The Twinkie Factor

Ever heard the urban legend about the Twinkie discovered from the 1950's and when they opened it, it was still as fresh as the day it was made? A legend is probably all it is, but it does make you think. Now I'm not dissin' Twinkies, because I've had my share over the years (although it's probably been about 5 years since I last had one). Getting your "Twinkie Fix" once in a while isn't going to do much harm, but have you ever looked at the ingredients? Monoglycerides, diglycerides, polysorbate 60, sorbic acid, cellulose gum...and the list goes on. Sounds like a science experiment. Most of these hard-to-pronounce-ingredients are used to ensure freshness and therefore a longer shelf-life. The "natural" ingredients it does contain have been highly refined and processed.

So, where am I going with all of this? It's no big epiphany that Twinkies aren't healthy. And, it's no big revelation that Twinkies are a highly processed food and is loaded with preservatives, but what else goes into it? Take a look at a Twinkie the next time you're in the Quick Mart buying your 48oz Diet Coke tanker, umm...I mean your bottled water. Can you tell what other ingredients are in a twinkie? Maybe some flour? Milk-type products? Sugar? Fat? ? Stumped? I was. You can't tell. There is no food in nature that looks like a Twinkie.

This brings me to my point (yep, finally got there). Something I like to call the "Twinkie Factor"—if you can't recognize it, don't eat it. Think about that legendary 50-year-old Twinkie. After 50 years, it's still that same. Now think about that plate of leftover broccoli you put in the fridge a few days ago? What's going to happen to it in just a few days? Does big fuzzy, moldy, stinky blob come to mind? I think there's a lesson to be learned here. If the bacteria are smart enough to leave the Twinkie alone, then maybe we should too. Just remember to beat the bacteria to the broccoli before the "fuzz factor" kicks in.

Try this for a week. If you can't tell what a food is made of, then don't eat it. Make this your first step toward better eating in 2010. If it goes well the first week, then up the ante a little. Now, in addition to only eating what you can recognize, make sure those recognizable foods are prepared in a healthy manner. Yep, even though you know those tasty McDonald fries are potatoes, they're not so friendly to your waistline. Think fresh fruits and veggies, whole grains, lean meats, and good fats. In the spring, take a trip to your local farmer's market. Until then, hit the fresh foods section of your local grocery store.

New Contest Sponsored by RunningCompanyShoes.com!

RunnerDude's Blog is excited to announce that the wonderful people at RunningCompany Shoes.com are providing the prize for the next RunnerDude contest! And what a prize it is—two $50 gift certificates! Yep, there will be two winners for this contest!

RunningCompanyShoes.com is a company of runners who know the importance of a great running shoe. Knowing the frustration of finding your shoe at a great price, they set out to create a customer friendly, efficient, and low priced online running shoe outlet.

RunningCompanyShoes.com is quite a unique company. The purpose of their website is to provide you the shoes you want at the least expensive prices possible in a very simple manner. There are no special passwords or account names to remember, no frequent shopper cards, no telephone sales. They carry the major brands—Asics, Brooks, Mizuno, Saucony, New Balance, and Under Armour. They want to make sure they have all their shoes in stock, so they don't carry many models and you don't have a choice in the model color of your shoe. They just ship what they have in stock. But, with those limitations, comes some great deals!!

I just ordered two pairs of my favorite Saucony running shoe and I saved a ton! It was kind of fun waiting to see what color I got!

How to Enter:
To enter, simply email RunnerDude at runnerdudeblog@yahoo.com by 11:59PM (EST) Sunday, January 31st. Be sure to put "Running Shoe" in the email's subject line and put your name in the body of the email. That's it! Each email will be assigned a different number based on the order that the emails are received. The winning numbers will be selected by The True Random Number Generator at Random.org . The winners will be announced on Monday, February 1st. Just in time for Valentine's Day! "Whatcha" waiting for? Email RunnerDude today!

While you're waiting to see if you've won, be sure to checkout RunningCompanyShoes.com!

Stay Tuned!

The nice folks at CSN Stores recently contacted me about reviewing a product. I was curious so I checked out their link. What I found was bar stools. My first thought was, "Bar stools for runners?" Some runners may need a stiff drink after a marathon, but I'm thinking, maybe this isn't for RunnerDude's Blog. But then I discovered that CSN Stores is actually a family of over 200 online stores including some for health & fitness. Tah dah!
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So, I'm happy to announce that in an upcoming post I'll be reviewing the Hudson Fitness HR-2500 Pulse Monitor. Heart-rate monitors are great tools for training. I've used other brands of monitors but none by Hudson. So, I'm eager to give it a good testing and let you know my results. If you've ever used a Hudson, I'd be interested in hearing your experiences. Happy Running!—RunnerDude

Champion Listens to Real Everyday Runners!

One of my favorite athletic clothing brands, Champion, is located right down the road from me in Winston-Salem, N.C. Actually as I sit here writing this post, I'm wearing a Champion hoodie. Their casual athletic clothes are great. I also enjoy their line of running tops and bottoms.

One of the great things about Champion is they appreciate feedback from you, their customers. One way they get this feedback is through a cool program in conjunction with the Walt Disney World Marathon. Champion is the official performance apparel of Disney’s Wide World of Sports® and tooday they announced the continuation of the Champion Innovation Lab at the Walt Disney World® Marathon Weekend presented by CIGNA.

The Champion Innovation Lab brings to life its "How You Play" mantra through the experiences of real, everyday athletes. This year, the 2010 Innovation Lab works with runners, race-walkers, and wheelchair athletes from all skill levels to test Champion Athleticwear. Part of the group consists of the "Perfect 17/" The Perfect 17 are a unique group of runners that havee participated in the Disney Marathon Weekend since its inception 17 years ago.

Champion believes that in order to develop a great line of performance apparel, they need to get real feedback from everyday athletes who participate in the Innovation Lab. Claire Powell, Director Champion Brand Marketing said, “We are excited to bring the program back to the Disney Marathon Weekend for a third year to see how the athletes have responded to our products.”

Participants were given a variety of Champion performance apparel and, starting in September 2009, asked to catalogue their experiences in a Training Log and share real-time insights with the Champion New York Design Team and Champion Athleticwear Consumer Research. The runners received apparel from the brand’s Double Dry® line featuring wicking technology, compression tanks and briefs and athleticwear from the Seamless product line. Questions in the log covered topics such as pace, weather, route (e.g., trail, street, treadmill), comfort, fit and washing machine care. Runners were also outfitted in Champion apparel for the Walt Disney World Marathon Weekend events and will be announced as Champion Innovation Lab participants when crossing the finish line this weekend!

“Perfect 17” runner and Champion Innovation Lab participant Seth Elsheimer said, “It's refreshing to see a brand that has stayed focused on regular, everyday athletes who are competitive as well as those who just want to have a good time and be active.”

Be sure to see the Champion Innovation Lab athletes take on the Walt Disney World Half Marathon this Saturday (January 9th) and the full marathon on Sunday (January 10th) which will take runners through all four Walt Disney World® Theme Parks starting at Epcot®, continuing on to the Magic Kingdom® Park, Disney’s Animal Kingdom® Theme Park and Disney’s Hollywood Studios™ and then back to Epcot® for an exhilarating finish.

If you haven't tried Champion's athleticwear, be sure to check out their website or check out some of their lines at Target. While you're at the website, be sure to sign up for their catalog. My kids love it when the new Champion catalog arrives!

Recognizing the Signs of Overtraining And How to Prevent It!

Do you feel that burn after a hard workout or a hard run? That's from pushing your body past what it's used to. Challenging yourself to harder more intense workouts (resistance training or aerobic training) over a period of time is called progressive overload. Progressive overload is how you train your body to adapt to the new conditions being put upon it. The key, however, is making sure that along with the progressive overload you are also giving your body time to recover. Ever notice how most marathon plans have you run a 20-miler followed by a day of rest and then the following week's "long run" usually isn't as long. That's progressive overload or stress adaptation. Build up. Back off a little. Build up. Back off a little. Overloading the body and then giving it a chance to recover, adapt, and heal before placing more stress upon it, is a great way to train.

The S.A.I.D principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demand) refers to the idea that your body adapts to the specific type of stress put upon it. So, when an endurance runner pushes to finish that 20-miler in a specific time frame, his/her body is adapting to that specific type of stress being put upon it.

The problem is many athletes (aerobic or anaerobic) don't give their bodies time to adapt before imposing more stress on their bodies. So they never make it to the gain threshold. They're constantly stuck in the recovery period or worse, they become injured. This is called overtraining.
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Overtraining can also be due to repetitive exercise. If you don't vary your workouts and you're constantly subjecting your body to the same stress over and over, those muscles can become overtrained. A good rule of thumb is to wait at least 48 hours before working the same muscle groups again. So for example, if your do a chest/triceps workout one day, you should wait at least 2 days before working those muscles again. Professional bodybuilders will often workout a muscle group so hard in one workout, that they'll wait an entire week before working that muscle group again.

In running you should think more in terms of hard/easy. Hard workouts can include speed workouts such as intervals, repeats, tempo runs, hill-work, or long runs. Easy workouts can include short or mid-distance runs that are run at an easy to moderate intensity (60-75% of your VO2Max). So, if you do a hard run one day you should wait at least two days before running your next hard run.

Some common signs of over training include:

• persistent achiness, stiffness, or pain in the muscles and/or joints (beyond the typical delayed onset muscle soreness felt after a workout)
• waking up with an elevated pulse (good idea to take your waking resting pulse frequently to give you a base from which to compare)
• lack of energy
• fatigued and/or achy muscles
• frequent headaches
• feeling lethargic or sluggish
• drop in athletic performance
• not able to complete your normal workout
• depressed, moody, unmotivated
• nervousness
• lack of sleep and/or appetite
• weight loss
• lowered immune system

An elevated pulse is a good indicator of possible overtraining or even sickness such as a respiratory infection. If your waking resting pulse is elevated more than a few beats, you could have an infection or be suffering from overtraining. In either case, taking a day off may be the best thing. Rest is the best thing for overcoming overtraining. If rest doesn't do the trick, schedule an appointment with your doctor.

The Lowdown on the 300 Workout

Don't have time to hit the gym 4 or 5 days a week to squeeze in two upper body a lower body and a core workout? Then maybe the 300 Workout (or a variation of it) is for you. This workout is supposedly what Gerard Butler and the rest of the warriors in the movie 300 were put through to get in shape for the movie. Basically, the workout consists of a total of 300 reps of 6 different exercises (50 reps per exercise) done in 30 minutes, two days a week.

Actually according to WebMD, however, Gerard and his Spartan warrior buddies were subjected to 90 minutes to two hours a day, five days a week, plus the same amount of time fight training. The stuntmen trained 90 minutes to two hours, five days a week, and another four to six hours fight training, plus there was a rigid eating plan. The regimen consisted of The regimen was varied based on the person’s starting point. Some days guys did high-intensity circuit training. Some days guys lifted very heavy loads for a few reps. Some days guys did a series of mini workouts that added up to an 'interesting' total load and volume. Some days guys did hard interval training on the Concept II rowing machine. And some days, the exercisers were asked to train for balance by doing their tasks blindfolded. WebMD also points out that the 300 Workout was actually a test that was optional for the actors and stuntmen to take after completing the 8-12 weeks of training. Only half of of the group took the test and only one of the group who took the test was an actor (Andrew Pleavin, who plays Daxos, leader of the Arcadians. He finished in 18 minutes and 11 seconds.)

So don't be fooled by all the hype surrounding the 300 workout. However, don't dismiss it either. There are elements of the 300 Test that can be used to create a great fullbody workout.

The Original 300 Test consisted of 50 reps each of pullups, deadlifts (135lbs), pushups, boxjumps (24" box), floor wipers (135lbs), clean and press (35lbs). I don't think it's good practice to set a standard amount of weight or box height for everyone. Nor do I think it's a good idea (especially initially) to set a time limit for completing the routine. I recommend using a good amount of weight that you can handle for 5o reps. Keep in mind, this is going to be a lighter amount of weight than you'd normally do for a deadlift of 6-12 reps.

Don't be worried about completing the exercises in a certain amount of time. Using good form, try to complete as many reps as you can handle and then move on to the next exercise. Time yourself to see how long it took you and then use that as your reference point. See if next time you can either beat your time or see if you can up your reps. Maybe your "300 Workout" is actually a 150 (25 reps of 6 different exercises).

This type of workout is more focused on power. The reps will be done faster with no break in between the exercises. Because of this it also gives a good cardiovascular workout. It really gets your heart pumping.

I'll never look like Gerard Butler and his warrior buddies in the movie, but I can attest to the fact that the "300 workout" concept definitely gives a good fullbody workout. Because of the fullbody, cardio, and power elements of the workout, it makes a good workout for runners.

My workout buddies and I have tweaked the workout by throwing in different exercises. We're not concerned with completing it in 30 minutes. Another good tip is to break up some of the more difficult exercises. For example, pullups are not my forte', so I start my 300 workout with 25 pullups and then do the remaining 25 at the end. Even the 25 I do in 2 sets of 10 and then one set of 5. Do what works for you. Know your limits. As long as you keep "fullbody" in mind, the sky's the limit to the variety of 6 exercises you can come up with. Here's a few examples:

300 Workot Variation #1

bent over rows
jump squats with a medicine ball

Incline dumbbell Chest Press

Bench Straddle Jumps

Standing Military Press

crunches on stability ball (holding weight plate on chest)

300 Workout Variation #2

chinups

back squats

bench press

hanging knee to elbow crunch

jump squats

kettlebell snatches (25 each arm)

How Running Changed My Life: Kirbey's Story

A marriage proposal and a forthcoming wedding motivated this week's Runner of the Week, Kirbey, to dabble in some running. It's been a couple of years since the wedding and she's still running. Read on to find out more about Kirbey and her story. 

My husband proposed to me in December of 2006. Immediately after he proposed, like any normal girl, I began scrambling to plan my wedding. The scariest part of all the stress of planning a wedding was finding the dress. During my first few years of college, I had gained weight and felt down in the dumps about myself. I wasn't happy with my weight, how my clothes fit, and the idea of putting on a wedding dress wasn't appealing. Your wedding day is supposed to be the one day in your life where you feel beautiful. So I made a plan. I knew of one girl that I admired because of how fit she was and I asked one of her friends what she did to stay so fit. She said "she runs... a lot." So I made that my goal.. to run a lot.

I started of running with my best friend. It was winter time when we began and we would bundle up in 30 degree weather and run from our house to the town square. Our longest run was never more than three miles, but I felt like I was really doing something good for myself. In addition to running I began reading about foods that would help me to run better.In general, I was learning how to be a healthier person which in turn made me feel good about myself.

I have not stopped running since. From January 07 until now I run every week. I find that the best way to stay motivated is to set a goal, like a racing distance, and stick with it. I ran my first half- marathon in October 09. I trained by myself the whole time running on country roads where I live. I can't express the feeling of finishing 13.1 miles. It was one of the first times in my life where I voluntarily set my mind to a task bigger than I could imagine and followed through. I love the feeling of accomplishment that running brings. I love upping my mileage and wondering if I can "really run that far" and seeing myself actually do it.

Running really is a confidence booster. I would recommend it to anyone. My next goal is a marathon. I really can't wait to see if I can do it, but I am sure I will surprise myself.