Is it really just a number???

Lately I’ve been attempting to whittle down that number on the scale.  My motivation behind that is to of course shrink my ass, but more importantly to lighten the load on my runners.  Hell, if I’m running 42.2km, I want to run as efficiently as I can and have the least amount of weight pounding on my legs, knees and feet.  It only makes sense, right?

Or does it? 

From everything I’ve read, the lighter your poundage, the easier it is on your body for endurance running.  I read that for every pound lost, you lighten your pavement pounding load by 4lbs per step.

Then I hear that little voice that we’ve all heard for most of our adult lives saying “muscle weighs more than fat”.  So logically speaking, if I am building muscle to be stronger to support my load, then shouldn’t I weigh the same in terms of pounds (or kilos for you metrically minded people out there)? 

Then my 3^rd voice (you don’t even want to know how many of them there are in there!) joins the conversation and says “but what about balance?”

Shouldn’t there be a balance of fat reduction and muscle gain?  And what goes into finding that balance?

The no brainers are obviously water, exercise and diet.  How do you know you’re eating the right amount of calories to avoid fat storing mode?  For example, I burned almost 1600 calories on my long run this weekend.  And right away, I think SWEET, that’s half a pound!  But is it really?  If I’m in a major calorie deficit my body is going to think it needs to hang on to everything instead of burning it as fuel.  Your metabolism tanks and goes into starvation mode and clings to every little bit of food you stuff in your face.  And let’s not even touch sugar in relation to blood sugar and insulin levels….ok we will, but just a tiny bit.  Simply put, insulin is a storing hormone and when levels are high it negatively affects fat burning.

Then there are also factors like keeping your system “moving” (for lack of better terms).  If you’re all backed up in there and toxins are building up, no amount of water and exercise is going to save you from that.  So then it starts to get more complicated…soluble and insoluble fiber, nutrients, vitamins, amino acids etc.  I started adding barley grass powder to my smoothies because it’s a cleansing agent.  I recently slacked off a little and lo and behold, now that number is back up a smidge and I’ve noticed I’m not {ahem} as “efficient” as I had been once before in the import/export business.   

I will continue to experiment with all these contributors and hopefully – sooner rather than later – I’ll find the magic combination.  Until then, should I care about that number?  The jury is still out.

Sunday marks the end of my week

My program consists of running 3 times each week. Simply put, 2 short runs during the week (working on different aspects of running) and 1 long slower paced run to build endurance.  I won the cross training battle once again this week!

Monday, Jan 16th: 
6am spin class @ the Y (50 mins)...it was a tough class this week and I pushed myself.  It felt great.
Evening easy yoga class @ Oranj...a nice relaxing stretchy class. 

Tuesday, Jan 17th: 
5 Yasso's @ 4:32 each.
A Yasso is an 800 metre done in a specified amount of time.  The concept of a Yasso is that if you can run 10 Yasso's in the same amount of minutes as your goal race time, you will achieve your goal time on race day.  For example, if  I want to run a 4:30 marathon, I need to be able to pull out 10 Yasso's @ 4min 30 sec each.  You work up to being able to repeat each Yasso 10 times with a short recovery in between.  On Tuesday night, I did 5 (they ramp up as I progress through my training).  Tuesday was effing freezing cold (it was like -16 or something ridiculous with another -10 degrees of windchill), so needless to say I was not so secretly happy to hit the treadmill.  I love Yasso's on the 'mill because you're forced to keep at pace.  I realized after the fact that I was too fast.  My Yasso's should be at a max of 4:35 and a minimum of 4:48 according to McMillan (more on him in a future post maybe, depends how much I feel like rambling on).  Now I know you're thinking, seriously Bron..3 seconds?  That's totally insignificant.  I had to walk my recoveries.  If I had slowed it down 3-10 seconds per 800 metres, I bet you I would have been able to jog out those recoveries.  Now I'm not sure if that matters....but I have a feeling it does.  More importantly, it matters to me.  You always want to push yourself when you train for anything athletic, but you have a threshold and you shouldn't cross it before you're ready.  You invite injury and risk the dreaded "over training"
If you're intrested in finding out more about Yasso's, hit this link: 
http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-255-624-0,00.html

Wednesday, Jan 18th: 
100% REST DAY

Thursday, Jan 19th:
4.91 miles/7.8KM run with my group @ Lululemon Run Club.  I love this group, we have a great mix of runners and our leader, Kim, is awesome.  She's a 2 time Ironman Canada finisher (as this blog progresses I'm sure that I'll share my absolute amazement of anyone that takes on triathlons, but specifically an Ironman.  I stand in total awe of these athletes and instinctively want to fall to my knees proclaiming "I'm not worthy" a la Wayne's World).  It was snowy and it was a tough run.  We generally move at a good clip, well for me anyways.  And in the snow it becomes that much harder because you're engaging all your stabilizing muscles to avoid slipping.  My calves were screaming pretty good and I came home to a good soak in an epsom salt bath.  Did you know epsom salts help to pull lactic acid from your muscles?  My RMT recently informed me of this priceless little fact.  It has changed my world, let me tell ya!

Friday, Jan 20th:
I met my girlfriend and gym buddy Bri at the Y at 6 bells in the a.m. (ok I was probably like at least a few minutes late, something I'm really trying to work on!) and we had a kick ass gym workout.  We did supersets and worked shoulders, a little core, some bi's and tri's and did some Bosu Ball torture.  Out the door by 7am and then off to start the day.  Just the way I like it.  A quick and quality workout complete before the sun is up.

Saturday, Jan 21st:
YOGA DAY! 
A girlfriend of mine wanted to try Hatha Yoga.  She has wrist problems so any practice involving poses like cobra and down dog hurt her wrists.  I offered to take her to the Yoga Loft for a 90 minute practice.  Helena rarely (if ever) includes those types of poses in her practice so I figured it would be a good bet.  This particular girlfriend is interested in becoming more active so I am happy to be able to show her some options for getting out there and moving.
In the afternoon, another group of us girls were off to try some hot power yoga at Hot Box Yoga.  Bri and her sister had done hot yoga before.  Meghan and I had not.  Hot?  Check.  Power?  Double check!
This was a challenging practice, but it felt so good.  I felt strong and I really enjoyed the instructor, Pam.  I was pretty sore later that evening and of course the following morning.  I can definitely see how people get addicted to hot yoga.  I'm trying to determine how I can bring more hot yoga into my life without breaking my bank account.  For those of you that haven't tried it or gotten a membership at a yoga studio, it is certainly the definition of spendy.

Sunday, Jan 22nd:
13 miles/21KM long slow distance run (so if you see me referring to LSD, I don't mean a hit of acid).  I ran this with my training partner and run buddy, Shannon.  We usually run on Saturday mornings, but Shannon had to work.  LSD's are always better with a buddy.  She is also doing the BMO and it is also her first full marathon.  It was snowy (but not slushy!) and those stabilizers were kicking in again.  I'm left with a sore right leg and a big 'ole blister between my big toe and second toe on my right foot.  Not fun.  We completed the distance in full and didn't feel like we were going to die at the end.  I felt like I was high maintenance today and I felt bad for Shannon because of it.  I kept having to walk to fiddle with fuel or hydration.  Then it was a stitch, then a sudden pain in my right knee.  After that I thought to myself "suck it up buttercup and just finish this". 

In Summary....
Total mileage:  20.41 miles/32.8KM
Spin:  50 mins
Yoga:  3.5 hours
Resistance training:  55 mins

All in all, a well rounded week.  There is too much snow, but such is life.  It is January after all. 
The key to winter runs is layers.  Kim (our run coach) is always offering us great tips for training.  In retrospect, I feel very good about what I accomplished this week.  I do not feel exhausted.  Just a little sore.  I'm taking tomorrow off.

Lessons learned:  I need trail running shoes for snowy conditions and don't do power yoga less than 24 hours before a scheduled LSD.  I secretly knew that, but I really, really wanted to try hot yoga and this was the only time it fit into my schedule this week.  The reduced drop in fees are ending on Jan 31st.  Since I'm cheap, I felt the need to take advantage of it.  My thought process was if I liked it, I would still have opportunity to take advantage of the reduced drop in fee at least one more time before the month comes to an end.  The curse of frugality (I don't even know if that's a real world, but this isn't scrabble so I'm not concerned).

Do Differents

Last year when I trained for my first half marathon, I struggled to find any energy to do anything other than my 3 runs each week (with the exception of a handful of days of XC Skiing).  I wanted to cross train (translation:  do other fitness activities) but found I was way too tired.  Cross training is very important to keeping your body balanced.  Plus I was starving all the time.  Conclusion:  poor fuelling and sleep habits. 

I wasn't sleeping much and I was a grain whore.  Meaning that I wanted bread (and I think I ate it) every single day.  True, you need carbs for endurance sports.   Simply put, carbs top up the glycogen in your muscles.  But nothing is ever simple, right?  There are 3 types of carbs:  monosaccharides, disaccharides, and polysaccharides.  If you're interested in more detail, head over to this link:
http://fitnessforoneandall.com/nutrition/article/glycogen.htm

Then at some point, I remembered that carbs don't just reside in grain and starch (bread, rice, potatoes, beans etc).  You get plenty of carbs from fruit and vegetables too (Atkins taught all of us that, didn't he?).  Eat fresh fruit and veg, and less gluten and feel good - what a concept, right? 


I recently overhauled my food regime with the help of a "cleanse" (for lack of better terms).  I have broken my grain addiction, which I have always felt was impossible.  I always said "I can never give up my bread" (Yup, one of those!)....but did I ever really try? 

I'm now making a point to get a minimum of 7 hours of sleep every night.  And this is quality sleep, people!  I've never slept this well in my life...maybe because I'm not saturated with gluten, who knows?  Don't get me wrong, I still eat flour products and grains.  But my main source of carbs is produce.  And it has really turned out to be quite delicious. 

Needless to say, cross training is coming easily this year.  And I'm pulling MORE miles than I was last year.  Since I'm training to race double the distance, I guess that kind of goes without saying (Thank you for your valuable input here, Captain Obvious!).

In addition to my 3 runs each week, I'm pulling off weekly spin, yoga and resistance training.  And even some core focus from time to time! 

The moral of this story is, take care of yourself, sleep well, train smart, feel good. 

Blogging Virgin

I've never blogged or even thought about blogging before.  I'm not sure when or where that changed, but I continue to surprise myself all the time, so I guess this is just another one of those "things" that I decide to try.  Kinda like running a marathon.  And before you even think it....yes, I do realize that is INSANE!  2 years ago I couldn't even run a kilometer.  Now I'm going to run 42 of them??  Who is this person looking back at me in the mirror?  It's certainly not someone I ever expected to see there.

I'm not going to lie...I definitely have selfish motivation behind this idea.  I want to document my marathon training and use it as a tool to reflect.  I recently started doing some minor journaling and have discovered that (this is where those of you that journal regularly say DUH!) it is an amazing tool for  identifying what makes you feel the way you do and then moving on.  I get it all out and am left with clarity and perspective.
 
I don't know that I'll stick to the blogging, but I want to give it a shot.  I do love to talk after all.  And this is a perfect venue to get all my words out and not have to worry if people care to hear it or if it's interesting for anyone.  If you don't want to read it, don't.  If it bores you, move on to something that doesn't. 
So here goes....I'm just about to click "publish post" and this will become my first official blog entry.