Blog #7, Cauwfee Tawk! September 28, 2008 I’m a Saturday Night Live junkie. I especially giggle at some of the old episodes like, Deep Thoughts By: Jack Handy, Land Shark, Gumby, and Coffee Talk with Linda Richman. Here is my rendition of the latter.
Welcome to Cauwfee Tawk. I’m your host Chera Kimiko. The big news—our last short run for a long time, working out the kinks, running on Riverside and eating well. You know, it’s no big whoop, just Cauwfee Tawk. When I was running with the Hawt AsSphalts and the rest of the Fleet Feet gang, I became acutely aware of my nutrition. I’m now getting a bit verklempt. Please tawk amongst yourselves. I’ll give you a topic: FairFood is neither fair nor food. Discuss! I feel better, let’s go on. While some of the food tastes like buttah, it certainly doesn’t make your stomach feel like buttah during a long run.
Kathryn White, a.k.a., Captain Insane-O, told me on Friday when I was at the Tulsa State Fair, not to eat the fried food, or I would be hurting later. I didn’t eat the fried food, but I did eat “other” Fair food, and man was it GOOD!! But…the next morning, Kathryn was right—I felt sluggish and “heavy” as I ran with the group. Note to self, no junk food before running, in fact, no junk food, at all—anymore.
I admit it; I am not the best eater in the world—I try, but some days—it ain’t gonna happen! I have always been a picky eater and it has continued throughout adulthood. I am also a person of habit, so I tend to stick with chicken, fruits, chicken, veggies, chicken, hummus, chicken, jelly beans, chicken, chocolate, chicken (you get the hint, I eat a lot of chicken.) With that said, I get very busy throughout the day and I sometimes forget to eat, or when I do eat, I’m able to only eat a few bites before I get called away to do something—and when I finally come back, the food is no good anymore and I have to throw it away. Enter the weekends—I go nutty! For the most part, I eat well, but I also graze all day—on everything! This is how it was for me on the first Friday of the Fair. There was so much food and I wanted to try it all—and try I did. J
So, here we are today. I asked my weight trainer Mike Volksdorf at Body Defined Fitness, to help me with nutrition…especially before and after workouts and long runs. Mike says, “Understanding a few simple facts will go a long way in helping you design a nutrition regimen that works well for you, so let’s keep it simple.” With that said, I know some of you simply can’t eat before a run because it weighs you down, and others need a lot of food. Here are suggestions from Mike:
About an hour before training or running, you need fuel that will last. Eat a meal consisting of 80% carbs (sugars that fuel the muscles) and 20% protein (the building blocks of muscle and every tissue in the body.) For example, a bowl of oats and a couple of scrambled eggs, or a shake made with berries, bananas, and a scoop of protein powder.
During a run, you need carbs that absorb quickly. GU is once such source of carbs. If GU doesn’t sit well with you, ask your coach to suggest substitutes. The main point is that you want high glycemic, rapidly absorbing carbs to give you a boost.
No less than an hour after training consume a meal of 80% protein (they are essential to recovery,) and 20% high glycemic (more sugary) carbs. Your body is in a state of recovery and immediately needs the protein building blocks to accomplish the task. High glycemic carbs help “push” the proteins into the muscle cells. For example, drink a high protein shake made with skim milk and bananas. Mixing proteins with slower absorbing carbs will provide a sort of “time release” effect that will result in sustained energy.
We’re all genetically different, so, experiment with combinations of foods, until you find what works best for you.
Thanks Mike!!! And as always, thanks to all the runners at Fleet Feet, especially the coaches and the M3B- “Hawt AsSphalts!” BTW, Gladys, that B-12 was the best (I bought some and will share with you and Dana and the rest of the group next Saturday…and Coach Brian, I promise not to give you the other color pill like Gladys did! Hahahahahaha) Sandi, thanks for hanging in the back with us, Tiffany, the new attire rocked, Jeaneane and Sandi, how is it that you still look beautiful after you run? Michael, glad you can came around and dropped back from your other group. Coach Brian, I’ll let you off the hook—you don’t have to do the vlogs, Coach Paul thanks for not spitting on any of us and Chris Lieberman YOU ROCK! For this one, I won’t mention this person’s name, but I will say, “Triathlon”—and how the heck you managed that “trick,” I’ll never know, but—you are the WOMAN!!
I’m sure I’ll write another blog in a day or two, and as always—feel free to comment below!
Happy running!!!
Chera
