Pizza is a lot like sex. When its good, its really good. When its bad, its still pretty good.

-Mike Birbiglia

How Pizza Saved My Life

Pizza.  We all know it.  Most of us love it. I am from Chicago, deep-dish capital of the world.  I no longer live in Chicago, but I still consider it my home.  Suffice to say that Chicagoans love their pizza. But despite what type of pie you prefer, this is an article about how pizza can save lives.

Depression.  Just mentioning the word can make you feel like a Johnny Raincloud or Debbie Downer.  Yet it strikes millions.  Not clinical depression, but just that general down in the dumps feeling that strikes us from time to time throughout our lives.  Depression sucks, I think is a universal feeling.

Forgive me for a moment while I spin a little trail of logic that will guide you to the same conclusion I had, in that pizza can save lives.

First off, a little scenery please:

It was the winter of 2008.  It was a cold February day up in the suburbs of Chicago.  There was snow on the ground but it was much too cold to snow that day.  The temps were somewhere around 0F.  The previous week I had tried my luck at testing whether I had the genetic makeup to be an ultra-running superstar.

What I did was map out a 26.2 mile route in my car and run it, starting at 11pm at night.  I had only run about 14 miles previous to this, and had just started running back in September.  I made it in about 3 hours and 40 minutes.  I was stoked.  I felt good.  The next weekend, I decided to tempt fate and go for a 50k, or 31.1 miles.

By mile 30 I had developed what I like to call the death march.  I could no longer hold my hand up, and my arms dangled down by my sides.  I don’t know if you would call what I was doing, running, it was more of a controlled stumble, as I could no longer really control or feel my legs in the sub-zero temperatures.  I was leaning forward, and felt that if I fell down, I wouldn’t have the strength to get up.

Well I made it back home, and I was so excited I hadn’t died out there. I let out a scream of satisfaction, ate a Clif Bar, and went right to bed.  I developed a severe stomach flu the next morning, which sidelined me for days.  I think the all the idiotic amount of running suppressed some immune function.

I tried to run again when I felt better but my IT band really hurt. Imagine a hot knife, jabbing into the outside of your knee.  Not good.  Days went by, then weeks.  I still couldn’t run without pain.  I got to be really depressed.

Enter pizza stage right.  Well, up until this point I had been eating very healthfully.  It is a different mindset when you eat well in order to be in top condition to do what you like, instead of just eating well to lose weight or get healthier.  I stayed healthy to run, not the other way around.  I decided, “Screw it, Im making a pizza, its not like it can affect my running anyway!”  I hadn’t even thought to cheat on my diet up to this point, but I felt like crap, so I didn’t care.

I realized as I sat there and ate my deep-dish pizza with pineapple, olives, onions, green peppers, and sun-dried tomatoes, that I no longer felt like hell.  I felt good.  I felt alive and happy again. Maybe it was just my heart struggling to pump all the fat through my veins, but I was sweaty with giddiness.  What had been a big deal before, doubting whether I would ever run again, no longer seemed as bad.  If I would only stop worrying and just let my leg heal, I could resume running, and be a little less idiotic with my training ideas.

So here is my logic.  Depression is caused by a lack of being able to be made happy by things that should make us happy, like puppies.  Depression, in the worst cases can even lead to suicide because someone cant even be happy with their own life, let alone puppies, so they decide to end it.  No one has ever chosen to die though, to my knowledge, while eating pizza.  Pizza makes us happy.  Therefore, pizza not only makes us happy again, but  can then likewise, through curing depression, save lives.

Who knows what sort of downward spiral I would have gone down if that savoy deep dish gut bomb hadn’t been there to give me a delicious slap of reality.

So thank you pizza, for saving my life!

If you fail to prepare, prepare to fail.

-Steve Prefontaine

Its Not What You Eat But How You Eat It

Many people are weary of anything billed as a “diet”.  Either they don’t like the idea of the fanaticism of the diets members, or its strictness, or even the idea of having to eat something different than they do now.

Many of us know we need to do something to be healthier, but we just cant bring ourselves to adopt a “diet”.  This is a post for for those people.

The term diet has gotten some negative connotations.  In truth, a diet is any pattern of eating behavior.  Eating fried chicken for every meal is one type of diet.  Eating nothing but carrots is another.  All of us are on diets right now, some healthy, some not.

The first thing to come to grips with is that in order to adopt a more healthy lifestyle, you need to stop thinking of dieting in terms of stopping and starting, but rather in changing.  Many people are afraid to “start” a diet for fear of failure.  This should change.  When you feel you can no longer continue to eat a certain way, then change.  Think of it as the plug and chug method but with food.  If it works, use it, if it doesn’t, change it.

Instead of offering advice and giving you rules on exact foods to eat, we are offering you a diet plan that is more fool-proof.  There are two guidelines to follow, but they are not rules so there is no need to worry about breaking them, only to keep them in mind.

Restrict Saturated and Trans Fats. Simple enough, right?  If there was only one thing you needed to pay attention to, this would be it. What are Saturated and Trans fats?  Saturated fats are found in all animal products, coconut oil, and some nuts.  Basically they are solid at room temperature.  Trans fats are unsaturated fats- or fats that are liquid at room temperature- where hydrogen atoms have been artificially added to make the fat solid.  You may have heard the term Partially Hydrogenated and this is what it refers to.  Hydrogenated means added hydrogen.  This is by far the most destructive substance in every-day foods.

You can easily avoid them by minimizing eating fried foods, cut out margarine, and eat leaner meats or fish.  You don’t have to stop eating these foods, but just keep an eye on any label that lists the Saturated Fat % in double digits.

Limit the Sweets. This is a big one too.  Too much sugar can cause diabetes and weight gain.  Actually, there is one loophole in this rule.  If you have to have some sweets then eat them as a reward.  After any sort of cardio workout, the muscles have used some of their energy stores, and those need to be topped off.  The  best way to do this is to consume a sweet food right after the workout.  Chocolate milk is one of my favorites.  So the next time you are feigning for some candy, just go for a quick jog, or bike ride, or swim or walk or hike, then enjoy.

THE CRUX OF THE WHOLE DIET IS PORTION CONTROL. If you pay attention to the above rules, then the basis of the whole diet is to restrict your portions.  Try to eat more frequent and smaller meals.  Basically, you can eat what you want, but just eat less of it.  Another loophole, and one that justifies the workout habits of many people, is to think of working out as a way to burn off the excess calories you consume.  Many people run 5k and 10k races to counteract the empty calories in sweets, beer, or other foods they enjoy.

Try to think of your health in the following hierarchy:

Healthiest lifestyle- Slim and active. This person eats a diet with good fats, without bad fats.  They keep a slim healthy weight and they workout to keep it there.

Average Healthy Person- A little husky but active. Great goal for the normal person.  There has been recent research showing that its not what you look like on the outside (chunkiness) but whats on the inside.  If you are overweight, but you bike or swim regularly, then you are at a much lower risk of cardiovascular diseases than a skinny sedentary person.  This person would have a pretty good diet, and balances any unhealthy vices with healthy exercise.

Unhealthy- Slim but inactive.  This person may have the benefits of a good metabolism or good eating habits, but their inactivity means their cardiovascular system is weaker even than the overweight exerciser.

Unhealthiest Lifestyle-Overweight and inactive.  This person is at the greatest risk for cardiovascular diseases.

An easy way to check your progress on the diet, if you want to lose weight, is to check your weight.  Once a week, in the morning, right after you wake up, drink a glass of water and weigh yourself.  This is close to your base hydrated weight.

If you find yourself gaining weight, double check by weighing yourself again the next morning and either add a few extra minutes of exercise, or just cut out a little bit of some of the meals to help bring this number down.

If you find yourself losing more weight than you want, then you get to eat more, or if you want, cut down on your exercise.

You should try to aim for about 5 pounds +/- your goal weight and stay in that range.

Happy eating!

Success isn’t how far you got, but the distance you traveled from where you started.

-Steve Prefontaine

The Ultimate Beginner Running Plan

There have been many articles published by us here at Growstronger.com about nutrition and running.  Many of these are geared towards a more knowledgeable reader, already well versed with the basics of their training.  We feel this is not a complete approach though, because some the most important articles should be for the beginners.  After all, its the one stage everyone has to go through.

This is a training plan for anyone.  It is meant for those of us who haven’t run in years or maybe never at all.  It will take you from sitting on your couch to being able to run for 30 minutes in just a few weeks.  This plan also works well as a generalized 5k training plan.  So lets get started!!

The basics.  There are a few basic rules when it comes to running that will help to prevent injuries and take some of the general stigmas away from the idea of running for many people.  We will briefly list these, as a more detailed discussion of each is not necessary at this stage.

The 10% Rule. This is a big one, especially for beginners.  During your training, you never want to increase your weekly mileage by more than 10%.  No ifs ands or buts about it!  The 10% increase keeps you from doing too much too soon and allows time for your body to adjust to the added stress.  Every 3-4 weeks you want to have a week that was 50% of your previous week.  The decrease is a rest week and allows your body to really absorb the benefits of the training.

Run Through Fatigue, Not Pain. So many people associate running with pain.  This is a misnomer.  If you are suffering from acute sharp pain, STOP.  Don’t run anymore.  Take a few days off and try again.  If it persists, go to your doctor.  If you are suffering from a more long-term chronic pain, STOP.  Take a rest break and follow the same advice above.  When runners talk about running through pain, they are talking more about the physical and mental fatigue and stress incurred.  This is something very different and something that a beginner will not encounter.  If, however, you have to think about whether it hurts or not, you are probably simply over-thinking and should continue to run.

Running is Enjoyable, Not Boring. Running can be boring but only if you let it.  There is no reason to not listen to any music while you run, just watch out in traffic.  Many people take up trail running because of the constant state of attention needed.  Many people find running itself to be a form of meditation.  Thinking of it this way can take the boredom out of it and give yourself some perhaps well-needed quiet time.  It is important to not let running ever get too stale or boring.  Burnout, especially as a beginner, is a real possibility, and needs to be taken care of proactively.

And now, the plan.  The 30 minute build-up utilized in this plan is a great base to reach for any runner.  For runners who want to train for their first 5k, this plan is also a great tool, as that 30 minute mark will give anyone enough endurance to reach their goal of running 5 Kilometers! Click the following link to download an excel version-GrowStronger5KmPlan.

All running times are totals only, you can break up the time into as many increments as you wish, as long as the total running time is the same, it doesn’t matter if you run a solid 5 minutes, or run 10 , 30 second increments!

Week 1

Monday- Walk 30 minutes
Tuesday- Walk 25, Run 5
Wednesday- off
Thursday- Walk 23, Run 7
Friday- Walk 15
Saturday- Walk 23, Run 7
Sunday- off

Week 2

Monday- Walk 25, Run 5
Tuesday- Walk 24, Run 6
Wednesday- off
Thursday- Walk 22, Run 8
Friday- off
Saturday- Walk 27, Run 3
Sunday- off

Week 3

Monday- Walk 23, Run 7
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 23, Run 7
Thursday- off
Friday- Walk 21, Run 9
Saturday- Walk 28:30, Run 1:30
Sunday- off

Week 4

Monday- Walk 30
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 26, Run 4
Thursday- off
Friday- Walk 25, Run 5
Saturday- Walk 28, Run 2
Sunday- off

Week 5

Monday- Walk 23, run 7
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 25, Run 5
Thursday- off
Friday- Walk 21, Run 9
Saturday- Walk 24, Run 6
Sunday- off

Week 6

Monday- Walk 23, Run 7
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 10, No walk
Thursday- off
Friday- Walk 22, Run 8
Saturday- Walk 25, Run 5
Sunday- off

Week 7

Monday- Run 5, No Walk
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 25, Run 5
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 4, No walk
Saturday- off
Sunday- off

Week 8

Monday- Run 10, No Walk
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 20, Run 10
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 10
Saturday- Walk 15
Sunday- off

Week 9

Monday- Run 10
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Walk 20, Run 10
Thursday- Walk 15
Friday- Run 13
Saturday- off
Sunday- off

Week 10

Monday- Walk 19, Run 11
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 10
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 15
Saturday- off
Sunday- off

Week 11

Monday- Run 5
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 5
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 6
Saturday- off
Sunday- off

Week 12

Monday- Run 12
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 8
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 5
Saturday- Run 12
Sunday- off

Week 13

Monday- Run 15
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 6
Thursday- Run 7
Friday- off
Saturday- Run 18
Sunday-off

Week 14

Monday- Run 8
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 7
Thursday- Run 5
Friday- off
Saturday- Run 25
Sunday- off

Week 15

Monday- Run 5
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 10
Thursday- off
Friday- Run 7
Saturday- off
Sunday- off

Week 16- Final Week

Monday- Run 6
Tuesday- off
Wednesday- Run 5
Thursday- Run 9
Friday- off
Saturday- Run 30
Sunday- off

…Way too much coffee.  But if it weren’t for the coffee, I’d have no identifiable personality whatsoever.

-David Letterman

Why Caffeine Is Absolutely Necessary

Caffeine. Just writing it down gives me the shivers, and it isn’t from the jitters. No, I’m so excited because I am passionate about this taboo wonder drug, and I’m going to show why you should be too!

According to Wikipedia:

“Humans have consumed caffeine since the Stone Age. Early peoples found that chewing the seeds, bark, or leaves of certain plants had the effects of easing fatigue, stimulating awareness, and elevating one’s mood.”

It appears that the Chinese were the first to steep these plants and drink the caffeinated beverages.  Tea was first used by the Chinese in 3000 B.C.  Later, coffee was discovered in the 9th century in Ethiopia, and spread quickly to Persia, and then to Europe.”

Jumping forward, we find ourselves in the year 2010 where it is a wonderful time to be a caffeine aficionado. For starters, you’ve got your coffees, espressos, and teas. For those who need it on the go, there are the gels, shots, packets, and even powders. Caffeine can even be found in pill form. But with all this easy access to such a wonderful stimulant there has to be a downside, and there most certainly is: the media.

Caffeine has gotten a very bad rap. Every other week I seem to hear about the dangers of caffeine from the most credible of all scientific sources: network news. The problem isn’t that this is done on purpose, but rather simply due to a lack of information and the need to “sell” exciting and controversial news to an information-hungry public. As crude as it sounds, spouting about how dangerous caffeine is will garner much more press than citing how helpful it can be.

It seems that the negative side affects such as jitteriness, headaches, and its diuretic properties only show themselves at high doses.  These “high doses” are well over 500 mg of caffeine, or over 5 cups of coffee!

To get down to the nitty gritty, here are three ways that caffeine can improve your athletic endeavors that you might not have known:

1- Performance Benefits. While caffeine hasn’t been shown to benefit shorter races, its endurance benefits are well known. Basically, caffeine promotes activated muscles to use fat as their fuel source. This allows the athlete to work harder and longer.

2- Boost Recovery. Recently, a study was done to find out the truth behind this claim. A select group of cyclists rode to exhaustion to ensure complete muscle glycogen depletion. During their 4-hour recovery period, one group was given a carbohydrate recovery drink, while the other had the same only with the added stimulant of caffeine.
“With the ingestion of both caffeine and carbohydrate, the overall amount of glycogen stored in the muscle for the 4-hour period was 60-percent higher than with carbohydrate alone,” said Hawley. “There is absolutely no question that this additional muscle glycogen would improve performance.” (Journal of Applied Physiology, May 2008)

3- Treat Asthma. One our authors is an asthmatic, and when in need of his inhaler, a strong cup of coffee is enough to bring him back to life. So there you have it, caffeine can save lives!

This goes without saying, but please check with your doctor before thinking about supplementing your diet with caffeine. People with high blood pressure especially need to be careful with extra caffeine. Otherwise, take advantage of this wonder drug and go out there and get energized!

A man can be destroyed but not defeated.

-Ernest Hemingway

Recently, I came across an article describing how humans today are physically much weaker than our prehistoric, and recent ancestors.

Modern Man A Wimp

Reading the article made me think that with all of our technological advances life could have been made better in some regards and worse in others.

We live in a world of technology. It has helped us fight diseases and hunger, and has made the world a smaller and less mysterious place. At the same time, we might have lost touch with ourselves and forgotten that hard work can be good for you if done the right way. Before the Industrial Revolution life was much more difficult. Life was certainly harder, but so were the people. How can we change this relaxed state we now find ourselves in? Simply put, we can use this information as a new source of motivation.

If I am just sitting around watching television, I cant help but think about how easy life is. If I want some food all I have to do is go to the refrigerator, where I will find it stocked with fresh food bought from a nearby grocery store. To cook my food I only need to push a button or turn a knob. There is no hunting required, no plowing fields, no walking to a store, and no cutting or gathering wood. I think about how this helped to make these people stronger and healthier. Granted there was a lot of diseases and sicknesses, but that can be easily combated with modern medicine. I think about how my being sedentary by watching t.v. is not good for my mental or physical health, and it motivates me to want to do something. I usually will go for a run, but you don’t have to do that. Here is a short list of other options:

1. Call a friend and go for a hike

2. Take the dog for a walk, or take yourself for a walk!

3. Go to the gym

4. Just do some push-ups and crunches until you cant do anymore

5. Stretch while watching television if you must watch it

6. Get a game of soccer or basketball together

7. Read a book

8. Get some friends together to play cards or a board game

9. Meditate

10. Sew or quilt

11. + Just do something.

With all our complicated training plans and diets telling us when and how long and how hard to train, eat, and sleep, its no wonder we no longer know how to listen to our bodies.  “How do I DO that?”, you may be asking.  Focusing too much on competition and numbers can and will drain you of motivation.

Its easy to dread an activity because you are too concerned with being the best. Try to make one day a week your “free” day. Use this day to just get back to the basics. If you’re a runner, leave your GPS, HR monitor, iPod, and stopwatch off. Don’t map out your route either, just run where you want to run, and as fast or as slow as is comfortable. Relearn to enjoy just being active.

The best thing you can do is to keep your mind and body active. An active body and mind will acclimate to any activity and unless you are tired, you will be restless, which reminds you to get up and burn off some energy until you do become tired. A great preventative method to enact this lifestyle is to make active friends. Watching t.v. or a movie, even if done with others, is a solitary activity. Surround yourself with people who you can talk and debate with, people who you can walk, run, hike, climb or bike with, and you will be healthier as a result.

Tune into your body, and learn to quiet your mind. Pay attention to your surroundings and just go with the flow in every sense. Learn to enjoy the freedom that comes without having any expectations at all.

Running Abroad: Journey to Segovia

At the moment, I am living, and studying, in Salamanca, Spain (some of you may already be aware of this). Furthermore, I enjoy running and do it often (hopefully a greater number knows that). And finally, I plan on, and have continued to run, while living in Spain (please tell me you are catching the drift here). This is how I will document some of my most favorite experiences while Running Abroad.

Cheat Sheet

1. Pensión Aragon
2. Aqueduct/Alcázar de Segovia
3. Pictures

Pensión Aragon

Segovia is a wonderful place to run. The scenery is gorgeous, and the tourists seem to clump together at two main spots, so if you know what you are doing it is fairly easy to avoid them.

My trip to Segovia started when I checked in at a local pensión. These are basically small houses that are rented out, similar in concept to a hostal, but in my opinion completely different. Very popular in Spain, a good pensión, if you can find one, will make your travel all the more enjoyable.

Fortunately, my friends and I found a great little pensión basically inside the Plaza Mayor, and not only was it cheap, it was absolutely wonderful to boot. Pensión Aragon , because of it’s neat rooms, superb location, and cheap rate, is a runner’s dream pensión (and no, I am not being paid to say that).

Aqueduct/Alcázar de Segovia
These are the two areas where the tourists clump together: a good idea to avoid on a run, but two sites definitely worth seeing at some point.

The Roman Aqueduct was built sometime around the 1st century. The water came from the Fuente Fría river. All that is good and dandy, but the real interesting part is the legend.

There was supposedly this woman who had a pretty rough life, carrying water back and forth every day. So, one day, the devil told her that he could get her water delivered to her doorstep by the end of the day in exchange for her soul. Being as desperate as she was, she agreed.

As the devil was coming close to finishing, the woman prayed to the local patron saint, and as legend has it, the sun rose around 4 A. M. that day, ensuring that the woman would not have to give up her soul. The niches in each stone that can be seen to this day are said to be marks of where the devil worked. Spooky!

The Alcázar de Segovia on the other hand, does not have as scary of a history. Originally a Moorish fortress, the Alcázar has been used for centuries, as both a home, and prison, for kings and queens.

What might be more interesting is that Walt Disney was inspired by this castle to create his famous Cinderella Castle. If you look at the pictures, the similarities between the two are quite interesting.

This is definitely my favorite spot in Segovia, and because I was able to run in the earlier part of the morning, before the tourists came out, I was able to run with the castle as a backdrop. Talk about scenery!

There are three main different viewpoints from which you can see the castle. From the front, as most tourists do, from the top (after climbing the tower – and paying extra), and from behind, which is my favorite. It is a bit more of a hike to get there, but trust me, it is worth it. Take the trail leading away from the castle and when you see a set of stairs on your right hand side, take them up to a large open field. Waiting for you will be a once-in-a-lifetime view.

Overall Rating: 8.0/10
Pictures

Aqueduct, x2.

Alcázar, in front.

Alcázar, on top.

View of the whole city.

Creepy street.

Walk down to the fields.

Alcázar, from behind, at night.

Plaza Mayor, at night.

Hot air balloon.

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.

-Walter Bagehot

The Barefoot Revolution: 10 Reasons You Should Go Barefoot

1- Injury Prevention
2- Strength
3- Run Faster, Run Longer
4- Feedback
5- As Nature Intended
6- Wow Factor
7- Going Green
8- Simplicity
9- Cost
10- Fun

To quote a relatively unknown song, “The times they are a changing.” Within the realm of runners, this has never been quite as accurate as more and more people are tossing their running shoes into the trash and opting for something more minimalist or –GASP- nothing at all. That’s right, it is the barefoot revolution, so “please get out of the new one, if you can’t lend a hand.”

Disclaimer: The following article makes little difference between “pure” barefoot running and minimalist/semi-barefoot running. If you are unsure as to what “minimalist running” or “semi-barefoot running” could possibly mean, please read more about it:
The Barefoot Revolution: Barefoot Shoes for the Barefoot Runner.