Feeling out process

We have completed 1 week of training for comrades 2015. Herewith below is a summary of the week:

Eating-
I only ate when I was hungry.
I tried to limit my food intake to a third of my fist size.
I ate mostly a protein and a vegetable.
I did not drink (no alcohol) and eat at the same sitting but rather alternated the 2 functions.
No sugar with my tea and coffee or at all for that matter.

All of this went fine until Friday afternoon when I ate KFC for lunch and then again for supper. 3 soft drinks, chips (crisps) and a cheese burger in 6 hours. Felt terrible. Why the change, because I was out with friends, I need to control myself during these outings.

Saturday was abit better until late afternoon where I ate chips and ice cream. My wife's stir fry was awesome.

Sunday was much better. Ate an awesome breakfast, coffee was divine (freshly ground Ethiopian dark roast). Supper was a steak and vegetable tagine. I shall post a video soon on my tagine cooking. I learnt this style from a YouTube video posted by an old Moroccan lady was awesome. There is hardly any admin during the preparation phase. easy and the taste is incredible.

Training-

I use endomondo to track my training on the road and my Garmin 310 XT as back up. The endomondo PC interface is very good and easy to navigate.

Tuesday - took my at a park - sprint training barefoot. warm up with 5 sprint runs of approximately 80m. Thor my training partner is much quicker than me. My challenge is to try to get close to beating him.

Thursday - 8 km time trial - We only did 7 km. I wanted to join my running club Athletics Club Eersterust (ACE) but the traffic became abit much to get to the venue. I am also going to have to make a plan to get of work a little bit earlier. It was quite hot and we were still sore from Tuesday.

Saturday - We took a break from training because Thor's legs were still quite sore and it was probably that his body is adjusting to the rigors of consistent training. Now is that a reason for me not too train. Not at all, I was being flipping lazy.

Sunday morning we did 10km in an easy fashion, approximately 8min/km.

I need to somehow post progress on this blog but at the same time keep personal information to my self. I shall post something soon and outline progress on a monthly basis. This blog is more a report back. The paleo eating is quite good in that I do not feel as hungry as often. The minimalist running style leaves my with sore-ish calves but my recovery is getting better and not as sore as earlier in my minimalist career. I need to start incorporating drills into my training process.

Take care, yours in training

Race gear

I did the bronkhorstspruit 32 km race in an 3:30. It was a spur of the moment descision. At least I got to see how I perform under race conditions for a longer distance. The strategy of 35/5 paid off quite handsomely. It will leave me with 1:30 to complete 10km, definately doable.

I purchased a Gaumin 310XT, I got it pretty cheap considering the price range and if I had to invest in a polar with all the gagets would work out to the same price. What an awesome watch, I am fortunate that I will test it out at my 1st major event this year, the sasol 42.2km race in secunda.

My race kit, is a combination of scientific advanments, superstition and strategy.

Shoes- I run in a saucony Jazz, which I picked up pretty cheap and is suited to my running style, mostly neutral. I had this tested at my gear shop, running inn. When I put on my treads my feet sing, it just feels that good.

pants- I wear a new balance compression tights to race, for protection from muscle fatigue, sun effects, wicks away sweat and chaffing

shirt- I wear a heat gear top, which fits similar to a rash vest. This is primarily for protection from the sun and chaffing

vest- the vest displays my running club, running inn, my racing license and race number

cap- protection from the sun

watch- to give me time, splits and race. If you are aware of your performance then it is less stressful when you race.

small bag- to store my squeezies and car keys

squeezies- which I take for energy during my run. I know experts say that there is no difference between the brands but I have tried out USN and muscle science and they both didn't match up to the brand GU. Maybe its psycological but it certainly feel better

balance band- The jury is still out whether it works or not, and I am skeptical myself. I am fortunate that I received it for free from a rep, so if you have it why not use it.
Just a small note with respect to those who are against it, citing what happened in australia, it should be noted that there are people who have an effect on them that are opposite to what is described, in other words their flexibility and strenght reduces, they become weaker, please explain that effect in terms of "its all in the head".

on training runs I run with a maxed hydration pack, which is invaluable to longer distance training and you certainly up your performance on the shorter distances.

Next week I hope to bring good news from my marathon, hold thumbs!