Garden Of Life VS Vega

Lately I have been trying different supplements to boost protein and other nutrients a bit.  The two I have tried so far are Garden of Life Beyond Organic Meal Replacement and Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer   I like the overall taste, variety of flavors, and consistancy of Vega better, though Garden Of Life seems to provide more nutrients.  GOL contains a higher protein level, 33g, Vega 26g, also GOL has higher B12 levels 12mcg, Vega 6mcg, while Vega provides EFA omega 3-6, and GOL does not list EFA information, if their product contains it at all.  Both are vegan, gluten free, soy free, and free from other common allergens. Both products provide about 15 servings per container, if you have the larger Vega Whole Food Health Optimizer at least.  Price is something to consider as well, if you go to Whole Foods or other stores, you can expect to pay $75 for the large container, though ordering from Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe you can pay anywhere from $60-$65, depending on quantity ordered.  GOLBOMR you can get at Whole Foods as well for about $55, or you can go to The Vitamin Shoppe and pay $41.22.  This is a big price difference, and depending on your use, it can depend how much you spend on a monthly basis.  Both worked equally on my energy and overall performance level while using them, granted a month long trial isn't very long to see overall results to compare the two fairly.  One benefit I have found is the reduced amount of soy in my diet, though I still consume some tofu and tempeh, it is always good to have another source of protein in my diet.  Even with eating other beans and nuts on a regular basis, it is not good to rely on one type of food for a particular nutrient, variety is much better for everyone.  I encourage you to try both and see what you think, I will continue using them and hopefully have a better update in the future.

Vegan Chili Recipe

I actually got this recipe from my friend Gillian.  Also for anyone that ever asks you about where you get your protein from, this recipe here is packed with protein, also fiber, which part of a good diet.  I think most people don't take in enough fiber on a daily basis, 26g is recommended, but really 40+ is better.  Back to protein content though, with the amount of kidney and black beans, along with tempeh you can easily get 20g of protein in just one bowl of chili, and depending on how much you make you can get several days out of the pot.  For the hotness/spicyness of it, it really depends on your personal taste, adjust as needed, I use very hot peppers and even Mexican Hot Chili Powder to kick it up a few notches.  Once everything soaks for a few days it becomes extra potent.  I like to make this up after 1/2 marathons, as a recovery for the muscles, with that extra protein kick.  Note that this is not only a vegan recipe, but gluten free as well.  Enjoy!!

1 large white onion (NOT yellow, must be white, spanish is the best)
chopped lots of garlic - i use 5-6 cloves
1 large red pepper chopped
1 large green pepper (if the peppers are smallish, I'll buy 2) chopped
1 16oz can of red kidney beans
1 large can of diced tomatoes (drained)
1 vegetable bouillon cube (use a little bit of boiling water to rehydrate NOT the full cup)
chopped jalapeno peppers (depending on your taste)
Cumin powder (lots of cumin)
Chili powder (lots)
Cayenne pepper
I added 1 can of black beans
several chopped halebeno peppers
1 package of tempeh or you can use textured vegetable protein, though I think the tempeh will give you a bit higher protein and fiber content

Sautee onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent. Then add the peppers and kidney beans and sautee for a few minutes. Then add the tomatoes and veggie bouillon. Stir well. Then add the rest of the ingredients and let simmer. I've put the list of ingredients in order of how you add them

ATL Half Marathon

My Nov 25, 2010 started very early, in fact at 3:55am early.  I got up and had some grits with blueberries and flax seed oil mixed in, and water to drink.  I wanted to make sure to get some good carbs, and also something for hydration when I had breakfast, also wanted to eat early enough to give it some time to digest, and also not to soon before the run started.  I had 3 hours to spare when I was done eating, and got dressed, which I had laid out the clothing the night before.  I left home a little after 5 and arrived at Turner Field around 5:35 in the morning, which was good as well, since I heard about peoples traffic woes, and also seeing people hurry to the start line, after I had already started.  We had been warned to get there at least an hour early for parking, as it was limited, and also with traffic.

Weather for this event was great, it wasn't raining, though the streets were wet and slick in some spots, but volunteers alerted us to slick areas, the temperature was in the 50s, which was great too.  I got warmed up and found the portapotty several times before the start, there were plenty of them with some lines, but nothing unreasonable.  I was glad to have arrived so early, to feel more relaxed and comfortable before the start.  About 20 minutes before the start of the race, I took one of the organic energy shots I had brought to test out and see how it would help me run.  I found my start corral, which was the first one to start.  A man started talking to me right before the start, he happened to be doing his first 1/2 marathon and we talked for a bit, and wished each other luck, which is so nice to have someone who doesn't even know you talk to you right before the start, a kind of comradery.  The start was on a hill, which made for a slower start for all of us, even with different start times the beginning was a bit crowded, but was to be expected for a large event like this.  I also saw people rushing down Hank Aaron Dr to make it to the start, as we were starting up Hank Aaron Dr.

I knew I was running a good pace, though it didn't feel like I was going as fast as I was, I hit the 2 mile mark in under 15 minutes, and almost used the portapotty, but held it for a bit.  Also this pace was good since I hadn't run in about 3 weeks due to some issues with my left foot, but was feeling ok.  I kept the pace up, and was actually near someone dressed like a turkey, as onlookers kept yelling run turkey.  I hit mile 4 at 29 minutes, but had to stop to use the portapotty, it couldn't be held any longer.  We went past Atlantic Station, then down 14th ST toward Piedmont Park, I passed mile marker 6 right at 45 minutes, where we were warned of slick conditions ahead, the park looked nice and colorfull. We were more than halfway there after exiting Piedmont Park, but I was still feeling good.  Just after mile 8 I took my second organic energy shot, even with taking powerade at every station, which was about ever 2 miles.  Just after mile 10 we could see Oakland Cemetery, a very historic cemetery, off to our right, I think it was at this point to leader of the 1:40 pace team leader passed me, and I tried to keep up with him.  Turning up MLK Jr Dr we were at the 11 mile mark, and I wasn't dying or anything and keeping a good pace, maybe 100 feet at most behind the 1:40 pace leader, hoping and praying actually for more downhills, instead of what seemed like endless uphills.  Down to Peachtree St and passed the capital building, onto Capital Ave/Hank Aaron Dr in the final mile, and thank goodness the final .6 or so was on a decline. I found a bit of energy to speed up some and cross the finish line right at 1:40, with my chip time being 1:39:32. 

I was happy with my time, as I say I had not been running for several weeks, and mostly doing biking, with some swims as well, and cannot complain, as I could have done much worse.  The course was a very challenging course, which is good, I like a good challenge.  If you had not done your hill work though, this course would have kicked your butt big time and then some.  The volunteers were all wonderful, and I made sure to thank each and every one of them that gave me powerade, my medal, food, etc... since they took time out of their day to come and help make this event possible.  The medal was very nice:

The course was scenic and as I say very challenging, though all the volunteers and spectators were encouraging and keep us all going along the course.  I would definitely do this event next year, and hope to do so, with a lot more prep.  Also knowing the course lay out is good, and I can know how to train for it better.  Thanks again to the Atlanta Track Club for putting on such a great event.

Training

I am trying some new things for the upcoming ATL Half Marathon, which I hope help improve my time and conditioning over the 13.1 Marathon. I am mixing things up more with the running, stationary bike, and elliptical, and wish I had access to an indoor pool as well, to throw in some swimming.  Monday I go for an hour on the treadmill for speed, trying to hit a better 10K time, and after that slow it down a little after I hit 10K, and then bike or do the elliptical for 45 min - 1 hour after.  Tuesday I am doing 90 min on the treadmill on a 2 incline, a light incline to increase difficulty and a little bit slower pace with gradual increase, followed by 15-30 min on the bike.  Wednesday I do road work, a minimum of 10.25 in the neighborhood, and the neighborhood I live in has some flat points, but not many, and some really nice hills, I don't try to kill myself with speed, just a nice steady pace with gradual increases.  Thursday I may not do any running, and just do an hour on the elliptical, then the bike for at least 45 minutes.  Friday is 5K day, I turn the treadmill up and go hard to do a 5K, and then turn it down a bit for the rest of the hour, and may follow this up with the bike or elliptical.  Saturdays is long run day 2-2.5 hour run, in a nice local park, again very hilly and even some trailing involved, to top it off I will hit the bike in the afternoon for no less than 90 minutes, going on somewhat fatigued legs to try and make them ready to go longer.  Sunday is rest day.

I've also been doing a lot of calf raises with and without weights, just trying to build up more strength in the muscles.  Also deep knee bends on legs days, even on nonleg days also, I'll do about 300 straight of them, widening my stance, to almost horseback stance, for those familiar with the martial arts.  I do not go down to 90 or come up to 180 on these, I stay between 110 and 170 at most, that way the muscles do constant work and really fatigues them, also can cause jello legs.  I do the deep knee bends barefoot, and most of the other training I am doing is in my Vibram Five Finger KSO's.  This is just a breakdown of my cardio and additional leg work I am doing with my regular weight lifting.  I am also constantly working on my ChiRunning forms and improving them to help me be a better runner and injury free.  I would love to have some boxes to do plyometrics as well, to do jumping with, and may get a jump rope, along with adding some martial arts routines in here as well.  I will see how all this works out come 11/25, hopefully it helps me a lot.  Any suggestions would be appreciated as well.

13.1 Marathon in Atlanta

I got up at 3:45 this morning, to  get ready this mornings run.  I had a small bowl of grits with blueberries and goji berries mixed in it, along with a banana, yogurt and a glass of water.  I had everything laid out last night so getting dressed and having everything in order was no issue.  I arrived at the MARTA station in Doraville around 5:20, which gave me plenty of time to just sit and relax until I got on the train, while listening to my prerun playlist.  I got to the Brookhaven/Oglethorpe station just after 6 am, and walked briskly up to Oglethorpe.  I had plenty of time to warm up and use the portapotty twice, as nerves were at work.  Checked my bag and made it to my start corral, where I kept moving a bit to stay warm, as it was very cool this morning.  The race started promptly at 7 AM.

The first few miles I was keeping a very good pace, over 8 mph, but couldn't keep it up and finished with a time of 1:38.52, which is about 7.95 mph or a 7:33 minute mile, finishing 147 of 2887 runners, not bad for my first half marathon.  The course was a bit rough, very hilly, so anyone who plans on running this, I really recommend doing A LOT of hill work, maybe even 2 times a week, and on your long runs doing no less than 15 miles.  Even with the work I had done, I was not 100% prepared for this race, some minor foot pain I had for a week or so, and a 2 week sinus infection didn't help me much.  I really started feeling it about mile 11, but kept up a very good pace, as I say the hills were brutal.  The course was well planned and went by some nice really nice places along the way.  There were plenty of water/gatorade stations, with a few portapotties near them, I did have to stop once along the route to use one.  Also having cheerleaders, and musicians along the route, also the workers at the water stations were very enthusiastic and encouraging to the runners, as well as the volunteers on the course, and having plenty of them and police in place.  The medal was a very nice one: 

There was plenty of water, bananas, and other food in the finish area, as well as a band performing.  There was a massage area, but I didn't take advantage of it, and having a tent you could go to for results was very nice, so you could have you time right away. 

Things I learned from this race number 1 is the importance of doing hill work.  I also need to work on my cardio conditioning, not like I am in really bad shape, but I need my cardio capacity to be a lot higher.  I can accomplish this by working on my breathing through my nose, also doing more intense cardio workouts.  Though I did some longer runs, I need to do them on a more regular basis, which will help my cardio capacity, and keep me going better.  I still need to work on my posture and other forms from ChiRunning, but this is always a work in progress.

I plan on doing this race again next year, and will do a lot better, as I have a feel for the course, and know how to train better for it.  The winning time was 1:15.03, so with the right training I could be right up there next year, no doubts in my mind.  As long as I keep things up with runs, and doing good longs runs weekly, and hill work as well, not to mention working on my Chi Running anything is possible, I would need to add about 2.5-3 mph to my speed, which is not impossible I feel.  Next up is the Atlanta Half Marathon on 11/25, time to start getting ready for it and train very hard.



Music Playlist

I know a lot of people like to run with an ipod/mp3 player, I never have for a race.  The ipod I have is bigger and is a pain to run with as it is, and keeping it strapped to my arm is difficult.  Maybe if I had a zoom or something then I would consider it, but even then I doubt I would.  I like to stay more focused on the road and my surroundings when running in a race.  Also it allows me to stay focused more on the ChiRunning focuses, and checking in on them on a regular basis.  Not to mention I have playlist of music going on in my head as it is, so that is good enough.  I have put a playlist together for my warm up and prep prerace, and below is how it goes:

Motorhead - The Game
White Zombie - Thunder Kiss '65
The Cramps - Bikini Girls With Machine Guns
The Ramones - Blitzkreig Bop
Dropkick Murphys - The Warrior's Code
Social Distortion - Reach For The Sky
David Bowie - I'm Afraid Of Americans
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
Skinny Puppy - Testure
Front Line Assembly - Mindphaser
Combichrist - Get Your Body Beat
Leæther Strip - Sex Dwarf
Das Ich - Destillat (VNV Nation Remix)
Project Pitchfork - Timekiller
Apoptygma Berzerk - Starsign
Neuroticfish - There's A Light...
Razed In Black - Oh My Goth (DJ R<I>B Trance Remix)
LL Cool J - Mama Said Knock You Out
Public Enemy w/ Anthrax - Bring The Noize

First 1/2 Marathon

This Sunday I'll be doing my first 1/2 marathon ever, it is the 13.1 Marathon Series in Atlanta.  It should be a fun event, and even with some minor setbacks in training I should be ready to go.  I had to battle sinus congestion and a some minor foot pain during training, but didn't give up. 

I have been reading over Danny Dwyer's book ChiRunning again, and working with some of the focuses.  I have mostly been working on posture, even during the day at work.  I will check myself and adjust to be more straight and upright, even leveling the pelvis, which feels add after standing incorrectly for so many years.  I've also been working on my lean, and finding the comfort zone with that.  Relaxing my lower legs, especially the feet and ankles, trying to not have as much tension in them.  Working very hard on my foot strike being more in the midfoot.  Lastly working on breathing more through the nose.

Another issue that has come up is Marta, has changed it's train hours starting this week.  I will catch the first train out of Doraville at 5:55 and get to the Brookhaven station around 6:02, then have to go 1 mile north to Oglethorope.  The race starts at 7 so things are going to be tight with stretching and being warmed up well, and also having time to use the portajohn, and do bag check.  I prefer getting to a race like this at least an hour before start, to have my head on straight and be ready.  I am not sure about being so rushed, but I think things will be fine. 

The last few days I have been eating a lot of rice and quiona, along with sweet potatoes, fruit, espcially bananas, and various veggies of course, along with tofu.  Tomorrow I plan on having salad and soup, a big bowl of rice and quinoa, and having plenty of fruit again, nothing to heavy, but plenty of carbs for the big day.  I always kind of see what works good the day before a race, and see how I feel, as to how I adjust my diet.  No pasta though, I have never been a big pasta eater, and  have been actually eating less wheat gluten for a bit now, and it is good I like rice so much. 

After Sunday I will take it easy Monday and just lift, maybe bike a bit, and then Tuesday I have to crank it up a few notches for the Atlanta Half Marathon and then Charleston Marathon in January.  Plenty of other runs inbetween, mostly 5k's.

Intro

I plan on using this blog to share my adventures in running, accomplishments and learning experiences along the way.  I also hope to share some tidbits on nutrition and maybe recipes.  I hope you come along for the journey and enjoy it with me.