Running Nutrition – Running with Neal

I’ve mentioned before that I have been doing weight training at El Jefe as part of my marathon training. I go to the power lifting class lead by coach Vinny on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Yesterday, along with most Tuesdays, was a squat workout. In the middle of one of my sets Coach Vinny walks over and watches me as he does with everyone.

El Jefe

Usually after watching for a little bit Coach Vinny will tell a person what they are doing wrong, how to correct it and what they are doing that looks good. I wasn’t ready for what he told me.

“You squat like an Asian!”

WHAT?!? I don’t even know what that means.

He assured me that it wasn’t a bad thing and that he in fact liked it. Still this has had me perplexed since he said it. What am I doing differently than everyone else? This is where the internet comes in.

The Parallel (Western) squat:

Parrell Squat This is what most of use in the US and non-Asian countries do. Definitions vary but generally it involves either the femur being parallel to the floor or the hip joint getting to just below the knee. Kinda like siting down in a chair but without the chair.

The Deep (Asian) squat:

Asian Squat

This involves the butt getting as close to the floor as possible. Its a triple flexion movement, involving bending at the ankles, knees and hips. Folding everything up underneath yourself. Ultimately, it comes down to ankle flexibility. If you have flexible ankle you have a shot at it. Its VERY common in Asian countries. And having spent some time in Japan I can attest to that. Its the default resting position over there. According to Dr. Philip Maffetone in his book The Endurance Handbook, it is a more natural position and less stress inducing than sitting in a chair.

So, sounds to me like its a good thing its quite possibly the only time I’ve been accused of being flexible. Dr. Maffetone did observe that the ability to comfortable deep squat is more prevalent in endurance athletes. Maybe that means I’m approaching that level.

Speaking of endurance, how’s that for a segue, I went on a 16.5 mile run the other day. the schedule called for an 18 mile run but it was hot, I was hungry and I had an appointment coming up that I needed to get cleaned up for.

I was pretty concerned at the beginning since my knee had been sore for a couple of days. But coach V wouldn’t let me out of the run so I thought I would give it a try.

The first 2 miles were pure agony. I couldn’t get comfortable in my gait. there was pain in my knee every time my foot hit the ground. I tried to change my foot strike to no avail. Lengthened my gait, shortened my gait, over exaggerated my knee movement, minimized its movement. Nothing helped!

Then just after the 2 mile mark when I was about to tap out for the day. It cleared. Suddenly there was no pain anywhere. I have no idea what happened but I rode that wave through mile 6. Felt like I could go forever. Coach V and I stopped by home at mile 7 so I could use the restroom. She was starting to get some pain from being on the bike for that long, probably had something to do with being 19 weeks pregnant, so she stayed home and I continued on.

Took about a mile to find the groove again but I found it. I coasted to mile 12 and then mile legs started screaming at me. Just little short pains at first. A minor spasm here, the precursor to a cramp there…just enough to interrupt my stride. So I had to start walking more and drinking my water and the new Gatorade Endurance that coach V got me. In total it took my 3:31 to go 16.5 miles. That averages to 12:50 min miles but it was the last 4 miles that really brought that average down.

And on another topic….

Sorry couldn’t come up with a natural segue so that will have to do.

I finally found a gel that doesn’t make me wretch as some as it gets to my lips. Hammer Gel. Fueling during long runs is important and having a strategy to fuel is equal critical. So, following the guideline in Marathoning for Mortals I am taking in about 100 calories every hour on the half hour. Originally, I planned on doing this with just Gatorade chews since every gel I had tried to that point didn’t sit well with my stomach or sense of taste.

I got a couple of Hammer gels in a race swag bag and thought, “for free I’ll try it”. I actually like them alot.

So…with the impending long runs and marathon soon to come I went to their website (https://www.hammernutrition.com) and ordered a sampler pack with different flavors of gels. 14 in total. I thought it would be goo to try several different ones so I can decide what I like and don’t from a taste perspective.

This is what I expected to get:

20181104_200522

This is what I received:

20181104_200735

Since I’m a new customer they sent me a welcome packet at no charge. I’m seriously impressed. This is bunch of stuff when all you are expecting is some gels. I am still working on how I want to start incorporating some of it into my running routine being so close to the Marathon I may wait until after to start trying things. But, I’m really looking forward to seeing if it helps with the post marathon and 15k trail run recovery. I’m very impressed with this company so far and a lot of the literature they sent about the products lines up with the research I’ve been doing on endurance running nutrition.

OK, so, that was a lot of post. I’m getting in new shoes tonight and can’t wait to try them out and then another pair of shoes on Friday. That’s a story for another time.

So, tonight will be a run, not sure how far I’ll go but I’ll let y’all know! Until then….C-YA!

I’m sore.

In fact I’m very sore.

I actually brought my stick up to my desk an have already used it twice this morning and probably will again soon.

The past weekend was perhaps one of the most physically grueling weekends that I’ve had since I stopped helping my family with their farms.

SO, why am I so sore. Let me start with Friday Night. A friend of ours who really likes to play board and card games is in from Ohio. So we (Adam, Vicky and I) went over to Vicky’s parents as soon as I got home from work to play games. The trouble that I didn’t realize was that everyone else had dinner before we went. Vicky’s parents being the gracious hosts that they are had cheese spread, crackers and even a little pizza to nibble on while we played and offered my several bottle of beer to wash it down. On top of the burger King I had for lunch meant that it was a whole day of horrible eating.

As I mentioned in the previous post I moved me Sunday run to Saturday. Which meant the I got up and went on a 9 mile run with the intent of keeping a 9:45 pace. This did not happen. We took off with Vick and Adam on bikes and me running. the first mile felt ok, not great but I did keep an 8:45 min/mile pace. Mile 2 everything started to tighten up and hurt but still managed a 9:26. And then I really started to feel bad. I spent the next 7 miles stopping occasionally to try and stretch my calves. I nearly got ill in mile 7 and almost tapped out. However, thanks to the encouragement from Adam and Vicky (who I’m going to start referring to as Coach V on these runs) I kept going and finished the distance.

This brings a thought and a question to mind.

First the question.

When training for an event such as a half marathon or a full is it better get in the distance of the long runs and sacrifice the target pace or hold the pace and not get the distance?

I realize that hitting both would be the ideal but as I demonstrated Saturday I wasn’t going to hit both. I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

The thought has to do with nutrition. I know that I ate horribly on Friday and I think that had a pretty dramatic effect on the Saturday run. the nutrition side of things is not something that I’ve ever paid much attention to.

As a high school cross-country runner and track sprinter it never mattered much. I was eating everything I could to maintain my weight. I actually would eat to dinners a night most nights. One at a friends house right after practice and another at mine. (he was doing the same thing)

Now the advantage that we had is that our mothers are both amazing cooks and they where feeding us good balanced meals but as a 17 year old your not paying attention. The adults took care of little details like that so that we could worry about more important things like school, running, cars, music, girls … that sort of thing. although girls didn’t become a real distraction until college, but I digress.

Even in my 20s I didn’t have to really pay attention to what I ate. although by in large I was fixing in myself I mostly stuck with the type of things mom made. I’ve always loved fruits and vegetables. I’m actually a pretty good gardener. Almost anytime I have fruit I claim its one of my favorite fruits. And my love of pasta is nearly legendary among my friends and family.

Fast forward to now and I’m having to be careful how much I eat. What I eat seems to have a much larger effect on how I feel and now I’m noticing performance differences based on food.

Getting old sucks. There I said it. It is however inevitable. So, I’m going to start looking into what I should be doing diet wise. What does a runners diet look like? How can I fit into my lifestyle and family’s needs? If any of you know of some good resources let me know and I’ll review it and report back with what I learn.

Ok, enough with the boring stuff. On to Sunday!

I along with Coach V and Adam ran in Tough Mudder Arizona. And one of the really cool things is that we adopted an abandoned running who would have had to run alone named Katie.

A tough Mudder is a 10-12 mile non-competitive run with 20+ obstacles. They are all about teamwork and comradery with your fellow Mudders. Most of the obstacles you will be helped either physically of encouraged by complete strangers. It is one of my favorite things to be a part of.

The obstacles are designed to test you both physically and your grit. that ability to overcome fears and get the job done. I have seen many people especially new Mudders approach an obstacle with hesitation and fear. But with the help and encouragement of everyone around they time and time again accomplish things that they never dreamed they could. Usually they get to the other side and beaming with pride look back and say “huh, that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” It reminds me of how much of running and really life is about our attitude and ability to set fear aside to just get the job done.

It true is an inspiring thing to see and a humbling event to be a part of. I always feel like kind of a badass for a few days afterward, even when I am so sore that typing is a challenge.

Did I mention I’m sore?

I also need to give a shoutout to my teammates:

Coach V (aka Vicky) who got me started on these things even though I thought it was kind of gimmicky. And inspires all of us to fight though. Hopefully, I can continue to keep up with her.

Adam who hates running but loves the obsticales (well most of them). I hope someday to have a quarter of his grip strength. He also has a youtube channel about board games specifically the game Dominion. You can find him there at AdamHorton01

And Katie who we just met but by the end felt like an old friend. You are always welcome in the Mudder Band! And I look forward to running with you again soon.

So, I’ve got a lot to do this week between training, nutrition research and a few life things going on. The next run is Tuesday so until then….C-ya!

Tag: Running Nutrition

Squats and Long Runs

Nutrition and Tough Mudders