Canal Connection 10k and dietary tweaks

Canal Connection

Utica, IL

November 3^rd, 2013

6.2 miles - 38:14

18^th place overall; 1st place age group

The weekend started out with a trip to Indianapolis for the Indy Monumental Half Marathon. I rode over with my friend Andy Williams who had been training for this race most of the season. From the start of the drive over to Indy I was beginning to become hesitant in participating in the race. I knew that I really wanted to perform well at Canal Connection but I had already paid for the Indy Half (back in December 2012). As I was going through the thought process it came down to three scenarios:

1.) I jog the half marathon and show up to canal connection with semi dead legs and kick myself for doing it.

2.) Race the half marathon and come to Canal Connection as a spectator/volunteer.

3.) Watch the half marathon and come to Canal Connection relatively fresh and ready to race

I had come to the conclusion that since I was at Indy I would choose option 2; run a hard half and try to pr that distance. I told Andy this and the look on his face said everything. The history of Andy and I racing together is this: Every time we run together at a race, he inevitably has a horrible race. I don't know if he pushes himself too hard in the beginning or psyches himself out mentally. So when I saw that he was pretty down trodden about my decision, I made the decision race morning to forgo the half and sit on the sidelines with his wife and a cup of coffee. In the end he had the best race of the year (Half marathon PR by 2 minutes).

CANAL CONNECTION

Having skipped the half marathon I entered canal connection feeling pretty good. I decided to continue my streak of running without a watch since it proved at Allerton park to be very beneficial. The racers lined up on the start line. I, along with Ryan Case, looked around at the people that were jockeying for a spot at the front of the start line. It was a little baffling to see a lot of what I would consider "non racers" at the front of the line. My guess is that this has everything to do with the race not being chip timed. As we took off down the hill and past the first mile marker I was feeling pretty good. I hit the first mile at 5:45 which wasn't too much of an issue. It was downhill; surely that wasn't too fast. An uneventful second mile turned over at 11:48. Another sub 6 minute mile and I was getting a little worried at the pace. Mile 3 clicked off at 17/18 minutes. At this point I was really starting to regret the pace. When I hit mile 4 at 24:03 I knew that the rest of the race was just going to be about holding on. There was a tight group of 4 of us at this point. Myself, Guillaume "The Frenchman", and two other runners. One of them was an older gentleman and he was breathing like a horse. I was a head of this horse guy through mile 5 (31 minutes) but his breathing was starting to get to me mentally. At about the 5.5 mile mark I let him overtake me b/c I knew I couldn't out gun him and I knew I couldn't listen to him breath anymore. I maintained pace through the finish and crossed the line with a PR of over 1 minute.

As it turns out, I have a decent amount of instinct when it comes to pacing on trails; not so much when it comes to road racing. Perhaps wearing a watch would have been a good idea. At the end of the day, I pr'd my 5k, 4mile, 5 mile, and 10k time. All in all a successful race regardless of how bad I paced it. 

My recent dietary changes have been yielding positive results. On normal days I don't take in any real carbohydrates until dinner time. My diet has been roughly:

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 1 cup egg whites, 1 chicken sausage. Cooked in coconut oil. Coffee with unsweetened almond milk and a couple tablespoons of full fat coconut milk 

Lunch: 4-6 oz of meat, salad or veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts) topped with olive oil or avocado

Snack: Serving of almonds or some Bacon Jerky

Dinner: Lean protein source (white fish, shrimp, chicken, lean steak) and a large sweet potato.

It seems that backloading my carbs and keeping fat intake low(er) at night has been helping my sleep. I've increased my calorie consumption from 2k to closer to 3k and that seems to have increased muscle tone. These zero carb high fat breakfasts also seem to be making my mental acuity much sharper instead of the typical carb coma.

The only difference on race day is that I down a large sweet potato in the morning and the evening and keep the meals inbetween LCHF. All in all it seems to be working for now. I'll keep this up for a month and see how it plays out. Despite the increase in calories i weighed in at my lowest this morning at 168.2 lbs.

The Clint Danger Wells Approach to Happiness: Introduction

     I don't really know where I'm going to go with this. Maybe it will just be one half-assed blog post and I will leave it at that. Perhaps it will be in a series of installments that I will continue to elaborate on, add chapters, add content, etc... But bare with me as I sort my thoughts and get this thing rolling.

     The Definition of Happiness: a: a state of well-being and contentment : joy b: a pleasurable or satisfying experience

     This is obviously a textbook definition of happiness (or copy and pasted from the Merriam Webster dictionary website). Since textbook definitions of emotions fit like square pegs in round holes when it comes to real life, let's try to break down that definition and apply it to reality. When we break down that definition, we'll come to the conclusion that happiness is inherently flawed and that the supposed sources of happiness are also our sources of being upset and discontent.

     A State of Well-being and Contentment; Pleasurable experiences

     Simple enough. You just aced an exam, got a promotion/raise at work, the weather outside is nice, yadda yadda yadda. The list of things that can cause well-being, contentment, and joy are limitless. Since I don't know who is going to be reading this, I'll have to use myself as an example  to help make sense of what I'm trying to convey. The key is to ask yourself, "What puts 'me' in a state of contentment and joy?" The short list for me would be the following: drinking that first morning coffee, Reading a good book, having a successful workout, going on long walks, listening to a particular song, eating certain foods, and being outside in the sun. Looking at the surface of these experiences, you would say that they don't have a whole lot in common. It's when you dig deeper that the realization of their commonality comes out: situational impermanence. By definition impermanence means, "not permanent, lasting, or durable." What this means, is the feelings that we get when we do things we like, these situations of bliss, last only a short while. They are then followed by (albeit usually small) moments of grief and despair.
     "What do you mean? I thought this was about being happy? How do the happy moments create grief and despair?"
     The inherent impermanence of the actions that cause happiness is the reason why they are, on a sub conscious level, associated with grief and despair. How often do you drink that cup of coffee or eat the certain food item only to be slightly disappointed when you get to the last bite or get to the bottom of the cup? How often do you spy the house or the car after your long walk and realize that it's over and you have to go back to real life? Then there is the feeling of finishing a good book. You just spent days, weeks, months, reading a book and being in that "world" only to have it come to an end. Sometimes feeling a sense of loss not having their lives be a part of yours anymore. As you can (hopefully) see, the things that make you happy will only make you happy for brief moments; leaving you wanting to reach that level of happiness again and being in want of that happiness most of the time. If you really want to see this in action, look at methamphetamine and other drug addicts. They are constantly trying to get themselves in there state of happiness. Each time the drug wears off they go through withdrawal, get aggravated, and do anything to obtain that high. Once there though, you can see the bliss on their faces. But each subsequent time, they need more, and they need it more often. It is all about the pleasure centers of the brain. I won't get into it, but food addicts are the same way. Except the despair after eating could include guilt, wanting those taste sensations again, heartburn, and indigestion.

     Okay, so the "things" that make us happy can and do lead to despair. How does this play into happiness at all? Does this mean that we are destined to be in a cycle of misery and let downs?
    
     That question leads into the first lesson of being happy: Realizing the "emptiness" of our lives and learning to embrace it for what it is.

     More to come...

New Years Resolutions Revisited

I have been working on a post to nail down some tips on how to achieve New Years Resolutions without failing, or at least, make it past the typical 30-60 day initiation. I could write on and on about how, perhaps, "failure to plan is planning to fail" and that calling it a "diet" and and not a "lifestyle" change is a recipe for quitting. While I had a lengthy draft written out, I decided it was best to delete it and cut my losses. I have written diet and exercise plans in the past and it turned out to be the biggest waste of time. Here are some bullet points and I'll simply leave it at that

-Failure to plan is planning to fail: Go into your weight loss/fitness regime with a clear cut plan. Half-assing it is a surefire way to minimize your results. Plans can be modified, but only if you make them

-80% of weight loss/body composition is diet related- Eat like crap and exercise? Sure, you'll see some results. Eat really healthy and skimp on some of the exercise and you'll see more results this way. I do believe the latter of the two would be the easiest. But take the hard road if you want. EXAMPLE: I was running 40-60 miles per week, eating grains, and weighed in around 175. I cut the running, lift weights 3 days per week,do Tabata sprints, reverted to the paleo diet, and I'm down 5 pounds and I am more lean.

-If you can last two weeks, you can last 1 month. If you can last 1 month, you'll see the results that will make you want to stick with it.

Have confidence. Eat to live, don't live to eat.

New Years Resolutions

Let's pretend it's one week ago. People everywhere are beginning to say to themselves, "This is the year I'm going to do it. I'm going to start exercising and lose this weight." Or they'll say, "I'm going to start my diet and exercise plan on the first of the New Year. Unlike last year, I am definitely going to stick with it."

Let the gourging commence! It seems that the week leadin up to the New Year's resolution to 'lose weight and exercise' gives people the golden ticket to eat whatever they like in an unadulterated amount. They look at the resolution as a huge sacrifice so they better get in the food that they love before they cut it out cold turkey. Personally, I've sat there and watched it happen at work. One coworker in particular was telling me that she was going to cut all snack foods and get serious about weight loss as she was slamming a bag of Doritos. All I could do was shake my head in agreement. It was like watching an alcoholic explain his path to being substance free as he was pouring another double shot.

With January 1, 2012 comes the Post New Year's Workout Syndrome The resolutionists pack it into the gyms nationwide. Any person that regularly attends a gym can spot the resolutionists. It has nothing to do with the fact that they are overweight and out of shape, it's the fact that they look lost and scared. They wander around the weight room, watching others, maybe pick up a weight and do something with it. Or perhaps they'll saunter over to a treadmill or stationary bike. Standing there on the belt, looking at the buttons like they are some sort of hieroglyph, they'll hit the quick start button only to realize that 5 minutes into it that the treadmill is rather boring.

3 weeks to 1 month later, homeostasis is restored at the gym. The resolutionist that came in with no plan and too much sacrifice has given up. I have never figured out the actual statistics, but I would be willing to bet that over 75% of the "lose weight and get healthy" resolutions fail. Why do they fail? The people that pick these resolutions aren't necessarily failures at everything that they do. These people can be among some of the most successful business types, teachers, doctors, lawyers, etc... The list can go on. So what makes someone who is successful in many aspects of life fail at something so simple as a diet and exercise? Lack of planning, too many restrictions, calling it a diet, and no accountability all lead to the demise of the New Years resolution. Are these the only things that cause failure in the resolutions? No. But these are ones that can be addressed and remedied rather easily. It just takes a little effort.

Over the course of the next week, I am going to post on different topics that can make your New Years resolution a lifestyle instead of a month long debacle.

2012 Goal Setting

When talking "goal setting" I am usually hyperfocused on athletic endeavors. Well, I don't really see that changing for the year 2012. This year will be a different year than the years I have had in the past. Goals that I have set up and knocked down in the past include:

2006: Bench Press 300lbs
2007: Sub 19 minute 5k
2008: Compete in a Triathlon
2009: Do an Ironman
2010: Complete an Ultramarathon
2011: Compete at the 50K distance (This was originally "Run a 50 mile Trail Race" but readjusted to my liking).

In 2006 it was strength related. From there I switched to speed and endurance, leading to the past three years which have been primarily endurance. Each goal was set up and knocked down with vigor. When I look back, I can definitely say there were more good times than bad. The only issue with the approach that I took was the amount of focus laid upon just one discipline. Of course, I say it's a problem because I am looking at the goals of the past with the eyes of the future.
Setting up goals for the 2012 season requires a certain reflection into how the previous goals were achieved, along with positive and negative outcomes of the training that came along with them.
2006: Bench Press 1 rep max of 300lbs
This goal did not start on or before the first of the year like many new goals start. I believe that I started this goal well into the 2006 season. I had been relatively fit to begin with but I did not have any direction I was heading. While watching TV one day I came across the trailer to the movie "300." Holy shit those guys were ripped! Even if you haven't seen the movie, I'm sure everyone has witnessed the iconic scene when King Leonidus kicks the Persian messenger into the well yelling, "This Is Sparta!" From that moment I decided that I wanted my best to look like those guys and to really up my strength and size. Over the course of 6 months I beat myself up in the gym twice a day, five to six days a week. At the end of 6 months, I went from bench pressing a measely 180lbs to a whopping 1 rep max of 300lbs. But increasing my strength and the focus it needed came at a price. My running was curtailed to once or twice a week, no more than 3 miles. I lost all sorts of flexibility with the increased muscle size. T-shirts were ill-fitting at best with some of my nice button-down shirts from AE not fitting at all. And to top it all off, I just did not feel healthy.
Later that fall, I decided to jump into my hometown 5k. What a blast! I had forgotten how much fun it was to be a runner and actually compete. When being a meathead weightlifter, there just isn't the competition aspect that running had. From that moment I decided that I wanted to start running again. I had completed my strength goal, now onto the next one!

2007: Run a sub 19 minute 5K
The road back to being a runner was a hard one. Packing in all that muscle in a short time left me with little endurance. Weighing in at 215lbs, I knew I had to drop weight and muscle mass. I stopped lifting heavy weights and started a running program that had me running four to five times a week. Slowly the muscle mass started to drop and my times were improving. I'm not exactly sure that I reached my goal of Sub 19 minutes this year, but the fact that I had started and continued getting faster was a positive. Not only that, but my clothes started fitting better and I was feeling a lot healthier. I competed in a lot of events that year ranging from 5k to 10 miles. Each one prepping me for what was to come the next season.

2008: The First Triathlons
Over the course of the winter I picked up swimming and biking. It had always been a goal of mine to do a triathlon after watching Ironman Lake Placid on TV one year. Since I was becoming a better runner, I knew how to swim, and I had recently purchased a bike, I figured why not? I signed up for 4 triathlons that year: Tri Shark Classic, Mattoon Beach Sprint Triathlon, Lake Evergreen Olympic Distance Triathlon, and a sprint in Effingham in the fall. I'm not going to give race reports on the four races but I can say that I dropped Tri Shark because the swim got rained out, I took 3rd place at Mattoon, 1st in my age group at Evergreen, and 2nd overall in Effingham. After that last fall triathlon I knew I was kind of hooked and wanted to test myself with an Ironman. One month later as I was driving home from the Park Forest Scenic 5 mile race, I signed up for Ironman Louisville 2009.

2009: Ironman Louisville
By now, the 215lb musclehead Clint had been whittled down to the chistled triathlete. Countless yards in the pool, 1,000's of miles on the bike, and many many hours running had got me down to 185lbs of muscle and endurance. My race times had all dropped that year, and I finished 1st place overall at one of the sprint triathlons that I had entered. Ironman Louisville was one of the greatest accomplishments that I have yet to achieve. You really find out a lot about yourself when you are out on the road competing over the course of 140.6 miles. Upon completing Ironman Louisville my body was spent. I went from sprint to full Ironman in two years and the wear and tear were evident. I believe that it took about 2 months to really heal from the damage I did to myself on that day. When I was finally healed I had time to reflect on what 2010 was going to entail. I just knew that it was not going to involve that stupid bike and swimming laps. It was going to be distance running.

2010: Ultramarathon Running
I did not start out this year thinking that I was going to run an Ultramarathon. I was digging around through some races and figured I would do the Quad Cities Marathon. I had never ran a marathon before (except in the Ironman) and figured this year would be a great year to do it. As I started ticking away the miles of one of my long runs I thought to myself, "why not sign up for a 50k ultra? You have proven that you can run a marathon, let's take it further." I cruised the resources again and found an Ultramarathon that would give me an extra week of training to log an extra long run: The Farmdale 30 mile trail run. The training went without a hitch and the next thing I know, I'm toeing the start line on a cool October morning. That cool October morning turned into 89 degrees by mile 20. Even though I had to endure a decent amount of cramping at mile 28, I was still able to run the race in under 5 hours which was good enough for 4th place male. After about 3 weeks and the soreness wore off, I did not have the same negative emotions about running like I did with biking and swimming after the Ironman. It was then that I set up my goal for 2011.

2011: Indecision 50mile or Fast 50K?
Closing out the 2010 season, I decided that I wanted to run another 50k and then try to complete a 50 mile ultramarathon. I had a stellar training plan and like magic, the miles were ticking by very smoothly. About half way through my season I made the conscious decision that I would rather get faster and try to place at a 50k than try to finish a 50 miler. Now, as I toed the start line of this 50k, I was a thin 178lb runner. I hadn't touched a weight room in two years and I couldn't bench press even my bodyweight. But the fact remained that my body was trained for the ultra running and that was what mattered. I finished that race in 2nd place to a good friend of mine (a veteran ultra runner).

2012
Many successful years have come and gone. Now, as I am embarking upon the 2012 season, I have to analyze what I want from this year. I've been strong, I've been fast, I've had endurance. The challenge for this 2012 season is to achieve balance. Specifically what does a balance consist of? I want to increase my strength in the major lifts: deadlift, squat, bench press, military press, and rows. I want to increase my pullups/chinups, pushups, and dips. I'd like to better my physique through proper diet and exercise. And I'd like to be able to head out the door on any given day and run 10-15 miles. Another goal that I have is strictly diet related. I've toyed around with the Paleo diet before in the past with amazing results. That diet though, is really hard to follow when you are running 60 miles per week. Since I am curtailling my running down to something more manageable, I am going to try and follow the paleo diet more stricly over the course of the 2012 season. So far, I've been back on the Paleo diet for a few weeks and have already noticed a difference in muscle definition and energy.
This blog will never be a self promoting "here are my workouts, look at what I can do!" rant. Occasionally I may post about my progress, but the main reason for this post is to air out the goals and to get them on paper. These goals, like all things, are not static. Things will change and be modified as time goes forward. And as the year goes, goals will become more defined and specific. Until that time, though, this is what I've got.
***NOTE***
I do have other goals outside of working out. Odd, I know, but for once I am starting to see the forest for the trees and realize that I'm not making a living off of this. So there are going to be personal goals for 2012 as well. Which I may or may not post when I figure out what they are. Again, time will tell.

Cheers

The First Snow

I found this picture online yesterday morning and was completely awestruck. I don't know why this picture moved me as much as it did but here it is

The photographer was David Kaplan.

I woke up this morning and took this photo

This photo brought with it a handful of mixed feelings. The intial feelings were childlike at best. That first snow, no matter how many years go by, always leaves me a little delighted with butterflies in my stomach. But when I stand there and look at the scene long enough, those same butterflies begin to die off and turn rancid. The same snow that used to mean snow days, snowball fights, snowmen and Christmas, now mean hazardous driving, cold wet shoes, and shoveling the sidewalks and driveway. The years of growing up start to eat away at the child inside of you.

The challenge that I am issuing myself this year is to take every snow-laden scene and view it like that first picture. And I challenge everyone else to do the same. Don't see the burdens; see the colors and wonders. Let the butterflies in your stomach run their course a little longer than usual. It's well deserved. We're only on this earth a short time. There is no need to let responsibilities and burdens run rampant for ever minute of every day.

Christmas, New Years, and Goal Setting

It's that time of the year again when Jolly Ol' Saint Nick comes around giving all the good girls and boys presents and good tidings. You could also argue that Jesus was born on or around this time of the year as well, but it seems like everyone has forgotten about that. During the majority of the year, the church pews sit with the Christ followers and the weekend redeemers. But Christmas is the one time of year that really brings out all the heathens and heaven sent under one roof. The onset of December often has me questioning the meaning of Christmas. It always seems to be a lot of "I want this" and "Santa, give me that." The looks on the faces of holiday shoppers is never as cheery as you see on the television. They assume run you over while you're on fire, than to step aside and be the least bit courteous. Even outside the stores, the blatant disregard for the fellow man runs rampant. Cutting each other off, running red lights, and giving the one finger salute. The weeks turn into days as we slowly approach Christmas and the problems just seem to magnify. It is all very discouraging to the onlooker that just wants to see Christ in Christmas.
It is Christmas Eve and I am on my way to church. The past 23 days have deadened my emotions to this holiday. This holiday that I always fear has been outright forgotten. Walking in with my Grandmother, I look around at all the faces. Happy, cheery,embracing one another, and giving each other well wishes. For the first time in years I really start to revel in the magnificence that is Jesus and this holiday. I enter the church pew with grandma on my left and a stranger on my right. The lights are dimmed down low and the song "Oh Come all Ye Faithful" starts to play. We are asked to stand and sing. Looking around at everyone standing, singing, and rejoicing I begin to believe in humanity once again. Even though for 360 some odd days a year we are all indifferent to each other, for that one night, we are one in the birth of Jesus Christ. And that gives me hope.

Merry Christmas