Mammoth

I'm hanging out in line for the gondola at the Main Lodge (webcam). This place is awesome. Unfortunately it is no secret. It's packed today. I just did the super-duper pipe on my last two runs. That thing is cool. I actually felt the G forces as I came off on wall and headed for the next. I'm having fun on the steep stuff, too. It scares me. I think that is what I like about it. My fingers are cold now
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Vacation in Austin, TX

Since we're flying back from Austin and I can't sleep on the plane (probably has something to do with the double shot of espresso I had at the airport), I thought I'd share some of our experiences from the last few days.

Since we got in so late on Wednesday night we had to come back on Thursday to pick up or rental car from the airport. Kurt gave us a ride on Wednesday night but I took a cab back to the airport on Thursday morning. It would have been cheaper to take the SuperShuttle based on the recommendation of the front desk person at the hotel. The cab arrived within a few minutes of calling it. But just after my cab arrived, another cab pulled up who turned out to be picking up someone else. This occurrence led my cabbie to tell me about a real problem in Austin. Nigerian cabbies scanning the radios and stealing clients from the cabbies that are assigned to the clients by the cab company. So I got to hear about one particular situation where my cabbie was wronged by another cabbie who he filed a complaint against.

Kurt took us sightseeing on Thursday after Megan and I had lunch at the nu age cafe, a vegetarian restaurant that had great veggie and tofu dishes and a tasty lime tea elixir. nobody was swimming at Barton Springs when we visited there but it looks like a great place to train for triathlon swimming since it is 200 meters long. It seemed like we had to stop for coffee for Kurt between each sight. I rarely drink caffeine let alone coffee but I found myself ordering double soy machiattos left and right. It just seemed like the right thing to do at these cool little coffee shops we went to (Jo's, Austin java, Flipnotics). the weather was cold enough to be wearing two jackets and still be cold so it was hard to convince us that this was a town with a large community into outdoor activities but all the huge bike, running, and triathlon stores were pretty convincing. And by Saturday it had warmed up enough for everyone and there dog to come hang out at the dog park.

We hung out downtown on Thursday night and visited our share of bars after stuffing ourselves at the Veggie Heaven. The best way I can describe the vegetarian diner is that it is like a vegetarian version of China diner in downtown Reno. The food was really good and really greasy. The protein 2000 consisted of broccoli and a fried meat like substance that was delicious. I had a mango bubble shake that had little brown tapioca balls in it. They were about 1/3 inch in diameter, just small enough to fit through the over sized straw. The outside had a consistency similar to a peeled grape. The inside was chewy. It was a little surprising to be drinking a tasty shake and have a "bubble" shot up the straw and into your mouth when you weren't expecting it.

Megan and I pride ourselves in being able to sleep in late on vacation and this trip was no exception. We got up around noon on Friday and met Graham and Stephanie for lunch at Mother's cafe. We ate in the garden of this vegetarian Tex/Mex restaurant. It was cool to finally meet Stephanie since we've heard a little about her from Graham. We also got to meet her cat, her chocolate lab puppy, Buddy, and see her very cool house.

By going to the expo early Friday afternoon Megan and I were able to score some cool swag. I got a livestrong jersey and Megan got a Livestrong backpack. I've been to my share of race expos so its funny to find myself always looking for something to give me an edge in the race that is only a day or two away. In Hawaii, it was the spray on potion that made your legs cold or hot or both, I forget. This time I bought some disposable gloves, which definitely helped keep my hands warm (a big deal for me in case you didn't know). However they probably weren't much better than the ones that came in our packets for free :). The other thing that I thought would make a big difference was Jeff Galloway's advice to take walk breaks. It's possible that it made a difference in the amount of damage I did too my legs but it sure didn't help me run faster, at least after mile 10. I was motivated and excited to listen to him talk and even more excited that Megan got to talk to him about her injury problems with her running.

I'm sure most people have stopped reading by now so this should be a good place to talk about the deal I made with Megan. We saw a really cute goldendoodle on saturday at the dog park. She started asking about getting a dog again and said she would do anything for one. So being in Austin for a marathon, the first thing that popped on my head was if she runs a marathon she can get one. I thought she would complain and ask for something else, but to my surprise, she was excited. She called several people to tell them the "good news". So we might have another dog sooner than I was expecting.
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Austin marathon 2007

This is kinda long winded but I had a long time to think about my run while I was running slow :). And typing on my BB is helping keep my mind off of the ice bath I'm sitting in.

GPS and Heart Rate data from the Austin Marathon
I started out just a touch ahead of pace for the first 6 miles . Then I had to take a crap. So stopped at an outhouse and set a new record time for running a mile with a crap stop (7:50, old record was 7:59). When I came out, the 3:10 group was just going by. I ran with them until about mile 10 but the 15 second per mile walk breaks were putting me further and further behind. The hills didn't help either. So around that time I conceded and decided to run like it was a long training run so I wouldn't have as long of a recovery time as I did after HI. My heart rate quickly dropped to the 150s and my pace slowed way down. The 3:15 group came and went. The 3:20 group came and went. The 3:30 group came and went. Once I had been running for over an hour, my forerunner only showed minutes so I started counting for my 15 second walk breaks. My counting got slower and slower and by mile 20 I was counting half seconds. I hope the breaks will help me recover faster but they were a mixed blessing on the course. I couldn't wait to get to the mile markers to take them, but it was harder to get moving again. I think I fell victim to bob's theory about running races at lower elevation. The first few miles feel great, but you're used to having your lungs be the limiting factor so you kill your legs early. That is how I felt. I tried to speed up several times but I felt like my legs just wouldn't carry me any faster. I did end up running about a 7 min mile on the last mile in a last ditch attempt to break 3:40.

Overall, several things hurt my performance

• Recovery time from HI
• Not training enough times per week. Hal's senior training program is okay if you just want to run a marathon every month or two, but it isn't a program for getting significantly faster. I also should have not split up several of my long runs into 2 shorter runs. And I should have gone slower and finished the 20 miler. For the future I'm thinking of doing some longer runs (24-28 miles) down in Auburn or Sacramento.
• The master cleanse - Just bad timing to deplete my glycogen stores.
  
• The hills - There was about 1300 vertical feet of climbing (about 500 feet less than Honolulu).
  

I'm just finishing my ice bath and I think I'll follow it up with a little nap.

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Day 12 Master Cleanse

Day 12, Saturday, 2/10/07
weight in the morning: 147
So I didn't come off of the cleanse as gracefully as I had planned. I headed home right after work yesterday and went straight for the raw faux meatloaf that I had made the night before. I started with just a few little bites. Once I had eaten those and was pretty sure that my stomach wasn't going to hate me, I had a bigger piece. I also had an orange and some vegan zucchini bread. All that sat fine in my stomach. I had a gift certificate for the steakhouse at Boomtown and offered to take my parents since I wasn't planning on eating so soon. My parents split a pasta dish and Megan wanted the halibut so I said I'd split it with her. I ended up just eating a salad and a few bites of the halibut. It was really tasty but it upset my stomach a little.

It was rainy this morning so I wasn't sure how many people were going to show up for the 9 mile training run I was supposed to lead from Idlewild park to IGT. Three others ended up showing up for a nice run. It actually didn't hardly rain on us at all. I ran with two of the runners at their pace (about 10:40min/mile). I actually got light headed and really tired for a few minutes about 2 miles into our run. That could have been from just having OJ for breakfast. Once I had a Power Gel, I felt much better for the rest of the run.

I can see why people go back on the cleanse. Being on the cleanse gives you a sense of comfort that you are doing something right for your body. Even though it may be a challenge to not eat, it is so easy to plan your meals. You just drink the lemonade. You don't have to decide what food your body needs. When you are off of the cleanse, even if you eating healthy, you are always wondering if you had enough vegetables or if you should have had soup instead of salad. That is something that I never had to worry about while I was on the cleanse.
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Day 11 Master Cleanse

Day 11, Friday, 2/9/07
weight in the morning: 146
I can't wait to eat. I drank the tea last night and started this morning with 8 oz. of juice squeezed from blood oranges. It tasted really good. I didn't have any trouble drinking it. I made another quart of OJ in the juicer with Cara Cara oranges. I felt good all morning, similar to the way I've felt the last few days. It finally snowed yesterday so I decided to head up to the hill to make a few turns at lunch. The snow was pretty wet and heavy so it really tested my legs. I felt a little short on energy but it was great to get up there for a few runs.
I felt slightly light headed for about an hour after I returned. It seems to be better now that I have had some more OJ (about 75 oz so far today). I was planning on just drinking OJ today and tomorrow and start eating on Sunday, but I think I'll probably try some solid food before that and see how my body reacts. I made some faux meat loaf from a raw recipe last night and I'm getting really anxious to try it.
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Day 10 Master Cleanse

If you are interested in learning more about the fast I'm doing, read The Master Cleanse, by Stanley Burroughs

Peter Glickman also has quite a bit of information on the Master Cleanse on his raw food website
Day 10, Thursday, 2/8/07
weight in the morning: 146
Run info: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2051186

Total Time (h:m:s)	0:42:16	8:33 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:41:34	8:24 pace
Distance (mi )	4.94
Moving Speed (mph)	7.1 avg.	11.5 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+997 / -998
Avg. Heart Rate	156 bpm	Zone 4.0

So I got up at 6 this morning and stayed up. It took a lot of will power and a long shower to keep me from going back to bed. It was a good day to do it, though because I had to pick up Megan from work at 7:15 AM anyway. It's almost 2PM now and I'm not tired.
I ran with the marathon training group at lunch today. We did 4 hill repeats where you sprint up a hill (about .2 miles) and then jog back down. I felt strong on the first one, but struggled a little more on the last 3. I felt good, I just couldn't go any faster. That has to be related to the fast and not taking in enough calories for energy. That should be my last hard workout before the Austin marathon. My focus for the next week will be to eat a diet that will best prepare me for the race. I will continue to run but my runs will be either short or at an easy pace.
My tongue was the whitest it has been this morning. Maybe next time I'll go until it turns pink again (although it is always pink after I brush it). If I didn't have a marathon in a week, I would consider staying on the cleanse for a few more days. All in all, I'm glad I did it. I'm not sick anymore, which is why I started it in the first place. And I was able to continue my marathon training without interruption, which was my second objective. I was able to run just over 50 miles since my last meal. The other thing I hope to take from this is a stronger appetite for healthier foods. I'm planning on sticking to my plant based diet that I have been eating for about 2 1/2 years. I will hopefully add more raw and whole foods to my diet, but I don't see myself sticking to a completely raw diet for very long. Seafood sounds really good right now but we'll see if that craving goes away once I begin to eat food again. It's been just over a month since I last drank. Right now I don't feel like drinking, but I think I might settle on drinking once a month if there is an occasion for it (like going to Austin this month or Napa next month).
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Day 9 Master Cleanse

Day 9 Wednesday, 2/7/07
weight in the morning: 147
Blood Pressure: 116/69
Pulse: 40
It seems like everybody is eating popcorn today. It is really tempting to pull a package of microwave popcorn out of my cabinet in my cube and go make some. But I won't. I actually had a dream that I was eating something (a cracker, I think) and realized when I was done with it that I had broken my fast with only a day to go. What a nightmare :)
I've been itching to try out my new trail running shoes and was planning on a run at lunch, but Megan talked me into going to the gym for a spinning class. Despite being my first spinning class in about 10 months, I survived. I meant to wear my HRM but forgot it in the locker room. It ended up being a good 50 minute workout. When I started adding weightlifting to my routine about a month ago I was trying to do one day of lower body and one day of upper body each week. I haven't missed any of the lower body days, but I have missed the last 3 weeks of upper body. So I decided to do a quick upper body workout after spinning. I felt like I picked up right where I left off.
One of the things that I was excited about when I started this diet was that I would need less sleep and be more motivated to get up in the morning. The first 4 or 5 days I seemed to have an easier time getting up in the morning. However, the last few days I have not been as motivated. I get up at 6AM and somehow motivate myself to drink the liter of salt water (I got it all down in one chug this morning), but then I go back to bed. When the alarm goes off in another hour, I just hop out of bed, run across the room and hit snooze. Then I crawl right back in bed. This repeats every 8 minutes for 5 - 8 times before I actually get up and shower. Maybe tomorrow I'll try getting up at 6 and staying awake.
I haven't noticed if I need more sleep. Some nights I've been getting more sleep because I go to bed early out of boredom and not wanting to think about food. I haven't been getting tired in the afternoon at work, though. I noticed a few weeks ago that I would get sleepy around 3PM and have to get up and walk around or have some tea or a snack to stay awake. I haven't been getting tired at that time since I've been on the Master Cleanse, with the exception of Sunday after my long run.
I have also noticed that my hands have been really dry and are cracking even though I've been drinking over a gallon of liquid per day. The dry climate has probably contributed to that as well.
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Day 8 Master Cleanse

Day 8 Tuesday, 2/6/07:
Weight in the evening: 147
Last night at the gym went really well I was able to run 5K at a pretty quick pace and then do all my lifting with no problems. I "think" my knees felt better doing lunges and leg extensions but I don't have any definitive proof that they have improved so just take it as a feeling I have, nothing more.

Here's the GPS data from last night's run

Total Time (h:m:s)	0:22:51	7:17 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:22:51	7:17 pace
Distance (mi )	3.14
Moving Speed (mph)	8.2 avg.	11.6 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+62 / -61

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2039635

And here is the data from today's lunch run:

Total Time (h:m:s)	0:27:33	6:52 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:27:34	6:52 pace
Distance (mi )	4.01
Moving Speed (mph)	8.7 avg.	11.2 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+192 / -206

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2042157

After the run I headed over the park to play ultimate disc

Total Time (h:m:s)	0:38:34	19:38 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:28:06	14:18 pace
Distance (mi )	1.96
Moving Speed (mph)	4.2 avg.	17.7 max.
Elevation Gain (ft)	+48 / -47

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2042158

Today’s run was my third fastest (by average pace) run over 4 miles. Only the Turkey trot and Apple hill races were faster. And it was my 7^th fastest overall out of about 150 runs I’ve used a GPS device on. Someone could definitely argue that I would have been in shape to run as fast or faster if I had been eating and kept training since last week, but I feel good and I’m happy that I have lost very little on the fast. The true test of whether the cleanse was a good idea will be in 1 ½ weeks in Austin, TX at the marathon.

Feels like my cold is completely gone. No more coughing, sore throat and runny nose.
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Day 4-7 Master Cleanse

Day 4 Friday, 2/2/07:
weight in the morning:151
I tried making the lemonade with molasses today. I used about half as much as I would normally use of maple syrup. It did not taste nearly as good. It wasn't sweet and smelt strong. It ended being a good drink to bring along to Micasa Too for Sarah's birthday. While everybody else was drinking margaritas I was sipping on my lemonade, which probably was just about as easy to drink. I hesitated to go because I knew I would be around a lot of chips and salsa and other tasty food, but that stuff didn't bother me too much. And I was happy to be the DD to the next bar when the fun and puking stopped at Micasa Too.

Day 5 Saturday, 2/3/07
GPS data from run:

Total Time (h:m:s)	1:12:47	9:00 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	1:10:18	8:41 pace
Distance (mi )	8.08

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2034403
I ran 8 miles this morning. This run and tomorrow's are the reasons that it took me a while to commit to the Master Cleanse. I ran at a comfortably slow pace and felt good the whole time. I haven't felt dizzy or light-headed at all. I did have a little more trouble with the salt water flush, even though I waited 3 hours before beginning my run. I'm pretty candid about the whole thing, learning from each new "experience", but my wife is a little embarrassed by the whole idea of revealing every detail about the elimination process to the world. So I'll keep it to myself.
I still think of food. I had been craving zucchini bread about a week ago, but I found out that they only have it on Tuesday and Saturdays. So I stopped by and picked up a loaf after my run since I was near the store (House of Bread on California Ave.). I got it for Megan and my roommates. I guess I was just thinking that since I can't eat it, it would be almost as good to see someone else enjoy it.
This evening was kinda tough. I wish I could eat something. I felt an urge to eat but I think what was worse is the thought of not eating anything solid for another week. Assuming I go 10 days on the fast, next Friday and Saturday will be spent drinking orange juice. So that puts me at Sunday before eating any solid food.


Day 6 Sunday, 2/4/07
Weight in the morning:149
After my run:145
GPS data from run:

Total Time (h:m:s)

2:32:07

8:40 pace

Distance (mi )17.53
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2034404
I skipped the salt water flush this morning not wanting to repeat yesterday's episode on today's run. Good thing, too. Not many of the bathrooms along the trail are open in the winter, so I stopped to pee on a tree off the trail. Not 2 minutes after resuming running did we encounter a cop driving down the running trail. That stop would have likely been for #2 had I done the salt water flush. He might not have done much if he caught me peeing, but I don't think he would be to excited to find me eliminating on the bank of the river.
I felt good on the run. Bob and I ran about a 9:00/mile pace for the first half, talking most of the way. We picked it up a little bit on the way back and I ended up finishing at an 8:40/mile pace overall. I was planning on running an even 20 but we got back to the car at 17.5 and I couldn't motivate myself to go do the extra 2.5 miles. I know I could have done them, but I pushed it harder than I probably should have for the last 5 miles so reasoned that running another few miles by myself might not be advisable. When I finished, my legs felt tired and worn out, but I was surprised how quickly my breathing recovered. Actually I don't think I was really breathing hard even before we stopped. I drank water and a quart of the lemonade before the run. I carried 2 8 oz bottles of water and 2 of lemonade and drank them along the way. I was a little nervous about needing extra energy so I added an extra tbsp of maple syrup to each bottle of lemonade. That mixture turned out to be really sweet. I probably would have been better with the normal mixture.
So much for not being able to do significant workouts while on this fast. I guess the real test will be in 2 weeks at the Austin Marathon where I'll try to run 3:10 and qualify for Boston.
I was not too upset when Megan wanted to stay home for the Super Bowl. Partly so I could watch the game (and the commercials) on our awesome HD tv and partly because I didn't really feel like being around all that snack food. Megan ended up getting chips and dip and boy did they smell good. I seem to have an easier time drinking at work than at home on the weekends. I drank about 2 gallons on Friday (1/2 water, 1/2 lemonade) but I have only drank about 1/2 that today.

Day 7 Monday, 2/5/07
I woke up at 6:30 this morning to start the salt water routine, which was pretty uneventful. I eliminated once before the salt water and still had gooey stuff coming out normally. Megan didn't sleep much last night and she said one of the things keeping her up was my stomach making noises from the tea. I've heard many people say that they feel great on day 8 and 9. I'm looking forward to that. Today I feel similar to yesterday and Saturday. I don't feel bad, but I wouldn't describe it as great. My cold has all but vanished, although I'm not convinced that it would have been subsiding by now anyway had I continued my normal (mostly healthy) diet. My legs feel great. I don't feel sore from yesterday. I'm going to head to the gym now to lift and run. I haven't really lifted on the fast yet (except the eve of the first day) so we'll see how it goes. Ty was mentioning that his shoulder seems to be healed after being on this diet and Aaron said he regained flexibility in his thumb over a year after the initial injury. I've been trying to think of any aches and pains that I've had lately that I could be miraculously cured from. My neck was bothering me pretty bad before the Honolulu marathon. It hurt to turn my head and it was so tight that I couldn't crack it. But that went away with 2 weeks of relaxation in Hawaii. The only thing I can think of is my knees. They hurt just a little bit when I do squats and lunges. Sometimes I have to do a warmup squat where I go down about 1/4 of the way to "unlock" them so I can do a full squat with a lot of weight. I know I'm getting really picky here because they don't bother me very much at all. So we'll see if they feel any different tonight at the gym.
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Day 0 - 3 The Master Cleanse

Day 0:
Monday, 1/29/07
Ate my last meal of curry soup around 5:30, then went to the gym to run 3 miles and lift. Earlier in the day I had coughed a few times but my throat felt fine. I decided to try out the master cleanse for a few days, possibly adding raw food since I want to keep up my running. The Austin Marathon is on Feb 18 (less than three weeks away). After working out and sitting in the sauna for 20 minutes, I went grocery shopping for the MC essentials and also a lot of fruits and veggies. I took the Herbal Laxative Tea before bed.
Evening weight: 156
Day 1:
Tuesday, 1/30/07
GPS data from run:

Total Time (h:m:s)	1:03:44	10:25 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	1:03:21	10:21 pace
Distance (mi )	6.12

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/1999644
I began the day with a smaller than average elimination. I did notice that there was mucus in it. I woke up with a sore throat and a bit of a cough, confirming my suspicion that I was getting sick. I ran 6 miles at lunch, focusing mostly on running slow and keeping my heart rate down. I had brought food to work, but ended up just sticking to my water and lemonade.
I felt bad that I had bought all that food and was worried it was going to go to waste so I cooked some soup and make some raw yogurt and apple juice for Megan. Although the apple juice looked really good, it wasn't that difficult to abstain from it. Both Megan and I are sick so we just laid around and watched TV until we went to bed. I think this is a pretty common feeling when you are getting sick, but I kept getting chills during the day.

Day 2:
Wednesday, 1/31/07
I started this morning with an elimination that was a bit smaller than yesterday but still solid. This morning was the first time I drank the salt water flush. Even though I had been warned, I let one fly on the way to work and was surprised to feel something wet. So back home to change my pants I went...after sitting on the toilet for half an hour to make sure it wouldn't happen again. I took it easy tonight and just watched X games and "Friday Night Lights" after watching Megan eat and taking her to work. I still feel sick although I definitely feel better during the day than I do in the morning or evening.
My tongue was pretty white so I brushed it pretty well until it was pink.
Evening weight: 152
Day 3:
Thursday
2/1/07
Morning weight: 150
GPS data from run:

Total Time (h:m:s)	0:34:41	9:11 pace
Moving Time (h:m:s)	0:34:02	9:01 pace
Distance (mi )	3.77
Elevation Gain (ft)	+236 / -236
Avg. Heart Rate	147 bpm	Zone 3.5

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2008444
I woke up around 4:30 AM this morning with a coughing fit and feeling that my throat was really swollen. It hurt to swallow but I drank some water and didn't have much trouble getting back to sleep. I had my salt water flush around 7AM and didn't have any trouble compared to yesterday. By the time I went to work my throat was starting to feel better and my tongue was still pink. I'm still sneezing and coughing a little and there is a slow, watery snot drip. I'm hesitant to tell many people about what I'm doing since I keep going back and forth on whether I'm committed to doing it for 10 days. I ran 3.75 miles today at lunch. We did a leapfrog run where everybody runs in a line and the person in the back sprints to the front. We started out with 8 or 9 people but ended up down to 4. I helped Megan prepare her dinner and watched her eat and that didn't really make me hungry. I still feel a bit sick. I'm hoping that my cold or whatever it is will go away soon.
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