2 Updates – HaBay and Our Big Debut on the Runners’ Round Table

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March 26, 2010

VICKY: This is going to be AWESOME.

GRANT: Word Up! This is going to rule.

VICKY: What are you talking about? You’re not going to be at the Hamilton Around the Bay race this weekend with me and Karen Karnis right?

GRANT: No. I thought you were talking about our appearance on the Runners’ Round Table on Wednesday?

VICKY: Oh yeah there’s that too. What time is that at?

GRANT: Wednesday at 5 PM EST. We should tell our readers that they can log in at that time and participate in a live chat with us and some pretty cool runners from the Runners’ Round Table.

VICKY: Yeah well either that or tune in to make fun at us trying to be cool while talking on live internet radio.

GRANT: Relax, it’ll be fine. We’ll be talking about Born To Run, barefoot running and your favourite topic: why women are better ultrarunners.

VICKY: Yeah, you’re right, I’m going to talk about how women kick ass.

GRANT: So, about this weekend, you and Karen are going to run the oldest race in North America?

VICKY: Well, like you, I’m training for the Ottawa Race Weekend Half Marathon in May so I’m not ready for HaBay. However, Karen Karnis is running the 30K distance and I’ll be doing the 5K with a friend of mine. I’ll be at the finish line as well encouraging a few of my running friends. I’m so proud of them for running the grueling distance, battling the hill and plowing through when the famous Grim Reaper runs beside them telling them they won’t finish the race.

GRANT: Holy smokes, that’s pretty intense!

VICKY: Hamilton folks are good like that 🙂 So, come join us even if you don’t run. It’ll be a great day and a great event. I’ll be the girl with the big smile and the red iRun t-shirt!

Around the Bay is 30K

By

Karen Karnis

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March 23, 2010

This Sunday I will be joining 6,999 of my closest friends running the oldest road race in North America* – Around the Bay in Hamilton, Ontario. With all that history, and the infamous “Older than Boston” t-shirts, what’s not to love? It fit into my marathon training schedule perfectly, so although I won’t be racing it, as such, it will make for an interesting, fast-paced and (hopefully) confidence-building training-run.

Naturally, when I tell people I am running Around the Bay, they ask how far it is – after all, not everyone is as interested in running history** as I am. But when I answer that it is 30K, people look at me and say “that’s an odd distance for a race, isn’t it?” What, because 42.195K makes sense?

*It should be noted that Around the Bay is not the oldest continually run road race in North America – that honour belongs to the Buffalo Turkey Trot, born in 1896, because Around the Bay missed a few years in there.

**Come on, even Saint Ralph did Around the Bay!! Okay so another obsession of mine that is not shared by everyone is watching movies about running.

Celebrity Chef Ramsay Filleted And Discarded By LA Marathon

By

UpToSpeed

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March 22, 2010

Grumbling gourmet Gordon Ramsay was forced to drop out of the LA Marathon this weekend due to a calf injury. A veteran of many marathons, Ramsay’s actually in pretty good condition and made it through 20K in 1:42… pretty sharp for a 43 year old with a crazy schedule. He was on track for a chance at a PB.

Ramsay had planned to run April’s London Marathon, so hopefully he can get healthy in a hurry. Persistent calf issues can be tricky in that they often lead to other problems (achilles injuries, plantar fasciitis, etc), but they can also be worked out pretty quickly.

New Half Marathon World Record For Eritrean Tadese

By

UpToSpeed

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March 21, 2010

Organizers of the Lisbon Half Marathon in Portugal were not disappointed by their aspirations of hosting a world record dash, as Eritrean Zersenay Tadese smashed his own PB by 36 seconds en route to both new half marathon (58:22) and 20km world records (55:21).

Take a moment to marvel at that math. He ran 20km at 2:46/km, then accelerated over the final 1.1km (2:45/km) to beat Samuel Wanjiru’s half marathon mark.

Quinoa and corn pilaf.

By

the-running-chef

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March 21, 2010

Here’s a simple side dish that can be served hot or cold. An ancient whole grain, thats good for you and tastes great.

1 cup Quinoa (you will have no problem finding this grain at health food stores) white or red or a mix of the two.

1.5 cups water.

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 spanish onion diced finely

2 cloves garlic minced

2 green onions sliced

2 tbsp chopped herbs. Your choice here. What’s in your fridge?

1 cup corn (frozen is just fine if it’s not corn season)

1 tbsp smoked paprika (we use our BBQ spice mix but smoked paprika is fine alone)

Salt and pepper

In a pot saute garlic and onions with 2 tbsp oil on med heat till very soft but not browned. Season with salt and pepper. Add quinoa and stir to get all grains coated in oil. Add water and cover with a lid. Cook about 20 minutes or until all liquid has been absorbed. Remove from heat and leave lid on.

In a saute pan heat remaining tbsp oil and add corn. Sautee for one minute and add paprika. Continue to cook for another minute or so. Taste and add salt and pepper as desired. Mix with the quinoa. I now add the green onions and herbs.

All done ready for the plate. Hot or cold this pilaf is great. You can serve it alone or with your favourite meat on top. I love grilled salmon with this one. Cold it will keep in the fridge for about 4 days. So make extra and have it any time.

Enjoy

Gharib Goes For Redemption In Lisbon This Weekend

By

UpToSpeed

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March 19, 2010

The Lisbon Half Marathon, which has arguably become one of the world’s foremost half marathons, has attracted an exciting field to this Sunday’s start. Six of the men have broken 60 minutes, most notably Jaouad Gharib who ran 59:59 in Lisbon last year… and lost by three seconds(to Kenyan great Martin Lel). However it will be Eritrean Zersenay Tadese, he of the 58:59 PB (seventh fastest all-time), who will be paced to a world record attempt.

Jaouad Gharib is probably best known to North Americans for his part in the most BONKERS marathon finish imaginable at Chicago ’07. Check it out:

Surely the coach knows something I don’t

By

Karen Karnis

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March 17, 2010

It can be tricky to choose a marathon training plan. There are so many great ones available out there that there is surely something for everyone. And if not, there is so much information available that you can probably create your own. But this time around, I decided to invest in a training plan that was designed just for me.

I thought about it for a long time before entering my credit card. I read a lot, and asked for advice. However, the whole trial-and-error method hasn’t been working for me. I’ve tried it twice, which doesn’t seem like that many trials, but they were both errors, and when you’re talking marathon training, an error of this type means shooting half a year. In my case, I shot a whole year the first time after deciding to wait until fall to attempt my second marathon.

I have no illusions that the questionnaire I filled out gave the coach a complete history, or that he custom-designed every workout like none other he’s done before. But it was nice to know that he was sort of starting where I was at, and taking into account my habits, likes, dislikes and weaknesses.

So far I can say that it is wildly different than anything I’ve done before, but I guess that’s the whole point. After all, as Einstein points out, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

I wouldn’t say this plan has taken me out of my comfort zone, because I am not terribly uncomfortable. No, it’s more like it has removed my comfort zone. I don’t know how these workouts are supposed to feel, so I have no expectations around when I might get tired, where I might start to struggle – I just do them.

Of course, I do have some questions in my mind, some hesitations and doubts about the volume and intensity, but then I remember the whole insanity thing and try to forget it. My goals, successes, failures and training history were all taken into account when this plan was designed. Besides, I remind myself that if I was just going to ignore the plan and do what I wanted to anyway, I could have done that for free!

Master Athletes Need to Eat Enough and On Time!

By

BMansfield

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March 14, 2010

Nutrition surveys suggest that most master athletes (anyone over 35 yrs of age) do NOT consume sufficient energy to support needs. They have a tendency to supply needed energy AFTER it is needed mainly because they are poor planners with many work, home and sport commitments or they are restricting their intake to achieve too fast a rate of weight loss leading to disordered eating patterns. Training on too few calories can lead to chronic fatigue, poor immune function, loss of muscle mass and decreased performance.

Practice makes perfect

Your digestive system (as well as your muscles) needs some training to be able to keep you well fueled during your training sessions (and competition). If you want to be able to eat and drink comfortably during your marathon (or longer) event, you need to be practicing that in training. Exercising hard while eating and drinking are not things that your body would normally prefer to do at the same time – but just like skiing fast, eating is a learned skill that requires the same amount of practice and attention to detail. If you plan on consuming 200-300 calories an hour and 1 litre of fluid (for example) during your race you need to practice consuming both of these in your training. Don’t skimp on fluid or calories during training!

So why do so many of us train on too few calories (and fluids)?

All it takes is getting dropped by the pack when the pace picks up or on a hill climb during training and it’s easy to start thinking that “if I just lost a couple of pounds I would be able to stay with the pack”. The problem with trying to diet while training is that the lack of calories and specific nutrients (especially carbohydrates) wreaks havoc on your muscles and immune system and makes you prone to injury. Taking in far fewer calories than what your body requires may result in the body attacking it’s own tissues, resulting in a a weakened muscular and immune system. Training, building muscle and following a sound diet are the best way to lose weight because it comes off slowly.

How much do you need to eat?

Track your intake for three days – don’t change anything. If you are able to answer yes to the following questions then you are likely eating enough:

Can you train without undue fatigue (i.e. you can train well throughout each training session)?
Are you maintaining your body composition (i.e. not losing muscle or gaining body fat?)
Do you have a fast recovery between training sessions (i.e. you are energized for each training session)?
Do you have optimal biological functioning (e.g. regular menstrual periods for women, able to sleep well, concentrate on the tasks at hand, etc)?
Is there an absence of health & performance issues?

If you answered YES to any of these questions then there are changes you can make to your eating patterns, food choices and timing of food intake to improve your health, your ability to train well and achieve peak performance in your sport.

My words of wisdom for optimal health and performance for master athletes are:

Get enough sleep
Eat snacks before and after working out
Rehydrate, refuel, rest up for recovery
Train properly
Keep a sport nutrition checklist

Fuelling the machine part 1.5

By

the-running-chef

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March 14, 2010

Or “How not to fuel the machine”.

It was Friday at noon, and I was already thinking of my first run of the year the following day. My wife and I decided to go for some sushi at a new restaurant nearby. During what was a nice break from children, work, the day to day grind, my wife leans over and says,”I invited so and so for dinner tonight. Burgers in particular on the BBQ and your famous margaritas”. Well how do I resolve this dilemma?

Obviously I make the burgers and margaritas, and totally fail at not consuming too much of both. After four margs and 2 burgers, I felt bad. I mean really bad, physiologically and emotionally. Better start drinking lots of water. And so my visions of a great race are starting to dissolve. Thankfully it’s only the first of many, and hey you never know, maybe I’ll post a good time none the less.

NO.

I jog the 5k to the race. Sign in, and get my timing chip. Feeling good but not great. In the line up I see plenty of my peers, and am asked on numerous occasions, “what pace are you looking for?” Good question. I had wanted to post a sub 21min. I opt for the “well we’ll just have to see”, knowing a 21min time is out of the question, and just hoping that I come in under 24min. We’re lining up now. Last chance to get hurt. NO can do. I am just going to have to suffer through this one. It’s only 5km. How hard can that be? I decide to run along side a woman I train with who is likely to post a sub 21min. time.

BANG

We’re off. I am keeping my pace through the first 500m. Feeling pretty good. At the 1km mark I am now sucking air big time. By 2km I have lost my running mate. By 3km I am begging for it all to be over. I keep saying to no one in particular “just let me get to the finish, and I won’t drink before a race again”. With a little over 500m to go, I find what might qualify for a sprint or strong finish. But surely looks sad, even for me. Over the finish line and I’m done. Literally.

23 minutes and change. Not bad, but not what I had wanted. And why? Because I did not fuel the machine for proper performance. This will be a lesson for me to hopefully learn from. And if anything I will not suggest burgers and margaritas as a pre race meal again.

On a slightly more upbeat and interesting note. Tomorrow I have a meeting at the Peak Centre, to asses my vo2 max/threshold, and develop a training and nutritional program for the rest of the summer. I have offered myself up as a guinea pig to an intern for training. Hopefully I’ll have interesting topics for discussion in the coming weeks.

Fuelling the machine “part 1”

By

the-running-chef

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March 14, 2010

With springlike conditions all around, my thoughts are to the upcoming race season. And ultimately my performance this year. After surviving all my races last year, my goal this year is compete at a whole new level. To this end I have identified several areas of needed improvement.

High up on this list is my food and liquid intake, before, during and after each race. We have all heard before the saying, “train like you race like you train”. I have tried this winter to incorporate this into all my workouts. I have had success and failure doing so. But more so to the success side.

My training day strategies have been as follows lately. I wake and make sure to eat before I have coffee. Otherwise the coffee makes me not want to eat. This has been the single most beneficial thing I have done food wise in the morning. I have until recently never eaten breakfast. And if I did, it certainly wasn’t before 9 or 10am. Getting up and right into training was difficult until I changed this one thing. I make sure to get something natural and full of carbs for my first meal. Mostly it has been a bowl of granola. But I have started making energy bars (yes the ones I spoke last time about, and that I will post the recipe of shortly). I love the fact that I can eat one before coffee and another just before training. During workouts I have tried to follow a guideline of 2 litres of liquid per hour. I have not faired so well here. So far I can reasonably get 1.5 litres down. Usually it’s a carb drink like “HEEd” or “Accelerade“. Each contain about 150 calories and about 38 gr of carbs the way I mix it up. Knowing that I also require about 60gr of carbs per hour for exercise or racing, I also consume 2 gels per hour. Although the gels I have used are odd to get used to, I have noticed increased energy throughout my training sessions. They provide an additional 25gr of carbs per shot. If you were to add it all up, I am taking in 88gr of carbs per hour, and 1.5 litres of liquid. This seems reasonable and has worked so far. But is there a better way?

To find out I am going to get a full vo2 threshold test done. And get a full nutritional breakdown based on the results. I will post it all here in “part 2”. And hopefully discuss the results with those more informed than I. Also we will try to figure out the ins and outs of carb loading before the big race.