Intermittent Fasting Trials

Last year at this time, I tried doing the "Warrior Diet" for awhile. The biggest shock was that I could "hold off" on eating a breakfast and not eat anything until the afternoon. I love to eat, especially breakfasts! In the summer, I transitioned to the Paleo Diet and ate "lightly" in the morning and afternoon. Once I got into the swing of things during both diets, I felt better and realized it wasn't hard to constantly eat all the time when you eat healthy.

I have found that it is not as easy to eat Paleo style in the winter when fresh fruit is not as easy to find. With limited running in the past couple of months and holiday cooking all around, I haven't been able to maintain the eating levels and weight that I would like to be at. In the back of my head, I have been planning to start something called "intermittent fasting". This means you do not eat anything for 18-27 hours or so. I was just too chicken to try going without food for so long. I could go without eating until about 1:00 p.m. and feel great, but could I go without eating anything until dinnertime? I have been doing the no breakfast thing 3-4 days a week for a couple of weeks, but Sunday I tried going until dinnertime with a longer fast. It was much easier than I thought it would be. I finally had my first bite of something (and I only drank water) at 6:30 p.m. Today I skipped breakfast, then even though I had a lunch, I skipped that too. I did not eat until supper. This is what I have learned from these two trials. I am no hungrier at 5:30 p.m. then I would be a 10:30 a.m. The hunger does not get any worse throughout the day. In fact, you feel quite comfortable and energetic and don't even feel hungry unless you think about it. Appetite is different then hunger. Fasting for the first time is like running your first marathon: you are frightened that you can't do it and think that it is impossible to accomplish. After you have run a bunch of marathons 26 miles is a piece of cake! In other words it is not as hard as it sounds. Once you do it once, it is easier the second time.

I have read a few websites and blogs on intermittent fasting. I am trying it to lose some weight (less calories going in), to get off the bad foods I have been eating, and because supposedly the fat burning works better when you aren't constantly eating. I have not read this e-book, but this site (Eat Stop Eat) tells you a bit more about intermittent fasting. What is there to know? You just don't eat all three meals seven days a week. Take one or two days and don't eat (from supper to supper). I had no loss of energy and will keep trying this to see what or if there are any results.

Plus as a time when I cannot be competitive, I was just competitive with myself and accomplished something I never thought I could do (or at least willingly do). It was interesting to note that denying yourself food for a few extra hours was not that hard to do and in fact felt much more more healthy than grabbing snacks of various types throughout the day.

Here are a couple of sources of information on intermittent fasting:


Running on empty: the pros and cons of fasting Shari Roan "Los Angelos Times"

Called intermittent fasting, this rather stark approach to weight control appears to be supported by science, not to mention various religious and cultural practices around the globe. The practice is a way to become more circumspect about food, its adherents say. But it also seems to yield the benefits of calorie restriction, which may ultimately reduce the risk of some diseases and even extend life.

Fast way to better health by Michael Eades

Is Intermittent Fasting Healthy? by Mark Sisson

Numerous animal and human studies done over the past 15 years suggest that periodic fasting can have dramatic results not only in areas of weight (fat) loss, but in overall health and longevity as well. A recent article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition gives a great overview of these benefits which include decreases in blood pressure, reduction in oxidative damage to lipids, protein and DNA, improvement in insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake, as well as decreases in fat mass.

Scott’s Intermittent Fasting Success Story Scott Kustes

The Benefits I’ve Seen
* Improved mental clarity during the fast
* Improved workout performance during the fast
* Lower body fat percentage at the same bodyweight (i.e., more muscle mass)
* No worry about food during the day ‘ I can get up, run out the door to work, work all day, then go home to eat. I don’t have to be concerned with fitting in lunch and food is no longer the focal point of my day; living is.
* No food-induced crashes during the day – I’m on top of my game all day. Even eating low-carb Paleo on a normal eating schedule left me more lethargic than this
* Better in-tune with my body – you learn to distinguish psychological hunger (i.e., it’s noon and I should eat) from real hunger. When I get truly hungry, I break the fast and eat, even if it’s outside my “window”
* More energy – You’d think I’d experience fatigue with no food intake, but I can’t quit moving and having an urge to go run around the block during a fast
* Food tastes better – it’s amazing how much better a well-cooked meal tastes when you haven’t eaten all day

Top Ten of 2009

Here is my top ten list for 2009.Have a Happy (and successful) New Year.

1) Postural Restoration
I have only been to five visits to the Physical Therapist, but the exercises I am doing are working in amazing ways. I am learning how to finally get my left hip to work properly. Basically my left TFL (Tensor Fascia Lata) is constantly engaged and doing all the work (that it is not supposed to do). I am not engaging my left hip flexor at all (psoas muscle), and my left gluteus medius is extremely weak. By doing some very targeted and unusual exercises everything seems to be shifting around in my hip and left leg and it feels so much more stable already, plus I am working on my tight right side (ribs and shoulder) that are rotated to the back position. I am thrilled with the work so far and on the limited runs I have had (my achilles is sore). This therapy gives me a lot of hope for 2010 and it was so unexpected. I was just going to a physical therapist to ask a few questions and I lucked upon a therapist who uses this type of therapy. Hopefully this will be the fix I need to correct my running form and imbalances. However, proper running form may not be all that it is cracked up to be. Check out this video of  2:16 marathon win in Japan this year!



2) Feldenkrais
I have learned so much about how the body and muscles are supposed to move around the joints from this simple and relaxing type of exercise.

3) Running on the Internet
I really appreciate searching out all sorts of running information on the web, whether it be medical, race results, or just connecting with other runners. Not only that, but I have been able to watch the World Championship, marathons, and other track and cross-country races live or at a convenient time. The most exciting  race of the year was when Dathan Ritzenhien set the American 5000m record at Zurich. Dathan claims his third place medal in the world half-marathon champtionships was a better race and there were some extremely exciting track races to watch this year, but nothing beats the moment when it appears that Dathan is catching Kenenisia Bekele at the end of the race.



4) Snowshoe Racing
I had a pair of Tubbs 10k racing snowshoes for ten years but never ran a snowshoe race until this year. It was a lot of fun and I even won a race (with a very small field), but there aren't many wins at any type of race left in my legs so I'll take it!

5) Inspiration
Whether it be world class athletes achieving their dreams or beginning runners tackling a new distance for the first time, I am always inspired by the achievements of others. I have watched many of my teammates on the Gate City Striders have breakthough races this year. Nothing compares to the results of Mike and Cathy Merra. Cathy has catapulted herself into national prominance as a 50+ runner, but I think Mike's progress has been just as dramatic. Seeing as all three of us are the same age, that gives me a lot of encouragement that improvements are still doable. It does take hard work, though, as Mike and Cathy work hard on the training and diet.

6) Gate City Striders Wednesday night track workouts
I had a lousy year of running and racing, but my favorite part of running is participating in the Wednesday night track workout. I enjoy the camradarie of running with friends and pushing my body to levels that I could never do on my own. Unfortunately I was playing keep-up during most of the workouts, but some of my best running of the year was the pushing I had to do during some intervals.

7) Born to Run
Great book, if you haven't read it yet, then you are missing out on a classic book!

8) Eating Healthier
I have been learning to eat healthier, although it is harder to do in the winter months. Whether it was the Warrior Diet or a bit later in the year the Paleo Diet I have been learning to eat less "factory food" and eat more real foods. I am still playing around with the diets, but I know that certain things work better for me. Eating junk foods is not one of them (unfortunately).

9) Photo Finishes
This was one of my favorite finishes to a race of all time.

10) Muscle Medicine
I put this book to good use once I strained my achilles last week. Using the F.A.S. T. technique as decribed in the book as well as using the TPMassage Foot Baller  I have been loosening up the calf and soleus so I can do a small bit of running as I heal.

Finishing the Year with New Approaches

My brain is running around with all sorts of new information and there is just not enough time to assimilate it all. As 2009 draws to a close, I am happy that it is ending as it has not been a successful year for running from my vantage point, however it is a year where I encountered tons of new learnings about how the human body works and how I might get my body to work better for me as a runner. I have come to the realization that there is no easy fix for the multiple number of imbalance problems that I have, but I have not given up and there are some promising solutions on the horizon. I just have to be patient and continue working and learning until I get there.

I have not been able to get much running in during the past month or two which I don't like, but a break is good to get things back in order and working a bit more properly. I intended to get going after Christmas as I get ready to run the Boston Marathon this April. The Postural Restoration physical therapy I have been receiving seems spot on for me. I don't get it all technically just yet, but I notice the differences and changes in how I hold my body and move.

According to this article,  Biomechanical Influences for the Runner:

Running requires the capability of muscles to work together in three biomechanical planes in the back, pelvis and hip. When these three planes are functional, the runner has the ability for muscles to turn "on" and "off." This allows for reciprocal alternating activity to occur in the back, pelvis, and hip. If control of all three planes is lost compensation, fatigue, strain, and injuries will occur.

One thing that PRI focuses in on is the "inability to shift into the left hip" and this seems to be one of the major things that the therapist is working on with me. The exercises are to strengthen certain muscles and "turn off" other muscles to restore functioning and to use the muscles to shift the bones back into their normal postitioning. I guess my whole left side does not do much work and I am learning to strengthen and use it more properly.

It seems that postural assymetry like I have can be quite common. In this PRI article written for cyclists, Understanding Postural Symmetry to Improve Performance and Prevent Injury, Lori Thomson writes about :

"...a common pattern that exists in all humans that contributes to postural asymmetry. How people compensate for this pattern can vary, however, the underlying dominant pattern exists in everyone. We all have a tendency to stand on our right leg more than the left. Whether right or left handed our right leg is our dominant leg. We have a liver on the right side that weighs approximately three to four pounds and on the opposite side we have a spleen that weighs less than a pound. We have three lobes of lung on the right and only two on the left. In our upper trunk, we have a heart that lies more to the left. This organ asymmetry coupled with gravity, environmental factors, primitive reflexes and vestibular imbalances results in a tendency to stand on our right leg and rotate our upper body to the left."

Part 1 of the article looks at malalignment of the pelvis and its assymetry.
Part 2 of the article looks at faulty breathing patterns and assymetry.
Part 3 of the article looks at ways to treat this assymetry. Some of my exercises are similar to those displayed in the article. There are not many videos that I have found on the internet, but this one shows  a simple way to sit and stand up. One thing that many of my exercises have me doing is pulling back on my left hip and pushing my right hip forward while sitting or doing the exercises. This seems to target, my contiuously chronically tight inner thigh muscle.



This "sydrome" reminds me a bit of what TriggerPoint Performance calls LDLS (Left Drivers Leg Syndrome).


So how is it going. On Monday, during my second PT visit, I ran before and after doing my exercises. There was a very easy to feel difference in my movement patterns. After the  exercises, I had more movement through my left hip and I felt like I was running and rotating over my knee rather than skewing up my whole left leg. I did my exercises before heading out for the Tuesday night track workout. I hadn't done any speedwork or fast running since October and I almost turned around while traffic slowed me down and I knew I'd be late for the workout. I arrived after the second of six 800 meter runs. I whipped off my sweats and jumped into the third interval without any warmup. I finished in under 3:00, but was heavily winded. I did the next three in under 2:55. My left leg did not bother me, although I was stumbling on my right leg around the corners. It was nice to be slowed down in a workout by my conditioning and not by imbalances (although things are far from perfect). It was probably not a  wise decision to run without any warmup. My right achilles felt a bit tweaked a couple of days later. Yesterday I got outside  for a change and ran a nice 8 miler. I feel a bit more balance and stability in my left hip so I am happy. I did run knowing my achilles did not feel right so of course there was no running today as it was a bit hard to even walk properly as I was really tight in that achilles.

So I took out the Muscle Medicine book I had been looking through and decided to apply its principles. This book is easy to read and explains  how the body works together around various joints in the body. As part of the solution, there are ways to self-treat the muscles through a method similar to ART (active release technique). The author calls it Facilitated Active Stretch Technique (F.A.S.T.). Basically you apply pressure, usually with your fingers, around a restricted or damaged area, or in a series of points running up and down the muscle and at the same time you put the muscle through a range of motion. It is easy to do and well explained. I checked out the section on the achilles tendon and did the work, not on my achilles, but on my calf and soleus (where the restrictions led to stress on the achilles). Lo and behold, I had a much fuller range of motion when I was done and could walk normally again. I did not try running as I would rather heal than create more damage. It will be interesting to see if I can run tomorrow.

Here is a preview of what the book says about achilles tendonitis in runners:



Here is how to remove restrictions in the gastrocnemus and soleus muscles.



 The book is chock full of good useful knowlege like this for muscles throughout the body. I highly recommend it. I was talking to a Strider at the indoor track workout Tuesday after the workout. He was doing similar stuff on his muscles based on copying the ART techniques that he had experienced. He was close, but he wasn't getting it completely right as the book shows. He was just pressing down on a muscle rather than using angled pressure. Anyhow I was intererested in seeinig how it loosened up my stiff achilles and I was surprised at the improvement after only a few minutes of targeted work.

Other things I am doing this holiday season is working on my diet which stinks with all the food that my wife keeps cooking. Even though I have severely limited the junk: whoopie pies, cakes, cookies that she keeps baking, I have to eat "some" of it. Without the usual running that I do, I have to cut back somewhere. I have been trying something called "intermittent fasting." I haven't done much studying on it, but I was basically doing this in the summer with my Paleo diet. Basically I don't eat anything until afternoon. By skipping breakfast I don't get that insulin rush and I actually feel better without the food during the morning hours.

Finally I have decided to keep working on trying to build up my stregnth. I work with kettlebells, but I am now trying to work on my great weakness: full body strength. I have decided to do body weight exercises and am using the progressions in a book called Convict Conditioning from DragonDoor. It is heavily hyped like most of the DragonDoor material and I had to get over my leeriness over the title, but it seems to present a sound approach to progressively building your strength throught 6 basic body weight moves. I guess you have to decide if it is worth it to support an ex-con (in prison for what?) with your money and to decide even if the author is a real person: discussion here. I thought it was worth a shot and the book is well written, does not support a "thug" 'lifestyle, and the progressions are reasonable, well planned, and worthy of my energy.

See I told you I had a lot to think about and try, but I would rather be moving forward than stagnating or giving up!

The Warrior-Paleo-Primal Diets

I have been learning to eat well! I have been a junk food eater my entire life. I ran so I could eat and I thought I could eat whatever I liked. Ice cream, cookies, cereals, and anything else I liked I dumped in my mouth. I counted on running it all off. I realized a few years back that this was not going to work as I got older. I tried a few types of diets, had some success a few years back, but kept returning to the junk food. I learned a few healthy things along the way, but nothing really stuck. During the winter I read The Warrior Diet and had some success eating less throughout the day and more at night and following the health guidelines, but I soon returned to my bad habits. Then I started reading more about the The Paleo Diet which is also similar to The Primal Blueprint . I am still learning how to eat correctly and am enjoying healthy foods in new ways.

Basically I am eating fruits, nuts, and vegetables during the day. I am also learning to make awesome salads. For dinner I am learning to eat good meats and salmon along with another big salad full of all sorts of fruits and veggies. I am steering clear of processed foods, dairy, and grains (as well as breads). For the past three weeks I have noticed the lack of desire to eat junk foods. I have indulged a little here or there but it does not satisfy me as it did before. I do not feel hungry during the day (cravings are gone) and I feel ready to run at a moments notice. I don't get that heavy sleepy feeling after eating.

I have also noticed that I am losing weight. I have lost about 10 pounds in about three weeks. Today I weighed in a at just a few pounds more then I was a couple of years ago (my lightest weight in years) when I started to have some good races.

I have a lot to learn still about good nutrition and what works best for me, but I feel real good about the type of eating I am doing now. I will still like ice cream and cookies, but a bowl a week and a cookie or two a week is so much less that what I used to eat in one day alone!

I don't seem to be at a loss of energy for running either. I ran 8 miles on Wednesday (fastest time since last fall), and on the same loop the next day ran less than a minute slower. Today I went out in the heat and did 11 miles. I am putting the Feldenkrais lessons to work and feeling looser and stronger as I run. I can't get that full body balance for more that a few strides, but I think it will take a long time to undue the multiple imbalances that are so ingrained in my muscle memories.

I have a lot of work to do, but things are going in the right direction for a change.

And then I was looking at the Cigna 5K results and fellow 50 year old Mike Merra pops an 18:05 time and Cathy Merra blasts an 18:49. That's two people in the same family and the same age as me that are way ahead of where I am. Those are great results. Heck, I am no longer even the fastest person on my street, Karen Long ran an 18:55 at the same race. There were quite a few other fast times from teammates and friends. It is good to see people running so well.

My ribs are still sore when turning and getting up or lying down, however I stopped taking pain medicine and I only get an occasional jolt in the rib when running and that is a lot better than what I was told would happen just last week.

2009 Falmouth Road Race

Thursday the doctor told me I probably had a cracked rib. I was given some pain relief pills (50 heavy duty pills that I never used) and 50 other pills to also conquer the pain (that's a lot of pain medication!). Things did not look good for me. But Friday morning it only took a minute to maneuver out of bed, after taking about an hour the previous morning. Things were getting better. I went down Friday night to Falmouth so I could watch the Falmouth Mile and then the Road Race.

Saturday I started thinking, "What if I could run the road race?" I had not tried running since Wednesday night but I could walk around fine. I asked a therapist at the road race exhibition on Saturday about my rib. I was wondering if a lot of the pain had been muscular. I had broken a couple of ribs at the same spot a few years ago and was thinking that the intercostal muscles might have been acting up and protecting my rib when I was doing the intervals on Wednesday. He said it could be that or the oblique muscles. When talking to some former high school teammates at the Falmouth Mile, one was with a friend who was a radiologist and he also said it could be part muscular and noted that there is a sensitive nerve running underneath the ribs where I was hurt. He also said if I ran, nothing bad would really happen. The weather seemed perfect for the road race on Sunday and I really didn't want to miss it. I decided to pin my number on and head down to the start and see what would happen. If I couldn't run, I could always walk the course or walk back to my parent's house.

I heading down to the Mullen-Hall School (where I attended 2nd -5th grade) to park my car and walked to get a bus to the start. Once at Woods Hole I headed towards the "elite" corral (I know it is fun to say that) away from the mass of 10,000 other runners. Runners with numbers 1-500 (I was 260) get to warm up and start at the front of the barricades keeping all the other runners away. We get our own porta-johns and plenty of space to stretch out and warm-up. I bumped into my former high school teammate Duncan Warden and talked with him quite a bit. He is also doing the Paleo diet, and is still into Triathlons (he is a trainer- the first two triathlons I did in 1983 where races that Duncan also did, then my third race that year was an Ironman distance race, Duncan did not do an Ironman until he did Lake Placid last year. It is funny that we have had similar interests. He also used to play my dad a lot in tennis leagues). He had swum from Martha's Vinyard to Woods Hole a couple of days earlier (something he did last year too) which is something I have always wanted to do.

I tried some strides to see if I could run and my ribs did not hurt. So far so good! I bumped into a bunch of elite athletes, watched the wheelchair racers start and then got ready for the start of the Falmouth road race. I decided I was not going to race the course, but try to enjoy it this year and look around. Usually when I finish, I recall nothing of looking at the ocean or Nobska Lighthouse. I decided this was a good year to sightsee.

I started slower than I would like, passed Bill Rodgers at 1/4 mile into the race and ran tentatively. My ribs felt tight but there was no pain. I hit the first mile in about 6:38 the slowest I have ever gone in this race that I have done about 25 times. I noticed it was hard to breathe, I could not expand my ribs to breathe hard, so I kept the pace at a easy tempo. I worked a bit on my form and every once in a while I felt like I was improving and locking in a better stride based on using the Feldenkrais running tips I had been using.




By about 4 miles I started passing people who went out too hard. I still couldn't get a good breath in, so my running was not strained at all. I kept it right at the level of not having to breathe deeply. I slowly kept reeling in runners one by one. Finally I approached the crowds at the finish. I saw the clock ticking in the 46 minute range and although it was downhill to the finish I could not sprint like I wanted and finished a few ticks over 47 minutes for the 7 mile course. I was thrilled that I had finished without pain and my ribs did not start acting up after stopping. My legs felt good and loose. I went over to the massage table, and told Sean Gallagher, the chiropractor I usually get an adjustment from after the race that I had finished (the night before I saw him and said that I might run with my rib hurting). I also said I didn't need a massage or adjustment because my legs and back were feeling a lot better than usual.



According to the results I came in 316th overall (out of over 10,000). I was the 278th male to finish and 17th overall in the 50-60 year old age group. I was the 16th male in the age group as Joan Benoit-Samuelson beat all but three males in the 50 and over group. I will take those results and the nice run, particularly when I was not supposed to run. My wife was a bit upset that I ran when she joined me later in the day at the Cape. I also realized that I never looked at the scenery once while I was running. I couldn't even tell you what hue of blue the ocean was during the race. Duncan Warden finished in 50:32.

The race was won by a nineteen year old Ethiopian named Tilahun Regassa and an Ethiopian woman, Mamitu Daska, won the woman's race.

Check out the awesome race by Tilahun Regassa. He was having a great time out there!



I spent the next two days at Old Silver Beach in Falmouth and on Martha's Vinyard. While my family swam I read an interesting book on the Olympics: "Rome 1960: The Summer Olympics That Stirred the World" by David Maraniss I was only one year old at the time so I don't remember much about these Olympic games. I didn't start watching the Olympics until Mexico City in 1968. I have seen the footage of Abebe Bikila running the marathon barefoot. I know about Rafer Johnson and Wilma Rudulph, but this book put these people in historical context. It was a fascinating time. Tension in a split Germany, the Cold War heating up, athletes beginning to use drugs (a cyclist died), amateurism and companies and athletes realizing the commercial appeal of the Games, television (Jim McKay made his first sports broadcasts), rascism in America, an obnoxious and loquacious boxer named Cassius Clay, even the "softening" of America. I enjoyed reading the many undertones that circulated around these Olympic Games. Although many of the great athletes and events are covered the purpose was not to give us the training and history of athletes like Bikila except at a very superficial and historical level.

I did not run Monday or Tuesday. Today I did my normal 8 mile route. I am concentrating on not fighting my body, but trying to make the parts: shoulders,hips, and feet to work together. I can't hold the form, but I get an improvement every once in a while and it feels so much more loose and free to run this way. I ran the loop a little over a minute faster than my best time since last fall. True, I am losing weight and feeling better due to the Paleo diet, but I still could not breathe hard so my faster running can also be attributed to an improving running efficiency.

Crawling Like a Lizard

This morning I finished the fourth lesson on the Feldenkrais based audio of "Running With the Whole Body". I was expecting the lesson to go along with my earlier edition of the book with work on the hips. However, something completely different than my edition of the book was introduced (I don't know if the rest of the lessons in the newer edition match the audio lessons). Anyhow, I was told I was going to learn how to crawl like a lizard. The next two lessons are about moving like an animal and then moving like a human. Well, seeing I am trying to follow a Primal-Paleo diet (lost 5-7 pounds in two weeks- which means I am losing too much and have to eat more)I guess I can learn to move in a more primal sort of manner (actually it is how we all started to move when we started crawling as a baby). Watch how the hips and spine of this baby moves as he creeps across the floor.



I guess Feldenkrais reawakens some of these movement patterns from our past. Interestingly in cultures like Bali where babies are not allowed to crawl they develop movements pattern problems when they mature: they cannot hop from one leg to the other.

Of course—no Balinese baby is allowed to touch the ground for the first ‘rice year’ (seven months), so they never have the opportunity to creep. Creeping (how you motivate when lying on your belly) is substantially different from crawling (how you get about on all fours) and involves—try it—that very shifting from hip to hip which is a precursor for hopping. Because they miss that stage, the Balinese—able dancers and sportsmen—are unable to organize a simple foot-to-foot hop.

According to "the World's Fittest Man" Erwan Le Corre quadrupedal movement is one of the 12 key movements of Movnat (Move Naturally). By the end of the lesson I was indeed feeling like I was moving like a lizard. It was fun as well as revealing as the lessons help me perceive how I move and how movements connects throughout my body as it works as a unit.

I just love the audio version of "Running with the Whole Body". I was ready to call it quits knowing that it was movement patterns, that I could not seem to fix, that was hindering my stride and this is what the program is all about. The lessons awaken an awareness of how we move and more importantly how I should be moving. My running is changing, slowly. Last week I could hardly move. Yesterday I went for a 7 mile run and then kept increasing what I was doing because it felt so good for a change. Eventually I hit 13 miles. I notice a definite change in how my body, hips, and shoulders move and find that more power and balance is coming from my torso and not just my feet and legs (like what I used to concentrate on). Hopefully things will keep improving and I will not have to give up the sport of running.

I find the the audio lessons, although not hard, leave me feeling refreshed, aware, loose, and moving in a new manner that I can't wait to try out when running. The funny things is I am doing them despite a rib injury; I got kneed by mistake on Wednesday by my daughter in my right lower rib. The muscle down there is sore when I lay down and it hurts to roll over in bed and get comfortable. I have had to limit some of the movement exercise and I hope that by Tuesday when I go to see a Feldenkrais practitioner that it won't be so sore anymore.

Cracking the Paleo Diet

Here are some photos of the newest piece of art(?) installed in Nashua. The sculptor calls it "The Birth of Venus 2". I asked two kids walking down the road what it was a sculpture of and they said it was a butt. Actually it looks like 4 butts stuck together. You can find the statue (worth a chuckle) off Locke Street in Nashua next to the John G. Foster statue in the French Hill section of the city. This sculpture cracks me up and I am sure the neighborhood will have some fun with this!

Yesterday I ran and my calf stiffened up again. It was back to mountain biking today, but I really enjoy doing that anyhow. I think the calf stiffness comes from the way my foot is hitting the ground. I just got back to running after a week off partly due to the fact that I had found a tight spot near my ankle and released it through some pressure and mobility work. When I started running yesterday, the muscles over the shin were real tight. Instead of stopping and dealing with it, I ran on and the calf stiffened. I forgot about that front of the foot stiffness until this afternoon and worked on the area a bit and the whole ankle and foot started working better and the calf did not feel as stiff. It is sort of frustrating losing another day of running, but on the other hand, I believe my balance and form is straightening "slowly" and as it keeps unwinding from all the tightnesses and misalignments new areas keep popping up that need some attention. I guess that is a good thing!

I have been reading two books this week on the Paleo Diet. I find them interesting and while I don't know if it is a diet I would follow religiously, I find the reading about nutrition and healthy eating is helping me become a better eater. I finished reading "The Paleo Diet for Athletes" by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel. I really enjoyed hearing about the history of how humans (hunters and gatherers) ate 10,000 years ago. I would like to read "Born to Run" again because some of that book dealt with this.

The other book I started reading is called the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson. I recall when the author was a 2:19 marathoner and triathlete (finished fourth in the Hawaii Ironman). He advocates a different lifestyle today. It is based on the Primal Diet (similar to Paleo) but also the Primal healthy lifestyle. He is probably correct in one thing: the constant stress of marathon and endurance training is not healthy. I don't want to deal with that thought just yet. I certainly can apply some of the ideas in both books as being "fit" is not the same thing as being "healthy".

A few years ago, my daily summer diet looked something like this:

Breakfast: large orange juice (fruit for the day) and 2 or 3 bowls of cereal (if I was feeling healthy, I would eat Honey Nut Cheerios. If not (and it was in the house) I would eat a sugary cereal (favorites: Honeycomb, Captain Crunch, or Sugar Puffs). I figured that I run so I could eat what I wanted.

Snack: (cookies or anything else quick to eat that was lying around)

Lunch: Sandwich, soda, cookies, maybe even some ice cream

Snack: cookies or other sugary processed food

Dinner: whatever was provided (spaghetti, hamburgers, etc.) soda, desert,

Late night: cookies or ice cream

I have been using principles from "The Warrior Diet" off and on since the winter, but have got off it here and there. Anyhow today's diet based on some of the ideas in my new readings:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs with peppers and onions mixed in

Snack: a small bit of pistachio nuts and some cherries

Lunch: a few small pieces of chicken and a salad I made with spinach, onions, peppers, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, and sunflower seeds

snack: an apple

Dinner: Salmon, peas, rice (not on the paleo diet)

Snack: well after taking my family to see the butt statue we did stop at Dairy Queen and I had a chocolate ice cream cone (can't be perfect!)

As you can see I have been learning to change my diet dramatically. I do miss the days when I could eat whatever I wanted!