Brad Hudson Works For Me

Well, OK, he doesn't work FOR me, but I did buy his book and his training plans are amazing, well-thought out, and completely customizable (in fact, he insists).

Today I had an excellent workout courtesy of his 20-week marathon plan. Instead of a ho-hum long run of 10+ miles, here's the spiel:

4 miles warmup/easy
3 miles alternating 1 minute @ 10K pace with 1 minute easy
3 miles easy
2 miles HARD

Total of 12 miles, taking about the same amount of total time as a much more leisurely and typical long run, yet working the muscles in a completely different fashion.

Bravo, Brad.

Lunch for Iron Enhancing

Recovering from a flu this weekend I decided I needed a bit of iron, and crafted this extremely tasty salad:

1 small (5oz) skirt steak
1 small head romaine
2 big handfuls arugula
1 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
apple cider vinegar + mustard + honey = dressing

Sear the steak to your preferred doneness after seasoning heavily with salt/pepper. Nuke or pan-braise the mushrooms at the same time. Chop the lettuce, mix up the dressing, and then slice the steak thinly and toss everything together.

Serves one sicko.

Refuel VS Paleo

Last night I was feeling particularly deprived in the glycogen sense, so I had a frozen yogurt cup from Costco. But it wasn't that good so I stopped halfway and then had the rest of the calories in 90% dark chocolate.

That's a primal adjustment, right? :-)

Primal Chopped Guacamole

Instead of my usual protein bar I went for something a little more whole-food-ish today:

Served in a brandy snifter (hehe), it could be called a variation on the Mexican seafood cocktail, but really its just a tasty chopped salad.

Chopped Guacamole Salad (serves 1)

1 small can diced tomatoes w/ chiles

1/2 medium avocado, diced

1/2 jar of roasted mixed bell peppers, chopped (from TJs)

hot sauce

lime juice to taste

small piece of spicy beef jerky, diced

Mix everything & let sit for up to an hour for flavors to blend. Eat with decadence out of a long island iced tea spoon. Be glad that protein bar is there for emergencies, but it can stay in the wrapper for now.

Four Weeks....

The final month is here; just over four weeks remain until the big day where I will prove to both myself and my ultrarunning friends that I can actually pound the pavement when I so choose.

Will my stomach rebel? Will my knees feel like they took on a couple of baseball bats? Will my ass look huge in my running shorts?

Only time will tell, and the latter question might be solved by some preemptive purchasing at the expo the day before the race....

Mmmmm, Maffetone...

Training the Maffetone way has given great results to many runners, and I'm just one more of them.

I'll follow aspects of Maffetone, Daniels, Haad, and Jesse Leitner (a CoolRunning.com demi-god) to achieve a 3:30 in my first-ever marathon at San Francisco.

Enjoy!