So, I grabbed a six of Raging Bitch (and she is).
I gave her a friend to balance out her bitchiness.
Yes, that's a shark bottle opener. Classy.
Then the shirt and shoes came off and neighbors cringed.
I woke up at 11:30pm (I go to bed at 8:30) with a raging bitch headache that kept me up until 1:30am.
Yesterday, to fully marry my new training schedule from Lucho, I asked him a hundred questions about nutrition and one of the questions was about the nutritional benefits of eating things like pretzels, bagels, and stuff like that (you think I like beer? you should see me with a bag of sourdough pretzels). I sadly sort of already knew the answer. He told me to eat a raw yam at work for my morning snack instead of pretzels.
I brought pretzels today again. Don't tell him. It'll be the last time, so tomorrow - raw yam... I can hardly wait.
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| Cousin Fred prepares the sweet tater delivery to my house. |
That is honestly very cool that you practice walking (and walking fast at that). It uses a completely different set of muscles and if you don't practice it, you won't be any good at it (like most things). In my very first > 50 mile ultra years ago I was by far most sore in my muscles from walking...not running.
ReplyDeleteIf you would have had a zippo lighter with an eagle on it next to the can of keystone you would not have woken with a headache at 11:30.
ReplyDeleteWhat are you supposed to do with the the raw yam? Bash yourself in the skull when you get hungry?
ReplyDeleteAt Jemez last year I tried hiking the big climbs and my lower back seized. That's why at Leadville I ran most of the big climbs... because it was easier. I hate walking. And Keystone. I'm fairly sure that a trailer house, a mullet and anything gun related will prevent a Keystone hangover.
ReplyDeleteAnd I just realized how much of a beer snob I've become. I grew up on Coors and had a mullet and have guns.
ReplyDeleteSunflower seeds are also great. If you're eating because you're bored then they are perfect and have good fats. Or a good trail mix. Nothing better than a good trail mix.
Great choice in beers! And if you're gonna walk, come down here and do the Incline.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with pretzels and bagels? The carbs? I eat both daily.
I have a phone pic of Dwayne Wade with a huge cock drawn in his hand, need to post that. Can't believe someone would do that to a McDavid athlete!
Ha brownie! I was going to photo shop my head onto Dwayne or Corey's body. I'm sure McDavid would love that or the photo you have.
ReplyDeleteMight be coming down there for a run the weekend if you're interested. You'd have to slow down 'cause I don't know whether I can keep up with a fast road marathoner like yourself.
I can attest to Tim's beer, pretzel, bagel (or a loaf of bread) habit. It seemed to work pretty well for Cool. So much so that I think I'll back off on the training and drink more beer and eat more pretzels!
ReplyDeleted.
Ah! Ranger IPA. My favorite !
ReplyDeleteAt least they drew the dong on the non-sleeve wearing arm.
ReplyDeleteSunday is the Black Forest double. It's a 20K race that some of us do twice. You could hang back with us slackers on the first loop and then have some solid competition for round 2.
Darren- Ya, it worked "pretty well". But I thought Tim could have won and run much faster and that he can do things better and kill shit this year. You don't pull off goals like Tim has doing things "pretty well". I want to help Tim do his absolute best this year, not hold him back by blowing sunshine up his ass and telling him he's doing fine when he could do better.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the rant, it's everything personal (it's my job and how I put a roof over my family's head). I just hate it when people settle for less and even encourage others to do the same.
Right on all counts Lucho! Don't worry I won't back off on the training part...still, I might drink more beer.
ReplyDeleteI reality, I need to overcome my cramping issue (been a problem since I was a youngin'). I hydrate well but haven't found the right combo of electros (Endurolytes failed...big time). Salt and potatoes got me back on track late at Cool but I really have a hard time getting those down. S-caps may be a better option.
Tim's training program has me way ahead of last year (or any previous time) and I don't think he'd settle for "pretty well" from me either!
Darren- I went to a sports nutrition seminar one year at Ironman Hawaii and heard their head doctor (also the doctor for the Seattle Seahawks) speak on electrolyte balance. He was talking about Ironman Hawaii which reaches ground temperatures on the run of ~130+ degrees so it was quite extreme. He said that endurolytes are pretty much useless for cramping and that sodium is the only thing proven to prevent cramping. Endurolytes have a VERY small amount of sodium, about 30mg if I remember correctly. Everyone stores electrolytes differently (which is due in part to daily diet) so you have a specific amount that you need and I have mine. You have to figure it out through trial and error in training (or go to the Gatorade Institute in Florida and have them stick a food tube down your throat and have you run 20 miles on a treadmill in 100+ degrees... they really do that). The good thing though is that it is difficult to take too much sodium in a warm race so you have a fairly solid margin for error on the high side. S-caps have ~300mg per cap so taking 2-3 per hour won't usually have a negative side effect outside of nausea. Going beyond a gram per hour though is possibly excessive and could mess you up with fluid retention and then diarrhea once your body release all that stored water.
ReplyDeleteIt has also been shown that athletes put on a very high sodium diet actually release more sodium through perspiration and urine. They basically eat too much sodium, then their bodies sense the overload and then dump it. So if you salt your food or eat too much processed foods you might be forcing your body to release sodium. But, if you eat a low sodium diet then your body will hold on to electrolytes more readily and you lessen the risk of getting low in training and racing.
Yeah, Darren was like, "wow, you drank like four beers last night and still raced well." and I was like, "do you think I could've done better on five?"
ReplyDeleteDarren: order those s-caps for us.
That's one of the many reason's Lucho is so valuable as a coach, no sugar coating or telling you things are ok when they aren't. Karl's helping me with the logistics and strategy of racing 100s and several of them in a few months.
Lucho is overseeing my daily development to wring every sad ounce of potential out of my old, tired body so I can show up at the start line ready, no excuses.
Trouble with Lucho is that he's not very detailed.
ReplyDeleteSo, is it a good thing or a bad thing to have visible salt on my face and arms after a race? After my shirt dries it's even been a little crusty after a few races.
ReplyDeleteCousin Fred is all the proof you need that a diet of sweet potatoes will help with dropping those few extra pounds.
ReplyDeleteYeah, dude is a slacker on details.
ReplyDeleteLucho, my guess would be the last part of your analysis is close to the mark. Daily diet is to high in salt. I'm white and crusty by the end of a long day running or on the bike. Will definitely work on this. Thanks for the brief analysis :-) After you've had some coffee I'll expect more detail.
To both Tim's: Your camp this summer will be great and I wish I were going. Hopefully next year, 'til then I'll just poach what I can from both of you!
I'm even more rambly in person.
ReplyDeleteThe visible salt isn't necessarily bad, it just shows that your perspiration has salt in it. I am the opposite which is why I raced well at Ironman Hawaii. I don't lose electrolytes hardly at all and have (literally) never cramped. What you have to do is try to dial in the amount of sodium you need in order to balance losses. With out getting technical, there's no need, I would suggest 1 S-cap every 40:00 in training a few times (on very long runs maybe) and see how that works. Then have some extras on hand in case you start to feel 'pings' in the muscles indicating a cramp is coming. The sodium is absorbed super quick too so the effect is fast. I wouldn't think you need to train every day with them though. Races for sure and hot races it's critical.
A few ways to force your body to preserve electrolytes are (as I mentioned above) lowering your daily salt intake through diet. Bundling up on runs and forcing your body to sweat a ton. Part of why Americans "eat too much sodium" is that most of them never sweat. I try to get athletes to at least cover their knees in temps below 60, but below 60 I've got full coverage. Warm muscles function better and extra sweating is beneficial. Bundling up creates a humid "micro climate" next to your skin and you can easily heat acclimate (which is pretty much what we are talking about here. Electrolyte preservation is an aspect of heat acclimatization). Hawaii Ironman is in October and every year starting in late September I would completely over dress in workouts in order to acclimate. And the dry sauna is one of the best things ever on many levels. I would buy a dry sauna before a treadmill.
Darren- I'm white and crusty too... but that has nothing to do with sweat.
Rick- Uncle Fred (he's my Uncle) looks pretty marathon fit! Yuck.
Makes sense. I've had horrible races, great races and ok races all with a load of salt on me afterwards.
ReplyDeleteDarren, I used to have terrible cramping problems at all ultra's until a few years back. This was before S-caps were really offered at aid stations. I had used E-caps a long time ago, but as Luco says, they are pretty much worthless. I've taken, literally, handfulls at aid stations, and they do nothing.I haven't had cramping problems since taking S-caps. One per hour, even when it is "cool" temps in races. I up it to two per hour when it is hot. If I feel I might be cramping late in a race, I'll even take more!But I sweat a lot and bleed a nice white crust when it is hot out. I've even taken Thermotabs before and they work well. I screwed up at Cool and only took two E-caps during the race and only filled my bottle twice. Opps! I was to lazy to bring my own S-caps as I new ahead of time there was only E-caps offered. Thus I cramped in a race for the first time in years. Brought my own Ranger IPA with me, but no S-caps. I'm pretty damn lazy!
ReplyDeleteHoly effing comments batman. Crikey. I figured I be the sole person weighing in on Raging Bitch. It actually runs pretty good (umm cheaper for a micro IPA) for a six pack, but it is more a Belgian Ale which ain't really my style. But yeah, the stuff is rough though.
ReplyDeleteI cramp at Pikes all the time. But I took S caps in the Grand Canyon and did not. Of course I was being "easy" in the Canyon and so was also eating other food.
I don't drink often but lately get a massive headache from any alcohol drink. I'm positive it is because I don't drink often and will look into it. Thanks for reminding me why I never ask anyone else about nutrition.
ReplyDeleteS-caps pretty much eliminated my cramping in the summer (if I remember to carry them). Although I have occasionally cramped at races from going harder than the training allowed and the body revolting, but that's another story....
ReplyDeleteIt takes a good two years of running ultras to get the electrolyte/water balance down (for me anyway). After a while you get to a point where you say, "the race course is this hard, the temp and humidity will be this high/low, I'll be running at this effort." And you'll know what's needed. I still get burned when I don't pay attention, like North Fork 50 last July. I chased the leader for 31 miles and then just shut down on a big climb. It turned into a death march for 15 miles because I couldn't recover from the dehydration. I think the worse part about getting dehydrated is not so much the lack of energy but that it makes the muscle and joint pain about 10x worse. I think about that day in every race now just to keep myself aware of my intake.
ReplyDeleteBrownie, I might be up for that this Sunday. What time does it start? I'll get Steve/Kathleen to join too maybe.
Oh, and I wore the Hoka Bondi B's for the first time for my tempo workout yesterday. Wow! I'm not sure I'll be able to go back to any other shoe.
ReplyDeleteThanks all as this has been a helpful discussion for me. So let me recap to make sure I've got it straight...
ReplyDeleteThe best goal is to move towards a low sodium diet to encourage your body to retain electrolytes during racing/training. But during a race, be sure to load up on salt (S-caps to the tune of 1-2 per hour). I've currently been taking 1 per hour and I fall into the crusty shirt/hat club.
Can I assume that if you're going to "keep eatin' them pretzels" and not take steps to lower your daily sodium intake, that you will want to be taking more S-caps during races since your body isn't trained to retain electrolytes and will be shedding them more rapidly? (how about that for a crazy run on sentence).
Well woody, what you want to take away from all the great info in these comments is that it's based on individual needs. I eat a lot of salt all the time but don't need that much in races. At cool I took about 4 enduralytes, which is less than half of on s cap during 5 hours of racing. Like I pointed out earlier, you get to a point where you can feel what you need.
ReplyDeletePracticing and paying close attention to how you feel as I relates to your performance/strength/endurance during your long training runs will teach you to balance your needs in races... Instinctively.
Tim (the long guy) sums it up well. You need to find your own unique needs through trial and error using "science" as a guide and starting point. Be thoughtful and aware in training and racing and listen to your body.
ReplyDeleteI very much agree on the figuring things out for yourself. The science stuff you were talking about got me thinking. I'm sure I have a very high sodium diet right now. I love to snack on pretzels & tortilla chips.
ReplyDeleteThis will be year two of ultras for me, so I imagine I will be much more dialed into my needs after a few more races.
Tim L - I liked your idea about specifically training for walking fast. Typically I do that on a long run when I hit the steep uphills. I want to be more intentional, so I hopped on the treadmill last night for 1 mile @ 4.7 mph with the TM at 10% grade. I could really feel all those "different" muscles coming alive. I'm going to start doing that regularly as a night workout. I'll try to get up to 2-3 miles at a 13:30 pace.
Yeah, you get the hang of it, just like anything else. The walk workouts pay off big time in long races.
ReplyDeleteWhen I put together Darren's training schedule in late November, he laughed and said, "guess I have my tough walking workout tonight!"
The next day he wrote, "Man, that was harder than I thought. I was all dizzy and my body felt weird afterward."