The Fat Kid With The Asthma Just Ran A Marathon

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Posted on 21st November 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in Attitude |Barefoot Running |first time |Learning |Pain |Personal Growth |Race/Organized run |Running

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I never was a runner.

I wasn’t one of those kids who ran track in high school and then graduated to longer runs. My asthma (which was and still is under control) was a great excuse to get out of gym class, and even when I did participate in physical activities it was more on the strength side than anything else (weights).

So obviously, I ended up with about 80-90 lbs. of extra fat and a very sedentary lifestyle.

Well, I’m glad to say that 2 years ago or so, I started running and yesterday I ran my first (hopefully of many) marathon!

The Philly Marathon wasn’t easy, but I don’t think any first marathon is. I’m going to walk through some of the highlights, but spoiler alert, I didn’t win… :)

A few days before the run, I started to feel really stressed about it. Most of my brain knew that I was ready, but going so far out of my comfort zone was just too much for kalvin (my comfort zone) to bear. I was really nervous, had trouble sleeping and all sorts of weird run logistics related dreams (missing the train and arriving late, showing up on the wrong day etc…).

I slept surprisingly well the night before the marathon, albeit for only 5 hours since I had to wake up at 4am to make it to the train.

The marathon started at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where the steps from “Rocky” are, and there was a fun felling about it all. I started to feel better about the run, and realized that I’m already there, so I might as well enjoy it.

I was in the last corral, since I’m slow, so it took us about 30 minutes to actually get to the starting line after the race started, but everyone was in an upbeat mood, so it wasn’t too bad of a wait.

Mile 1-2: I ran fairly slowly, ending up in a pack of old ladies walking the half marathon. It’s not very encouraging when you get passed by a couple of old ladies and a guy juggling balls while running the marathon, but I knew it was only the start so I kept my heart rate low and got in the groove of running.

Mile 2-8: I started to pick up speed and passed most of the old ladies. I was still slower than my usual pace, but not by much, and I was feeling really good! The nice thing about this marathon (and I’m assuming others too) was that people come out to cheer you and call your name (it’s on the bib with the number). It’s really fun and people were high-fiving me and cheering and such. I was really energized! The Drexel students were the most fun, they were partying in the streets and giving runners beers (but I didn’t take any) and just having lots of fun.

Mile 8-14: at mile 8.5 or so, I started thinking, “This is really easy! I can easily do this and my stomach is feeling just fine” (I’ve had some stomach problems on longer runs when I eat too many energy gels).

Then at mile 9, my stomach started to feel funny and I started to suffer…

Once my stomach issues kicked in, the run stopped being fun and started to be a struggle. My notes from my coach said that if my stomach starts to feel funny, I should just drink water at aid stations, so I did that for a while and it got better, but every time I ingested sugar (in energy gel form or as Gatorade), the stomach problems came back.

This part of the run was also on the same road where my long runs usually end at, so mentally, I was ready to stop.

At this point, kalvin started getting really loud and I was thinking things like “Why do I need this? I can just quit and finish a half marathon, that’s good too, right?” and I really started to feel every pain and ache my body could create.

Somehow, my mind got over all those negative thoughts and I took the left lane for the marathon, and not the right for the half finishers.

Mile 14-17: This was probably the worst part for me. I was running outbound on the road that the fast finishers were running back on, and I watched hundreds, if not thousands of tired looking people running to the finish line while I was just starting out on my second half. It was very demoralizing… I was also feeling very tired here, and my heart rate was high. According to my notes, this meant that I was probably dehydrated. I was running with a water pack, but I used it up and relied on the water at the aid stations. So at the next aid station, I filled it up again and drank 3 cups of water that helped me feel better.

Mile 17-22: At this point I realized that I was in this to finish, so I walked and ran depending on the terrain. I was in a relatively hilly area, so I walked up the hills and ran down. This was also in Manayunk (a different part of town), so very few people were out cheering and it was basically just me and the road. This was probably the slowest part for me. I still wasn’t feeling well, and skipped a few scheduled gels, so my blood sugar wasn’t very high either.

Mile 22-end: This part of the run was my best.
At mile 22, I realized that I’m almost done, but I was really slow. My stomach was feeling better, and I had some more sugar in me, so I reached in and did a mental check. I still had some energy left…

So I put on my running playlist, raised my heart rate limit warning on my Garmin and started to run!

I never thought I could keep a 12 min mile or so pace for 4.2 miles after running 22 miles, but I did! My top speed at this part was 6:28 min/mile (although not for very long) and I was passing people like crazy! At this point, most people were limping, walking or jogging really slowly, but I was flying past them and they were amazed that I can keep that speed. At about 1 mile from the finish, there was a brief up hill, so I slowed down a bit and chatted with a couple running in vibrams (they looked like they were in real pain and the girl was crying, but the guy was really nice and supported her to go on). And then for the final stretch I really flew towards the finish.

I was in really pain at the end, I limped my way to the gear check and the massage area, but the massage people said they were done for the day (even though there were still a lot of runners coming) and were very rude about it…

After the run, I called my parents to let them know I’m done, and my dad asked me “would you do it again?”

That’s an interesting question, there were points during the run where I was thinking that I never want to run, let alone run a marathon, again, and I’m definitely not the kind of person who does this to prove something to anyone or to myself, but the overall experience was really eye opening. I think I learned a lot about myself during this run, and found out how I react do different situations under this kind of stress.

I think that overall, I did enjoy this event and except for the physical discomfort I felt during the run and the day after, it was a very positive experience, so yes, I would do it again.

I may want to try a different city next time, maybe NY, and I definitely need to get faster so that it doesn’t take so long. I’m sure that I would have felt better if I was running for less time and finishing earlier with a larger group of people. It would also be nice to get to a level of training where I am always ready for a marathon so I don’t have to train especially for this.

I would really like to thank some of the people who helped me do this:

Obviously, although not a person per se, thank god I finished this! I definitely needed some divine intervention at some parts of this race and I’m glad I had it…

I would also like to thank my wife, who even though she was on a 24 hour shift working in the surgical ICU, found the time to send me encouraging text messages all through the run.

I’d really like to thank my coach, Eric Orton, who kept pushing me during training and helped me discover that I can actually do this kind of run. Eric, your advice on getting through the physical symptoms during the run was invaluable, and I got out of a few really bad situations thanks to that great list!

Next, I’d like to thank Chris McDougall, who wrote the book Born to Run, introducing me to this amazing technology, my feet, and showing me that I can use them and actually not suffer.

I’d also like to thank the folks from ultrarunnerpodcast.com. Their inspiring and hilarious interviews got me through some tough spots with a smile on my face. I was actually laughing out loud at their “Sonoma” in the spell check story.

Last but not least, I’d like to thank Tim Ferriss for introducing me to the 4-hour body diet. I think it would have been much harder to do this carrying those extra 40 lbs of fat I lost on that diet…

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Running Fuel – CarboRocket CR333 Review

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Posted on 8th October 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in Diet |Food |Research |Running

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I’m running longer and longer now, and finding that fueling with only energy gels can get boring, so my coach, Eric Orton, recommended I try something called CarboRocket.

I’ve never heard of it before and couldn’t find it in the usual places I shop online, so I was a bit skeptical.

I still wanted to follow his advice so I decided to investigate some more. I contacted nutritionist to the stars, Sunny Blende (yes, that’s her real name :) ) and asked her what she thinks about this.

On a side note, I’m starting to think that I’m using the book Born to Run as my yellow pages for running related professionals… :)

Sunny was great and gave me a very detailed opinion on the fueling during a long run, and while she was not directly familiar with carbo rocket, she got a lot from the product info, and said:

“Why is the 2:1 ratio important?
New research indicates that a 2:1 ratio of Maltodextrin to Fructose provides the most sustained energy during extended periods of exercise. Your body can process more calories per hour without GI distress from this combination of carbohydrates than from taking the same amount of a stand alone carbohydrate source. In other words, it is advantageous to use both glucose absorption AND the fructose transporter absorption, maximizing the total number of calories your body is able to absorb while exercising moderately to intensely. No other carbohydrate source or combination of sources provides greater or longer lasting fuel for your endeavors.”

I also verified this with my in-house physician and wife, Susan, who said that the science behind the product seems sound and cleared me to try it.

So here’s my review:

CarboRocket CR333 seems expensive, but if you compare that with an equivalent of 2 energy gels per serving and it’s not as bad as it seems.

I tried CarboRocket on 3 long runs, a 2.5 hour run, a 3.5 hour run and a 3 hour fast run, and I must say, it works!

I carried it in a small running bottle and the powder filled up about 1/2 the bottle. I was a bit surprised that it was much saltier than I expected, and not as disgustingly sweet as Gatorade, but this means I don’t need to carry salt pills anymore to keep from cramping on long runs.

As I kept running, I could definitely feel that it’s fueling me and I wasn’t craving any energy gels or food. I also kept from cramping even though the first run was on a hot day and I was soaked with sweat.

I found that a serving lasts for about an hour and then I need to eat again. I also noticed that if I sweat a lot, I start to cramp again about 1.5 hours after I take it. It’s also very easy on the stomach, and I don’t feel bad like I do if I eat too many energy gels.

Now I carry one serving of it in a small bottle and 2 servings in a ziplock bag that I can use mid-run if I need it and just mix it with water in the small bottle.

Overall, this is a great product, keeps you fueled for an hour per serving and keeps you from cramping by providing much needed electrolytes. CarboRocket CR333 is definitely going to be a part of my standard fueling strategy from now on.

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Running in Tel Aviv, Israel

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Posted on 18th September 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in Away from home |GPS |Maps |Running |Travel |Weather

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I’ve been travelling a little bit lately and one of the stops I made was in Tel Aviv, Israel. Obviously, I just had to do some running while I was there, so here’s my report on running in Tel Aviv, Israel.

I go to Israel on occasion, but I usually go there in the winter, so it’s nice and comfortable, but this time I went there in September and it was frikin hot…

I forgot how hot it can get in the summer in Israel and I guess that now that I’ve been away from Houston for over a year, I lost some of my heat tolerance.

The first time I went out for a run, I left around 7 am. By that time, the sun was already heating the air and by the time I was done with the run, it was absolutely scorching. It wasn’t as bad in the shade, but running in direct sunlight was painful.

The nice part about running in Tel Aviv is running by the beach. I ran both on the boardwalk and on the beach itself, both shoed and barefoot.

The Tel Aviv boardwalk extends about 10 km from north to south, and depending on were you start, you can actually squeeze another few km out of it. So if you plan your route right, you can get to around 15-16 miles round trip on a flat and beautiful route.

The boardwalk is mostly concrete and has some areas that are covered in wood and it’s fairly safe to run during daylight hours with lots of people running, walking around and biking on a separated bike path. It runs pretty much along the whole city, and passes by the old city of Jaffa, the hotel areas, the Tel Aviv Port shopping and restaurant area and the north beach area.

From a nutrition perspective, the boardwalk has many water fountains along the way and the water I tried was nice and cold (tap water in Tel Aviv is drinkable although it has a bit of a “mineraly” flavor to it). I carried food with me, but there are many restaurants, kiosks and shops along the boardwalk, so you can always buy food if you need (there are even some sports shops and grocery stores in the port area on the north and in the Jaffa area but they open later in the day, so plan accordingly).

My coach also incorporated some barefoot beach runs in my training plan and those were awesome! I forgot how much fun it is to run on wet sand without any shoes and play with the waves. The best place for a barefoot beach run is probably in the middle parts of the boardwalk. The north part is very fragmented and has lots of rocks so you can’t really go long, and in the south you have the Jaffa port that takes over the beach.

I found that my feet really liked barefoot running on the beach, especially after a regular long run on the concrete.

So in summary, if you want to run in Tel Aviv, make sure you start early or run late, because it’s really hot during the day. Also, the Tel Aviv Boardwalk is a great place for long or short runs and allows you to experience the beach, sun, and some of the city while enjoying a nice run.

I included a map of the run for your convenience. Feel free to ask me any questions you may have about this and I’ll do my best to answer.

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Easy Vegetarian Recipe: Four Hour Body Diet Vegetarian Recipe: Lentil for Pre-run Carb Loading

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Posted on 30th July 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in Diet |Easy Vegetarian Recipe |Food |Recipe

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I haven’t been posting for a while since I’ve been pretty busy with work and training.

I’m running pretty much every day now and my weekly mileage has gone from 10-15 to 25+ miles every week.

I’ve also been trying to figure out ways to keep my 4 hour body diet while increasing mileage and going on long runs.

So far, I haven’t found a way to stay fueled up during a run while staying on a strict four hour body diet. It’s just too hard to get simple sugars while trying to keep on slow carbs, so I’m still using energy gels (clif shots, more on that in another post).

For pre run carb loading however, I discovered that I could still maintain the four hour body diet and still get the energy I need.

What I do, is eat the lentil dish I’m going to describe in this post on the night before a long run, and combined with my regular run day nutrition, I can stay pretty fueled up and feeling good on run day.

Here’s the recipe for my lentil dish:

Ingredients:
1/4 onion
1 or 2 cloves of garlic
2 handfuls of orange lentils (about 1/2 a cup)
2 handfuls of green lentils
2 handfuls of black lentils
(I just like to mix these 3, you can adjust your quantities to match your taste)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup frozen corn
salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Optional: if you really want to go wild, you can also add black beans and an egg to this. I find it a bit too much, but it’s up to you.

Here’s how you make it:
1. Chop the onion and garlic and sauté in a small pot. I use macadamia oil, but olive oil also works well.
2. Once the onion starts to turn golden, add the lentils. I found that the pot gets hot very hot very quickly, so I prepare the lentils in a bowl before is start the fire up and then just pour them all in.
3. Add the salt, pepper and cumin. Cumin really makes this dish in terms of flavor, so make sure you don’t forget it.
4. Mix all this up and let the lentils get covered with the oil and spices for a bit, then once they look like they are mostly oiled up, add water. The lentils need to be submerged in water with some room to spare. I don’t measure the water in cups, but I keep the lentils covered with about 1 -2 inches of water left on top of them.
5. Bring the water to a boil, then cover the pot, and put on a low flame to simmer.
6. Simmer for about 20 minutes, occasionally stirring. You need to wait until the green lentils are softer, but not mushy, so taste them occasionally towards the end.
7. After about 20 minutes, add the frozen stuff. Stir in for a few more minutes and make sure the frozen stuff is hot enough for you.
8. That’s it.

Depending on how hungry you are by now, you can either eat as is or wait for a bit and eat later. If you wait, the flavor sinks in better, but the difference is marginal and by the time I’m done making this I’m pretty starving, so I just eat it as is.

It’s a very filling dish and usually helps keep me energized during long runs the next day.

Special thanks to my wife Susan for teaching me how to make the original recipe I modified to get to this one.

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I broke my wife

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Posted on 29th June 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in first time |Personal Growth |Running |speed

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Last weekend, i heard the words every man dreams of hearing his wife say:

“you’re too fast for me, i can’t keep up”…

Let’s go back a year or so.

Before she started her residency program, my wife Susan was a pretty strong athlete. She did a couple of triathlons, some half marathons and even an MS150 bike ride.

I always got frustrated trying to keep up with her when we tried to run (or bike) together and ended up watching her disappear in a cloud of dust or hurting myself trying to go too fast too soon.

Back to the present.

As you know, I’ve been training with Eric Orton (from Born to Run) for about 6 months now, and last weekend Susan and I went for a run together along the river. It was my long run day and I warned her that I won’t be trying to keep up with her since I have to keep a slow pace, so we won’t really be running together. (She always runs ahead of me and I can’t keep up anyway).

We started running and then something funny happened. Not only was I keeping up with her, she was actually struggling to keep up with me!

I’m sure the fact that she wasn’t training regularly had something to do with it, but looking back at my stats, I am about 1-2 min per mile faster than I was last year. Eric has me running almost every day now, doing a ton of speedwork, and I guess it showed.

After about 40 minutes of running together, she gave up (which I think was very hard for her given her ultra competitive personality) and declared that I was too fast for her and she’ll meet me back at the car. I ran out a bit more, then turned back, finished up my run and then ran back to meet her and walk her the rest of the way back.

Post run, we both had trouble walking straight and filling up on stuffed french toast didn’t help that much either…

Small wins make me happy…

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Four hour body diet 30lb+ weight loss update

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Posted on 23rd May 2011 by The Barefoot Thundergod in Diet |Food |Learning

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I’ve been on the 4hb (four hour body) diet for 22 weeks now and just wanted to let you know where I am with it:

1. It’s been really easy for me to keep up with the diet itself following my meal plan. As long as there’s no special holiday or event going on, I manage to maintain the plan and keep losing weight.

2. If I do slip up, I figured out a way to get back on track very quickly. (I’ll post that method later this week). I just used it this week to prepare for a family visit (which means a long weekend of eating pretty much anything – ice cream, fries, pizza etc… with minimal weight gain and fat gain)

3. I’ve also added some comfort foods to my 4hb diet, such as fruit and chocolate on an almost daily basis with little impact. I know these are “forbidden” but I do find that having them there makes it easy for me to overcome the boredom I sometimes have with my 4hb meal plan and especially to overcome the post binge day hunger.

4. My metrics are incredible:
Weight: 207.6 lbs. (34.4 lbs. loss over 22 weeks)
Body fat %: 26.95 (6.2% loss)
total inches: 13 inches loss
Cholesterol and triglycerides: in normal range (down from dangerously high)

So I’m going to keep going with this, and my new goal is to get to 190 lbs. following my current meal plan. We’ll see how that goes.

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