Good Morning! Nice garage set-up, Slo. Bigggg pictures, though. No run for me today, just some light x-training: lateral raises, bench dips, flies, lying hammer curls, dumbbell presses, lunges, glute squeezes, leg lifts w/ankle weights, face-up and face down, stability ball crunches, and 4 chin-ups (separately, one at a time). I love my new Iron Gym.

Whats Missing ?

An English book?

I'm with Tim in that my 20 milers are always supported by GUs and Fig Newtons. (Water is always a given). Rarely if ever on shorter runs do I eat anything during the runs. I believe our Summer has begun in earnest. The rainy season has another couple of weeks before it kicks in, but the requisite heat is here. Planned Rest Day today. It felt good to sleep in. 9 hours worth. I think yesterday's warm and tough Marathon Pace run did me in. The body is ready for a break and a taper (whatever "taper" means on this "all-quality" program). Bill

No notes available to point to the studies.

I hate when authors do this. No excuse. Thanks for posting the follow-up nono. I see by yesterday's run Busiman is ready to rock in Vermont! Easy 5; a little cooler and drier and (surprise) I felt better.

I see the fuel on a run discussion continues on. It seems pretty clear most of the people here would rather train with as little as possible. If it makes you happy go ahead. As I always say nobody pays us to to do this so do whatever lets you enjoy the sport as much as possible. As for me, I will stick to the view that absent anything definitive one way or the other there is no way to know if training with or without fuel on a long run is better. Spareribs will point out (and correctly I should add) that we are all different and should experiment. Nothing is wrong with that. Still in this case, I am pretty skeptical that if you do or do not find a "big" difference from training with or without fuel that you are experiencing anything more than a placebo effect. But, to each his own. More importantly as a friend of mine remarked about the placebo effect in a conversation about pain treatment, "Placebo effect? Bring it on!" The point being if you feel better who is to say you do not! Very true. So if you feel your training goes better without fuel and you are not risking your health (meaning you carry water or have access to it) go ahead. Me? I would rather be happy during my training runs and that means not feeling tired from fuel deprivation after mile 14. Want a story as to why using fuel is better for training? Ok here is one, with little more or less evidence to back it than those in the opposite direction: If you fuel you train harder which is ultimately what counts. Also, you train your body to absorb and use fuel while running which makes it easier for your body to do so during a race. If you do not get used to absorbing calories while running then come race day the stuff you take on course takes longer to process in your digestive system. Again, this is nothing but a story. But then so are the arguments in favor of not fueling during a long run. So take your pick of whichever story you like best. evanflein I hope you get cleared to run again "real soon now." It does seem like you are getting close. About that sitting, if it hurts it seems hard to believe it is a good idea. As to the water belt issue see my note below to Tramps. If you only tried a Fuel Belt you might try Nathan or some other company's product. Personally, Fuel Belts feel loose on me no matter what. Nathan does not flop at all but chafes. I currently use an Amphipod. It stays put and does not chafe. But I find getting the bottles clipped in to be rather tricky while on the run. Heck even while just standing! Tramps I had to experiment with a number of different brands to find one I like. You might try that as the various manufacturers produce rather different products. busiman International Long Run Day (ILRD).

Slo--A car? Nice little run yesterday. The kids seemed to have both computers tied up all day, so just a little late. Managed to keep my pace down a little and made a complete lake loop. 3.1 in 33 minutes. Got to put my recovery run in perspective at the end. I met a friend that I haven't seen in ages out running with her dog. I was about to be rude and ask if her head scarf had any serious meaning when she told me that she was in chemo for ovarian cancer. Things were feeling OK that morning so she was out to run. The good news is that she got diagnosed and treated early enough and the prognosis is positive. Makes just being a little short of breath seem a lot easier to deal with.

Good morning, gang! Slo - what a nice set up - my DH would be jealous (so am I as a matter of fact). twocat - I used an amphipod last summer and had trouble with the water bottles - I lost several on the trail and only recovered one. Seems hard to believe that one would fall off and not be heard, but it happened repeatedly. DH kept replacing them for me, bless his heart. I used to be a purist and not consume anything but water on long training runs. I now take gels fairly regularly, and I think it makes a difference for me. The Salmon River Trail Run (5.4 miles) was a blast - albeit it hot and humid blast. I was definitely not prepared for the heat and humidity. Average heart rate was 180 - combination of hills, heat and humidity. I just missed an age group award - placed 4th out of 11 in my age group. Interestingly, the 2nd, 3rd and 4th place finishers in my age group placed 102, 103 and 104 overall. One of the ladies I was following kept looking back and would speed up whenever I caught up with her - now I know why ;-). She came up to me as I finished and told me the neon green singlet I was wearing made me easy to spot - I'll have to remember that - maybe I should wear camo next time?? The organizers provided a wonderful picnic - pulled pork, grilled chicken, smoked salmon, hot dogs and all the trimmings- following the run. Jesse and I did an easy 6 miles Sunday morning - in gale force winds. DH surprised me and helped with the raised beds. We did the stone work following the race on Saturday and then filled the beds with dirt yesterday. Now I have to get to the nursery to pick up some plants. 7.25 hilly miles this morning in IRC - I'm enjoying the 40 degree temps while they last. I haven't felt this sproinky in awhile.