Archive for November, 2007
« Previous EntriesNutrition Tip #2: Diets and Weight Loss - Part I
Thursday, November 29th, 2007The other day I went to a book store to have look at the latest publications on dieting for weight loss. It’s funny, almost all those books start out telling you that diets don’t work because of the yo-yo effect. And then they go into detail why the specific diet they are promoting is the only one that works for good.
If you are like me, one of the reasons for your running is to keep your weight in balance. Besides exercise, I tried a number of diets for years to slim down, nothing worked in the long term. We all know the headlines about obesity and the studies on weight and health risk. Even eating more vegetables and five fruit a day will not make a difference if you stick to your regular diet otherwise.
About six months ago, I lost nearly 30 pounds without suffering hunger, and they have not come back. My running has improved dramatically, both in speed and distance, and my heath is better than ever. My secret? I replaced one type of food with plenty of vegetables and fruits. Which one? I’ll tell you in my next post.
No Comments »Tool Tip #5: Men in Black at the MdS
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007When I did the Marathon des Sables in 2006, I wore pretty much the same clothes as most first-time runners: A white shirt. Having paid attention at physics class in school, I remembered that white is the colour that best reflects light and heat.Strangely enough, the veteran MdS runners wore dark colours at the MdS, many of them black. So did the locals. Wondering why, I asked one of the veterans and was told that black will cool you down even better than white, especially when temperatures exceed your body’s comfort zone.That sort of made sense to me; it’s like Gore-Tex that is said to reverse its water repelling properties when outside temperatures exceed 37 degrees; never wear Gore-Tex shoes in the desert.I have been training in black running clothes now for a year and at the 2008 MdS I will join the ranks of the veterans by wearing a black shirt and black tights. Researching the web, I found the following explanation regarding colour and clothing (see http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mblackcool.html):
“An extensive and detailed study (Walsberg, Campbell, & King, 1978. J. Comp. Physiol. 126B: 211-222) examined different colors of bird plumage under different temperature conditions - with the added wrinkles of examining whether the plumage was fluffed or flattened, and varying the wind speed.
Under cold conditions with no wind speed, black, flattened plumage held in heat the best (though barely, compared to fluffed black plumage). Under hot conditions with no wind, white, fluffed plumage let heat escape the best. Both pretty logical findings.
But once the wind picked up, the results changed dramatically. With even a modest wind (anything above 3 m/s, or about 7 m.p.h.) fluffed white plumage exhibit the lowest net heat loss. This explains the large number of arctic animals that are fluffy and white. It’s not just camouflage. At high temperatures, as I say, white is best at not transmitting solar/ambient heat to the skin when windspeed is zero (only barely better when fluffed). However, with an increase in windspeed (again anything above 3 m/s), fluffed black plumage is the best at reducing the amount of heat transmitted to the skin. Flattened black plumage is the worst in terms of heat gain no matter what the windspeed.
What this means is relatively straightforward: black clothing absorbs sunlight and the heat radiating from your body, but if it is loose-fitting, and there is wind, the wind convects the heat away faster than it is absorbed. White clothing reflects sunlight, but also reflects internal heat back towards your body, so the net effect under identical conditions is less cooling than if you wore black. While it’s true you don’t often find fluffy black animals in deserts, you don’t find many white animals, either–typically you find animals that blend into the background. So it appears that if heat gain and camouflage are in conflict, the need to avoid predation outweighs other considerations. On the other hand, desert-dwelling nomadic people such as the Tuaregs wear loose-fitting black clothing, and have been doing so for a very, very long time. If there were an advantage to wearing white clothes, you’d certainly expect they’d have figured that out by now.”
No Comments »
Old Father Thames (Song by Peter Dawson)
Sunday, November 25th, 2007High in the hills, down in the dales,
Happy and fancy-free,
Old Father Thames keeps rolling along
Down to the mighty sea.
What does he know, what does he care?
Nothing for you or me!
Old Father Thames keeps rolling along
Down to the mighty sea.
He never seems to worry,
Doesn’t care for fortune’s fame;
He never seems to hurry,
But he gets there just the same.
Kingdoms may come, kingdoms may go:
Whatever the end may be,
Old Father Thames keeps rolling along
Down to the mighty sea.
No Comments »Landmark #4 of the TM: Marlow
Friday, November 23rd, 2007Marlow is a charming historic town surrounded by beautiful countryside, with the Chiltern Hills to the north. A short run downstream from Henley, Marlow is at the southern tip of Buckinghamshire, just four miles north west of Maidenhead. Its famous suspension bridge, designed by William Clark in 1832 served as prototype for a larger bridge across the river Danube in Budapest.
The Hotel “The Compleat Angler”, next to the Thames at Marlow was formerly known as the “Riverside Inn”, which boasted some six rooms. Izaak Walton is believed to have written his world famous book on angling and fly fishing in and around Marlow in 1653 and it is from his book that the name of the Inn was later taken.
Marlow is the home town of 5-times Olympic gold medallist rower Steve Redgrave. Winning gold at Sydney in 2000, he became Britain’s one and only Olympic champion to win gold medals at five consecutive Olympic games. Whether aware of it or not, he would certainly be proud of the endurance athletes competing at the Thames Meander, covering more than twice the Olympic marathon distance and crossing his home town along their route downstream.
No Comments »Health Tip #2: Immune boosters
Wednesday, November 21st, 2007It’s flu season - I may catch some bugs on the tube, at the air conditioned office or from my kids that pick them up at school or the nursery. So I try to give my immune system some extra strength by
- eating plenty of fruits and vegetables every day, especially citrus and tropical fruits
- Eating wholegrain cereals and bread rather than processed foods or white bread
- taking Echinacea, vitamin and mineral supplements
- dry brushing my skin in the morning to jump start my lymph system
- drinking plenty of herb and green tea and two litres of water every day to “flush the system”
- wearing a buff or scarf when running
- avoiding toxins like alcohol, smoke and unhealthy foods
- going to the sauna or taking hot baths
- going to bed early and getting plenty of sleep
- wearing adequately warm clothes all day to prevent cooling out
Training Tip #2: Long run on low carbs
Monday, November 19th, 2007On my long runs of 25km or more, I used to carry along some carbohydrates in form of gels, bars, snacks or sweet drinks. I felt pretty good on these runs, replenishing the energy that I burned off running.Then I read an article that argued the opposite: Drink water and minerals only, no extra carbs on those long training runs. That made a lot of sense to me; after all, what you want to train on those long runs is your body’s ability to burn fat once the glycogen depots are depleted. If you keep replenishing them, the training effect is gone. So now I train on water only on my Friday runs from the office to my home (>32km). When I do consume sugary things at race time, that gives me an extra performance boost but I know I could race without them.If this makes sense to you, give it a try. But, as with all training tips, consult your doctor first.
No Comments »The Thames (Sir John Denham, 1615-1668)
Saturday, November 17th, 2007
My eye, descending from the Hill, surveys
Where Thames among the wanton valleys strays.
Thames! the most loved of all the Ocean’s sons,
By his old sire, to his embraces runs,
Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea,
Like mortal life to meet eternity;
Though with those streams he no resemblance hold,
Whose foam is amber, and their gravel gold:
His genuine and less guilty wealth t’explore,
Search not his bottom, but survey his shore,
O’er which he kindly spreads his spacious wing,
And hatches plenty for th’ensuing spring;
Nor then destroys it with too fond a stay,
Like mothers which their infants overlay;
Nor with a sudden and impetuous wave,
Like profuse kings, resumes the wealth he gave.
No unexpected inundations spoil
The mower’s hopes, nor mock the ploughman’s toil;
But godlike his unwearied bounty flows;
First loves to do, then loves the good he does.
Nor are his blessings to his banks confined,
But free and common as the sea or wind;
When he, to boast or to disperse his stores,
Full of the tributes of his grateful shores,
Visits the world, and in his flying tow’rs
Brings home to us, and makes both Indies ours;
Finds wealth where ’tis, bestows it where it wants,
Cities in deserts, woods in cities, plants.
So that to us no thing, no place, is strange,
While his fair bosom is the world’s Exchange.
O, could I flow like thee, and make thy stream
My great example, as it is my theme!
Though deep yet clear, though gentle yet not dull;
Strong without rage, without o’erflowing full.
Pro Tip #4: Field Post at the Marathon des Sables
Thursday, November 15th, 2007There are plenty of things on the Marathon des Sables that will seriously challenge your motivation: Heat, cold, sand, wind, sun, terrain, dehydration, hunger, pain, blisters, distance, to mention just a few.
But then again, there are plenty of things to motivate you, first of all the camaraderie among the runners. Another great source of motivation are mails that you can receive from family and friends. The darbaroud website will post a link to a page where your loved ones can leave messages, so make sure that they know the URL. The mails are received and printed at camp and handed out to the runners each evening. In 2006 I got messages from family, colleagues and friends - all full of encouraging words and motivating messages. I read them countless times and still keep them today as a wonderful souvenir from a very special time in my life.
Tool Tip #4: An ultra-runners best friend
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007Diamonds are a girls best friend, but the ultra-runners best mate are Ziploc bags.There are two kinds of Ziploc bags on the market: The freezer bags that you close by “clicking and sliding”, and those that have a plastic zipper – “zipper bags”. Both are transparent and you can write whatever you wish on them with permanent marker. Before closing, you can suck the air out to save space, which is absolutely crucial for your backpack on the Thames Meander or the Marathon des Sables. Here some great uses for Ziplocs:
- On the MdS, put your spare socks, underwear, buffs etc. in Ziplocs so that they remain clean and protected from the sand
- Put your daily cereal rations in Ziplocs; at breakfast time just add water and eat right out of the bag which you dispose of after; no mess to clean up
- Put your snacks, nuts, sweet foods etc in Ziplocs; it’s a great way to ration your food for each day on the MdS
- Put your medicine, vitamin pills, toothpaste, Band-Aids and suntan lotion inside small Ziploc bags to avoid a mess in your backpack and limit sand contamination
- Protect your start number in a Ziploc bag; this provides extra strength and prevents your number from getting blown away during a sand storm in the desert
- Your toilet paper stays dry on the Thames Meander in a Ziploc, and it won’t feel like sand paper on the MdS
- If you carry a writing pad or small book to read on the MdS, protect it from the wear and tear inside a bag
- Put your Esbit solid fuel in a Ziploc; it could seriously mess up your backpack otherwise
- If you carry your wallet or passport with you, put it in a bag for protection
- On my ultras, I carry maltose sugar in individual portions: I put 50gr into a thick Ziploc so that it’s all in one corner, then suck the remaining air out of the bag and seal it with a heat sealer that I got on eBay for 3 pounds. 50gr have roughly 300 calories, plenty for those 1.5 litre bottles they hand out at the MdS: Drink off the first sip of a fresh bottle, tear open that plastic bag and let the sugar drizzle into the bottle - there is your sports drink ready in 15 seconds.
- Keep your camera and films safe
- Carry your TM-map and MdS-roadbook in a bag to keep them dry and clean
- Make sure to put your kettle in a bag! It gets gooey on the bottom over the fire, which you don’t want in your backpack
- If you want to bring some sand from the Sahara back home – you guessed it, put it in a Ziploc
Now, here is my favourite:
- Taking a shower in the desert: Fill a Ziploc with a litre of water - you won’t have more to spare - close it and get someone to hold it up. Then poke a few holes in it with your safety pins – voila!
Five2go Lee Valley Trail Marathon - Part II
Sunday, November 11th, 2007It was simply a beautiful marathon through Lee Valley! The landscape, especially the first half of the course, was just lovely, following the river Lee with its many locks and stunning wild life. The marshals were great, very motivated and encouraging us athletes.I met two runners that had participated in the 24-hour race in October, so we shared a good number of stories about marathons and ultras and the 24-hour race in particular.I was fairly pleased with my running as I was carrying my TM/MdS backpack with about 6 kg of weight and wearing those trail shoes that I will use in the big events next year: no blisters, no chafing, just good fun. I also used to opportunity to practice taking photos on the run. It’s a different kind of running when you are on the lookout for photo opportunities, suddenly stopping to take a few shots and getting back into your running routine. I’ll need that skill on the Thames Meander and the Marathon des Sables where I plan to take plenty of pictures during the race.At the finish line all runners received a goody bag with a cuddly teddy bear. Fortunately, I could buy a second one for a few pounds, so when I got home I had one for each of our kids - and they just love them! My son of two years went to bed with his new friend and plays with it as I am writing this blog entry. I am sure he will let me run many more marathons if I return with such lovely toys!
No Comments »« Previous Entries