I couldn’t feed my engine enough gas with the fruit.  That’s at least the excuse I am going with.  I think if I was really dedicated and not running quite as much, this diet could work.  The question that kept creeping through my mind was, “Why the hell am I going so hardcore with this?”  Unfortunately, I couldn’t come up with an answer other than to try out what I like and dislike before I cut weight before races in the future.

I did however come up with this answer… The scope of my project was wrong and misdirected.  Instead of going hardcore for days at a time.  Why not take this experiment to the next level, life changes level.  My new “experiment” is to change eating habits entirely.  I will stick with a “Raw Foodism” diet for breakfast and the majority of my lunches, leaving way for a beautiful, well anticipated cooked dinner each evening.

Interesting note: I was talking with my mother, only to find out my father has been on a version of this diet for about a week now.  He is eating only fruits and vegetables.  He does steam the vegetables, which according to some kills a lot of the important enzymes in the food.  He also puts dressing on his salads at home.  These changes are generally speaking a huge difference from his “normal diet.”  On that note, he said he is quiting this Friday.  Hopefully, him and I will be able to come up with a “diet” that is both obtainable, and reasonable.

As with most things, I have goals and expectations for myself.  My initial trial period will be this Monday through Thursday.  I probably will have a nice healthy dinner on Thursday night, in order to be ensured proper nutrition for my long run next weekend.  My plan of attack is pretty simple.  For breakfast, I plan to have a handful of raw almonds.  Throughout out breakfast hours, I plan to eat only fresh fruits.  The more the merrier.  Lunch and Dinner are two opportunities I have ahead of my few day challenge.  There is from what I understand, a great vegan/raw/live  food restaurant, just a few blocks from my work.  I plan to go there once or twice to see the different types of “raw meals” that can be made.

Just a brief recap: Yesterday’s 10 miler went rather well.  It was a nice 80 degree evening in August, not something you get to say often in Maryland.  I ran a few of my favorite loops in the area and snaked and winded through the Owings Mills area.  The run as usual was fairly hilly.  I must say I enjoy the path I took and wouldn’t be afraid to use it again.

Need less to say I am excited for tomorrow morning as it will certainly be a radical shift in my eating habits.  Wish me luck and watch my grow…

Yesterday, I did a split workout.  My first workout was a decent 5 mile hill run, at an average pace of 9:12/mile.  I then followed it up about 7 hours later with a 1.8 mile recovery run.  I also put in about 15-20 minutes of core training.

Today’s run calls for a 10 miler.  I think I will try and go out more for time this evening as opposed to distance.  My goal will be to do an hour and 45 minute run.

Tomorrow, Walla5 and I are going shopping.  He is my raw-food guru.  I plan to do a trial detox this Monday-Thursday to see how the raw-food diet works.  As I am putting in quite a few miles, I am sure I’ll be eating all throughout the day.  He’s going to give me some suggestions on what worked for him when he did a 4 or 5 week detox last summer.

Stay tuned and I’ll be sure to let you know how this raw-food detox goes…

I say this with all do respect.  There are people in my close family who happen to be Jesus Freaks.  With that said, they do not push their ideas and thoughts on me, and that I respect.  What I cannot stand, and have no respect for, is the people who leave little Bible stories along with their tip.  Maybe I’m Jewish.  Maybe I’m Muslim.  Maybe I’m an Atheist.  Most likely I don’t give a shit about your little flip book on Jesus Christ’s passages through Narnia.  Instead of that book, leave the 2 pennies that it cost to print that book.

I hope I offended nobody only a few people.  Thanks for listening to what really grinds my gears.

The results:

121.3 Miles @ an average pace of 10:05.

Overall, I had slightly more than 40 miles of “long runs”; slightly more than 20 miles of “hill workouts”; and about 60 miles of “easy runs”.  I would have to say that I am pretty happy with the results.  However, with that said, there is always room for improvement.

As we are in our 5th day of August, I have only accumulated about 4.5 miles.  this month, I am projecting about 110-115 miles.  I will have to main objectives this month:  Put in the miles regardless of how I feel, and to do 3 core workouts a week.  After all it is the core that will keep my form looking strong after 40 miles, and after 40 miles, regardless of how I feel, I’ll need to put in 10 more miles.

Last nights run was all about soul searching.  It has been quite some time since I’ve put in a quality run, I felt I needed to search deep and find a good run within me.

I spent 20 minutes solid doing core work, then headed out on a speedy (for me) 4 miler.  On the run, I was able to find a new loop to add to my 3 mile run.  The loop is through a pretty secure well lit neighborhood.  Something I have been concerned about with all the police sirens that ring through my neighborhood all hours of the night.  Don’t get me wrong, its not bad, but its not pleasant either.

On the run, I realized a few things.  One of my relevations came as I witnessed a girl, purse securely on her arm, storm out of an apartment with a guy chasing behind her.  Several nasty words were exchanged and it made me realize how blessed my relationship is.  To my best friend Dianne, Thanks!

I also realized that my posts should be shorted.  This will make it easier for me to post something not only of quality but also of interest.  Additionally, it should allow me to post more often.

On that note, thanks for tuning in…

Elevator Etiquitte, and people who do not fully understand this.  That really grinds my gears.  Have people never been on an elevator before, hard to believe.  Do they not grasp the concept that people also come out of elevators and not just go in the elevator.  The people that grind my gears are those that want to run into an elevator as soon as the doors crack.  These are the same people that run into me as I am getting out of the elevator.

Then there are the people who stand facing you,  completely weird, I know!  Face the doors like everyone else, nobody wants to stare at you or be forced into awkward conversations.  There are also the smokers, and that’s a whole ‘nother story there.  I think after your cigarette, you should douse yourself in something pleasant.  The worst is when the smoking buddy goes along, then there are several people who enter an elevator smelling like an ass (of a cigarette).   Please, do not get me started on the people who use the elevator for one floor, regardless of your direction.

For those of you who do not completely understand this subject, please read this.

Where to start?  Let’s start with this past Tuesday, I went home from work sick, or maybe was home from sick of work, not sure.  Regardless, I wasn’t feeling tip-top and it affected my training plan Tuesday night.  As the weekend approached I was preparing for my long run on Friday morning with my brother.

I spent the better part of Thursday carbo-loading and stretching, and ultimately getting psyched for my 20 miler Friday morning.  The run went pretty darn bad.  The only good thing about the run, was the trial run on the official JFK 50 course.  We ran a large section of the course, about 17 miles, and finally back tracked to our car for a total of about almost exactly 20 miles.

The alarm went off at 4:45 AM and I tossed and turned on the couch [I stayed at my parents to make the logistic's of our run more appealing].  Before I headed out, I munched on a few mini powdered sugar donuts.  I got in my car and headed to our site about 35 minutes away.  On the way I had a Banana, a small rice krispy treat, and some fruit snacks.  This may have been the start to my downfall.  The food I devoured on the way to our run, sat in my stomach for the first few miles, making even liquids unpleasant to take in.

I must admit I am certainly glad we did this “trial run” on the official course.  It gave me a good glimpse into what the 1,172 ft. of elevation gain in the first few miles would be like.  The trail was certainly very technical, with lots of rocks and a few twists and turns.  I must admit, this part of the run completely clobbered me mentally.  As we reached the top of the elevation gain, there was an awesome overlook [wish I could have packed a camera], that viewed the upcoming mountain range.

As we set out on our descent from the high point, it was several miles of rolling hills, probably 5 or 6 hills over 6 or 7 miles.  This took us into Gathland State Park, a place I’ve never seen.  The area was nice, looked like a great place for a family picnic.  It was on these rolling hills Justin took a nasty spill as he was deeply engaged in conversation with me.  The spill left him with a decent contusion on his wrist and a nice battle wound on his elbow that left blood running down his arm the rest of the run.

The rest of the run went downhill from here, literally and figuratively.  I throughout the course of our run at this point, about 2 hours in,  had only taken in a few ounces of Gatorade and one energy gel.  In hind sight, this was a major flaw for my run.  I certainly did not take proper nutrition and hydration along the way, ultimately leading to my demise in the later parts.  We descended down Weverton Cliffs, a part of the trail we are familiar with after hiking the AT often.

At the end of Weverton Cliffs, is a parking lot for hikers where we stashed our end car and another setup of supplies.  It was by this point, about 13.7 miles into our run that I realized I had not hydrated properly.  I took in probably half a litre of watered-down Gatorade and made our way to the C&O canal.  Seeing my physical and mental demise, we set out on the run/stop method.  We did 5 minutes of running, followed by 1 minute of walking and repeated.  This section of the run was an out and back, and I was ready to come back for sure.  On the way back I spent more time walking than our plan allotted for.  Ultimately, I feel I finished the run both mentally and physically strong, despite my concentration of the physiological aspects.

Justin said it best… “It was good we failed this run.  The worst thing could have been for us to come out and just crush the run, leaving us ‘thinking’ we are prepared for November.”  I couldn’t agree with him more.  This run was certainly a gut-check.  It made me realize the importance of several things over the course of a 50 miler.  Hydration, something I can improve on.  Nutrition, something I will also work on.  Core training, something that I feel will show great dividends with some work.  Knowing that I’ll need to improve on several things will only allow me to look closer into myself and my training to find where I can get better.

I wish I could put more into this blog, I’m just not sure you’ve got the time to read it.  Expect updates on the Chelsea FC game at M&T Bank Stadium as part of the World Football Classic and updates on the celebration of Dan and Heather’s wedding!

I’m completely aware that I’ll need to put in some recovery miles this week as I prepare for my 20 miler on Friday morning.  My muscles are still tight and my joints still ache from my long run on this past Sunday.  I made the executive decision last night to delay my run until this morning and put in an easy 3 miler before I showered, shaved, and shuffled off to work.

And Man! was it tough getting out of bed earlier than normal.  The alarm went off just after 5AM and with the hit of a few snoozes, I was ready and out the door around 5:40AM.  I must admit, there were several aspects of my early morning run that I thoroughly enjoyed.  The traffic was lighter than I am used to at night.  The rising morning sun allowed me avoid running in the dim street lights.  The temperature was still refreshing from a cool summer’s night.

Overall, the run went well.  I did a 5k in 31:57, slow enough for a 10:18 pace.  Exactly what my body and muscles needed to warm-up, recover, and stretch.  After my run, I had enough time to enjoy a bowl of Cheerios with sliced strawberries and peaches before work.  The benefits of this early morning running are certainly beginning to add up.  The real question is, how do I fit an hour or longer run in without feeling too rushed before work?

I prepped and hit the trail at 5:45 pm, and it was certainly steamy as I started my run.  It was in the low 80′s as I started my run but cooled off to a comfortable 71 by the end of my run.  The run lasted 2 hours and 35 minutes as I covered a tough, hilly 15 miles.  I am waiting on a friend to email me a graph of the trail.  I do know this, 719 feet of elevation gain over 2.49 miles.  There is 1.05 miles of ascending trail, 1.18 miles of descent and .26 miles of flat terrain.  The trail is pretty technical with several parts of rocky and loose gravel terrain.

After a long weekend, this was certainly a great way to end it.  For the week ahead lies a few recovery miles tonight and Tuesday.  Then I will be doing a little reconnaissance, as my brother and I hit the first 16 miles of the JFK 50 on either Thursday night or early Friday morning.