Saturday, May 5, 2012

It's What You DON'T Need

Training for the Leadville 50 has been race training, part science project.

And I'm the mouse.

Playing amateur scientist in search of the outer limits of human physiology, psychology and nutrition has been a bit tiring.

But also very insightful.

Interestingly, what I have found thus far is that there are far more things an athlete DOESN'T need to successfully train for a big race than he / she DOES need.

Here is my list of FOODS you DON'T need:

  • Power bars
  • Power gels
  • Power gus
  • And any other food that comes in a wrapper or box. The fewer human hands that have touched the food, the better.

Here is my list of DRINKS you DON'T need:

  • Any drink with the word "power" in it
  • Any drink with the word "recovery" in it

Other NON-ESSENTIAL items:

  • IPods
  • Heart-rate monitors
  • GPS devices
  • Heart-rate monitors that are ALSO GPS devices
  • And any other device that velcroes to your body besides a simple watch
  • Cell phones--especially cell phones!
  • Health club memberships. 
  • Treadmills--although they can be a good location to hang your shirts.
  • Personal trainers.
  • Exercise videos.
  • "Breathable" shirts and shorts.  Let me be very clear here.  There is NO such thing as "breathable" clothing when you're sweating like a hog in heat going up the mountain.  No matter how "breathable" your clothing is, and no matter how many logos you have on your shirt and short, you are going to sweat and get wet if you are really putting forth effort.  Period.
So what DO you need to successfully train for a big race?

Here is what I have discovered you REALLY need:

1.  Shorts, shirts and and a couple of "hoodies" from Walmart--not the fancy running store.  Make sure all are comfortable, loose and CHEAP. You want to be ready to discard any of the above when the weather and your body begin to swelter.

2.  Decent shoes--an $80 pair of shoes should last a few years.  That's right--a few YEARS.  Only replace when a hole develops in the sole--and no sooner.  The notion of replacing shoes  every 500 miles is the same snake oil we were sold by the oil change companies telling us to replace our oil every 3,000 miles--it simply isn't true.  Read Chris McDougall's book Born to Run and read the section that talks about the running shoe scam.  You'll want to throw your Nike's through the television.

3.  Water bottles--filled with WATER.  That's right, WATER. Want flavor?  Add a lime.  Leave the sports drinks and sugary crap at home--it will only make you puke at mile 20.

4.  PBJ sandwiches.  I know, not very sexy.  But here's the deal:  look up the nutrition specs for this good old fashioned stand-by that mom used to serve us when we were  kids.  It kicks the ass of any "energy" bar.  Looks like mom was right.

5.  A $40 Timex Ironman watch.  If you spend more than this, you are wasting your money.  These watches have a stopwatch, the date and the time.  And they last longer than the wristband.

Here is one last observation I have made in my training training.  Besides becoming a "less is more" guy in my training, I have found myself adopting this philosophy in other areas of my life.

Do I really need a house with THREE Garages--and TWO air conditioners?

Do I really need 400 TV channels?

Do I really need a cell phone with 200 phone rings?  In fact...do I really need a cell phone?

I think distance training forces a person to "peel back the onion" so to speak and examine what is really important.

So maybe, just maybe this Leadville 50 training will not only change the way I approach training for races.

But change the way I approach the bigger issues.

On and OFF the trails.

AMJ








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