Cavemen Should Be So Lucky

I follow a pretty strict diet. Yesterday, I started with some chocolate covered espresso beans, a 3-egg omlet, a pastry, and a cappuccino. Later in the morning I had a chocolate croissant. For lunch I had fajitas with rice and beans, and a big cookie for dessert. I mean a really big cookie. It was really more of a chocolate chip pie. Later on I had a muffin and an ice-cream sandwhich. When I got home I had some chocolate b-bs, some walnuts, and then steak and asparagus for dinner. Then a rediculously sweet dessert bar, dripping in caramel. Finally some more walnuts, and then a bowl of raisin bran.

Yesterday was Tuesday. And Tuesday is special.

The other six days of the week I eat like a caveman. As rediculous as that may sound, eating like a caveman is the basis for the paleolithic diet (a.k.a. the caveman diet). I follow the paleo diet as described in The Paleo Diet for Atheletes. Essentially, most of the time you are allowed to eat anything that a caveman would have had available.

The foundation for the theory behind this diet is that humans evolved over 100,000 years or so to eat certain types of foods. It's only in the last 10,000 or so that foods requiring processing came into our diet (grains), more recent than that for sweets, and still more recent than that for synthesized oils (trans fats). Thus, many of the health problems that humans experience may be related to consuming foods that our bodies have not evolved to consume.

While it may not be obvious what a caveman would have had available, it's easy to identify lots of things that a caveman would not have had available. Tuesdays notwithstanding, I don't eat refined sugars (e.g. sweets, soda), grains (wheat, rice, oats, etc.), legumes (beans, peanuts), dairy (milk, cheese), or trans fats (e.g partially hydrogenated soybean oil). I only eat fruits and vegetables, meats (leaning towards fish and other lean meats), and nuts.

I do make a few other exceptions besides Tuesdays. I have a cup of coffee every day. I have maybe five alcoholic drinks a week. And if I'm out to dinner with friends or family, if someone has something that's especially good I will have a small bite so as not to miss out. Finally, the protein powder I use to complement my protein intake from natural sources is made from whey and is flavored with cocoa.

There are two things that are so bad (in my opinion) that I avoid even on Tuesdays. The first is trans fats. These molecules are very hard for your body to break down and cause all sorts of health problems with cholesterol. The second is peanuts. Peanuts and peanut oil cause big problems with atherosclerosis, which I understand as arterial plaque.

Those two things aside, why would I do all of this? We typically think of endurance atheletes as calorie burning machines who get to eat anything they want. And at 6 feet 1 inch and 170 lbs, I certainly don't have any concerns about my weight. The reason is twofold.

First, one's diet has a significant impact on one's performance. According to The Paleo Diet for Athletes, athletes who follow similar diets are able to recover faster, get sick and injured less frequently, can train at higher intensities, and observe improved results in controlled endurance tests.

Second, I believe that the effects of an unhealthy diet (and by unhealthy, I mean one high in any or all of grains, dairy, legumes, sweets, trans fats) have a cumulative aspect that contributes to health problems down the road. I am not aware of any studies that are conclusive on this in a comprehensive sense, but I think there are many partial results and this claim will be supported by ongoing and future research.

As an anecdote, I eat as much as I want of fruits, veggies, nuts, and meats. Probably about 3000 calories a day. I get roughly 30 percent of them from fat (nuts, oils, and animal fat). I eat a dozen eggs in a week, and eat some form of animal protein in every single meal. I'm somewhere between 6 and 7 percent body fat. My cholesterol is 114. My LDLs and HDLs are all well within the healthy paramaters.

I recognize that no small part of this is due to lucky genetics, but last time I evaluated these things I was training (and eating) for marathons the traditional way (i.e. lots of miles, lots and lots of carbs from grains). I was unquestionably in good shape by most traditional standards. But I was less muscular, my body fat percentage was about 2 points higher, and my cholesterol was about 15 points higher.

From a diet standpoint, this is what has changed: Now, on a typical day, I will have a glass of orange juice or some unsweetened applesauce with protein powder and some walnuts before my workout. If it's a particularly hard workout I might forgo this and eat a gel or drink some sports drink during my workout instead (not paleo, but okay during and immediately after exercise). After my workout I have two eggs with veggies, some juice, and a cup of coffee. For lunch I get a gigantic salad with spinach, peppers, broccoli, beets, sprouts, grilled squash, and fresh fruit. I liberally pour olive oil on top of it if I think of it, but dressing doesn't really matter to me anymore. I also get about 6 ounces of deli meat or tuna or lobster salad (technically deli meat is not paleo because of the salts added for preservation, but it's a very convenient option for me). I split my lunch into two, have half around 11:00 and the other half around 2:00. In the afternoon I'll have a piece of fruit if I'm hungry. For dinner it might be chicken, or beef, or occasionally fish (I'd like it to be fish more, but it's not always convenient or cost-effective), a vegatable, and some more nuts, and if it's the weekend perhaps a couple of beers or glasses of wine. For dessert a glass of orange juice, some protein powder, and some more walnuts. Maybe another piece of fruit or a carrot if I'm still hungry.

Since going on this diet I feel notably better in many ways. Occasionally in the morning I used to feel very lethargic for 15 minutes or so after waking. That's gone. I feel stronger in my workouts. I can do back-to-back workouts and even double workouts with less fatigue. If you've been doing crossfit with me you've probably noticed an increase in my performance over the last two months. And going from 8-9% body fat down to 6-7% just happened as a side-effect of starting this diet.

So given all of this, what's up with Tuesdays then? To be honest I find it too difficult/discouraging to follow the diet indefinitely. Sometimes I'll see something that's not on the "approved" list and the thought of never being able to enjoy that thing again seems unfair and makes it even more desirable. By giving myself one day a week to eat anything I want, not only is it easy wait x days to enjoy it, I can quantify the part of my diet that is not paleo. If you're just having a snack here and there you never really know how it adds up. One day of splurging a week allows me to get the benefits of the other six days.

Cavemen should be so lucky.

Getting Through the Rough Spots

One of the things I got in my bag of schwag from Skyline was a copy of the latest issue of Ultrarunning. I've never looked through one of these before so doing so was kind of interesting and pretty good reading.

One thing that stood out was a fantastic article written Gary Cantrell called "Quitpoint". Basically it talks about how running an ultra marathon is not a matter of persevering continuously for 30 or 50 or 100 miles. It's a matter of persevering through a finite set of rough spots, or what he calls "quitpoints". These are points in the race where quitting looks like an extremely attractive option when compared with not quitting.

As an example, unless forced to by serious injury or health concern, nobody quits a race out in the middle of nowhere, miles in either direction from an aid station. People quit at aid stations, where the volunteers are warm and helpful, their families and friends are present, food and drink is abundant, and a free car ride to the finish is available. Aid stations are classic quitpoints.

The article is strictly about ultra running, and that aspect of it resonated with me as I know that had my injury flared up just before or after an aid station, I would have had more options avaible, one of which would have been the aforementioned car ride to the finish.

But what I really enjoyed thinking about was how this way of looking at races might apply to other aspects of life. We all have many struggles that we go through, big ones and little ones. Challenges with work, school, relationships, family, friends, health. There are times when we think about throwing in the towel, and there are especially arduous times when throwing in the towel would be easy, or at least seemingly more attractive than the alternative. Success in a lot of areas isn't about working through problems day-in and day-out. It's about working through those few times when giving up is simple and means and end to the hardship, while forging on promises more pain and suffering.

But at the end is the gratification that one can only know after having suffered. That's why you thank the volunteers for their kindness, you wish your family and friends well, you take some food with you to go, and you push thoughts of a soft seat in an air conditioned vehicle out of your mind.

Adding Up, Subtracting Down

It's hard to know what to take away from last weekend. There are the obvious things, like start a little slower next time, try stressing the downhills more and do other exercises to try to mitigate the IT band problem I suffered, come up with a different solution than gels (I've decided they are too messy and, after awhile, too nauseating to bother with). The harder part is the psychological part.

When you run a perfect race you know it. You can feel that you set the right pace, made the right decisions, and there's nothing you could have done to finish any faster. When you don't run a perfect race, you know that too.

While I'm obviously happy that I finished, I am a little disappointed that I didn't finish sooner. Given the circumstances (my first 50K, an unexpected injury), I think I should have expected to come up a little short, and most folks would tell me that I should be more than satisfied with completing my first ultra. I guess I'm not like that.

When I don't live up to my own expectations, when I feel I can do better, it sits in the back of my mind and gnaws at me. It bothers me. I start plotting. I want to go back and do it again, I want to show myself that I can meet certain challenges.

Maybe I should be more realistic with my expectations. Maybe I'm being a little too melodramatic and this is just the one-week low spot that occurs after big races.

Okay, so what's next? My plan was that if Skyline went well I would sign up for Dick Collins Firetrails 50 miler in October. While I think Skyline went well enough (despite my misgivings above), I'm worried that my IT band won't be back in shape soon enough to keep my workout intensity at the level it should be in time for October. I've decided that if I'm not doing hilly trails with no problems by the weekend after next, I don't think I can be ready and I won't sign up. Maybe I will volunteer for trail crew or something.

I still want to do a 50 miler soon, but I'll do a 50K if there aren't any 50 milers coming up after Firetrails. The San Jose Rock 'n' Roll half-marathon is coming up too, which might be a fun little diversion, especially since the only elevation change is when the road dips to go beneath an underpass (meaning that it won't aggravate my IT band).

It's funny that I've started to think of a half-marathon as a fun little diversion. I guess I have taken some things away from last weekend after all :)

I Still Suck at Running Hills: Skyline 50K Race Report

Well this sucks, I thought. I couldn't run. I could barely walk. I was about 25 miles into my 50K. 2.5 miles in either direction to an aid station. I was moving along fine, a little slower than I had hoped, but otherwise fine. And then my left knee just stopped working. I could put weight on it, but taking a stride was excruciating. Conditions were great. I felt good. But I was here pondering what was starting to look like my first DNF.

The day started at 4:30 AM. I didn't sleep well the night before, which was strange because I didn't feel nervous or anxious. I couldn't seem to get my temperature under control, which I can usually solve by getting some magnesium, orange juice, and water into my system. But I was on the verge of sleep and I (foolishly) couldn't bring myself to get up and address it. Anyway, first thing to take care of was breakfast. 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce, 1/2 scoop of protein powder, 2 eggs, 1 banana, a few almonds (all based on recommendations from The Paleo Diet for Atheletes). Next was to complete the last few items on my pre-race checklist that I didn't do the night before. Recovery drink and cooked yams into the cooler; cooler, drop bag, and gear bag into the car. Jen got up at 5:00 and by 5:30 we were out the door.

It was an easy enough drive to the course. I was in a good mood, a little nervous but not the way I typically might get for a road race.

Arriving at Lake Chabot I took care of the last minute things: sunscreen, body-glide, pockets full of gels, popped one gel right before the start.

I've only done one other trail race (Mt Diablo 25K), and I thought I recognized some folks from there, but I didn't know anyone.

Jen wished me luck, and at 7:00 AM sharp we were off. The course starts with small rolling hills, then a moderate climb to some more rolling hills, then the first aid station (Grass Valley) around mile 4.5. A short descent and then an easy climb to the next aid station (Bort Meadow) around mile 6.25. My target split time at Bort Meadow was 56:31. My actual split was 56:05. Not bad, I thought! Next is a moderate climb to a flat area, to a steep descent, to the Big Bear aid station. Target split: 1:22:52. Actual: ~1:23:00. Looking good!

I feel like all longer races go through similar phases. In the beginning you tend to think about the folks around you, I'm going to pass this guy, I'm going to let this woman pass me because she's fast. It's almost like you're sizing them up. In the middle you become a little more introspective. You've been running around many of the same people for awhile, the nervous energy has burned off a little. You think less about the other runners as your competition and more as your compatriots. It's a nice transition.

In the rolling hills after Big Bear I got into a group that was a little too fast, and then my achilles suddenly flared up. I've suffered from tendonosis in both heels for a few years, but I've mostly got it under control, and they haven't bothered me on a run in awhile. This was a disturbing development. But I stopped to stretch and was happy that the problem seemed to go away (it would happen a couple more times in the race).

On the big climb up to Skyline Gate I spent some time talking to a guy who was training for the Golden Hills Marathon, just out for a training run. It was really nice to break up the silence a little. Shortly after I got passed by a woman near whom I had been running for most of the morning. I'd end up talking to her later.

At Skyline Gate Aid Station Jen was there to greet me! She had organized all of my stuff and filled my water bottle for me. I went through the station quickly, but I forgot to dump my empty gel containers, and I forgot to get a new bag for my soon-to-be-empty gel containers. I realized about 10 mintes later that I would be carrying these for several miles. Oh, and my splits: Target: 2:14:02, Actual: 2:16. Damn, I'm good!

Shortly after Skyline Gate (mile 15) I hit a low point. There are some tough technical descents, followed by climbs, eventually levelling out to a flat path. I was struggling to keep in touch with the folks I left Skyline Gate with, I was feeling bad, and I was not excited about continuing another 15 miles. I thought Look, this is stupid. You're not having fun anymore, and if you drive yourself into the ground you're not going to enjoy this race, which is the whole reason you're here. So I backed off, and a few minutes later I started feeling better. I realized how beautiful the path through the conifer forest was, and how lucky I was to be out here enjoying it.

Next the course goes down some switchbacks, and I worried for a bit that I was off-course, but then some guy with a number flew by me and I assumed I was okay. I arrived at Big Bear the second time (mile 20) in reasonably good shape. I had lost quite a bit of time off my target by slowing down, but I was okay with it. Target: 3:14:52. Actual: 3:23.

I walked up the steep climb out of Big Bear and popped my first caffienated gel. Boy, was I glad I saved those! In my improved mood, I realized that the hard terrain was all behind me, and I was beginning to believe that I was going to finish. I came into Bort Meadow the second time (mile 23), some more time lost. Target: 3:43:50. Actual: 3:57:45.

Disaster struck after I left Bort Meadow. The trail goes to single track down a wooded valley. I knew I had 8 miles left and I figured I would just bang out what I thought were probably 10 minute miles for the rest of the race and be done in an hour and twenty minutes later. I was congratulating myself on having run a smart race. At my 20 minute interval I decided to walk momentarily to give myself a little rest and pop another gel. Then my left knee seized up.

I tried stretching. I tried massaging. I didn't want to try sitting down and didn't think it would help anyway. I limped a few paces and stopped. I felt the seconds slipping away. More limping. Time passing. I found if I walked with a straightened left leg I could make forward progress. I've read that no matter what, in an ultra-distance event you need to force yourself to make relentless forward progress. So that became my mantra, and that's what I did. The knee seemed to get marginally better and I found that if I took really little steps I could run on it.

Some more experimenting: I could handle the uphills and the flats okay, but the downhills just killed me. Once I started the little climbs coming into Honker Bay I was getting passed (literally) left and right. I remember thinking that I had believed myself to be so clever in picking runners who gradually improved their places in previous years' results as a basis for my target split times, because the runners that were getting passed at the end were hurting and not running the race that they had wanted (see my "How Fast" post). And now I was that guy, slipping through the places. Honker Bay splits: Target: 4:35:29. Actual: 5:01.

But I was going to finish, darn it. On the downhills I did a straight-legged long strided walk, and on the flats I did a little jog, and on the uphills I walked or jogged. At the finish my parents and my friend Mark were waiting for me, so it was great to see them there. My final time: Target: 5:04:08. Actual: 5:40:46! Wow, lots of time lost at the end there.

Me at the finish of my first 50K!

I felt great at the finish, besides the knee. I got a chance to talk with the woman with whom I had run near the first half of the race. It was Terrie West, who took something like 30 minutes off her PR, and who incidentally hit my finish target time. She was hitting all of the splits I wanted to hit, which means she ran a smart (and fast) race. Great job!

All in all, I enjoyed my race. I didn't hit the times I wanted to hit, but I mostly had fun and it was so great to be outside on the trails in such perfect weather. My assessment of the injury is that my IT band really flared up. I've been rolling it out at night, and I think I'll know in a few days if it was that or if I need to go to the doctor to get it checked out. On one hand, I could say that none of the things that I was worried about and could have planned for impacted me. But on the other hand, it might be a problem with leg strength or just experience and endurance on hills, both things I may need to work on (and hills being something that I did cite as a concern prior to the race).

On a side note, today I feel fantastic. My quads are a little sore, my knees are a little sore, and my left knee is still hurting, but besides that I feel as good as the day after any workout. I even did a crossfit warmup today, and my situps and pullups felt exceptionally strong. I attribute my recovery to crossfit and to the paleo diet. I'll talk some more about my diet in a future post.

Finished Skyline 50K

Just got back home from the race. Didn't hit the times I was projecting, but I enjoyed myself and finished. I'll post a race report with pictures when I've rested up a bit.