A Lean and Hungry Look

With Brooke gone Friday and Saturday, I wasn't able to get out for a run either day.  Jacob had an early soccer game on Saturday (he had to leave just after 7 am), so I had to be around when the younger ones woke up.  So much for my goal to run 5-6 days last week.  Oh, well--I'll try one more time before next week's training schedule starts up.

Today's run was a little drizzly but not cold.  The rain was light enough that Maja didn't refuse to join me.  We did the usual short route across the U campus, finishing along Wasatch and Foothill instead of going through Research Park.

Popperton-JCC-Med School-Research Park loop.  Maja seems to have dropped a lot of her winter weight (which was mostly my fault, since my achilles issues kept me from running much, and since the kids just don't take her on walks) and is keeping up better.  She's not going to be happy when I start doing speed and hill work next week and can't take her along.

Maja was dragging today for no apparent reason.  Maybe she's sore after having not run with me for three consecutive days in a very long time--do dogs get sore?  We headed down 900 South to Diestel, down Bonneview to 15th, down to 17th South, up to 16th East, up Harrison to 19th East, then up Sheridan/Claremont to 13th South, then to 21st East and home.  For the record, I've been guessing on mileage lately (they are educated guesses based on similar runs with the Garmin) because my focus has been on reestablishing the habit of running nearly every day.  I'll worry about speed and distance as I get into my real training schedule.

Brooke and I are thinking about trying the Paleo diet for 30 days to see if we can drop some weight quickly at the beginning of my SG training regimen.  I'm already down to around 157-158, but my goal is to hit 149.  We've already started a modified version of the diet by limiting our grain and dairy intake (with a little cheating), but this would be the real deal.  We're trying to come up with an incentive to make the suffering worth our while.  The sooner we come up with it, the sooner we can get this 30-day clock running (and the sooner we can get it over with!).

I brought my gear to work and ran 1.5 miles on the grassy field by Extra Space, then drove to Murray Park and did the rest while I waited for Jacob's soccer practice to finish (it was about 5 min away from the park).  It was around 65-70 degrees, which would normally be perfect.  Since it was my first warmish-weather run, though, I felt a little sluggish, as I always do when I start making the transition from cold to warm training.

I settled on an incentive for my weight loss plan.  If I drop down to 149, I get the new Garmin 610 (since it's pricey, it will also count as my Father's Day and/or b-day present).  I'm hoping I can do that within 30 days, but the reward comes after I hit my weight goal, not after doing the diet for 30 days.  Brooke is still working on her reward, but hers will come after sticking to the diet (modified Paleo, allowing ourselves one grain--not cereal--and one dairy per day, otherwise eating lots of vegetables, especially green veggies, lean meats, no processed foods, and strictly limiting grains and dairy).  I was really grateful that we decided to allow one grain this morning (it's now Friday), because I was getting pretty sick of scrambled eggs for breakfast.  We had oatmeal with fresh fruit and honey this morning, and it was a nice change of pace.

Too bad I forgot to weigh myself.

Today's run made me more than a little wary of this whole modified Paleo diet shenanigan.  About half a mile into my run, I felt drained.  I was planning to run at least 10, but it was clear that that just wasn't going to be in the cards.  Every time I encountered a hill, my legs felt like lead and I had to struggle my way up.  In fact, I had to start taking walk breaks around 2.5 miles (up the final climb to Popperton Park).  Although it seems like I just have a bad day every now and again, this felt different.  By the time I slumped through the door, I was convinced that the diet was the problem, and that the reason I felt so awful was because my glycogen stores were depleted.

Brooke and I talked about it all weekend and she picked up a copy of Matt Fitzgerald's Racing Weight for me to peruse.  It quickly confirmed, more or less, what I was feeling--that an endurance athlete (such as I am) is not likely to do well on a low-carb diet.  I've said the same thing a million times to friends who are pumping the  latest high-protein, low-carb craze, but after having actually experienced it myself, I was even more convinced.  As a result, I'm in the process of tweaking my diet right now.  The current thinking is to incorporate whole grains but to continue to load up on fruits and veggies, limit (but not eliminate) dairy, strictly limit processed and sugary foods.  I think I'm going to allow myself one dessert on Sundays, just to make the experience a little less spartan.

I also went through a calculation in the book to figure out my optimal racing weight (based on current weight and body composition).  The goal I set for myself several week ago was 149.  After buying a scale that measures body fat (mine is apparently 15.5%) and running my numbers through the formula, the calculations confirmed that number (actually, the number is 149.33333).  I was disheartened by the body fat number, since the last time I remember getting my body fat checked was in high school (caliper method, so probably not accurate), and the number was 4.1%.  Those days are long gone, but I'm hoping to dip below 10% by the time I toe the starting line in October.