Why Am I Gaining Weight While Training for an Ironman/Marathon?

I get asked this question a lot.  And have asked it myself from time to time.

Though I'm not a nutritionist, I HAVE read and studied from some of the best nutritionists around.  Bob Seebohar, MS, RD, CSCS is a practicing Sports Dietician who specializes in working with endurance athletes.  Bob knows his stuff.  His books Nutrition Periodization for Endurance Athletes and Metabolic Efficiency Training go into great deal about how and why you should incorporate healthy eating into your lifestyle.  Though the book is technical and scientific, the meat of its chapters pack a punch in the nutrition questions for multisport athletes.

Let me boil it down for you.  As we exercise, our bodies burn fat.  As exercise intensity increases, the body stops using fats and starts using carbs for energy. We have a huge amounts of fat stores in our systems that will keep our body fueled for days.  But our carb supplies are limited and must be refueled by ingesting more carbs, i.e. gels, bars, drinks.

So how do we burn fat?  Simply put, we exercise aerobically, staying below our VO2 Max.  That mean, longer bike rides without sprinting and getting the heart beating too quickly, and watching our heart rates with a HR Monitor as we train.

Then how do we get faster you ask?  The answer: by going slower during certain times of the year. Tri coaches will always outline BASE training for their athletes.  But following BASE training comes the BUILD phase, where you add in sprints and hill climbs as you push your heart rate limits. "An athlete who is more aerobically conditioned can use more fat as energy at higher intensities", says Bob.

The most common culprits for inefficient fat burning include consuming too high of a carbohydrate diet or doing too much high intensity training at inappropriate times of the year.

So today, remember Baloo when he said,  "Man, you're working too hard."  There's a time and a place for strategic high intensity training.  But for now, ease up, enjoy your ride, and turn your body into a fat burning powerhouse.

Ain't No Mountain High Enough

The first time I went mountain biking, my experienced cyclist friend who threw out riding tips like gossip from a desperate housewife tossed out a doozie I've never forgotten.  "Momentum is your friend," he said.  At the crest of the cactus covered mountain, I was to descend the tricky trail with reckless abandon, only to use that speed to help climb the next roller - instead of slowly grinding my gears uphill.  Using speed, he said, was the key to improving my climbing and staying on the bike.

I still repeat this advice whenever I attempt a treacherous mountain trail.  "Momentum is your friend.  Momentum is your friend."  Believe me, I do quite a bit of self talk on my bike.  I psyche myself up to race down the dusty, dry, Arizona single-track paths.  There are hazards on either side of me,  barrel cactus on my left, Saguaro on my right, and dead ahead, the completely unstable sand of a dry river bed.

But my friend was right: pedaling faster and moving quicker through the hard stuff helps make the entire ride better.  Just keep moving and the hills seem to flatten, the sand stays a little more level, and the up and down rollers become more like a carnival ride.

Not to get philosophical, but I've found this rule also applies to life.  As long as you are moving forward, not remaining stagnant, problems seem to ease just a bit.  Often the mountains of stuff that gets piled in our lives seem insurmountable.  Problems keep us in bed, feeling depressed, struggling alone with no hope of solving or accomplishing anything.

Rather than feeling hopeless, make a move.  Try climbing out of that rut.  Start today to set or meet the goals you have for yourself.  One day in a row is the only way to begin something great - whatever that goal may be.  Chillaxin' is sweet and can be well deserved.  But if the uphill seems beyond your limits, remember, momentum is your friend.

My First 50 Miler by Jeff Rush

 

Mesa runners Jeff Rush and Ben LeSueur recently completed the Running From An Angel 50 Mile Race outside of Las Vegas.  Here is Jeff's take on the day....


I've never run a race where blisters form, they pop, and new ones appear before race end.

The scene at the start line was pretty casual.  When Joyce, race owner/director, asked if we could start 5 minutes late to accommodate stragglers no one made a peep.  At 37 degrees though, I was cold and wanted
to get going.  It seemed that most of the 38 runners knew each other.

Throughout the course of the day that this was one of the most unusually hearty and unique groups ever.  We met a five-time Badwater gal, "just out for a stroll to break 8 hours today".  The only time we saw her was mid-race and she had her Badwater face protector on and looked like a desert fighter going to battle -- tough!!  She beat us by a sizable margin.  There was the gal that ran 57 fifty milers at age 50.   And then there was the eventual
race winner, a 52-year-old man with fast crazy legs.  The first time we saw him after the start line he was coming down a hill at mile 27 (our mile 23).  The faster and crazier his legs got, the crazier his upper body had to adjust in the other direction just to maintain balance.

There was also Scott, newly married out of South Jordan.  Scott had done 95 marathon+
distance races in 7 years.  He's only 28 yrs old.  Who does that?? He was like the new pet you almost smothered if you're not careful.  We hit him with one open ended question after another, mostly because we had more than used up all our own stories on training runs.   Before we knew it we had 20 miles behind us and still in decent spirits.

We started the day by pacing ourselves toward at 4:05 first half.  We figured that if we survived the front side hills and still felt good at the turn, we could go negative on the return and somehow challenge 8 hours. Miles 15-20  were all uphill -- although not steep.  Miles 20-25 were a series of nasty one-mile rollers.  When we got to mile 20 we decided to focus on our competition just to take our minds off the hills.  After Crazy Legs came by, there were 4-5 more runners that looked pretty fresh.  The next 4-5 behind them were only 10+/- minutes ahead, and we felt like they were catch able, this gave us something to work for as we hit the
turn-around.  There was one guy in purple who wasn't too friendly and actually left us hangin' on some high fives as we passed.  He instantly became our target.  We arrived at the turn at about 3:56, still feeling pretty good but also having just come through some difficult hills, which we had to turn around and immediately battle again for the next five.

This course was an out/back through the desert so we could see the runners ahead pretty well.  We were in 12th, 13th positions (as I recall) at the turn-around and one of our goals was to finish Top 10.  As the race wore on and time slipped, finishing top 10 became our main focus.  As we moved back in the hills through miles 25-30 and before the continuous five mile
streak downhill, it became apparent that the blasted hills were starting to take a toll.  You all have experienced trying to run steady late in a race while on fumes.  Miles 30-40 brought this challenge, with the added bonus of running 'extra' hills on mega tired legs. 

To make the situation worse, Scott's stories had dried up by now, and I had already heard Ben's stories 4-5 times. This was really the hardest portion of race as we still had 20 miles to go and our splits were starting to fall as were our spirits.  Where we'd been averaging 8:30-9:00 minute miles going out, we were now struggling to maintain 9:00-9:30 coming back through this dog section. As it turned out we ended up averaging 9:42/miles when you factor
refueling, my slow pace, the power walks up the hills, and Ben's 13 potty stops.

Between miles 25-40 we only managed to catch/pass one or two runners and we were passed by one,  But now as mile 40 approached we had two more runners in our sights, one of them being Purple Shirt Guy.  Along with him ran a guy in Red who had been in #2 position at the turn, but was now in position to be passed.  They weren't actually running together but it looked like they were jockeying for race position as we sneaked up behind them.

We decided we'd better make a solid attempt at passing and then we'd try to put some quick distance between us or we'd have to race these guys for a Top 10 finish all the way to the bitter end.  We attacked/passed them midway up a 1/2 mile hill.  We made the pass running and then pushed going up and over the top of the hill and down the backside and Purple Shirt Guy started to fade, but Red Shirt hung tough only 200+/- yards off our heels for several miles.  By this time we started to get reports by our support team (Emily, Charlotte, and Savanna) that the runners in 6th and 7th positions were starting to come back to us, although we still couldn't
see them as we maneuvered through the hills.

This game of cat/mouse became a welcomed distraction to the pain of the day, and help motivate us to keep on pressing.  At about mile 47 we finally caught number six and seven, but they were spent and put up very little fight.  We were able to push to the end and finished in spots six and seven, with Scott at number eight.  Tough, but worthwhile experience.

I will run another 50+ mile race.

Victory Down Shelly Lane by Janeen Wright

Helping a child cope with failure provides them with an invaluable advantage in the world.  Failure is part of life, a natural obstacle on the road to success.  But one must put failure into perspective in order to use it best.

When I was in 9th grade, I went out for the track team.  I was a decent runner;  but my best friend, Shelly Lane was not.  Our coach placed her in the event that no one wanted to enter:  the big two-miler.  Yep, eight laps around the track at race pace.  Fortunately, my father was not only an incredible cheerleader, he was a great spectator.  He never missed a track meet and was ever the fan of the underdog. While I enjoyed a fair amount of success, Shelly's experience was miserable.  She was always dead LAST.  Both of Shelly's parents worked full-time and I never saw them attend a meet.  But Dad was always there--for both of us.  That freshman year, Dad taught me more about life than I learned in all my years of psychology training in college.

The two miler was the final event of every track meet. The first time the announcer called for the participants to gather at the starting line,  Shelly winced.  She knew what was coming and it would likely be embarrassing, not to mention exhausting.  For 14 long minutes I watched as everyone began to trickle across the finish line.  First was a gal from Kino.  Next, our star from Carson, then a little squirt from Poston.  Then came all the others.  That is, all except, one:  Shelly.   Sixteen minutes, 17 minutes.  And counting!  Shelly was the  only runner left on the track and she had a whole lap to go.  Suddenly, she stopped running and started crying.

And that's when I heard it.  A familiar, low-toned voice shouted, "COME ON, SHELLY!   DIG DOWN DEEP!"  Instantly, I recognized the inflection.  The "oh no you don't!" command.  I looked to find Dad, whose call was nearly stifled by the hands he had cupped tightly forming a megaphone around his mouth.  

What happened next still brings tears to my eyes.  Dad darted from the stands and headed toward the track.  He took his place on the field next to Shelly, who was walking slowly on the track, choking on her sobs.  He said something to her, and then he began to jog.  He was clapping his hands and cheering.  He believed in her.  The entire crowd began to applaud for Shelly.

Although he could not finish for her, Dad provided Shelly with the support she needed to win her own race.  He trotted back into the stands before I could hug him, but  I'll never forget what he said as we drove Shelly home from the meet.   He glanced in the rear view mirror at  her as she sat in the back seat gazing out the window.  Then he taught us the lesson of a lifetime:  "The secret of life," he said softly, "is to get up each time you fall down, Shel.  Stay down, and you lose...."

Shelly finished a perfect season, and yes, she was last in every race.  But finish each, she did.   I've whispered dad's words to to myself over the years as I trained for seven marathons.  Every time the going gets tough, I realize his wisdom transcends the track.  So I have relayed it to my own children.

I am forever grateful to a parent who taught me that failure was nothing to be ashamed of and for the lesson titled,  "The Victory Down Shelly Lane."

Janeen is the President of the American Mother's Association, an accomplished marathoner and a Boston finisher.  She is my runner partner and I am proud to call her a friend.

What's Your Vision?

July 4, 1952.  Florence Chadwick, who had previously swam the English Channel, now attempted the twenty-one-mile swim from the southern California mainland to Catalina Island.  The water was a freezing 48 degrees.  The fog was thick and visibility almost nil.  


Finally, only a half mile from her destination, she became discouraged and quit.  The next day reporters clamored around her asking her why she had quit - had it been the cold water or the distance?  It proved to be neither.  She responded, "I was licked by the fog."  


She then recalled a similar experience while swimming the English Channel.  Evidently the fog was likewise engulfing.  She was exhausted.  As she was about to reach out for her father's hand in the nearby boat, he pointed to the shore.  She raised her head out of the water just long enough to see the land ahead.  With that new vision, she pressed on and became the first woman to conquer the English Channel.  

 Are you doing the same things day after day without any purpose to your workouts?  Are you following the same generic training program as your workout buddy?  When was the last time you challenged yourself to try/do something new or different in your training?  Are you locked in your aero bars looking down at the road and missing the scenery around you?

With increased vision comes increased motivation.  Today try looking at things a little differently.  Run a new course.  Change your cycling schedule.  Swim as the sun rises from the East.  Just for today, go off auto-pilot and enjoy yourself.  

I think you'll like it. 

Story Credit

PF Chang's Marathon Checklist

Cowbell.  Check. 

Kenyans. Check.

Fast guys.  Check.

 

Fast chicks.  Check.

 

The bell curve.  Check.

 And, check.

 

Funny costume / headpieces.     

                                                                   Check.

Runners carrying unusually large/bulky items.  Check.

  

Cover bands playing stuff like Mustang Sally.  Check.

Twinner outfits.  Check.

  

Drumsticks from the start line.  Check.

 

Awesome looking spectators!  Check.

A lot of this hand signal.  Check.

And sweet finish line medals!

Check! 

Thank you for coming.  Good night! 

But Wait! Tomorrow's PF Chang's!

M's running the half marathon tomorrow.  As a first timer, she wanted to know WHAT she should be eating and drinking before her race tomorrow.

I'm a big fan of Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook and here is what Ms. Clark has to say about that.

*  On the day before the event, you might want to eat your biggest meal at lunchtime so that the food will have more time to digest and pass through your system.  Later, enjoy a normal-sized dinner and a bed-time snack.

*  Drink about four to eight extra glasses of water and juices during the two days before the event.  You should have to urinate frequently.

*  Limit dehydrating fluids such as alcoholic and caffeinated beverages.

*  On race morning, drink at least three glasses of water up to two hours before the event, one to two cups 5-10 minutes before race time.

*  On the morning of the event, eat a breakfast that you know will settle well.  Food you're familiar with will prevent hunger and help maintain a normal blood sugar level.  Don't try anything new.