I FINALLY had a decent half marathon running on FAT! page 8

[meloroaster]

i'm doing all my workouts solo! as i mentioned, i live in the boondocks up north (although it's coastal so weather is like Seattle...) so no crossfit gyms up here! there's an awesome woman who does "body burn" classes twice a week whcih as crossfit like and kick my arse. otherwise i just make up my own WODs that take about 25-30min.

tonight going to do some hill sprints!

[relaygirl]

@meloroaster I have got to motivate myself to do WOD at home like you do. I know I could. It is a mental block. I self inflict major pain in hill workouts 2 times a week but it is easy where I live because I live where there are tons of hills but that is about it on my own. Great job getting it done yourself. I am accumulating equipment from craigslist and garage sales slowly. We did clear out the garage a few weekends ago to get our gym ready. My kids are the catalyst. My 12 y.o. was ripped last summer from doing crossfit kids. My 9 y.o. daughter could do pull ups! I just don't want them to lose anymore of their fitness gains. We come from a line of large cumbersome folk so none of us are "naturals" at anything. My 12 y.o. is a much faster base runner now and I know it is from the cross fit. He has much more explosive power. He is 5'5" and weighs 110.

Going to the trainer-AND NO SQUATS TODAY! Yay! I tell him I can't do them right before a race because I shredded my thighs before Key West doing tons of them.

[meloroaster]

omg your kids sound awesome!
and i actually do most of my WODs at the local gym (in the high school). i have to make do with limited equipment but i find it easier than at home. i'm lucky though cause membership is 120/year (haha yay for small towns!) and it's 2 blocks from my house. so it's easy to run over, workout for 30min and head home. i often use the WODSHOP and my own notes to make up routines and mix and match. you should just do them with your kids!!

and i hear you re. squats...i did run monday, WOD (incl weighted lunges) tues and sprint yesterday. i feel like my glutes are conspiring against me today...although i know it's totally worth it! today i'm gonna WOD with row machine and stick to core and upper body!

[relaygirl]

Tuesday I am working up and doing a maximum deadlift and push ups-that is it! I can't wait. Although I am terrible at push ups-but that is my little fitness goal is to unload a ton of them in perfect form. Sigh.

@meloroaster the kids are okay, but the dog that run 15 miles with me kicks butt Winston. I love him.

[meloroaster]

haha! love the dog, tolerate the kids then.

funny, i am considering whether i should have a kid soon...i still get carded but i am 39 so it's now or never. i think one of my main deterrents is how i'm going to be able to workout (run, SUP, gym, swim etc) as single mom!!!

i'm actually pooped so not going to gym. trying to "listen to my body" so will take a day off.

[relaygirl]

sorry I am MIA--I hurt my back doing the deadlift!!! I was so mad. I am a wimp too. It happened at 155. I did really well at 147, maintained form, and I said to my trainer to go one more-I should have just done 150, I think. I could feel my back on the left side jerk out. I am just now feeling okay. I still have run 2 half marathons since then. Totally slow but it was good. Last one was 1:52. The other was trail so it was hard to determine how I did-it was in the mud too. I was top 6 in my old lady age group but it was a really tough day for everyone.

@meloroaster--I really think you aren't living the fullest life you can until you have kids. I mean, they drive me completely nuts, but it is an awesome completely nuts And as far as fitting in the activity with kids-that is the best part--you find things you can do with them and then they grow up loving the things you do too. It actually got me running more--I bought the most expensive kick ass jogging stroller I could and ran with the kids. We used to go to parks a ton and climb and play tag and throw Frisbee and play kick ball. Now the kids are into more organized things so we run sprints, do little kids cross fitty exercises to get them in shape. They all love to swim, play tennis. The boys play football-we make up family plays to score My girl is not very athletic but she tries and that is all we ask-to be the best YOU you can be. I'm a little afraid of the softball but I muscle through playing catch with her. I love it-it gets better every year.

Really, in retrospect, they just stare at you for the first year from their bouncy seats--you could do a lot in a home gym with a baby in a pack in play in the corner-wish we had one set up then.

And, I wish I could go back and do the pregnancies over in a paleo way--my kids are *brilliant* now, who knows what they would be if they weren't grown in utero on caramel macchiatos, hot dogs and onion rings. Yes, it was that bad.

Okay, next race is next Sunday. My diet has been very good on whole foods but I have been eating crazy amounts of "good" carbs. I have gained 10 lbs since xmas!!!! I feel so sluggish when I run. I knew it was there and I just kept ignoring it thinking "I am eating whole foods, I am fine" Ughhh. I still feel clear and ok physically when I am not running but it is getting in the way now and I have to wear tank tops. Operation get it off is on. I don't really know what to do. I am going to really work at watching my carbs--most days I would keep it to 100-when I used to keep it to 70. And lately they have been high. And I am sensitive to them. And I love cherries.

Any ideas? I hate having to control every bite-but I am one of those that will have to, I think having a history of obesity and food addiction.

[jenn26point2]

And, I wish I could go back and do the pregnancies over in a paleo way--my kids are *brilliant* now, who knows what they would be if they weren't grown in utero on caramel macchiatos, hot dogs and onion rings. Yes, it was that bad.


Any ideas? I hate having to control every bite-but I am one of those that will have to, I think having a history of obesity and food addiction.

I wonder the same thing about my pregnancies and how my kids would have turned out. Brady was made of Buffalo Wild Wings and Makenna is made out of Cap'n Crunch with Crunch Berries.

I track my food daily for specific macros.

[relaygirl]

Oh MY-the half on Sunday was TERRIBLE. I did back WAY off on the carbs. I am sure that is why--I ran it in 2:05 and I was running out of the A corral--so embarrassing. I should have just gone back to E or something. I earned the A and still have a year or so that I will run out of A in the huge races. But really -it is like big mama in a sea of over fit men with absolutely no body fat.

Okay, now what to do--for me I have to have VLC to lose-I just can't lose otherwise. And I have to lose to get the weight off to run faster but I have to keep running to train for these monster races (just signed up for an ultra in Oct). I think I am the most metabolically deranged person ever.

During the race I just had no gas-I kept going at a steady pace and I did not feel bad during the race or after but I couldn't rocket myself out of there. I need to keep better track of my numbers-when I started writing on this thread I had just upped fat considerably and backed off protein and maintain lowish carbs. It was bad then it got better.

I did not supplement at all except for salt tabs during the race with water. I had a bp coffee before-this is standard for me. The day before I did eat a little more than my plan I am trying out.

I need to 1) define my goals both for training/running and health 2) meticulously track in cronometer 3) set definitive plan and stick to it for several weeks no matter training or race performance 4) give myself a break for running so bad

I'm feeling overwhelmed with paleo knowledge again. Eat this now, eat this PWO, don't eat this, don't over train-then everyone I read is xfitting everyday...

I just want to know where my freaking abs are--I lift heavy, I interval train, I push up and plank and kettle bell and all kinds of things and there is nothing there but the soft belly I have always had. My trainer said to me that my abs are in there...just hidden

Okay, done complaining I hiked today and that was good.

[jenn26point2]

I love hiking. And as much as this is so not what you want to hear, I would kill for a 2:05 half marathon finish! My best was 2:50.

How long have you been VLC? Maybe you need to give it more time for your body to fully adjust to being a fat burner instead of a glucose burner?

Your abs will appear - eventually. VLC will help speed that up.

[dogfuel]

After over a year of success with it, VLC stopped working for me (only as far as fat loss).

I added back in some carbs (even rice and some oats). I continued to strictly avoid sugar, wheat (and other glute grains), corn, soy, legumes and seed oils and started to pay a lot more attention to calories. Never really went low calorie, but realized some of the things I ate plenty of things (i.e. almond butter, really fatty meats...) were keeping me around 3k calories/day, and adjusted my diet, keeping carbs at 60-90g/day. 10 lbs dropped as easily as the first 65 (first 65 lbs were from 90% primal choices and carbs at 10-50g/day, but sometimes crazy calories).

I also realized that, even though "fat adapted", I more extra energy on long runs than when vlc (This was about the time I was ranting to you about maltodextrin on very long runs, which I still love).

Everyone is different, but for me, the last little bit required a realization that calories do matter (even if they are "good" calories). Not sure adding back in the carbs helped with the fat loss, but it didn't seem to hurt fat loss and it sure helped performance.

Don't worry about someone else's definition pf over-training... just don't hurt yourself and don't be afraid to take a day (or a few) off if you feel you need it.

Which ultra did you choose? thinking about the GA Jewel or the North Face/GoreTex at Pine Mtn around that time.