To Infinity and Beyond - Becoming a Better DopeyBadger (Comments Welcome)

I actually lost about 50 pounds from my peak weight using nearly the same method. Only difference is I also allowed the extra 200-300 from my daily activity that Garmin auto adds. Also, Garmin is still slightly off...but the trick is changing your activity level to 0(inactive). It fixes their BMR, and it’s nearly the same as MFP.

I’d also say food quality makes a bigger difference for me now vs calories. When I first used caloric deficits they worked... but once I got to a certain point it just made me get cranky/tired. I was reading about how we digest carbs, and I stumbled on some interesting info on insulin. Insulin resistance has a bigger correlation to heart disease, diabetes, and adipose(fat). low/no carb, intermittent fasting, and whole/real food diets all work, even without caloric deficits, because they improve insulin sensitivity. We know natural foods don’t work well for racing fuel because they digest too slow... but during the rest of our lives that’s actually really bad lol. I now I avoid alcohol(most the time 😂), processed oils/junk, and added sugar. During this down training, I’ve never seen my weight so steady(minus the drinking days). Last training cycle I was actually eating nearly 300-500 calories over the adjusted total, and I still lost nearly 7 pounds by the end of the plan. Nutrient dense whole food > vitamins, supplements, and packaged food.
 
Sun Race10.jpg
I know, it is an older RP, it nearly makes me also cry, when reading it again.

BUT, have you recognized the red sweater Runner in this pictures?! ;-)
 
BUT, have you recognized the red sweater Runner in this pictures?! ;-)

You mean the girl that I was running with for several miles in AK to WWOS. I remember she left me in between there (on the hills). But I didn't end up finishing that far behind her. I do remember seeing her at the finish line which you can see in the picture you tagged. Although I don't recall seeing her anytime between WWOS and the finish.

ETA: Here's the pic of us in AK.

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I've been following your journal for quite a while and always appreciate your scientific takes. I hope I didn't miss this but have you ever tried a supers startch ? Something like generation ucan?
 
I've been following your journal for quite a while and always appreciate your scientific takes. I hope I didn't miss this but have you ever tried a supers startch ? Something like generation ucan?

Never tried it myself. I attached the scientific white paper (pdf) from the Generation UCAN website.

Here is Runner Connect's counter-point as to whether its real or skirting science:

https://runnersconnect.net/ucan-marathon-nutrition-review/

It's been a few years since I've reviewed UCAN to see if they've come out with another white paper or if there are any recent research articles supporting their claims. I was only able to find one additional published article but I haven't reviewed it yet. (link)

I know of one person who uses it and highly recommends it. I haven't used it before, because it can get pretty pricey. If you decide to try it, you can get it at a discount by using the website associated with McMillan (link).

One big consideration is the cost:

Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 6.45.39 AM.png

Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 6.46.07 AM.png

Look at the highlighted yellow boxes for each option. UCAN is 38 cents an oz of liquid. That's about 6x more expensive than Tailwind on a per ounce basis (6 cents per oz). So you'd need to feel pretty confident that it offers a significant advantage over other products at that cost. It's probably one of those things that you should try it, and if you feel it works for you, then go for it.
 

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Never tried it myself. I attached the scientific white paper (pdf) from the Generation UCAN website.

Here is Runner Connect's counter-point as to whether its real or skirting science:

https://runnersconnect.net/ucan-marathon-nutrition-review/

It's been a few years since I've reviewed UCAN to see if they've come out with another white paper or if there are any recent research articles supporting their claims. I was only able to find one additional published article but I haven't reviewed it yet. (link)

I know of one person who uses it and highly recommends it. I haven't used it before, because it can get pretty pricey. If you decide to try it, you can get it at a discount by using the website associated with McMillan (link).

One big consideration is the cost:

View attachment 424130

View attachment 424131

Look at the highlighted yellow boxes for each option. UCAN is 38 cents an oz of liquid. That's about 6x more expensive than Tailwind on a per ounce basis (6 cents per oz). So you'd need to feel pretty confident that it offers a significant advantage over other products at that cost. It's probably one of those things that you should try it, and if you feel it works for you, then go for it.
Thanks for such a quick response! I tried following the runners connect link, but it took me to a page selling a nutrition plan? Runners connect podcast (run to the top) is where I recently l learned of it. They did several episodes on it. Also thanks for the coupon! It is very pricey stuff.
 


Thanks for such a quick response! I tried following the runners connect link, but it took me to a page selling a nutrition plan? Runners connect podcast (run to the top) is where I recently l learned of it. They did several episodes on it. Also thanks for the coupon! It is very pricey stuff.

Admittedly I took the link from the last time I discussed UCAN on the DIS. Looks like they changed the destination of the original content:


https://podcast.runnersconnect.net/...ew-of-the-research-to-see-if-it-really-works/
It looks like they've scrubbed their own website of this original podcast that was critically evaluating the white paper on UCAN. Don't really know why they got rid of it. But it looks like they've recently released three new podcasts discussing it (assuming all are positive based on the short descriptions). I haven't listened to any of these yet, but it sounds like you may have already.

https://runnersconnect.net/running-...millan-talks-about-superstarch-and-much-more/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...-with-dr-krista-austin-the-ucan-story-part-2/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...hi-shoba-murali-wendy-feldman-the-ucan-story/
The thing I find dubious about it, for something that is so "ground-breaking and revolutionary" why is it that scientific research has nearly zero articles about it (maybe I'm just having a hard time defining the search criteria)? I search for UCAN and I get one paper. I search for beet root juice and get 294 papers. Something doesn't add up as to why no one seems to be doing any unique independent research on it.
 
Admittedly I took the link from the last time I discussed UCAN on the DIS. Looks like they changed the destination of the original content:


https://podcast.runnersconnect.net/...ew-of-the-research-to-see-if-it-really-works/
It looks like they've scrubbed their own website of this original podcast that was critically evaluating the white paper on UCAN. Don't really know why they got rid of it. But it looks like they've recently released three new podcasts discussing it (assuming all are positive based on the short descriptions). I haven't listened to any of these yet, but it sounds like you may have already.

https://runnersconnect.net/running-...millan-talks-about-superstarch-and-much-more/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...-with-dr-krista-austin-the-ucan-story-part-2/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...hi-shoba-murali-wendy-feldman-the-ucan-story/
The thing I find dubious about it, for something that is so "ground-breaking and revolutionary" why is it that scientific research has nearly zero articles about it (maybe I'm just having a hard time defining the search criteria)? I search for UCAN and I get one paper. I search for beet root juice and get 294 papers. Something doesn't add up as to why no one seems to be doing any unique independent research on it.
Also, why does Maurten sell unbranded product(cough Gatorade contracts cough) and UCAN does not lol. I’d love to know how they improved carbohydrate absorption rates as well 😀
 
Maurten sell unbranded product(cough Gatorade contracts cough)

I think that's true and I think it's also something of a marketing gimmick. Like saying, "Hey look our stuff is so good we know even the competitor sponsored people want to use it." Because honestly, how many people are sponsored to the point that it's even financially reasonable to sell an "unbranded" version? But it's smart all around on Maurten's side.

I’d love to know how they improved carbohydrate absorption rates as well 😀

I noticed that as well. It could certainly be something about the product, but I'm not sure. The SIS Beta Fuel doesn't have the fancy hydrogel technology (also recommended mix at 4g/oz), but I do know after the first attempt that it doesn't mix nearly as well into solution as Maurten does.
 
I think that's true and I think it's also something of a marketing gimmick. Like saying, "Hey look our stuff is so good we know even the competitor sponsored people want to use it." Because honestly, how many people are sponsored to the point that it's even financially reasonable to sell an "unbranded" version? But it's smart all around on Maurten's side.



I noticed that as well. It could certainly be something about the product, but I'm not sure. The SIS Beta Fuel doesn't have the fancy hydrogel technology (also recommended mix at 4g/oz), but I do know after the first attempt that it doesn't mix nearly as well into solution as Maurten does.
Maybe TMI, but you may know I have a sensitive racing stomach 😂 Maurten is the only gel that doesn’t irritate my lower digestive track on faster paces. I can use e-gels comfortably on T, HM, and M Tempo, but as soon as I hit I and R pace, it makes me feel like I’ll have accident... but it’s a phantom feeling, goes away on the RI. I still use them, because I’m not paying for Maurten as a primary option... plus to mebs point I love the lack of sugar in e-gel 😂 Also, I never loved the way sis felt, but the caffeine was great... but I’m sticking with run gum, and pre tearing packages in cold weather!
 
Admittedly I took the link from the last time I discussed UCAN on the DIS. Looks like they changed the destination of the original content:


https://podcast.runnersconnect.net/...ew-of-the-research-to-see-if-it-really-works/
It looks like they've scrubbed their own website of this original podcast that was critically evaluating the white paper on UCAN. Don't really know why they got rid of it. But it looks like they've recently released three new podcasts discussing it (assuming all are positive based on the short descriptions). I haven't listened to any of these yet, but it sounds like you may have already.

https://runnersconnect.net/running-...millan-talks-about-superstarch-and-much-more/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...-with-dr-krista-austin-the-ucan-story-part-2/https://runnersconnect.net/running-...hi-shoba-murali-wendy-feldman-the-ucan-story/
The thing I find dubious about it, for something that is so "ground-breaking and revolutionary" why is it that scientific research has nearly zero articles about it (maybe I'm just having a hard time defining the search criteria)? I search for UCAN and I get one paper. I search for beet root juice and get 294 papers. Something doesn't add up as to why no one seems to be doing any unique independent research on it.
I've listened to the first two, and it sounded like a magical product. I hate when sites change content based on what I assume is sponsor ship. That podcast had much more science less ancdotes. In the podcast they gave a website that woul link to graphs etc talked about in the review. Now that link takes you directly to the ucan store. 🤔 I think I shall give it a pass for now... Thanks!
 
In the podcast they gave a website that woul link to graphs etc talked about in the review. Now that link takes you directly to the ucan store.

If I remember correctly (and it has been some time), the graphs referenced in the podcast are the ones in the white paper itself. My recollection is the person being interviewed may have had an additional graph or two. I've attached the two graphs below.

Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 4.01.39 PM.png

Screen Shot 2019-08-09 at 4.01.45 PM.png
 
(maybe I'm just having a hard time defining the search criteria)?

:rotfl2:

Maybe you should email them and ask for it?
:rotfl:

I listened to one of those recent podcasts. It is an amazing story that this product has saved a child's life now that he uses this product to control his glycogen storage disease. But it is interesting that the people on the current "fringe" of treating insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, etc do not talk about this product. I do not have any of these diagnosis (although sometimes I wonder about TOFI), but I am interested in treatments that offer an alternative to the current approach to treating these disorders with meds, standard American diet, and calories in/out.

Christine
 
Maybe you should email them and ask for it?

Not sure I necessarily want to go down that road.

I listened to one of those recent podcasts. It is an amazing story that this product has saved a child's life now that he uses this product to control his glycogen storage disease. But it is interesting that the people on the current "fringe" of treating insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, etc do not talk about this product. I do not have any of these diagnosis (although sometimes I wonder about TOFI), but I am interested in treatments that offer an alternative to the current approach to treating these disorders with meds, standard American diet, and calories in/out.

All very fair analysis. A little outside my scope of current research. There was a time in my life when my focus was on non-obese diabetic research and improvement of long term aspects. But the research was cut short after some disconcerting information that I can't share since it was not published.
 
22 Weeks to Go! (Catch 22) + TrainerRoad High Volume Full Triathlon Plan Week 6/28 + 80 Day Obsession - Phase 2/Week 2

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8/5/19 - M - OFF
8/6/19 - T - 80DO-AAA + Looking Glass (80 min; 82 TSS)
8/7/19 - W - 50 min Easy (+Strides) Run
8/8/19 - R - Tray Mountain (90 min; 102 TSS) + 60 min Evening Easy Run
8/9/19 - F - 80DO-Total Body Core + Dade-1 (60 min; 80 TSS)
8/10/19 - Sa - Gibralter (105 min; 112 TSS) + 45 min Brick Run at M Tempo effort
8/11/19 - Su - 60min Long Run + 80DO-Cardio Flow

Total Run Miles - 24.8 miles
Total Run Time - 3:35 hours
Total Run TSS - 240 TSS

Total Biking Time - 5:35 hours
Total Biking TSS - 376 TSS

Total 80DO Time - 2:42 hours
Total 80DO TSS - 37 TSS

Total Training Time - 11:52 hours
Total TSS - 653 TSS


Monday

Off day. My left ankle was giving me some grief. Hopefully it's short lived.

Tuesday

80DO-AAA in 3 sets of 10 through each series and then back to top

Series 1 - Bilateral Press, Alt Unilateral Press, Lateral Raise, Y, Lat Side Bend, Standing Weight Knee Drive, Loop Standing Donkey, Forearm Plank Jumping Jacks
Series 2 - Chest Press, Fly, Kickback in Plank, Tricep Pushup, Corkscrew, Teaser, 1st Pos. Bridge, Single Leg Bridge w/ Loop
Series 3 - Pullovers, Renegade Row, Curls, Turned Out Curls, Loop Scissor Twist, V Leg Raise, Narrow Bridge Clam, Straight Leg Curls

Cycling: Looking Glass is 3x20-minute intervals between 75-90% FTP with 3-minute recoveries between them. RPM at 91. Nothing notable during the ride.


Wednesday

Morning: Off

Evening Run:
Conditions - ⛅ Partly Cloudy, Wind 11mph to 11mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 82°F + 65°F; FL - 83°F
End: Temp+Dew = 81°F + 65°F; FL - 83°F

Gigi was super stoked about this run. She had been talking about another race all day. So we both got suited up and ready to roll. I started off with an easy 4 miles around a 9:20 min/mile and then met G at the bike path. We did 6 strides a piece. They were very consistent on my end: 26.7, 26.3, 26.9, 26.5, 26.8, and 26.3. While the GPS can get wonky on this short of a distance they were somewhat consistent from a "pace" standpoint as well: 5:03, 5:00, 5:09, 5:08, 4:58, 5:03. This was about as fast as I could go on this day. G had fun as well. In total, it was 5.3 miles in 50 min.

Screen Shot 2019-08-11 at 1.05.56 PM.png

After the run though my glute totally tightened up. I could barely walk without a limp. It was pretty concerning how the run gave me almost no issues and then post-run I felt like a complete wreck.

Thursday

Early morning ride. Got up at 3:45am and started the cycling at 4:12am. Other than holidays, I believe this is the longest workout (90 min) I'll do prior to going to work. This put this workout at about 10 hours from Wednesday's run ended. I was still limping around from the night before's run. I did my spinal realignment stretch that the PT showed me (and I'm suppose to be cutting down on) and almost instantly it corrected the issue. I felt 1000x better after just a few seconds of that stretch.

Cycling: Tray Mountain is 3x20-minute intervals at 90% FTP with 5-minute recoveries between intervals. RPM at 86. Not so great on the cadence. Clearly dragging this early in the morning. I had to stop once during the second interval at 1/2 way and twice during the third interval at each of the thirds (12 min and 6 min). But I survived.

The glute definitely felt better even after the ride as well. Hooray!

Evening Run:
Conditions - ⛅ Partly Cloudy, Wind 11mph to 18mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 76°F + 52°F; FL - 76°F
End: Temp+Dew = 75°F + 53°F; FL - 76°F

After little sleep and a 90 min ride this morning, I tried to be super conservative on this run. Ended up being 6.4 miles in 61 min (9:31 min/mile pace) with HR of 136. The effort was kept incredibly easy. I don't think the HR truly reflected that given the lack of sleep and other two workouts within the last 24 hr period.


Friday

80DO-Total Body Core in 3 sets of 10 through each series and then back to top

Series 1 (Shoulder) - Squat/Row/Twist/Row, Kneeling Lunge Clean & Press, Quad Ped Opposite Arm Knee Crunch
Series 2 (Chest) - Chest Press to Half Turkish Get-up, Spider Man Push-ups, Frog Sliders
Series 3 (Back) - "T" to Single-Leg Hip Hinge, Lat Pull Over w/ Leg Raise, Weighted Plank Hip Drop
Series 4 (Biceps) - Low Twisting Lunge Hammer Curl, Press Out to Curl, Weighted Standing Torso Rotation
Series 5 (Triceps) - Crab Position Tricep Dip to Sit Through, Alternating Skull Crusher with Bicycle Legs, French Twist

Cycling: Dade -1 is three sets of 3x2-minute VO2max repeats at 120% FTP. 2 minutes of recovery fall between intervals and 6 minutes of easy spinning separate each set. RPM at 96. This one went a bit better when evaluating the cadence. A critical part of doing these VO2max like workouts is trying to keep the cadence high during them. 9 of them at 120% was definitely a good place for me as I was close to my limit towards the end of them. But thankfully I've always noticed that the recovery from these is quite quick.


Saturday

Another early morning. Up at 4am and started at 4:50am. We were heading to a local lake for Gigi's first time fishing with her Uncle Wally who is an outdoorsman. So it meant I needed to be done with my 2.5 hr exercise and all cleaned up by 9am.

Cycling: Gibraltar is 105 minutes of continuous riding where you'll spend 90 minutes between 80-85% FTP. RPM at 81. Ouch. The cadence was plain not good for this one. I had to stop twice towards the end of the workout but from memory neither were fatigue based and more so adjusting on the saddle. I consumed 625 calories of Tailwind (60oz of liquid, 156g carbs, 90g carb per hour).

Brick Run (immediately after the cycling ends):
Conditions - ⛅ Mostly Cloudy, Wind 0mph to 0mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 63°F + 58°F; FL - 63°F
End: Temp+Dew = 65°F + 59°F; FL - 63°F

Transition = 6 min

Game time! I was so ridiculously stoked to try out the Nike Next% shoes. Could they really be as good as advertised and improve running economy by as much as 4% and possibly improve overall pace by as much as well? So I laced up the trampolines (Next%) rushed out the door and started my run. Almost instantly I could tell a difference. Just so much return in my strike of my foot. Like the shoes were truly helping me along. I felt like the M Tempo effort was being true. Then the first split came in at 6:48. Well then.... that was fast. I kept the foot on the M Tempo gas and kept on grooving.

Screen Shot 2019-08-11 at 1.22.13 PM.png

The pace of the first three certainly looked like a fade, but even in the moment I knew that they were probably much closer when accounting for the hills. And that was the case (6:57, 7:01, 7:03). I did incur a little bit of a slowdown come mile 4 (7:29/7:16) and that's when my nemisis reared it's head: side stitches. I clearly wasn't being on point with my breathing as much as I should have been. So I paused my watch and walked a bit trying to get it to dissipate. Which it mostly did, but it was a reoccuring issue for most of the remainder of the run. So miles 5 and 6 finished off the 45 min (7:10/7:20 and 7:41/7:20). Funny how mile 5/6 would appear to be again another massive fade in the moment when I'm 31 seconds slower, but it's merely an artifact of changing elevation when evaluated by GAP (7:20s each). I did have to stop one last time near the end of the run because of side stitches again.

All in all a very good run. I definitely feel as if the shoes made a difference. My average pace was a 7:15 min/mile for this M Tempo workout. My GAP was 7:10, and my adjusted for T+D pace was 7:04. The run just last week was 20 min M Tempo under similar conditions and similar elevation gain and was 7:42 min/mile. So in a matter of a week, my pace dropped from 7:42 to 7:15. I'd like to say I improved by that much in a matter of 10 days, but I think that would be awfully unbelievable. So the only other remaining explanation is the Next% shoes. They cut off about 27 seconds per mile under similar conditions. Interestingly, my HR on last week's 7:42 min/mile run suggested more like HM Tempo pace whereas this run was nearly dead on M Tempo HR. That 27 sec/mile improvement is roughly a 5.8% improvement from last week. A single run doesn't necessarily seal the deal, but I'd say this is a definite feather in the cap that the research is real about these shoes. They are very fast shoes.

Now here's the thing, I wasn't suppose to do 45 min at M Tempo. Technically I don't have a M Tempo officially scheduled until 10/5/19. So I'm not all that concerned that my current effort paced M Tempo with all the adjustments (so a "perfect dream scenario") is still only a 7:04 min/mile. There's still lots of time to go in training. This run was more so to get comfortable with the Next % on the off chance I used them on the treadmill test with the PT in a few weeks. The one lesson I take away from this run was that I need to work on my rhythm breathing more as my lungs are just not yet up to the task.

G had a great time fishing for the first time. She caught 18 fish all be her self. I think this experience set an unrealistic expectation about how you literally put the bait into the puddle and then get a fish within 5 seconds.

Sunday

Morning Run:
Conditions - ☁️ Overcast, Wind 7mph to 7mph
Start: Temp+Dew = 68°F + 65°F; FL - 69°F
End: Temp+Dew = 71°F + 66°F; FL - 69°F

7 miles in 60 min (8:37 min/mile) at HR of 138. About 45 min into the run the inside of my right leg just completely seized up on me. I stopped the watch walked for a few minutes and then restarted. Switching from going against traffic to with traffic seemed to make a big difference. As going with traffic made my leg feel much better. A bit concerning since this was the first time I've felt something exactly like this. So I'll need to be aware of it if it turns out to be a reoccurring issue. But other than that, the run felt very comfortable. That first run back in non-Next% shoes is a real eye opener as to what they feel like comparatively.

80DO-Cardio Flow sort of like stretching. Nice end to the week!

Continuing to make good progress towards the ultimate goal. Next up is a 4hr cycle + 2 hr run. Time to keep ratcheting up the volume.
 
Go, G, again with the sprints!

What is this miracle spine realignment stretch? Have you described what it is and I missed it? (Definitely possible.) Glad it worked so well for you.
 
What is this miracle spine realignment stretch? Have you described what it is and I missed it? (Definitely possible.) Glad it worked so well for you.

I say this with the caveat: Do not do this unless you need it and if you need it, then have it prescribed by a PT. My PT told me that once it is aligned continuing to use this technique will push the other side out of alignment. So don't even "try this out" if you're not having any problems.

I lay on the ground flat with back touching. I lift up my right leg bent (the side that has the SI joint that is out of alignment) so my quad is perpendicular and calf is parallel to the ground. I place my hands on my hamstrings below my knee. I use my hands and pull my knee towards my head but at the same time I push my foot away from me. Concurrently I raise my left leg which is straight just about 4-6 inches off the ground. I hold this move for about 10 seconds and then relax, then repeat for a total of three times.
 

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