Nutrition & Training Plans

Lately nutrition has been a big topic on a lot of blogs I read. Chuckie V really drilled it into the ground a couple weeks ago, and The Everyday Athlete had a great series of posts recently. The main emphasis? Eat simple.

Avoid foods with huge ingredient lists. Your body has to process that crap. Generally, if you can't pronounce it, don't eat it. In other words: If it can't come out of your mouth, don't put it in your mouth! Chuck has been on a rather extreme (but convincing) caveman bit recently. The idea is to eat the foods that we evolved on. It's more extreme than a lot of people would go, but sadly it does make sense. Heidi had a great list of Ten Super Foods recently. Her list is simple too, foods like: cottage cheese, apples, fish, eggs, almonds. Simple foods.

Recently I've been trying to revamp the way I eat once again. I'm taking it in steps, though, otherwise I have a feeling I wouldn't stick with it. Every week, a few new foods to add to the mix. This week I added eggs, almonds, raisins, and tuna. So far, I'm enjoying the variety. More filling food for breakfast and healthier snack choices -- its so incredibly easy to grab a handful of almonds on the way out the door!

I'm not sure what I'll add next week, but I'm open to suggestions and will be trying at least one or two new foods. What healthy foods can't you live without?


On a completely different note, I've decided to make some changes to my training plans this year. Remember the goal for a 1:20 half marathon in May? I'm throwing that out the window. It isn't that I don't think its possible, I do, but I don't think its smart. Going for such a fast time so soon would be absolutely begging for injury. I need to keep building my base. I can't be stupid.

The result for my training? I'm getting rid of my ultra-fast tempo runs. Faster runs are staying on my agenda, just none of the six minute pace stuff. I'm going to back it off a bit and train below my lactic threshold for a while; the goal is to keep my HR under 175 on my hard runs. Once I no longer see any benefit from this, I'll start working in faster stuff. For now, though, I'm noticeably improving every single week, so why risk the injury? My major races are ages away!

My race schedule is getting altered a little bit as a result. I'm only going to run one of the half marathons (St. Louis, April 6th) and then focus on triathlons through July. In June I will have my tri for TNT, then in July I'm strongly considering the Half Ironman in Racine, WI. After I survive that, its back to a focus on running to Hammer. Like. Hell. At. Chicago.

Two major peaks for the year: the Half IM and Chicago. Everything else I'm mostly going to train straight through.

Sound like a game plan? I think so!

Delaying the Inevitable

Yesterday my sister woke up feeling sick. Today, both my parents were feeling a little under the weather. I still feel okay. But its practically guaranteed that, save a miracle, I'm going to be getting sick in the next few days. Ugh!

I'm doing everything I can to hold it off. I've been drinking lots of orange juice and water to boost my immune system and flush out my system. My hands have probably been washed more today than they have in the past week! Also, I spent as little time in the house as possible today.

I made a trip to the nearest running store, which is 60 miles away, to get some new running shoes since my current ones are wearing out. Then I further postponed coming back to this germ-hole by browsing around Borders for a while, looking at cycling and triathlon books.

After secluding myself by reading a book on swimming, I did the only logical thing and took a trip to the pool for the first time in a few weeks. I'm trying to incorporate some techniques the book talks about in order to make my stroke even more efficient. So far I've gotten my freestyle down to just 15 strokes per lap; a HUGE improvement over the 27 it took me a few months ago!

Tonight I have to start getting ab workouts going again. I've been slacking big time on the goals I set a while back! The stability ball and medicine ball I got for Christmas are really encouraging me to get on top of it now.

And, this just in... (Literally. I got an email while typing this.) I'm officially teaching next semester. Really teaching. Last semester I just taught a lab, but now I'm actually going to be lecturing a classroom of students. I'm excited and worried about it. Its a great opportunity, but how much time is this going to require? I'm hoping it doesn't keep me from training as much as I want to!

And, some responses to comments:

Bill - I use the Garmin Forerunner 305. I love it and how it tells me every possibly thing I could want to know about my running. If heart rate data isn't important to you, the 205 is a bit cheaper.

Vickie - Yeah. That weather sure is fun! Wasn't as bad as the Illinois winter last year, but I'm sure Michigan had it even worse! Luckily I shouldn't be back to Michigan until its nice and toasty again.

Marcy - Yep. I'm definitely trying to make you jealous! But I've earned this break big time, I'll go back to being a sleep deprived college student soon enough!

Everybody else - Thanks so much for the encouraging comments lately! But be careful, your enthusiasm only pushes mine to increasingly dangerous levels!

A Run With the Marathon Dude

Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas!

What? I don't make a convincing Santa? Fine, fine. I'll stick with running.

I just got back from visiting family in Michigan for the holidays. It was a really low key trip, and I got to see all my family: everybody from my 4 year old cousin to my 88 year old Grandma. It was great!

I also got together with Bill for a nice run. We tried to go on Sunday morning, but the pouring rain and 50 MPH wind gusts canceled that plan for us real quick! The crap-tastic weather subsided yesterday, though, so we met up on Christmas Eve.

Bill is one solid runner; he doesn't make those numbers up! I felt as though I was holding him back quite a bit, but if I was in top shape I could give him a run for his money! Our splits were:

8:10 (Icy trail, yikes!)
7:26
7:08
6:37 (Woah, easy there!)
7:10

Since Bill was taking an interest in everything my Garmin will tell me, here is a link to the online version of the run: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/4644733

Afterwards we got a small bite to eat and took a picture, just for you guys!


My hip is feeling great today, even though that was my longest run since the Chicago Marathon. I'm still on the mend, but things are still looking up! I finally jumped out on my bike today too, since the snow is finally gone. Sweet!

Santa was kind to me this year, too; I must have been on the 'nice' list this year! I got most of what I asked for, including a stability ball, medicine ball, and the books Again to Carthage, Total Immersion, and The Triathlete's Training Bible.

I hope everybody else had a great Christmas!

Five Fun Facts

Well well, I've been mass tagged by both Jess and Jes. Neither of them specifically said "Doug, you're it!" They're both cheaters and said "teehee, you're all it! All of you!" But... I guess I'll count it, because I don't have anything else to talk about today!

The theme is five random things about me.

1. I check my email more than anyone ever should. Since I use Gmail, which auto refreshes my inbox, checking my email is simply a quick glance. Because of this, I usually know when I have email within 5 minutes of getting it. A lot of the time I delay responding because I don't want people to think I'm as weird as I am!
2. My last name, Cichon, is Polish. We pronounce it sy-kon. However, in Polish it is pronounced key-shown, so even my Polish professors can't pronounce my last name correctly. Only three people in my entire life have ever guessed how to pronounce it on their first try.
3. I'm the asshole who set the curve on the assignment we got back in my Numerical class this morning. Thats right, I got a 100% on an assignment worth ~13% of my grade. Ha! Also, the professor told us to have this assignment halfway done about 10 days before it was due. I started 3 days before it was due. Ha again! (Sorry, I had to brag a little!)
   
4. I never view myself as a procrastinator, but this semester I've started big time. I really need to cut it out. Its getting out of control, but I still am pulling the grades I need to.
   
5. My sister and I get along better than any siblings I've ever met. We probably talk online at least 4-5 times a week. And for some strange reason we always great each other with "BROTHER!" and "SISTER!" as though it was our actual names. I'm clueless as to where it started, or who started it, but it cracks everybody up!
   
6. I'm adding a sixth because I'm a rebel like that. Posting my metaphorical "Two Month Anniversary" entry a few days ago almost doubled my hits, since it comes up as the 6th result on Google. Apparently love was in the air two months ago!
   

And, since I seem to be making a habit of it, heres some responses to various comments made recently:

Dave - Its good to know I'm not the only one injured right now. How is your ankle healing up?

Amy - I haven't completely ignored your comments about walking. However I'm not much for walking just to walk, I do walk just about everywhere. Its about 3/4 of a mile to class, and I go there and back twice every day. I also walk to the pool, which is a little over a mile, 3-4 times a week. Also, if tri's really are more addicting than running, my social life is doomed forever!

Marcy - I'll take being a lunatic as a compliment, since you like the crazy ones!

Bill - Do we have to make another gentlemen's agreement after I run my 3 hour marathon?

If I just responded to your comment, consider yourself tagged. Since thats only four, I'm tagging SLB too, since he did me the favor several months ago!

Debut Delayed

Well, running is delayed another week. But, in all honesty, it's probably for the best, right?

I had another appointment with my PT this morning, and he's telling me to take it easy with the running until I go home for Thanksgiving next week. So I have one more week to wait, although deep down I think I'm glad he's telling me to wait. He's the first person who has told me I need to hold off on the running. Until now, everybody else has been saying I need to try it out and see how it goes, even though I haven't felt like my body is ready for it. Maybe this extra week will be enough.

But I do have even more exercises to do now, just more to keep me busy! Right now I think I'm actually spending more time on my fitness than I was when I ran 40 miles a week. I have 90 minutes a day of stretching and PT exercises per day, ab workouts 3 times a week, and swimming about 5-6 hours a week. All in all we're talking about 18 hours a week, man does it add up fast!

Thats almost as many hours of training spent when training for an Ironman.

Crap, I said it out loud.

"I'm back!" Well, my appetite is, anyways!

My appetite back in full swing. I blame the swimming. For the past month or two, since my training decreased dramatically, my appetite has followed suit. I was actually eating as much as a normal human being for a while, about 2500 calories a day!

Without further a due, I would like to announce I just ate an entire pizza in one sitting. One thousand two hundred calories without flinching. In fact, I'm still kind of hungry. Maybe I'll go eat a horse. I guess getting back into working out after two weeks completely off will do that to me, eh? I'm kind of afraid of what will happen when I can pick up running again and am also swimming a couple times a week. My grocery bill is going to double!

I'm still considering making Wednesday my debut, after taking 21 consecutive days off from running. Tomorrow I meet with my PT, so I'm going to bounce the idea off him to see if two miles would be a reasonable risk to take. My hip has been feeling fan-freaking-tastic these last few days, although a different (but maybe related?) pain has popped up in my lower back on the opposite side. Its really minor, but worth etching in stone on the internet.

And yes, Weirdo-Who-Takes-Tons-Of-Pictures-In-The-Bathroom, I mean Marcy, I have been toying with the idea of triathlons. There is a lot of overlap between my running groups and the swim team I joined last week, the majority of which are triathletes. To be honest, I've been thinking about triathlons maybe a little more than I should be! Looking at my training and injuries, its pretty clear I have more energy than I should be applying just to running. Spreading my energy out over a few different sports might be the trick to really staying strong.

While toying with the idea of triathlons, I decided to take a really quick, brief glimpse at tri-bikes. Holy crap are they expensive, low end bikes run four digits! I think the high end ones cost more than my car is worth. Although, really, I get running shoes every 300-350 miles, which equates to about 6 pairs a year (assuming I stay injury free, ha!). If the bike lasted at least two years, I would be spending lass than I do on running shoes.

Bill and Jess, I'm clueless to what my 'secret' is. This summer as an intern at Caterpillar this it was exactly the same way; nearly all female friends, but hey, I had people to bike and go rock climbing with! If anybody can tell me my 'secret', let me know and I'll do it more, maybe I could break out of this single status and get me a free butt massage? (free like a puppy!)

And finally, I need to send a HUGE congratulations to Bill for running a 2:58:20 marathon. With DEAD EVEN splits between the first and second halves. Who else can do that? No one, thats who! Go check out his race report, complete with a picture of him looking like the super hero he is!

The Game Plan

These past few days when I've been, you know, not running, I've started thinking a lot about my game plan. And not what I want to do. I'm thinking about what I need to do. Now I'm sharing it to make sure my brain is making sense!

So far I have not ran for two weeks. My hip is feeling mostly okay. After proctoring an exam tonight it is kind of sore, but I was on my feet for about three hours non stop, what do you expect? However, this tells me one thing: it isn't healed up yet. It needs more time. If it needs more time, it gets more time. It really is as simple as that.

These last two weeks, though, I've pretty much been a lazy bum. I haven't done anything, with the exception of the stretching and core workouts I started recently. My cardiovascular fitness is probably fading away more and more every minute. This week I plan to be much more active. I'm going to start hitting the exercise bike again. I'm starting swimming this week too. I'm going to not only sustain fitness, but regain it. I not only want to, I need to!

I've been thinking about my physical therapist too, and the fact he doesn't 'get' runners is starting to bother me. Should this bother me? I think it is right for me to feel a little uncomfortable by this. I'm not going to make any decisions yet, but if he pushes me to run too soon I might consider switching to someone new before I have a huge commitment. A friend of mine recommended someone who is supposed to be really good with runners; if only the recommendation came sooner!

Right now I'm considering next Monday to be the soonest I will attempt a run. No matter how I feel. No matter what anybody says. I know my body. I know its the right thing to do. My hip feels significantly better after two weeks of rest than it ever has from one. I am just worried this logic will continue, and I'll end up taking months off. Not a cycle I want to fall into! But for now, at least, I know this is the right decision. There are plenty of other ways I can keep in shape while my hip returns to normal.

And finally, a response to all those who are expressing their thoughts about tri's. So far, it is merely a consideration. I haven't even put a toe in the pool yet. It won't happen unless I really enjoy swimming. Also, I'm always going to be a runner at heart. Bill, our gentlemen's agreement to go under 3 still stands; don't you worry, I just need to get injury free first! And if it is going to take significant amounts of cross training to stay injury free as a runner, so be it. I will cross train and greet the new events that come with it head on!

Something New to Tri

I decided its time to try something new. I have way too much free time on my hands now that school has died down a little bit. I considered the following things to try and become: juggler, binge drinker, drug addict, swimmer, or body builder.

I considered binge drinking because, well, everybody else is doing it, right?! Yeah. No thanks. I think I'll keep these brain cells and kidneys around as long as I can. Ditto for becoming a drug addict. I like my brain.

Body builder? Hmmm, nope. Don't think so. The average body builder's arms are about the size of my legs. If not bigger. I think you can count me out on that one too. Putting on 80 lbs of muscle would probably add a few seconds to my marathon time, don't you think?

Juggling could become my new key hobby until I can run again, except one thing. Its really not that great of a workout. It is fun, thats for sure, but its just that: fun. I'll keep doing it to see if I can get it down pat, but I don't see myself aspiring to be a joggler any time soon!

Well, that sure narrows down the list. Whats left? Ah yes. I could become a swimmer. Swimming is a full body workout with great cardiovascular benefits to boot. Back in the day (when I was 10-12) I was on a swim team. I don't really remember anything from it except I had to swim across the pool and try not to be last. I won a few times, I lost a few times. I was never exceptional by any means.

A few weeks ago my chiropractor told me about the Master's Swim Team on campus here at UK for individuals 19 and older. The team has a really good head coach, Susan Bradley-Cox, who is a tri-athlete that competes on the international level; she has three world title's for her age group (55-59). I mostly discounted the suggestion when Mike made it, because I figured I'd be running again in a week. Nope! I started considering it pretty heavily again today. I've had way too much free time on my hands this weekend; really, WAY too much.

I sent Susan an email today to get some information about the team. It should be a great way to stay in shape and meet people at the same time.

Maybe I'll really enjoy it, maybe I won't. If I do, I'm already thinking about starting to tri.