Is it weird that I'm excited to go to the doctor for my yearly general check-up? Well, not so much the check-up itself but rather the blood work. I wanted to see the results of my last 4 months of nutritional experiments. Last February I started cutting out wheat, grains, and all other extraneous carbs from my diet and increased the healthy fats and at the start of May I increased the vegetables. These days I'm all about the vegetables. Lots and lots of vegetables. Vegetables with my vegetables. Covered in lots of lovely fat. Healthy fats of course. Cream sauces, sprinkles of cheese, eggs, olive oil, coconut oil, butter. Mmmmmmm butter. ALL the butter. I've also managed to introduce some fish into my diet - wild caught salmon and some shrimp and scallops. Even had some red meat for the first time in 30 years. That took some bravery because I'd read that you lose your ability to digest red meat after several years of giving it up and indeed I had gotten sick once from a 'friend' inviting me to dinner and feeding me ground beef in the lasagna without telling me. Even though he knew I was a vegetarian. Thankfully I figured it out pretty quickly and didn't eat too much but my boyfriend, also a vegetarian, gobbled loads of it down and was sick as a dog, throwing up all night. And I have another vegetarian friend who gets sick to the point of throwing up if he has meat. So I was hesitant. It's taken me years to work up the nerve.
Last week the local grocery had grass fed sirloin on sale for $6.99 a lb, about half the cost of wild caught salmon on sale, and I finally felt good about taking the plunge. I bought 5 oz and cut it in half for my first try. Fasted until lunch so I was good and hungry and looked up how to cook sirloin on the internets. Good old internets. Did some re-framing about how healthy this stuff is for me and how I'm going to feel good after eating it. Mixed it in with a nice big salad so the majority of food was something I felt comfortable with. And it actually tasted sort of, kind of good. When I was done I put it out of my mind so I wouldn't mentally make myself sick. And I was totally fine. Phew! The second piece a few days later did cause a little bit of G.I. issues but nothing too serious. Yay! I didn't have the red meat until after my blood work so it didn't effect the results.
Anyway, back to the lab work. I was expecting to see triglycerides go down from last year and they did, from 61 mg/dL to 42 mg/dL, a huge improvement (normal range is 35-135), very happy about that. Having low triglycerides is a very very very good thing. Was a little concerned that bad cholesterol (LDL) would go up which they did by 2 points but they went up to 68 mg/dL which is still 2 points below the normal range of 70-100 mg/dL. And non-high density lipoprotein actually went down from 78 to 76 mg/dL which is also well below the normal range of 90-129. HDL (good cholesterol) remained the same at 68 mg/dL with normal being 40-95. Overall LDL/HDL risk stayed the same at 0.4 with normal being 0.2-1.0. The point being that lots of healthy fats, even saturated animal fats which I mostly have in the form of dairy (eggs, butter, cheese, cream, full fat yogurt, sour cream) do not necessarily give you high cholesterol as long as you eat keep the carbs low and don't eat processed food/sugar and eat lots of vegetables. IOW, lots of plants, plenty of good healthy fats, little to no processed food, sugar or grains, healthy whole foods that don't come out of a box works pretty well. At least for me. Of course we're all experiments of one but this result does fit with much of the current research.
All other blood work was pretty awesome as well-protein, creatinine, hemoglobin, glucose (74 mg/dL with 70-100 being normal). Vitamin D was 59.9 ng/mL with 30-100 being normal. Thank you Colorado sunshine. My weight is good too, 118.6 lbs at 5'-4 1/4" (about what I weighed when I was on the track team in high school) puts my BMI at 20.2 with normal being 18.5-25.9. I won't bore the internets with any more details than that.
Time Magazine just published a cover story called, 'Ending the War on Fat', and the cover features a plea to, 'Eat Butter'. And while I'm happy that we're finally having a national discussion about the wrong-headed vilification of healthy fats I also worry that Americans will miss the point without the equally important message about the harm of processed foods, grains, sugar, etc. You can't eat lots of fat and lots of carbs and sugar and processed food. The message here is not to start spreading loads of butter on your oversized blueberry muffin. Or to start chopping loads of bacon into your pancake batter. It's important to take the wide view when looking at nutrition. What does your total diet look like? And if you look at the diets of the current leading voices in nutrition - not typical doctors and registered dieticians but folks who are on the front lines of actually helping people. Folks who've healed themselves with nutrition. Whether they're promoting paleo or low carb/high fat or ketosis or even veganism the common theme is loads of vegetables with healthy fats thrown in (and supplements if you're vegan). The bulk of the meal is veggies and the meats and/or fats are the side dish. I laughed hearing one paleo guy saying his diet was 70% vegan while discussing with a vegan friend the big similarities between their diets. I don't fall into any particular camp, I'm all about whatever foods and percentages of macro-nutrients work for a particular individual. Quibbling over the details as many in these camps do is pointless in the face of the huge health crisis the world faces (and this problem is global). Hopefully the Time article will have people re-thinking and overhauling their diets or at least becoming interested and looking into the research and experimenting for themselves. After all everybody deserves to feel so good that they look forward to their yearly physical.
Monday, June 16, 2014
Monday, June 02, 2014
Death or Lory - Xterra Lory 2014
1/2 mile swim, 12.2 mile bike, 4.8 mile run
6500' elevation, Lory State Park, Fort Collins area
Don't mean to sound overdramatic, I just can't resist a Clash lyric when it runs through my head.
It's a cloudy, foggy start to the morning and an interesting early morning drive up to Fort Collins through the foggy soup. I arrive at 6:09, 10 minutes earlier than last year and yet I end up with an even worse parking spot about 1/4 mile from transition. The race is sold out and already it's busy and crowded, a theme for the race this year. The sun is supposed to come out by 7:00 a.m. but transition looks like this at 7:00 a.m-ish.
I'm not overly concerned but with the water so cold (supposedly 64 degrees but there are pockets of warmer and colder) it would be nice for the sun to be shining to take the edge off. The water at Horsetooth is the highest it's been in maybe ten years.
I did manage 2 open water swims in the Boulder Rez before the race and the first swim was also cold, 65 degrees but also with pockets of cold, so I've had a small opportunity to acclimate to the cold water and get used to open water swimming again. The first Rez swim took me about 7-8 minutes to get used to the cold and get rid of any worried feelings but after that I did a solid 1200 yards and had no problem at all on the second swim though the water wasn't cold at all (68 degrees and sun shining). I'm concerned about the cold but not letting myself get worked up about it. Nothing I can do about it and the swim is short. It's impossible not to remember the panic attack I had at this race many years ago but I push it to the back of my mind and remind myself of all the successful, fun swims I've had here.
I pull up my pants leg to put on my sunscreen and am greeted by this sight.
There will be blood.
A freshly bleeding wound before the race starts and I don't even know how I got it. Again, not much I can do. Wash it off a bit with some water and try not to think about the possible bugs I might pick up in Horsetooth is about all I can do.
Swim - 880 yards
I get in the freezing water to warm up and acclimate as soon as the first wave goes off. Thankfully the sun is finally starting to break through the clouds and the fog is burning off. I dive under water and as soon as my face hits the freezing cold I decide 'screw this noise, I'm out of here, this is twelve ways to crazy, what ever possessed me?' But after a minute or so I calm down and get a little used to it. I set off swimming and I'm totally calm. Freakishly calm. Don't know why but I'll take it. I swim about 5-6 minutes or so and get out. It's another 15 minutes until my wave starts and if I stay in that long I'll start shivering. So I run up and down a short hill, soaking up the sun as it starts to warm up. I get in again with 8 minutes to go, do another 4-5 minutes of warm-up, trying to kick hard and go fast to get my heart rate up. Still freakishly calm.
And then we're off. And as per usual the crowd goes flying away from me. And as per usual I work my way up, passing the people who are now freaking out and backstroking/breast stroking. Swim training has been going well as as I swim I work on some the stroke technique things I've been working on. The turn-around buoy seems farther this year and it almost certainly is due to the high water. For once the course is probably close to the advertised distance.
After I turn the buoy I get boxed in by a guy kind of flailing in front of me and someone to my side. The guy in front is hard to pass because he's zig-zagging in an unpredictable fashion and because if I pass on his left I risk running into oncoming traffic from the other direction. So I hang out for a while enjoying the draft but soon realize this is much too slow a pace and I squeeze in front of the guy on my right. I don't realize how much they're holding me back until I break free of them and quickly pull away. I need to do more open water races this summer to learn some better tactics, get a better idea of my race pace, learn how to pass, etc.
The rest of the swim is uneventful except for a kayaker who comes over and yells at some of us to move away from the buoys to avoid oncoming traffic. But nobody seems to be in sight and I'm not far from the finish so I don't understand what it's about. I move a little but not too much, don't want to be too far off course for no reason. My pace feels slow-ish but the cold water seems to be restricting my movement a bit. I finish in 17:47/2:01 per 100 yards, slow for me but I'm mostly relieved I made it through feeling calm and confident. It's not a spectacular swim but a good start to my season especially given the cold and lack of open water practice.
Bike
I'm hoping for a big improvement in my bike this year partly due to training and partly due to my new bike with bigger wheels and disk brakes. Especially the disk brakes. My time last year was 1:12 and I'm hoping to break an hour but not sure if that's realistic given how early in the season it is. I decide to ride as hard as I can and hope for some improvement.
The course is so crowded this year and as soon as I hit the single track I'm swept up in the crowd of fast people going out on their second lap. On the one hand it's kind of exciting trying to keep up with them and I know I'm going faster on the downhill than I normally would. On the other hand I'm still not as fast and lots of people have to pass me. I pass a couple of people from my age group right away and that makes me feel good. My age group is huge this year, 17-18 people or so are registered which is crazy for the 50-54 age group in Xterra. Maybe even unprecedented for almost any Xterra race.
The first lap goes by quickly and when I reach the start of the second loop my speed is 11.1 mph, a full 1 mph faster than last year and I'm thrilled with that though can't quite do the math on a possible finishing time. However after a bit I can feel myself slowing down. Now I'm caught up behind people from later waves starting their first lap and they're not as confident so it's harder to pass them. I don't want to freak out the newbies so I get held up a bit. Most people are pretty good with the passing issue in this race but it seems like there's always one hot head. This year it's a guy from a faster wave who comes up behind just before one of the few kind of, sort of technical places. There are some tight s-curves then a switchback and this guy's being impatient and I don't want him on my tail through this section so I actually stop and pull off the trail to let him since there are no good places coming up. Technically we don't have to do this, it's up to the person behind to wait until there's a good spot, but I can tell this guy is a jerk. As he goes to pass me he doesn't slow down enough or something and he falls off his bike even though he has the whole trail to himself. He gets up all angry and at this point a crowd of 5-6 riders comes up behind him. He gets back on in front of them all (and of course I now have to wait even longer for the train of people to pass). He then proceeds to go over his handlebars at the switchback. More loud angry words. Stupid thing is he was so close to the bike finish. A little patience would have gone a long way here.
Anyway, I can feel my quads losing power on the second lap but I still keep going hard as I can. I finish the bike in 1:11:03, a bit over a minute faster than last year. Not the huge improvement I was hoping for but still faster than last year and it is early in the season so I'll take it. And the bike was still pretty fun despite the congestion.
Run
I'm hoping for the biggest improvement here. I've been working with a coach, diligently following the program and pushing myself with my running. Not a lot of volume but lots of intervals. Lots and lots of intervals. Short but sweet. Well, maybe sweet isn't the word. But I've been working on it and I'm hoping to at least break 1 hour this year (last year I missed breaking and hour by 33 seconds). But it's early season and I didn't have a very long taper for this race so it's hard to say.
I start out on the run feeling good, like I'm moving pretty well. It's a gradual uphill for about 1/3-1/2 a mile or so then it's a steep climb up the side of a steep hill for another 1 3/4 miles or so. I'm doing o.k. at the start of the steep part but after a few minutes I feel like I'm not going as fast as last year. Even the run course is crowded this year and I have lots of people wanting to pass and each time someone passes it breaks my rhythm and focus a bit more. I passed 3 people in my age group on the bike and 2 people quickly pass me back in the first mile or two of the run. Which would be fine if I felt like I was running as fast as last year but somehow I feel slower. My brain tells my feet to turn over faster but my quads are tired now and they don't want to oblige. It's a long slog to the top.
And when I finally get to the downhill I can't quite get my legs moving as fast as last year. I've got a bit of a cramp which is never helpful but somehow I can't get the downhill to work for me this year. And in fact the all downhill mile is a whopping 1:48 min. slower than last year (oddly the all uphill climb is 47 seconds faster, the only mile that's faster despite feeling slower). My legs are feeling pretty beat for the last 2 miles despite the mostly downhill course. I make it to the end of the singletrack with about 1/3 of a mile to go until the finish and a woman from my age group passes me. And the worst part is that she doesn't even look like she's going fast. But she's going faster than me and try as I might I can't catch her back up. She ends up beating me by 31 seconds. But at least I have someone to chase to the finish even if she is too far ahead to catch and I pick up the pace with whatever last little bit of strength my legs can muster. I finish the run in 1:06:44, well off what I was hoping for.
Final time is 2:39:20, over 7 minutes slower than last year. Not what I was hoping for or expecting but it is so early in the season and I didn't have a nice long taper since this isn't an 'A' race. Hard to compare times to a race that's normally held in August. Next race is in 3 weeks in Golden, a little sprint road tri that I'm doing for fun and to keep me going with racing since I have no Xterras in June.
Some interesting stats - there were 327 people in the race this year and only 206 last year which explains all the extra crowding on the course. There were 59 women last year and 116 this year, almost double the amount. There were 5 women in the 50-54 age group last year and 15 this year. The woman who won my age group (50-54) came in 10th overall of the women, 5 of whom were pros so she was 5th overall of the age group women. The top 3 age group women were all in the 40-44 age group. There were only 11 seconds separating the top 3 women in the 45-49 age group.
Aside from the cold water, race conditions were about as perfect as they get. Sunny but not hot, maybe high 60's for the run with a little breeze to keep things cool. Bike trails were tacky, easily the best I've ever seen them on race day. The race was crowded but people were mostly good about it. My coach was there to cheer me and some of her other clients on. It was fun to have somebody there. And I met a couple few other women from my age group which was fun. The big take home lessons? I need more run training, I need more of a taper after a hard training block if I want to do really well, it's not fair to compare times from a race run in May to a race run in August.
For more pictures from the race course that I took on my pre-ride last year, click here.
Final Stats
Swim: 880 yards, water temp. 64 degrees but felt colder in places, 17:47 swimming (2:01/100 yards)/1:22 dash up the beach for official time 18:30 (last year 15:01 mins. swimming, 1:22 dash up from beach for official time of 16:23-swim was short)
T1: 1:59 (last year, 1:54) Didn't wear gloves this year but did have swim socks to deal with.
Mountain Bike: 12.2 miles, 1:11:03/10.3 mph (last year 12.6 miles by my cyclometer, 1:12:14 hrs./10.1 mph)
T2: 1:02 (last year, 1:02) How freaky is that?
Trail Run: 4.8 miles, 1:06:44/13:54 min./mile (last year, 1:00:32 hrs./12:07 min./miles)
Mile Splits:
Mile 1: 14:07 (all uphill) (11:40 last year)
Mile 2: 15:13 (all uphill) (16:00 last year)
Mile 3: 13:11 (mix of uphill, flat and downhill) (12:26 last year)
Mile 4: 12:48 (all downhill) (10:02 last year)
Mile 4.8: 11:25 (mostly downhill, some slight uphill and flat-ish) (10:22 last year)
Total: 2:39:20 (last year, 2:32:02)
254/327 Overall (last year, 148/206 Overall)
78/116 Women (last year, 30/59 Women)
10/15 Age Group (last year, 5/7 Age Group)
Swim: 10/15 (last year, 2/7 Age Group, 116/206 Overall)
T1: 5/15 (last year, 3/7 Age Group)
Bike: 8/15 (last year, 5/7 Age Group, 141/206 Overall)
T2: 2/15 (last year, 1/7 Age Group)
Run: 13/15 (last year, 4/7 Age Group, 152/206 Overall)
(Placements include DNF's)
Friday, May 23, 2014
Xterra Lory Pre-Ride
Went to pre-ride the Xterra Lory course today and wow, Horsetooth Reservoir is high. Crazy high.
Eltuck Bay, swim course site for Xterra Lory
And this is what it looked like in August, 2012
Don't think they'll have to worry about making the swim too short this year. But they may be pressed for transition area space. At least it won't be a very long walk from the road/parking down to transition this year.
But the water. Oh so cold. Wonder if I can somehow squeeze into 2 wetsuits. It's going to warm up by next week. Sure it is.
I love thinking of the lines in mountain biking similar to the lines in dog agility. In general I'm more a fan of letting the dog keep his speed and jump a little wide rather than trying to crank him down for a tight turn. Especially when that dog is Strummer. Sometimes you need a tight turn but if I can get away with wide and speedy I'll opt for that.
Here's a video showing 2 lines for a tight switchback at Lory. It's not super technical but it is a little trickier than it looks and plenty of people get off to walk it. And a woman was seriously hurt on this switchback one year. I saw her lying on the ground and it looked like she had missed it entirely. Paramedics had to carry her out. But if you know it's coming and how to handle it it's not bad.
Video showing the tighter inside line and wider outside line.
The outside line felt faster and more comfortable, at least for me. I actually took the inside line by accident on my second lap. When I tried to take it on purpose on my first lap I couldn't even do it. The big difference between agility and mountain biking is that in the case of this race the time is inconsequential and in dog agility it's huge, could mean the difference between winning the class and being in 5th place. Not that I care all that much about times but I do like to think about the fastest, most efficient line. And sometimes you take whatever line happens in the moment whether it's agility or mountain biking.
And here's a video of some random footage. I shot so many clips, the editing task seemed daunting so instead of a choppy montage I just put two of the longer clips that I liked together. So green and lush, it was an amazing day on the trails.
Eltuck Bay, swim course site for Xterra Lory
And this is what it looked like in August, 2012
Don't think they'll have to worry about making the swim too short this year. But they may be pressed for transition area space. At least it won't be a very long walk from the road/parking down to transition this year.
But the water. Oh so cold. Wonder if I can somehow squeeze into 2 wetsuits. It's going to warm up by next week. Sure it is.
I love thinking of the lines in mountain biking similar to the lines in dog agility. In general I'm more a fan of letting the dog keep his speed and jump a little wide rather than trying to crank him down for a tight turn. Especially when that dog is Strummer. Sometimes you need a tight turn but if I can get away with wide and speedy I'll opt for that.
Here's a video showing 2 lines for a tight switchback at Lory. It's not super technical but it is a little trickier than it looks and plenty of people get off to walk it. And a woman was seriously hurt on this switchback one year. I saw her lying on the ground and it looked like she had missed it entirely. Paramedics had to carry her out. But if you know it's coming and how to handle it it's not bad.
Video showing the tighter inside line and wider outside line.
The outside line felt faster and more comfortable, at least for me. I actually took the inside line by accident on my second lap. When I tried to take it on purpose on my first lap I couldn't even do it. The big difference between agility and mountain biking is that in the case of this race the time is inconsequential and in dog agility it's huge, could mean the difference between winning the class and being in 5th place. Not that I care all that much about times but I do like to think about the fastest, most efficient line. And sometimes you take whatever line happens in the moment whether it's agility or mountain biking.
And here's a video of some random footage. I shot so many clips, the editing task seemed daunting so instead of a choppy montage I just put two of the longer clips that I liked together. So green and lush, it was an amazing day on the trails.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Preliminary Experiment with UCAN
Getting ready for Xterra Lory next week and starting to thing about race nutrition. Last year I got some pretty debilitating cramps after having GU early after the swim in my last 2 races which were on the long side (Xterra Nationals and Xterra Buffalo Creek). Up until then I'd tolerated GU pretty well. One theory I have is that I've finally lost my ability to tolerate any sugar whatsoever during a hard athletic effort. I'd barely used any commercial bars or gels during my training last summer, either using nothing or sometimes taking bars that Jonny had made that had some sugar but probably not nearly as much as a typical energy bar. I'm not a fan of these commercial products which are full of sugar (because, duh, that's the point) but also other chemicals. I hate the artificial taste they have and sometimes even the smell of them, mostly the sports drinks, barfs me out. SO gross.
With the tweaks to my diet (less carbs, more fats but so far not to the level of ketosis) I've been able to go up to 2 hours with no fueling. Easily. Sometimes even in a nearly fasted state. Lory may take me 2:15-2:30 hours and I'll be going at a hard race effort so I'm on the fence about whether I'll need something and if so, what? Last year I took 2 GU's and I tolerated them o.k. but do I need anything this time around?
Enter UCAN which is a waxy maize that's been run through a 40 hour hydrothermal process (don't ask me what's the advantage of that). In short it's a carbohydrate that releases slowly, doesn't stimulate insulin (and thus block ability to burn fat over carbs) and is easily absorbed. And of course does not contain any sugar. In long, well, if you want to know the gory details, Dr. Peter Attia, who is not compensated by the company nor is he a shareholder (at least he wasn't at the time this video was filmed) has a nice science-y explanation of it. If you want to skip the long biochemistry lesson in how muscle tissue absorbs fuel you can go to the 40 minute mark for more info. about UCAN.
UCAN Presentation from Peter Attia on Vimeo.
There are a number of ways that the product can be used and believe me I'm going to experiment with them but in the interest of my upcoming race I started off my first experiment today using it in between 2 high intensity workouts. I had an early morning 1 1/4 hour run that consisted of 12 high intensity 30 second hill repeats and then after some recovery, ten 1:00 minute intervals with high foot turnover. And I had taken the dogs for a 1/2 hour walk previous. No food except a bulletproof mocha before the dog walk.
When I got home after my run my stomach was queasy, not hungry at all, so I waited about 15 minutes then had a packet of plain UCAN mixed with 14 oz of water. My stomach was still queasy but my swim workout was in 45 minutes and I wanted to get something down. It was pretty much tasteless but had a chalky texture, not too bad but definitely chalky. My stomach was still queasy after having it and for a brief time almost seemed like it might get worse but then after about 5 minutes or so I actually started to feel better. This was unexpected, nothing I'd read about the stuff made any claims about settling a queasy stomach. I was going to be happy enough with things not getting worse, I was incredulous that the stuff seemed to be making my stomach better.
And my workout? An hour long masters swim workout with some hard sprint intervals. Normally simply getting through a workout like that after a hard run workout would be a daunting task. But I was fine, made it through the hard intervals with some of the best times I've ever especially since I was leading the lane so no drafting. I was hungry when I got home at around 12:15 but was not dizzy, bonky or raiding the container of almond butter for a small snack before I started making lunch like I normally might do.
This is just one trial and of course I need to do many more. I'll try a few more test runs but so far I'm excited about using it at least before my race if not during. I wonder as well if it could be a good thing to try at an all day agility trial. I did pretty well at Regionals, didn't have breakfast other than bulletproof mocha one day (didn't have any one day to see if there was a difference and I can't say that there was much) and wasn't even thinking about food until around 11:00. I've not been limiting carbs strictly enough to go into ketosis but I do think the reductions I've made have allowed for a greater percentage of fat burning, not as good as someone in ketosis but better than your average person who eats lots of carbs/sugar and better than I was before. I love not feeling hungry and having to eat snacks all the time. And I love going to an agility trial and not feeling tired/bonky from not getting enough food. And I wonder if the UCAN could further help regulate energy, especially on a long hot outdoor trial day. Maybe if I go to DOCNA Nationals I'll try it out there if not before.
I don't typically promote STUFF and I really don't like nutrition 'products' as opposed to real food. Like Peter, I don't get any compensation for writing about this stuff. But I'm happy to have found out about it and thankful for the other folks who wrote about it in blogs and on forum posts. There simply aren't many fueling options for people who don't want to use or can't tolerate sugary sports products and I'm so happy to have discovered this option and I'm just passing it along. I'll be posting updates about my experiences with it. If anyone has questions you can post them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer. Peter Attia's blog is a good place to start.
A couple of caveats/warnings. I bought the plain, unflavored UCAN. It also comes in flavors and with whey protein. All the flavored stuff has sweeteners, either Splenda or Stevia or something called Monk Fruit Extract, and I'm not o.k. with any of that so I just got plain. The jury is out on these sweeteners and I'm taking no chances with them, especially not for a race/training. I'll experiment with adding my own flavors, some unsweetened cocoa and maybe even making a smoothie with some yogurt and/or coconut milk and almond butter. Should be an interesting summer of experimenting.
With the tweaks to my diet (less carbs, more fats but so far not to the level of ketosis) I've been able to go up to 2 hours with no fueling. Easily. Sometimes even in a nearly fasted state. Lory may take me 2:15-2:30 hours and I'll be going at a hard race effort so I'm on the fence about whether I'll need something and if so, what? Last year I took 2 GU's and I tolerated them o.k. but do I need anything this time around?
Enter UCAN which is a waxy maize that's been run through a 40 hour hydrothermal process (don't ask me what's the advantage of that). In short it's a carbohydrate that releases slowly, doesn't stimulate insulin (and thus block ability to burn fat over carbs) and is easily absorbed. And of course does not contain any sugar. In long, well, if you want to know the gory details, Dr. Peter Attia, who is not compensated by the company nor is he a shareholder (at least he wasn't at the time this video was filmed) has a nice science-y explanation of it. If you want to skip the long biochemistry lesson in how muscle tissue absorbs fuel you can go to the 40 minute mark for more info. about UCAN.
UCAN Presentation from Peter Attia on Vimeo.
There are a number of ways that the product can be used and believe me I'm going to experiment with them but in the interest of my upcoming race I started off my first experiment today using it in between 2 high intensity workouts. I had an early morning 1 1/4 hour run that consisted of 12 high intensity 30 second hill repeats and then after some recovery, ten 1:00 minute intervals with high foot turnover. And I had taken the dogs for a 1/2 hour walk previous. No food except a bulletproof mocha before the dog walk.
When I got home after my run my stomach was queasy, not hungry at all, so I waited about 15 minutes then had a packet of plain UCAN mixed with 14 oz of water. My stomach was still queasy but my swim workout was in 45 minutes and I wanted to get something down. It was pretty much tasteless but had a chalky texture, not too bad but definitely chalky. My stomach was still queasy after having it and for a brief time almost seemed like it might get worse but then after about 5 minutes or so I actually started to feel better. This was unexpected, nothing I'd read about the stuff made any claims about settling a queasy stomach. I was going to be happy enough with things not getting worse, I was incredulous that the stuff seemed to be making my stomach better.
And my workout? An hour long masters swim workout with some hard sprint intervals. Normally simply getting through a workout like that after a hard run workout would be a daunting task. But I was fine, made it through the hard intervals with some of the best times I've ever especially since I was leading the lane so no drafting. I was hungry when I got home at around 12:15 but was not dizzy, bonky or raiding the container of almond butter for a small snack before I started making lunch like I normally might do.
This is just one trial and of course I need to do many more. I'll try a few more test runs but so far I'm excited about using it at least before my race if not during. I wonder as well if it could be a good thing to try at an all day agility trial. I did pretty well at Regionals, didn't have breakfast other than bulletproof mocha one day (didn't have any one day to see if there was a difference and I can't say that there was much) and wasn't even thinking about food until around 11:00. I've not been limiting carbs strictly enough to go into ketosis but I do think the reductions I've made have allowed for a greater percentage of fat burning, not as good as someone in ketosis but better than your average person who eats lots of carbs/sugar and better than I was before. I love not feeling hungry and having to eat snacks all the time. And I love going to an agility trial and not feeling tired/bonky from not getting enough food. And I wonder if the UCAN could further help regulate energy, especially on a long hot outdoor trial day. Maybe if I go to DOCNA Nationals I'll try it out there if not before.
I don't typically promote STUFF and I really don't like nutrition 'products' as opposed to real food. Like Peter, I don't get any compensation for writing about this stuff. But I'm happy to have found out about it and thankful for the other folks who wrote about it in blogs and on forum posts. There simply aren't many fueling options for people who don't want to use or can't tolerate sugary sports products and I'm so happy to have discovered this option and I'm just passing it along. I'll be posting updates about my experiences with it. If anyone has questions you can post them in the comments and I'll do my best to answer. Peter Attia's blog is a good place to start.
A couple of caveats/warnings. I bought the plain, unflavored UCAN. It also comes in flavors and with whey protein. All the flavored stuff has sweeteners, either Splenda or Stevia or something called Monk Fruit Extract, and I'm not o.k. with any of that so I just got plain. The jury is out on these sweeteners and I'm taking no chances with them, especially not for a race/training. I'll experiment with adding my own flavors, some unsweetened cocoa and maybe even making a smoothie with some yogurt and/or coconut milk and almond butter. Should be an interesting summer of experimenting.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Adventures in Training
Last month I finally decided to pull the trigger and hire a triathlon coach. It's something I've resisted up until now mostly because for crying out loud, what a ridiculous bourgeoisie Boulder luxury to lavish money on. I'm not a pro, I'm not even at the pointy end of my age group and even if I was, why on earth do I need a coach? Get out there, do some swimming, some biking, some running, enter a few races to keep me motivated and call it good. And last year this strategy worked very well for me. I cut 15 minutes off my time from the year before in 2 races despite being a year older.
But I've quickly run out of training ideas for interval workouts and I'm going mostly on instinct and how my body feels as far as choosing how many hours to train in total and how to spread that time between each discipline. I'm never sure how much to cut back and when before a race. And Nationals didn't go as well as I would have liked last year. If I go this year, and I'm thinking that I want to, I want to do better. Or at least not feel so horrible on that climb on the bike up Sardine Peak. So many questions and uncertainty about how to move forward.
Then there's the time management thing. It seemed like I spent a lot of time last summer scrambling to get workouts in between clients and the business of running my business. And it seemed like there was plenty of time, it just wasn't spent in the most efficient way and I'd waste a lot of mental energy constantly re-scheduling my workouts to fit clients. Some days I'd spend half the day debating whether I should bike or run, and where I should bike or run, or whether I should try to make the next masters swim workout. Sometimes I was good and I'd plan the whole week out on Sunday night but by the end of the week I'd realize almost nothing had ended up going to plan.
One of the big things about running your own business is figuring out what parts of your life to delegate to other people-stuff like house cleaning, running errands, yard work, etc. so that you can focus on the important stuff. The problem of course is having the funds to do that so far now I do my own manual labor. But this is one area where I think delegating is going to be a very good thing. So far I'm way more organized with my time. I can put my training schedule into my appointment put weeks in advance so I'm not scheduling somebody during a key masters workout or an afternoon when I want to go ride at Hall Ranch. I'm not cutting down on work to do my training, just doing a better job of meshing them together.
Not having to devise workouts and debate over whether or not I'm doing too much or too little is also a load off my shoulders. I was in a rut of following a certain training plan of intervals and now my world is opened up to a smorgasbord of types and distances of intervals. I don't have to spend any mental energy on the why's of my training, I just have to figure out the when and where and this frees up a huge chunk of mental energy. Didn't realize how much energy I was spending on it until I didn't have to do it anymore.
And I have to say, between the training, the nutrition tweaks and my new kick ass bike I'm feeling pretty fit and feisty for Xterra Lory in 2 weeks. I don't think I've ever done a triathlon so early in the season but I'm feeling ready and I still have one more hard training week to put in before the easy week leading up to the race. There are loads of people registered in my age group, 50-54 is the new 40-44. Or something. Should be very fun. Horsetooth Reservoir was 50 degrees a few days ago, we've been having an unseasonably cool spring. Let's hope some warmer days come and toast it up a bit in the next 2 weeks.
Went up to Buffalo Creek last Saturday to ride one of my favorite trails and conditions were about as perfect as it gets up there. Wonderful tacky hero dirt rather than the sandpit you often get in places on the trail.
This was not the race course for my Xterra in August but rather a portion of the Colorado Trail that goes to a loop around Green Mountain. Wonderful uppy downy swoopy singletrack.
And I managed to get my intervals in though I went 40 minutes over my prescribed riding time. I had to go overtime to get the Green Mountain Loop in but I was feeling good and after the fact my coach said it was no problem. She's a mountain biker and does Xterra's so she understands the lure of the trail. And the idea that this is all supposed to be fun. Which is why I think she's going to be a great match.
But I've quickly run out of training ideas for interval workouts and I'm going mostly on instinct and how my body feels as far as choosing how many hours to train in total and how to spread that time between each discipline. I'm never sure how much to cut back and when before a race. And Nationals didn't go as well as I would have liked last year. If I go this year, and I'm thinking that I want to, I want to do better. Or at least not feel so horrible on that climb on the bike up Sardine Peak. So many questions and uncertainty about how to move forward.
Then there's the time management thing. It seemed like I spent a lot of time last summer scrambling to get workouts in between clients and the business of running my business. And it seemed like there was plenty of time, it just wasn't spent in the most efficient way and I'd waste a lot of mental energy constantly re-scheduling my workouts to fit clients. Some days I'd spend half the day debating whether I should bike or run, and where I should bike or run, or whether I should try to make the next masters swim workout. Sometimes I was good and I'd plan the whole week out on Sunday night but by the end of the week I'd realize almost nothing had ended up going to plan.
One of the big things about running your own business is figuring out what parts of your life to delegate to other people-stuff like house cleaning, running errands, yard work, etc. so that you can focus on the important stuff. The problem of course is having the funds to do that so far now I do my own manual labor. But this is one area where I think delegating is going to be a very good thing. So far I'm way more organized with my time. I can put my training schedule into my appointment put weeks in advance so I'm not scheduling somebody during a key masters workout or an afternoon when I want to go ride at Hall Ranch. I'm not cutting down on work to do my training, just doing a better job of meshing them together.
Not having to devise workouts and debate over whether or not I'm doing too much or too little is also a load off my shoulders. I was in a rut of following a certain training plan of intervals and now my world is opened up to a smorgasbord of types and distances of intervals. I don't have to spend any mental energy on the why's of my training, I just have to figure out the when and where and this frees up a huge chunk of mental energy. Didn't realize how much energy I was spending on it until I didn't have to do it anymore.
And I have to say, between the training, the nutrition tweaks and my new kick ass bike I'm feeling pretty fit and feisty for Xterra Lory in 2 weeks. I don't think I've ever done a triathlon so early in the season but I'm feeling ready and I still have one more hard training week to put in before the easy week leading up to the race. There are loads of people registered in my age group, 50-54 is the new 40-44. Or something. Should be very fun. Horsetooth Reservoir was 50 degrees a few days ago, we've been having an unseasonably cool spring. Let's hope some warmer days come and toast it up a bit in the next 2 weeks.
Went up to Buffalo Creek last Saturday to ride one of my favorite trails and conditions were about as perfect as it gets up there. Wonderful tacky hero dirt rather than the sandpit you often get in places on the trail.
This was not the race course for my Xterra in August but rather a portion of the Colorado Trail that goes to a loop around Green Mountain. Wonderful uppy downy swoopy singletrack.
And I managed to get my intervals in though I went 40 minutes over my prescribed riding time. I had to go overtime to get the Green Mountain Loop in but I was feeling good and after the fact my coach said it was no problem. She's a mountain biker and does Xterra's so she understands the lure of the trail. And the idea that this is all supposed to be fun. Which is why I think she's going to be a great match.
Saturday, May 03, 2014
USDAA Rocky Mountain Regionals Day 2
A quick day today, finished with 3 runs by 11:30 a.m. A very fun, nice Team Jumpers run, a not so fun 7 point Team Snooker run that made me cranky and I very very pretty much never get cranky but wow I got a little bit cranky for a bit. Especially since it was a super easy Snooker course and everybody else got at least through 6. Then mucked up the Masters Challenge Jumpers run but at least we had fun doing it.
Team Jumpers
This was 3rd place and a Q somehow even with the 2 point refusal. And my teammate is so awesome that even with my 7 point Snooker run we are above the Qualifying line and not in last place. Looking forward to redeeming myself in relay tomorrow.
Team Jumpers
This was 3rd place and a Q somehow even with the 2 point refusal. And my teammate is so awesome that even with my 7 point Snooker run we are above the Qualifying line and not in last place. Looking forward to redeeming myself in relay tomorrow.
Friday, May 02, 2014
USDAA Rocky Mountain Regionals Day 1
Some nice runs from the Strum man but little mistakes here and there, typical. I'll just post maps and videos from my favorite runs.
This was my favorite run of the day. A missed dogwalk contact but otherwise a clean run. Love those international style courses though this one was not as tricky as most that I've seen, at least for our skill set.
Masters Challenge Standard
Then there was the hearbreaker of Steeplechase. It was such a perfect course for Strummer, difficult for me because of all the running but I thought I had a good handle on it because of the DOCNA trial last weekend. I was so sure we'd make it into the Finals. But I also know that on a super fast course like that, anything can happen.
(I must have left my course maps at the site and for some reason USDAA doesn't have Regional Steeplechase maps on their site so I'll update when I get a map).
Steeplechase
Poor guy, I didn't cue the second A-frame early enough and he takes an off course tunnel. I did see this trap of course and before the run I kept reminding myself to remember to call his name early but it all happened so fast and I forgot and, well, no Steeplechase Finals for us. You can even see him lock onto the tunnel very early so even if I'd remembered to call I'm not sure it would have done anything. He was patterned for that tunnel from the start of the run. Most people kept their dog on their right through that sequence and rear crossed before the A-frame but some still got off courses anyway and for Strummer I don't think that would have been the best choice.
Funny that my 2 favorite runs were the most technical and the most wide open. They both have their challenges.
Team Standard turned into sort of a mess because Strummer got too far ahead on the dogwalk as I paused like a deer in the headlights to marvel at the fact that he hit the contact and then couldn't get to where I needed to be. And Gamblers went well except for the teeter flyoff in the gamble which negated our gamble points but it's a boring video so I won't bother to process it.
Was done with 4 runs by around 2:30, if only agility could always be like that. Looking forward to more fun tomorrow.
This was my favorite run of the day. A missed dogwalk contact but otherwise a clean run. Love those international style courses though this one was not as tricky as most that I've seen, at least for our skill set.
Masters Challenge Standard
Then there was the hearbreaker of Steeplechase. It was such a perfect course for Strummer, difficult for me because of all the running but I thought I had a good handle on it because of the DOCNA trial last weekend. I was so sure we'd make it into the Finals. But I also know that on a super fast course like that, anything can happen.
(I must have left my course maps at the site and for some reason USDAA doesn't have Regional Steeplechase maps on their site so I'll update when I get a map).
Poor guy, I didn't cue the second A-frame early enough and he takes an off course tunnel. I did see this trap of course and before the run I kept reminding myself to remember to call his name early but it all happened so fast and I forgot and, well, no Steeplechase Finals for us. You can even see him lock onto the tunnel very early so even if I'd remembered to call I'm not sure it would have done anything. He was patterned for that tunnel from the start of the run. Most people kept their dog on their right through that sequence and rear crossed before the A-frame but some still got off courses anyway and for Strummer I don't think that would have been the best choice.
Funny that my 2 favorite runs were the most technical and the most wide open. They both have their challenges.
Team Standard turned into sort of a mess because Strummer got too far ahead on the dogwalk as I paused like a deer in the headlights to marvel at the fact that he hit the contact and then couldn't get to where I needed to be. And Gamblers went well except for the teeter flyoff in the gamble which negated our gamble points but it's a boring video so I won't bother to process it.
Was done with 4 runs by around 2:30, if only agility could always be like that. Looking forward to more fun tomorrow.
USDAA Survey
I'm off to USDAA Regionals in 1/2 an hour but thought I'd pass on a link to a survey they're doing for those not on their mailing list: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=5lmHbglFUIrFbXZx8b7sBA_3d_3d
I'm too cynical to be fooled into thinking it'll make any kind of significant difference but it's pretty short so what the heck.
It's a 3 day agility weekend so of course it's supposed to be unseasonably warm (mid-70's today, 80's on Sat. and Sun.) and we're indoors in a facility that is terrible in the heat. It's the only place I've ever seen Strummer struggle with the heat. Thankfully I'm only entered in morning events tomorrow so I should be out before it gets too stifling. And last fall I figured out where the hose is and how to hook it up and that made a huge difference so I'm confident we'll be o.k. this time. Still, why this weekend for the 80 degree heat and we're not outside? May is so fickle. I remember one year when we had 4" of snow first thing in the morning for a NADAC trial so I understand totally why the clubs didn't want to risk being outside. Ah well, at least I'm not signed up for full days, just Team and Steeplechase and Masters Challenge Biathlon. Just the right amount to be fun and not draining.
Wheels up in 20, looking forward to a fun day.
Always ready for action when it comes to agility.
I'm too cynical to be fooled into thinking it'll make any kind of significant difference but it's pretty short so what the heck.
It's a 3 day agility weekend so of course it's supposed to be unseasonably warm (mid-70's today, 80's on Sat. and Sun.) and we're indoors in a facility that is terrible in the heat. It's the only place I've ever seen Strummer struggle with the heat. Thankfully I'm only entered in morning events tomorrow so I should be out before it gets too stifling. And last fall I figured out where the hose is and how to hook it up and that made a huge difference so I'm confident we'll be o.k. this time. Still, why this weekend for the 80 degree heat and we're not outside? May is so fickle. I remember one year when we had 4" of snow first thing in the morning for a NADAC trial so I understand totally why the clubs didn't want to risk being outside. Ah well, at least I'm not signed up for full days, just Team and Steeplechase and Masters Challenge Biathlon. Just the right amount to be fun and not draining.
Wheels up in 20, looking forward to a fun day.
Always ready for action when it comes to agility.
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