Eating the Paleo Way

Many people new to the Paleo Diet have a hard time figuring out what to eat. They often tend to eat the same thing they've always eaten, but just remove the grain. So instead of hamburger and fries, they may just have a hamburger patty. Instead of cereal and a banana, they'll have just the banana. The result – hunger!

Here are a few tips to make eating Paleo a routine part of your lifestyle:

For breakfast, make an easy omelet. Quickly sauté onion, peppers, mushroom, broccoli, add eggs (keeping only one or two yolks), and leftover turkey or chicken breast for extra protein.

Paleo lunches are easy: Make a large salad at the beginning of the week big enough to cover lunch each day. Include mixed greens, spinach, radishes, peppers, cucumber, carrots, avocado, walnuts/almonds, sliced apple/pear, etc and place in a large Tupperware container. Pack single servings each morning from the large batch; bring a can of tuna (or salmon, chicken/turkey breast, ground buffalo) to top.

For dinner, try spaghetti squash as a substitute for any pasta recipe. Top with pesto, marinara and meatballs, or simply salt, pepper, and garlic. Roasted beets, and their greens, make a great side dish for pork. Asparagus, broccoli, and spinach can be steamed quickly. Salmon, halibut, or tilapia filets grill well with accompanying foil packs full of cut veggies with olive oil and garlic.

Berries and other succulent fruits make a great dessert, and pre-cut carrot and celery sticks, sliced fruit, and pre-portioned raw nut/dried fruit mixes are easy to grab and pack for snacks.

Feeling Lucky?

 San Diego “Lucky 13” Giveaways

In honor of our 13th anniversary, the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon & 1/2 Marathon is offering a special registration promotion on the 13th of every month from November – May.  All participants who commit to run/walk the Rock ‘n’ Roll San Diego Marathon or 1/2 Marathon will receive a $13 discount when they register on the 13th of the month using the coupon code LUCKY13.  

In addition, the first 13 people to register on the 13th will win an extra-special prize.  FEBRUARY PRIZE: a 60 tablet pack of Nutrilite Daily Multivitamins.

*How it works:  Simply register online with coupon code LUCKY13 and receive an automatic $13 off your entry fee.  If you are one of the first 13 people to register using the code, you will also receive the special prize from one of our sponsors.  The coupon code can only be redeemed on the 13th of the month (12:00am PST – 11:59pm PST), and the discount can not be combined with any other offer.

1. It’s a reward for sitting in the house at the computer for 8-10 hours or doing other things I don’t really want to do. Yes, I said REWARD! If you run just enough to make it fun and don’t run when it’s not fun – then it’s always fun – yes?

2. See wildlife! Over the years I’ve seen (Hawaii, Thailand, Florida, Pennsylvania):

•  Large red, white and blue woodpeckers!
•  Centipedes and millipedes and all manners of crawling insects, some of which go “crunch” under my feet accidentally.
•  Lizards that change color, and flying lizards, water monitors (7+ feet), Tokay Geckos (listen to it’s call)
•  Flying insects – some of which get sucked into my mouth and chest if I’m not paying attention to keep my mouth 80% closed!
•  There are these cicada type things in Thailand that make the whole park scream at 6 pm everynight in the Summer. (listen)
•  A large timber rattlesnake crossing the road – it was as thick around as my 15-16 inch neck!
•  Deer, hippos, peacocks, and vultures (I ran through a small zoo regularly in Thailand that was connected to the park!)

Read the rest of the article here - www.aimforawesome.com/exercise/27-reasons-i-love-to-go-running/

How would you feel if you had to pay $8.50 a gallon for gasoline?
Then why on Earth would you pay that much for water and high-fructose corn syrup?

Read the rest of the article about the rising price of Coke.

Fructose: Going To Waist? Part 1 of 2

Fructose is not the best choice for bodybuilders trying to get very lean because it can too readily be converted to body fat. When humans consume excess fructose, it is more likely to go toward the production of fatty acids and cholesterol than toward the production of glucose to fuel your muscles. You might as well beg your body to make fat.

Fructose is a simple sugar found in many foods, including corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup, corn-syrup solids, fruit sugar, honey and table sugar. It is nearly twice as sweet as sucrose, so smaller amounts achieve the same amount of sweetness, and it is generally inexpensive. For these reasons, fructose is included in many refined foods and supplements. It's also found in fruit, but fruit offers benefits such as fiber without providing a large quantity of fructose. So, as a bodybuilder, you can consume fruit (one or two servings) on a daily basis without worrying about the negative effects of fructose. Fruit juices, however, are a different story - they don't have the fiber that slows down the digestion/absorption of whole fruit.

More refined forms of fructose should be avoided by bodybuilders. As fructose enters the body, the liver acts like a big sponge, sucking it up. If you have been eating well and have met your body's energy needs, your liver is full and doesn't need additional glycogen. Therefore, any extra foods consumed - especially those high in fructose - encourage the fat production process. Basically, as your fructose intake increases, so does fat production.

Ugh. Okay, for the record I have run six full marathons and ten half marathons. All of my racing prior to CFAE was done training LSD.

I started strong, having eaten a Honey Stinger five minutes before the gun. Mile one was a bit quick, but only because the 1:40 pacer ran his first mile in 7:10. Clearly that is WAY faster than he should have been running. I let him go knowing that I would eventually pass him. I eventually did at mile 5.

The next few miles were pretty smooth. I wrote "Calm" and "Flow" on my hand to remind me of where I needed to stay mentally. The last thing I needed was to panic and psych myself out of a great race. I also kept reminding myself to focus on the lean. For all the training runs we had this season, race day was by far the easiest to remember to focus on a healthy lean. My Garmin Forerunner 405 (shameless plug) was a HUGE asset during the race. I cannot tell you how valuable it was for me to know exactly what my pace was. I am a fool for not investing in one sooner.

By mile six I knew I had something good going. I powered up the hill and started to prepare for miles 7-9, which historically have been difficult for me. After the turnaround, I had my first feelings that I was going to do it. I was going to close this thing out sub-1:40. After smiling on the inside I stuffed it away because I knew things could go awry.

Heading up through mile 10 and I was still feeling really good. My pace was consistent and I ate my final Honey Stinger at the water stop. On a side note, this was the first race that I did not walk through aid stations. I literally grabbed water and kept on trucking. Another interesting tidbit, I only drank water this year. In all my previous races, full or half marathon, I have always consumed the sugar-based drink on the course. I didn't want it or miss it at all.

Mile eleven and I started to feel it a little, but I kept my pace at 7:30. I kept repeating to myself, "Calm. Flow." I knew that once I got to the downhill stretch at mile 12, I would be all but guaranteed of making my goal. Right around mile 12 I got a little paranoid. Firstly, and most important, I had noticed that my Garmin distance was about .1 miles farther than the official mile markers. Considering they chart the course with GPS (or so they say), I figure somebody screwed up. But what if I was off? Am I on pace to make it? I was pretty zapped and unable to do the math between what the official distance/time was versus what I was recording on my arm.

The second concern I had was the 1:40 pace group. Even though I was a safe 90 seconds ahead of them at this point, for some reason I was expecting the guy to run right past me. Again, I chalk this up to being tired and nervous about a PR.

Well, I got to the bottom of the hill and knew I had done it. About 50 yards before the final turn, my Garmin chimed, signaling "workout complete", which to me meant the full 13.10 miles in the bag. My Garmin time was 1:38.25 and I stand by that reading. I powered through to the finish, the whole way my wife screaming, "Andy you did it!" I crossed, stopped, and said to myself, "I did it." In fact, that is about all I could say for the next ten minutes. I did it.

Running a half marathon in less than 1:40 minutes was always a distant goal for me. I might have accomplished it someday running LSD like I always did, but it would have been REALLY hard. My body (most of our bodies) just isn't built to take that abuse. CF and CFAE helped me reach my goal and enter a totally new level of endurance athleticism.

After the race, I was talking with my wife and I told her that I believe that I trained for Carlsbad at about 70% effort of what I am totally capable of. I am not saying that I plan on ramping it up to 90% (sorry Nuno) so that I can run a sub-1:30, but I am excited to see what is next in store.

Z

Humans are excellent two-legged walkers. It's one of the things that make us such successful creatures.

And there are some scientists who say we're naturally born runners as well, that our bodies evolved to run. Now, anthropologist Dan Lieberman, one of the proponents of the "human runner" school, concludes that we do it better without shoes.

He says human ancestors needed to run well — both away from big animals and after small, tasty ones, for example. He based that view on fossil bones. But lately he's been studying runners — living ones.

Read the rest of the article here - www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php

Bekka P - 2:32 (IT band injury all season) - was not able to run more than 3 miles in training 
Mike B - 1:28:48 - over 10 minute PR - fast goal was to break 1:30 
Katie B - 2:16:51 - helped out someone that crashed to the ground in front of her (she's a nurse) 
Daniella L - 1:59:33 - over 14 minute PR - goal was to break 2 hours 
Megan D - 2:21:32 - goal was to do sub 12 minute miles - crushed that! 
Brooke - 2:20:42 - goal was to run entire way - no injury - crushed that, she had 2 stress fractures from a 10k race last year prior to training with us and thought she would never run again 
Chris P - 3:57 Marathon - hardly did the tempo/time trials and still had a kick ass time (first marathon ever) 
Steph Smith - 2:23:20 - goal was to finish - and she ran it at about the same pace as her 5k (crushed it) we are proud of you
Ayo A - 1:53:27 decided to run instead of race...hehe
Nuno C - 1:27:08 about a 2 minute PR 

Andy Z - 1:39:08 - 4 minute PR - goal was to break 1:40 

1. We've made the main CFE page - check it out: www.crossfitendurance.com

It'd be awesome if each and everyone could post a sentence or two about your experience training with SDAE the past few months in the comments section for today.

Here is the direct link on where to do so - please take 2 minutes to do that for us.
http://www.anaerobicendurance.com/page/index.php?menu=blog&page=blog&hid...

2. No coached workout tomorrow or this upcoming sunday - we are taking a short vacation to regroup, recharge our batteries before the new training season begins.

Thank you for being a part of this awesome journey with us!