This Runner's Fuel

For my birthday a couple of weeks ago, Rich got me the Jawbone UP. We saw it at Best Buy a few months ago and he remembered how I ooooed and ahhhhed over it. I’m a data junkie and I love tracking just about everything from calories, nutrients,  workouts, weight, etc. I do this in a variety of apps or websites and I was so excited about having something that would do it all in one place for me. The other cool thing about it is that it tracks your sleep! I love that feature. I have never felt like I get enough sleep and the UP band confirmed that without a doubt.

First of all, the band itself is pretty slick looking. They come in a variety of colors, as seen above, but Rich just chose the plain black band, which is probably what I would have chosen myself. It’s pretty sleek and doesn’t look clunky on my wrist. One end of the band has a removable cap that has a connector that fits into the top of an iPhone and the other has a small button that allows you to switch modes from day to night.

I downloaded the UP app from itunes, performed my first sync and adjust my settings. Personal setting included height, weight, age, and gender. Once the setup was complete, which took about a minute, I was ready to start tracking.

The steps are tracked automatically with a sensor that detects forward movement. There is also an option to add your own workouts in that don’t necessarily involve steps, such as yoga or weight training.I haven’t had a problem meeting the recommended 10,000 steps (which is adjustable) and exceeding that on the weekends.

Food has to be inputed manually, which wasn’t a big deal to me because I was used to tracking my food intake with My Fitness Pal. According to the food you enter, you can monitor your carbs, fat (unsaturated and saturated), protein, fiber, sodium, cholesterol, and sugar intake. I don’t like the fact that I can’t see vitamin or mineral stats, but at least all the basics are covered.

According the Jawbone website: “UP uses Actigraphy to track your sleep, monitoring your micro movements to determine whether you are awake, in light sleep, or in deep sleep.” I have learned that I sleep on average 6 hours a night with 3 hours of deep sleep. It takes me about 15-20 minutes to fall asleep and I wake at least twice during the night. I KNEW I wasn’t getting enough shut eye, this just confirms it.

Some other cool features

• Set an idle time for the UP band to buzz when you have been inactive for too long
• Take a power nap. The UP band will determine, according to your sleep patterns, how long it should be.
• Set an alarm to wake you at the optimal time within a 15 minute window each morning
• Stopwatch to time activities
• Enter and Update your weight to track changes over time
• Invite your friends who use UP to be on your “team”
• Share your activity on Facebook or Twitter

Here are a few screen shots from the app (I chose a Friday night/Saturday when I slept really good, ate a ton and got a good number of steps in!):

 So what are you supposed to do with all this data? Well, see the little smiley face in the picture above? That is an additional self-input item. This basically shows you from day to day how you felt. The idea is, over time, to pinpoint what makes you cranky and tired or on the other hand, energized. On days you felt particularly bad, see how much sleep you got the night before, what foods you ate that made you feel this way or how inactive you were. By pinpointing the things that bring you down and/or the things that make you feel good – you can start tailoring your lifestyle (sleeping, eating and exercise habits) to feel your best all the time.

I don’t think I have quite enough data to make any solid conclusions yet, but I’m hoping after a month or so, I’ll be able to get a good idea of what makes me feel at my best.

I highly recommend giving the UP band a try. I love mine and it’s pretty reasonably priced at $129. The app is free on iTunes. If anything else, it give you some great insights and it’s pretty fun to play with.

Has anyone else tried the UP Band? What do you think?

Preview

….all I want to do is jump out of bed. It was a long winter and a shaky start to spring, but this morning, the bright sunshine was so welcoming after months of wanting to pull the covers over my head thinking about the cold outside.

Yesterday I decided, I was going to head to yoga today so I can run tomorrow morning. I got up and got ready to head to Yoga Flow in Shadyside and headed down for breakfast, cantaloup. I’ve been on a melon kick this week. Cooper was slow to get out of his bed, but when he sensed I was leaving he gave me that “can I come with you” look. I also enjoyed some almonds on my way to class – pretty much a staple in every meal.

After 90 minutes of hot yoga, which felt great by the way, I was torn between grabbing a chai tea or heading to the Co-Op for the juice bar. I decided to go to the Co-Op and instead of my usual Steel City Sunset, I went with the Johnny Gingerade. I know, living on the edge today. LOL. I also grabbed some yummy tofu scramble and a couple of organic herb plants to put in my garden. They were handing out free samples of Organic Rescue mist, so a bonus today and something to try.

I ended up just putting the plants in some pots and on my deck. The “garden” isn’t a garden at all yet, just dirt. I have to put up a new fence before I plant anything because it’ll just be like buying some really expensive rabbit food. .

I enjoyed the sunshine for an hour out in the yard with Cooper, and now, I’m just chillin before we head out for some drinks and dinner.

What did you do on this beautiful day? Hope you and a good one!

Many of us thought this might be coming, but with the notoriously strict guidelines and field limitations, it wasn’t something you could bank on. The Boston Athletic Association announced officially today that they will be extending invitations to all runners who were unable to cross the finish line on April 15th, 2013. In the words of the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A)

“The opportunity to run down Boylston Street and to cross the finish line amid thousands of spectators is a significant part of the entire Boston Marathon experience.”

I couldn’t agree more. I think when I wrote my marathon recap,  I said that it felt like I was running in the Olympics. And, oh, what a feeling it was. Other races (sorry Pittsburgh) just do not compare.

Some people out there may think that not being able to finish the marathon on that particular Monday was a small price to pay in comparison to the many who suffered and had their lives forever changed. And they’re right, it was a small price to pay. There are many runners who did finish and felt guilty about celebrating their accomplishments that day, myself included. But as we were reminded in a sob-inducing Boston Globe article published two days after the tragedy, running the marathon still mattered, finishing the marathon mattered, and not finishing the marathon was devastating to many and no one should feel guilty about being disappointed. Months and months of training, dreaming and hoping was ripped away by a senseless act of violence.

I am so happy for those individuals who got the good news today. Deana and Erik, two friends who were unable to cross the 26.2 mile mark on Boylston Street, will have their chance to finish what they started. My plan to qualify is at the forefront of my everyday thoughts and this just lights the fire for me to work extra hard to accomplish my goal. I hope we’ll all toe the line together again on April 21st, 2014.

Have you seen results in performance by making dietary changes? Please comment below…

The human body is incredibly adaptable. If you do the same thing over the course of time, the body will adjust and try its best to work efficiently with what it’s given. This can be good and bad. Good in the sense that if you are interested in doing a minimal amount of work to increase performance, the body will do some of the work or you. Bad in the sense that if you are trying to get to a whole different level in your performance, the body won’t respond unless you shake things up a bit.

Five years ago when I abruptly went Vegan, I saw dramatic changes in my body and its performance. I lost weight effortlessly and gained energy I never thought I could have. Slowly over the course of the first year, I transitioned to a vegetarian diet, allowing for pizza on the weekends, and eggs. A year after that, I added fish and shellfish to the diet and that’s where I’ve stuck for the past three years. It’s worked out good for me and I’ve been able to continue running and training at the desired level.

Now, I am interested in getting to the next level. I want to make a serious attempt to qualify for Boston in September. This means kicking my training up a notch. To kick it up a notch, I think I’m going to have to strengthen not only my legs, but my core as well; build more lean muscle. I’ve also considered that I may need to shake my diet up a bit to get the most out of the increased strength training.

When you Google “diet for runners” these days, you get so many hits on the Paleo Diet. This diet has been the rage for a while in some circles of endurance athletes. I wrote a post about the Paleo Diet a while back arguing that it’s really just the Atkins Diet in disguise. I also argued that to truly eat Paleo, you would have to limit your intake of food to what was available to you locally. No bananas available in Pittsburgh for example! I still believe this, however, I am looking at it for a little guidance. I wanted to learn more about why this diet seems to attract athletes and enhance their performance. I’ve done some online reading and have purchased the book Paleo Diet for Athletes.

First the Basics – Paleos eat primarily, in order of importance:

•  Lean meats
• Vegetables
• Nuts and seeds
• Little fruit (too much sugar)
• Little starch (no grains, on a list of “safe” starches)
• No processed foods or sugar
• Little to no dairy
• No legumes

Currently my diet looks more like:

• Vegetables
• Plant based protein (legumes, tofu, seitan, tempeh)
• Whole Grains
• Legumes
• Fruits
• Nuts and seeds
• Little sugar
• Little to no dairy (none if you are completely plant-based)
• Small amounts of fish (none if you are plant-based)

As you can see, the differences are pretty drastic, except for the dairy part. It’s pretty much a no no in both diets. One is very high protein, low carb and the other high carb, low protein (animal based).

I have a meeting with a dietitian on May 20^th to talk about some changes I could make to increase my performance level. I am willing to possibly add some more lean animal protein to my diet and lower my carb intake if he thinks it would help. That doesn’t mean I’ll be chomping on burgers and bacon anytime soon, but I could see the benefits of maybe adding a few ounces of chicken into my diet from time to time, and lowering my carb intake would certainly help me drop a few pounds of water weight right away since carbs hold water, but not sure what it would do long term. I will listen to the expert advice with an open mind. I figure, you can’t find your optimal diet for your body if you don’t experiment a little.

For today, I stuck with my high carb, no animal protein breakfast: steel-cut oats with chia seeds and an orange.

In addition to the fact that I was running in my home town, when I looked around this past Sunday, I was really impressed with the race that Pittsburgh put on. 30,000 registered and everything seemed to run smoothly and on time. It’s more impressive when you think that there were three separate events happening simultaneously; the Marathon, Half Marathon, and Marathon Relay. I had friends running in each of the three events and everyone had a good day! I did notice tightened security in light of the events in Boston. The corrals were blocked off farther than normal and they were very particular about who they let in.

The day before the race, I attended the expo. I stood in line with hundreds of other runners with “issues”. My Issue was that I was still signed up for the full marathon and I needed to drop down to the ½. It was a decision I had been struggling with all week. My heart wanted to go the distance but my head knew it probably wasn’t the best option. I reluctantly handed the full bib over (they still gave me a full marathon shirt??) and was assigned a new number. After the goody bag was collected (shown below) Rich and I headed to the Strip District for my traditional night-before-the-race-meal, Italian food.

Sunday morning started at 4:40am. I decided against staying in town the night before, so had to get into the city before the road closures began. Apparently, there were a few I was unaware of. I was in gridlock traffic at 6:30 (the race started at 7:00) and managed to park and make it to my corral by about 6:50. Nothing like cutting it close. At least I didn’t have to stand there anxious for very long.

Promptly at 7:00, we were off. Marathon, half marathon and relay runners, all start together and follow the same course for the first 11 miles. Needless to say, the roads are crowded and finding a spot to run was challenging. I found my grove somewhere around mile 3 right before the first of many hills begin. I don’t know why I can’t seem to remember the course from year to year, but I never remember that many hills. LOL. And the half is the EASIER part of the full course. At any rate, not doing much running since Boston was felt, particularly once I hit the Birmingham Bridge (course map below – half distance noted by purple dotted lines). It’s a long and steady climb but nothing compared to the left hand turn onto Forbes, where the cursing always begins.

I survived the last climb up Forbes and crossed the line at 1:55:33, three minutes faster than last year’s time. I remember just after Boston, discussing the possibility of not running in it at all. I’m so glad I did. I finished the race and started towards the volunteers waiting in the finishers shoot. For just a moment, I held my breath and waited. Nothing. No loud explosions, no chaos. Just a friendly face handing me my heat blanket and medal. I felt so lucky at them moment to have been a part of it, regardless of my time or which distance I completed. Two spectacular races within a month surrounded by thousands of people who just love to run. It doesn’t get much better than that.

It’s Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend – yeah!!!!

Two days before the race and I’m still going back and forth between the half or the full marathon. My heart wants to run the full, but my head and body are telling me to run the half.  13.1 miles is not nearly as punishing on the body. Running the half is the smarter choice. Two marathons within a month is not a smart move…at least not for me. The sad reality is…I’m just not conditioned enough to run another 26.2 miles without risking injury.

So, the plan is…tomorrow at the Expo, I will officially switch races. Rich is coming with me, I assume to make sure I switch. He DOES NOT want to spend a summer with my sorry injured ass not able to run. He’s been there, done that. HaHa. I know there are a limited number of switches allowed, so I just hope they can do it. In the remote chance that they can’t, I can always just run half the course and take a DNF (did not finish) for the full. Which kind of sucks on my running resume and permanent record, but seriously, who is ever going to look up my race results?

The real reason I am so hell bent on avoiding an injury is because I have picked my next marathon and training for it starts officially on June 4th. It is the VIA Lehigh Valley Marathon on September 8th. I plan on making this my Boston Qualifier. And….that’s all I’m going to say about that right now.

Whichever race I officially or unofficially run on Sunday, I’ll be doing it in style. Rich got me a cool new outfit (birthday gift) just for the event.

Some of my Boston friends (you know who you are) are cringing right now – sooo colorful. I love you all-black-wearing divas to death, I really do!  So, I’ll be breaking a rule here and running in something brand new on race day. I guess I could do worse things to hurt my performance.

Which leads me into my goal for Sunday. Do I have one? I guess there’s always a goal right? Quite frankly, I’m not sure what to expect. I’ve barely run anything over 4 miles for three weeks and have done no real speedwork or anything to speak of. So, I’ll just take what race day gives me and enjoy the event. It is my hometown, I’ll be in good company and I enjoy the course.

Happy running!

Runners will eat/drink just about anything to improve their speed and endurance. I personally would tolerate some pretty gross stuff if I thought It would help. Luckily, the thing getting lots of attention in the endurance sport world isn’t gross and can actually be tasty, if mixed with other items.

Beet Juice is all the rage for marathoners, such as Ryan Hall, ultra-marathoners and long distance cyclists. The reason is because beets are loaded with nitrates. When dietary nitrates turn to nitric oxide in the body, it reduces the amount of oxygen required to perform exercise. Nitric oxide also facilitates vasodilation, or the widening of blood vessels. Endurance can be increased by as much as 16% longer because of these factors and time to exhaustion is significantly extended. In other words this is like all-natural blood doping, increasing the VO2 max, the maximum capacity of an individual’s body to transport and use oxygen during incremental exercise.

Additional bonuses in beet juice include:

• Red/violet coloring in beet juice (betalains) are powerful antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents.
• Because of the widening of the blood vessels, individuals who drank beet juice, saw a lowering of blood pressure within 24 hours.
• Beets are a powerful vegetable and have the ability to cleanse the blood and the kidneys.

Experts recommend that you consume beet juice in moderation, drinking no more than 8 ounces, three times a week. It is also recommended that you mix beets/beet juice with other vegetables. I completely agree with this because of the taste…beets juiced by themselves aren’t really that appetizing. More importantly, too much pure beet juice, either from the bulb or the greens can cause temporary paralysis of the vocal cords, hives, increased heart rate, chills and fever. Again….moderation.

Beet juice can be found in most natural food stores. Mine actually had beet juice in a small jar ($8.00 for about 4 servings) or a crystalized version ($22.00 for about 20 servings). The later choice was also organic, another reason I chose it.

When I traveled to Boston for the Marathon, I was introduced to beet juice for the first time. Tara made us a couple of smoothies, and though I don’t have the original recipe, I believe there was coconut water, pineapple, beet juice, and ice involved. It was delicious, but I wanted to add my kale to the mix. I have been blending the following:

• Kale (in small amounts)
• 1 tablespoon beet crystals
• Celery
• ½ green apple
• Coconut water
• Ice

After it’s all blended, I strain it through my nut bag and drink just the juice, discarding the pulp. It’s refreshing and the combinations of the additional ingredients give it a little sweetness. Other additions you could use are bananas, strawberries, oranges, orange juice, carrots, etc.

You will have to play around with which way you like it best and see if you notice a difference in your performance. Just like anything else new, I would urge against trying this for the first time on race day, and mind the moderation. I learned the hard way – walking around with itchy skin for days. Apparently the crystals were very strong/pure and although I followed the recommended serving size, it proved to be a little too strong. Trail and error. I would imagine that each individual will tolerate amounts differently.

Good luck with the beet juice – enjoy the run!