How To Get Fat On 30 Miles a Week

This is the time of the year, known as the "Offseason", or as others call it, the "Outseason", where workouts taper down, diets come back to normal, and the mind and body have a chance to recover. It's also known to many as "The battle of the bulge". Most experts say it is safe to put back 3%-5% of the weight you lost while peaking for that last "A" race over the course of this period. This is NOT the time of year to to just sit on your A$$ and gain that 3%-5% in the first few weeks though! Let me explain.

The end of October brought Halloween. The beginning of November brought our Anniversary (hooray!). The end of November will bring Thanksgiving. And the end of December will bring about the holidays and New Years. What do all of these holidays have in common? You guessed it, FOOD! And typically, lots of it.

Now, I'm going to be honest here for a second. I COULD be stronger and control my intake of crap. But sometimes, you just have to let it happen. I've learned that if you force yourself to omit something, eventually you will just end up binging and eating more than you would have if you didn't limit it in the first place. So, I let it happen from time to time to keep me sane.

Halloween is annually a weakness for me. There is always an endless supply of candy brought into my office, of which happens to be some of my favorite varieties, such as: Nerds, Laffy Taffy, Tootsie Rolls (I'm a role model for nutrition, I know). Add to that, homemade baked goods that people have left over and you have a recipe for disaster. AND, we haven't even started yet with Thanksgiving (I loves me some Thanksgiving food!).

But before I get ahead of myself, there is also something else. Since Rebecca and I celebrated our 1st Anniversary, we managed the time-honored tradition of eating our wedding cake. The top tier of our cake, which was gluten free so Rebecca could have it, had been wrapped up and stored for the past year. So you can imagine our excitement to celebrate by eating 1 year old cake! It was actually pretty darn tasty and you never would have known it was a year old. However, we believe that the frosting on the cake may not have been gluten free. Well guess what that means? More cake for me!

So let's do the math. Candy from Halloween + a whole wedding cake all to myself = weight gain. However, I'd also like to point out that I have been putting in a solid 30 miles of running a week, so its not as if I am sitting on my rear all day and just eating this stuff. I just find it amazing that I can still gain weight while putting up some decent mileage.

I just know that I've gotta get through these next couple of months and keep up the solid miles, or else I might have to (gasp) watch what I eat...

Anyways - Have a Happy Thanksgiving and be sure to eat well! You can burn it all off by running in your local Turkey Trot. I know we will be ;)

The Ad-Hoc Long Run

I apologize for the recent rash of enthusiastic running-related posts. Its just that for whatever reason, my run mojo has been found and I'm going with the flow. So indulge me for a bit, while I continue on my ways of being one with the road/trail.

3 posts ago, I talked about the benefits of flexibility in training. This week's long run was a perfect example. I set out Monday night with the intent of pressing my luck at my first dark longer run of the fall, now that daylight savings time has passed and running after work is essentially all in the dark, unless you run on a treadmill in the gym. But that wouldn't be fun, now would it?

As I began my run, my legs felt shockingly fresh, with an extra sense of spring to them. I figured the feeling would pass, like in most cases as the distance increases, but this time it didn't. As I neared the last mile of my planned route, I started to think my legs were feeling too good to stop now. So I began a different run route that would nearly double my planned run. Of course, before deciding, I made sure to do the math in my head that 1) I didn't have any hard workouts within the past 24 hours prior or planned for tomorrow, and 2) This distance wouldn't be outside the abilities of which I have been running. Once I confirmed that such as decision would be safe, I was good to go and thus began my ad-hoc long run!

Once again, the glory of not being on an official plan resulted in an amazing run. Not only did I finish it feeling fresh like when I began, but my pace was faster than any of my long runs I've done in the past 2+ months. I found myself settling into the quiet of running in the dark. The benefit of this is that very few others are out there, so it truly does make for a quiet run. I should note that I do run with a headlamp when it is dark so I know where lies in front of me. However, not knowing what is too far ahead allowed my mind to melt away from being focused on anything other than thinking about the next place my foot will land based on the restricted view of what my headlamp would light up. It was a fun feeling not knowing what was 20 ft or 1 mile ahead. And before I knew it, my run was done. It felt late, since I had been running for quite some time in the dark, but I checked my watch and it was still pretty early...at least there is something to enjoy about it being dark this soon!

A Little Alma Mater Pride

Its been a long time since my college hay day, but I have to be a bit prideful. No, not from the 3-6 football team, or from this exhibition disaster by the basketball team...but from the rugby team I used to be a part of. Specifically, this story. Syracuse is only the 2nd team in the history of the Upstate NY Division 1 Rugby League to qualify for the USA Rugby National Sweet 16 Championships in California. This is a huge accomplishment. I'll be headed up there this weekend for our annual rugby alumni pilgrimage, where we play each other (alumni vs college team). For the first time, I think the college team has a chance at winning. We'll see!

Posted in: College
By Brian Lowe
Nov 14, 2009 - 2:22:34 PM

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In what is unquestionably one of the biggest upsets in years in college rugby, Syracuse has stunned Dartmouth 6-5 in the Northeast Rugby Union semifinals Saturday at West Point, NY.

The Big Green led 5-0 at halftime, but a couple of second half penalty goals proved to be enough to get the Hammerheads home.

Syracuse went into the semi as the underdog, but as a consequence of their win, they have qualified for the national Round of 16 for the first time ever.

Constant rain caused a string of handling errors and there were a slew of penalties, although in the end Dartmouth’s focus was off and that is primarily what led to their downfall.

“Syracuse was the better team on the day,” Dartmouth head coach Alex Magleby told ARN. “They made the right adjustments and we didn’t adjust too well.”

Syracuse will face the winner of the late semifinal between Army and Fordham in Sunday’s NRU championship decider.

NRU men’s DII semis:
Vermont 15-10 UMass
Middlebury 11-0 Stonybrook

NRU women’s DI semis:
Brown 26-10 UMass
Army 46-0 Syracuse

Elsewhere on the east coast, Delaware capped off a perfect run in the Mid-Atlantic Premier League by dropping Virginia 38-3.

UD led 12-3 at the main break. Delaware captain and #8 Mike ‘Chief’ Levin (3) again led by example.

UVA had to scramble to find an alternative field due to the heavy storms that lashed the coast late in the week and eventually a multi-purpose field was secured for the game.

UD’s support play was exceptional on the day, as it has been all season long, and that is what paved the way to the win.

“It was a good game for the guys and a nice way to end the regular season,” said Delaware head coach Bjorn Haglid.

“We went through undefeated and now it’s about getting ready for Kutztown in March.”

In the Friday night match, Penn State held off a late charge by Navy to post a 20-10 victory in Annapolis, MD.

It was 13-10 at halftime to PSU and the Nittany Lions did a good job on the positional play aspect of their game in the second half to hold on for the win.

“It’s always a tough game,” Penn State head coach Don Ferrell told ARN. “I thought it was a pretty good performance by our guys.”

As a result of the final round of the regular season in the Premier League, Delaware finished on top of the standings ahead of Penn State, Navy and Kutztown.

The MARFU championship will be played next March with the two top finishers going through to the national playoffs.

This One Goes Out To The One I Love

It seems like it was only yesterday that we celebrated our wedding and were whisked off on our honeymoon. It has now been one year since that wonderful day. We've grown closer together, bought a house together, and most importantly, shared the past year together. I can only hope each year will be as good as this one has been.

Happy anniversary!

Flexibility in Schedules

One of the glorious things about not being on any plan for a specific race is to do things by feel. My running lately, though not scheduled through an actual plan, is still somewhat structured. I'm not going to try and mash up a speedwork session the day before or after a long run just because I feel like it. I still have my principles!

But, what I've noticed about these past almost 2 months of just running without a plan, is that some days you have it and others you don't. While on a plan, you may feel guilty about "only" running 4 miles, when you were supposed to run 6. Or that you were supposed to do a tempo run, but you just ran an easy pace. Take away the perception that "I must do x, y, and z or my season will be ruined", and workout seems to be fun again. I think its that freedom to choose what I WANT to do today, rather than knowing I HAVE to do something, that I enjoy most about this little deal I have with myself.

And I am starting to think I am on to something here. A few seasons ago, I took training and sticking to my schedule a lot more seriously. This year, I took a more hands off approach, allowing for a bit more flexibility. I enjoyed my training a lot more because of it. Did it allow me to maximize my potential output? Not necessarily. But then again, I am not trying to win anything outright. I am trying to improve, but still have fun.

However, depending on the distance you are training for, flexibility is all relative. The longer the distance, the less flexible you can be with your schedule. For example, long swims, rides, or runs, are a critical part of any training plan, whether training for a marathon or an Ironman. You can't necessarily just run 6 miles, when you need to hit up a 20 miler. Its kind of hard to get around doing that. But some of the other stuff in between should be able to have some flexibility, like swapping out a tempo run for an easy run. If its not there that day, don't force it.

As long as there is consistency in training, I think flexibility in the schedule is a good thing. And that has me continuing to do what I WANT to do, which is what motivates me to get out there each time and have fun.

Race Bling

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, I placed 2nd in my age group at the Home Run 10k. Despite the chip timed race, they were unable to post results and/or determine age group awards at the race. So when I found out that I won an award, I was told that I'd receive it in the mail. Well, I finally did!

I just have to laugh at the message in the letter. If you can't read it, it says "Please find the enclosed prize for being first or second in your age group...." Really? They couldn't have printed 2 different versions of the letter - one to send to 1st and one to send to 2nd? Strange. Anyways, my "prize" is a gift certificate to Potomac Pizza. How much is on the card? I haven't a clue. But I'll find out one of these days when I venture over to Maryland to find out!

Feature on Michael Wardian

I found this little segment on Michael Wardian that was posted yesterday. Its a little cheesy, but its a nice piece on him, his family, and being part of the local community (Arlington, VA) where Rebecca and I USED to call home. Gotta love that even elite runners push double-wide strollers with their kids. Of course, its no surprise, since he set the world record for "running a marathon while pushing his kid in a baby stroller" - 2:42:21 for those who are counting!

Sometimes You Just Gotta Run

Despite the nasty weather this evening (low 50s and rain), I felt the urge. It doesn't happen very often, but a few times a year, nasty weather brings out the enthusiast in me. Normally, dreary weather has the opposite effect, causing me to either schedule an indoor gym session, or scratch any plans all together. But not this time.

As soon as I got home from work, I quickly changed clothes, suited up in some rainy running gear (including a new Brooks skull cap/beanie I picked up at the Marine Corps Marathon expo this past weekend), and hit the trails. One of the wonderful things about working out in weather like this is the silence. There are nearly zero other people out there on the trails and all you can hear are your own footsteps and the sound of rain. Its peaceful and calming.

A little less than an hour later, I returned home, with my mind at peace from the exhausting work day. No plan, no purpose. Just running. Now that's the way it should always be.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to go see the premier of This is It with Rebecca...later!

2009 Marine Corps Marathon Expo

Anyone running Marine Corps? If you are, I'll be at the expo working at the Clif station all day Friday and Saturday (with Rebecca on Saturday too!), much like I did last year. Come stop by and say hi. We'll have lots of products to sample and give out!

Is It Really Necessary?

I already know the answer before writing this, but I just thought it was an interesting observation.

As I'm sure most of you already did, you've poured over the results from the Ironman World Championships, including all the photos and videos from the various sources of coverage. There is a ton of cool stuff out there, with all access coverage from inside the race. It was only after reviewing a bunch of photos recently published by Competitor, that I realized something:

Both the Men's AND Women's champions didn't wear aero helmets. Interesting....

Now that isn't to say that I don't believe they provide any benefit. Plenty of scientific studies have shown that the aero advantage over the bike course of an Ironman race is pretty significant. But why then, did they choose not to wear them? One thought is the heat. Most aero helmets provide less ventilation due to fewer vents, and being that the race was in Hawaii with temperatures in the 90s, the added heat impact on one's body could have minimized aero advantage one would gain on the course. Other than that, comfort? Anything else I'm missing?

But then that got me curious - do they ever wear aero helmets in other races? And it appears the answer is mostly no. I found a few shots of them wearing aero helmets, such as the one to the side, but the majority of the photos show them wearing regular helmets. I mean, if aero helmets provide "free speed", why wouldn't they wear them?

One other observation is that neither triathlete posted the fastest bike split, so it is pretty clear that aero helmets do help post faster bike splits, as they were worn by each of the top cyclists in the race. But then again, triathlon is much more than a long bike ride, sandwiched between a swim and a run. Contrary to what most people say, it ISN'T all about the bike. This year, it was all about the run. The differences in the bike splits this year weren't significant enough to create enough separation between the faster cyclists and the faster runners. It came down to the run, much like it usually does in Ironman. A good cyclist can post a solid lead, but a strong runner who is a solid cyclist will catch them on the run, such as what happened this year in the men's race.

I'm not trying to draw any conclusions from this, because I'm not qualified to, nor do I care to get into too many specifics. I just thought it was interesting that they both don't wear aero helmets and I wondered to myself why. No matter what the strength of the triathlete is, the winner in the end is the man/woman that swims, bikes, and runs that fastest over the course of the race.

Anyone else have any other thoughts on this?