Random Thoughts

1) I don't really ever run in the rain these days. 

2) I'd rather be on the trails than on the roads.

3) For now, moving slower feels better than moving faster.


Regarding number one, I suppose this is that I'm not really "training" for anything in particular, so there's no real drive to force myself into anything uncomfortable.  I've been enjoying being an animal and moving around, and doing things for the sake of enjoyment.  I couldn't resist getting out for 90 minutes on Saturday and then almost 2 hours yesterday.  Crisp, golden fall weather, perfect for making (more like attempting, but I'm getting the hang of it) some agile movements up and down the hills of Rock Creek.  I paid for it today with a bit of sluggishness but that didn't stop me from basking in the afternoon sun yet again for an hour on the Capital Crescent Trail during lunch today.

Aside: I don't buy that an ancestral interpretation of wellness should be strictly limited to the extremes of intensity, when it comes to exercise (i.e. sprinting vs. walking).  Sure, intense exercise is stressful. But the more I think about it, I can't fathom that our ancestors didn't periodically venture across diverse landscapes at an arduous (read, tempo, for you runners) pace. Have you ever tried to climb a moderate hill at elevation with 80 pounds of weight (a conservative number, in my mind, considering the weight of most ruminant carcasses) on your back?  That's not light exercise.  That's effing work.

Regarding number three, I've been toying around with something I'm calling "low heart rate training." I certainly didn't coin the term; seems like the general concept has been floating around the interwebs for some time.  I'm no zealot for the topic, but it feels right for now, mostly because it feels less stressful (during a time of high work stress) and provokes a more meditative state than higher intensity work.  I don't cover much ground, but I feel unstoppable over long durations (2 hrs +) without having to worry about stuffing my face with crappy chemical "fuel."

Number two?  Combination of positives and negatives.  On one hand, Rock Creek is such a beautiful refuge from the urban cacophony that it's hard to resist.  On the other, I move so slowly that I'm slightly uncomfortable waddling along public sidewalks, in plain view.  Plus, doesn't the crunch of leaves and scent of wet earth just appeal to your animal senses?  

Ponderings

Been thinking a ton about this blog, and what's next, since this doesn't seem to be moving in any particular direction.  I'm thinking of revamping, maybe going elsewhere, maybe just shutting this down and keeping it as a record of some thoughts I've had over the years.  I feel like I'm in a much different place than I was when this started.  I've given myself until the end of the year to articulate what shape this might take, if any.  Ran 6 very slow miles on the Capital Crescent Trail this afternoon.  Included a 1/2-mile barefoot on the gravel and it wasn't all that bad.  Very much enjoying the fall scenery and cool air.

Here We Go

I'm venturing down this path.  Feel strongly about it.

Funny that the last post I wrote mentioned Matt Fitzgerald and running on the track.  Just crossed paths with the former by way of a poorly-written article I came across while sitting on my ass tonight.  Visited the latter in person on Tuesday morning for a few 400m repeats.

Why do I say Matt's article is poorly written?  Maybe that's not fair.  He's got better chops than many, and certainly a more expansive portfolio than anything I could even approach.  And I've enjoyed most of the articles and books he's written.

Perhaps more accurately, this skeptical look at the "Paleo diet" (I hate that fucking term) seems to propagate logical fallacies at best, and completely turn folks off of the idea at worst.  Citing two vague epidemiological studies and inconvenience as the primary reasons why real food isn't worth the effort?  His first example correlates brown rice with less worse health effects than white rice.  But he frames it in a way that tries to tout grains as being able to "enhance health."  Nice twist.

How do folks buy this?  How can we say that we spent literally tens thousands of years without modern grains in our diet and that somehow we're now at risk of being "deficient" by not consuming them?  And it's not like we scraped by during those times.  We spent all those thousands of years thriving and evolving into our modern selves, all the while living without electricity, plumbing, or grocery stores.  Compare that to our current predicament, in which it's "normal" to be overweight and weak.  Are we thriving?

I know diet's not the sole component in all this, and I hate to get all prophetic about it.  But it just drives me crazy that prominent people, folks that are held as leaders in their respective circles, parse together these weak-ass arguments and broadcast them to the masses.  People trust people like Matt.  Let's have some respect and offer some legitimate, concrete arguments please.

Perfect Mornings

Lots of running lately.  Been exploring some new routes around town and keeping up with the regular outings in Rock Creek with Rob.  Hopped in a 9k cross country race, a 10k here in DC, and a 5k up in PA over the last month.  Having a blast.  Things with work and wedding planning have been absolutely nuts, but when I can get enough sleep I feel pretty great.  Just some very minor issues with PF in my right foot but nothing like last summer.  Even that improves the more time I spend in minimal shoes, and the more I pay attention to proper down time.  There's a caveat, and it's that I can't just go out willy-nilly and expect things not to hurt the next day.  If I exercise a base level of awareness and avoid certain movements (which I'm convinced are just bad habits - motor patterns I've lived with for years) then things are fine.  This is just neuromuscular retraining, kind of an awesome topic that I've been geeking out about a bit, and it reminds me of certain ideas in more popular threads like Chi or Pose running, or even more recently - some of the stuff Matt Fitzgerald has been putting out.  Been talking a lot about getting to the track but the most I've been able to do are hill repeats, which are comparable.  But I miss the simplicity and regularity of the 400m oval.  Soon.

Yesterday AM, explored Charleston, WV on foot.  Somewhat cool but very humid morning left me drenched upon return.  Only saw one other runner, by the Capitol complex.  Charleston's landscape is ruled by the appurtenances of the chemical industry - tanks, rail yards, stacks, warehouses.  A 2x3 array of barges drifted down the Kanawha River as I strode against the wind along a cracked concrete path.  Harkened back to mornings of floating along the Delaware River in Port Richmond where I'd see enormous barges of trash and the occasional freighter.  Yesterday's barges were much larger and full of coal.  Gmaps says 8.2, but I feel like I was moving a little quicker than that.

Haven't done a full pavement run like yesterday in a good while, as there are so many trails and dirt paths around DC that they're almost hard to avoid on runs.  This morning I'll try the run commute to Bethesda again, along some virgin trails (to me) and a balance of sidewalk.

These mornings have been absolutely perfect.

Langstreckenlauf

Been traveling, and trying to get a run in anywhere I have the chance.  It hasn't been easy, but I managed to get a couple runs in Cairo last week, and another in Munich over the weekend.  Before that it was PA and WV, which seem so domestic after being overseas.

My favorite by far was an almost 2-hr tour around Munich.  I'm always saying there's no better way to experience a city than to run it.  Walking comes close, as does biking, but they're different and I just enjoy the distance I can cover on the run.  Cycling requires an awareness that can be distracting, but is nevertheless enjoyable.

Started near the Munich Hauptbahnhof, headed north and east and quickly got lost in the Englischer Garten, where locals surf on short boards on a standing wave in the canal.  Sounds bizarre, and it is.  The Isar River is a strange blue, which heightened my sense of Germany's cleanliness, especially after coming from the trash strewn dessert from which Cairo rises.  I didn't feel out of place running along the beautiful paths amid golden rod and dandelion throughout the Garten.  Running through there, where I'd walked the day prior, had the effect of putting a scale on the distance we'd covered.  We'd stridden a long ways!  I fell in love with Munich and left with the sense that I'll return some day.

I don't feel as if I can justifiably write about my experience in Cairo here.  It was mind opening, as I mentioned to Rob yesterday morning on a Rock Creek jaunt.  That's pretty much all I can say without getting into a discussion on world views and cultural perceptions and I'd rather let all that stew a bit longer.  My runs there were on a treadmill, behind glass, overlooking palm trees surrounding a swimming pool.  The absurdity of it all beyond words.

The Rock Creek runs with Rob become more and more regular as the spring rolls along.  We've been averaging twice a week there and looking forward to after my June wedding when I can get out for long weekend runs again.

This morning, headed to the gym for some weight training.  I've been focusing on the basics, and it's paying off.

Mojo

Turned out to be a pretty fun-filled weekend - more so than I expected it would be due to some catch up I've been playing at the office.  Rob convinced me to head out for a run in RCP with him Saturday morning, and it turned out to be decent.  I was fully prepared to put the brakes on should any issues arise, but things never got out of control and my feet felt pretty good during and after.  35 minutes isn't much, but I'll take it in hopes of maybe stretching that out a bit as Spring approaches.  Spent the remainder of the morning cruising around the tri-county area checking out a couple of local farmer's markets.

In exchange for the run yesterday, I got Rob on board for the Bike Rack's Sunday morning group ride.  We headed out around 8:30 for what ended up being a fairly social ride.  There were definitely some intense moments, and the Falls Rd hill still hurts pretty bad.  The experiment with zero food intake before & during worked out in my favor, and I felt strong during the entire ride.  Last thing I ate was dinner on Saturday evening, so I left the house on Sunday in somewhat of a fasted state.  But not hungry, owing to the supremely satiating dinner the night before (the winter stew I've been dipping into for the past few weeks, which gets a thick layer of congealed fatty goodness on top if left to cool...mmmmm).

Ended up being about 3 hours, so it seems the sugary supplements just aren't necessary for me up to that point.  It felt kind of relieving not taking anything as the rest of the riders sucked on blocks, gels, drinks, whatever other little crutches we're convinced that we all of the sudden need to do what we humans have been doing for thousands upon thousands of years.  Not sure what happens after the three-hour mark, but my guess is that things might begin to deteriorate around 3.5 hrs.  I'll probably be strategic about eating during the ride next weekend, since it'll probably be 5+ hours.  I'm tempted to go without, but not sure it's the proper venue to risk a complete bonk.  So it's not that I'm completely denying that nutrition is important during a long event, but rather that strategy (in both a macro and micro sense, i.e. what & how you eat in the months leading up, and then the hours and minutes during) is key.  One thing I've noticed is that there's a period of about 15 minutes at the outset of any ride or run where my body feels slow and sluggish, like I'm warming up the engine.  But after that it's a steady, controlled burn.  Perhaps this is what many folks come to after doing this sort of thing for a while, and if that's the case, then I chalk it up to my inexperience.  But with all the crap at the checkout counter of your local running store, and the daily emails I get from various reliable sources suggesting I'm naturally lacking the basic tools to thrive, that these performance enhancers are essential, somehow I'm not convinced this is the case.

Got to double dip again yesterday with a hike in RCP before dinner.  Have a crazy week ahead of me, but I'll be looking to check in pretty regularly.

Going Somewhere, Maybe?

Still transitioning here, although I'm not sure where I'm headed.  Not a whole lot of running to report, but I am doing fairly regular hill sprints during my morning walks in Rock Creek.  I'm very excited for the spring and summer when I can get out there earlier and with more sunlight.  Maybe I'll even get back into some real runs.

I've committed to a 50-mile mountain bike race weekend after next (26th) down in Richmond.  No serious training, although I've gotten out for a few group road rides and a couple solo extended commutes on the bike.  Part of the motivation was a 3 hour mountain bike ride I did on New Year's Day - first time I've ever been on one of these goofy two wheelers.  Now I understand.  Wish I could do it more, but I don't have a mountain bike and the closest trails are a drive away.  Beyond the group and extended solo ride, just been my typical morning evening commutes with some intensity injected when I feel like it.

The 50-miler will be an interesting experiment on multiple fronts - given that it'll be the second time I've ever ridden a mountain bike.  It'll also be the first endurance event I've done since the marathon last year, and the first I've ever done since I gave up grains, sugars, and processed foods.  Speaking of diet, I've been eating a TON of fat lately, namely saturated fats such as clarified butter, organ meats (!), coconut oil, and even some cultured whole fat yogurt.  How have I been missing this for so long? 

Otherwise, feeling absolutely full of energy, even under all the work and life stress.  Even been successful at reducing that a bit, and improving my sleep some.  All these things really seem to be compounding, and I'm loving it.