Inspiring read by Scott Jurek, "Eat and Run"

When I first heard about Scott's Jurek's new book "Eat and Run" I was very intrigued and purchased a copy on Amazon.com which arrived at my house on the release date of June 4th.  I have finished reading the book and wanted to write about it and highly recommended.  It is a great read at many levels as I will try to illustrate in this blog post.  If you want to get a copy check this site:  http://scottjurek.com/eatandrun/

To begin with, Scott Jurek, is an ultramarathon legend who has among his many wins 7 consecutive Western States 100 mile races.  The race is the first United States 100 miler which started in 1974 and is run on the 3rd Saturday and Sunday in June.  The next event takes place June 23 of this year.  For more info on this particular event, check out their web site at http://ws100.com/
Scott Jurek was born and raised in Minnesota and the book begins with his early childhood and conflicts with his father and having to deal with his mother's chronic illness.  He goes on to describe his early athletic career where he excelled in cross-country skiing.  Subsequent chapters go on to describe in detail his training and races at Western States and other events he participated in including the Badwater Ultramarathon, Copper Canyon Ultramarathon, Hardrock 100, and the Spartathlon in Greece.

In addition, throughout the book we find out about Scott's discovery of the vegan diet in 1997 and how he felt this influenced him as an athlete.  At the end of every chapter, he provides some of his favorite vegan recipes such as 'Lentil mushroom burger" and "Minnesota winter chili" which he says tasted so good that is when he decided he could be a vegetarian.
Lastly, he includes training tips on issues such as breathing, stretching, and finding the time to exercise.  Several color pictures give a glimpse of the beautiful places he has been to in his career.

I came away inspired and I think some of you may also be able to take away quite a bit in reading this.

Lastly, as part of his book tour, he recorded several podcasts about his book and the best one in my view was his interview with http://UltraRunnerpodcast.com   and at http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/ultrarunnerpodcast.com/id492152715

Forest Fire June 2012

As part of my quest to do as much altitude training as possible in the area, I made plans to go to Ruidoso for the June 9-10 weekend.  I had planned to summit Sierra Blanca peak (12,000 feet elev.) but my access via Ski Run road was thwarted by the Little Bear Fire in nearby Alto and Capitan.   So I studied my Lincoln National Park maps and google earth to see how I could approach the mountain from a different approach.  I headed out from Ruidoso off Mecham on Cedar Creek Road until the trail head at the end of the road (about 4 miles).   At the trail head, I ran into a hiker who told me that the trail ended in Indian land, that is The Mescaleco Indian Reservation.   With this in mind, I went up until the trail ended and then followed my compass on the I phone to navigate the peak which I could see from that location.  There was no true trail but the forest is being thinned to prevent forest fires from spreading and so I was able to find some "trails" where people accessed the forest to cut down the trees.  Since there was no trail it took a bit of work and following several falls on loose ground.  The climb reminded me of You tube video I had watched from the Barkley Marathons in Tennesse which is 100 mile race with 5X20 mile loops with a lot of navigating with compass with no trails. 

 
Along the way, I encountered a little plant that stung like hell, I thind it was poison oak but I am not sure so I took a picture of it. 

After that, I was paying attention to little plants like this,  having learned my lesson.

I arrived at the foot of the mountain that I had spotted from Ruidoso.  The remaining 1,000 foot climb was on the bare mountain with a significant incline (21% grade) .  There were no trees or vegetation and I made my way up by creating my own switchbacks to get up.  I arrived to the summit after 3.5 miles which took me 2:14:11.  The views from this summit which was 9,400 feet were spectacular and I got to see Sierra Blanca which will have to wait for another day.

Sierra Blanca Peak and Little Bear Fire

Little Bear Fire

To the north, I also had a spectacular view of the Little Bear Fire and the city of Ruidoso as well. As I started my descent, I realized it was going to be hard to find the trail again where I had left my car.  I decided to follow the creeks as they would take me back to the city.  I passed a lot of dry creek beds but then reached what I would later find out was the Ruidoso River where I was able to drink some water and pour some on my head.  I followed the river into town and then went back to the road where I driven to the original trail head.  I had to go back uphill and finished the entire hike/run in 5:20 having covered only 15 miles with 5,200 feet of total ascent and all above 7,000 feet.

The next day, I ran an easy 10 miles with 2,000 feet of total ascent.  Overall, I feel a good training weekend as I approach 4 weeks until Leadville 50 miles on July 15.

Going Paleo

For a few years going back to my training for triathlons, I had heard via several podcasts about the Paleo diet.  As I started into ultra running and listening to more podcasts http://www.imtalk.me/home/2011/5/30/imtalk-episode-264-loren-cordain-on-the-paleo-diet.html
I was struck by how many elite athletes are following a Paleo diet.  After doing some research and buying some books, I dove head long into the Paleo world.

In brief, the diet name refers to the Paleolithic era and is also called the "caveman diet".  The approach specified in the diet has been around for many years.  However, in recent years it was the research and books by Loren Cordain, PhdD who is a professor from Colorado State University who has advanced our understanding.  I read his books "Paleo Diet for Athletes" who he co-wrote with Joe Friel who also wrote "The Triathletes training bible". http://www.trainingbible.com/pdf/Paleo_for_Athletes_Cliff_Notes.pdf  Their theory is that humans evolved to eat a diet that more closely resembles a hunter/gatherer lifestyle and that modern food, specially processed food has contributed to many of the illnesses that we are increasingly seeing (heart disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, etc.).  As such, the diet consists of fresh fruits/vegetables, wild caught fish, free range chicken/turkey, free range beef, organic eggs with Omega 3, nuts such as walnuts but not peanuts, and coconut milk/almond milk.  What is not allowed is carbohydrates from grains, no bread, no pasta, no heavy starches, no dairy products (cows were not domesticated until 10,000 years ago), no sodas, or alcohol.

My goal for following this diet was to be healthier and lose a few pounds which will help me be a better runner, specially running hills.  From my reading, an additional benefit for athletes in terms of enhancing performance has to do with increasing muscle, decreasing fat stores, and improving recovery from workouts.   In addition, as you have more circulating fatty acids and less carbohydrates, the muscles start to get trained to burn fat instead of sugar.  Fat stores are much greater than glycogen in the liver and muscles, so endurance is improved, specially for long distance events.

So Lety and I went to our local market, Sprout, and acquired the necessary ingredients to start on the diet about 2 months ago.  Surprisingly, Walmart also has free range chicken and turkey available as well.  For me this meant instead of toast and orange juice, I started eating omelets with spinach and fruit for breakfast.  I made smoothies with coconut milk, strawberries, papaya, kiwis, bananas, and cantaloupe.  Lunch  is salad with olive oil/balsamic dressing and chicken/fish and dinner is salmon with vegetables and a salad.  I started drinking chocolate almond milk and lots of nuts like almonds and walnuts.  I try to focus on foods with Lower glycemic index which avoid big insulin spikes which foods with high glycemic index which causes them.

So what has been the effect that I have observed? For one, I was at first very tired and sleepy (no caffeine), somewhat more irritable and when I went to run, my legs were not responding.  My heart rate was super low but my legs did not want to propel me with any kind of energy.  I would say that lasted for about 2 weeks but slowly I started to get back to my normal pace and have started to improve.  The BIGGEST difference however, was the lack of muscle soreness in the morning.  In the past, when I would wake up, my muscles were sore the day after a workout.  However, on the Paleo diet you don't feel as sore and of course this is a benefit in terms of allowing consecutive days of training.  I had read about this effect and it has to do with the alkaline content of the foods that are consumed with the Paleo diet.  The lactic acid is more rapidly neutralized so the cause of muscle aches is diminished and speeds recovery.  In contrast to a regular diet which tends to be more acidic and so the lactic acid hangs around and delays recovery. I have also lost about 8-10 pounds while eating as much as I want of the allowed foods, so I have not been hungry.
As far as during training runs, I am still eating gels (Gu) and Cliff Bars/Powerbars which the Paleo Book for athletes says are essential.  Gatorade is OK as well.

If you read the books you find out cheating is OK and unavoidable, so I have gone out to eat "regular food" such as chocolate croissants and paninis for lunch on occasion.  The important thing is that at least 85% of the meals in a given week follow the diet.  Interestingly, I started to drink a Coke (I used to drink at least 3 a day) and could not finish it as I had lost the taste for it, never would have believed it!  I guess I now longer crave that high fructose corn syrup.
Anyway, I hope this creates an interest and you can research for your selves about this diet and how it could help you.  Meanwhile, I am going to get back to my usual posts about training as I prepare for Leadville 50 miler on July 15.

Altitude Training in El Paso and Cloudcroft

Well, I have 2 months until Leadville 50 mile Ultra and I am really concerned about the 10,000 feet elevation at the start and going up to 12,000 feet over 2 passes.  The elevation gain in Leadville is about 7400 feet so I really have my work cut out for me.  With this in mind,  I decided to run the Franklin Mountains on Saturday and make a day trip to Cloudcroft on Sunday.

Saturday AM headed out to the Henrich Park trail head to run the trails from that side of the mountain.  I drove via Transmountain and squirreled away some Gu's and Gatorade at the entrance on the Tom Mayes Unit of The Franklin Mountain State Park.  At 0700 AM, I was off to tin mine road towards Mundy's gap.  The road surface is really rocky and pretty technical.  I nearly fell a couple of times but made good progress up to the switchbacks which start after the tin mines.   I decided that I really needed to push it and for the first time went on the trail up to the North Franklin Peak.  Same rocks and at some points it is a technical single track.  I reached the summit and my Garmin read out 7,200 feet.

The Highest Point is North Franklin Peak

 That is the highest I can go here in El Paso and noticed a little less oxygen available up there.  The views are spectacular and its amazing how small Cristo Rey which I ran up last week with Run El Paso.  There was a couple up there and was able to capture the moment.

From there I could see the Organ Mountains next to Las Cruces and the Sacramento Mountains in Cloudcroft.  The winds were pretty strong up there as well.  

Next, I crossed over Mundy's gap over to the West Side of El Paso and down to the State Park and down to where I had my Gatorade waiting.  At this point, I had completed 12 miles in 3 hours.  I headed back towards Mundy's gap and again encountered the dreaded rock farm which I knew from the Puzzler was there.  Over Mundy's gap and back down to Tin Mine road and to Henrich Park I was able to complete a 20 mile loop in about 4:45.  The total elevation gain according to my Garmin was 4,700 feet.  From what I read the hallmark of ultra training is back to back long runs, most commonly on the weekends.  You never really have to run more than 26-28 miles on any given day.  The idea is to run the next day with tired legs, and my legs were sure tired the next morning. 

I headed out to Cloudcroft for the 120 mile drive arriving at the city center at 10:30 AM.  Having never run there before, I stopped at the High Altitude Bike Shop and picked up a map of the race course for the mountain bike race that was held a few weeks ago.  I proceeded to run the Osha Loop trail and did a total of 8 hard miles on some BEAUTIFUL single tract trails. 



View from OSHA trail with White Sands in the distance



Single tract section, Green all around!

As I went into the trail, there were several markings for different kinds of wild berries and trees.  It is really indescribable how nice it was to be able to do this run which is so close to El Paso and so different.  Amazingly, I came across a Douglas Fir Tree which was designated as the  "Largest native tree in New Mexico reaching 150 fee in height, 6 feet in diameter and 400 yards of age. 

The total run was for about 2 hours with stops for pictures and catching my breath.  The elevation at the start was 8,600 feet and climbed up to 8,800.  The total elevation gain for the run was 3,100 feet. 

I highly recommend making the trip up to Cloudcroft for some amazing trail runs.  There are many more to be explored and I hope I can come back up there soon.  For more maps and information, check out the New Mexico Rails-to-Trails Organization at http://nmrta.wordpress.com  they have a lot of maps and have organized trail building once a month.  The next event will be on May 19. 





El Paso Trail Runner

I am calling my new blog, El Paso Trail runner as I want to share my newly discovered enjoyment of this sport.  I recently completed the book "Born to Run" by Christopher Mc Dougall and was inspired by the characters and intrigued by the races described in the book.  Tragically, just a few days ago (March 30)Caballo Blanco or Micah True was found dead in the Gila National Forest after going out for a 11 mile trail run.  He had lived for years among the Raramuri in the Copper Canyon region of Chihuahua and was the Race director of the Copper Canyon Ultramarathon.
I considered the Bataan Memorial Death March my first trail run and signed up to try it out.  My training consisted in running on the Rio Grande river bed and the levees of the upper valley of El Paso.  Having completed this event and greatly enjoyed the experience of running in the trails, I have set my sights on other trail runs.  My next event will be the Leadville (CO) Silver Rush 50 mile trail run in July 15, 2012.  I will post from time to time about my training and hopefully have a blog about the race.

2012 Bataan Memorial Death March

 I came away from this event inspired in so many levels that I wanted to share with everyone what a great event this is.  This year was the 23rd running of the Memorial March.  It was began in 1989 by the Army ROTC Department at NMSU to mark a page in history that included so many native sons and affected many families in the state.  In brief, on April 9, 1942, tens of thousands of American and Filipino soldiers were surrendered to Japanese forces.  The Americans were Army, Army Air Corps, Navy and Marines.  Among those seized were the members of the 200th Coast Artillery, New Mexico National Guard.  They were marched for days in the scorching heat through the Philippine jungles.  Thousands died in the 'Death March" and those that survived endured many hardships in the prisoner of war camps.

Participants entering the Bataan Memorial Death March may choose between two routes. The 26.2 mile Full route or a 14 mile route.  I chose to participate in the full run and did the race with no backpack, as such I was designated as Civilian Light.

Pre Race Morning

I had been instructed to arrive early due to security and dutifully left the house at 0400 for the 40-45 min drive from West El Paso to the White Sands Missile Range.  The expected nearly 7000 participants and this required remote parking and getting on a shuttle bus to the football field where the opening ceremony was held.  They had us separated by category (civilian and military) as we waited for the start.  The ceremony included the playing of Taps, the Star Spangled Banner, Special Forces soldiers landing on the field by parachute from a helicopter, and a flyover by 2 fighter jets. Prior to the start they fired some very loud cannons

The Marathon
It took a while before we walked to the timing mat but finally at 0720 AM, I crossed the timing mat and started the run.  Initially we run on paved roads but soon we reached a jeep trail that was flat to a small downhill. The atmosphere is great from the beginning as I passed soldiers who were carrying 60 pound sacks marching and some from Ft Brag (Special Forces, I assume) who were running at a pretty good clip with their packs.  I followed a walk/run strategy from mile 1.  I ran for 1 mile and then walked for 0.1 of a mile paying close attention to keeping myself hydrated and fed.

At mile 6 we started a slow incline along the jeep road until reaching an aide station at approximately mile 8.  At this point, the 14mile marchers head back to the base.  I continued on a more steep incline of about 4-6% grade from mile 8 to mile 13.1 at which time we reach an aid station.  Initially, this part is on a paved road (asphalt) and then back to jeep trails which had sand and loose rock. I completed the half in 2:14.  After this point it becomes downhill on jeep trails with some slight up hills.  We passed some beautiful yellow flowers, Mexican Gold Poppies. 

After mile 18 we were back to the paved road and got to see the marchers that were making their way up the incline portion of the course.  I saw a group of soldiers who ran the entire 26.2 miles with gas masks and also the father who was pushing his handicapped daughter on a baby jogger who came from Florida. At this point a helicopter lands at the aid station to transport someone who had evidently collapsed from dehydration.  That made quite a sound and stirred up quite a bit of dust in landing.  At mile 20 we were back to join the 14 mile marchers and another aid station.  I decided at this point to just run and not take walk breaks.  Shortly thereafter I reached the most difficult running surface and this was about a mile stretch of soft sand which slowed me down quite a bit. The last 3-4 miles heading back to the base had some small hills but the biggest problem was a headwind was developing.  The day was also heating up as the noon hour was approaching.  At mile 24, I was handed a small American flag by a young girl and carried it the rest of the way.  I reached the end feeling like I gave it my all as I pushed it and did not walk any of the last 6 miles.

My total time was 4:42:44 and this put me at 18 out of 159 men my age but granted many were not running but only hiking and enjoying the scenery.

Post Race

As we crossed the timimg mat, we were all greeted by 5 or so survivors of the Bataan death march.  These were men in their 90's who sat in the tent and shook each of the finisher's hands.   I was very moved and had to fight back tears as I passed by their tent.

Post Script

I enjoyed this experience very much and highly recommend this event.  The event is well organized and the volunteers are great.  The participants are very inspiring and the beauty of the desert and the mountain trails aroung White Sands Missile Range with the Organ Mountains is a sight to behold.  As far as my performance in this race, I was happy to finish running and with no cramps.  I attribute that to a better hydration execution than in New York and taking salt tablets along with the gatorade, water and Gu.

Now its on to start training for a bigger challenge as I prepare for the Leadville Silver Rush 50 mile Run...