Momentum

Steve Kamb, the fantastic blogger and world-traveler behind Nerd Fitness, posted an article yesterday that really hit home with me. Titled "The Mario Kart Guide to Momentum," Steve talks about how lately he has been slacking on strength training.  I can relate to that, as I have recently moved, continued studying for my CFA, helped house and cat sit for 2 weeks, and my gym membership expired.  In addition to that, my eBay business has been doing quite well, all on top of my normal hectic work schedule!

For all that, I have continued to stay on track with my diet and eating habits, as the article says, this is the equivalent of capturing coins.  Diet is responsible for 80-90% of your weight loss/gain, and like getting the coins consistently, it will get you most of the way there.  However, to really get an edge, you need to hit the boxes and powerups, which he considers strength training.  I have been trying to stay active by walking and being on my feet on the weekends, but that's really just like grabbing coins, or leaving banana peels (maintaining).  I need to get back to my strength training routine to build muscle and burn up some extra calories.

I totally recommend you check out Nerd Fitness, as it is a great site, and this article in particular showcases the tone and content of the blog.  My wife and I are also huge fans of Mario Kart, particularly the N64 and Wii versions!

Although I have been keeping up with my mostly paleo diet, my notable exception is good craft beer.

Green Flash Le Freak: a little heavy for a Belgian IPA at 9.2% ABV.  Excellent beer, but a little too much for a weekday.

Green Flash Friendship Brew with St. Feullien: Interesting "Black Saison" seems a little hot, could maybe use a few more months of age.  Don't know if it will last that long though!

Sixpoint Brownstone: Hoppy brown ale, fantastic beer.  Good deal at $10/4pk

Book Review: Born to Run by Chris McDougall

I decided to pick up a copy of Born to Run off of Ebay while I was browsing and looking to spend my "Ebay Bucks." I am certainly glad i did, as this book really motivated me to run while I have been trying to get fit.

The book is a non-fiction tale focused on ultra-marathoners, meaning runs of 50 miles or more in one sitting. At first this seems completely insane, but as the book progresses, they mention a 50 miler, and it seems like an off-hand comment. I have struggled running 3 miles, but while I was reading the book, I felt that I could eventually run 50 too!

One of the most interesting characters was Caballo Blanco, an American who winds up living with the Tarahumara Indians in Mexico. They are a completely separate civilization from the rest of Mexico, located in the Copper Canyons of Mexico. These people are not plagued by the modern pains of society, such as cancer, divorce, drug use, among other things. Everyone in their society runs enormous distances, equal to ultra-marathons on a regular basis, even their oldest members. Also they wear sandals that are basically barefoot and eat a meager diet that consists of mainly vegetables and grains. Here is a Tarahumara tribe member running with another character in the book, Scott Jurek, a world class runner.

The entire book is inspirational, and really wants to make you get out there and run. Some of the most interesting topics were regarding marathon speed distributions based on age. Your peak marathon time is roughly 27 years old, however your speed at 19 and 65 should be roughly the same, and the slope from 19 to 27 mirrors that of 27 to 65.

Another topic that I found fascinating was the idea that humans evolved to be runners. This was the only way we could compete with the other animals of our time. Ever try to outrun your dog? You can't in the short term, but as it runs longer and longer, it tires out, and needs to exhale the heat through its mouth, as they can not sweat out of their skin. Our ability to sweat was what put us over the edge, evolutionarily speaking. There is even a tribe in Africa that still occasionally out-runs animals, all the way until the actually die by exhaustion, CRAZY!

Another interesting topic was regarding barefoot running. The human foot is designed to run, it is designed perfectly. Fancy shoes with shocks end up causing more injuries than running barefoot. There is almost no benefit to the shoes Nike puts out, except the value for the shareholders, and the aesthetic look. Vibram Five Fingers are a new craze, pictured below, which mimic barefoot running, while giving you the protection that we are used to.

There are many other nuggets in this book that are worth reading. Also the story of Caballo Blanco is built up over the course of the book and is revealed at the end. Finally the author who catalogs his progress based on his investigative journalism is an interesting and motivating story, because he too completes the culminating ultra-marathon.