Monday, October 19, 2009

Eating on the Road & Two-A -Days

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[clock radio=4:20AM]
WTF.

So I'm in Red Deer in a big comfy bed in a quiet hotel room with 4 goddamn pillows, and I'm AWAKE at 4:20?  Christ.
I know it's a combo of new place, excitement, and anxiety about a long and demanding course, but damn do I hate not getting enough sleep.  Ah well.  I agreed to go running with one of the guys I came up with at 6AM (wait, what?  Jesus, Mike), so I figured I'd get up, make some coffee, and eat....



Yeah!!! Coffee, and a big-assed spoon of coconut oil. Why oh why would anyone in their right mind eat pure saturated fat (SFA)by the spoonful? Because it bloody well ROCKS. How's that for scientific? Don't believe me? Then check out what some smarter folks, like Tolson and Dr. BG from Animal Pharm have to say about it.  Animal Pharm is probably one of thee best sources of nutritional info, next to Robb Wolf.  Plus, Dr. BG is sexy smart, is a Crossfitter, and I've seen her flat belly.  True story.

Anyways, back to the coconut oil.  Neither working out at 6AM or doing so in a fairly fasted state is par for the course for me; really, I just have no other options, and despite all the benefits of intermittent fasting and working out fasted, it just plain feels like shit to me.  So coffee + fat it is.  And was it ever!!

Running at 6AM in the dead-calm of a misty Red Deer was almost Zen like this morning.  I tell no lies!  When you're from Lethbridge, "dead calm" is Zen.  Also, when your towing along a 240lb guy who thinks he's going to start running THIS MORNING makes it pretty damn easy.  We ran just under 4km in 16 minutes, and I swear I could have held my breath the whole time.  I think my cohort was going to throw up a lung.

Was it the magical medium chain triglycerides, or was it......



CHUCK FUCKING TAYLORS, baby! These rock for running. For me, for right now. I feel my stride is quicker, and I'm quickly reminded not to heel strike. They are still a helluva lot more forgiving that the Vibrams, which I'll move to eventually.

Anyways, the run was good. Now, more in Food News

Eating on the road can suck. Options are nil, cooking facilities are non-existent, and restaurants are Carbo-death-traps. Or not?

The "continental breakfast" buffet was actually pretty decent! I had a big-assed plate full o' eggs, 4 sausages, and an apple, an orange, and more coffee.

Paleo, fuck yeah! For lunch? Chicken Pecan salad at BPs. Diet coke. Aspartame, boo.

Reader input----Would, if forced, you opt for "natural", yet high carb, or "artificial", yet low carb? Post your thoughts to comments. My 2 cents: Keeping insulin levels low maintains BGL (blood glucose levels) at steady rates, plus chronic low carb in the face of added stress/lack of sleep avoids, or attenuates, excess cortisol secretion. Uh huh.

After the first day of the course, I did a mini WOD of "Tabata Something Else", consisting of air squats, situps, and pushups; I had 15 minutes from the time I walked into my hotel room until we left for dinner. Warmup? HA! Do freakin' African lions warmup before the kill? Hell no. Neither does Mike. And it showed in my numbers, which is why you won't see them. :) WOD was good, pushups were sketchy. Limited my ROM for my shoulder's sake. I've got two weeks of hanging upsidedown off a rope, so I'll need it. Jmac is sending me some hotel WODS via email, so that'll help.

Dinner? Seafood, chicken, and sausage Jambalaya washed down with a few NorCal margaritas. Hey, the Oilers were playing. And won.