Wednesday, June 22, 2011

STAR TREK

                      Now why would I call todays blog - Star Trek?  - Watch the video. I have been asked several questions recently. What and Why Green drink and JuicePlus+? What are tabata's? When's your next race? Won't you damage your joints with all that running? You might get a heart attack? What's the difference between road and trail? Bonking?? etc etc.
     There are many types of Green drink, after experimenting with quite a few I came to settle on Dr Nameth Sheridan's 'Superfood' which is licensed by Kiki Health in the UK. Made up of minerals and plants such as wheat grass, broccoli, seaweed, alfalfa, parsley, cactus, nettle juice, spinach , ginger root as well as  algaes, enzymes and a serious probiotic mixture. Check out the link  http://www.kiki-health.co.uk/Products/Supplements/Natures_Superfood.asp?referrer=AW3&gclid=COXAhaf_xqkCFYEMfAodb0rMUw  There are many benefits but I must stress that this a food and not a supplement. It also helps to alkalize your system, I could bang on about this all day - and as many of you know - I do. Very basically many of our health problems are associated with acid in our system caused by food, drink, stress and so on and this drink helps to re-establish the alkali balance, so many common diseases fail to grow in your body because it is now a non acid enviroment. I have taken it everyday for 8 years. It looks like pond water- and some would say tastes like pond water- whatever......it works. I also combine it with a further Avanced Probiotic (Neways) and Juice Plus+.
      Why all three?  I feel this way I am covering all the basics and JuicePlus+ gives me the guarantee of all my fruit and veg intake (without the sugar) for the day. This Big Three combination has so many benefits when combined that I can't recommend them highly enough. For example after my 4.5 hour runs I have no aches or injuries at all. No lactic acid build up. No stiffness. No limping around. My heart rate is now 47 and the next day it will be back to 47 and I can run again....the next day! Of course I  have a healthy diet too but it all helps. For more info on Juice Plus+ check out  http://www.juiceplus.co.uk/ or if in France,call Christine on 0633273767
      Tabata's- Dr Izumi Tabata is the man who discovered this remarkable 4 minute excersise, yes, 4 MINUTES. Its a type of interval training and has the same cardio effect as  45 minutes of normal aerobic excercise.....sign me up I hear you say. Take an excersise such as sprints for example ( it works better with large muscle groups) Sprint FULL OUT for 20 seconds, rest for ten and then repeat this 8 times. Thats it. Do once a week. The first few times I did it I thought I was going to have a heart attack. It's also a massive fat burner.
       My next race is the 37 k run in late July in Val d'allos, the ski resort, with 7400 feet ( 2250 metres) elevation. I'am a bit nervous for several reasons, firstly its 37 k, nearly twice as far as my last race, its in the thin mountain air - of which I have no experience- and finally, the first climb is  3300 feet (1000 metres) straight up and the highest straight climb I've ever done straight up is 1750 feet (530 metres), so go figure.
      Joint damage and heart attacks. All this is primarily in the hands of the Almighty however, due to the surface, trail runs are more forgiving than road runs and I have an extensive stretching, pilates and physio regime and my diet. Despite what you read in the papers you are much more likely to have a heart attack than if you don't run rather than if you do. (One study showed a 42% reduced risk of heart disease for those who ran for more than one hour per week)
 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1169591/
      The main difference between road and trail running is, in trail running, there's nobody there!!! which is great; no cars, no noise, no people, just nature, fantastic. TRY IT. I know a few women who have expressed a concern about their safety and I understand but you see so few people, the thought of some homicidal maniac hanging out on top of a mountain waiting for a lone female jogger strikes me as slightly absurd. I do see the occasional runner and its actually about 50/50 men and women. Usually the girls are going so fast I doubt if anyone could catch them! In fact one of them could be the previously mentioned Juice Plussed up Christine.
     And finally; Bonking. If only this was something I could look forward to on a trail but sadly it is not. Simply put, if you run out of Glycogen, you stop and cannot go on.The Wall is a more commonly known expression. I've come close to it and have seen people suffer from it and its not a pretty sight as it can be accompanied by hallucinations and worse. Even well trained athletes can only store a maximum of two hours of glycogen plus there are other dangers such as Dehydration and Hyponatremia. Essentially if you keep your water, carbs, proteins, salts etc balanced and adequate then you are okay but on a long run with hills and heat its not always easy to work out and you HAVE to work it out all on your own........cos, as I said earlier, there's nobody else there!!
      Its fun this trail running lark.

3 comments:

  1. Good luck with that altitude thing... I can't exercise for about 3-4 days when I go up 'cause I can't breath and I'm constantly trying to stay awake. Maybe you should get there a few days early. BTW, since you are a complete nut, you can buy oxygen deprivation chambers to sleep in at night so that your body gets used to being at altitude ahead of time. How do I know this? I live next to another running wacko.

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  2. Deprivation chambers! crikey, sounds very Star Wars..now I am really worried but good advice about going up there earlier, Thanks.

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