Running on the White Line

WINNERS of One Good Earbud Giveaway!

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:51:48 PST

I assigned each person numbers based on their entries at the One Good Earbud Review and used Random.org to pick two numbers. Those numbers gave me winners of Mitch (whom I do not know how to contact) and Kyle (from the runfasterthekidsarecatchingup blog)

So if Kyle and Mitch will email me at ipull400watts at gmail.com I can get them their free earbuds!

Thanks :)

Stay tuned for my next review and giveaway!

Strength Exercises I Recommend and Perform

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:55:05 PST

Here is a run down of my favorite exercises. They are super minimalist in nature. I prefer workouts that can be done with as little amount of equipment as possible, and these all utilize body weight. All of these are great options for a runner, cyclist, or any endurance athlete looking to improve their core and overall strength. They are extremely functional and easy to perform.

The ones that generally lead to soreness the next day are jumping squats and kickbacks. I try to plan heavy strength training on the same day as my long runs or key workouts. This is because most of the times after a long run the next day or two are super easy. This allows full recovery from the long run and the strength work. What I have done during my long runs is at every mile interval, stop running and do 100 of one of these. Save the squat jumps for the end though ;) If I do not do this I may do 5 or all of these after the long run at 100 reps.

Tuck Jumps
Jump and bring your knees up in mid air

Jump Rope
This is my favorite running drill. If you want to show someone how they should land while running, have them jump rope barefoot. Try jumping rope and heal striking or jumping rope and landing too far forward on your food. Ideally, you should land on your midfoot or almost flat footed, and quickly spring back up.

Kick Backs
Good quick workout for your hams and glutes.

Forward and Side Lunges
Strengthens your butt, hips, thighs, quads, etc. all round good workout. Be sure to not let your leading knee to over your foot.

Whatchamucallit
I get into a pushup position and move the legs to the sides.

Mountain Climber
Great for your hip flexors and core.

Plank Leg Lifts
Side, front, and back planks and just lift the leg. Good all round workout

Pushup

Sit-ups

Squats
You can add in jumps or make them one legged for a greater workout

Superman
Makes for a good back workout

Hills and Trails
These are actually the two best workouts you can do. I prefer hills for my strength and speed work since you have to put out more power while running up a hill, but they are very easy on your body compared to the same exertion level on a flat road when doing speed work. Hills are great for your core, hip flexors, back, and hell, everything else.

A trail run is great for working on your lateral movement and stability muscles. Road running is very straight and repetitive. If you go out on a flat 10 mile run on the pavement, your right foot takes the same exact step 7000 times! Now do a 10 mile run on a trail such as pictured below, no one footstep is exactly the same as the last.

Cheap vegetarian or vegan meal

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 15:06:11 PST

A common misconception about plant based diets is that they are expensive. If someone finds out I do not eat meat, after being asked where I get my protein, the second question is usually "Then what do you eat?!?" My response; "everything else."

Of course the price of a vegetarian diet depends on where and what you buy. If you compare meat to vegetarian meat substitutes, yes it is rather expensive. However as someone who's #1 dietary advice is to "eat real food", I do not eat meat substitutes very often.

As a vegan, my cheap "go to" meal is rice and veggies. As a vegetarian, you cannot beat the affordability and convenience of a rice cooker. Not only for people eating plant based diets, but for anyone who is looking for a good inexpensive meal option, rice is a great choice. If you eat meat, at the beginning of the week cook up a few chicken breasts and stick them into the refrigerator. Then whenever you cook some rice or want some meat for a meal all you have to do is simply reheat the chicken.

The Oster rice cooker with steaming tray is the one I use and love. If I am going out for a short run I can throw the rice and water in there with some frozen vegetables up top, head out, and eat when I return. It uses weight to determine when the water is boiled out and automatically switches to "keep warm" from "cook" when the rice is done cooking. Super handy.

As for what I am actually cooking, I use two different types of rice. I do have a large bag of brown rice that I keep around. However, I also purchase boxed and flavored rice. Today I hit up the grocery store and purchased 20 boxes of Zatarain's rice for a buck a pop. To cut down on the sodium in the flavor packet I only use half of the powder when I cook the rice. What I do with the other half is add that to the brown rice when I cook that. As for veggies, I generally buy the frozen bags at the grocery stores and mix and match when I steam them.

Black rice is also something I have yet to cook with as of posting this, but plan to in the future. Apparently the color of black rice is derived from anthocyanins, which is a very commonly heard term when talking about berries and their health properties. Studies have shown that anthocyanins may aid in recovery. Aside from this, black rice also contains many different amino acids, as well and other vitamins and minerals.

I have seen numerous times on forums about how people wished they ate more rice (instead of pasta or bread) but it is so boring and they don't like putting a bunch of sauce or using the high sodium flavoring. This method of using half the flavor packet and splitting that up between the boxed rice and a large bag of brown rice is a method to enjoy the rice as well as keeping cost way down.

When I buy the larger bags of rice, I always choose brown rice. This is the entire rice grain, meaning germ and bran are both intact, thus this rice has a higher mineral content and lower glycemic load (or it impacts blood glucose slower) pared to white rice.

To make this meal even healthier, I always try to throw in a handful of quinoa to the rice before it cooks. This is a pseudo cereal with a complete amino acid profile. It is also a good source of fiber, phosphorus, magnesium, iron, as well as being gluten free.

While not ideal, rice is very inexpensive for those looking for that option. Rice is also an excellent alternative for wheat based pasta noodles.

Skora: 0 miles vs 100 miles vs 600 miles

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 17:03:28 PST

Recently on Slowtwitch there was discussion about shoes, when to buy a new pair, and why some last longer than others. It depresses me when people say they throw shoes away after 300 or 400 miles! The least I have ever gotten out of a pair was my first Vibrams, and that was at 700 miles.

Does that look a bit unstable to anyone?

To the left is a Nike Lunar Glide that has been cut away. All that material, over time, compresses at the location of your initial landing when running. This is why people say they start to get knee pain around mile 350. Their shoes are actually morphing. If you took a Lunar Glide with 500 miles on it, the sole would actually be lower and wider than a new Lunar Glide.

Here in red is a Skora FORM with 100 miles on it, and the blue is a Skora BASE with 600 miles on it. These shoes use a high density EVA foam. This simply means it will not compress as much, because it is already of a higher density.

I know people who have gotten 1000+ miles in Lunar Glides and Newtons. But the important thing is that both of these individuals have an extremely clean run gait. This means they are landing midfoot or whole foot, and applying the pressure of impact across the larger area of the shoe instead of only the midfoot or only the heel. These athletes are also lighter weight (probably around 155lb) than your standard recreational runner. Another important factor in shoe longevity with your stride is how much the shoe moves on the ground after impact. If you land close to your center of gravity your foot is likely to move less than if you are overstriding.

As you can see below, the shoes have held up well over 600 miles. It appears I do have a bit of a toe off that is causing the majority of the wear to be right up front. If I were to work on this and reduce the amount of toe off, I could further reduce the amount of wear.

And here is my full REVIEW

Training Feb 6 - Feb 11

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 08:24:00 PST

Monday Feb 6
PM 19.11 miles @ 10:57 pace
Most of this was a trail run on M Hill. Due to the temperature and possible incoming weather I moved to the road to simply be able to run faster and finish the run sooner. The trail pace was a 12:08 average.

Tuesday Feb 7
PM 12.14 miles @ 8:59 pace
Often I incorporate tempo work into the last half mile of a medium or long run. The last 6 miles were done at 40 seconds per mile faster than the first half, so it made for a great negative split.

Wed Feb 8
PM 6 miles @ 9:26 pace
This run I had a bad case of "if I don't sprint home I'm going to poop my pants". So that's what I did for the last half mile....

Thursday Feb 9
10.02 miles @ 8:59 pace
I cheated a bit during this run. The 30+ mph headwind was not something I wanted to deal with, so I had Desi drop me off at a trail head and I ran back :)

Friday Feb 10
6.44 miles @ 8:43 pace
I wanted to do a 1 mile test to predict a 5k time for me. There was one on Saturday and if I could come close to my 18:07 PR I would do it. I have been running very consistantly lately, but focusing on endurance and not being able to sustain 6:00 minute miles for 3.1 miles. Needless to say I did not do the 5k :p If I had done the mile 15 seconds faster I probably would have.

Saturday Feb 11
Took a recovery day

Sunday Feb 11
AM 9 miles @ 9:36 pace
I tested out my new Suunto T3c today and it worked great. The footpod was right on track with my Garmin 305 GPS. I am going to transition over to the footpod since it has a huge battery life and will not die during my ultra marathons. Also a footpod will not lose signal under tree cover/bad weather and there is no wait for a signal pick up. That means no more having to put the GPS in the window or out on the porch when it is 15 degrees outside before I go run.

Total Week / Year
Run: 62.71 / 314.14
Bike: 00.00 / 123.63
Base: 575.88
Form: 84
Commutes: 5
As is the trend, another awesome week! I have been running more consistently and at more miles for a longer period of time than ever in my life. Needless to say, things are going great :)

Increases in strength of the untrained leg

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 06:42:52 PST

This study was looking at how strength training in one leg would influence the strength in the the non trained leg. The researchers took 18 healthy non strength trained individuals. The trained group participated in single leg horizontal leg press training. This trained leg showed an increase in strength of just over 21%. Interestingly however, the leg that received no training showed a increase in strength of slightly over 17%!

In another study I have read about, participants engaged in a calf strength training program for only a single leg. After six weeks, the maximum voluntary contraction force was improved in both legs.

Another study, Influence of single-leg training on muscle metabolism and endurance during exercise with the trained limb and untrained limb found that there was in fact, no significant changes in muscle metabolite concentrations in the untrained leg.

This research offers a good way to preserve as much fitness as possible in an injured leg. If you are unable to run or bike due to a right leg injury, strength train the left leg!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Eur J Appl Physiol. 2011 Dec 27. [Epub ahead of print]

Reduction in corticospinal inhibition in the trained and untrained limb following unilateral leg strength training.

Latella C, Kidgell DJ, Pearce AJ.

Source

Motor Control TMS Laboratory, School of Sport and Exercise Science, Victoria University, PO Box 14428, Melbourne, Australia.

Abstract

This study used transcranial magnetic stimulation to measure the corticospinal responses following 8 weeks of unilateral leg strength training. Eighteen healthy, non-strength trained participants (14 male, 4 female; 18-35 years of age) were matched for age, gender, and pre-training strength; and assigned to a training or control group. The trained group participated in unilateral horizontal leg press strength training, progressively overloaded and wave periodised, thrice per week for 8 weeks. Testing occurred prior to the intervention, at the end of 4 weeks and at the completion of training at 8 weeks. Participants were tested in both legs for one repetition maximum strength, muscle thickness, maximal electromyography (EMG) activity, and corticospinal excitability and inhibition. No changes were observed in muscle thickness in either leg. The trained leg showed an increase in strength of 21.2% (P = 0.001) and 29.0% (P = 0.007, compared to pre-testing) whilst the untrained contralateral leg showed 17.4% (P = 0.01) and 20.4% (P = 0.004, compared to pre-testing) increases in strength at 4 and 8 weeks, respectively. EMG and corticospinal excitability did not change; however, corticospinal inhibition was significantly reduced by 17.7 ms (P = 0.003) and 17.3 ms (P = 0.001) at 4 and 8 weeks, respectively, in the trained leg, and 25.1 ms (P = 0.001) and 20.8 ms (P = 0.001) at 4 and 8 weeks, respectively, in the contralateral untrained leg. This data support the theory of corticospinal adaptations underpinning cross-education gains in the lower limbs following unilateral strength training.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22200796

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02640418708729770

Peanut Butter vs Almond Butter

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:19:10 PST

Almond Butter: 1 tablespoon
Calories: 100
Calories from fat: 79
Grams fiber: 1
Grams protein: 2
Grams Carbs:
Other: Good source of magnesium, N6 fatty acids, and manganese.

Peanut Butter: 1 tablespoon
Calories: 95
Calories from fat: 70
Grams fiber: 1
Grams protein: 4
Grams Carbs: 2
Other: Good source of niacin, N6 fatty acids, and manganese. Not quite as good protein quality.

Basically, they are fairly similar. The important thing to remember when buying nut butter is look at the ingredients. If you see one that only contains peanuts or only almonds, get that one! As with every item I purchase, the fewer ingredients, the better. I like peanut butter because it is half the price of almond butter. Taste wise, almond butter is a bit sweeter.

One Good Earbud Review and Giveaway!

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 07:48:05 PST

Something I have struggled with throughout all of my miles as an endurance athlete; to wear earbuds or not? Many larger running races and nearly every triathlon all ban the use of music players. The reason is obvious. Having music blairing in your ears cuts you off from the sound of your surroundings. No longer can you hear "on your left!" if a cyclist or runner is approaching you or gone is your sense of the sound of traffic on the roads. Instead you are reduced to solely what you can see with your own two eyes in front of you.

While training outdoors what I have done in the past is purchase ear buds and cut one side off. That way I could still listen to the podcasts or music in the ear facing away from traffic, but I have that open ear to give me my sense of sound. I use non side specific ear buds so I can move it from ear to ear, depending on which side of the road I am on.

Late in 2011 I came across something that I had considered in the past, but never really thought existed. One Good Earbud is a device that puts both stereo channels from your music or podcast into the same headphone. You know when you are jamming out to Shakira and you hear a different beat in each ear, that is stereo sound. When I cut one ear bud off, I lost some of the music!

Enter the One Good Earbud Pro, combines the two stereo channels into one. For a very reasonable $20.00 you get a solidly built piece of equipment. I have put over 200 miles of running and many miles of cycling into the earbud and I am extremely happy with it.

A couple common issues I have ran into with ear buds are obnoxiously long cords and them not staying in my ear. The cord on the Pro is 42 inches, which is perfect for having the MP3 player hooked on my shorts and the cord running up inside my shirt. Since it comes with multiple sizes of rubber, I have not had an issue with it not staying in my ears.

There are many options available at OneGoodEarbud.com. They have iPod style earbuds, wrap around style earbuds, and styles with a mic for use with your mobile phone. They also have models with shorter cords. If you prefer to clip your small Sansa Clip+ or iPod Shuffle to your shirt collar or cap, this would be a great option.

A couple of things I would like to see are a smaller plug and water resistance. The Pro uses a right angle plug, and I prefer the smaller straight 3.5mm plugs. Also a waterproof or water-resistant version would be most excellent. Often the music player is protected under layers of clothing or even a zip lock bag, but the earbuds are out there for the snow and rain to beat on.

This is one of my favorite pieces of gear I use when training. I would recommend these over any other type of earbud for use during outdoor activities. They are very reasonably priced, a good quality product, and simply a smart move for those who like to listen to music or podcasts while out on the road.

If you want to purchase a One Good Earbud and support this blog, you can visit Amazon through this link and a smaller percentage of each sale comes back to the blog.

Thanks for reading!

BUT DON'T BUY ONE YET!!

We have two pairs to give away :)

Here is how you get entries:

1) In your comment, tell me which One Good Earbud you would like if you won.

2) Twitter: Follow @onegoodearbud

3) Facebook: One Good Earbud is moving to Far End Gear on Facebook, so please "like" that new page.

4) Blogger/Wordpress/Reader: Follow this blog

5) Share this review on Facebook, your blog, Daily Mile, Twitter, etc.

Five entries possible per person, complete as little or as many as you wish, I'm giving you options :) Also when you comment telling me which item you would like if you win, please also mention which of the above entries you completed.

The contest will run for a week and then I will announce the winners!

Training Jan 30 - Feb 5

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 08:44:21 PST

This training brought to you buy

Monday Jan 30

PM 16.02 miles @ 12:34 pace in BASE shoes

This was an insanely technical trail run with no flat sections. The terrain was primarily dirt, mud, and large rocks.

Tuesday, Jan 31
PM 11.07 miles @ 12:22 pace in BASE shoes
Same course as Monday's run.

Wednesday, Feb 1
PM 5.01 miles @ 11:59 pace in BASE shoes.
Same course as Tuesday's run :p

Thursday, Feb 2
PM 10.65 miles @ 8:30 pace in BASE shoes
Ok I am going to come clean, truth time. This run was all with the wind :p Desi had to drive into town to instruct Zumba. So I just ran into town with the wind and when she was done she just called to see where on the bike trail I was at, and picked me up :) It was not a hard run, but nice to not have to fight the wind at all!

Friday, Feb 3
AM 5.15 miles @ 10:00 in BASE shoes
This was cool. I met my friend Nathan to do some trail running. It was nice to listen to someone else talk besides a podcast :p

Saturday, Feb 4
AM 5.87 miles biked in :38 with 950 feet of gain
AM 6.00 miles @ 8:59 pace and a 132 avg HR in BASE shoes
Very good morning. I rode my bike to a rather isolated trail head to the Black Hills National Park and locked my bike up. I then ran the six miles back home. Guess what I am going to do tomorrow?

Sunday, Feb 5
AM 6.00 miles @ 10:29 pace with a 138 avg HR in BASE
AM 5.76 miles biked in :20
This was the exact same route as yesterday, except I ran up hill all the way to my bike, and rode it back down hill. I probably only pedaled 9 times the entire ride back :p

Total Week / Year
Run: 60.00 / 251.43
Bike: 11.63 / 123.63
Base: 521.88
Form: 75
Commutes: 5
Another spectacular week. I did a bunch of running on rather technical trails at a very slow pace. Doing so was extremely enjoyable. I plan to do future long runs

Mindful Eating

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 10:54:56 PST

Do you ever chow down a snack, treat, or meal and before you know it, you look down and think "where the hell is my food?!?" Before you even realized it, you had inhaled the rice, orange, chocolate, whatever. If you only had one more scrumptious bite! If you eat food while driving, talking on the phone, or in any type of hurry, chances are you are eating but not really noticing or enjoying the food. Those are all good examples of mindless eating.

If you want to minimize over eating, improve digestion, enjoy your food more, and feel more satisfaction from your meals, practicing mindful eating could be a very beneficial habit for you to try.

The simplest and best definition of Mindful Eating I have found is "Eating with attention and intention."

Mindful eating can come about in many ways. Two things have worked the best for me. One is eating until I am satisfied, not until I am full. To do so requires the second practice, proper chewing and not preparing another bite until I am actually done with the current one! Something else that can be done is to not multi-task when eating. A Buddhist would say, "When eating lunch, only eat lunch."

Focusing on and appreciating the food is another good practice. You would be surprised how far focusing on a simple grape can take you. Imaging putting the grape into your mouth and that first flavor explosion that is the initial bite into a grape. Slowly chew the grape. Think about where it came from. The plant grew out of the ground, tall and leafy. The grapes are then harvested by hand. Cleaned, washed, and shipped to your local store. Imagine the miles this little grape traveled to reach your mouth! You can almost taste it, can't you?

My largest issue with eating is that if I do not think about it, I will consume food until I am literally in pain from having so much food in my stomach.

Some over eat because they enjoy food so much, it makes them eat and eat. I on the other hand, cannot seem to enjoy many foods. Thus I will often eat until literally stuffed. Lately I have been doing an admirable job with being a mindful eater. Knowing when I am satisifed with the meal volume, proper chewing and not inhaling the food.

There is a man here at the cafe at another table. He is doing a cross word, sipping on a coffee, and enjoying a scone. Every once in a while the man will take his fork and cut a small bite out of the scone and eat it. This is something I could never do. That scone would be consumed before I even got one word down on that puzzle.

I have come to realize the only foods I never over eat are fruits and vegetables. I not eat grains very often, but when I do it is usually rice. With the rice I have noticed if I use some type of sauce on it, I can potentially over consume. Snacks are also very easy for me to over eat., so I try to not have any around in the house.

One morning the Zen master was sitting in the cafe eating breakfast, drinking tea, and reading the newspaper. His students walked by and noticed. To him, they said "Master, what about "When eating breakfast, only eat breakfast?" The Zen master thought for a second, and said, "When eating breakfast, drinking tea, and reading the newspaper...only eat breakfast, drink tea, and read the newspaper."

Weight gain and loss with endurance training

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:30:56 PST

There are many reasons weight gain may occur at the onset of beginning an endurance training protocol.

1) You are building more muscle mass
2) Your body is beginning to store more muscle glycogen. This is the storage form of a carbohydrate. Glycogen is stored in muscle along with water. This increases the size and weight of muscle.

Interestingly, if a person is a "hard gainer" and wants to gain some mass, I would recommend they up their carbohydrate intake to increase stored glycogen for this very reason.

3) You may unknowingly be increasing your caloric intake. Honestly, light exercise burns an insignificant amount of calories and you may end up consuming more food after the exercise than you would have in the first place.
4) Running more may cause your body to hold on to more water weight due to water and sodium.

Number 3 is part of the reason why going to SNAP fitness and jumping on the elliptical for a half hour is not going to be enough to seriously influence your body composition. Dietary change was the key factor in helping me lose 80 pounds. In my opinion, some sort of dietary modification is essential when making new healthy habits.

So while exercise may not be a ticket to a healthy body weight, daily physical activity may be. It is not entirely uncommon to see an obese individual consuming several hundred calories less per day than a person at a healthy body weight. However, if you take a look at their daily habits, the healthy person who eats more food may simply be much more physically active in their day to day lives. The obese person may be spending time watching television or playing video games. The active person may not work at a desk job, may walk or ride their bike to work/school, take the stairs, may go for hikes. None of this is exercise, it is simply being physically active.

If a person goes to a gym and (lets be liberal) spends one hour on the elliptical at a moderate effort level, you burn an extra 500 calories that day.

Now if this person spends the rest of their day sitting around at work and at home, their daily caloric expenditure may be 2400 calories + 500 exercise = 2900 calories.

Next, lets look at an individual who lives an active lifestyle. May go for walks, hikes, etc. Their daily caloric expenditure jumps at least 500 calories, plus that 500 = 3400 calories.

Even without the hour at the elliptical, the active person has the same daily caloric expenditure than the sedentary person does with exercise.

So if a person recently started a light exercise routine with no dietary modification, I would be surprised if they lose any weight at all! To drop weight with exercise alone, I would expect at least 10 hours a week is required. However, with simple dietary changes, weight can come off fairly quickly with little if any exercise added in! Exercise takes time and a lot of effort. Dietary changes are relatively effortless, it is mainly changing habits. Of course, to get the most out of your efforts to reach or maintain a healthy body composition, I would always recommend increasing exercise, daily physical activity, and decreasing calories consumed.

Sugoi Brand Champion

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 07:26:41 PST

Recently I was accepted into the Sugoi Brand Champions program. This is similar to other entry level sponsorships such as the Brooks ID program or the Rudy Project BRO sponsorship.

Sugoi hails from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The word, Sugoi, is Japanese for "incredible".

Their Branch Champion program...

supports and encourages outstanding people who differ from your average athlete – those who set themselves apart from other athletes by their passion and commitment to push themselves to inspire others and to embody a motivating attitude, wherever they go.

Sugoi was created in 1987 (as was I) by a cyclist and a fashion student. From that small beginning they now have hundreds of apparel options to choose from and sponsor the Liquigas-Cannondale professional cycling team, and one of my favorite cyclists, Ivan Basso. The company has gear and apparel for triathletes, runners, and cyclists. There are also many options for accessories and compression.

Check them out at, Sugoi.com

How to Ice-Proof your shoes for 15 cents

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:40:28 PST

Here are my Skora BASE shoes at 462 miles. Recently after a snow/sleet/rain I went to a local hardware store and picked up 10 of the shortest screws I could find for 50 cents. Next I simply put them up into the sole of the shoe. Since the Skora Base is fairly minimalist at only 13mm thick with the insole in, I can slightly feel the screws when I run. Actually I had one more in there, under the blue SKORA up front, but that was really bothering me, so I removed it.

Obviously this is not very effective if there is a lot of snow covering the ice. However in South Dakota they say, "if you don't like the weather, wait 10 minutes." Meaning it can snow one day and be 50 degrees the next. I more often have to deal with trails or road covered ice from the melted snow than the actual snow itself.

If you run in a slightly thicker shoe, you will probably never feel them and only be able to tell they are present by the occasional clicking noise they make if you are on road.

Sh*t Barefoot Runners Say

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:15:28 PST

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:42:31 PST

During a discussion about cutting wheat out of a diet at Slowtwitch.com....

I am "ipull400watts"

Also, 10 guidelines to reach race weight

Guidelines to Reaching Race Weight

1. If you are losing weight and family asks if you have been sick, you are within 10 pounds.

2. Eating after 10pm is only allowed if it is a post workout recovery meal. And by meal I mean:

1 GU and 1 fruit

or 1 energy bar

3. Ensure you are consuming adequate calories throughout the day.

4. Except you can only eat between noon and 10pm.

5. If your friends are whispering to each other, wondering if you have aids or cancer, you are only 5 pounds away.

6. Sometimes all you need is a good stomach flu to get rid of the last stubborn 3 pounds.

7. Eat within 30 minutes of a workout.

8. Dinner is all you can eat, as long as it fits on a coffee saucer the first time, no refills.

9. Hungry at night, have some water and HTFU.

10. When your friends and family actually do an intervention, you are at race weight.

*Now this post is meant to be a joke and am a strong advocate of healthy weight loss*

Pre Race/Training Nutrition

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 12:34:07 PST

This morning I made the mistake of letting my stomach dictate pre-run nutrition. Normally I do not eat immediately before a workout. However today my stomach felt a bit hungry. I KNEW my muscle glycogen was good and god knows I have plenty of fat on my body. But I ate anyway. During the run I felt drained by mile 2 and by mile 5 I was in zombie mode.

Here is a bit about how I would normally go about and suggest pre race/training nutrition.

2-3 Weeks Out

Depending on my training load and the distance of the race, I will start my taper two to three weeks out. During this time my total mileage and time on the road decreases. With the lower amount of running I find it easier to eat more, whether I notice it or not.

During my taper, and especially the last week, I do try to consciously consume slightly less calories than I do when I'm running more, to avoid weight gain. The taper is not a time to try to loose weight though, and I always make sure I am not hungry, but I am careful not to over eat.

2-3 Days Out

Especially the last few days before the race, I try to eat as light as possible. I don't want all that extra weight being lugged around on race day. And the lighter I eat the day before, the less likely to have bad pre race issues I will be.

Mainly I focus on eating fruits, veggies, and probably a stir fry, maybe some home made Chinese or Mexican. Carb loading is not something I do since, by training less, you are eating (or retaining) more of carbohydrates you are eating anyway. Also, if you occassionally do fasted training, your body may be holding on to extra muscle glycogen anyway. In my opinion, carb loading is just an excuse to over eat at the pasta dinner and gain a bunch of unnecessary weight the night before a race. Pasta 12 hours before a race is not enough time to fully "load" anyway, such a waste of time!

Race Morning / Morning of a Workout

Now, during the morning of the race, timing is an issue. The general recommendation is to complete whatever your meal of choice is 2 to 3 hours before the start of the event. After a meal containing carbohydrates the insulin in your blood rises dramatically, which is meant to get that glucose into cells for energy. Eating a meal too soon before the event does not give your hormones and blood glucose time to stabilize. Insulin at this level may actually inhibit lipid mobilization during the training or race. This means you will be using less fat as a source of fuel and using up the available glycogen and CHO that you did consume quicker than you normally would. There is also a chance that the increased insulin levels as well as exercise may lower your BG to zombie like levels during exercise.

During training, test out which foods are best for you before performing any type of endurance sport. When race day comes, do your best to have that option available to you! Fruit and/or bagels, PB&J, etc are all very easy to store for race morning.

You may have noticed how sports gels usually suggest to consume 30-45 minutes pre workout/race. This window of time is so you begin your race before that list of badness that I mentioned above has time to occur.

Something else you may occasionally seen suggested before exercise is to consume a slower digesting carbohydrate such as oatmeal. I think the most common food I see eaten pre-race is a whole wheat bagel, which is a 75 on the GI scale, definetely not low GI. Glycemic Index is a value of how a food influences blood glucose. A high GI food such as bread increases BG quickly, a low GI food such as most fruits are slower to raise BG. A study titled The effects of low and high glycemic index foods on exercise performance and beta-endorphin responses took untrained males and had three trials. Each trial had the exerciser consume a high GI, low GI, or placebo 30 minutes before exercise, where they performed a cycling test at 65% VO2max and increased to exhaustion. They concluded “The present study indicates that ingestion of foods of different glycemic index 30 min prior to one hour cycling exercise does not result in significant changes in exercise performance, β-endorphin levels as well as carbohydrate and fat oxidation during exercise.”

Food for thought...

Suunto Ambit Preview

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 09:37:31 PST

Suunto is one of the oldest brands in athletics. Founded in 1936 by Finnish outdoorsman, Tuomas Vohlonen, the first product was a compass with a steadier needle, better readings, and more accuracy than ever seen before in dry compasses.

They have been producing quality GPS and HR monitors for many years now, however one of the issues is their equipment's dependency on a GPS POD or Foot POD for distance measurements. While this does offer a disadvantage of being, well somewhat annoying, they are powered by triple A batteries. While they only get about 10 hours on a single charge, if you are out doing an ultra marathon you simply need to pop the dead batteries out and put some new ones in. Slightly easier than me having to borrow a friend's Garmin for the second half of my 100 miler.

Suunto's Foot Pod however gets a 400 hours. My issue with this is foot pods are based on a pre calibrated stride length = distance. During an ultra you are going to be running up hill, running down hill, jogging, walking, puking, etc. 100 miles is a great deal of time for a foot pod to be off distance. It would be best to use the foot pod for shorter distances, such as between each aid station.

Suunto is about to launch what may be the new uber watch for road, trail, and ultra marathon runners, as well as hikers and explorers.

Enter the Ambit.

Gone is Suunto's reliance on a GPS Pod strapped to the arm.
Features include:
Temperature
3D Compass
Pace and Speed
Barometric Altitude
Accurate vertical speed
Accelerometer integrated GPS
MovesCount.com training log and community
Heart Rate Monitor with Peak Training Effect and Recovery Time

This thing is going to be an amazing piece of technology.

What I am most excited for with the Ambit is the battery life. The computer has a built in SiRF IV low power GPS chip. Apparently with accurate readings you will get 15 hours of it it. If you change the recording interval to every minute, that jumps to an impressive 50 hours!

What is also nice about Suunto's product is that they are damn good looking watches. I am not into super fancy sci fi techy looking gear like the Timex watches or Brooks Running shoes, but something like this or a Garmin 405 is something I could wear around. Plus, apparently large watches are the new "in" and cool thing these days.

Training Jan 23 - Jan 29

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 08:06:13 PST

This training brought to you by

Monday Jan 23
AM 15.32 miles @ 9:00 pace and a 146 avg HR in BASE
This was an excellent 35F out and back road run. Nothing really of note happened. I did the first 7.5 miles at a very conservative pace and on the way back ever so slightly sped up.

Lots of very steep climbs. Like, using your legs as walking sticks to get up, and sliding down.

Tuesday, Jan 24
PM 10.02 miles @ 10:53 pace and a 138 avg HR in BASE
This was a very hilly and partial trail run. As you can see from my HR the average intensity of the run was very low, but you can also see from the very slow pace (my avg pace was 12:01 at one point) I spent a lot of time either a) running very technical trail b)on super steep climbs where I basically had to walk and use my legs as walking sicks or c) going down hill very slowly to avoid slipping on ice or unseen snow covered trail.

The benefits of using tights for trail running. I had to pick each of these off!

Wednesday, Jan 25
AM 5.13 miles @ 9:05 pace and a 148 avg HR in BASE
This was a 2 mile warm up running two miles straight into the hills. I would then perform a 30 second hill interval followed by 2 minutes of easy running back down. I did six or seven 30 second repeats while slowly making my way down the hill.
PM 3.02 miles @ 8:28 per mile in BASE
I just felt like runnin

Some "trail"

Thursday, Jan 26
AM 10.05 miles @ 8:24 pace with a 144 avg HR in BASE
This was a fairly easy out and back. The second half was a 5 minute negative split on the first half, which is the way it should be :)

Friday, Jan 27
AM 5.02 miles @ 9:06 pace with a 150 avg HR in BASE
A warm up, 8x30 second hill repeats, and a cool down
PM 2.2 miles @ 8:48 pace in BASE
I ran to the liqueur store to grab a bottle of wine for Desi and I. It fit perfectly into my Camelbak.

Saturday, Jan 28
AM 3.4 miles @ 8:40 pace in BASE
AM 100 Side Plank Leg Lifts
AM 100 Push ups
AM 100 Squat Jumps
AM 100 Sit ups
I was out the door within 20 minute of waking. I want to start running more right away in the mornings.

Sunday, Jan 29
AM 3.21 miles @ 7:53 pace in BASE
PM 16 miles biked

Total Week / Year
Run: 57.37 / 191.43
Bike: 16 / 112
Base: 461.88
Form: 75
Commutes: 5
This was a really good week. I really enjoyed doing my long run on Monday and following that with one of my mediums runs instead of a rest day or a recovery run. Best run of the week? It being 8PM and hearing Desi say she wished we had some wine. So I threw my CamelBak and some running shorts on, and literally ran to the liqueur store. I bought some cheap Barefoot wine and it fit perfectly into the Camelbak.

Legumes and ferritin shown to be quality alternative to meat or iron supplements

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 07:53:22 PST

This is a very interesting study that looked at different methods of iron absorption from non meat sources. Ferritin is large protein coated iron found in high quantities in legumes such as black eyed peas, kidney beans, mung beans, etc. The researchers found that unlike the absorption of smaller iron molecules, the larger ferritin is absorped via a different mechanism, even being more efficient.

Traditionally, iron deficiency, which is the most common nutrient difficienty in the world, is treated with increased meat consumption or supplements. However, meat being scare is some locations and supplements possibly causing gas and bloating, an alternative method of increasing iron consumption is welcome.

During research, it was discovered that the large ferritin is not in fact broken down from the large mineral complex containing thousands of iron molecules into individual molecules like what is found in supplements. Ferritin absorption is absorbed as the whole protein coated form. Iron from meat or supplements enters the intestine one atom at a time, each step requiring the intestine to use energy. The absorption of a single iron ferritin molecule was found to be much more efficient than taking in thousands of atoms individually.

This research shows me two things. First, legumes and ferritin are very reasonable sources of iron for those who choose to not eat meat. Second, legumes can be used as a source of dietary iron for those who may not have access to meat or who may suffer from the above mentioned side effects of iron supplementation.

Absorption of Iron from Ferritin Is Independent of Heme Iron and Ferrous Salts in Women and Rat Intestinal Segments¹,²,³

Abstract

Ferritin iron from food is readily bioavailable to humans and has the potential for treating iron deficiency. Whether ferritin iron absorption is mechanistically different from iron absorption from small iron complexes/salts remains controversial. Here, we studied iron absorption (RBC ⁵⁹Fe) from radiolabeled ferritin iron (0.5 mg) in healthy women with or without non-ferritin iron competitors, ferrous sulfate, or hemoglobin. A 9-fold excess of non-ferritin iron competitor had no significant effect on ferritin iron absorption. Larger amounts of iron (50 mg and a 99-fold excess of either competitor) inhibited iron absorption. To measure transport rates of iron that was absorbed inside ferritin, rat intestinal segments ex vivo were perfused with radiolabeled ferritin and compared to perfusion with ferric nitrilotriacetic (Fe-NTA), a well-studied form of chelated iron. Intestinal transport of iron absorbed inside exogenous ferritin was 14.8% of the rate measured for iron absorbed from chelated iron. In the steady state, endogenous enterocyte ferritin contained >90% of the iron absorbed from Fe-NTA or ferritin. We found that ferritin is a slow release source of iron, readily available to humans or animals, based on RBC iron incorporation. Ferritin iron is absorbed by a different mechanism than iron salts/chelates or heme iron. Recognition of a second, nonheme iron absorption process, ferritin endocytosis, emphasizes the need for more mechanistic studies on ferritin iron absorption and highlights the potential of ferritin present in foods such as legumes to contribute to solutions for global iron deficiency.

Vegans, DHA and EPA

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 12:13:33 PST

Here is a great post from Star Khechara from The Face Lift Diet that was submitted at 30 Bananas a Day about Vegans, DHA, and EPA. I thought it was very good information and as she said, "food for thought" :)

------------------------------------------------------

One of my YouTube subscribers recently asked "I keep seeing criticism of 811 on youtube from the paleo eaters who say you can't get EPA, DHA...on this diet"

To shed some light, here is my answer with a few added extras for those of you who like to look into the issue at a deeper level

EPA and DHA are made in animals this is true, but this also includes human animals - we make DHA and EPA in our bodies provided the correct ratio of omega 3 to omega 6 fats is ingested.

Most diets (meat, raw, vegan, junk, macro etc etc) have massive amounts of omega 6 and hardly any omega 3 - this means that the ratio is not right for EPA/DHA conversion.

Nutritional experts argue over the ideal ratio but anthing from 1:1 to 1:5 of omega 3 to omega 6 should be fine (you can keep an eye on this using Cronometer. I currently get about 3-4g of each. I upped my omega 3s to match my omega 6 intake by adding 3 tsp of freshly ground flaxseed to one of my daily smoothies. (SAD diets tend to have a ratio of 1:14 or even 1:20!!)

Omega 3:6 ratios in fruits and vegetables and seeds:

Strawberries have a ratio of 1:1

Bananas have a ratio of 1.1

Blueberries are 1:1

Oranges are 1:3

Mangoes are 3:1

Flaxseeds are 5:1

Canteloupe 1:1

Some plant foods have bad ratios, sunflower seeds are 1:60!! Cashew nuts have no omega 3 at all, only omega 6. This would explain why raw vegans following the 'gourmet' style of raw food have problems and start supplementing with EPA/DHA because their Omega 3:6 ratio is terrible and wont allow for efficient conversion to EPA and DHA

It is not enough to simply increase the intake of Omega 3, you must also decrease omega 6. The consensus in the nutritional field is to make sure omega 6 intake does not go above 2% of daily calorie intake.

Plant sources of direct EPA

Also there are plant sources of EPA - there is a salad plant called Purslane. According to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, one serving of purslane contains 300 to 400 milligrams of alpha-linolenic acid--four times as much as raw spinach and twice the amount in kale. More notably, it's a source of EPA, the long-chain omega-3 fatty acid commonly known as fish oil.

Here is an informative post from the Linus Pauling institute (Linus Pauling recived nobel prize for his nutritional research) http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/omega3fa/#metabolism

Even Harvard disagrees with the paleos

"There are two major types of omega-3 fatty acids in our diets: One type is alpha-linolenic acid (ALA), which is found in some vegetable oils, such as soybean, rapeseed (canola), and flaxseed, and in walnuts. ALA is also found in some green vegetables, such as Brussels sprouts, kale, spinach, and salad greens. The other type, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), is found in fatty fish. The body partially converts ALA to EPA and DHA.

We do not know whether vegetable or fish omega-3 fatty acids are equally beneficial, although both seem to be beneficial. Unfortunately, most Americans do not get enough of either type. For good health, you should aim to get at least one rich source of omega-3 fatty acids in your diet every day. This could be through a serving of fatty fish (such as salmon), a tablespoon of canola or soybean oil in salad dressing or in cooking, or a handful of walnuts or ground flaxseed mixed into your morning oatmeal."

Other research shows us that non-fish eaters (which includes veggies and vegans) actually have a more efficient conversion of Omega 3 (ALA) to EPA and DHA.

Welch AA, Bingham SA, Khaw KT. Estimated conversion of alpha-linolenic acid to long chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids is greater than expected in non fish-eating vegetarians and non fish-eating meat-eaters than in fish-eaters. J Hum Nutr Diet

I hope this adds some 'food for thought'.

Effects of Footwear and Stride Type on Running Economy

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:24:01 PST

Here is is study looking at how running economy differs in habitual minimalist or barefoot runners if they are in minimalist shoes or in a more standard running shoe.

The researchers found that runners were 2.41% more economical in a minimal shoe when forefoot striking and 3.32% more economical in a minimal shoe when rearfoot striking.

The conclusion was that these runners in minimal shoes were more economic than runners in traditional shoes.

However, something bothers me. I quote "We measured the cost of transport (mlO2/kg/m) in subjects who habitually run in minimal shoes or barefoot while they were running at 3.0 m/s on a treadmill during forefoot and rearfoot striking while wearing minimal and standard shoes"

Bingo.

The runners tested were habitual barefoot or minimalist runners. That only shows me that we as runners become more efficient at what we most often do.

Habitually, I...

do my long runs at a 9-10 minute pace depending on terrain and distance. If I were to deviate from this, going slower or faster, my economy would be negatively impacted.
have executed the the majority of my training on flat roads. If I go to a trail I use different stabilizer muscles, may land slightly differently, etc. All negatively impacting my economy.
use minimalist Skora shoes. Like this study clearly demonstrated, if I was to go for a run in a pair of Brooks Beasts, my economy would take a hit.
run longer and slower distances. I would be more economical running a marathon than a 5k.
run at a 94 steps per minute pace. Any slower or faster and I would be less economical.

Unless I am missing something (please tell me if I am), the study does nothing to show that minimalism/barefoot is better than standard shoes. Only that if you habitually do something, you will become less economical if you make a sudden change.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2012 Jan 3. [Epub ahead of print]

Effects of Footwear and Strike Type on Running Economy.

Perl DP, Daoud AI, Lieberman DE.

Source

Department of Human Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge MA 02138, USA.

Abstract

PURPOSE:

This study tests if running economy differs in minimal shoes versus standard running shoes with cushioned, elevated heels and arch supports, and in forefoot versus rearfoot strike gaits.

METHODS:

We measured the cost of transport (mlO2/kg/m) in subjects who habitually run in minimal shoes or barefoot while they were running at 3.0 m/s on a treadmill during forefoot and rearfoot striking while wearing minimal and standard shoes, controlling for shoe mass and stride frequency. Force and kinematic data were collected when shod and barefoot to quantify differences in knee flexion, arch strain, plantarflexor force production, and Achilles tendon-triceps surae strain.

RESULTS:

After controlling for stride frequency and shoe mass, runners were 2.41% more economical in the minimal shoe condition when forefoot striking and 3.32% more economical in the minimal shoe condition when rearfoot striking (p<0.05). In contrast, forefoot and rearfoot striking did not differ significantly in cost for either minimal or standard shoe running. Arch strain was not measured in shoes condition but was significantly greater during forefoot than rearfoot striking when barefoot. Plantarflexor force output was significantly higher in forefoot than rearfoot striking, and in barefoot than shod running. Achilles tendon-triceps surae strain and knee flexion were also lower in barefoot than standard shoe running.

CONCLUSIONS:

Minimally shod runners are modestly but significantly more economical than traditionally shod runners regardless of strike type, after controlling for shoe mass and stride frequency. The likely cause of this difference is more elastic energy storage and release in the lower extremity during minimal shoe running.

Do Epic Shit

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 18:24:00 PST

Stop waiting for permission to do something awesome. - Richardo Bueno

The Unchained Movement

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 16:30:02 PST

I have never ran for any type of cause before. Someone recently asked me why, and I said I simply have not found one I liked enough yet. I am not a fan of raising money for research or awareness for various diseases or conditions because I believe if the public was properly educated the majority of those charities, and the diseases, would be almost non existent. This is due to the fact that the majority of diseases of modern man are a result of lifestyle choices.

Recently I became aware of UNCHAINED and how real of an issue domestic sex trafficking is here in the US. Before doing my research, I thought it was just something that happened when pretty blond American girls travel alone to Paris and run into Albanian gang members.

If you want some quick information about the subject, check out this video below.

UNCHAINED seeks to educate the public about the issues of domestic sex trafficking without discrimination. Domestic sex trafficking is a growing billion dollar industry that can effect all walks of life. Our focus is to target all who could be affected by this issue or who are unaware of its effects. We will market to teens, college students, teachers, youth groups, survivors, victims, social service agencies, women’s rights groups, law enforcement agencies, legislators and advocates for hope and justice. As the sex industry continues to grow, a stronger need for advocacy, education and awareness must be ready to address the growing demand.

5 Projects of UNCHAINED
Establish a residential treatment center for young girls who have been victims of domestic sex trafficking.
Develop a mobile awareness event to tour the U.S.
College Campus Awareness Events
Provide community professionals with training and tools to identify, support and care for victims of domestic sex trafficking.
Awareness and Education through special video projects

As of writing this, their website is in construction, but they have been active at their Facebook page.

During 2012 I hope to use a race or two as fundraisers. I have some timed events where the goal is to run as far as possible in 12 or 24 hours. Doing a donation per mile or lap for that would be fun.

My donation page is located here: ( don't mind the massive heel strike :p )

Thanks for reading!

Shit Ultrarunners Say

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 07:34:43 PST

And I think I said half of these during yesterday's run :p

Sh*t Triathletes Say

ipull400watts@gmail.com (Kyle Kranz) — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:56:53 PST

Wow, I've said about 95% of these in the past 5 years...

Running on the White Line

WINNERS of One Good Earbud Giveaway!

Strength Exercises I Recommend and Perform

Cheap vegetarian or vegan meal

Skora: 0 miles vs 100 miles vs 600 miles

Training Feb 6 - Feb 11

Increases in strength of the untrained leg

Reduction in corticospinal inhibition in the trained and untrained limb following unilateral leg strength training.

Source

Abstract

Peanut Butter vs Almond Butter

One Good Earbud Review and Giveaway!

Training Jan 30 - Feb 5

Mindful Eating

Weight gain and loss with endurance training

Sugoi Brand Champion

How to Ice-Proof your shoes for 15 cents

Sh*t Barefoot Runners Say

Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels

Pre Race/Training Nutrition

Suunto Ambit Preview

Training Jan 23 - Jan 29

Legumes and ferritin shown to be quality alternative to meat or iron supplements

Absorption of Iron from Ferritin Is Independent of Heme Iron and Ferrous Salts in Women and Rat Intestinal Segments1,2,3

Abstract

Vegans, DHA and EPA

Effects of Footwear and Stride Type on Running Economy

Effects of Footwear and Strike Type on Running Economy.

Source

Abstract

PURPOSE:

METHODS:

RESULTS:

CONCLUSIONS:

Do Epic Shit

The Unchained Movement

Shit Ultrarunners Say

Sh*t Triathletes Say

Absorption of Iron from Ferritin Is Independent of Heme Iron and Ferrous Salts in Women and Rat Intestinal Segments¹,²,³