Christmas WOD

20 Minutes on the Versaclimber, 170 fpm/17" strokes

December 25th 25'er
25 barbell squats
25 pushups
25 back extensions
25 lunges
25 dumbbell curls (each side, totals 50)
25 crunches
25 skull crushers
25 hanging leg raises

WOD 12/17/09

300 Once Through for Time
(Joe only)
50 air squats
50 pushups
50 25# DB one-hand snatches
50 lunges (25/side)
50 crunches
50 burpees w/pushup


No workout yesterday (rest day) except for the 5 mile run to work and back. Fairly decent Paleo eating yesterday, no dairy, grains or beer. Still on the seed, no Skoal for 12 days now!

WOD 12/15/09, Howgozit & Pictures of Hero

AMRAP 20 minutes
(Joe and Steve only!)
10 Box Jumps
20 Pushups
30 Crunches

I followed this with a run to work in 16-degree darkness with a brisk 16 mph wind blowing in my face out of the north. Cold. Dark. Pain.

I'm back on the pseudo-Paleo wagon with minor indiscretions including a sprinkling of shredded cheese here and there and a cold Fat Tire with my steak at D'Arcy's Pint.

Lastly, Brotherhood-wise I've been holding my own for a solid 10 days now. Love me some seeds!

Here's a little peek at the subject of my upcoming story about Hero: click here for a photo page from his recent half-marathon!

Back On Line and Stories to Come

Back on line after more than a week away. I did a fair amount of overeating and general slacking the last week or so while kicking back with the Penningtons in Glastonbury, CT. I managed to get in one Crossfit workout and 5 miles/day on most days on Tric's wonderful treadmill. Not a feat by any stretch and probably not even enough to maintain my somewhat out of round condition, but surely better than nothing.

So I return refreshed, renewed and re-motivated. We got back to Crossfitting this morning with a plate Tabata (Mary, Steve, Janet and I) and once I get my collective crap back in one sock I'm back to running into work tomorrow.

Up coming blogs will feature the origin of "Nut Up or Shut Up" as well as the related story of Hero and his underwear's encounter with a Navy SEAL platoon and how he (Hero) got me into running and endurance sports so many years ago. Stay tuned.

Taste The Pain

Yikes! Did I go off the reservation last night or what! We had our first winter neighborhood get-together at BWW last night and I ate and drank like a total pig.

Over the course of 2 hours I consumed:
5 servings of Fat Tire @ 159 kcal/ea = 795 kcal
12 boneless wings @ 88 kcal/ea = 1056 kcal
------------
1851 kcal consumed in 2 hours!

And....wait for it...3 dips of Skoal, FFS!

I don't know how to rationalize this behavior or rectify it with my stated goal of better nutrition to improve my running. Moreover, this was the 4th night in a row of dining out, which means eating late, which for mean means waking up at 3:00 a.m. with an aching gut. (I'm writing this at 0430 Saturday, I've been up since 0315).

I had the sense to throw out the can of Skoal last night but recovering from eating and drinking like that means a Coke and a plate of spicy/greasy food for me. So, I just polished off a plate of bacon and a cheddar cheese omelet smothered in Frank's Hot Sauce and washed it down with an ice cold Coke. In 90 minutes I head out into the 19-degree predawn darkness to run 20 miles with Steve and Doug. Taste The Pain.

I love my friends and neighbors and thoroughly enjoyed each of my nights out this week, but I can't continue to do this and hope to be successful at training for something like the OT100. Somebody, for the love of God, help me!

WOD At Possum Corner 12/3/09

25-Pound Plate Tabata
(Steve and Joe)

Plate Thrusters
Upright Rows
Curls
Skull Krushers
Bentover Rows

WOD 12/01/2009 at Possum Corner

AMRAP 20 minutes
(Joe & Doug)

10 Box Jumps-24" box
15 pushups
20 crunches

4-Day Thanksgiving Recap

Sorry for the lack of posting the last few days. I've been on call since Thursday and though call-wise it's been relatively civil, I've neglected the blog (and a few other thing).

On Friday, post-Turkey Day gluttony, I managed to squeak out a 5-miler around the Glenwood 'hood while carting my pager and cell phone, after a day of operating. I cheated a little Paleo-wise with a single Fat Tire and a handful of dark chocolate-covered cranberries. Probably the biggest excursion was my meandering back into the Brotherhood with 3 or 4 dips before discarding the rest of the can. That's a typical pattern of my dysfunctional dipping.

Saturday did not turn out a whole lot better, with excursion outside Paleo Land including another single Fat Tire, 3 or 4 dips from ANOTHER new can of Skoal and...wait for it...a brownie with Vanilla Haagen Daz (yikes! as Boon would say). Throw in the crackers with cranberry-covered goat cheese and you've got yourself an entirely blown day nutrition-wise. I did crank out a sweet 20 minutes on the Versaclimber, which if you've never tried it, is no small feat. (here's the Versaclimber Website) That was clearly the saving grace to another crappy day in my OT100 training!

So what to do now? We'll I've got to get back on the Paleo wagon and be more disciplined about logging my food. Not just to count calories, but moreover to make sure I'm getting adequate protein and fat and controlling my carbohydrates like I know I should.

Speaking of Paleo, for anyone familiar with Robb Wolf, his nutrition research and his involvement with the Crossfit community, there apparently was an incident at the Crossfit Blackbox Summit that resulted in ouster from the community. Check his blog on the subject if you care to:

The Black Box Summit Or How I Got Fired from the CrossFit Nutrition Certification

One last thing. This issue of Outside Magazine is (partially) devoted to people devoted to changing the world for the better through their passions; sailing, kayaking, biking, mountaineering. I'm kicking around the idea of tying my OT100 race to fund raising for my favorite charitable organization Guardian Angel Basset Rescue. I know there's a lot of good causes out there and a lot of people vying for everyone's charitable gifts right now, so I'm curious to know what everyone thinks about my turning the ultramarathon into a fund raising effort. I was thinking of something along the lines of "100 Miles, 100 donations of 100 dollars." Please leave a comment below and let me know what you think about that.

Oh, and (really) one last thing. So far this blog has 7 "followers" listed on the right-hand side. I would like everyone's help in spreading the word about "Nut Up or Shut Up" to others that might find it interesting, have something to contribute to my motivation, or just like to heckle me from the safety of the internet. Thanks for that in advance.

Turkey Day WOD, The Brotherhood, and Gratitude

So the workout(s) were a little disjointed at Possum Corner today. Doug showed up as I was leaving for the hospital to do his thing, due a miscommunication, then I posted my own after rounding:

Turkey Day Versaclimber Intervals
Versaclimber 5 Minutes
50 pushups
Versaclimber 4 Minutes
40 kettlebell rows
Versaclimber 3 Minutes
30 knee raises on pull-up bar
Versaclimber 2 Minutes
20 dumbbell push-presses
Versaclimber 1 Minute
10 back extensions on the GHD


I had a little run-in with the Skoal Brotherhood last night and I'm happy to report I emerged (somewhat) victorious. I was tempted at the Schnuck's checkout counter and bought a can. I had one dip and then threw the can away because I didn't even enjoy the thing. I'm hopeful I've turned the corner

Paleo Pursuit-wise all is well. I managed to obtain a free deep-freeze (c.1968) in which to deposit the doe that Drew was kind enough to shoot for me in Iowa last week. Since I'll have room left over in the 5' x 3' x 3' freezer I'm thinking of getting a 1/2 side of grass fed beef too, if I can find it.

One last word in the spirit of Thanksgiving. For about a year now I've been striving to live a life of gratitude. As you might imagine this is sort of a personal thing and does not really fall under the purview of Nutting Up, but if you'd like to read more, check out The Daily Good home page, or more specifically check out one of these articles on living a life of gratitude.

Back At It

So after a brief hiatus I'm back at blogging about my year-long training for the OT100. I'm also back on my Paleo Pursuit with today being Day 3 of >90% Paleo eating, meaning:

(1) no sugar; ("sweet cheats" I call them) despite the arrival yesterday of Haagen Daz, Pepperidge Farm's cookies, and DePooter brownies.
(2) no beer; after a "All Fat Tire Saturday Night" at Randy and Susan's
(3) no dairy; except a tablespoon of blue cheese dressing with my carrots

In addition to being back on the Paleo Pursuit I have successfully eschewed the Skoal Brotherhood for a full week.

Workouts have been going great with a killer WOD posted by Chia "No-Bag" Miller on Monday:

21-15-9 for time:

25# plate crunches
(10 burpees)
pushups
(10 burpees)
1-hand snatches
(10 burpees)
lunges
(10 burpees)

I've also been consistent with my running to work and back and on Monday, just to give the joints a rest, I rode my bike to work and back instead. My computer totaled 5.6 miles for the round trip, slightly longer than my guess of 5.0 miles.

Lastly, I wanted to share the Race Director's Report from the inaugural Ozark Trail 100, reproduced below from Paul's email to the SLUGlist:

INAUGURAL OZARK TRAIL 100 MILE ENDURANCE RUN
IN THE MARK TWAIN NATIONAL FOREST

NOVEMBER 7& 8, 2009

RACE DIRECTOR’S REPORT
By Paul Schoenlaub

Three years ago, on Thanksgiving weekend, I set out to explore a few miles
of the Ozark Trail in the Mark Twain National Forest in south-central Missouri. I
ran about 12 miles of the trail on Friday and another 42 miles of the trail on
Saturday. That weekend I fell in love with the Ozark Trail and decided a race
should be run on this rugged trail to showcase the beautiful forest to ultra runners
across the country. One and one-half years later, Stuart Johnson came on board to
work with me to organize the first 100 mile ultra marathon in Missouri, resulting
in the birth of the Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run. My dream was for a
point-to-point race on this single track trail in November, when the views through
the predominately Oak forest reveal the stark contrasts of the ruggedness of the
terrain and the structure of the majestic trees is simply striking.

Fast forward a little over a year. The US Forest service issued a permit for
the race and we began accepting entries in March 2009. I was shocked at the
support we received initially from ultra runners across the Midwest. Soon after
entries began coming in, it was clear we had interest from across the nation and
beyond. Then, in May, a tremendous storm called a derecho struck south-central
Missouri, devastating a portion of the Mark Twain National Forest. Literally
thousands of trees were downed by the storm. The southern 50 miles of the
planned course for the Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run were impassable.
With the trail closed, the future of this inaugural event was in question.
Immediately, the Ozark Trail Association began assessing the damage to the trail
and organizing work parties. The United States Forest Service contracted with
professional crews to begin clearing the trail within weeks. Before Labor Day, the
trail was re-opened and the entire original route we had planned was again
available for the race.

It seemed everything was falling in place nicely for a clear trail on
November 7. Then came the floods in the weeks before the race. Relentless rainy
days in the weeks leading up to the race left the creeks and rivers swollen with
floodwaters just two weeks before the race. The weekend before the race, we
found many of the water crossings were again impassable due to additional heavy
rains late that week. Then, just one week before race day, the skies cleared,
allowing the creeks and rivers to drop back into their banks by the Thursday
before the race. Once again, the race appeared to be well on its way to a
successful introduction.

The race had an entry limit of 150 and, within a week of race day, we had
144 runners signed up from 28 states, Canada, and Singapore. The race had been
well received. Now, if we could just pull this off, we would have something worth
talking about. Thanks to the United States Forest Service for issuing the permit;
the Ozark Trail Association for building and maintaining miles of trail; several
amateur radio clubs, spearheaded by the Current River Amateur Radio Club, who
provided emergency communications for the race; our sponsors: the St. Louis
Ultrarunners Group for providing many eager volunteers to help with the race,
Hammer Nutrition and Salomon, for providing products and other support for this
event; and volunteers from across Missouri, Kansas and Arkansas, who helped
with so many different jobs to support the runners throughout the race . . . we were
able to provide a great race that flowed very smoothly on race day.

I had planned for cool weather for months leading up to the race, knowing
well that we could have a warm autumn day with the unpredictable weather of
Missouri. So, for the inaugural running of the Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance
Run, we had . . . HEAT! Yes, we had an unseasonably warm day with
temperatures reaching into the upper 70’s. With the leaves down off the trees and
full sun, participants were left with some very warm conditions with which to
contend.

At 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning, 126 runners showed up at the southern end
of the Karkaghne section of the Ozark Trail and took off under the starlit early
morning sky, heading for the finish line at the Bass River Resort, 101.5 miles
away. Not long after the race began, the participants realized what we had
attempted to convey in our pre-race information about this trail: there are plenty
of technical sections on this trail covered with leaves from the predominately Oak
Forest the runners would be traversing for the next 18 to 32 hours.

The day began to heat up early and, by the time the runners made it to
Sutton Bluff aid station at mile 17.6, it had warmed into the 70’s. At the 8 mile
aid station, runners hardly needed to even top off their water bottles, but most
were filling completely empty bottles at Sutton Bluff. Later in the day, the early
November heat would begin to take its toll on the field.

Jeff Browning had begun to pull a lead by Sutton Bluff. He was followed 8
minutes later by Ben Creehan, David Wakefield, and Ryne Melcher. Gregg
Buehler and Michael Adams were just 5 minutes back and the men’s race was
beginning to take shape. Theresa Wheeler led the women into Sutton Bluff, with
Rachel Furman just 5 minutes back. Ellen Erhardt, Jen Foster, and Jennifer Aradi
were another 5, 6, and 7 minutes, respectively, behind Rachel.

As the sun continued to rise through the clear autumn sky, most discovered
how hot this November afternoon could be in central Missouri with the leaves off
the trees, allowing full contact between the suns warm rays and the skin of the
runners hour after hour. Through the next few aid stations, in the heat of the day,
Stuart Johnson and I were visiting aid stations restocking them with additional
water and ice to quench the runners’ need for these necessary elements. By the
Brooks Creek aid station at mile 43.5, Jeff Browning had continued to expand his
lead on the men’s field and was now on pace for a 17 hour finish. David
Wakefield and Ryne Melcher had moved into second and third place 54 minutes
back. Michael Adams had moved up to fourth place, another 12 minutes back,
with Ben Creehan just 3 minutes behind Michael. Kyle Gibbs had moved into
sixth place just a minute behind Ben. As these men moved through the aid station,
it became apparent that the difficulty of the trail was taking its toll on the lead
runners as Michael Adams flew through the aid station with what was presumed to
be a broken finger. He appeared to shrug it off though as he flew through the race
with the ailing finger taped to the finger next to it, proving that you can finish an
ultra with a broken bone, so long as it’s not a running part.

The women’s race had taken a dramatic turn by Brooks Creek as leader
Theresa Wheeler had dropped to fourth place due to a knee injury, which resulted
in the demise of her race. Rachel Furman had moved into first place and was
pulling away from the field with a 30 minute lead over second woman, Ellen
Erhardt. Jennifer Aradi was in third, 8 minutes behind Ellen and the top 5 were
rounded out by Theresa Wheeler and Susan Donnelly, another 27 and 28 minutes
back, respectively. Lucia Alzaga had moved into sixth place another 23 minutes
back.

Many of the runners began to recover from the days’ heat as the sun set on
them coming into Brooks Creek. Being the first year for this race, I had made a
decision to eliminate the first cutoff for the race this year at the 28 mile aid station,
which most runners hit in the heat of the day. The second cutoff was at Brooks
Creek. I had hopes that many runners who were dragging themselves through heat
would recover in the evening hours and begin moving better. With this in mind,
the cutoff at Brooks Creek was extended by 30 minutes, allowing only 2 additional
runners to leave that aid station, neither of which would finish the race.

Back to the front of the pack. At Hazel Creek aid station, mile 68.5, Jeff
Browning had pulled a commanding 2 ½ hour lead and it looked like nobody was
going to be able to touch him now. As the day cooled, he had appeared to pick up
his pace and was moving forward with impressive determination. Michael Adams
had moved up through the pack and was now in second place with his taped
fingers, followed closely by Kyle Gibbs four minutes back, who had also danced
through the rocks to move well up in the field. David Wakefield and Ryne
Melcher were now 23 minutes behind Kyle, but appeared to still be joined at the
hip. The big question of this race was whether or not these two of the men’s
leaders would stay together through the entire race. Ben Creehan had dropped
back 28 miles from David and Ryne as the heat of the day had appeared to take its
toll on him.

Arriving at Hazel Creek, the women’s race had not appeared to change at
all as far as the placement of the ladies leaving Brooks Creek. In the spirit of Jeff
Browning’s example in the men’s field, Rachel Furman had built a commanding 1
hour 50 minute lead on the women’s field. Ellen Erhardt was holding on to
second place, with Jennifer Aradi hanging tight just 9 minutes back. Susan
Donnelly had dropped an hour back from Jennifer, with Lucia Alzaga yet another
43 minutes back. Beth Simpson-Hall had now moved into sixth place just 10
minutes behind Lucia.

The night running had brought with it a new discovery for most runners.
The rocks that were so difficult to avoid as they hid under the blanket of leaves on
the trail during the day seemed even more difficult to see at night. This trail has a
mysterious majesty at night though, as the trail corridor opens before you, which
makes the might running a captivating experience.

Many runners arrived at the Berryman aid station, mile 81.5, under cover of
darkness, but just under half the field came into this aid station near sunrise or
later. The cutoff for the Hazel Creek aid station had been extended by 45 minutes
and, in like manner, so too was the cutoff at the Berryman aid station. Extending
the Hazel Creek cutoff had allowed another 11 runners to continue their quest for
the Ozark Trail 100 belt buckle, 7 of which made it to the finish line under the 32
hour cutoff. Extending the Berryman cutoff also allowed 11 runners to continue
the race that otherwise would have been pulled. Amazingly, 10 of these 11
runners made it to the finish line under the 32 hour cutoff. The only one who did
not make it to the finish line of these 11 was Lucia Alzaga, who ended up having
to drop due to an injury after an amazing race at her first attempt at a 100 mile
race.

Oh, yea: back to the leaders at Berryman. By 8:33 in the evening, Jeff
Browning had increased his lead to well over 3 hours. He certainly was
untouchable. Michael Adams was solidly in second place, with the twins, David
Wakefield and Ryne Melcher, 30 minutes behind Michael. Ben Creehan had
seemed to begin to pull out of his mid-race funk and was in fifth place, just 9
minutes back, and apparently closing on the dynamic duo. Kyle Gibbs had
dropped to a distant sixth place at an additional 50 minutes back.

The women’s race was not changing much, with the exception of Lucia
Alzaga dropping back in the pack with her unfortunate injury. Rachel Furman
continued to expand her lead by what was now almost 2 ½ hours. Ellen Erhardt
and Jennifer Aradi came into Berryman at the same time, while Susan Donnelly
was solidly in fourth place. Beth Simpson-Hall had closed to within 42 minutes of
Susan as she moved into fifth place. As Lucia dropped back, she came in another
36 minutes back with Jen Foster.

The final 20 miles of the race had some great runable trail, as well as more
of the leaf covered rocks that had been the theme for the day. The final few miles
of trail that had been scheduled for completion prior to the race were not quite
finished due to weather during some of the scheduled trail building weekends
earlier this year, resulting in the last 2 ½ miles of the race finishing on a gravel
road. I think most runners welcomed this unanticipated road section in what had
been planned as a 100% trail race. Rest assured, the final section of trail should be
completed some time next spring.

Jeff Browning came across the finish line in 18:38:59, setting the course
record for the Ozark Trail 100 Mile Endurance Run and pulling an impressive 4
hour and 20 minute lead over the next closest competitor. Shortly after Jeff
crossed the finish line, he commented that he was on pace for a 17 hour finish, but
as night fell, he found the rocks, as difficult to see as they were under the leaves
during the day, became virtually invisible under the leaves at night, thus slowing
his pace considerably. Still, he had quite an impressive race for this inaugural
event.

Rachel Furman had an impressive first hundred, finishing first and setting
the women’s record at 25:28:21, all while maintaining over a 2 hour lead over the
nearest competitor. This was good enough for seventh place overall.
Ben Creehan had moved up through the men’s field to finish in second place,
while PoDog Vogler finished tenth overall to capture the men’s masters’ title.
David Wakefield and Ryne Melcher rounded out the top 5 men finishing together,
as they had started the race. Kyle Gibbs hung on to finish solidly in sixth place.
Ellen Erhardt pulled a 20 minute lead over Jennifer Aradi to finish second in the
women’s race, while Susan Donnelly was able to hold on to a 12 minute lead over
Beth Simpson-Hall to take the women’s masters honors. Susan and Beth rounded
out the top 5 in the women’s race as well, with Lynn Saari moving into sixth place
by the end of the race.

Interestingly, the second place men’s masters runner was Dale Humphrey, a 50
year old and the second place women’s masters runner was Beth Simpson-Hall, a
51 year old. Way to go for a couple of runners with a combined age of over 100
years between the two of them.

I was impressed with the performance of all the participants in this race and very
pleased with the many positive comments they have made about the race. Even
among those who were unable to finish the race, many have already told me they
plan to return to run the race again.

It is very noteworthy that 11 of the first 20 finishers completed their first 100 mile
race on the Ozark Trail. I find that impressive and, although I would not suggest
that this is a great first time 100 mile race, it is certainly achievable as these
impressive athletes have proven. Once again, among the first time 100 mile
finishers was the women’s champion, Rachel Furman.

There were many other impressive performances and valiant efforts by some who
were unable to finish. I admire the toughness of all those who toed the line for this
event and am impressed with what each and every one of them was able to
accomplish. Though the finishers rate was a low 44%, I am impressed that there
was little difference between the finishers rate of veterans at the 100 mile distance
and first timers.

Thanks again to all the participants, volunteers, sponsors, the Ozark Trail
Association, and the National Forest Service for their parts in helping to make this
race a reality and achieving my primary goal of showcasing Missouri’s Ozark
Trail in the Mark Twain National Forest to the ultrarunning community.

Run to Work

So yesterday I started a new thing; running to work. Not sure how it's going to go, but the first day was great. I just packed up my stuff in a day pack and headed for the hospital. It's 2.5 miles door-to-door. It's cold and dark at the time I have to run in, and I like that. So far it seems like a great way to start the workday. As I said we'll see how that works out.

There was a recent article in Outside Magazine about riding your bike to work: Bike Commuting 101. A lot of the same principles apply to running to work.

There will be a short hiatus on the blog, but it will return Monday 11/23/09. Please feel free to leave comments ('talk amongst yourselves') in the interim!

WOD At Possum Corner

21-15-9
Push-ups
Crunches
DB Thrusters (30# x 2)

OPERATION IRON CROSS AND GIVING BACK

Today's blog entry is about Operation Iron Cross and the importance of giving back. The title of this entry and the permanent link on the top right of this page takes you to Melissa Urban's blog entry regarding Operation Iron Cross. Melissa, Dallas and a bunch of other Crossfit Community folks are heading to Afghanistan to do a Crossfit Certification, provide Paleo food and general training to a bunch of our Armed Forces stationed there. It's a great idea, a patriotic effort and just plain "the right thing" to do. So, like Melissa, I've never asked anyone to pony up anything in support of Possum Corner, but now I'm asking. I know there's a lot of poverty and need in the world and I know a lot of you probably give to a variety of causes you are passionate about. Hell, Doug gives almost all his free time to the Park Board and the Angel of Hope and should serve as an inspiration to us all! But if you could hit that link and give $5 or more to the cause I would consider it a personal favor to me.

Also, in the spirit of giving back, how about leaving a comment or two on this blog every now and then. You have to be logged in and then you simply click on the "Comments" link below to give me a little encouragement, suggestion or stick-in-the-eye toward my personal goal of running and finishing the OT100. I'd really appreciate it. Also, if you know someone else who would benefit from a little motivation or would be willing to motivate me, pass on a link to my blog. Again, I'd really appreciate it.

I'll get back to your regular program, already in progress tomorrow, but I will continue to harp on you all to give to Operation Iron Cross via a little note at the bottom of each post from now until the time the Crossfit folks leave for Afghanistan. Thanks!

Glenwood Rib Cookoff & The Next Generation of Ultrarunners

Wow, did I fall off the wagon hard last night! The 2nd Annual Glenwood Rib Cookoff was awesome. Steve's and Ray's ribs were outstanding and in and of themselves were not the problem. The Fat Tire, chocolate chip cookies, and 2nd and 3rd helpings of the ribs were way too much! On top of that my nemesis Skoal crept in around 1.5 beers, as usual. I'll be spending my Sunday recovering via Cracker Barrel and power naps!


Pictured right is the next generation of ultrarunners, my nephew Dakota with my dad Tom. They both are members of the McGuire's Running Club in Pensacola, FL. They represent two of the best things about running; it's never too early to start & it's never too late to start.



My dad took up running just a couple of years ago and since his humble beginning (don't we all start that way!?) he's posted some impressive times in road races and done some really unique runs including the Run Through The Jungle 5K hosted by the Exotic Feline Rescue Center in Center Point, IN where this year he finished 2nd in his age group! Go Dad!



Dakota is more recent addition to the running Millers. He joined my dad in several training runs and then nutted-up and joined the Tuesday evening crowd at McGuire's for their 5K weekly runs. He earned his McGuire's Running Club shirt by completing 10 runs for a total of 31 miles! Go Dakota!








So it's back to the plan for me after last night's excursion. Anyone got some suggestions or words of encouragement to keep me from straying so far off course, so often? I think I need a Weight Watchers-style support group. Paleo Watchers? Who's with me?

Back In Town & Paleo Cookie Recipe

So I'm back in town after a 3-day trip to Scottsdale, AZ with an unscheduled stop in Albuquerque courtesy of US Airways.

Thanks for the $10 dinner voucher US Air; loved that $9.08 ham and cheese sandwich.

The workout highlight of the trip was a run from the Camelback Inn and Spa to the base of Camelback Mountain, then up to the top, and then back to the Camelback Inn and Spa; 2-hours total time. Great, great, great view from the top! Strong work by the Schwartz's, Blago and Milk-Boy humping up and back.

This is not a travel blog of course, but I have to give a shout out to the breakfast buffet at the Camelback Inn and Spa. Worth every penny of the $22, a completely reasonable price for the spread at a pricey spa.

Diet-wise the trip was OK. We hit Morton's pretty hard and the Ole 96'er-like NY Strip I had at 10:00 was a welcome shot of protein. Speaking of shots though, the post-sushi Big Pour International Beer Tasting added an unbelievable amount of hop-centric carbs to my gut. For an extended explanation of why grains are bad, check out this recent post over at Mark's Daily Apple.

Lastly, for those who may be interested Jeff Brown's race report from this year's inaugural Ozark Trail 100 is posted on his blog. He finished 4-hours ahead of the second place finisher! Sounds like the race is technically difficult but the crews and volunteers were awesome. No surprise since it is after all a SLUG event! Full race results can be found here: 2009 OT100 Results.



Paleo Almost Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
(Photo above of Chia's 1st Batch!)
From Lawrence "Bo" Boland III


Ingredients:
3/4cup Almonds (I used dry roasted)
1/4cup Macadamia Nuts (you could probably just use a full cup of almonds if you don't have these)
1/2cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
1/2cup Pitted Chopped Dates
1/2cup Raisins
1 egg

- Add all ingredients except the egg and raisins into a food processor. Pulse it all until the nuts are hardly recognizable.

- In a big mixing bowl, crack the egg into the bowl and whisk it around a bit. Dump the raisins, and the mixture from the food processor, directly into the bowl. Mix it around thoroughly with your hands.

- On a baking sheet (I didn't have to grease it due to the ingredients), use a cookie cutter of some sort and stuff the cookie cutter full ot the mixture and pack it in.

- Bake for 20-30 mins @ 350. You're basically watching to see when they started to brown up.

These are my best "paleo cookie" yet.

This recipe should make 8 decent sized cookies. Here are the stats from each one (obviously this is a 1 serving dessert, heh):
Calories: 198
Fat: 13g
- Saturated: 3g
- Polyunsaturated: 2g
- Monounsaturated: 8g
Carbs: 19g
-Dietary fiber: 3.5g
Protein: 4g

David Goggins

If you don't know who David Goggins is or what he has accomplished, click on his name above or in the link section to the right. He is a rock-star-athlete, Navy Seal, and superstar fundraiser for the Special Ops Warrior Foundation. Check out his bio, watch the cool video, and think about dropping the Special Ops Warrior Foundation a few bucks this holiday season and help send the children of these selfless heroes to college.

11.11.09 WOD At Possum Corner

(Chia, Joe, Janet, April, Steve, Jean-Michael)
"Cindy"
As Many Rounds As Possible (AMRAP) in 20 Minutes:
5 DB Push-presses (sub for pull-ups, we only have 1 bar)
10 Pushups
15 Squats

Chia, Joe and Steve then did 5 miles on the Tophill Loop in 45:29.

Post Script Day 2

So a valiant effort but not as successful as day one. I went a little off the reservation with a couple of beers to celebrate a friend's nomination to the bench today, followed by a second dinner of scallops that I didn't need! Decent workout day and certainly I prevailed over the Skoal, but more discipline will be needed in the coming weeks and months to be fit for the OT100!!

WOD at Possum Corner
Fiddy-Five Two-Fiddy
50 Pushups
5 box jumps
50 Crunches
5 box jumps
50 One-Hand DB Snatches (25/side)
5 box jumps
50 Plate Thrusters 25# plate
5 box jumps
50 Upright Plate Rows 25# plate
5 box jumps

Post Script Day One

Good day overall sticking to the Paleo eating, great Possum Corner workout, and best of all no Skoal!

WOD at Possum Corner
(Chia, Joe, Janet, Mary, Jean-Micheal)

ONCE THROUGH FOR TIME:
50 Crunches
10 Burpees
50 Flutter Kicks
10 Burpees
50 Cross-Knee Crunches (25/side)
10 Burpees
50 Side Crunches (25/side)
10 Burpees
50 Plank Reach-Unders (25/side)
10 Burpees
50 Supermans (50/side)
10 Burpees

Here's a little bit about how I eat and track my nutrition.

I eat based on the Paleo Diet, a way of eating that emphasizes quality of food, not quantity or macronutrient ratios. Admittedly it is heavy on protein and fat and low on carbs, but there is no proscribed ratio.

The Paleo way of eating is centered around the idea that as humans our genes make us designed to ingest certain types of foods and that eating outside that box is the cause of inflammation (the body's response to stuff it doesn't like) which in turn is the cause of many chronic disease states which plague modern, Western society.

Processed food and the chemicals they contain also contribute to these disease states. Salt, nitrites, and high-fructose corn syrup being the most ubiquitous and among the worst offenders.

If you want to learn more just Google "paleolithic diet inflammation" or something similar. There's plenty of smart people out there who make the argument for the paleo way of eating much more eloquently than me.

I also track what I eat using a free site called Fitday.com. The site allows you to enter custom foods or select from its database of foods. It keeps track of Kcals and macronutrients and the relative ratio of each. It may seem burdensome to use, but after a few days, especially if you eat the same foods day to day as I do, it's really pretty easy. I use the log mostly to make sure I'm getting enough protein throughout the day, and as my training increases, that I'm getting enough total calories per day also. You can also share your log or make it private. You're welcome to check mine out any time here: My Fitday Log

Day 0 of Training for OT100-Nut Up or Shut Up

Tomorrow is the first day of training for my second 100-mile ultramarathon, and my first trail 100, the Ozark Trail 100.

I'll be documenting my progress in each of the following:

My running; distance, performance, nutrition, hydration, etc. I'm starting from a baseline of about a 4:00 marathon right now, and I could probably do a 50K with a little post-race pain, but a 50-miler, while doable probably would hurt a lot. I have under my belt one 100-mile road ultra, numerous 50-milers, 50Ks and road & trail marathons. My sole goal for OT100 is to finish in the time allotted, in one piece. Period.

Crosstraining; utilizing the some of the tenets of Crossfit in my own way, with emphasis on core training, overall fitness and high-intensity-interval-training. We have a gym in our garage and have anywhere from 2 to 8 people join us at 0530, several days a week, depending on everyone's schedule and travel committments.

Paleo diet pursuit; my quest to eat clean protein and fat, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables (FFV) and avoid dairy, sugar, grains, and most difficult of all-beer. Trying my best to follow Dr. Cordain's guidelines and garnering support from the Whole30 group over at Melissa Urban's Blog.

Skoal; my nemesis.

Sleep; the ultimate quest for quality sleep of sufficient quantity while training for a 100-mile trail ultramarathon and fulfilling my duties as a urology resident.


I welcome suggestions, motivations, call-outs, etc., anything that will help me toe the line and cross the finish of the OT100 next year.