Oui Oui Mon Ainee

It's been awhile since I posted, so here's what's been going on lately.

To start things off, I took a trip to South Bend, Indiana to be with Alison as she graduates from Notre Dame with a Masters Degree in French Crap. One might ask themselves, (as I have asked for many years) what do you do with a degree in French Crap? Well, undoubtably, you teach other unsuspecting kids French Crap in high school. Yes, six years of college and she is now taking a job at St Benedict High School in Chicago to pass on her wealth of knowledge in the French language.

Now, I kid Alison all the time about French, the language, the people, the country, but obviously, I am extremely proud of her accomplishments. She has worked very hard throughout her educational years, carrying a 4.0 everywhere she went. The logical question becomes, "Where did she get the brains, sure wasn't from my wife or myself?" Maybe I should research the mailman, the milkman (yes, I actually remember having a milkman that delivered to our house when I was a kid in Detroit) - anyone that may have taken responsibility as the father. But apparently, dumb genes + dumb genes can equal a smart kid.

Teaching high school wasn't her ultimate goal, she did apply to a number of grad schools to enter a PHD program, however, at this time was not accepted. Well, sorry to say, but those schools missed the boat; she would have made their programs proud. Not to lose sleep though, she'll try again next year with a bit more on her resume. I'm sure she won't rest until I have to call her Dr Stiner!

3 Generations of Polocks

Broncia, Sue, Alison
Now, it's time to talk about training and what's next on my schedule. Next up is the Topeka Tinman Triathlon. I've cut back on the running lately in order to get in more swimming and biking miles. Here's what the last two weeks looked like:

I'm trying to add more bike miles, but let's be honest, I don't really enjoy it, so I'm not doing so well there. I'm hoping the marathon legs can pull me through the 20 miles I need to bike in the race. Frankly, I'm doing this triathlon just to see how well I can handle the challenge, I don't care anything about how long it takes. I'll be totally satisfied just to finish.

I have also added a new marathon to my schedule, The University of Okoboji Marathon on July 19th in northern Iowa. This is a smaller race that coincides with a triathlon. I'm a bit apprehensive about a marathon in July because of the heat, but plan to just take this one easy, using it more as a training run for the 50K I plan this fall. This area of Iowa has a number of lakes and is allegedly a summer hotspot for vacationers. The wife and I plan to camp at the State Park for 3 nights while in town for the race. There is just something very primitive, very spiritual about sleeping outdoors in a tent, then arising in the morning for a long, long jog in Mother Nature's splendor. I am really looking forward to this run.

And by the way, GO RED WINGS!!!

Dining on Potassium

With my Country Music Marathon 2 weeks away and an increased workout regime the past month, my body has been crying out for help and guidance. Let's look at what my feeble mind is thinking.

When you run, you have a lot of time to think. I mean a LOT of time. My mind wanders aimlessly through my runs, switching topics as often as my dog wants out on a sunny day. It's usually important things, like why are my hamstrings tight today and not yesterday, or why don't more people recycle, or why can't bacon be a health food?

At my age, it becomes difficult to even remember my thoughts later that day so I can write them down in a blog, but one thing keeps coming back. We can land people on the moon, calculate the square root of 183184 in a nanosecond, even map someones genetic make-up based on a single strand of hair; so why can't we design a program that will record my thoughts while running, swimming, biking, walking and put them together in a concise, easy to read document? Doesn't seem too far fetched, does it?

Well, even without this miraculous program, which I shall dub "ThoughtPress", I actually remembered thinking about this topic on my last run. Potassium.

Potassium is especially important in regulating the activity of muscles and nerves. The frequency and degree to which our muscles contract, and the degree to which our nerves become excitable, both depend heavily on the presence of potassium in the right amount.

Other roles for potassium

Potassium is involved in the storage of carbohydrates for use by muscles as fuel. It is also important in maintaining the body's proper electrolyte and acid-base (pH) balance. Potassium may also counteract the increased urinary calcium loss caused by the high-salt diets typical of most Americans, thus helping to prevent bones from thinning out at a fast rate.

Now don't go thinking I'm like a doctor or nutritionist or something, I just know how to research the interent and this is from the Worlds Healtiest Foods website.

I've been wondering in some recent workouts why I've been cramping more often, not necessarily while running, but more often during Pilates. The instructor mentions the need for potassium if you're cramping. Like most everyone, I know things like bananas, figs and kiwis are a good source of potassium and I eat those fruits regularly. But look at this list of better sources;

Maybe Popeye has something there!

So anyway, here's how my workouts have gone the last few weeks in preparation for the upcoming marathon.

Fri Mar 28

Run 18.5 miles pace 10.35

Sat Mar 29

Run 4 miles 9.02 pace

Mon Mar 31

Pilates class

Tue Apr 1

Run 9 miles 10.13 pace

Wed Apr 2

Run 4 miles 8.52 pace

Thu Apr 3

Run 6 miles 10.30 pace

Pilates class

Sat Apr 5

Run 6 miles 10.30 pace

Sun Apr 6 - Brew to Brew

Run 8 miles 8.22 pace

Tue Apr 8

Swim 35 laps, 1750 yards

Run 4 miles 9.45 pace

Wed Apr 9

Run 7 miles 9.47 pace

Golf 9 holes (c'mon, it was cart path only, lots of walking)

Thu Apr 10

Run 5 miles 9.53 pace

Pilates class

I've only done 2 long runs in this training session, one 18.5-miler and one 20-miler. I'm hoping that the increased workload of swimming, boot camp classes and pilates will help compensate for the lower total number of running miles I put in this time. That and the extra spinach, avacado and papaya I plan to eat!