Haven’t talked about food in a while
Jamoosh, ring leader of The HardCORE Club, the program that promises A Better Life With Awesome Abs, gives sensible advice on eating sensibly to lose weight. Rick links to another portion control tip – drink water before you eat.
I’m a pretty skinny dude. Now, if I were to pursue a career modeling underwear I would have to tone up some jiggly spots, but I don’t need to lose weight. Since I last expressed concern for my lightness (can’t find the link in my own frakkin blog), I’ve gained about three pounds. I think it’s the lack of long runs. That doesn’t mean I don’t need to change some habits.
Tonight at around seven, it was really nice. Fluffy clouds in the sky, 75 degrees, birds chirping, sun getting all sunset-erific; it was a perfect time to run. The problem: I was stuffed. I pigged out on pizza an hour before. I would like to run in the evenings more often, but by that time my pants don’t fit right at the waist.
Anyway, I thought I would give my advice on how to control your portions: throw food out. Never clean your plate. Not just when you’re full.
Look, if it’s on your plate, it’s not going to do anyone any good. Certainly not the starving child in Ethiopia. And you didn’t pay for the portion, you paid for the meal. You are in charge of your portions. If you really want to be frugal, put it in the fridge. Whatever you do, get used to the idea that just because it’s in front of you, you don’t have to eat it.
Practice this with everything. Every time you eat something, leave a bit for the garbage can. More often than not you’re going to crave a larger portion than you need. It doesn’t make sense to make portion judgments when you’re hungry. You might as well pile the food on, then start evaluating your sustenance needs halfway through, when you’re in a better position to judge. You might end up leaving more on your plate than you think.
So get the hamburger, just don’t eat all of it. Leave a few fries. Train your brain to get over the idea that you have to eat everything because tomorrow you might starve. If you’re reading this, chances are pretty good that food is plentiful and cheap for you. When something is plentiful and cheap, waste is required in order to function properly. If you don’t waste, you become obsessive compulsive (not to mention economically blind) and waste time and energy trying to avoid wasting something that’s readily available.
Here’s a (gross) thought, if you’re still uncomfortable with the idea of throwing food out: from your trashcan, food is transported to a landfill where it decomposes. From your toilet, “food” is transported to a sewage treatment plant, which uses a lot more resources.
The poorest of the poor don’t care about what’s on your plate or in your trash. There are ways to help them, but eating everything dished out to you isn’t one of them.
Core workout for morons
1. Carry metal fence posts on shoulder from truck to wooded lot.
2. On the way, wack trees with the posts so that they dig into the side of your neck.
3. Pound fence posts through hard dirt and roots.
4. Show wife accomplishments.
5. Pull the posts out (hint: use your legs!) after wife shows you the lot line, and where you crossed it.
6. Repeat step #3.
7. Cool down with leg lifts and waist bends, slapping at mosquitoes because you didn’t put on bug spray.
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Last week’s training had some really good runs, but I missed my speed goal: avg pace 8:50 in 5:36:39. The best run was with Iris in Saltville in the squishy sandals, although the three-run-Thursday was good relay prep. I recovered from that just fine, I just need to get more food in me after the first leg. A salad won’t cut it.
Yesterday I ran with MadMayorican Royce on his 64th birthday. “I’m gonna streak,” he said. “Uh, thanks for the warning,” I replied. “I know you’re a pillar of the community and all, but I imagine the coppers might prove to be an obstacle.” He meant streak as in run every day, not run naked, it turns out. I suppose that’s for the best, but I was looking forward to someone else being the weirdo runner in town.
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The broken toe isn’t noticeable when I run, but it’s still swollen and won’t bend right. The bug bites STILL itch, although not nearly as bad. There will be a few scars, but I don’t think I need to start working on a tattoo design to cover them up. The soles look good, at least.
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Back to my training plan, I’m curious to see how I do in the upcoming races. I feel less “fresh” with my easy runs being faster, plus all the core stuff is probably wearing me out a bit. I’m such a delicate flower. Fortunately there are George Sheehan quotes to keep me on the right track:
“Fitness has to be fun. If it is not play, there will be no fitness. Play, you see, is the process. Fitness is merely the product.”
Time to go play in the rainy hills!
(double?*)Counter-intuitive thought on shoe sole thickness
We had a nice trip to Bristol. Actually, we stayed in a hotel in Glade Spring, which is about ten miles from a town called Saltville. The two towns just opened one of those rails to trails, so on Saturday we decided to check it out. I didn’t pack any footwear but my sandals, which look kind of like this except they’re five years old and not affiliated with culturally divisive pants. I figured I would just suck it up and run barefoot on whatever surface the trail provided, since it’s been the meme lately.
Wasn’t up to it. I tried a few steps, and they weren’t terrible, but they weren’t fun. I could tell I wouldn’t have been able to keep up with Iris, who’s training for the Asheville half next month. There was also a Civil War reenactment going on, which added to the gravel performance anxiety. So I put on the only footwear I had: my sandals.
I had run in them a bit before, usually with the dogs, but never for any distance over half a mile. Just enough to make me feel like a leisurely (no offense, Iris) five miler was doable. And it was. It was raining a bit, so the sandals got wet and the soles retained water, making them squish. I tried (and failed) to run so lightly they wouldn’t make a sound. I could barely feel the rocks, but was able to run smoothly anyway, probably with the help of the squishyness game. I’ve worn them for so long that there were no blisters – I know how to use my toes to keep the shoe from moving around and causing friction. I don’t think I could run fast in them without issues, but maybe I’ll give it a try someday.
The trail itself was very nice. Nothing fancy, just goes through some very beautiful scenery and interesting history that starts with the trails made by mega-fauna during the Pleistocene. The area is fascinating - learn up about it if you get a chance.
I think at some point sole thickness really doesn’t matter that much in a shoe. Sure, it can be so thick that it causes balance issues, but I don’t think we need to find the thinnest possible sole out there for when we feel like wearing something on the feet. “Ground feel” might be a perk on an enjoyment level, but as far as performance and smoothness goes, once you can’t feel the ground directly you might as well have a sole thick enough to avoid bruising from missteps. Just thinking out loud here. I first thought this when I saw Barefoot Ted’s Luna Sandal for Leadville. The soles look kind of thick, and at first I thought that was a problem. But really, so what? A barefoot runner should be able to adapt to the surface as long as the foot isn’t constricted. If I say “ouch” once a mile wearing my aquas from stepping on a rock, that’s 100 ouches in Leadville. That’s a lot of ouches. If you’re smooth and can move your foot, avoid the ouches if can, because most of the “ground feel” is gone baby gone.
*minimalist footwear is counter-intuitive, so I guess a barefooter saying a thicker sole ain’t necessarily so bad would be counter-counter-intuitive. I think. Editor?
Three-Run Thursday report
Dena has a good write up here. She did a better job keeping her energy levels up for the last run than I did. I think her secret was coffee and peanut m&ms. Me, I felt great for the first two. The last run was rough from the start.
First run, 7am, fueled by a bowl of corn flakes and a banana:
The hill. Steady pace, took the ascents easy, tried to stay relaxed and fast on the descents. Two outnbacks for 5.4 miles.
Got back to the house, had a smoothie.
Second run, noon:
Farris park. A brisker pace (less hilly) on the rocky trail. I wore the aqua socks. Felt good, even surged/sprinted/whatever the last 1/3 mile. Five laps for five miles.
Had a big salad, but was craving a cheeseburger.
Third run, 6pm:
Local hills. Started with a stitch in my side. Dena’s warmup pace felt like a tempo to me. The last two miles were miserable. Dena was all cheerful – I think she enjoyed running me into the ground. When I suffer, I’m very entertaining. 5.1 miles.
Total miles: 15.5ish
Total time: 2:15ish
Pace: 8:25ish
I think I bonked because of the lack of calories, as well as the fact that I did track work the day before and hill work the day before that. Today, I rest and eat.
Tomorrow I’ll be running in Bristol, TN. The wife and I will be there to watch the NASCAR races on one of the best tracks around. I assume you are all big NASCAR fans, and wonder which driver I root for. That would be Bowyer in the #33. Actually, I really like his spotter, Mike Dillon. Funny guys to listen to on the scanner.
Race ambitions, training blah blah
What? Another sappy post? No, this is just a list of races I’ll be running:
Kirkwood 5k, Aug 28 (maybe)
Run for the Rub 10k, Sept 4
Run for the Greenway 8k, Sept 11
Blue Ridge Relay, Sept 17 & 18
Salem Lake 10k & 30k, Sept 25 (probably the 10k)
We’ll see what I’m up for in October. There’s Triple Lakes and The Cannonball half marathons; maybe I’ll do both?
I love running. It’s so inexpensive.
So yesterday I ran the hill for half an hour, the last ascent nearing the puke threshold as planned. The real perk was being able to handle the descents quickly and smoothly. Sometimes I have it, sometimes I don’t. Yesterday I did.
Today was my first time on a track for years (except for the start of Grandfather Mtn). Don’t really like that spongy stuff they use; too squishy. It had also rained a few hours prior, adding to the slop. I looked into various interval plans, and they all seem the same: run as hard as you can for x number of laps, rest, repeat. So I did four laps to warm up, another four laps at “fast” pace, then two laps x2 (fast), one lap x2 (fast), then one more lap just because. I don’t know if it was the fact that I did hills yesterday, the big bowl of cereal right before heading out the door, the squishy surface, or the time off due to sick tick click, but my fast wasn’t very fast. Let’s just say my 5k race pace was faster than my 800 meter pace.
Wow that paragraph was boring.
Tomorrow should be interesting; Dena and I are doing a Three Run Thursday in an effort to simulate relay conditions. In the morning, The Hill. Noonish at Farris Park, then the local hills in the evening. I’m more worried about the eating than the running.