BORN TO RUN Insight

I just finished reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. The book is awesome and I highly recommend it. Although I had started running again before reading the book, now that I'm done, I feel a new inspiration for running. Normally, running for me has been about pushing through the pain, testing the limits, doing the grind. After reading this book, I think my outlook has been skewed. While running is and can be about all of the things listed above, those things don't have to be a struggle. The pain I've experienced is increased exponentially by my anxiety about its onset. As soon as I start feeling some of that pain associated with running hard, my anxiety jumps through the roof..."How long can I deal with this? Can I deal with this? Do I want to deal with this? Holy crap, its getting worse!!". I end up talking myself into feeling pain and paying attention to it. What the hell? Once in awhile though, I GET IT. The pain is comfortable. I LIKE IT. I've relaxed into it, and I am no longer afraid. This enjoyment happens when I pay attention to the beautiful things about running. I get to experience a lot of nature and a lot of the area I live in by running. I get into a fluid stride, a rythm of movement. When I start to pay attention to these things, my anxiety drops and the pain becomes a pleasure. Its not even pain anymore. The running isn't a grind, its a pursuit. I am testing the limits and breaking through new barriers each time I go out, which is beautiful in itself.
Thats the message Christopher McDougall is trying to convey. Running is not a means to an end, but an end in itself. Running for the sake of running. Running as a part of life. This is my new view on running. Every part of it is enjoyable. No pressure, just have fun.

Below is a video from Barefoot Ted, one of the runners in the book. An overview of the Copper Canyons and some of the runners that ran in the first Copper Canyon Ultramarathon.

Strength Day

I've been trying to get more running into my weeks. I'm trying the barefoot running thing and it seems to be working out. I have gradully increased my mileage and avoided any injuries so far. Although I'm running more, I still want to keep a base of strength (or strength-type training). For me, that looks like this...

All with the 24kg kettlebell:

Clean and Press x 5,4,3,2,1 r/l

Swings x 10/10 , 30 secs rest x 5, 20 secs rest x 5


Swinging Planks - 20 sec on / 10 sec rest x 8

Thats it. I'm still trying to figure out how much I can strength train while trying to effectively increase my mileage while running. Eventually, if you push them too hard simultaneously, they both hit a wall. I will continue to try and balance work and recovery while maintaining at least a base of strength and power endurance (ala VO2Max VWC) and cardiovascular conditioning (ala running and VO2Max VWC). We'll see how this works...

FEED THE MACHINE

I want to talk about post-workout nutrition. So often do I find that people train hard, yet ignore good nutrition. Your body doesn't improve WHILE you workout, it improves when you recover. Post-workout nutrition is the primary step to that recovery (ina ddition to adequate sleep, sunlight, and eating well). Also, you WILL NOT "gain back what you just lost" if you eat immediately after working out. Your body doesn't work like that, sorry:) E-mail me if you want a rant on why that just isn't so.



So, you've trained hard for the past hour, you are finished cooling down, and now you need to eat. Notice I didn't say WANT to eat, I said NEED. You may not have the best appetite after training, but it is essential that you find SOMETHING that you can stomach within the first 30-60 minutes after training. Why 30-60 minutes? Because thats when your insulin sensitivity is at its peak (after about 90 minutes they are almost back to normal levels). Why is this important? Because insulin is responsible for shuttling all that post-workout nutrition right into your muscles. Insulin grabs onto glucose (from your bloodstream) and packs it away into the muscles that you just trained. Oh yea, it also carries amino-acids with it, allowing your cells to start building new proteins (i.e. - NEW MUSCLE). This is important even if you are not training to build big muscles, because this process allows your muscles to adapt to the training you just performed, to give you new capacity (i.e. - MORE ENDURANCE).


Ok, now that you know the basic science behind it, lets apply it. Ideally, and this goes for endurance athletes as well as strength athletes, you want a 1:4 ration of protein:carbohydrates in your post-workout meal. This ratio applies to the number of grams of each (they have the same caloric value per gram). So, if you eat 20 grams of protein, you want 100 grams of carbs. Get it? Good.



Now, the TYPE of carbs and protein should be considered. You want a FAST-DIGESTING carbohydrate, and an EASILY-ASSIMILATED protein. This basically means sugar and whey protein (I suggest whey because it is easily found as a supplement and in most dairy products). You could also use egg whites if you have a whey allergy. If you are allergic to both, then do some research and find something you can eat after training (any supplement store should have some options for you).
As for the carbs, any carb with a high GI value will work. Some of the best are bananas, pineapple, white bread, etc. You can work out the amount of each of these foods that you eat based on the above ratio and your specific caloric needs.

Some ideal post-workout meals that I like to use) are:

- A banana and a cup of milk
- A cup or two of CHOCOLATE MILK (yes, it is one of the BEST post-workout meals, even for a serious athlete, and no, it will not make you fat)
- Ricotta cheese and Jelly on white bread

Let me know if you have any other suggestions / input. Hope you enjoy;)