First barefoot run in -4 degrees, new 5kPR, and a marathon for the heck of it. What are your workouts like?

Ran barefoot for the first time, got a new 5k personal record, ran another marathon for the heck of it, and the Vibrams hit 700 miles

Monday I only ran four miles. I did not plan on doing anything too long and four is usually my go to for a short "run a few just to get a run in" run. These are usually supposed to be easier runs also, but they never end up being so. I ran the half mile to the Wellness Center in my Brooks and got up on the track. Threw the Vibrams on and went to it. Up on the track I was not purposely pushing the pace, just running comfortably at 6:45 minute miles. Sometime during this mile I decided to go a bit faster for the second mile and really drop the hammer for the last 1.1 miles. My previous best is 19:19 and this day I did 28 laps in exactly 19:19, but if I account for the last lap being longer than .1 it actually puts my 5k time at 19:15. Pretty good for running solo and not even trying to PR :)

It was the weekend before I believe when I decided I should HTFU and at some point run back home from the Wellness Center barefoot. So after the 5k up on the track I decided to just pick the coldest day and do it then, which happened to be that day. It was 8 degrees with a wind chill of -4.

So there I am after the 5k, standing outside in my Brooks. Waiting for the Garmin to pick up a satellite and searching for Linkin Park on my Ipod Shuffle. Finally I find Bleed it Out and the Garmin picks up a signal. Frack, now the shoes have to come off....I remove the ST4's and put them into my draw string bag that I bring with me to the WC to hold my heart rate monitor, phone, wallet, GU, etc. Not wanting to stand there any longer I take off. There were two options for the route. Sidewalks would take longer but I would have to go through less snow. Or go right over the grass and through the snow, but less actual distance and time running. I went with the latter, if I am going to HTFU and run barefoot when it is four below I might as well get the full experience. As I was running I did see one guy, as I passed him I yelled out "LOST A BET!" I did the half mile home at just over 6 minute pace. "Faster I run the faster I get home" I kept telling myself. This was really super ironic, but the image of people walking on hot coals came to mind during the run! I figured if people can do that I can spend 3 minutes running over zero degree ice and snow. Which I did.

This has been bothering me lately but I have been getting these really weird calf pains. It started very slowly a week ago. In the same spot I would, once in a while, get a stabbing pain on on the outside of my right calf muscle. Not sure what triggered the pain while I was running. The first run it only happened once, then each run it would happen maybe two or three times. It seemed much worse on the treadmill. Also looking back that machine is really the only change I have made to my training that I could think of to trigger a new pain. Monday I had the stabbing feeling a few times, so figured the timing was good to take the week off to focus on school. The odd thing was for two days the pain got worse each day. I would simply be sitting and get a throbbing pain in a couple isolated spots on my right calf. What really bothered me was it was also happening on my left calf as well, similar areas on the outside of my calf above my ankle. Luckily Thursday and Friday there was no pain at all so I figured I would be good to run on Friday.

So Friday rolls around. It was ok not running for three full days. Too much school work to be done with finals being the next week. I had a presentation on Wed discussing the position of the American Dietetic Association on Dietary Fat. Thur I had a presentation on our independent project for Food Science. Mine was on sensory analysis of muffins with different fat substitutions. We did a control using regular shortening, and then two other recipes. One had apple sauce instead of the shortening and the other had a homemade fruit puree. After that I had a presentation on Maple Syrup Urine Disease plus a 7 page paper to go with it. Also various other assignments had to be worked on. I decided it best to just take the week off, all the school stuff ending up going very well by the way.

Monday I had a couple classes and ran to the Wellness Center sometime between 1:30 and 2:00. I ran up on the track, not really knowing how far I felt like running. I have said it before but me not knowing how far I am going often results in 26.2 mile runs at 4 in the morning or double marathons on treadmills. So I am just going along at an easy pace, averaging 48 second laps. Now it has been a while since I have ran and I could not remember if my Boston qualification pace was 48 second laps or 50 second laps. I thought it was 48 second laps but it just seemed to be a really easy pace I was going at. FYI it is 48 second laps, which comes to a 7:12 pace per mile, or a 3:10 marathon. Just faster per mile faster then I need to run for Boston. Anyway after about 9 or so miles up on the track my right IT band will usually start to twinge. I have found that if I supinate more with that inside foot while turning it makes the IT twinge go away. I did that and finished mile 12. I went down stairs and did one more mile on a treadmill. At least I know it is obviously the track doing it because I can hop on a treadmill or run outside with no pain. Finished the mile and ran home. 14 miles at a 7:12 pace.

This has happened once before with this same runner. A few Fridays ago I went and ran at this time, and he got on the track when I was like 8 or whatever miles into my run. He paced off me for probably three miles. 6:36ish miles and he stuck right with me, seems to be a good runner. However last time on his final lap he passes me and sprints it. I was waiting for it and when he came around me at speed I stuck right with him for the entire lap. He was done but I kept on running and finished my 14.

I then ate and went to Cottonwood to do some homework. I was feeling surprisingly awesome and told myself if I finished my Assessment in Nutrition extra credit I could leave the coffee shop at 8pm and go run some more. Everything got done and I ran from my house shortly after 8. At this point I was obviously shooting for the marathon, and the second run was much slower as expected.

There was a girl who I see at Cottonwood often, walking on a treadmill upstairs and after I was a few miles into my second run she started up on the track as well. She eventually caught up to me and passed by. She was running a bit faster then I would have by myself so I used her as a pacer. I was on the outside and she was on the inside lane so at every corner I would fall a bit behind but catch up on the straights, yo yoing for the three or four miles she ran. She seemed fine with it since I am sure she recognized me and could have pretended to tie a shoe or jumped off the track for a second and let me keep running. The moment I dread whenever I am using someone as a rabbit, she took off and sprinted her final lap. They always do. After she left I tried to keep my pace up but knew it would inevitably slow. I finished running at a distance where the run home would put me at 26.2 miles. Perfect :)

With no purpose or goal or preparation or nutrition plan my marathon was done at a 7:50 minute per mile pace. Like I said the first 14 were at 7:12 so the last half was obviously much slower. For the first run I had a GU at the beginning and drank water once in a while throughout. I had half a serving of my recovery powder and a couple tuna fish sandwiches afterwards. Before the second run I had a GU, halfway through I went and bought some gummy fruit chews, and drank water throughout. Not a nutrition plan I would recommend even to an enemy. Amazingly, only about 15 minutes total or 37 seconds per mile slower then my Boston qualification time for the marathon. I am supremely confident I could have finished the entire 26.2 at Boston pace if I would have done it all in one shot.

There are usually plenty of hotties up running on the track, and I love staring at their shoes when I come up on them from behind. I even stair at guy's shoes and running form and how their foot lands all the time. Cannot get enough of it. I see three types of form when up on the track.

One is the heel strikers. This just looks utterly painful to me now that I have gotten way past that.

Second is the forefoot or midfoot runners. Most of the time they land much too far forward on their foot and bounce up and down. This results in wasted energy that could be better utilized in forward motion. The excessive bounces also puts a great deal of stress on the calves and is just as bad as heel striking. I made this same mistake when I first began running.

And every once in a while I see solid form. The ticket is minimal bounce and the foot striking the ground under the center of the runner's gravity, not in front.

Then there is one guy who holds his shoulders way up, keeps his arms stiff, and looks like he is trying to defecate a pine cone.

Saturday's recovery run was a ride on the struggle bus. I planned on only doing a few miles. Not a workout but just something to get the legs moving. I could have ran forever but the entire three miles was just really uncomfortable and I could never get into the groove. I had little pains all throughout my feet during the run. It felt good to get running but it felt very nice to finish up too!

Sunday I felt great again, really almost totally recovered! I ran 8 miles at 7:09 pace on a treadmill since I was not really in the mood for the track after the 205 laps on Friday. Also I used the new Woodway. I have described it as feeling like running on clouds, it's fantastic. The running surface is rubber slabs instead of a thin rubber belt.

These are the real deal. The best thing is it allows for both ascents and descents for hill training. I can practice going up hills on any treadmill but going down is a different story. Having skill descending will come in handy during any marathons or the ultra out in the Black Hills.

My urine is also still a pretty nice fluorescent yellow a day and a half after the marathon. That is to be expected I suppose since my fluid intake was pretty low on Friday during the 26 miles and today I was sweating like a small nun during penguin hunting season while doing the 8.

As of writing this the Vibrams are at....shoot well I do not have my training journal with me. Something like 713 miles. It seems like the two small holes in the bottom are not growing much, likely because I am not running on roads anymore. And if I am the concrete or asphalt is covered with snow. I have not looked at the two sew up jobs I did lately but since doing the first one I have barely been tightening the straps. Just enough to keep the shoe on and from being noticeably loose.

Lastly is has recently come to my attention that I have surpassed my speeds from last school year before my injury and two month hiatus from running. I was just telling Barb about a month ago how it would be a struggle to break even 20 in a 5k, now here this week I set a new PR. My half marathon distance training runs are being done at a pace of about 7:30 at the slowest, and that is a pretty comfortable speed. Now with Saturday's run I am sure I have surpassed all my previous distance and speed records. (Aside from the double marathon on the treadmill) I did the first 14 at a 7:12 pace and did the entire 26.2 at 7:50, and that was with a three hour break in the middle which did nothing but make the last 12.2 really slow and uncomfortable.

Things are looking good for a Boston qualification. Maybe I can even break 3 hours? I have 6 months to train for the marathon still. All I am shooting for is Boston as of right now, sub 3 may still remain in the back of my mind though...

Another thought I have had recently is about the ultra I plan on doing. I am thinking about either racing the 50 miles or simply completing the 100. Looking at last year's results, if I were to run 10 minute miles for 50 miles that would have put me finishing 23 minutes before the second place finisher. In 9 months that may very well be do-able. Something to think about...

That is it for the week. Finals is up next! No classes, getting some extra shifts in at work, and hopefully lots of running. What's not to love? Have a great week everyone!

My fast apologizes for making your fast look like apple sauce.

Someone once said "You will never, ever, feel worse after a run than before." and during my Monday night run that was never more true. I was at Cottonwood from 5 to 9 and if there was a bed near by I could have been asleep in five minutes, even with three small cups of coffee in me. Jenna and I were running after that, and I REALLY did not want to. I however knew once I got out onto the road, all would be well.

We ended up doing 5.5 together. I miss running with her five days a week like we did during the summer and early on in the school year. It was a bit cold and my fingers were non functional when I got back home. Through some clumsy effort I managed to get my Ipod on, grabbed my rent, and ran to the Wellness Center. There I did a few miles up on the track just before they closed shop. After that I ran to drop rent off and back to home. 8.5 miles total, it felt good.

Wed was 13 up on the track. I ran to Micro and from there to the WC so had 14 total for the day. Getting ready for the run, the fact that I would pretty much be stuck inside for the next few months really hit me. My short 4 mile recovery runs, or even the longer 9 mile tempo runs are no big deal up on the track or on a dreadmil. But when it comes to anything up to or past 10 miles my IT band acts up. 13 miles is 117 laps, 468 corners, and about 8,775 steps with each foot. The IT tract may twinge for the rest of the night when walking or a bit tomorrow. However running it will be fine. When I ran home after the 13 there was no problem.

Quick word of advice. If attacked by someone with a gun, RUN! Go in a zigzag pattern if you think about it. They will only hit you 1 in 25 times, and odds are they will not get a vital organ if the attacker does happen to hit you. I am also a pretty fast runner, so I like those odds.

It was awesome. There are two other people whom I know at SDSU that train in Vibrams, and they were both at the Wellness Center at the same time as me. Both are pretty cool guys as well, the little I have talked to them. Nice to see others representing.

I kind of enjoy my reputation. Shannon told me her male friend asked her if I was the guy that ran a lot. Two other times that evening I got comments about my running. One was a girl asking about the Vibrams and answered her questions. The Ok I really enjoy my reputation :)

On Thursday I caught two grade school aged brothers stealing YuGiOh! cards in the bathroom at Walmart. There was a bunch of wrappers in the garbage and the kids were out walking around with cards in their hands. Later we saw them go back into the bathroom and I followed, finding them together in a stall. Obviously opening the card wrappers. We called a manager up front and he ripped into them. I could not help but grin, it was just funny. However at the same time I felt horrible. Their obese mother rolled up in her motorized cart. They obviously were living at a low socioeconomic level. One kid was pretty quite while the other was hyperventilating, crying, and repeating "I don't shop lift" over and over again. The mom continued to shop and came through the checkouts a half hour later, with the kid still crying and repeating that he does not shoplift. It ended up being about $50 in cards after they were done.

Lately with the cold weather it seems neckbeards are becoming more popular. That may be the wrong word, they will never be popular but are worn by people. I am sure you are familiar with the growth, but if not, exhibit A:

These are often grown by overweight people attempting to cover up double or triple chins to make it appear like they have a neck. Also it is common among dungeon and dragon players. The more unkept and pronounced your neckbeard, the higher your level.

However let it be known, that neckbeards, are never under any circumstances, cool. People complement nice beards all the time. People never, compliment neck beards. There is a reason for this.

I like all of the songs on my Itunes, except when I am listening to them on my Ipod Shuffle. When walking back from class or during a run I only like 1 in 10 or 1 in 5 if it's a good day.

I ended the week with an six on Friday, six on Sat, and 4 on Sunday. My right calf has been aching these past few days. I am wondering if it is not from the treadmill. I have been inside more lately but it has only been in the last last week or maybe two that I have been on that machine more. I should probably just harden the fuck up and run outside more. I have been running to and from the Wellness Center but would like to do more. I will have to upgrade my gloves though.

Gloves...I just read a review on a good pair of gloves that I thought was very well prices....one sec, where did I see that..

...

The Sugoi Firewall. 35 dollars from most places. I would like to find a good winter glove that does not have a wrist on it, since I find I usually roll mine up anyway. Getting one without that option is unlikely though.

So my madre y padre took me to Pizza Ranch today after I got off work. It was nice talking with them for the hour or so we were there. I realized during during the chat that I would not object to Desi as strongly if she were to bring up transferring back to SDSU. I always tell her to just finish out at Black Hills State U. She was here for her first year but it would just be easier to stay there. However I have been reeaalllyy missing her lately and it has been tough.

She will be in Mexico going to school near Veracruz next semester. She may not have a phone to use but there is always Skype dates :) That will be really hard not being able to see her in person for over two months before and after I go and visit. We found tickets are about 725 dollars to Veracruz. Yeah not cheap but it will be worth it. I have never even flown before, so spending a week in Mexico is going to be amazing.

There was someone else at the Wellness Center Sunday night in Vibrams. I always see him and his wife at WC or once in a while at Walmart. I think they are in the bio department, very outdoorsy. Cool people. He had on a pair of Classics, which I think I will get once mine are done.

Lets end the post with a review of my new sunglasses :) They are awesome by the way!

So I have worn many sunglasses in my time, most notably the Oakley M-Frames, and Rudy Project Sport Mask. Recently I came across a fantastic opportunity and purchased a pair of Rudy Project Ketyums.

The Ketyums differ from the above two in a number of ways. The M-Frames have the best shaped lenses I have ever worn. They flow smooth across your face and past your eyes. The Sportmasks had minimal frame and what it did have was carbon fibre, so they were excessively light. The Ketyums are made of a metalic alloy, making them heavier then both other pairs. This does give them a much more sturdy feeling then most glasses you will wear.

What puts these apart from Tifosi, Oakley, and even other Rudy Project glasses I have worn is their adjust ability. Rudys may be the most adjustable frames out there, but these even put the Sportsmask to shame. The M-Frames I wore lacked pretty much all give. The nose piece was one piece that could not shape to your fit. The frame did not flex much at all, so the size it was was the size it was. The Rudy Project Syleros I have worn had Rudy's rubber coated temple tips and ergonose nose pads with proprietary spring hinges. These can be moved closer or spread apart, or up and down to fit any face. The Sportmask had a similar nose piece. Being a super light frame, the Sportsmask would also spread a bit to fit a wider head. The Ketyums have the great nose piece for adjustability there, but also it much more comfortable around your head as well. The Ketyums have spring loaded temples built into the frame. This makes for putting them on and forgetting about them when wearing super easy.

The first picture is obviously where the frame normally sits. The second picture is how spread the hinges can open. If they sit on your head past the normal point, they slightly grip above your ears a bit. The frame also flexes a small amount above the eyes, allowing for some give when putting them on.

These retail at $274.99 which is obviously a disadvantage. Most people would never pay more then 30 for a pair of sunglasses. However when you get to triathletes and cyclists, whom can be quite obsessive gear junkies, nice sunglasses are not so out of the question. I got a deal on these, being a college student there was no way way I could pull off the retail price.

Anyone can argue over sunglasses and the companies, and which is superior. However there is no argument that Rudy's replacement warranty is one of the best in the business. For a minimal 20 dollars you can send in your old lenses and they will replace them for life. That includes scratches or anything. There is also a three year frame replacement policy at half retail I believe. Oakley does not even touch that with their replacement policy. Oakley has a one year replacement on eyewear if purchased from an authorized dealer. Scratched lenses however are not covered, but you can purchase replacements starting at $40.

Honestly I would not recommend these to people simply because of the price. Luckily most of the features can be found in less expensive Rudy Project eyewear. Nearly all of their pairs have amazing adjustability on the nose piece, which is what truly sets the brand apart. Check them out at e-rudy.com

Thanks so much for reading!

Life would be so much easier if my workouts were as short as my shorts....

I have experienced a great deal during training these past few years. Before this week, bloody nipples has not been one of them. I have seen the pictures, heard the stories. But never experienced the phenomenon until now. The nipples would burn a bit towards the ends of my recent runs, but there has never ever been any blood before. During my 12 miler on Tue though my shirt got two small red circles on it. Just enough of a twinge to keep me awake! But I did hammer out 12 at 7:30 pace. My legs were tired from the hill workout on Monday. It was hard to find a good groove during this run though.

A comment towards myself when I was over 200 pounds back in middle school that I never forgot was spoken by my uncle. Back then I did a lot of snowmobiling during the winter with friends, one of whom was a tall skinny guy also named Kyle. Anyway my cousin told his father something like "Kyle is coming over to ride" and my uncle asked if it was the fat one or skinny one. He did not say this in front of me but my cousin told me he said it, jokingly. Not knowing how much it really hurt, and years later I still remember the comment.

Now I know it is wrong but I cannot help but feel...a jokes on you feeling. I know the cousin closest to my age who I spent a great deal of time with during my childhood is, well a pretty big guy now. Him and his oldest brother did make fun of me for being overweight once in a while. Now both are still in Watertown, went to tech school and working.

Speaking of back when I was huge. Last week I was sitting in the bath tub one morning. The best way I have found to wake up is to fill the tub with nice hot water and lay/sit in it for 5 or so minutes. Talk about relaxing. Anyway the water was draining and I was sitting up watching it go down. I remembered back home when I could sit just right in the bath and actually block the water behind me from getting past, utilizing my butt and leg fat as a Hoover Dam if you will. Then all of a sudden I would shift and the water from behind would go rushing past towards the drain.

I had an easy short run planned a few days ago and was really not feeling it. Work was on the schedule for that evening. I took a nap and was just sitting around, not really feeling like doing anything. Then I saw my Reasons I have Overcome to Run list on my wall, and knew if I got out there I would be glad I did. So quickly, before I could give me a chance to talk myself out of it, I threw on my running gear and got outside. Within two blocks I happy to be out there :)

A few miles into that run I kind of felt sluggish though. Thinking to myself how I am lucky if I am pushing 9 minute miles. So for the first time during this run I pulled my sleeve up to view the Garmin, and see an average pace of 7:23 HOLY COW :p I felt slow but in reality was only a few seconds slower per mile then my marathon pace. I told a friend, that is great motivation to keep going during a run that feels like crap :)

Again in the last week I have had someone ask "are you that guy that's always running?"

"Ah, yeah that's probably me."

"Crazy, are you training for something or do you just like to run." they always say.

"Well I like to run, but I am training for triathlons, ultramarathons, and to qualify for Boston."

And it goes on, they are impressed. Usually say they could never do it. And tell me to keep it up.

If I get the "I could never do that" I just put out the "well I used to be 230 pounds, so anything is possible" line. That usually makes them pause and think for a second :)

A friend also told me my legs are ripped. That is the best complement I can ever get! Now if my butt was not so fat...

Speaking of my fat butt. Barb told me she did something like 1,000 pull laps in the pool on a certain time, which she has never done before. I told her I am faster with a pull buoy, which is odd among swimmers. However it helps raise my butt and legs out of the water a bit, reducing drag.

My butt is like a sail ( )( ) like that. Creates a lot of drag pulling that thing through the water.

I did not go home for Thanksgiving since I had the opportunity to get eight hours in at time and a half at work, so I took it. I made my own food however. A $3 pumpkin pie, some Nutella and whipped cream, whalla! It was glorious.

Desi and I talked on the phone for 58 hours on her last phone bill. Two days of talking on the phone in a one month period. And for a few of those days we were actually together so not using the phone.

Friday after Thanksgiving I had a great treadmill run. Here was the breakdown:

4 @ :30

1 @ 6:58

1 @ 6:54

1 @ 6:50

1 @ 6 45

1 @ 6:40

.5 @ 6:00

.25 @ 5:27

.25 @ 5:00

For 10 miles at 7:05 pace. The entire run felt great. The only thing is my soles get hot sometimes. From the treadmill's track under my feet going over whatever is under it. Especially when I finished, doing that last mile in something like 5:30 my soles were hot.

It is interesting moving that fast. I remember when I first started running, I could not image what seven minute miles felt like. Now I can do them no problem. My 5k PR is at just above 6 minute pace, and I am at the stage where I cannot fathom doing something like 5 minute miles for a 5k. I am not saying I will ever push that pace for a 5k. This is just a great example of how anything is possible if you do the work. I am doing now what I could not imagine possible for myself just a few years ago.

I finished up with an easy 8 on Sunday after work. That gives me 44 miles for the week if I counted correctly. Good week. Now starts the last two weeks of class. This is going to be busy busy busy. Hopefully I can still keep my running up. That may be my stress reliever.

Thanks for reading all :)

I have been vaccinated against the seasonal flu and H1N1, running is my vaccination against boredom.

Last Wed I ran 13.1 up on the track at the Wellness Center. I went there planning on 5 to 7 miles. I found a good speed workout online before hand. I did a mile warmup and did 4 miles at 1200m fast and 400 recovery. I do not remember exactly, but somewhere around mile 6 or 7 a girl came up from behind me and passed me on one of my recovery laps. I did my three laps and started my next 1200. Her only being a quarter lap ahead of me I caught back up, passed, and she tucked in behind me for six laps. I then started my recovery and let her pass. She was running a bit slower so I just let her pace me for three laps, and then started my fast 1200 again. Her and another guy actually ran right behind me in single file for another 1200.

I love it when you find people to run with up on the track. There are no words spoken between you and the other runner(s) but you come to an understanding. Pushing off each other, going a little faster then you otherwise could. That girl and I did it for a few miles and the guy joined in for a few as well, it was awesome. A few weeks ago Barb was down on a treadmill and I was up on the track running. She said some guy was pacing off of me for most of my run. It was light outside so I could not see any reflection in the mirrors, and never noticed him until he came around me on his last lap that was sprinted. It feels awesome when you have two or three fast people running together in single file up there, I bet it looks cool as well.

Eventually the girl stopped running and the guy passed me when I started my recovery laps. He was doing roughly 6:30 pace so I said screw easy laps and tucked in behind him and we maybe did two miles before he stopped. I kept going...lap after lap after lap. I was eventually the only runner on the track. I still felt pretty good. I would be on the last lap of mile 8 or whatever, and turn the last corner....and keep going. Thinking to myself, "you know, I feel pretty good still." and then I would be just a few meters past the last mile mark and "well I am a quarter lap into mile 9, 10, 11, or 12, so I might as well finish the mile, can't stop now!" I decided that doing 13.1 with no hydration or fuel would be just fine. The 118 laps, 13.1 miles, ended up taking exactly 98 minutes. Resulting in 7:29 minutes per mile. I am extremely pleased with this since the only time I was really actually pushing it was that mile or two running behind the guy in the red shirt at 6:30 to 7 minute pace. That happened somewhere around the seven mile mark, and it was not even much of a struggle.

Our Food Science instructor Padu handed out the beef jerky we made the week before in lab. I was not eating any, obviously because I am a vegetarian. Now most of the people in my group know me pretty well, but that is not something that comes up in conversation a lot. So they are all freaking out, with the typical question, "Where do you get your protein?!?!" Fish, nuts, beans I say.... I think to myself "Where do you get yours?" And I know the answer is "corndogs, fast food, too much meat, too much protein." Sounds like I am the one who should be concerned about your diet. I tell them that I get 12-15% of my daily calories from protein, and most of it is fish. So much for those dangerous vegetarian diets eh? I know what these guys eat, and I know my diet is straight up better then 75% of theirs. I get over 100% of nearly all vitamins and minerals, good Carb/Pro/Fat ratio. But people hear vegetarian and they automatically are concerned...

Our Medical Nutrition Therapy class visited the Avera Heart Hospital and one of the dietitians there talked to us about heart health. It was amazing, not going to lie. The entire lecture what on the diet I have been eating for the past three years. Fish, very little red meat poultry and beef (none for me) and mainly fruit, vegetables, and whole grain. It was great sitting there listening to her talk, confirming and assuring what I have been eating for the past few years when I get all those doubters about a diet with less meat. The entire hospital's diet is based around the Mediterranean diet, even the kitchens and what is served to the workers. I loved it :)

Friday I did 7 at Boston Qualifying pace up on the track. The last part of the run was 10x100m sprints. I would sprint 1o0m as fast as I could and jog the remaining 80 back to the start, repeat. That got tough, fast. Especially after the 6 miles.

I ran into Jason Melby at the Wellness Center before a run. It was nice to see him. He swam in college I believe so offered to give me some pointers next time I see him at the pool. Might have to take him up on that, I do not get there in the mornings that often though.

THIIIISSS is interesting. But did you know that white chocolate is not actually white chocolate? There is no chocolate in white chocolate bar! Check out the ingredient list next time you are in line at a grocery store.

Also this made me really angry. I was up at the Union doing homework at Grocery Bingo started. I saw what they were giving away to the students. The big packets of Ramen, lots of soda, and other JUNK. Way to contribute to the obesity problem idiots.

My Vibrams broke on Saturday! The strap snapped:

I finished the run, it happened during the last mile. I went to Walmart and purchased a sewing kit and some fishing line. Did a pretty decent job if I don't say so myself....which I just did. Hopefully this holds up. I REALLY want these to hit 1000 miles :) Only 428 more to go!

A lady came through my line and she was using food stamps. What did she buy?

White Bread

Cheese Puffs

Great Value Sugar

Chocolate Bar

Root Beer

You are getting free money because you are poor, and waste it on shit like this? K good. Please do not procreate.

On the 16th I did four at 6:27 pace, the first two where with Josh Thill, nice to chat with him, he is a nice guy, very good runner. After this I only had time for 20 laps in the pool before it closed so hammered though out. The Vibram repairs held up. I am not sure if they will last to 1000 miles like I was hoping but this will get a few more out of them. Wrapped some electrical tape around the sew job and a forming rip on the other shoe. So we will see how long this lasts.

Again I had someone whom I do not believe I have ever talked to ask me if I was that "decamarathon guy" and that is crazy :p He said keep it up too. Makes me feel good when people notice me like that.

What to do in the next few weeks? I am so busy. I have a paper to write on Maple Syrup Urine Syndrome, an article to write for an ADA practice group for Weight Management. Lots to do, the semester is almost up!

Later all :)

Forget speedwork. Speedwork is the icing on the cake and you don't have a cake yet.

Monday I ran twice. At 6am I did a slow 3 on the Hobo Day 5k route just to get started for the day. Later on with Jenna I ran 5 more. It was a good 8 mile day.

Tuesday up on the WC track I hammered out 5.22 miles at 7 flat minutes per mile. The Garmin is AWESOME for running up there. I have it set where every time around I hit the Lap button it tells me which lap and what the last lap time was. On the display screen I have it set to tell me how many laps I have complete, the average lap time, the total time, and the current lap time.

After the run Barb and I went out to eat since I had a secret shopper assignment. How this works is I signed up at the secret shopper website and they call me about once a month with an assignment. Restaurants pay this company to have people do this. I simply go eat there and check the place out. The particular restaurant I went to this time has very specific things they look for on their evaluation. How are the parking lots and bathrooms? Is the music and temp ok? Is the manager out among the tables cleaning? Etc etc. I have to give a pretty detailed account of my visit, including estimated time spent in line, how many people were before me, etc. I get reimbursed on my meal up to $10.00 and another $5.00 for doing the survey after the shop. There is no way to make money off this but it accounts for a free meal once a month, not too bad :)

This made me laugh. As I was waiting outside the Union after the run for Barb to pick me up some student walked by me and said something like "if I ran as much as you I would be in amazing shape!" I believe I have seen him before, but pretty sure I have never spoken to the guy in my life. I have found that people whom I do not know at all recognize me and will talk to me, just from seeing me running at the Wellness Center so often. Barb pointed out, it was a compliment after!

Again Tue I went to the WC after finishing up my microbiology lab report and did 3.5 more miles. The half was just a warm up. Here is the speed session I did, remember each lap is 178m, not 200...

1x3laps w/ 2 lap recovery after each

3x2 laps w/ 2 lap recovery after each

6x1 lap w/ 1 lap recovery after each

I missed a recovery lap midway through so did one extra fast lap at the end to get 27 laps in. The average pace for the three miles was 6:36 miles. I may try to do more speed work on the treadmills since with the track being such a stupid distance and having the tight corners it makes getting any speed difficult.

A speed session here and there throughout the week or maybe a mile or two of strides at the end of a run are my only main training changes for Boston qualification. The title of this post is something I read once on SlowTwitch, one poster to another. I think I have the cake, so do not feel bad adding in a little speed. I also find that running inside, I go faster but it is much harder to go as far. On the track or dreadmill there is no "Ok I am 7 miles out of town, time to turn around...". However with people around, or others running with me on the track, you tend to go faster. I can pace myself off someone running a bit faster then me. No worries though, if I ever get past, it is by someone who is not running as far, or probably just sprinting a lap or two.

One thing I regularly notice doing real fast speedwork is my calves actually get quite sore. This is from planting more forward on the foot, and harder.

Wednesday I woke early, at 5:54am. I literally laid there for 20 minutes trying to decide what to do. Not to get out of bed or go back to sleep, but if I wanted to run or lift or what. I decided to go lift at the WC since after my classes later in the day I had a couple meetings that ended at 6:30. After which I planned to run and swim. So at 6:30am I get half a step out the door and decide to go for a run. So I turn around and take my Brooks off, put the Vibrams on, and do a quick and cold two miles to get started today.

For the first time ever, I sat in one of those blood pressure chairs you see near the pharmasies at Walgreens, Hyvee, and Walmart. Here is what came up:

Pretty good. 51 is actually a bit on the low side.

Here is one of my new favorite foods. It is tuna fish but I sliced up avocado, celery, radish, carrot really finely and mixed that in with the tuna fish and mayo. Few slices of toast, imitation cheese, piece of spinach. Yum!

Also this week my Vibram Five Fingers got to 500 miles! They are holding up pretty well. The left has a slight one inch separation of two fabrics and the right has two small wear marks on the bottom. I have heard about the fabric separation before, and I believe it can simply be stitched if it gets bad. I expect to get another 500 out of these babies. If I ran on something other then road I could probably get 1500. The two wear marks on the bottom only developed within the last 100 miles.

Here is a larger picture.

Wed was also the first time in six months I have swam. I did a third mile and it felt like I died and went to hell. Michelle wished me a good swim when I saw her up on the track. There is no such thing as a good swim. I do have a 2.4 mile swim for my Ironman next summer to train for, so I figured I should get on to training.

Last I want to talk a bit about The Paleo Diet for athletes.

THE PALEO DIET

The basic premise of Dr. Cordain’s research on paleolithic nutrition is that certain foods are optimal for humans and others are nonoptimal. The optimal foods are those that we have been eating for most of our time on Earth—more than 4 million years. Only in the last 10,000 years, a mere blink of the eye relative to our species’ existence, have we been eating nonoptimal foods. Unfortunately, these foods comprise the bulk of what western society eats today and include such foods as grains, dairy and legumes. Given that our bodies have not changed, we are simply not well adapted to these nonoptimal foods and they moderate health and peak performance.

On the other hand, we have been eating optimal foods – vegetables, fruits, and lean animal protein – for hundreds of thousands of years and we are fully adapted to them. Science tells us that these foods also best meet our nutritional needs. Eat these and you will thrive. Avoid or strictly limit them and your health and performance will be compromised.

I like the Paleo Diet For Athletes because it not as strictly restrictive as the regular diet. Because athletes put more stress on their body those carbohydrate nutrients are needed more so. The book is less of a diet book and more of an instructional book on how to best optimize your nutrient eating and timing. Instead of your typical distance athlete carb loading....well all the time, the book shows that there are better and worse times to eat carbs, and when and how this should be done. The best diet advice I can ever give a person is to "Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants" (In Defense of Food). This takes that one step further and says, "and this is how and when you can best eat that food."

The book breaks the athlete's day into several stages. I love how this was done, very easy to understand.

Stage One: Pre Workout.

Before a long or intense workout it is recommended to eat a couple hours before hand, and some carbs that are lower on the glycemic index. Everyone knows to to not eat too close to your workout or race. This is a good way to get a sick stomach or to see the food a second time.

From, www.glycemicindex.com,

Not all carbohydrate foods are created equal, in fact they behave quite differently in our bodies. The glycemic index or GI describes this difference by ranking carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. Choosing low GI carbs - the ones that produce only small fluctuations in our blood glucose and insulin levels - is the secret to long-term health reducing your risk of heart disease and diabetes and is the key to sustainable weight loss.

The glycemic index of a food item shows how quickly the carb's sugar gets into your blood stream. A fast release of sugar causes insulin to be release by your pancrease. this cases a rapid decrease in blood sugar levels, also causing hunger.

By eating something with a low glycemic index, you give your body more time to process the carbohydrates.

Stage Two:During Workout

During a long or hard workout or race you will mainly be fueled by GU and liquid. Higher glycemic food will get that sugar into you faster so you can utilize it quicker. Of course this depends on the length of what ever is going on.

Stage Three: 30 Min Post Workout

This is the most critical time for recovery, your body is sucking up nutrients like crazy. The goals here are to rehydrate, replace carbohydrate stores, and provide protein. As most athletes know, liquid is the easiest and quickest to digest, so that is what is recommended. A smoothy with a 4:1 Carb to Protein ratio is what I see recommended the most often. The book recommends a mixture of fruit juice, protein powder, glucose and a piece of fruit thrown in and blended.

Stage Four: A couple hours post workout

This is when they recommend eating those pastas, bread, etc etc. To replenish those glycogen stores that you tapped into during your workout. A quick and easy one that I like to make is the tuna fish sandwich shown above.

Stage Five: Until the next Stage One

This is the regular Paleo diet again. Basicly avoid carbs and eating lean meats, fruit, and vegetables.

Well Desi will be here for the weekend so I thought I would go ahead and update today. I also have two exams next week and all of my end of the semester projects are coming up so I need to finish/start those. It will be a busy rest of the semester.

Thanks for reading everyone, and until next time :)

You will never, ever, regret a workout upon it's completion.

Just wondering if this is normal. I am running and lets say I come up to an alley or a street and a car stops in front of me, so I stop. This same thing is even applicable on a track if some brain donor walks in front of me or there are three people taking up all the lanes. Does anyone else do the quick stop, slump shoulders, and stair directly ahead? Other than stopping, in no other way actually acknowledging the existence of this car/person at all. And in your head you are thinking "FUCK YOU JUST MESSED UP MY STRIDE, MY BREATHING, AND MY GROOVE YOU INCONSIDERATE NON CONTRIBUTING LAZY PIECE OF SHIT" Everyone thinks that....right?

Athletes praying before a race/game was brought up by a friend of mine on facebook, and I have thought about how absurd prayer is in the first place. Are you actually praying for a favor from god? And people pray for stupid things too! Now I understand people wanting prayer for a sick friend, but god has nothing to do with the outcome. Get real people. This quote puts it nicely:

by Epicurus: Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil? Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God? If you believe that a god can/will grant success, then it necessarilyy follows that same god also must then deny it, which would seem antithetical to the idea of a god.

Something else interesting I found...

I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours. - Stephen Roberts

Now I have no problem with people having a faith. I have faith in myself, others have faith is something else. If that helps them through the day and make their lives better, so be it and good for them.

Ney Way...

I have been noticing people purchasing Airborne more and more often lately at Walmart. Is this the same stuff that had a law suit filed against it a few years ago? I did some research and this is what I found.

The makers have paid at least 30 million dollars in lawsuits and settlements because of false advertising and making unproven claims. If you look closely, you will see the claim on the box went from "Can prevent your cold or ease the symptoms" to it can "support your immune system". However, there is actually zero proof that the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, electrolytes, and amino acids in it can do anything for your immune system.

Also a bit of info on the differences between supplements and drugs. Supplements do not have to be under any regulation at all. They can put whatever they like into it, and put whatever they like on the package without the FDA looking at it first. I have talked to people who have worked in the supplement industry, and they no longer take them. That should tell you something about some of the companies products...

A drug has been looked at, tested, and its production is regulated.

How do you tell if what you are holding in your hand is a drug or supplement? Look at the food label, if the title is supplement, that's what you have, if it says drug, there you go.

Back to Airborne. In August 2008, the Federal Trade Commission made this statement:

"there is no competent and reliable scientific evidence to support the claims made by the defendants that Airborne tablets can prevent or reduce the risk of colds, sickness, or infection; protect against or help fight germs; reduce the severity or duration of a cold; and protect against colds, sickness, or infection in crowded places such as airplanes, offices, or schools."

So the question is now, what does help the immune system? Look no further then common sense, once again.

1. Sleep is a big one.

2. Protein. Your immune system is actually comprised of many many proteins. A risk of that weekly long run is you may tap into your PRO stores during the run, reducing the amount in your body. These little guys are the building blocks of your immune system.

3. Do not focus on one system, focus on your entire body. A healthy body equates to a better everything.

And that myth about bundling up before you go outside during the winter to avoid getting sick, do not buy it. The cold does not make you sick, germs make you sick!

Wed Dave Graves and I met at the stadium at 6:15am to do stairs. I did about a half hour of stairs total, with some sprinting on the football field halfway through and at the end of the stairs, going down and back twice on the field each time. Afterwards I stopped by the Wellness Center to get some good stretching in, and headed back home, getting about five miles in before you woke up :p

I told Dave most of my running has been done at night. This was at 6:30am and he goes "well technically it's still night!" Yeah...thanks for reminding the sun still was not up Dave.

Later that day I ran to the Wellness Center and hammered out three miles of speed work. It was a half mile there and half back. On a dreadmill I did 12x400's. 400 at 6 min miles and 400 at recovery, off and on for three miles. The recovery varied between 7 min miles and 8 min miles.

Friday was a good day. I hope to use the 2010 Brookings' Marathon to qualify for the 2011 Boston Marathon. Well I ran 10 miles up on the track at the pace I have to run the full marathon to qualify. For my age group, the marathon needs to be completed in 3:09:59, which is 7 min 24 second miles for 26.2 miles. The 10 up on the track were done in 1:12:37, so the time was perfect. It was not too difficult until maybe mile 8 it became a little harder to keep pace. This was a test to see at what level my fitness was at. I was surprised I did not struggle more with the 10 miles, but that gives me more hope than I had before this run as to the possible, and hopeful, outcome of the May marathon.

To end the week I watched the New York ING Marathon Sunday morning. My favorites both finished 4th I believe. Paula Radcliffe had some problems and was dropped off the front group at mile 22ish. She has won the race three times already, and is likely the most dominant marathoner of the last decade. There were two really fast miles, I am not sure where at, but Ryan Hall was dropped off there and came in fourth still. Here is great news. American Meb Keflezighi was the first American to win there in 20 years I believe. And representing triathletes, Desiree Flicker placed 10th at 2:39:30, 10 minutes behind the winner. Amazing performance by her :)

I watched the first few miles and then went for a quick 4 miler to get 40 in this week. Here is the run:

4 miles

26:28 (6:37pace)

The run was amazing. Running from the High School to Hyvee I got sprinkled on and even for a few minutes there was a pretty significant downpour, and it was fantastic. This run puts me at 480 miles in the Vibrams, I will probably post pictures of the bottoms when I hit 500 or so.

I ran three with Barb this week on...Thursday and told her I have lost a lot of speed since my return, but can run much farther. The run mentioned above had my pace at a 20:30 5k, however my PR is just above 19 minutes and I would have difficulty breaking 20 at my current condition. Barb asked if it bothered me. I told her no, I am not training for a 5k, I am training to run a hundred miles in 24 hours and Boston in 3:09:59. Speed will come.

After that I drove home quick to see the parents and sign some papers for insurance. My home is a little farm house 10 miles out of a larger town. I love driving there because once I get off the interstate and onto the smaller roads everyone waves at you! It is the "hand on top of steering wheel, and raise two fingers" wave. There is a new adorable dog at the farm named Cow with one blue eye and one brown eye.

Well I am off to work now for a few hours and then I need to get crackin on some school work. I also need to write out everything I need to do in the upcoming week and month.

There is a lot of construction on campus these days. And whenever I see the guys working I cannot help but think....

Thanks for reading all

Kranz out

Halloween is just another way to promote obesity in America's youth.

Well I think my IT band is going to be ok. For a background, see this post. Anyway I have been running in Brooks ST4's since I left my Vibrams in Spearfish. The few runs I did in the VFF after the Jack 31.16 were not too bad. If I remember correctly, two long runs relatively pain free and one shorter run that was pretty good as well. Then I get home and am forced to run in the trainers, and get ITB pain within two miles on a few different runs.

Monday's run I was at three miles and decided to head for home because of the pain, getting only four in that day. However the new Puma Bolt Gold Streets arrived as well. They are simply a remake of the Puma H Streets/Salohs/K Streets, one of the most popular minimalist running shoes ever. The gold is to celebrate Usain Bolt and his general amazingness. So for the couple weeks I have not been able to get more than a couple miles into a run and the Illiotibial Tract Friction Syndrome gets bad enough that I head home, the latest of which was two days ago. Wed I did five in the Pumas and did not feel a bit of pain.

Whomever designed the Wellness Center is an idiot because the track is a nine lap mile track. Stupid right? What were they thinking?!? So for my speed workout Wed night I could not do 200's, I did 178's. Idiots. Anyway the workout was...

hard easy

2x530m, 350 recovery after each rep

4x350m, 350 recovery after each

6x178m, 178 recovery after each

That and the run to and from home and the wellness

center was over five miles. No IT pain at all :)

Unfortunately I read somewhere you could run in these sockless. That was extremely disproven on Wed...in an excessively painful way. I got rid of the IT band pain, but found five new blisters I did not know I had. The inside of each big toe had a huge one, one on the inside of my left arch, and each little toe had a blister. No wait, my left little toe's blister was worn away and the skin was gone and it was just bleeding. The faster I ran the less it h

urt. That was good for the speed session anyway...

I read that the average consumer spends about 25 dollars on Halloween candy each year, and another 30 on decorations or costumes. That is a lot of fat little gremlins and princesses waddling around. Cashiering at Walmart I never sell only one bag of Halloween candy, it's usually 3-5 bags. There is something like 1300 calories per bag of Snickers, half the fat is saturated, a lot of sodium, and 28g of sugar per bar. And I know when I was a kid I was coming home with at least one of these bags worth of various sugary and chocolaty candy. What is the difference between regular candy and Halloween candy? Nothing, except there is a lot more of it.

Another thing is that people eat candy all the time. I would not be surprised if half of the families that come through to buy groceries get some type of chocolate or sugary candy. They are eating candy or unhealthy food in general on a regular basis, and then binge of it during Halloween. This just shows the kids that eating candy is ok, and reinforces the unhealthy habit.

I ate an entire pear the other day. The entire thing. Everything. I was looking at it, and thinking how wasteful people are, and how I have been wasting so much of the fruit I have been eating my entire life. And is there anything wrong with eating the seeds and everything? We eat watermelon seeds, and the myth about the fruit growing in your stomach, that's a lie. I think I will continue the practice, can't hurt.

Cottonwood Coffee put up a new OPEN sign a few weeks ago. One of those bright red and blue neon ones, you know what I am talking about. Anyway I do not like it and it is very out of character for the shop, so I left them a comment. They need to get rid of it, the thing clashes and I do not like it.

There seems to be a trend of being a unmarried mother and working at Walmart. Do you think working at Walmart causes unmarried women to have babies, or does being an unmarried mother cause women to work at Walmart? I have yet to decide.

Last week I took my clothes off in front of my entire Assessment in Nutrition class. Luckily I had a Speedo Jammer underneath! The strip down was to get my body fat tested in the BodPod. Results were not good :p I have actually gained fat % since the last test two summers ago. This does not mean I have gained any fat, but I may have lost more muscle then thought. I am five pounds lower then when I was 12% body fat.

I believe I have lost fat as well though, especially around my midsection and chest. My stomach is smaller and I can see my abdominals more then I could in the past. I also believe my legs are a bit more defined. However I can believe the muscle loss as well, especially in the previous few couple months before the Jack 15 when I was running more then ever and probably eating a calorie deficit.

Results from a national consumer survey were recently released with some very alarming numbers. 61% of Americans incorrectly believe that the processes that relate to heart disease do not begin until adulthood. However, long term health begins when you are a child. Diet and lifestyle habits early in life greatly impact health later in life. That troubles me because this number means that only 39% of people realize how important childhood health is. And many of the people who do not realize how important childhood nutrition is to health later in life have children. Unfortunately these kids are not in control of their diet.

So in food science we learned where the Mad Hatter really comes from. Hatters used mercu

ry to help cure the felt the hats were made of, and actually heated them. This would undoubtedly cause mercury vapor to get into the air and be inhaled. Thus hatters generally came down with distorted vision and slurred speech. Hence the term, "mad as a hatter."

This is also really interesting. Botox, is actually the trade name for Botulinum toxin A. That is right, Botox is closely related to Botulism. Botulism is the food poisoning that occurs when someone ingests the neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. A side effect of botulism is paralysis, it would be unfortunate if this were to happen to your heart. I common side effect of heart paralysis is death. When injected directly into the facial muscles however, the paralysis makes frowns, and other unsightly lines, disappear.

There was a thread at SlowTwitch.com titled "Matty Reed gets handed at Denver 1/2 Marathon" and a few people were making a bit of fun of him for getting beat by six minutes in a half, which they would consider getting spanked. He did the half in 1'14, which is very respectable.

There here along comes pro triathlete Matt Reed...

"Wow. You guys are harsh. I don't know if you have ever heard of doing a race for a hard training session during a training block. Or that I have my goals and that if that doesn't fit into your forums goals, I really don't give a hoot. I happily will see you all at Clearwater. (The Half Ironman World Championship)

Oh and btw, that dude that won in 68 threw down 65 last weekend. He is the real deal and said the course was tough.And I totally respect women and athletes and Vanessa fernandez, but are you serious dude? Really are you serious? You kill me. Where were you today when we threw down 3 training sessions... ?? Huh? Oh yeah. I know... Reading about everyone elses times..."

Oh, E-Snap!

I recently read a paper titled "Types of Dietary Fat and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease: A Critical Review". It documents the recent trend of low fat diets and food items and the impact on health. Usually all you see and hear is "eat low fat!" however recent evidence is showing that amount of fat has little effect, compared to the type of fat someone is taking in.

Another side of the low fat trend in food is that instead of eati

ng the same amount of low fat food, people eat more of it. Because it is low fat they somehow thing it is healthier. When in fact the fat has simply been replaced with carbohydrates in many cases. Low fat, not low calories. Eat one serving of regular cookies or eat two servings of low fat cookies. What are people going to do?

The National Nurses Study, a 14 year follow up study with n=80,081 women 34-59 years old looked at dietary fat and coronary heart disease.

The study found a weakpositive association between saturated fat intake and risk of CHD, but a strong association between intake of trans

fat and CHD. Five percent of energy from saturated fat, compared with the equivalent energy from carbohydrates, was associated with a 17% greater risk of CHD. In the Nurses study there was a strong association between the ratio of polyunsaturated fat to long chain saturated fatty acids and a lower risk of CHD. The study suggests that replacing the long chain saturated fatty acids with polyunsaturated fat is likely to lower CHD risk.

Also after adjusting for other fats, monounsaturated fat intake was inversely associated with risk of CHD. Also in metabolic studies, replacing carbs with monounsaturated fat raises HDL without affecting LDL.

There was also a positive relationship between tran

s fat intake and the risk of CHD in the Nurses study. In the US stick margarine, commercially baked products, and deep fried fast food are the major sources. In Europe all major sources have pretty much eliminated trans fat thanks to the the response of the manufacturers.

Something else that really grinds my gears is health claims on food items. There is something wrong when Cocoa Crispiers is claiming they are good for your immune system or labeled as a Smart Choice. Or when ice cream has "0 grams trans fat!" on the box, when it also has 20 grams of saturated fat. And when something says the vitamins it contains will help maintain a healthy immune system, there is no science to actually back that up. It's all about money unfortunately.

And to end it all, why do you run?