Oddities, Nutrition, and Intervals - 4.77 miles

You're Running Where???
So this morning, I'm doing my normal ritual of driving my wife & kids to my in-laws' house, when I see a runner. He's in the standard issue Ninja Runner uniform, going at a pretty good clip towards traffic, which is admittedly pretty light at 6:30am. Is he on the sidewalk? Running along the gutter? Is he on the side of the road?

Not at all. He's running towards traffic in the middle of the road. I started to slow down, but asked my wife what he thought he was doing. Finally when we were probably less than a tenth of a mile away from him, he ran to the sidewalk. Was that crazy, or what? Honestly, I wish I could have taken a picture of him in the middle of the highway. Did I mention it's a highway? Highway 20, otherwise known as Colusa Highway. It may not be a freeway, but he was running in the middle of the highway! COME ON!

Food. Food? FOOD!
I gotta say, I'm extremely frustrated these days. The weight I lost was on the low carb lifestyle, and I did very well at it. But I've also realized that running as much as I've been, and starting marathon training, that I need to eat differently. Specifically, I needed to eat a heck of a lot more carbohydrates. I also have a ways to go before I'm at my optimal weight, I could use to lose

I know the nutrition. I know my resting metabolic rate, I know how many calories I need each day, I know the ratio of carbs, proteins, and fats. Whole grains, good complex carbs.

So I added calories to what I was eating. I've gone from 1200 to 1300 up to 1700 to 1800. The thing is, after eating 100g of carbohydrates a day for the past three years, this is a struggle! The Hal Higdon book I'm reading right now says to eat 400 to 500! Today I managed 200g. The key, of course, is to replace some of those proteins with carbs, but heck, I feel like I'm barely eating any protein as it is. I also need the protein for recovery for the MWF workouts.

So then this evening I was reading the February Runner's World, and it addressed this very subject on page 36.

If you're running about 25 miles a week, aim for at least 2.25 grams of carbohydrate every day for each pound of body weight. That's about 340 grams of carbs for a 150-pound runner (nonrunners need just 250 grams a day).

How the heck do I do this?

Finally: Intervals, 4.77 Miles Worth
The plan called for a 10-minute easy warmup, 4 x (3:00 fast @ 7:22/3:00 easy), 10-minute cooldown. I think I managed pretty well.



Warmup: 10:00, 1.05 mi, 9:32/mi
Interval 1: 3:00, .42 mi, 7:09/mi
Rest 1: 3:00, .30 mi, 10:03/mi
Interval 2: 3:00, .43 mi, 6:58/mi
Rest 2: 3:00, .28 mi, 10:35/mi
Interval 3: 3:00, .42 mi, 7:12/mi
Rest 3: 3:00, .27 mi, 11:17/mi
Interval 4: 3:00, .40 mi, 7:31/mi
Rest 4: 3:00, .28 mi, 10:51/mi
Cooldown: 10:00, .94 mi, 10:37/mi

4.77 mi, 44:00, 9:12/mi, 578 calories burned



That last interval was tough. Obviously I didn't make 7:22, I was a little slower, but still pretty close. Besides, what would pushing yourself be without difficulties?