Primal for 60

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

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...

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...

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...

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...

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

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

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...

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?

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?

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