Count Down to the Silver Strand Half Marathon: One Day left

The word of the day is HYDRATION.  Everyone say it with me: Hy-Dray-Shun.  The day before a big race, I make sure that I am NOT dehydrated.  So T-minus 1 day means I'm in the bathroom a lot.  But it's okay, because I'd rather be in the bathroom today than stopping for port-a-potties throughout the race tomorrow.  Some of you may wonder at that last sentence.  Hydrating the cells in my body, making sure my fluid levels are adequate today means that I will NOT feel as thirsty tomorrow.  The feeling of THIRST actually means you're already dehydrated.  Thirst triggers a need to drink, and what happens next is a need to eliminate.  And THAT means stopping at port-a-potties, with long lines at Aid station #1.

Of course I still hydrate while I run.  A good rule of thumb is 1 ounces for every mile that you're running.  I tend to sip on my hand bottle as I run along, keeping my mouth from getting dry and keeping my body temperature regulated.

I will warn you against hydrating TOO much.  You can flush all the electrolytes that your body needs to make your muscles function properly.  You'll experience cramping and bloating if you drink too much.  And while I'd love to give you a guideline on how MUCH to drink, it's really dependent on a person's individual hydration needs.  As long as your urine stays light colored all day, you're drinking enough.  Avoiding things like soda and other caffeinated drinks will help you manage your hydration.

Besides hydrating, I also ate THE BEST pumpkin waffles for breakfast (with a side of sweet potato).  My best friend (FOREVER), who is just ocmpleting her first 30 days of paleo sent me this recipe.  It's incredible that it doesn't contain flour, because the pancakes REALLY have that familiar pancake texture.

Last day of taper means pancakes!

PUMPKIN WAFFLES

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2 tbsp coconut oil (plus a little extra to grease the skillet)

Directions

1. Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, vanilla, and honey together.  Sift the spices and baking soda into the wet ingredients.

2. Melt the coconut oil and mix into batter

3.  Grease the skillet and spoon the batter in.  When a few bubbles appear and the edges get firm, flip the pancakes once to finish cooking.

4.  Serve immediately   

So yummy, and such a great way to end my carbo load.  For the rest of the day I snacked on nuts, and kale chips and I had roast chicken and mustard wraps.  For Dinner we're having turkey burgers with bacon, avocado and tomato, wrapped in lettuce.  I try to eat light foods, more fiber to help my digestion before tomorrow's race.

For everyone who's running tomorrow, GOOD LUCK!  Maybe I'll see you at the Finish Line!  

Countdown to Silver Strand Half Marathon: 2 days left

I apologize for being so quiet.  It's taper week, which means if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all.  Not being able to run off daily stress and frustration means that I am a grumpy mess, but at least my glycogen stores are building!

Two exciting things happened today!  The first was that I started my carbo loading!  I actually carbo load started TWO days before a race (and I load up on iron to help my muscles utilize oxygen).  If my race is on a Sunday (like the Silver Strand half is), I start with dinner on Friday night.  I like to have red meat and lots of high carb veggies.  Tonight's meal was Paleo Chili and Sweet potatoes.
The next morning (Saturday morning) I will have a high carb breakfast.  I'm planning to have Pumpkin pancakes, a new recipe that I'm HOPING is good enough to share with you!  The rest of saturday is spent eating Clean and Paleo.  Only white meat (chicken mostly), LOTS of high fiber veggies (to help with race morning elimination) and low calorie.

I don't agree with the idea of carbo loading the NIGHT before a race.  Often times this causes constipation and may make you feel bloated and heavy.  Who wants that on RACE morning??  By carbo loading in advance, my body has time to process AND STORE the glycogen and iron it will need for my race.

 I haven't forgotten about the SECOND exciting thing for today!  It was PACKET PICK UP day at Road Runner Sports!  I'll be running with bib number #2514!  I will be tracking my race with Runkeeper Elite, so feel free check my Twitter feed on Sunday to see how I do.

Taper week (again)

Guess what I got in the mail yesterday??

It's my Silver Strand Race Confirmation!

It's so quaint that they mailed it!  It harkens back to the early days of racing, when you still had to SIGN a race entry.  But with only 4,500 entries allowed, it's definitely a smaller half marathon than what I have been racing in.

Taper has started which means I'm anticipating some moodiness, some freak outs about how my legs feel (already happening), and excitement about race morning.  This will be my 6th half marathon in a year and a half and I still get excited about race day.

I'll be doing just light 30-45 minute runs this week.  Just enough to stretch the legs and keep them limber and loose.  I'll be eating my normal calorie restricted diet until Friday night, when I get to start my carbo loading.

I'm also running my 13.1 miles to support Run 4 NYC, a virtual race that is raising money for the Red Cross efforts to aid the people affected by Super Storm Sandy.  So far they'd raised $3,070!  You can choose to run a 5k, 13.1 miles or 26.2 miles as part of the effort.

RAQ: Recently Asked Questions

Although I'm not the creator of the Paleo diet, or a Professional Marathon Trainer, many friends look to me for help when they join me in my journey as a Paleo Runner.  I think this is the highest complement paid, when someone trusts my advice.  I do try to do as much research as possible, and I'm never afraid to ask those that I consider to be experts.  I also suspect my friends like me to be the Guinea Pig, trying these new fangled ideas of "running" and "not eating processed foods" first.  Give it to Juri, She'll Try it!!

What follows are some of the more recent questions I've been asked.  I'm proud to have helped these friends with some of their questions.

Q: Why do my feet hurt after a 3 mile run?

A: Provided that there's no injury there's a good chance you're wearing the wrong kind of socks.  A burning sensation at the end of a 30 minute run is a sign of friction.  Wearing athletic socks designed for running will help your feet breath, reducing moisture and will help with friction.  If you're already wearing appropriate socks, then you can try using GLIDE or any similar friction-reducing product on the bottoms of your feet.  I glide my feet before every race (no matter the distance) and before every long training run.

Q: What was the Biggest change to your diet when you started Paleo?

A:  As a runner the biggest change was the removal of all processed grains and sugars from my diet.  The Paleo Diet adheres to the idea that we were not meant to eat the foods developed through agriculture.  These foods may have been found in the wild, but have been altered by our need for bigger, faster plants to feed our growing populations.  These were not foods our bodies were designed to digest, and they can have drastic effects like bloating, gas, weight gain and even cause damage for those especially sensitive.  Giving up those processed grains and sugars meant giving up the "tried and true" source of energy for runners.  Pasta parties and pre-race carb loading have been an accepted part of endurance racing for many years now.  I've had to replace my carb loading pastas and breads with sweet potatoes and fruits.  A positive change to my diet was the emphasis of the Paleo Diet on proteins.  Getting a high level of proteins means that my muscles recover faster from long training runs.  My muscles develop faster for this reason, giving me more power and eventually I hope this translates into more speed.  This is something I plan to track as I run my next few half marathons.

Q:  Why am I so tired?  Isn't Paleo supposed to make me have more energy?

A: If you're past the normal 1-2 weeks of sugar detox that happens when you start a Paleo diet, then low energy can be caused by several things.  First, make sure you're drinking a lot of water.  Protein absorption does tend to make you slightly dehydrated.  Also, make sure you're getting enough sleep.  6-8 hours is ideal.  For those who are trying Paleo to lose weight, don't make the mistake of not eating ENOUGH calories.  You're shooting for enough calories to support your BMI, with 50% of them coming from fat.  Check out my article on losing weight on the Paleo diet here. If none of those apply to you, I'd check with your personal physician to make sure that you don't have any underlying problems that could be affecting your energy levels.

Q:  What do you mean by "Tapering"?

A: Tapering is the week to two weeks before a runner's Goal Race.  This is the race that we signed up for MONTHS AGO and have been logging hundreds of miles to prepare for.  For the two weeks before the race, runners will slowly reduce the number of miles they are running to help with the build up of glycogen in muscles (to fuel them during the race) and to prevent injuring themselves.  The lack of running may make them grumpy, and they'll complain of feeling fat and lazy.  Beware of the tapering runner and give them wide berth and consideration as they prepare to take on their next challenge.

If you have any questions that you think I could answer, feel free to send them my way!