (buzzing of energy)
resting heart rate: 37bpm

today's exercise:
run: 56' - 8 miles w/ 4 miles @ marathon effort progression (6:30-6:00/mile), 1087cal, 161HR
second run (with dog): 21' - 3.1 miles

today's diet:
breakfast: sauteed spinach, mushrooms, tomato w/ turmeric + hard-boiled eggs + black coffee
snack: carrot, 4 dates, almonds, apple
pre-run: black coffee
during run: sports drink 600mL
post-run: fruit - orange, 1/2 cantaloupe, apple
lunch: pink salmon 200g, avacado, carrots, tomato
snack: almonds
dinner:

today's summary:
today's run went quite well. legs felt really good and i was feeling quite comfortable at marathon pace until i got a little distracted and upped the pace to around 6min/mile pace. the heart rate quickly jumped up and i backed off but i had already burnt myself. had a second run later that night with the dog. he needed some exercise and was excited to get out.

so far today the diet has been good. i was planning on having some carbs after the run but decided to just eat some fruit to top up the glycogen stores. i may pay for it later but i just didn't feel like eating all that much.

day 11:

2008-07-09T16:25:00.000-07:00

started off the day feeling great. the long run two days ago marked the start of my final phase of marathon training and the beginning of the dreaded taper (...i like volume). i don't usually taper for this long leading into an event but i have had some great sessions over the last few months so i thought i would try something new. hopefully i can consolodate my fitness gains from the previous two months and have the race of my life.

time to increase the intensity and reduce the volume. still have a few key sessions that i will do over the next few weeks. this sunday will be my last longer run. meeting up with a friend to pace them through the first 10 miles and then i plan on running the next 10 miles at my goal marathon pace. this will be done on the marathon course covering the last section of the run so hopefully it will serve me well (mentally) on race day.

personal stats:
weight: 165lb (-7)
feeling: awesome
sleep: 7hr
legs: awesome

today's exercise:
run: 40' w/ 3 x 3' steady (850-900m)/3' jog + 6 x 20" sprints (~150m)/40" jog

today's diet:
breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ spinach
snack: apple, carrot, almonds
pre-run: black coffee
lunch: fruit (honeydew & rock melon, banana) + kippers, tomato, avocado salad
snack: almonds, raisins
dinner: bolognaise w/ steamed veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, spinach)

today's summary:
my legs felt springy at the start of the run due to yesterday's rest day and in an unusual turn of events i ran without the garmin so was unsure of pace and distance but i was feeling pretty good. the wind was blowing during the intervals and after the third one i decided that was enough. don't want to blow it now this close to the marathon. finished up with half a dozen sprints to end the session. nice and quick and to the point!

day 10:

2008-07-08T16:13:00.000-07:00

i am amazed how good i am feeling this morning. my legs are feeling great and they are without any soreness or stiffness.

my post-run recovery yesterday seems to have worked a treat. shower, skins (compression pants) worn under my work pants all day, 1lt of water, hi-GI food (mainly fruit and oats), higher protein intake remainder of day, legs elevated at lunch for 5mins, hot bath at night.

personal stats:
weight: 167lb (-5) - well hydrated
feeling: great
sleep: 5.5 hrs (not so good)
legs: great

today's exercise:
rest day

today's diet:
breakfast: scrambled eggs w/ spinach and mushrooms
snack: carrots, almonds
lunch: thai beef salad + coffee
snack: banana, almonds + coffee
dinner: kippers w/ large salad (lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, avacado, cheese)

day 9:

2008-07-07T16:15:00.000-07:00

to appease my sanity during this marathon struggle i needed to go long this morning.

during my drive home last night i decided with the cost of fuel at an all time high i need to start making some greener choices. my decision? i need to ride or run more as a way of commuting between work and home. not the easiest thing to do when work is a solid 30+ miles away. while i have run the full way to work i decided to take it a little easier on myself this morning by driving down the hill to make the run a short 25 miles. the trip home will only include an additional 6 or so miles as i will catch the train back to the car.

diet wise i am still planning on maintaining a primal selection of sorts but am allowing a window of carb consumption during the run and in the hour or two immediately following to allow some glycogen resplenishment to my heavily depleted muscles. i expect this is similar to what friel recommends in his book on the paleo diet for athletes. i will have to get my hands on it.

personal stats:
weight: 166lb (-6)
feeling: good
sleep: 4 hrs
legs: good

today's exercise:
run: 25 miles (3:05)

today's diet:
pre-run: black coffee + hornet juice
during run: 2 litres sports drink (watered down), 2 honey stingers
post-run: oats soaked in apple juice w/ mashed banana, dates, almonds, orange + black coffee
lunch: chicken w/ roast veggies (egg plant, peppers, olives) + green salad
snack: almonds, carrots
dinner: steak casserole w/ veggies

day 8:

2008-07-06T15:57:00.000-07:00

after seven days on the primal challenge i can say it has been interesting. while i eat quite well generally i have noticed that i am eating more fruits and veggies due to the removal of those little extras that invade my daily diet. that piece of banana cake or muffin with my morning coffee and a late afternoon vending machine raid when i am in slide of the post-lunch carb crash have gone.

while the scales revealed that i replaced a little weight from my low on friday i think that was mainly from my muscles refilling their depleted energy stores. i made an effort to increase my carb intake after my intense and longer runs so that i didn't inhibit my run training effort. looking in the mirror i can definitely see some changes as i am starting to lean out a little mainly in the upper body.

personal stats:
weight: 166lb (-5)
feeling: tired
sleep: 6hr
legs: good

exercise:
run: 70' moderate (10 miles)

diet:
breakfast: bacon, spinach, egg, chilli beef + black coffee
snack: almonds, apple
lunch (post-run): oats, banana, apple, almonds
snack: raisins
dinner: red chilli chicken w/ vegetables (egg plant, broccoli, sweet potato)
snack (late): dates, banana

day 7:

2008-07-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

long day yesterday.

personal stats:
weight: ?
feeling: low
sleep: poor (4-5hr broken)
legs: good

exercise:
run: 1:00 hr w/ sprints

diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: oats w/ raisins, nuts, honey + banana + black coffee
snack: walnuts, mandarine
lunch: marinated beef, turkey, ham w/ tomato, avocado + berries
snack: walnuts, dried apricots, currants + black coffee
dinner: steamed veggies (broccoli, spinach, cauliflower, carrots) w/ chilli con carne (ground beef, chillies, tomatoes, etc)

today's summary:
not the best day all round. mental and emotional energy low after yesterday's incident which saw an emergency dental visit for one of my boys followed by a long night. i think i have made good food choices this week but over the last two days i have felt i have eaten a little too much. i think i eat more when the family is around as that is what is expected. that would be ok if the training volume was up where it should be but at the moment i think i am lucky to be hitting over 7-10 hours a week. need to make it up next week. with three weeks to go to marathon day maybe a little forced overtraining (crash training), consisting of high volume-medium intensity will be in order. followed by a high volume-low intensity week and a short low volume taper.

day 6:

2008-07-04T21:25:00.000-07:00

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-7)
feeling: great
sleep: good (7-8hrs)
legs: good

exercise:
rest day

diet:
breakfast: eggs, bacon, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes + banana + black coffee
snack: walnuts
lunch: marinated beef, turkey, ham w/ tomato, avocado + berries

snack: walnuts, mandarin

dinner: salad w/ spiced chicken and avocado

snack: raisins, banana

today's summary:

decided to take a rest day and see if it helped remove some of the accumalated fatigue from my legs.

day 5:

2008-07-03T15:21:00.000-07:00

each day i am learning something new or remembering something old!

stepping on the scales this morning i wasn't expecting to see a change but I am down another 500g (1 pound). while my goal is not weight loss (well not in terms of bodyweight) but rather i am more focused on life change, wellness and of course setting and overcoming a personal challenge.

i was feeling like i was stuck in the groove of everyday life and was neglecting myself - physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. i am discovering while on this journey we don't need to find time to make changes in our lives we just need to commit to making and sticking to small every day improvements. as a husband and father of many, worker and marathon/ultra runner that is a good thing. time is not something i have a lot of and i need to make work the time i have available.

personal stats:
weight: 164lb (-7)
feeling: great
sleep: not enough
legs: good (but a little sore)

exercise:
run: 1:40' moderately-hard

diet:
breakfast: 3 eggs w/ turmeric, tomato, carrot + banana + black coffee
snack: almonds
pre-run: apple, banana (2h prior) + black coffee (1h prior)
during run: 100ml sports drink every 15mins (48g C)
lunch: chicken snitzel w/ garden salad, carrot (2), 50g sultanas (32g C) + organic weetbix (20g C) + 250ml sports drink (15g C)
snack: dip (tuna, avocado, chilli)
dinner: large green salad w/ sun-dried tomatoes, salami, cheeses
snack: raisins, banana

summary:
ran 14.3 miles out and back run along the marathon course. out in 51' average pace 7:08 min/mile and back in 47' average pace 6:34. absolutely spent! even my arm and chest muscles are sore post-run. wonder what's going on there. i am assuming it has something to do with glycogen depletion and supplying energy i need during the run. i didn't bring in enough food for an adequate post-run recovery meal and as there will be no vending machine raid to grab something full of simple sugars we'll see how things go.

found myself a little depleted after the run and it took some extra carbs to feel better. not the best choices for a post-recovery meal and i will need to plan my meals a little better before i leave home in the morning. finished up the day with a great dinner and followed it up with a few extra carbs in the form of a banana and raisins. feel i need a bit of extra energy going into the weekend with two days renovation work and a planned longer run on the trails and hills on sunday.

day 4:

2008-07-02T18:11:00.000-07:00

last night before going to be i emailed aaron from mark's daily apple about some concerns i had trying to undertake the 30 day primal challenge whilst in my last month of hard marathon training trying for that elusive sub 3 hour marathon (i also have a 90k ultra trail run 2 weeks later). he responded quickly and provided some useful information that i will take into consideration. i will post a more detailed synopsis on how i will apply my take on the primal blueprint whilst training hard with some modifications in the details of course.

personal stats:
weight: 165lb (-6)
feeling: good
sleep: 4hrs (not good)
legs: good

exercise:
run: 1h35' w/ last 20' on trails

diet:
pre-run: black coffee
breakfast: porridge (1cup oats, sultanas, crushed walnuts, honey, cinnamon), apple + black coffee
lunch: pork spare ribs, steamed veggies, small green salad + black coffee
snack: almonds, carrot
dinner: corned beef, cabbage, steamed veggies (carrots, broccoli, cauliflower)
snack: sultanas, apple + black coffee

today's summary:
headed out for an early morning 10k run before meeting friends back at the house to add another hour or so to the run. about 30mins into it my quads starting aching, which concerned me somewhat but it only lasted for a short 5-10mins. i was feeling quite tired when i got back to the house so grabbed a banana and washed it down with some water before heading back out. finished up the run with time on the fire trails and along some nice technical single track as the sun was coming up.