Dealing With What You Have

Yesterday's post by my friend, George Zack, and often an answer in the podcasts with Lucho at Endurance Planet, got me to thinking about what I'm actually doing with my workouts...are they training or just an outing to the woods?  Yes, I would prefer to run like I did in the past, but I simply can't. However, this year I truly believe that I can consider myself a runner, once again.  It took a lot of dealing with my knee arthritis and meniscus issues and a lot of hiking but can now sustain some real miles, albeit slower than what I remember.

I find myself reminiscing way too often and am also jealous when I see a younger runner go by with such ease in his gait. But I have also come to enjoy my extra time in the out-of-doors and actually get into the "flow" as discussed by Andy Jones-Wilkins in his column at iRunFar.com.  So as Lucho would put it, I do what I can and don't worry about what I no longer have any control over.

 I also thought a lot about the message presented by Aron Rolston at the NIACC auditorium last night. Dealing with boulders in your life and opportunities to change perspective on what is most important to you.  It was a very good, inspirational, and motivating talk and I was glad I had the opportunity to be there and that NIACC is able to arrange for such high quality events in their annual series.

Today went very well as I used a run to the high school, to deliver a student ID that I had found yesterday, as a warmup then hit the trails for my finishing loop at a pretty good clip.  As mentioned yesterday, it is very dry out and the river is unusually low for this time of year. 

10 mile run in AM and additional hiking later.

How to make your own energy gel

Originally from ninelittlepiggies in RoadBikeReview Forums, I've made a few extra comments in red.

"You need to get the following ingredients:

Brew Store

Maltodextrin - Comes in many packages or bulk. Ranges from $2-5 a pound. Get this cheap as it is the main ingredient!

Citric Acid

Calcium Carbonate

Grocery Store (QFC) or similar bulk foods store

Fructose - Sold in bulk at QFC, get around 2 lbs, it'll last a long time.

Pectin

Sea Salt - Also found in bulk, you don't need much.

Flavor Extract  and perhaps Gin (optional for those using non-alcohol based flavor extracts) * I have learned a quick and easy way to flavor and color the gu is to simply use a half-teaspoon or so of your choice of powdered Kool-Aid or similar powder drink mix.

To package the GU efficiently, buy Collagen tubes from REI ($2 for a two pack). These seem to be the best way to carry GU into the mountains and in jersey pockets. The following proportions will make one Collagen tube perfectly.  The small polyethylene flasks from Gu, FuelBelt, Ultimate, or Hammer Gel are easy to find and hold close to the equivalent of 5 commercially purchased foil packets.

Supplement Store:

Branched chain amino acids (all three): These are SO important and pretty expensive. Grind them up in a mortar and pestle.          I haven’t tried these yet.

PREPARATION:

200 mL - Maltodextrin
50 mL - Fructose
100 mL - Water

Carefully measure out the above ingredients, and mix them together lightly. Bring the water to steaming hot and slowly whisk in the maltodextrin/fructose mix. Once this is done, mix in a "pinch" of Citric acid, calcium carbonate, sea salt, and pectin. Whisk on med heat until all the lumps are gone.  I've been using the microwave but you need to be sure it gets hot enough to help break up the lumps.  

Now you are ready to add your flavor of choice. Almond extract is a staple flavor, but one can get more creative! I’ve tried a Pina Colada with pineapple and coconut flavorings. Make sure that you add some gin if you are not using an alcohol based extract less your GU have a nasty after taste! (Again remember that Kool-Aid works quite well.)  I then pour into the poly flasks to cool a short while before storing in the fridge for use the next morning.

The proportions I have found to work have been producing "stable" liquidy GU. Even slight variations in the ratio of maltodextrin to water cause major differences in the consistency of the GU. A little too much water and your have a clear sugary liquid, not enough and you'll have GU-chew! Below I have grabbed the ingredients list for authentic GU off their website. I have chosen to leave out some of the harder to find ingredients that they use like amino acids, who knows whether they make a difference. Read the marketing and come to your own conclusion!

I started using this recipe for mountaineering. It works very well on my 24 hour climbing marathons. One other thing that really helps is chocolate covered espresso beans. Caffeine releases fatty acids into your bloodstream with offers 9 kcal of energy/g as compared to 4 kcal from protein and carbs (there is a little more to this story, but I won't bore you with the biochemistry.)

I hope this helps,
Doug (ninelittlepiggies)"


from the Gu website...gel ingredients:

Maltodextrin (Glucose Polymers), Filtered Water, Fructose, GU Amino Acid Blend (Leucine, Valine, Isoleucine, Histidine), Potassium And Sodium Citrate, GU Antioxidant Blend (Natural Vitamin E And Vitamin C), Sea Salt, Citric Acid, Calcium Carbonate, Sodium Benzoate, Potassium Sorbate, GU Herbal Blend [Chamomile, Cola Nut (Has Caffeine), Ginger], Fumaric Acid, Pectin

Gluten-free. Dairy-free. With ~20mg of caffeine.