My Breakfast - 1000 calories

Here is a typical breakfast for me:

• Two eggs (large, fried with olive oil)
• Sunflower seeds (mixed with the eggs)
• Hard cheese (usually Parmesan) melted between the eggs
• Two cups of green vegetables
• Some broccoli, carrots, etc, added to the salad
• Two tablespoons of oil and some vinegar
• Cottage cheese (quarter to half cup)
• Bacon (two slices)
• Almonds (I usually eat these while I prepare breakfast)

Total calories: 1000

Composition (thanks to Fitday.com):

• Fat: 75g (70%)
• Carbs: 24g (10%)
• Protein: 50g (20%)

Perfect ratios! :)

Sometimes immediately after this, or for midmorning snack. I make a cup or two of hot chocolate. I mix unsweetened cocoa (one tablespoon) with some brown sugar, heavy cream, cinnamon, and maybe a bit of vanilla and/or orange extract. Plus, I have half a cup of Fage 2% yogurt. Total of 500 calories.

So, by 12 noon I have consumed 1500 calories.  Then another 1000 calories for lunch.  And about 500 calories for dinner, 3000 calories total.

I eat something similar (eggs and salad) before every race, including my last two marathons.  Seems to be working well.

Towpath Marathon 2011 - Race Report

Towpath Marathon (Oct. 9, 2011)

The Towpath 5K was my first race in 2002. I have run an event in this race since then:

- 2002: 5K (my first race ever!) - 21:27
- 2003: Marathon Relay
- 2004: My first marathon! (3:55)
- 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008: Marathons (3:36 best time in 2006)
- 2009, 2010: Half Marathon (I ran the Athens Marathon that was close)

My goal this year was to improve my 3:36 best course time.

Yesterday I carbo-loaded by taking my wife out for dinner. My total carbs for the day amounted to 150 g (nutrition experts recommend 600 g before a race). The morning of the race (today) I had what could be called "a nutritional nightmare" before a marathon: eggs with bacon, cheese, olive oil, nuts. Total of 680 calories, 67% fat, 8% carbs (15g – vs. 400 g recommended by the experts). Yikes!

I laced my New Balance Minimus shoes and decided to run without jacket & gloves (at 52F), but held my bottle (with home-made orange juice) and my 3d camera. Here are a couple of pictures that I took before the race started.

Right away I found myself running at 7:30 pace. First 6 miles: 7:33, 7:33, 7:46, 7:50, 7:45, 7:39. This pace felt comfortable. I found myself running with some guys that I knew could not keep up this pace.

My next 10 miles were in extremely even pace. I was running like a well-oiled machine :) averaging 7:45 min/mile: 7:40, 7:42, 7:44, 7:46, 7:47, 7:48, 7:41, 7:42, 7:42, 7:40.

I passed the half mark at 1:41:15. A quick calculation convinced me that I had the 3:35 in the bag, so to speak, and maybe I have a shot for 3:30 if I didn’t slow down a lot.

At mile 17 my legs started feeling tired. My pace slowed from 7:40 to 8:00 min/mile: 7:49, 7:54, 8:03, 7:58, 8:02, 7:57, 8:03, 8:05. It took a lot of determination to maintain this pace. But everyone else was slowing too, as the temperature rose to 70F. I was passing runner after runner, those who had passed me earlier.

As I am approaching Red Lock, with only 2 miles left, I was trying to figure out if I had a chance to finish at 3:25. This would be a -5 BQ. I made an effort to speed up. Mile 25 is 7:57. Mile 26 is 7:26, which is the fastest mile so far in the race.

My Garmin watch shows that after mile 26, I had 0.4 miles to go, instead of 0.1 (it was running slow). At this point I was flying. I am always running faster when I get closer to the end of a long race, but now I was trying to achieve a goal of 3:23

My time at this last 0.4 mile was 6:43!!

I crossed the line at 3:25:08 according to the race clock. My chip time was 3:25:02.

Wow! What a great effort! I beat my previous course record by 11 minutes and ran faster than the Akron marathon 2 weeks ago, by 10 minutes. As a matter of fact, this is the 3rd fastest marathon out of 17 (the other two are 3:19 and 3:22 in Cleveland 2010 and 2009). Next year, I am definitely going for a PR in Cleveland (my favorite course)! Here is a picture of me at the finish, and a picture of my wife who finished the Half Marathon at 2:06, a good time for her.

After the race we went home, cleaned and changed and then went back for the awards. No awards for us this year. I finished 7th/49 in my age group. It is interesting that if I were I the next age group, I would have finished first. We then went to Bob Evans for some real food.

Runners: Is Low-Carb for you?

Answer these two questions:

1. Are you satisfied with your current weight or would you like to lose 5-10 lbs?
2. Are you satisfied with your running? Does it feel strong? Are you enjoying it or does it feel like a drag (especially the long runs)?

If you answered “yes” to both questions then you are fine. Whatever you are doing is working. Keep it up. If you answered “no” to both questions, then you should consider a low-carb diet and see how it works for you. I know that this is going against everything that you've read in the mainstream running books and web sites, but how do these “experts” know what is good for you personally?

Jan, in the running list said something about not having time to read a book on low-carb or something about a low-carb cookbook. The beauty of low-carb nutrition for me is that you do not need to read anything, or cook in any special way. All you need to do is eliminate high carb foods: Bread, wheat & flour, pasta, rice, sugar & sweets, potatoes. Eat fruits, nuts, dairy, in moderation. Eat lots of eggs, meat/fish, oil, vegetables. Drink plenty of water.

Most people on a low-carb nutrition typically start the day eating eggs for breakfast (no bread, milk, cereal). I make a two egg omelet cooked with olive oil (or butter) and eat some cheese and vegetables. I might add bacon or sausage. For lunch, try a large salad (with lots of olive oil) and a 4-6 oz piece of meat or fish (tuna, salmon). Again, no bread, crackers, etc. Same for dinner. For snacks you can have nuts (almonds are better than peanuts), cheese, yogurt (regular, not low-fat or no-fat), a piece of fruit.

Avoid processed foods. Avoid foods labeled "low fat". Check the ingredients on anything with a label and avoid foods that are high in carbs, or with sugar and derivatives (high fructose syrup, etc.) listed as ingredients. For fun, or education, keep a log of what you eat to see how you are doing. I have been entering my food in fitday.com, but there are other sites too. Standard low-carb diet advice is to only monitor your grams of carbs and keep them under 20 (very strict), under 50 (strict, that's how I think I started) or under 100 (more liberal, this is where I am about now). Experts recommend to subtract fiber from carbs to get net carbs, which is what really counts.

Allow yourself two weeks to adjust to this. If you lower your carbs drastically, the first week or two your running will suffer a bit as you deplete your glycogen reserves. Be prepared for a large weight drop the first two weeks, mostly water, from losing the stored glycogen and getting rid of salt stored in the kidneys. Then your body will learn to burn fat (hopefully your stored fat) and synthesize glycogen from fat. It took my body 2 weeks to adjust. My wife suggests to wait a month before deciding if this works for you or not.

My wife started dieting the same time I started eating low-carb. While I never saw this as a diet, she clearly did and kept a detailed food log, aiming at restricting calories. She ate about 1000 calories/day, working on a caloric deficit. She did not consciously try to eat less carbs, but I influenced her and she dropped bread and sugar. While my ratios are 60/15/25 (fat/carbs/protein), her ratios are something like 30/30/30 (but she is eating about as many grams of carbs as I do, because she is eating less calories overall). At first, she struggled a bit with running. It took her a month to start running strong (note: she was not running strong before the diet either.) Now she has lost a total of 14 lbs (started at 145 and she is now 131). She continues to eat the same way, just a bit more food, about 1200 calories, but she does not feel like she is on a diet now. One thing she keeps repeating is that it is liberating not to be afraid of fat. While she continues to eat 0% fat yogurt and skim milk, she is not afraid of meat, bacon, olive oil, eggs, mayonnaise, or other high fat foods.

I have lost about 15 lbs (from 172 down to 157) and my running is better than ever. I can run 10 miles first thing in the morning, without breakfast, maybe only eating a couple of almonds. I do not “bonk” any more. I enjoy running more and I have increased my weekly mileage. My races are going well. I start a bit slower, but gradually accelerate and tend to run the 2nd half of the race faster than the first. It is nice to pass exhausted runners, knowing that you are going to finish strong.

What is the explanation for this? I think my body has learned to burn fat more efficiently. While our glycogen reserves are limited, our fat reserves are not, plus there is more energy in a gram of fat than glycogen. While I do drink Gatorade during a race (and I enjoyed the banana on mile 21 of the Akron Marathon) I do not try to carbo-load and I eat a low carb breakfast before the race (I just eat my regular breakfast of eggs and half an orange). I also do not make any attempt to “replenish” my glycogen reserves after a race. (Standard advice is to eat carbs 30 minutes after a run/race – I ignore this advice because I do not think I need to replenish anything.) As a matter of fact, I usually crave fat after a race, not sugar/garbs. After Akron, my wife and I went to Bob Evans for a cheese omelet and sausage/bacon. It looks like this will be our after-marathon tradition from now on.

If you like to discuss low-carb nutrition with other runners, please consider joining my email discussion list: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/LowCarbRun

Twinkies, Bacon or Pasta? – What’s a Runner to Eat?

Twinkies, Bacon or Pasta? – What’s a Runner to Eat?

In our running email discussion list, someone posted a link to a professor of nutrition who, as an experiment, went on a diet of mostly twinkies and junk food and lost 27 pounts in 2 months:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/11/08/twinkie.diet.professor/index.html

The trick is that he kept his total calorie intake to 1,800 calories/day, while calculators show that he needed 2,600 calories/day to maintain weight. The conclusion, for many people, is that caloric deficit will lead to weight loss, no matter what you eat.

Personally, I think that it is a bit more complicated than that, since some foods can affect your metabolism (the 2,600 calories that he needed to maintain weight) plus some foods affect your hunger more than others, which makes it difficult to maintain the diet, unless, as in the case of this professor, if you have something to prove. And it is an open question how this diet will affect your running (the professor had to stop running while in this experiment).

But even if we assume that ANY diet with a caloric deficit will lead to weight loss, the question then is what kind of diet/nutrition is easier to follow for weight control, while maintaining your running strength and is healthy for you in the long run?

Here are the observations of this experiment of one:

This morning I was 157.5 pounds. That's the lowest weight I ever remember being in my adult life. I have lost 14.5 lbs in 7 weeks and I am not even on a diet. I eat plenty of good food until I am not hungry, and maybe a bit more. I do not crave anything I do not eat. I have plenty of energy, as manifested by my recent races, like the Akron marathon. This weekend was a good example: On Saturday I went out running alone while drizzling. I did not have a preset time/distance in mind, so I kept running (and thinking). I went for 11 miles like that, enjoying my run. On Sunday I ran with my wife, 15.5 miles, no problem. I ran up some steep hills (pre-low-carb I would have walked these.) Having fun while running for hours, now that’s what I call “the joy of running”.

Last week I used fitday.com and logged everything that I ate. I ate an average of 2450 calories/day, with these ratios: Protein: 21%, Carbs: 17% (102g), Fat: 62%

2,500 calories is a lot of food. But since I am losing about a pound a week, that means that I am operating at 500 caloric deficit a day. I should eat 3,000 calories/day to maintain weight, if the calories in/calories out balance theory is correct. But I do not feel hungry to eat more.

So, the answer for me to the question of what to eat to lose weight is to forget the conventional running wisdom and eat more fat and less carbs. Eating excessive carbs made me hungry, and I gained weight, no matter how much I ran. I also did not enjoy running as much. Now, I am losing weight without being hungry and I am running strong and enjoying running more than ever. I also believe that I am doing the right thing for my body on the long run. Now some people will dispute this, claiming that a high fat, high cholesterol diet is bad for you. From what I have read, I am convinced that a low-carb diet is a healthy diet. But no one can dispute the effect that this diet has on my body and running.

Science for Smart People

Science for Smart People:

I found this video, from a presentation by comedian Tom Naughton, on the 4th Annual Low-Carb Cruise: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1RXvBveht0

Tom is the writer/director of the movie FatHead (which I just got in the mail and watched it last night, highly recommended!)

This is a long (45 minutes) but entertaining presentation, which for me could be a lecture in a university on observational and clinical studies.  Many of our beliefs about the effect of cholesterol, fat, salt, etc., comes from news titles which, in tern, are inspired from actual observational and clinical studies. Tom explains what this means. What are observational studies and what are clinical studies? How to critically look at these studies and draw your own conclusions, instead of depending on reporters to summarize the conclusions of the study with a catchy title like "Eating eggs will make you fat" etc. There are a couple of sections where running is mentioned. A lot of the running recommendations on what to eat/drink etc., also come from similar studies, so the information is appropriate.

I am sure you will enjoy this presentation and become a bit more skeptical about what conventional medical science says we should be doing, knowing how this advice was derived. And you will be inspired to read the original studies, instead of relying on summaries.

PS, Tom’s web site is: http://www.fathead-movie.com/

His motto: You’ve been fed a load of balogna

Akron Marathon – Sept 24 2011

Akron Marathon – Sept 24 2011

I had a fantastic marathon race: 3:34 & negative splits!
My wife Liz, met her half-marathon goal A: 2:09

Last night we went to the expo, bought a few things (found the newer NB Minimus shoes for only $55!) and then we went out for dinner. Several restaurants were very busy so we ended up close to home at 8:30 pm. I had a hamburger, ate half the bun, some fries and a lite beer (my calories for the day 2,750, including 170 g of carbs, so this was "carbo-loading" for me).

Saturday morning we got up at 5:00 am, stepped at the scale, 160 lbs, good. I ate two eggs with cheese, no bread.  Now, that's a marathon race day breakfast!  Then I made my own version of sports drink by squeezing two oranges, adding tangerine tea, a bit of salt, and some ice cubs. I peeled an orange and ate half of it in the way to Akron. I also took some nuts in case I need them during the race, but ate them before the race started.

Here are pictures we took at the stadium before the race:

The race started at 7:00 exactly. It was still dark. The temperature was 54F and it stayed constant and cloudy for about 2 1/2 hours and then the sun came out and warmed up to 65F. Overall, a very nice day for running.

My goal for the day was 3:45 or about 8:30/mile pace. I decided to follow the 3:40 pacer, which is a friend of mine. At first, we had a hard time running at the required 8:20 pace because of all the slow runners ahead of us! When are these people going to learn and start at their expected pace???

My number had my nickname DrT, but it was written DRT, so some people called me DRY, or DIRT (go Dirt!) Only a few got it right.

I followed the pacer for the first 3 miles: 8:25, 8:19, 823.

Then I pulled ahead a bit, and soon found myself running a bit faster. My Garmin only shows the average pace and every time I looked at it, it was faster, going from 8:20 to 8:10. Miles 4-12 are in roads of Akron: 8:07, 8:11, 8:12, 8:12, 8:18, 7:54 (downhill, going through the University of Akron), 8:08, 8:12, 7:47 (downhill, right before entering the Towpath).

Miles 13-15 are in the Towpath (crashed limestone mostly): 8:11, 8:11, 8:20

Then we entered the Park, an area with rolling hills, going mostly up. This is considered a hard part of the course. Miles 16-19: 8:33, 8:21, 8:33, 8:16

Then we are back running in Akron neighborhoods, one of the hardest parts of the course for me, cumulating in an uphill that leads to the Stan Hywet Museum and Gardens. Miles 20-22: 8:13, 8:14, 8:25.

Up to this point I was drinking water and Gatorade in most aid stations, only occasionally sipping through my orange juice bottle, saving it for the last part of the race. Around mile 21.5 someone was handing out bananas. I took one, and it was huge. I was going to have a bite or two, but didn't know what to do with the rest, so I ate the entire thing. Felt good!

We toured through the Stan Hywet Museum and then exited, for the rest of the course, which is mostly downhill (yeah). You can tell from my first mile, how excited I was: 7:47, 8:03. We then arrived at Market Street, which is definitely downhill: 7:20, 7:34 (I was flying :))

Finally, we turned at Main street for a bit less than a mile, to finish at the baseball stadium. My Garmin showed that after mile 26 there was 0.37 miles and my pace was 6:40!!! I was excited because I realized that I can "break" 3:35 if I hurried a bit, so this is what I did.

My wife was standing on line to take a picture of me, while I was speeding up to turn to the Stadium. It turned out OK:

I knew I had managed to beat 3:35 and was pleased! Banking effort instead of time (as the coach recommends) and running negative splits is uplifting! I passed people who had tags in their backs with 3:35 aim time and I knew they had no chance of meeting their time. I saw tired, demoralized runners. And I passed them running strong. Nothing better!

The race director shook my hand at the finish (as everyone else's) It looks like they were 1,300 marathon runners, 3,200 half marathon runners and a lot of relay runners! I think there were 10 relay runners for every marathon runner, so there were always people around me, going at different paces, some slower, most faster (because they were fresh, running smaller distances like 5 miles), which is a bit irritating because when you get passed on a marathon you are conditioned to question your pace.

My final time: 3:34:40 (8:12 pace). I finished 210/1342 overall and 15/112 in my age group.

I am very pleased with my time, 5-10 minutes faster than expected, my negative splits and lots of strength at the end (even though my legs were hurting after mile 20). My last marathon was New Orleans in January, where I started faster (running well under 8 min miles for the first 17) and then "crashed" (relatively speaking) to finish at 3:36. Then I got injured and had to drop Boston. Now I am slowly coming back.

I picked up my metal, posed for picture, then my bag of goodies. Then went up the stadium steps to pick up my two free beers, met my wife and went home. At home I was very hungry for sausage and cheese and eggs (craving fat) but there was nothing to eat, so we got dressed and went to Bob Evans for a nice omelet with sausage and bacon. Aaahhhh...

My wife's A goal was under 2:10 for the half marathon. She achieved this with 2:09:03. We have another marathon/half marathon in 2 weeks. I think her goal should be 2:05 (her PR is 2:04).

Overall, a great day for both of us!

Standard Dietary Advice for Runners (makes my hair stand up!)

Hi Guys,

I was looking around running web sites for some inspiration for my Akron marathon tomorrow, and found the following nutritional advice for runners in active.com:

“For athletes in periods of heavy training, a good rule of thumb is to consume three to five grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight per day. A competitive, 170-pound runner might range between 500 and 700 grams daily."

"Fruits and vegetables are carbohydrate-rich foods that also contain a great deal of other nutrients, and it is widely known that you should eat them in plentiful amounts. But don't cut potatoes, bread and pasta from your diet."

"Ideally, four hours before exercise, you would consume two grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight.... A 120-pound runner would not be able to consume 17 slices of rye bread with four hours to go before a long run. Since this has much to do with the sheer bulk of such a meal, remember that sports beverages and juices offer a concentrated dose of carbohydrate before a race, while filling the stomach far less."

Makes my hair stand up! :)

And this, regarding pre-race eating:

“Every meal is important, but no meal is more important than the one before a race. The main purpose of the pre-race meal is to fill your liver with glycogen. At least 80 percent of the calories you consume in your pre-race meal should come from carbohydrates. Keep your protein, and especially your fat and fiber consumption low. These nutrients take up space that are better utilized by carbohydrate. ”

I am curious how my pre-race meal of two eggs (no bread) will work out... Oh, I forgot the orange!

I will report tomorrow.

Carboload or not? This is the question!

A friend wrote the following in our local running email discussion list:
> I have been doing some heavy eating the past few months and the extra
> weight has really helped me lower my time. I have done a lot of research
> and the extra weight converted to muscle is a huge factor in increasing
> speed. I have a little cold and lost a few pounds thus week but am hoping
> to put the pounds back on today and tomorrow by excessive carbo- loading.

My reply:
Ha, ha, ha! I cannot tell if you are serious or not. Because what you are saying can go both ways. I agree and I disagree at the same time.

Yes, being heavy and extra carbo-loaded will make you race stronger, especially shorter distances. Been there, done that.

But at the same time, I felt like crap most of the time, my clothes wouldn't fit, I'd get hot and sweat easily, I'd take naps, not sleep well at night, bonked often in training runs and would not enjoy training too much, but I'd run a fast race.

After dropping 10 lbs going low-carb, I have more energy during the day, my clothes fit, I enjoy running more, and run stronger the second half of a race. But my racing times are bit slower, I admit it. I trust this will change soon though, as a result of training and adjusting to a low-carb nutrition. I set my PRs in half, full marathon, and Buckeye 50K when I was my lowest weight ever.

And since I am more interested in very long races (I signed up for Burning River) I am not sure if I need more weight and more speed or less weight and more endurance.

Youngstown 25K – Sept 17, 2011

Youngstown 25K – Sept 17, 2011

I just came back from running the 7th Annual Youngstown Ultra Trail Classic 50K & 25K. This is a new race for me (first time) and decided to run the 25K since I am only one week away from the Akron Marathon. I heard good things about the course and wanted to see it.

I might have upped my carbs a bit last week, with a few more fruits and some bites of chocolate! :) The scale showed up 2 lbs the morning of the race (could be the salty nuts too). The morning of the race I ate a 2 egg omelet with some cheese and nuts and vegetables, plus half an orange. No bread. This is the first race I did not have any carbs for breakfast!

Temperature this morning was 51F, predicted sunny. I asked a guy if I should wear a short or long-sleeve T-shirt and he said "short, of course!" which is what I did. I was a bit cold at first but OK later.

I was planning to wear sturdy shoes but last week I injured my little toe and all shoes hurt, except for the New Balance Minimus. This was not a good choice because the course was full of rocks and roots. But, I had no choice...

The race started at 8 am. Everyone was running fast, but I decided to start slow. Very quickly we hit a narrow long staircase. I was stuck walking it, behind everyone else. Then we entered a single lane trail. NOW I know why everyone was running fast! They were trying to position themselves ahead of the slower runners!

So, I passed quite a few runners in the first miles. Between mile 3 and 3.5 I passed several runners in tricky one lane paths, and I am sure I irritated them, trying to pass at downhills (I like to run fast at downhills). I could not pass the last guy until we hit an open area. Then he moved to the side and said "You can pass me now... Thank you for being patient." I am sure he was thinking "Get lost you jerk!"

I reached the first aid station (4 miles) and grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I then started running in a scenic path around a lake (4 miles long). At around 1/2 mile in this trail, I saw little pink flags leading out of the trail.

Now, the trail was marked both with pink ribbons hanging from trees and pink flags in the ground, plus white arrows. I turned out of the trail, following the pink flags. I crossed a road, then entered a strange area without any trail marked. I was jumping trees and going through wild vegetation. I thought "Hmmm, they decided to make this challenging". But I was following pink flags. I went through people's properties, very close to their houses. I started thinking "How do they let runners run so close to people houses? These people must be annoyed". After a while, I said to myself "This cannot be right". I bent and inspected the pink flags I was following. They were markings for gas lines!!! I had taken a wrong turn, following flags marking gas lines!!! Duhhh!! I turned around, and back into the trail.

I started running fast trying to cover the lost ground and out of frustration... I passed people who I had passed before mile 1 and now I was in mile 5. How much time did I lose? Around 8 minutes I estimated. (Unfortunately, I accidentally stopped my watch so I cannot be sure).

I completed the loop and reached the aid station, now mile 8. We had to repeat this 4 mile loop. I made sure I stayed at the course this time! I passed two more guys, while completing the loop. Now I am at mile 12 and have 4 more miles to go. In these 4 miles I passed 2-3 people that I remember passing at mile 3.5. Then I saw the guy who said "Thank you for being patient" ahead of me. I tried to catch him but he finished 20 yards ahead of me. I zeroed my watch and I know I did the 2nd half of the course in 1:06.

The results are out. I am in 6th place and my official time is 2:26. This means that my time for each half is:

• 1st half: 1:20
• 2nd half: 1:06

 Quite a difference. Either the detour lasted more than 8 minutes, or I ran an impressive negative split (probably both). I felt very strong towards the end. This would have been the trail race to break 5 hours in a 50K. At the finish, I was not tired at all. I felt I could have gone the entire 50K without a problem. My feet were not hurting from all the rocks and roots, but I was very careful where I was stepping, which slowed me down. On another day, with better shoes and without getting lost, I think I can do a lot better!

 So, it is clear that my running has improved and I am getting stronger and stronger. Running a faster 2nd half in a long race is something that not many people can do. The low carb nutrition is working for me!

 Overall, I am very pleased and have good memories of the race. Next year I will either do the 25K going for a better time, or I will do the 50K.

River Run Half Marathon Sept 11, 2011

River Run Half Marathon Sept 11, 2011

Bottom Line: 1:35:25 (7:15 pace) – with great effort!

This morning I was 159 lbs. I ate a few bites of almond butter (no bread) and half an orange and left (with my wife) for the race. The weather was OK, 65-70F, high humidity, cloudy. The course is on roads at a local parkway.   Here is a picture of us before the race:

This is the course where I have my half marathon PR from last year, 1:30:07, but I knew that this year I was not in shape to get anywhere close to this so I aimed for 1:35 and that’s what I got.

I made an effort to start slower, so I avoided the temptation to start with my running friends (who are fast). My mile splits: 7:13 7:08 7:00 7:02 7:10 7:17 7:01 7:35 7:00 7:30 7:34 7:26 7:33 6:23

I am happy with the even pace (7-7:30). Towards the end my legs were getting tired. Mile 13 was a torture. I see I managed to maintain my pace, even though I felt I was going slower. Of course, I sprinted to the finish :) (6:23 is for the last 0.1).

I did not bring my water bottle and I think this hurt me. I was looking forward to the water stations every 2 miles. Towards the end I was drinking two cups of water in every station. I used to be able to run the entire half with no or very little water, when I was carbo-loading, but now it seems that I need more water, so I will remember to carry my bottle with me from now on.

My wife, Liz, had a PW, 2:20. This is 12 minutes slower than her slowest half (this was her 9th). She too has lost some weight (8 lbs) but feels a bit weak and her mileage is lower this year than last year.  Here are two pictures, one at the last mile and one after the finish (she did not feel very well afterwards).

End of 3rd Low-Carb Week: Where does my energy come from?

I posted this email in the “Joy of Running” email discussion list at the end of the 3rd week of low-carb nutrition. The title was “Where Does My Energy Come From?”

Hi Guys, So...

I started a low carb nutrition 3 weeks ago. I eat eggs, bacon/sausage, cheese, nuts, fresh vegetables for breakfast. A large mixed salad with olive oil and vinegar, plus cheese, nuts for lunch. Some serving of meat and vegetables for dinner. At least two fruits. Some cottage cheese or yogurt (both full fat, not low fat) for dairy. I do not NOT eat sugar, flour, bread, pasta, grains. I do not feel hungry. I eat as much as I feel I need. I do not hold back on calories, only carbs. I do not have any cravings for anything I do not eat.

While most runners want to lose 5 lbs, I have lost 11.5 lbs in 3 weeks. For the interest of science, here are my weight measurements every day since my new nutrition:

Week zero (pre-low-carb) : 171 lbs
Week 1: 171, 167, 167, 166, 164, 163, 165 (avg: 166)
Week 2: 163, 163, 164, 162, 162, 162, 161 (avg: 162)
Week 3: 161, 162, 163, 161, 161, 160 (avg: 161)

This morning I was 159.5 lbs, so 11.5 lbs down since 3 weeks ago.

The first two weeks I had good and bad runs. Bad runs were on hot & humid weather where I sweated a lot and end up aborting the run (happened twice). The third week (this one) I felt better, ran easier, stop sweating (sweating less than normal, for the same effort.)

Every morning this week, Tue, Wed, Thu, I went for a 10 mile run in the morning. The first day I ate a few nuts, being afraid to run without eating anything. The other two days I ate nothing and felt fine. Yesterday (Friday) was normally my rest day. I had an afternoon snack and then joined my wife for an easy 5 mile run at 10 min/mile pace. Back at home I was NOT hungry so I did not eat anything.

This morning I got up and went out at 6:30 am for a group run. I did not eat anything. Now, you would expect that being on a low carb diet and having run 5 mile last night without eating dinner, I would have completely exhausted my glycogen reserves so it would not be possible to run 10 miles this morning without some high carb breakfast or at least some Gatorade. I only had a few sips of water before I left home.

Well, I ran 10 miles at 8:10 average pace (mile 4 was 7:42) I felt that my running was effortless. I did not feel tired, or out of energy. I actually held myself back because tomorrow I am running the River Run half marathon.

So, where does the energy come from? Am I really burning (mostly) fat instead of (mostly) glycogen?

I feel I have more strength than ever. I am up to running 60 miles/week (average each of the last 3 weeks). I am really perplexed. It appears that without carbs I am running better. It goes against everything we have been told about runners needing to eat lots of carbs because they are energy and without carbs we will hit the wall.

I see myself as running a science experiment on myself. So far the results are very encouraging :)

Leave No Trace Half Marathon, Sept 3 2011

Leave No Trace Half Marathon, Sept 3 2011
Saturday morning I stepped on the scale, pleased with the 161 lbs reading (down from 172 not long ago), got dressed and left to run the "Leave No Trace Trail Half Marathon" at local trails. I ran this race last year (inaugural) and enjoyed it, so here I was again.

The course description reads: "Technical, mostly single track trail run... good climbs and descents..." which is correct. The course was dry and the weather was hot and humid 70F at 6 am).

Mile splits in trail races are meaningless because of the irregular course, but here are my splits anyway: 8:49, 8:53, 9:04, 9:16, 9:35, 9:04, 9:16, 9:35, 9:09, 9:10, 9:04, 9:06, 9:12, 8:58, 9:28, 9:05, 8:53.

I started too fast and I knew it. I was trying to position myself a bit in the front so I am not stuck behind slow runners on a single-track trail, but everyone was running fast, as if they were in a panic, so I got carried away. I see names of people who I passed after the first mile and their average pace is 10 min/mile. What are they doing running sub-9 min first mile? I have to remember from now on to slow down! Running a fast first mile is counter-productive. It is always better to have negative splits and pass lots of people instead of slowing down and getting passed later in the race.

The first couple of miles I felt I was running fast and sweating a lot, burning whatever little glycogen I have in my body. I then stabilized running at a comfortable pace with little sweating. On a hot day like this I put my water bottle in the freezer overnight. Then as the ice starts melting, I can use the cold water to wash my face and cool my head, or drink it. Cold water feels so much better on a hot day! At the first aid station I filled the half-empty bottle with Gatorade. Sweating started again as it was getting hotter and harder with time. I made the mistake to take ½ water 1/2 Gatorade at the 2nd and last aid station while I only really needed water, so I started getting sick of the Gatorade.

Throughout the race I passed quite a few runners and only remember being passed by one, Laurie Schroeder, who finished 2nd Female overall. She came from behind a bit late in the race (mile 4?) and slowly but surely passed every one behind me, then passed me, then the runners ahead of me, one at a time, and disappeared into the trail. I thought I'd never see her again, but I caught up with her with only 0.2 miles to go and passed her as I was sprinting to the finish line, and finished ahead of her by 21 seconds. Seeing the finish line is such a relief that I have to sprint from sheer joy, no matter how tired I am.

Finish time: 2:03 (9:05 pace) finished top 3 in age group (50-59)
(Last year there were 78 finishers, this year 143)
Here is a picture of me after the finish:

I was very pleased with my strong finish and time (2:03), until I later saw that last year my time was 1:57! But, looking closer at the results I see that Kyle Bowman who won the race both years, also finished 6 minutes slower this year. It seems that the heat had affected everyone.

After the race we were offered bananas, oatmeal bars and various bags with chips, etc. Normally, I would have taken several pieces of everything home (my wife accuses me of going grocery-shopping after races). Or, I would have eaten stuff at the spot (hey, free food!) After the 5 mile Twilight Trail race a couple of weeks ago I had Gatorade (a couple of cups), watermelon (3-4 slices), three glasses of beer and about 12 pieces of pizza. But that was then (pre low-carb nutrition). Now, I just had water and took a banana home (to eat it during the week, one bite a day :) :))

Overall, a fine race, one to do year after year!

PS. Sunday I went for a recovery run with my wife and managed to run 15 miles at 9 min/mile pace, a bit surprised since it felt slower and very comfortable.