Cleaning-up the joint

The weekend came and went and things still just continue to be interesting. The job situation is just fucked. I've been with two "companies" for 6 years and I am being laid-off. Sure there could be some 11th hour shenannigans, but the point is that I don't want this kind of instability. So, I have to figure-out what in the hell I should do. Pretty nuts.

On the diet end of things, wife and I are doing a little 7 day detox diet that's actually just a killer diet. I've done a detox in the past. It was a 21 day trip that involved a ton of supplements and was pretty expensive. This one is definitely all about digestion. I'll post some more specific info on it this week.

Today's menu:
Wake-up and have a room temp glass of water with juice of 1/2 lemon.
Then have a cup of herbal tea (Detox tea).
Hour or so later, a blue-berry and almond milk smoothie with the one supplement, some "greens" powder with pro-biotics and other yummies.
At about 11:00, a little box of coco-nut milk.
Lunch was a salad with a little onion, half avocado and this KILLER ginger/miso dressing. I LOVE IT.
For an afternoon snack, pumpkin seeds and almonds, just a few.
Dinner was a broccoli and arugula soup. KILLER.

What I'm so stoked about is incorporating a lot of this into my regular diet. I've been having some digestion issues. I didn't have any issues today. We'll see. I will definitely post more reaction. The diet also calls for daily sweating (nice that "they" actually recommend exercise. God knows, I'm going to). I was so swamped today I only got a teeny weeny stretch/core/weight session in and a 30 min. ez run outside.

As for the weekend, Sunday I was worked. Had a tough Saturday night and some family commitments on Sunday so I took the day off. Very weak. I lost my nerve, but Saturday wasn't bad.
Took the 5 year-old on a little hike. This is Cowles Mountain. Got a little tough coming down, "Focus: how about we stop singing and concentrate on our footing!" It was awesome. About 1500ft. of climbing, perfect weather and a nice recovery day after Friday's harder run. So all in all, taking Sunday off wasn't the end of the world.

Tomorrow, after my water, tea, and blue-berry and rice milk smoothie I'm going to go run a little trail at Mission Trails. I might go kinda hard :-)

Let's go already. . .

Running is keeping me busy. I did about 1:10 yesterday with some hills and an oval mixed-in all at an aerobic HR. I know: data schmata, but I don't mind some kind of verification for the blob - log. The training is pretty organic. I'm just trying to have as much fun as I can and make good decisions (the same thing I tell my 5 year old every single day). This means the work-outs are mostly "comfortable" or aerobic. And just this week I'm starting to introduce a few harder sessions, maybe intervals during a regular work-out, or a few harder mile repeats, push a hill harder than I might.

Although I am an aerobic convert, I think some harder stuff (granted when one is "ready" which is pretty relative) is necessary if one wants to get faster. Before I met the blog and Lucho I ran how I felt I was supposed to and did fairly well for an ex-college soccer mid-fielder (1:32 half marry). And I think the trail/mountain running is even more unconventional if one wants to spend a lot of time there training, meaning a bunch of flat slow miles might not produce much "arousal" if you know what I mean. Nonetheless, I value the slower miles, just cruising and burning fat, building capillaries and the rest of that slow-twitch universe. I think injury prevention might be one of the biggest benefits to HEAVY BASE.

Yesterday's run was in a pair of old school sweats. Those and the cotton tee were screaming for a headband. I might oblige. Train in cotton, race in burmudas. Might be the new blog title.

By the way, I'm thinking about kicking this blog into gear. I need to hone some skills. Maybe a website? What does anyone think of Wordpress? JW, GZ, Footfeathers, anyone? I want to do more with this space.

Today's 8 miler was with about a 1000 ft. of climbing on this urban trail I like to frequent rather than drive 1/2 hour to some of the better trail heads. Obviously, when I want to start doing bigger trails, I will drive. But this little urban venue is pretty nice. Has a xc course running through it. I don't know the exact course, but I run on a dirt xc "track" that's .7 miles. I did some hard loops and had "fun" on some of the hills elsewhere.

What didn't help was the massive hunger spike that hit me prior to the run. I even ate breakfast, but around 10:30 when I hit the trail I was starving. Ate a piece of pizza and a bunch of "healthy" cheetos. WTF? Did not help the run. My version of sandbagin. Big 70s style sweats, a headband, cotton tee, and some left over meatloaf before the run. Perfect.

Right now. Dinner is done and I'm sippin Le Freak and have a Lagunitas Ale getting cold.

Cheers.

Wednesday 11/4

I hit Mission Trails yesterday. Ran 5 miles on my little loop course. Did some soft loops and 2 hard loops. Definitely a harder work-out. The speed was good to see and feel.

As we get older, speed is what we lose first. Endurance later. Therefore, I'm going to incorporate more speed into my program. Likewise, we need recovery. Today, I didn't run, first off day in a while. Hit the gym and spun 30 and did weights and core. I'm starting to groove THAT work.

Tomorrow is aerobic running, work all day (while i still have a job) and then Friday is long/hard.

Question: How can I help you? What can I do for you?