I am now a few weeks into my new nutrition/exercise regime, so far so good. It still feels a bit strange eating so much for breakfast but I get the idea. I use to be a two choclolate croissants a day man but I am now down to one, although to be fair I can hardly get that down as I am so full. Still, I am sticking rigidly to the nutrition plan and also the fitness regime. Early signs are that I appear to be moving quicker, (though this still needs to be tested in a proper race). As an example I have already knocked 20 seconds of my 600 metre repeats......now if I can just pro rata that up to 50 miles then I'll be rocking. My quads already feel stronger and I feel leaner but we shall see.
Time to get some new trail shoes, no matter what I buy they are all shot to bits within 3 months. I have tried many good manufacturers and all, as you would expect, perform adequately enough. I would love to recommend one type but like most trail runners I have a plethora (love that word), of types. My new pair are Brooks Cascadia, these have a universal platform (don't ask) with neutral pronation. Although I do pronate, in a rather ungainly rolling way, my orthopedist supplies my insoles and it is these that deal with that specific problem..........well thats what he tells me anyway. Brooks Cascadia are also ecological in terms of the materials used, so I'll be running and saving the planet at the same time, (very Kyoto !). I did look at a pair of very expensive Salomon S Lab's and even though Killian uses them to race up mountains faster than a goat on heat I have a sneaky suspicion that its got more to do with the fact that he is a super being from another planet...........and could probably do it barefoot anyway.
I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that to open up my glut-4 receptors I have to do 50 squats, 15 minutes before the now singular cherished chocolate croissant. I try to do this away from the Cafe because I know the owner just wouldn't understand this at all.... 'Why do you do that before eating a croissant?...Monsieur I think you should do what all my french customers do'............'Oh what's that?'..............' Have a cigarette of course'. .....Ah yes the traditional gaelic answer to all life's problems; coffee and a cigarette. It certainly keeps them slim; well that and not eating. However, if I see a fellow ultra runner lighting up a fag on top of a mountain I'll be sure to let you know..... (As I have quite a lot of American readers I must point out that a 'fag', in English, is a cigarette and in know way was I suggesting that ultra runners are homeophobic and have now taken to setting fire to ultra gay runners!!!...........Shit, I don't mean 'Ultra Gay' I mean, I mean, oh you know what I mean.)
Speaking of San Francisco I have just entered the lottery for the 'Way to Cool 50k'. (Okay I know I'm losing a few of you here). Firstly 'the Way to Cool' is a race and miles from San Francisco but its sort of in the neighbourhood.......if you live in the South of France and secondly, did you like that rather subtle San Francisco segway?
So why enter a lottery to run this particular race, well ;-
1) Its one of the most sought after 50k's in the USA.
2) It runs on part of the Western States 100 course.
3) How can you NOT run a race called 'The Way to Cool'.
Many of you know this but the race name is even cooler because it actually goes to a town called 'Cool' ( get it, the way to Cool, )...... I love the names of US races; 'The Burning River 50', 'Badwater', 'Diablo', 'Mountain Masochist', 'Hardrock', 'Speedgoat 50, 'Bigfoot', 'Run Rabbit Run', and my personal favourite; 'Dude,where's the trail ?'.......The names make you want to do it, they're inspiring. Unfortunately this hasn't caught on as much in the UK or France. Its all rather dull. 'Trail du Coussons', '100k de Millau',' Coastal trail series-Devon', 'Cumberland ultra', 'Trail du lac', 'Round Rotherham'. Yawn, yawn, I mean the Europeans make it sound like a boring stroll on a wet Wednesday whereas the yanks make it sound like a Hollywood blockbuster! Put it another way, you've just run 50 miles and suffered for over 12 hours.......which t-shirt do you want to wear as a mark of your achievement ????.............I think you get the point.
Time to get some new trail shoes, no matter what I buy they are all shot to bits within 3 months. I have tried many good manufacturers and all, as you would expect, perform adequately enough. I would love to recommend one type but like most trail runners I have a plethora (love that word), of types. My new pair are Brooks Cascadia, these have a universal platform (don't ask) with neutral pronation. Although I do pronate, in a rather ungainly rolling way, my orthopedist supplies my insoles and it is these that deal with that specific problem..........well thats what he tells me anyway. Brooks Cascadia are also ecological in terms of the materials used, so I'll be running and saving the planet at the same time, (very Kyoto !). I did look at a pair of very expensive Salomon S Lab's and even though Killian uses them to race up mountains faster than a goat on heat I have a sneaky suspicion that its got more to do with the fact that he is a super being from another planet...........and could probably do it barefoot anyway.
I think I mentioned in an earlier blog that to open up my glut-4 receptors I have to do 50 squats, 15 minutes before the now singular cherished chocolate croissant. I try to do this away from the Cafe because I know the owner just wouldn't understand this at all.... 'Why do you do that before eating a croissant?...Monsieur I think you should do what all my french customers do'............'Oh what's that?'..............' Have a cigarette of course'. .....Ah yes the traditional gaelic answer to all life's problems; coffee and a cigarette. It certainly keeps them slim; well that and not eating. However, if I see a fellow ultra runner lighting up a fag on top of a mountain I'll be sure to let you know..... (As I have quite a lot of American readers I must point out that a 'fag', in English, is a cigarette and in know way was I suggesting that ultra runners are homeophobic and have now taken to setting fire to ultra gay runners!!!...........Shit, I don't mean 'Ultra Gay' I mean, I mean, oh you know what I mean.)
Speaking of San Francisco I have just entered the lottery for the 'Way to Cool 50k'. (Okay I know I'm losing a few of you here). Firstly 'the Way to Cool' is a race and miles from San Francisco but its sort of in the neighbourhood.......if you live in the South of France and secondly, did you like that rather subtle San Francisco segway?
So why enter a lottery to run this particular race, well ;-
1) Its one of the most sought after 50k's in the USA.
2) It runs on part of the Western States 100 course.
3) How can you NOT run a race called 'The Way to Cool'.
Many of you know this but the race name is even cooler because it actually goes to a town called 'Cool' ( get it, the way to Cool, )...... I love the names of US races; 'The Burning River 50', 'Badwater', 'Diablo', 'Mountain Masochist', 'Hardrock', 'Speedgoat 50, 'Bigfoot', 'Run Rabbit Run', and my personal favourite; 'Dude,where's the trail ?'.......The names make you want to do it, they're inspiring. Unfortunately this hasn't caught on as much in the UK or France. Its all rather dull. 'Trail du Coussons', '100k de Millau',' Coastal trail series-Devon', 'Cumberland ultra', 'Trail du lac', 'Round Rotherham'. Yawn, yawn, I mean the Europeans make it sound like a boring stroll on a wet Wednesday whereas the yanks make it sound like a Hollywood blockbuster! Put it another way, you've just run 50 miles and suffered for over 12 hours.......which t-shirt do you want to wear as a mark of your achievement ????.............I think you get the point.
Funnily enough, I met two ridiculously fit ultra runners in Shanghai, both of whom have run quite a lot of 100 ks, and both of them smoke and drink like there's no tomorrow! One of them was actually smoking IN THE MIDDLE OF his 100k Gobi Desert run.
ReplyDeleteDad and I have thus decided that you know how to distinguish the top ultra runners in a pack by seeing which ones have cigarettes.
Nice one, Ror, Yes-there are actually 3 heavy smokers in our midst. Two of them ran the Shanghai Marathon with me two weekends ago-one of them did 2:58 and the other 3:07........so I guess it goes to show that 'if you have it, you have it' Jamie Mcleod(61 marathons and still counting....)
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