Thanks Lane

Was running last night with a guy who said he wants to do his next full marathon in 3 hours 30 minutes. I told him my goals was sub 4 hours with hopes of 10-15 minutes below 4 hours. He said that if I kept going the way I was going I'd have no problem.

I am still new enough to the marathoning that I can't make that judgement for myself. So it was good to hear from someone how was been running awhile longer than I have.

My Nutrtion Plan or How I lost 40 lbs in 4.5 months

Just finished tweeting about how I plan to tweet my meals in the future to help me stay accountable regards my nutrition plan. Recently I have struggled to stay with the program that really worked for me. My nutrition plan was a large part of what helped me go from a 6:06 marathon time at the Marine Corps Marathon in October 2008 to a 4:26 marathon time at the Albany Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon (hey I didn't name the race) in March of 2009. Thought I would capture my tweets into a blog post. Please note that I have been and continue to work with a licensed dietitian who has helped formulate this plan for me.

Here's what I do:

6 meals a day. Eat between every 2-3 hours. 3 of these meals are snack size meals. For me each meal includes 1 carb and 1 protein. 1 processed carb per day max. All the lean fiberous veggies I want at meal times. No eating between meal times (I am never more that 2.5 hours from my next meal after all).

1 meal replacement bar per day max. It can be a CLIF Bar or something with high carbs if its before a workout but other than that I want it to be a low carb bar like a Pure Protein Bar. This is really an option or a crutch in some cases where my schedule or location does not allow for carrying a yogurt or some other form of more natural protien. I can always carry an apple or bannana for my carb.

Protien powder shakes as meal replacements. I can use a protien powder shake and a fruit as a meal replacement. When I am on my game I do a shake as a post workout recovery meal and as my last meal of the day. Generally I'll throw a bannana in my shake and there is my whole meal. I can have some lean fiberous veggies with my shake if I want to for volume. For me this is generally a handful of carrots.

Portion control on Carbs and protein. Protein is 4-6 oz (palm of my hand), carb no bigger than my fist or from exchange list. i.e. 1/2 c of brwn rice = 1 carb.

Extras. 4 per day. 1 is flax seed in a shake for omega3s. The others are low fat cheese on sandwich or fat free salad dressing.

Sports nutrition does not count. Some days I run or swim just for the Sports Beans or Sharkies. It may sound funny but its true.

Gonna stop here so I can eat a CLIF Bar ahead of this mornings group run.

Jello or More?

Warning - Philosophical Post Follows!

Over the course of yesterday and this morning I broke (shattered) a long established pattern. What was the pattern? "I cannot make Jello".

Last night I made Lime Jello with the traditional long setting method. This morning I made orange with the quick-set method to make containers with layers of flavor. Failures at the quick-set method are what established the pattern years ago.

Why is this worth a post? Because I am establishing a pattern of breaking with old patterns and creating new ones. From I am not a runner to I am a runner. From I'll never learn bilateral breathing to teaching myself bilateral breathing and now I do it most of the time. Really I am fulling the prophecy that my high school guidance counselor made when he said that with test scores like this you can do anything you want to do. Today it was make Jello. Tomorrow???