Recipe: Vegan Crêpes

Yep, you've read that right, this post is a recipe for Crêpes (thin french pancake); the vegan kind. It came about this morning as my wife made some non-vegan ones Saturday morning. Curious to how a vegan version of the recipe will taste like, I decided to try it for Sunday breakfast. And it was a resounding success, IMHO. Here's a few pictures of the crêpes in the making:

Making the recipe animal products free was pretty easy albeit a little worrisome as I kinda suck at cooking and substituting ingredients is a bit like dark art for me, still ... Anyhow, here's the ingredients list (which should yield about 4 standard size crêpes):

• 120g of Flour 
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2 tbsp Sugar
• 2 Flax Eggs (2 tbsp grounded flaxseed meal + 5 tbsp water)
• 1 cup of (unsweetened) Soy milk
• 4 tbsp Water
• 2 tbsp Orange Blossoms water (or Vanilla extract)
• 2 tbsp Vegan butter (e.g. Earth Balance)

The batter preparation is fairly easy:

• mix all dry ingredient in a bowl
• mix all wet ingredient in a separate bowl (you'll need to melt the vegan butter first, the flax eggs count as a wet ingredient)
• whisk the wet into the dry

It is custom to leave the batter to rest for a bit, I didn't and it turned out fine, YMMV. Grounding the flaxseed meal my not be necessary. I have the habit of doing so as I found the one I have to be not that well grounded. I think that for a crêpe you want it to be as fine as possible as they are not supposed to be "seedy".

I enjoyed mine with some Italian Figs jam and it was just as yummy as the non-vegan one! Enjoy!

Double runs, double trouble?

Last week, I ran to work and then back home twice (Monday & Friday). That's the first time that I did such a repeat twice within the same week ... I also ran Tuesday (8km), Wednesday (10km) and Thursday (8km). I took the week-end off (crappy weather helped) since that was a total milage of 62 kilometers for the week. Since the weather is declining and that the cycling season is now in its twiligt, I have been trying to ramp-up my running by doing such repeats. I'm not sure I can do it more than a couple of time per week without risking some sort of injury ... In fact, after a ran yesterday (on top of my usual commute by bicycle), I started to feel pain in my left lower calf (Achilles tendon?) ... So I'm taking it easy for the next few days. #fail

The Victoria Marathon

I have been procrastinating on this post for a week now and I'm not too sure why ... Maybe it's because I don't really want to move on, especially now that Autumn is now unleashing the full force of his wetness on us. Anyway ...

I ran the Victoria Marathon last Sunday in 3:22:07 (chip time), which turns out to be not to bad. This is only my second Marathon (first one was 9 years ago in Paris) and possibly my last one. Why? Mainly because training for one takes too much time away from cycling. I'm an aspiring duathlete, after all ;-) However, as soon as I was done with this one, I was kind of pondering on registering for some more ... So, who knows, I may do the Edge 2 Edge one which is located in a very scenic part of Vancouver Island. In any case, I'll definitely do some Half-Marathons.

So ... I got up Sunday morning at 5:30am (my usual wake-up time on week days) and had my usual long run breakfast (bagel + peanut butter + banana + chia seeds) and also drank 0.5l of water in which I had disolved a Nuun tablet. At 6:45am, 2hrs before the start of the race, I had half a cup of (strong) coffee. I could have waited some more as to have the full effect of caffeine at the start of the ace, but I wanted to make sure I will not have to stop during the race to pee (this had been an issue during my first Marathon). At 8:30, my father-in-law dropped us near the starting line and after a short line-up for the porta potty we were all ready for the start at 8:45. The weather was pretty good with a nice empty blue sky, however it was a little chilly, so since my running outfit was pretty minimal, I wore a plastic bag to keep myself a little warmer. That is something I have picked-up from racing in Europe which isn't as popular in Canada.

Since I wore my bulky Garmin GPS device, I was able to map the whole race on Strava:

After the start, the wife and I stayed together for the first 2 kilometers or so. The idea is to ramp-up slowly and to avoid succumbing to the excitement and over do it so early in the race (a classic mistake). At the 3rd kilometer, feeling pretty good I accelerated and maintained a pretty good race pace (as fast at 4:11/km) up to kilometer 30 where, un-surprisingly, the quads on both of my thighs started to ach rather painfully. During the 28 kilometers I ran at an higher pace than usual, I was well aware of the risk I was taking. I was feeling pretty good and decided that this was a good time to see what I was capable off. During my first Marathon back in 2003, I had taking it so easy (and finished it in a very un-glorious time of 4h15) that I had enough energy left at the end to sprint the last kilometer. I just didn't want to do the same thing this time around ...

With both my thighs becoming painfully sore, I had to choice by slow down my pace to 5:09/km and up to 5:41/km during the 41st kilometer. I probably could have stopped and walked a bit (like many other runners did), but this isn't something that I have ever done during a race, and I wasn't going to do that. When people started passing me, which had not happened until I had to slow down, I definitely started to feel like an idiot ... :( Anyhow, I was happy to reach the finish line within the time I have set for my goal.

Nutrition wise, I had taken with me 3 dates to be consumed in case of emergency, but the occasion never came up as I relied, rather heavily, on the race provided energy gels. This wasn't my original plan, but as went for most of the race on a higher pace than usual, I though that I may run myself into the infamous wall. So, I gobbled-up as much as gels as I could snatch from the volunteers handing them out. I probably had 3 or 4 of them and drunk at most water stations (mainly energy drinks). As the result, I didn't feel out of stamina during the whole race.

Before the race, I was expecting my knees and calfs to cause me some pains, but I barely felt them during the race which was pretty cool. Overall, I'm not dissatisfying with my performance, just a bit disappointed at myself for not having the judgement to lower my pace to something that I could have maintained up to the finish line.

Lesson learned, I suppose ...

Last run before the big day

Yesterday we ran our last run before this Sunday's Marathon and we're now in full tapering mode for the race. Overall, we lowered our training volume this week with only 2 runs but I did commute on my bicycle 4 days of the work week.

I'm pretty excited for Sunday, but also a little anxious to see if I can do a good time. I'll be happy with anything under 3:30:00 ...

1/3 Marathon before The Marathon

This morning we did our last long run before next sunday Marathon. I didn't push myself much as at this point I'm mainly focusing in not getting injured right before the race :P

The run to & back work experiment #2

Ran to and from work today as a second experiment with an average pace bellow 5:00/km. The weather was kind of crappy on the way back, which was kinda lame. However, I better get used to liking running in the rain if I'm going to do that more often during Fall and Winter.

I'm taking tomorrow off and then Sunday, we're scheduled for our last long run (14km) before the Marathon next week-end.

Busy Monday #4

Yesterday was in all probability (considering we're already in the late part of September) the last of my Busy Mondays for the season. Which can of sucks, but as the weather is already changing and that the Marathon is now in less than 2 weeks, I'll won't get another opportunity to go for a longer ride until mid October ... At which time most days will be rainy (that's what you get for living in Vancouver).

Anyhow, because I'm trying to not stress my body too much for the next 2 weeks, I only went for a 80k ride to start my day:

With an average of 31.7kph, I didn't exactly ride easy, but I didn't push hard either ... Anyhow, after riding home (9km), we went for a run for which I felt a bit under-fueled (as usual ... when will I learn?) and we clocked with an average pace of 5:13 ...

My calf compression bands were in the wash (bad scheduling!) so I ran without them, for the first time in months. It felt a little weird and I could swear that I could feel my calf's muscle bouncing around a bit as I ran ... My right calf definitely felt sorer than usual after the run :-\

Run to Stanley Park (21K)

Saturday we ran our last long run in preparation for the Victoria's Marathon which is now in less than 2 weeks. I had follow my now usual feeding routine on the morning (bagel + espresso), but since we didn't correctly carbo-load the two nights before, I wasn't really feeling all that up to running an half-marathon that morning. However, I started feeling more energetic after 10 minutes or so and we completed the distance in 01:45:46 with an average pace (05:01/km) at the one I'm aiming for the marathon.

Here's the run's details on Strava:

Just like for our previous long run, I refrained from eating anything during the run, and relied on my now usual energy drink (tea + maltodextrin) to keep my blood's sugar level from diving. 

I was planning to go for a 120km bike ride this morning (Sunday), but the wife reminded me that the last time I didn't take a day break between a long run and a long ride, I injured my calf. So as a mesure of precaution since we're now within 2 weeks of the Marathon, I took the day off .. :(

Another smoothie experiment ...

Tonight, after getting home I felt like making another smoothie experiment using this time Vitasoy's Oat & Quinoa "milk" instead of soy "milk". It was good enough to warrant sharing the recipe so here it is:

• 1 cup of Oat & Quinoa milk (Vitasoy brand)
• 3 tsp of Flax/Chia meal (grounded seeds, 50/50)
• 3 small plums
• 1 medium banana

Blend till smooth and enjoy!

Busy Monday #3

For today long ride, I decided to solely rely on my energy drink, even-though I was carrying with me 12 dates (to be munched on during the day). That didn't work out too well as I was kinda low on energy for the last 10 kilometres or so. Could also have been that I only consumed half of my bottle of home-made energy drink ... Anyway, lesson learned. From now on, I'll make sure to always consume something half-way (for ride above 80km).

Here's the ride on Strava:

I made my usual energy drink, but with one little spin which turned out to taste pretty good. Instead of adding 2 tablespoon of (grounded) Chia seeds, I used a 50/50 mix of (brown) Flax seeds & Chia seeds. Nutrition wise it seems to make some sense as both seeds seems to complement each other (calcium, omega-3 ...) while providing both calories and proteins.

For post ride snack, beside my 12 dates, I had one Luna energy bar (yes, I know it's optimized for Women ...)  and one Nature's Path bar. Seems it was enough to top-up my glycogen and general energy level as I felt pretty good throughout my ride home and subsequent run:

... in fact, with an average pace of 4:54/km it wasn't bad at all. I guess, I ought to eat more during the day to fuel my following work-out. Not really a surprise ...

Notes: Michael Arnstein's lecture on Ultra-Running

Back in august 2011, ultra-runner Michael Arnstein did a lecture on ultra-running during the Woodstock Fruit Festival. The video of it is posted on his Youtube channel and it's a good watch if you are interested by some insights into the extreme, but tempting world of ultra-running.

Here are my notes:

• ultra-running is defined as any run longer than a marathon but it is really an "extreme state of existence" with 4 stages to be passed in order to experience it:
• physical (most people stop running when their body doesn't want to go further)
• mental (continuing to run when your body says "no")
• emotional (using your emotions to keep going forward)
• spiritual
• ultra-running is a life humbling experience which also is a catalyst for changes
• ultra-running is a very addictive sport
• how to become an ultra-runner: 
• body fat > 5% is weight you don't need (2-4% for women)
• the lighter you are the less injury prone you will be
• a low body fat make it easier to cool during warm weather run
• better blood circulation and lower calories intake requirements
• a fruitarian diet is simple, low fat and have a high water content
• it takes a long time to become an ultra-runner, your body need to be build-up over time to handle the requirement of running all the time. You will need to be patient and take it slow.
• you need to train accordingly to the type of ultra race you'll be doing (e.g cross-country vs. road)
• sleep is very important, you need lots of it
• shift your internal clock to match the start of the race when it is early in the morning a few days before
• stop eating 3 hours before going to bed
• avoid drinking too much so that your don't have to get-up to pee during the night
• use earplugs, eye mask and hat
• equipment
• toe socks (help avoid blisters)
• lightweight racing type shoes
• no difference between man or woman running shoe
• add 2 size to man shoe for woman shoe size
• woman shoe large sizes are usually over-stoked and thus on sales more often
• sunglasses
• GPS watch
• head lamp (when running in the dark)
• good lightweight backpack (that can fit tightly so that it doesn't bounce around)
• insulated water bottles
• get your exercises as part of your lifestyle (e.g. running to/from work)
• doing doubles is a good way to train (e.g 9k in the morning, 9k in the afternoon)
• staying motivated
• having training partners
• listen to some good music 20mn before running to "pump you up"
• listen to music during the run (Dean Karnazes' "music makes the miles go by")
• stretching doesn't matter [?]
• race nutrition
• salt tabs
• gas-x to alleviate gas issues (digesting food you are not used to during the race)
• caffeine towards the end of the race (as a stimulant)
• dates
• compression socks: give it a try but it may not be beneficial
• marathon training: 2 high-intensity workout per week
• ultra-race training: lots of comfortable running for extended period of time
• to avoid side stitch, run on an empty stomach (eat 12 hours before the race)
• "you are better than you think you are, you can do more than you think you can" (Leadville's race director)

Being "The Flash" ... for once

I surprisingly had one of my fastest (if not the) 8 km run yesterday with an average pace of 4:24/km ... I said it was surprisingly since it looks like I'm at the onset of a Bronchitis (which I get most of the time I catch a flu). Anyhow, my left thigh was still a little painful, but once I got warmed-up it didn't bother me. I could have run a little faster actually, but my co-worker (with whom I have been running frequently for the past 7 years) couldn't keep-up and started falling back.

Clearly, there's no way I could maintain that pace for a marathon ...

Run to Stanley Park (30k)

Saturday run to our now usual long distance target went pretty well. This time around, I didn't forgot to drink my espresso two hours before we got going, however I followed the tips from Allen Lim, and decided to not take any food during the run itself and only rely on my usual energy drink (minus the Chia seeds) just to keep my blood sugar level elevated (and replace my electrolytes).

Since the infamous wall lives around the 30km mark for most people, I was curious to see if I will run into it (didn't ran into it last time I ran a marathon either) ... And, It wasn't the case as I feel pretty energetic all the way (with an average pace of 5:10/km). Obviously the 2 days of moderate carbo-loading plus a bagel (with peanut butter, chia seeds and one banana) 3 hours before the start of the run was enough to fuel me throughout the run. As a measure of precaution, I did carry a bunch of dates ...

Two days prior to the run, I started feeling one of these weird pains at the top of my left calf, not unlike other pains I have felt recently on my calfs. So I wore my compression bands (on both calfs) as prevention most of the two days and, of course, during the run (as usual). In the end, I didn't feel any calf pains during the run (nor after), just some mild knee pains. However, starting yesterday afternoon (so 24 hours after the run) my left thigh started being painful (rectus femoris?) when at ease. I cycled to work this morning and didn't feel anything special. Anyhow, I'm supposed to run this late afternoon so I'll see how it goes ...

Overall, I have to say that since I started wearing compression bands on my calfs when running, my calf pains have pretty much vanished. I know there's a lot of debate on the effectiveness of them, but it appears to be working for me ... or that's just a coincidence.

Here's the run details on Strava:

...

Relaxing legs in the Skytrain (with Matcha frappe) #duathlete

Notes: Dr Robert Lustig talks with Jimmy Moore

Back in early 2011, podcaster and low-carb advocate Jimmy Moore interviewed Dr Robert Lustig on the subject of fructose and carbohydrates (episode #429 of his podcast). I though it was interesting enough to warrant sharing the notes I took while listening to that episode:

• low carbs diet: can be good but is it necessary for the majority of the population (on a long time scale)? Most people get tired of it after 6 months (see Dr. Gary Foster's study), some people may requires more or less carbs, depending on their physiology
• fiber plays a crucial role in your metabolism and: 
• high fibre intake lower the chance of colon cancer
• slow the rate of absorption of sugars (improves hepatic response and helps regulate insulin release)
• helps with satiety signalling
• helps with fatty acids absorption (which helps limiting insulin release)
• what prohibit leptin signalling? High level of insulin does (fructose contribute to that) and that make you eat more
• obesity : not everybody problem is linked to fructose consumption (everybody is different)
• we cannot change our biochemistry, we can only change our environment (food and food consumption)
• blood sugar goes up when the liver cannot keep up with a sudden sugar load
• whole grains: good because of the fiber (even better if the grains are intact, e.g. not flour)
• normal fructose consumption isn't the problem, high intake is (7 times more than our ancestors)

Consider this as a follow-up to a previous post on the subject of fructose.

Notes: "Up close with Allen Lim"

Greg Kopecky over at slowtwitch.com published today an interview he did with Dr. Allen Lim of Skratch Labs, which, I though, was an interesting read for anyone researching the complex subject of sport nutrition.

Here's my notes:

• during a race, you have to get the calories in to offset your glycogen depletion, BUT you also have to stay hydrated; energy depletion really is only a problem for elite athlete, amateurs usually have plenty fuel "on-board"
• "Drink your hydration and chew your calories": separate hydration and electrolytes from calories intakes (for a more efficient ingestion)
• for less than 3hrs event: taking in a bit of sugar (e.g energy drink) to maintain blood glucose level will help feeling "energized" [without having to load-up on actual (un-needed) calories]
• average stored calories glycogen pre-race: 28 to 42 kcals per kg of body mass
• elite athletes will burn from 800 to 900 kcals per hour or race
• an athelete should aim to replace half of the energy expenditure per hour
• 1g carb = 4kcal
• what to eat during a race:
• simple/normal food
• high glycemic index
• low fiber content
• athletes should experiment in making their own race food

So, it looks like I have been doing it right so far, except taking on too much calories during our longer run. Maybe this week-end I'll lower my calories in-take (during the run) and see how that goes.

Tapering

With a flu and another long training run (30 km) coming up this week-end, I'm tapering a little. I'm still cycling to work (but on easy mode), but yesterday was our last run. Which, BTW, was crappy:

Just like the past week, I felt low on energy (I had a bit of food during the day) but in reality it was the flu (which my kid gave me, thanks ...) which was hitting "hard". Contrast the average pace of 05:24 with Tuesday's 5:04:

Oh well ...

Labour day long ride

For today ride, I headed out to climb Cypress Mountain in North Vancouver (technically, it's in West Vancouver). This is a pretty popular climb for local cyclists with about 910 meters of climbs from the shore (Marine Dr). Since I was going to leave from home, I knew it was going to be a relatively long ride ... and it was with a moving time clocking at just over 4 hours:

I wasn't disappointed by the ride, it was pretty nice. The Cypress' climb was easier than I was expecting and while it is somewhat long, it's a pretty constant grade. In fact, I though the climb from Marine Drive to the Highway (on 21st street) was a lot harder than the actual climb. Passing trough downtown on the way back was a bit less fun since the traffic had picked-up in the couple of hours since I had gone in on my way up north. The temperature was pretty constantly dropping as I climbed and it was clearly chilly at the top. The downhill was pretty fun (with a top speed of 75kph, wheeeez!) albeit freezing (I was dressed warmly for the late season). 

Here's a few shots I took (on the way down):

To fuel myself, I prepared my usual energy drink and packed 10 dates. I didn't have any eating schedule in mind and just snacked on some of the dates here and there. At no point in the ride did I felt low on energy not did I feel any digestive issue. I made sure to drink some of my drink each time I had dates. Since I had gotten-up to close to the start of the ride (5:30am wake-up time) I didn't eat anything before starting the ride. Probably not optimal, but I have an hard time eating so close to a ride (or run).

The n00b's recovery drink

We went for a 10k run this morning after taking Saturday off. When we got back I thought about making a recovery smoothie. However, since I have not yet looked into details to what are the things such a drink should contain for post workout, I mostly worked off things I recalled from what I heard in the (sports) podcasts I listen to (e.g Zen and the Art of Triathlon) and it was yummy:

Here's the recipe:

• 1.5 cups of Almond Milk
• 2 small Plums
• 1 medium Banana
• 3 tsp Chia Seeds
• 4 Dates

I used SparkRecipes to estimate the nutrition info, and it seems pretty decent to me (carbs, protein and electrolytes) but hey, what do I know? ...

I shared the smoothie (about 2 cups) with the wife and the kid, but I had probably 2/3 of it.

The run to & back work experiment

A little while ago, I saw a video by ultra-runner Michael Arnstein (which is also a fruitarian)  in which we follow him during his daily commute in to work (15 miles) which he does running (so 30 miles in total) ... I immediately though "hey, why did I never thought of running to work?" ... at least occasionally since I commute 9 months of the year on my bicycle. I had the opportunity to try it out today using the same route that I ride back home, which is about 9km (so a total of 18k in the day).

Here are both runs on Strava:

It's not exactly the best run around since most of it is on the side-walks or directly on the road, but it was fun. I used one of my wife's small backpack to carry a few items and a bit of food to eat while at work (2 slices of raisin bread and one bagel). I don't know if that backpack (which is similar to this one) is meant for running, but when tightly secured it didn't move at all. I had my iPhone in one of the waistbelt pocket and listened to some podcasts both way.

My knees are a little sore, but overall I'm feeling fine (a little sleepy though). While my wife thinks I'm crazy, I may be doing it again ... but not everyday since I have to cycle. I'm pondering, however, if that may not be the way to commute once winter settled in from November to February.

Much better run today (with co-worker)! I guess I should snack a bit during the day .... or not since yesterday was a pretty unfrequent occurrence ...

Had a crappy run yesterday afternoon. I wasn't in any particular in pain but just low on energy ... I usually don't eat trough the day (unless I have done a long ride in the morning) so I'm not sure to why yesterday was so different from my usual days. Accumulated fatigue maybe?

Notes: "Sugar: the bitter truth"

I recently watched two speeches given by Dr Robert Lustig on the role fructose (may?) plays in the on-going obesity epidemic (link, link). IMHO, it's pretty conclusive and does seems to explains some of the paradoxes (see this Gary Taubes talk @ Google) seen with the calories balance dogma.

Here's are the notes I took from the videos:

• Observations
• Atkins and Japanese [Okinawa diet?] diets both eliminate fructose
• All countries which have adopted a USA style diet have the same obesity issue
• The First Law of Thermodynamics in nutrition is stated in an incorrect way: "if you eat it, you must use it or you are going to store it". It should be "if you store it and you expect to burn it, you going to have to eat it" 
• An epidemic of obese 6 months-old means that any attempt to explaining the overall issue, but also explain this. It's not all about diet and exercise
• We are all eating more than before, there is something wrong with our bio-chemical negative system which control our eating:
• +187 kcal/day for men
• +335 kcal/day for women
• +275 kcal/day for teens
• We are not eating more fat, we are eating more carbs as soft drinks and fruit drinks (1 soda can per day = 15.6 lbs per year of weight gain)
• How come leptin doesn't work to regulate our energy intake?
• What happened?
• Soft drinks consumption is demonstrably (studies) linked to obesity and diabetes (type 2)
• Soft drinks are loaded with High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) which is sweeter and cheaper than Sucrose (one molecule of Glucose for a molecule of Fructose).
• Fructose and Glucose are NOT the same, however Sucrose and HFCS are the "same": they are both poison. It's not about the calories.
• Excessive consumption of any sugar does lead to health problems
• Trend in fructose consumption (*2 for sucrose):
• pre-WWII (natural) consumption (fruits & veggies): 15 g/day
• 1977 consumption: 37 g/day
• 1994 consumption: 54.7 g/day
• Today teen consumption: 72.8 g/day
• Today consumption per person: 140 lbs/year
•  The "Perfect Storm"
• Drive to make food cheaper (1972)
• Invention of HFCS (1966) which is now in pretty much every processed food
• Call for dietary fat reduction (1982) to reduce heart disease: dietary fat raise LDL -> LDL correlate with cadio vascular disease (CVD) so dietary fat must lead to CVD
• 30 years of nutrition guidelines has been  based on a faulty study (The Seven country)
• To make low-fat food palatable, carbs (either HFC or sucrose) were substituted to fat. Fibre and trans fat were also removed (for a longer shelf life of the products)
• Sugar hides:
• salty (chew mix, honey roasted peanuts ...)
• sour (German wines, Lemonade ...)
• umami (sweet & sour pork ...)
• bitter (milk chocolate ...)
• What is the issue?
• Fructose is NOT Glucose
• Fructose (which is very sweet) is 7 times more likely than Glucose (which is not very sweet) to form Advanced Glycation end-products
• Fructose makes you eat more:
• doesn't suppress the hunger hormone (Ghrelin)
• acute usage doesn't stimulate insulin or leptin
• Hepatic fructose metabolism is different from glucose's
• Chronic fructose exposure promotes the Metabolic Syndrome
• How the liver deal with:
• 120 kcal of glucose (2 slices of white bread, 1/4 cup of white rice)
• 80% of it will be used by the body as all cells use glucose as glycogen
• 20% of it will be metabolised, resulting in 1 kcal of VLDL and insulin release which will stop the eating 
• 120 kcal of ethanol (which is fermented sugar)
• 20% of it is absorbed by the intestine
• 80% is metabolized resulting in VLDL (no glycogen)
• 120 kcal of sucrose (1 glass of Orange Juice)
• 30% of the fructose end-up as fat (no glycogen)
• metabolising will lead to:
• habituation, if not addiction
• fetus insulin resistance
• hypertension
• myocardial infarction
• dyslipidemia
• pancreatitis
• obsesity
• hepatic dysfunction
• What can be done?
• Lifestyle intervention
• get ride of all sugared liquids
• eat your carbs with fibre
• wait 20 minutes for second portion
• increased physical activities
• Why is exercise important to obesity (since exercising doesn't burn enough calories)?
• improve skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity
• reduce stress and resultant cortisol release
• makes TCA cycle run faster and detoxifies fructose, improving hepatic insulin sensitivity
• Why is fibre important in obesity?
• where-ever there is fructose in nature, there is more fibre (fruits are okay to eat; only grapes have more sugar than fibre)
• reduces rate of intestinal carbs absorption, reducing insulin response
• increases speed of intestinal transit (or contents to ileum)
• induces satiety
• inhibits absorption of some free fatty acids to the colon; which suppress insulin
• Why is the government not doing anything?
• FDA only deal with acute toxin (e.g. tobacco, alcohol ...), so it won't regulate
• USDA doesn't want to hear about it for economical/political raisons (food exports)
• Summary
• Fructose (in sucrose or HFCS) consumption has increased over the past 30 years, coinciding with obesity epidemic
• A calorie is not a calorie and fructose is not glucose
• You are not what you eat; you are what you do with what you eat
• hepatic fructose metabolism leads to all the manifestation of the metabolic syndrome
• fructose ingestion interferes with obesity intervention
• fructose is a chronic hepatotoxin ("alcohol without the buzz")

The saddest part of the whole Lance Armstrong vs. USADA thing, is that it cheapen (maybe discredit is a more accurate term here ...) his most of the pro-cyclists achievements of that time. Did they cheat? Most likely, but that only allowed them to take their performances a little beyond what they were already capable off (that 2% Jonathan Vaughters talked about a couple of weeks ago) ... They still had to bust their ass off on a bicycle (on and off season) to get to the top of a race like the Tour de France.

Busy Monday #2

I went to my now usual Monday long ride this morning (on my way to work). The weather forecast was a little worrisome, but it was actually rather nice (14C, mostly sunny). Since some rain is (or was) forecasted for later during the week, I really wanted to get that ride done before my next long ride this coming Sunday:

So, instead of making my now standard energy drink, I went with a lighter version of it:

• 2 bags of Jasmin Green Tea brewed in 800 ml of filtered water
• 2 tablespoons of Agave Syrup
• 1.5 scoop of Maltodextrin (so about 120 kcal of Carbs)

Since I had (over)eat enough Sunday (it was a day off), I didn't feel like I really needed the extra calories punch in my drink not the electrolytes (since it wasn't going to be too hot). For nutrition, I packed some leftover home-made Larabar from our Saturday run. My hydration/nutrition plan was the following:

• Couple of sips of drink every 20 km
• One Larabar every hour

Worked pretty good as far as I can tell, except for the fact that the bars are kind of hard to chew and swallow while in aero position (in which I was for most of the ride, without much pain). I probably should cut them smaller so that I can chew and breath with more ease ;-)

To finish-off the day, I did an easy 8k run (with da wife). Felt pretty good doing it. Which I guess is a good thing ...

Run to Stanley Park (28k)

So this morning we ran to Stanley Park (again) but this time pushed to 28km. Since I followed loosely the nutrition plan I had described yesterday I felt pretty energized for most of it, even-though I totally forgot to drink the espresso two hours before, doh ... Physically, I didn't feel any pain to my calf (I was wearing compressing band on both) and only my knees were somewhat sore at times.

Here's the run details on Strava:

During the run, I made a couple of adjustment to the nutrition plan just so it'll be easier to keep track of when I should be drinking or eating:

• Every 5 km, I drank (probably 100ml each time)
• Every 45 minutes, I had one of the Larabar
• One kilometre before the end, I had a handful of dates

While my energy level was never low, I could definitely feel a slight boost starting 10 (or so) minutes after ingesting the energy bars. The dates didn't seems to do much of anything that late in the run, however I did felt some stomach discomfort later on.

My GPS watch contraption didn't cause much trouble during the long run. It did felt a little heavy on the wrist though ... I'm not sure this is the best solution, obviously. 

Green energy!

Energy packed breakfast

(pre) long run nutrition plan

In preparation for this October Marathon, I have started collecting tips and info on pre-race and race nutrition. Since we have a few long (> 20 km) runs left in our training schedule, it's a good time to specify a plan, and test it out so that it can be adjusted.

So, at the moment, here's the pre-race nutrition/hydration plan:

• 3 hours before the start: one (toasted) bagel + peanut butter (spread) + banana (sliced) + chia seeds (2 tea spoon)
• 2 hours before the start: one espresso (with one cube of brown sugar)
• drink water regularly (not over doing it)

As for the run, the plan is:

• After 5 km: starts drinking regularly 200 ml every 5 km (or whenever thirsty)
• Every 45 minutes: ingest a small Larabar (da wife's recipe)

For hydration, I'll be repeating the home-made energy drink I did for my ride last Sunday, but this time with a little less chia seeds. I'll also carry a smaller bottle of water to drink with each of the Larabar.

I'm not totally convinced that I need to eat regularly during this particular run since it will be only an extra 2 km from the previous time and that I didn't bonk then. However, it'll be good to see if I do feel fresher by the end and also if my stomach can take the food during a stressing time.

Healthy fat loading!

Old school jersey

Garmin GPS watch, DIY style

To track my rides and runs, I have been using a Garmin Edge 200 and the Strava's app on my iPhone. I had some pretty good results using my iPhone for tracking the run, however for longer runs it's not very practical (not to mention checking pace and distance is a bit of a PITA) as the battery depletes quickly (I usually loose +30% per hour of GPS tracking) and that it's rather bulky carrying it in my short pockets. Therefore, I have been entertaining the idea of using my Garmin device for running (on top of the biking). At first, I didn't have much of a good experience with that as the device bounced too much in the pocket (causing many false pause/resume events and some lost GPS signals events). I'll probably should just get something like the Garmin Forerunner 110, but I'm kind of a cheap ass ... 

Yesterday morning, I had a bit of an Eureka moment and grabbed some cheap watch which was given to my kid a while back (I wonder if he will remember it ...) and gutted it in order to attach my device to it ... GPS watch style:

Clearly, it's bulky (and feel a little bit heavy on the wrist) but after running 8k with it last night, I can said that it does work. It's not uncomfortable but will it hold-up for long runs (e.g. Marathon) ... I guess I'll have to test that rig during our up-coming long training runs.

...

Blackberries + Banana + Chia Seeds + Soy milk

Free snacks!

About Energy Drinks (part #2)

I was at a nearby Running Room store Saturday and grabbed some energy drink supplements which I had heard about from listening to Coach Brett's podcast:

• eLoad FLY (carbohydrate fuel)
• Nuun Active Hydration (electrolytes)
• Chia Seeds (proteins & fat)

While I'm still trying to formulate (I got the Chia at another store BTW) the most appropriate drinks for my running and cycling (see previous post on the subject), I though I'll give these a try during my Sunday's ride and assembled the drink as follow:

• Russian Earl Grey brewed overnight in 800 ml of filtered water
• 3 tablespoon of Agave Syrup
• 1 Nuun tab (orange flavoured)
• 1.5 scoop of carbohydrate powder (so 120 kcal of carbs)
• 2 tablespoon of grounded chia seeds (which may have been too much according to a twitter exchange I had with Coach Brett)

The Orange flavour of the Nuun tab was very pronounced, and I probably should have used a tea that marry better with it; but overall the drink didn't taste bad and I didn't get any stomach issue as the result of consuming it (yay!). As the weather was on the cool side, by the time we were done our 2:47:00 ride I had only consumed about half of it and finished the bottle on my drive back home.

So, did it help? ... Maybe. My legs felt a little less sore and I didn't feel hungry for a while after the ride (I skipped breakfast when I came home and instead had a late small lunch before an early dinner couple of hours after) ... but that could have been coincidental. This week long run (+28 km) may serve as a better test platform for that drink ...

to be continued ...

Sunday ride with Allan

Yesterday (early) morning I headed to Surrey for a ride with Allan (@IcemanYVR on twitter). It was my second ride in this area of the south coast which I have never really explored before. Since it's kind of the boonies, there is not much traffic and a lot of rural like roads to ride on, with some nice climbs and steep downhills to go around (link to to the ride on Strava):

The ride included 7km (or so) on Avenue 0 which runs along the international border between Canada and the USA. 8k or so before finishing the ride, I noticed that I had a flat on my rear wheel :( Since it looked like a slow leak, Allan suggested we pumped the tire back-up and keep on going. We had to do that one more time before reaching the end of the ride. I was a little bummed to get a flat on my fifth ride (I think) on my new Kuota ... Oh well, such is the life of a cyclist.

...

Back-seat luv ... 

Energy drink supplements!

Got these bad boys: Electrolytes tabs and Maltodextrin powder ...

Easy 10k today since I'm scheduled for a long ride tomorrow morning, also it's our wedding anniversary ...

...

Adjusting dérailleur ... #duathlete

Snacking ...

Yummy freshly picked plums (which turns out to have a GI of 39, on average) brought into the office by a co-worker (I suppose from a tree in his/her garden)

About Energy Drinks (part #1)

According to my wife, I have been obsessing a lot about energy drinks lately ... From all that I have seen and heard (in articles and podcasts) what you drink during a workout (or a race) is very important for anything longer than one hour so it's definitely an interesting subject for an inspiring endurance athlete, therefore my OCD.

So what's the deal with energy drinks? What is their purpose? 

• combat dehydratation
• replenish electrolytes (necessary for muscles)
• metabolic stimulation
• refuel the body (for continuing efforts)

While there is a LOT of various sport energy drinks on the market that will fills this list of requirements, I found that it is more interesting to come-up with your own recipe. It will also be better suited to your particular needs (e.g some energy drinks pack a lot of sugar) and tastes and probably cheaper overall. Such an home-made drink should be based on the following contents:

• water (filtered, e.g. with a Brita filter)
• calcium/sodium/potassium additive
• caffeine (from coffee or tea)
• fast and slow acting carbohydrates as well as some proteins

Depending on the type of workout and the duration, the amount of water, electrolytes and fuel to be mixed will, obviously, vary.

to be continued ...

Racing a commuter

On my commute to work earlier today, I passed some guy on a commuter bike. Since it's pretty common in summer to see a lot of people cycling around it's a rather frequent occurrence that isn't much worth blogging about ... That guy was riding a bike with two visibly non-empty panniers so, on paper, considering he was also a lot "bulkier" than me, there should be no match in case of a race ... Now, I don't often engage in impromptu race with fellow commuters, but since I do have a bit of competitiveness in me it does happens every now and then.

As I don't exactly follow the bike route but kind of interleave with it, I caught up with that guy at a red light 15 or so minutes after initially passing him, which wasn't really odd considering I had rode a longer distance than him. I arrived behind him just as the light turned green so passed him for the second time quickly, but I could feel that I wasn't dropping him so I pushed harder on my pedals until the next red lights where he arrived a couple of seconds after me. Now, I'm no Lance Armstrong, but the fact that he could keep up with me was a little odd. As the light turned green, the same thing happened again as we rode to the next light. As the light went green, I could, this time, see him in the corner of my field of vision as I pushed and pulled hard on my pedals ... so hard in fact that my left foot unclipped and that guy passed me on the slight up-hill we were on.

By now, I was rather puzzled by the whole thing ... Could I suck this bad on the bicycle that some overweight guy on a heavier bike could just keep up with me and even drop me? As I was clipping my foot back, I took a good glance at him while he pedalled with ease by me ... he was riding an electrically assisted bicycle ... 9_9

Busy busy Monday

A few weeks ago I started trying to do one long ride (+80km) per week. Since we're in priority training for a Marathon in October, I used to have to alternate between a long run on the week-end or a long ride. But then one day I realized that on the week that follows a long run, I could just do my long ride on my way to work ... Sure I get to work a little bit late that day, but that's no biggie ;-) No sure why I didn't think about doing that earlier in the season (or in the previous years).

Here's this morning commute:

It's a pretty flat route, perfect for working and improving my speed and spending as much time as possible in aero position (ouch!). The Iona part (which is on the side of the Vancouver's Airport and appears to be a pretty nice park BTW) is a pretty popular segment on Strava among the local cyclists. The leader of the leader-board has a an average speed of 50kph ... Gasp! 

At the end of the work day, I had to go home (which is a usual 9k) and then we went running. We were planning on doing a 10k today, but the wife wasn't up to it, so we only did a 8k:

Considering I had already depleted by glycogen stores earlier that day (I did consume a little bit of food during the day), I felt pretty good until the last kilometre or so even with a bee sting on my right hand. Seems I should try to stay clear of bushes at that time of the year ...

...

Fruits + Cereals + Almond milk #vegan #duathlete

Brewing energy drink ...

Run to Stanley Park (26k)

Since we had timed our run to minimize the chance of (literately) running into the Lululemond organized half-marathon down-town, by the time we got to where we may meet the event, they had already cleared the trail. It's only as we got closer and closer to Stanley Park that we started to notice here and there on the floor spent energy gels :) Anyhow, our run went well. I was afraid I'll get that mysterious calf pain I have been experiencing for a few weeks, but it wasn't really the case (I did feel it on my left calf for a bit around the 9k mark). I was wearing compression bands on both legs, just in case ...

As I couldn't find Honey at home when preparing my energy drink this morning, I used Maple Syrup instead. It doesn't have a glycemic index as high as Honey, but definitely higher than Agave Syrup. I was a little worry the drink (which is a cold tea) may taste a little weird, but it wasn't the case and it was actually a lot less sweeter than with Agave Syrup.

After the run, we took the little guy to the outdoor swimming pool at Second Beach. Cooling the legs in the pool was kinda nice, however, since the pool is right on the seawall, it's windy and kinda cold so we didn't stay too long.

Carbo-loading & Energy bars!

So we just carbo-loaded some with a pretty yummy Kale/Lentils/Pasta soup (with Tofurkey sausage) made by da wife. I think she's planning to post the recipe online so I'll link to it when she's done so. She also made some "Larabars" for tomorrow run. It's a different recipe than the one from last week. I'll see to get the recipe as well ;)

Speaking of carbo-loading ...

The wife and I (and the kid in his running stroller) are doing another long run tomorrow (part of our Marathon training). I'm pretty excited about it since it will be the first time in 9 years than I will have gone above the distance of 21k (the last time was at the Paris Marathon back in 2003). To prepare for that run (25k), we only ran twice this past week (11k each time) and I have been taking it a little bit easier on my commuting rides.

Following my post from last night, I realized that my homemade energy drink wasn't actually what I needed during a long run (or ride) since I have to reload some glycogen as fast as possible and that Agave Syrup has a low Glycemic Index (bummer). I may have to switch back to Honey until I can get some Maltodextrin which seems to be a favorite of many endurance athletes.

<3 Castelli

Notes: Pre & Post Workout Nutrition (and a bit on Carbs)

Here's a couple of the things I noted down a few days ago while listening to episode #73 of the Tri Talk Triathlon podcast on the subject of nutrition needs around a workout.

Pre-workout (only if +60 minutes long):

• 2 to 4 hours before: 500 kcals of healthy carbs
• 60 minutes before: 1 gr per kg of body mass (4 kcals/kg)

Post-workout (only for intensive workout; e.g. +3hrs bike ride):

• if less than 6 to 8 hours to recover (to top-up glycogen level before another workout)
• carbs: 1.2g per kg of body mass per hour (+60 glycemic index, up to 5hrs post workout)
• proteins: 0.6g per kg of body mass per hour
• if more than 6 to 8 hours to recover
• eat when convenient (no need for high glycemic index)
• top off glycogen level like above, but no need to do it every hours

If you are a n00b when it comes to nutrition, like myself, this beg for some background explanations (disclaimer: I'm no nutritionist, I'm just an idiot trying to make sense of what I read! Please correct me when I'm wrong): 

Carbs refers to any food that is rich in complex carbohydrates (e.g cereals, bread, pasta ...) or in simple carbohydrates (e.g. fruits, sweets). A carbohydrate is basically sugar (glucose & fructose) used by the body as stored energy. The Glycemic index indicates how quickly a particular carbohydrate is absorbed. Therefore, consuming a high glycemic index carbs allows for the body to re-load glycogen in the muscles (and liver) faster. 

Glycogen is synthesised by the body from the sugar present in the blood and stored in the liver (for use by the body) and in the muscles (for their sole usage). It is only when the liver and muscles are at their maximum capacity than the body will turn glycogen into fat. Carbs with low glycemic index (e.g. fruits, vegetables, whole wheat pasta, grains) consumed 12 to 18 hours before an event will be stored as glycogen instead of fat (see carbo-loading). However, as Fructose is ineffective at raising muscle glycogen levels, a meal high in glucose should be preferred (e.g pasta, bread, rice, potatoes).

The University of Sydney has a web site dedicated to Glycemic Index, with an handy way to find carbs with high (or low) glycemic index.

Sleeping beauty

The Perfect Tire Pressure for Racing?

Bicycling.com posted a video they did during this year Tour de France, where they talk about tire pressure with a mechanic from the Garmin-Sharp-Barracuda team. Here's the gist of it (as I understood it):

• pressure in front is always 10 PSI lower than in the back
• road bike : 123 PSI (back) in good weather, 100 to 105 PSI (back) when raining
• tt bike: 137 to 145 PSI (back) in good weather

Obviously the limits for the (clincher) wheel/tire/tube needs to be respected, otherwise you'll kaboom! ... like I did a couple of weeks ago (woops!). 

Compression FTW!

The Curious Case of the Peal Izumi Jersey ...

Back in 1999, I brought a Pearl Izumi sleeve-less jersey which had that time (and location, I was in Hawai'i afterall ...) didn't strike me at particulary girly. It was hot and I was looking for a tight sleeve-less cycling shirt. It's only after a while that I started to question weither it was a girl jersey, a unisex or a male one. It does after-all have a certain floral theme, and the colors don't exactly scream male hormones ...

Over the years, I have worn it on occasions, feeling a little bit self conscious about it. Now, I'm not opposed to wearing some woman clothing, when the gender is not obvious, since I'm petite so they do fit better. But that jersey have always puzzled me ...

One thing I noticed yesterday, is that the name "Pearl Izumi" writting on the tab (located in the neck) is in pink color. That should indicate that this piece of clothing is for ladies, no? But then, why is the front zipper capable of going all the way down (like on a man jersey)? Should that be not limited to man jersey? Or maybe not ...

What do you think?

PS: I have searched Google for any trace of that jersey, but no luck