Competitive Jerks Racing and Training - 2023 (Read 573 times)

Cal Maybe there is a way to "sneak" the calories in by drinking smoothies etc.? There are lots of variations on smoothies obviously, and maybe it won't quite register as eating. So maybe it won't feel like you're forcing yourself to eat when the appetite isn't there. Also you take creatine? Is this for the weight lifting? I'm just curious because I have been under the impression that creatine doesn't help endurance athletes.

Mike, I am drinking "additional" calories in liquid form (water based) a lot - mostly with protein - you can call then shakes or smoothies but I just put powder (protein, fiber) into a water and drink it. Btw, all this is done for gaining some weight, which is also doesn't help with your results as an endurance athlete

I am not overly concerned if creatine is super beneficial to endurance athletes, though, strength training is some kind of endurance type of exercise too . I watched a lot of trustful videos and podcasts and heard overwhelming evidence of taking creatine for many applications, including cognitive function in older age.

Here is a excerpt from an article about creating supplement:

...

What happens when you start taking creatine?

Most creatine goes to your skeletal muscles, which convert creatine into a compound of creatine and phosphoric acid (phosphocreatine or creatine phosphate). Phosphocreatine then helps create adenosine triphosphate (ATP). ATP is a source of energy that your cells use when you exercise. So, creatine helps maintain a continuous energy supply to your muscles during intense lifting or exercise.

In addition to providing more energy and helping to increase muscle growth, creatine helps:

• Speed up muscle recovery. When you exercise, you create micro-tears in your muscle fibers. As you recover, the micro-tears in your muscle fibers heal, and your muscles get stronger. Creatine helps activate satellite cells in your muscles, which help the micro-tears heal.
• Increase anabolic hormones. Anabolic hormones contribute to growth and tissue repair. They include insulin, human growth hormone (hGH), estrogen and testosterone.
• Boost water content in muscle cells. Better cell hydration may increase muscle growth and reduce dehydration and muscle cramps.

Creatine can also increase the amount of phosphocreatine in your brain, which may help with your memory.

...

And just in case somebody will raise THE QUESTION

...

Are creatine supplements recommended for athletes?

Many athletes use creatine supplements. Professional sports organizations, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) all allow athletes to use creatine supplements.

...

 

Cal you might be over obsessing all this calorie intake.

It sounds like you are eating plenty of good stuff.

I have had to up my food intake since increasing mileage as expected. As we age we lose muscle mass so increasing weight is more difficult.

PK - that's a standard "accusation" against people who start thinking about what they are eating And that's exactly what I am trying to do - I am new to this thing, but I am planning it to be a part of my life until the end . "Obsessing" about food. Or maybe I misunderstood you - but ideally I would like to gain lean muscle without actually gaining much weight, but I already have 12.7% body fat (DEXA scan) and not much fat can be burnt judging from that number, so, the only way to gain some lean mass is to gain some weight

Ironically enough, when I was not "obsessed" about food and calorie intake and was running 70/80/90/100 miles per week, I was gaining weight, and I was about 20%+ of body fat at some times. Talking about eating what you can. Again, analyzing stuff I read and watch - the resume is - you cannot outrun bad diet - Diet, then Exercise - not vice versa...

Longboat - Here's hoping the surgery goes well and for a speedy recovery. As far as I understand the recovery protocols keep getting better and the surgeries less invasive, so there's hope.

Steve - ommmmmmmmmmmm 🧘

Mmerkle - Wait what, you get paid to be a grad student ?
Re: Plyos, no I don't do much of them, though I do some warm ups like leg swings, arm swings, hip circles, ankle circles.

Keen - It looks like your ankle has healed ?

Piwi - yeah, losing muscle mass as you age sucks. That's why we lift heavy, to counter balance that, and to feel manly 😁

Cal -

I find that your focus on gaining weight might be misplaced. I believe you should focus on getting stronger, ideally at the same weight and without bulking.
Think more strength per mass ratio. More weight will be detrimental to your running and life in general, it will make your heart and lungs work harder than they need to, and it will put extra strain on your joints and muscles.

You're eating a very healthy and balanced diet. Your body weight stabilised, you should not try to swim against the current. You're already in a very healthy weight.

Also, canned black beans are disgusting! I'm too lazy to cook them as well, so I order from a local restaurant via UberEats.
I'd swap the protein powders with real food.
Do you also take probiotics ? They're a good way to re-balance your intestines back to health when there is trouble, I sometimes take one pill in the evening, we bought one with 14 strains, the more strains the better.
I fully agree with the sugars, despite how much I love sugary foods, excessive sugar leads to certain bacteria in the gut to outgrow the other good types of bacteria and it starts causing mayhem in your guts (pain/discomfort).
I'm unable to let go all the sweets though, so I'm working to replace my habits. Having more fruit available for when the craves come, and eating healthier desserts (not as sweet, no sugar added, that kind of dessert) when the crave is too much.
I've learned from working with nutritionists in the past that the most important thing is gut health. You start with that. Weight is a consequence.
Kudos for dropping the Coke habit 👏👏👏

Longboat - good luck on the surgery!  I hope it goes smoothly and recovery is quick and seamless.

FWIW, for those of you dealing with issues like a-bib and injuries that require surgery....I personally find it really interesting and helpful when you post "training logs" of your recovery.   I'm not asking you to do that, because I'm sure it's extra work that you may not have time for, and also you simply may not want to do it.

But if you are feeling like nobody wants to read about your week when you are healing and not running, I would argue that it's very much the opposite.

Plenty busy at work, trying to catch up a bit.

Mark - Congratulations on your growing collection of daughters! Mine would be plenty glad to watch over/play with yours if we were ever in the same location.

Longboat - Best of luck with the surgery and subsequent recovery.

Cal - Getting in that many calories in whole or minimally processed food is difficult. My go-tos are a mix of unsweetened yogurt (greek or icelandic styles) + protein powder and kefir if I eat breakfast (mixed with blueberries, assuming my kids haven't eaten them all), usually close to a pound of ground beef for lunch (my wife calls this meal "bowl o' beef"), then whatever beef/pork/chicken my wife and I happen to put together for supper.
I'm currently working on my strength:weight ratio, myself. Which reminds me that I should go cash in on a DEXA scan credit I have with a local fitness place.

Flavio - I can't say it's 100% healed, but my ankle is doing quite well. It has really given me no problems at all, but I'm babying it how I can - I haven't touched a grave road since the race, wear a brace on long runs and the only small workout I've done, and ran that workout clockwise so the recovering ankle wouldn't be on the inside of a turn.

DWave - Do you think you might be up for another run or something between the 11th and 13th?

Cal Thanks for the info. I wasn't aware of some of those things. Is it the end of the world if you miss a few hundred calories? Isn't it important to recover well and feel good? I don't know much about intentional weight gain.

Flavio On the condition that I help teach and grade, they waive my tuition and give me a stipend and health care. This is somewhat common to my knowledge. At least here in the US. More common for PhD programs than masters programs.

Steve The time I finally broke 3 was the time I mentally let go of that goal to focus instead on not dying in the final miles. This is exactly what darkwave is talking about. If you execute well but the weather slows your time, at least now you know what it feels like to execute well. So all you will need is good weather for a fast time.

Twilight Series Race #1 Report:

This was a 2 mile track race. It was about 80 degrees, or 26 degrees for those who identify as water. The humidity was low so it didn't feel hot at all.

I went out just a bit too aggressively because I didn't want to get boxed in. I felt it a little around 300 meters. Luckily I recovered a bit and settled into my pace. I mentally noted that I thought I was in shape to pop off 79s and 80s at this effort, but didn't let it discourage me too much.

By lap 6, obviously, I wanted it all to end. I get passed by someone who has been tailing me the whole race. Damn. Just hang on until the final lap, kick the last 200-300 and you'll be done. I'm breathing so heavily, short distances SUCK. Does everyone breathe this heavily? I can never hear anyone else's breathing besides my own. My legs feel fine but the chest burning and heavy breathing is super lame.

Inside the final lap I kick down the last 200, since that's kind of my thing. I didn't catch anyone but I still like doing it.

I forgot to hit the lap button on lap 6 so laps 6 and 7 are just lumped together as an 800. As you can see, that's where I got weak. The first lap includes the extra 18 meters to make it a 2 mile.

Splits:

80 (probably 76-77 for the 400), 83, 81, 81, 83, 2:48, 76

Time: 10:55 according to my watch, might be a second off. Results aren't out yet so I'm not sure about placement, but I think I was 4th or 5th. I wanted to be closer to my high school PR of 10:35. It's a little annoying that I'm not there. For DAMN SURE I should be faster than that next year.

Next race is actually next Thursday instead of in 2 weeks which caught me off guard. It's a cross country race on a very hilly and sometimes technical trail.

Merkle great job on the 2 mile. I enjoyed your video on strava. It's mindblowing to think Komen ran 2 back to back sub 4s 

 

I was supposed to do parkrun with a mate this morning but I managed to find every excuse not too.

Anyway I got up late had breakfast and headed out for an easy 10kms. Then I decided to make part of it a tempo but the first fast km was around 3.45 and that motivated me to keep pushing and I ended up running an 18.36. 5k in my daily training shoes which are still bouncy as hell 

Damn Piwi out of nowhere!!!  Love this shit  well done. Obviously coming back here deserves all of the credit

 

The 55-59 age group record at my local parkrun is 18.35 so that's motivating me.

There are some freaky fast old dudes that go to mine. M55-59 record is 18:01; M50-54 is 16:58 for an age grade of 87.6%.