To shake or not to shake...

So Gary, I think you are the one person who may occasionally check this out, and if there are others, by all means, you as well, to shake or not to shake?

My training is hitting a mark of consistency right now. It may not be the exact mark I would idealize, but I am happy to be out pounding on some miles, and doing it in more fun and creative ways than I have ever done before. However, with this training schedule, an already oddly efficient metabolism, and a very active job, I am losing weight that I don’t necessarily want to be losing. I have had this before, but was a little too green to realize that it was really working against my training and overall well-being. This time I think I see the problem, but am having trouble taking in the calories, while still eating healthy food.

I start each day with 3 eggs (2 whites, one yolk) with mozz cheese, a bagel, fake butter and a cup of coffee. If I run in the morning (rather than the night before) I add a Gatorade to that. That is a whopping 400 calories give or take 25. Throughout the day I snack on pretzels, apples, sometimes bananas, water, a bagel, and an occasional teacher’s lounge brownie or some other crappy sugar treat. Then at night I have added a sandwich when I get home and then dinner. After dinner I’ll add a grapefruit or some other fruit.

That is a ton of eating that comes to only over 300 calories (between 3000- and 3400 depending on the “treats” and beer some nights). My resting metabolic rate is 1975 calories. That is sitting in a chair all frickin day…I have never done that in my life. On run days, I had a trainer (the guy that did my MBR and lactic acid threshold testing) estimate that I should be taking in between 3500-4000 on regular run/work days, and 5000 on long run/snowshoes days. HOLY SHIT!

So…what do you do? Do you drink high calorie shakes? Do you masturbate less? What do you do?

Pilot to Co-Pilot…we have liftoff

1/11/08

My Niece Anna turned 5 today and my dad turned 61J
Happy Birthday!

In late night conversations between two usually incoherent fools, tentative agreements were made to go for a run. Gary, the idiot described in my first entry, expressed his intent to, “make you hate me the last 40 miles!”

Gary is coming to WI. I couldn’t begin to describe the strength, focus, and fear this gives me. I am a wealthy person in many ways, and this one. I have friends that push me and believe in my crazy goals. Then there is Gary, a drunken fool who can run faster and further than most people on earth. I assumed, when he told me that he was coming, that he was coming to try to break the very aggressive course record. I was wrong. Instead, he is coming to drag my sorry ass through the final 40 miles of the race.

The Kettle100 ultramarathon allows for racers to run with a pacer from the 100k point through to the finish. These final 40 miles are the most difficult, have the most severe elevation change, and covers the roughest terrain. I ran this 40-mile portion during last years Kettle100 as my first go at an Ultramarathon. This year I only will have to run 60 miles prior to getting to this point. BUT, when I get there…THERE WILL BE GARY!

Homemade energy bars

Luke’s Homemade Energy Bars

Nutritional information/serving (roughly)

1 batch makes 12 servings
*info does not include the additional ingredients at the bottom
Calories- 223
Protein- 6.4g
Carbohydrates- 36.75g
Dietary Fiber- 2.75g
Fat-6.75g

2 C- Oats
2 Tbls- Turbinado Sugar
4 Tbls- Rice Protein
1 1/2 Tbls- Ground Flax Seed
1 1/2 tsp- Wheat Gluten
1 tsp- Sea salt
1 Tbls- Cinnamon
1/3 C- Oat Bran
1/8 tsp- nutmeg
1/2 C- Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 C- Yogurt
1 C- Chocolate Chips
1 1/2 C- Applesauce
2 Tbls- Canola Oil
*(Sometimes I will also add peanut butter, raisins, nuts, or anything else that sounds good)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl combine all of the ingredients (only 1 of the Tablespoons of Canola) and stir like crazy. Eat as many raw scoops as you like and bake the rest. Prepare a non-stick muffin pan (I use a large 12 serving muffin pan) or a bake dish with the remaining Tablespoon of Canola oil.
Bake at 350 for about 25 minutes or until ready. Let the muffins sit for at least 10 minutes to firm and cool.

Christmas, then a change of direction for the blog...i promise

1/1/08- Spencer’s first Holiday Season

AFTER THIS ENTRY THE DIRECTION AND NOT SO RIVETING DIRECTION OF THIS BLOG WILL CHANGE. But since this entry is already written…here it is:

Run- The weather has been absolutely insane in Appleton (we are home for the holidays). A blizzard started as a rainstorm and changed to a snowstorm with 50 MPH winds. On Saturday I got out to Bouboltz Nature Preserve for a great but soggy snowshoe run. It was the first run on my new Atlas Dual Trac running snowshoes. They are fantastic; better than the older version than I rented. Sunday morning came with a overbearing mix of snow and wind. Emily and I hit the basement for a workout. I replicated much of the work that I did at Core Fitness and managed to do some serious damage to myself. I had a great 45 minute workout and I feel it today!

After getting back to Madison on Christmas night my running holiday began. I began following my scheduled plan for the Kettle 100. This week was a 37 mile week, which I completed all but 7 miles of on snow shoes. Sunday the 30th I gave myself one of the hardest runs I’ve ever had. I ran 15 miles on snowshoes through thick powder for much of it. The running snowshoes are not designed for powder at all. They have a very small footprint and sink quickly into powder; this made for an ass-kicking workout. At the 45-minute mark, with a LONG run left, I decided it would be fun to follow a great summer trail that crosses a ravine. In I went…both feet went through the ice and into shin deep ice water. After pulling myself out and taking a second to regroup, I decided that I had to keep going and hope it wouldn’t get too cold. I ended up with an incredible run that felt more like a race than a Sunday long training run. Monday came with that soreness that feels so good. I did an hour of yoga for the first time in quite a while and it felt terrific!
New Years day, Sarah N dragged me out for my four miler…and with that ends break. My running now, if it is going to happen like it has to, will be at 4:30 in the morning.Yuck!

12/22/07- Snowshoes (heavy wet snow, trails) 45 minutes
12/23/07- Core, leg workout, 45 minutes

Holidays-

As a student, the thought of the holiday break was enough to drive me out of my skin. With any luck there was ample snow on the ground and much sledding would be done over break! I knew that I didn’t have to worry about schoolwork or teachers for two whole weeks. This, I can assure you, pales in comparison to the abundant joy and elation experienced this year, my first year as a teacher. Knowing that I don’t have to make Nick or Martha (all names with ALWAYS be false) get back on task or stop batting each other around for two whole weeks…I can’t even explainJ My first big chunk of the year is under my belt and I am feeling great! Somehow I picked the perfect gig for me. But I’m on break right now and don’t really feel like talking about teaching. So, onto the boy.

Spencer’s first Holiday Season-

This break was made perfect because of Emily and Spencer. In two weeks I have been able to put Spencer down for every nap but one, feed him sweet potatoes and avocados everyday, and play with him to no end.

Instead of continuing to add to this entry, I will post it now (1/5/08) and begin a new entry. The direction of this blog needs to change. I’m bored writing it, I can’t imagine how fun it is to read.