Great Run Last Night

After my meeting I had an hour run. The night was cool, not too hot, not too cold. When I ran by the church the temp said 67 and with no sun and a light breeze it was nice. I was exhausted all day yesterday so I wasn't sure what to expect.

The short of it was that I had an hour run with 3x6-12 minutes in zones as high as 51 (which is a sprint). I was able to get 3-4 in HR zones 4.5+ with no knee or foot discomort (AWESOME) and actually felt pretty good. I was able to maintain my form (falling forward) and had no real issues. I had good energy once I started and all in all it was a good run.

So, I got home and moved on to some analysis. I have mentioned I am reading a book to figure out what my racing weight should be. I am keeping a food journal and it has been very eye opening for me. Just by knowing what I am taking in, it gives me a chance to think between the want to eat and the act of eating. Now that I have some idea of how many calories I burn just by being alive + the calories I burn in my training I am able to intelligently manage and slowly bring my lean mass in line.

Anyway, this is what I calculated yesterday for my "target" race weight.

Current Weight: Current body mass % : Current Lean Body Mass
170 : 0.86 : 146.2:

This is pretty self explanatory. At the time, I weighed 170 lbs. I used calipers to get my body fat % of 14%. 100%-14%=86%. 86%x170lbs mean I have 146.2 lbs of "non fat". This is bone, muscles, tendons etc... basically, all things not fat.


Oprimtal Body mass %
Lean Body Mass (I think 10% body fat) Optimal Body Weight
146.2 : 0.9 : 162.4444444

Now, since I know where I am at currently, I think 10% body fat is a healthy race %. Not too lean but not carrying around a lot of extra that I need equates to pounding on the feet and extra power needed on the bike. So, I take the lean mass of 146.2 and divide that by my target of (100%-10% = 90% and that tells me I need to be about 162 lbs. This operates on the assumption that I will not lose or gain lean muscle mass and it will remain the same.

The second analysis that I did was review what Macronutrients I am consuming (Carbs, Protein, Fats) Accoring to the book, the breakout for an endurance athlete should be around 60% Carbs, 20% Protein, 20% Fats. As I right this, I almost laughed when I typed endurance athlete. I am not sure at what point that applies to me but I will operate on that assumption that is what I want to be..... So, after tracking
my food intake for the past three weeks here is the breakdown.

As you can see less than 47% of my calories are coming from Carbs so I need to increase my carb intake, decrease my fat intake and add a little bit of protein. Basically, eat better food and more whole grains. So, that is what I will be focusing on the next few weeks.

Lastly, I just have to say the Training Peaks Food Log (the same one Livestrong uses) is pretty easy. There is no reason other than not having ready access to a computer to not use this as a tracking tool. I am lucky that I have a desk job and can near real time track my food, very little recreation at the end of the day.

I have a 45 minute swim at lunch and 1.5 hour ride tonight. I punted on the 3am thing because I should be able to get my ride in tonight after my meeting.

All for now

Tracy