Birthday post

Today is my Birthday! It was also my first day at CrossFit FiveStar, and let me tell you, WOW! I run and do a little cross training I'm in pretty good shape but these guys are intense! They're also really nice, I felt welcome and at home as soon as I walked in.  The best part? They all eat Paleo! Its like they go hand in hand.  It was awesome to not get weird looks when I describe what I cook or eat.  The energy they all have also goes a long way when trying to get through the WOD, it was a great time and I'm looking forward to going back.  My sister also sent me Well Fed as a Birthday present, add that in with tickets to see The Who (my favorite band, Thanks Laura!) and my Parents paying my entry fee to an Ultra of my choice (sweet!) I'm having a pretty great Birthday!

Get up and move.

Another good ESE this year.  It seems to change a little every year.  This year there was a lot of “fuel” companies there.  Some of the fuels, like the ZuKay Live Foods, were good, while some of the fuels, even while claiming to “natural fuel”, had various dyes in them.  Once again I found a couple for very cool races I might do and Laura found a sweet triathlon that's right up her alley (Snowboarding, Mountain Biking and Running).  One race in particular that I am considering is the Spartan Race.  While an Adventure Race is no Ultra it does present a unique challenge which is one of the reasons why I love Ultras in the first place.  An Adventure race isn't just a run, it has obstacles and mayhem to slow you down.  To complete one you have to be a good runner and have overall physical fitness along with mental toughness.  Unfortunately, the only one near me is a Spartan Sprint (3 miles plus obstacles) but I’d like to try the Beast (12+ miles plus obstacles).  The part of the Spartan Race that I think I’m looking forward to the most is the fact that my Daughter will be running the kids version on the same day! Many runners, for some reason, bash these adventure races and I fail to understand why.  No doubt that some people come out of an adventure race thinking their invincible but when you look at the large portion of the country that rarely even gets off the couch, in some ways it is hard to argue.  Here's my take on the Adventure Race scene, why I like the idea, and why it’s really Primal.

Good Morning Everyone!

I'm sorry about not having a new post ready for you guys by now.  Life has been a bit hectic as of late. Between my training volume increasing, spending more time in the kitchen, and, as always, work and my daughter, I've had very little time to actually sit down and write.  My Birthday is in a few days, which means I'll have even less time to myself and more time navigating menus trying to find halfway decent food while trying to convince friends not to order me "Birthday Dessert" (ah, first world problems).  I do have a rather impressive list of ideas for running, recipe, and primal posts along with some nifty reviews I'm trying to finish up, so once we get past my Birthday weekend it will be full steam ahead.  Speaking of weekends, this weekend is the Endurance Sports Expo in Oaks, PA!

ESE is an opportunity to check out some of the latest and greatest "stuff" for running, biking, and triathlons.  Its also a great place to find out about some really cool races and get pumped about the upcoming season (if yours hasn't already started).  I plan on being there Saturday morning so if any readers want to meet up and talk running or food leave me a comment, otherwise I'll give you guys a breakdown of the expo when I get back. Since you guys have been so good about checking the blog often (I'm averaging 15 views a day which is getting pretty good for me) I'll leave you with something delicious! Hit the break for the recipe.

Simple Hydration

One of the biggest challenges for any runner, especially an endurance runner, is the logistics of carrying your water and calories.  To overcome the issues with the latter I use Tailwind, but carrying water is an ongoing battle. First issue you can run into it is the plethora of options; there are handhelds, waist packs, backpacks, bottles, bladders, and it seems they are adding new options everyday; each have their various advantages and disadvantages.  I currently use a handheld because I didn’t like the constrictive feeling of my waist pack, but it was nice having my hands free.  Enter the Simple Hydration Water Bottle.

Help! I have to poop!

A very good question was just posed to me by one of my guys.  He asked why he is always pooping his brains out (gross I know but a very good question).  There are several factors that can go in to chronic diarrhea and some of the fixes are easier than you’d think. (There will be the word poop a lot.)

Baby Steps to Primal

We’re on day 11 of my family going primal and well, there’s a lot of cheating going on. I caught my mom eating tortilla chips the other night (Corn is a grain!) and my Dad is still eating his oatmeal about every other day. However, there has also been some huge improvements to the way my family eats. I've been able to get them at least going on Gluten free bread, Omega-3 supplements and more quality meats in their diet . We’re far from perfect but that's okay.  Some people (like me) like to just jump in the deep end and figure out how to swim as we go, other people (like my Mom) need to take it slow and start in the shallow end.  As long as there are improvements being made progress can be made, it will be slow but it will still be progress. Here are some of the best tips I have for slowly transitioning to Primal.

Eat & Run

If you follow the ultra scene at all, or even just read some articles about trail running, chances are you've heard about Scott Jurek.  Scott is a world class Ultra marathoner whose accomplishments include; 7 consecutive wins at the Western States 100, 2 wins at the Badwater Ultra (a 135 mile run through the heart of Death Valley) and has set an American record of 165.7 miles in 24 hours—6 1/2 marathons in one day!  Scott is one hardcore dude with some awesome stories.  Lucky, he decided to share those stories and wrote a memoir called Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness.