Phase 1: PBIM 2014

So Phase 1 of my grand N=1 experimentation ends with PBIM 2014. 

PBIM 2012: 6h 35min 

PBIM 2014: 6h 45min

Training Runs prior to PBIM 2012 fueled by gels & electrolyte drinks.

Training Runs prior to PBIM 2014 after I injured my foot at the end of June 2014

July 14 - 1 run at 4.7km

August 14 - no runs

September 14 - 1 run at 6km

October 14 - 5 runs at 5km + 11.5km + 5km + 16km + 21km (Penang Run Leg 2 - New PB)

All runs on empty, coconut oil and/or Generation UCAN Resistant Starch

The difference, in 2014 I guess I am part of the way to being fat-adapted. 

The grand experiment started in October 2013 with a 2-week carbohydrate intolerance test. However having taken ill and missing out on PBIM 2013, I kinda fell off the wagon. 

Beginning June 2014 following a foot injury I started to follow a more strict Low Carb High Fat (LCHF)/ No Sugar No Grains (NSNG) diet to try to get my body to be even more fat adapted and to reduce inflammation in the hope to recover faster.. But the foot injury means there is no running. This led me to use the stationary bike to maintain aerobic fitness and strength training in the gym to keep the body strong. 

Weight (kg) change on same caloric intake: The spike in Sept was from a business trip to Beijing :D - hmmm Peking Duck.... yummy - but notice how fast it was to recover.

Body Fat%

October 2014: 21km Penang Run Leg 2 - a cause for optimism

Fuel - 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil + 1 serving Generation UCAN pre-race + 1 capsule Endurolyte. 1 serving Generation UCAN + 1 capsule Endurolyte during race. Sugar trickle last 5km. 

Time - shaved 17 mins off my 21km Penang Run Leg 1 time from June 2014. 

Ran strong with stable energy throughout, no fatigue at the end and surprisingly no DOMS. 

There might be something in this "Strength Running" theory. 

PBIM 2014 Full Marathon - Respect the Distance

So I ran a poor 6hr 45mins :-( ........

With hardly any training time on feet......

With minimal slow released carbs and Endurolytes. Fuel:-

1 serving Generation UCAN + 1 scoop Whey Protein 2hrs pre-race.

1 serving Generation UCAN 45mins pre race

2 servings Generation UCAN over the first 4hrs of the race, sugar trickle with Gu Chomps for the remainder.

Endurolyte capsules every hour. 

BUT that is virtually the same time I clocked at PBIM 2012 with a full 3 months training behind me (though I probably bonked in that one). 

For PBIM 2014, the first 21km went promisingly well, clocking 2hr45min on a very conservative run-walk-run. 

At 26km, my feet started complaining.

At 32km, they gave up and compensatory muscles in calves and quads started to twitch of cramp. Decided to walk the last 10km back. 

Fueling was probably satisfactory though I think I probably mis-calculated the UCAN timing. But body muscles hurt like hell on the verge of whole-body cramps at the end. 

I am not sure exactly what the reasons were for the slow run:

- initial foot injury from end-June

- flare-up of the foot injury from some barefoot football with the kids just prior to PBIM2014

- lack of time on feet (did not do a 30km LSD as common practice) 

- strength training which was not running focus

- insufficient fueling (less likely)

Recovery:

1 serving Generation UCAN + 1 scoop Whey Protein immediately after the race. 

24hr slow cooked chicken broth, 2 eggs, 1 banana, left over brown rice for breakfast/ lunch

Coconut water& flesh + local pineapple + turmeric as anti-inflammatory smoothie

Electro-pulse massage

Keep walking (read shopping mall - Gurney Paragon why your escalator not moving).

And sleep. Lots and lots of sleep. 

One day later, pleased to say muscle soreness is greatly reduced. Not much fatigue felt. 

Some comments on PBIM 2014

The organizers should really stop making focusing on making this event "The Biggest....", "The Most....." and instead focus on making it "The Best Overall Experience". 

For FM I do not really have many complaints. I pity the front Women's Open runners who even with the staggered start time inevitably got came across our Men's Open traffic. I feel big mile markers are unnecessary. You know one way is 21km so the actual traffic mile markers at 100m intervals on the bridge is sufficient. Water stations were sufficient though I think runners themselves should learn to go down the line to get your drink instead of bunching up at the start of the station. There were some complaints of water-station volunteers to be inadequate but I did not notice this. Was glad to see many ice-stations on the return leg. Probably only criticism was how the toilets were arranged, the queue was cutting into the running lane.

One thing I must say, I do hope the organizers gave the bridge a good rinse after the race or else motorcyclist will be greeted by a "wonderful fragrance" under the hot sun.

For HM, totally missed this group but I can imagine the congestion for the first 10km at least and the water-stations.

10km - This was farcical. It was virtually a 10km walk even if your wanted to run. Especially near the turn-back point where 2 lane road became 1. 

My main criticism is to be pointed at the start/ finish line. 

- If you do not look at your Runner's Guide there are no signboards telling you where are the locations of the Baggage drop, finishing line etc. 

- The race sites are water logged and muddy.

- The finishing point was totally congested. For a slow FM runner, I was already suffering yet made to queue just to get my finisher's bags? All I want at that point was to get to my drop bag to rehydrate.  BUT the baggage drop was at the start site across a barricaded road. Worse, there finish site was so congested with runners and yet there was no signage on how to get out of there and back to the start site. I thought the organizers would use the Mainland end of the bridge for the start/ finish as there was a lot of open space there and was surprised they decided to start/finish on the island. 

- cellphone usability was virtually not-existant at the start/finish point. 

- traffic and parking was totally unorganized - some reports that feeder buses were inadequate. 

My friend has a more thorough write up here.

The FM route:
Hyper lapse 6x speed - PBIM 2014 FM Route, one way. 
0:37 - 10km U-turn
1:07 - HM U-Turn
End of video, FM turn back and do it all again.......

Phase 2: Whats Next?

- Work on getting body fat down to about 10-15%

- With the foot injury means looking more into Strength Running Training as opposed to Conventional Lydiard Run Training. 

- Explore Cross-Fit Endurance (not exactly same as regular Cross-Fit) with a focus on Running.

Book Review: Influx by Daniel Suarez

"Power Corrupts. Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely" - Superman,  (Action Comics Annual #3 1991), quoting Lord Acton

Once in a while there comes a book that makes me drive round the block a few more times, drive a longer route home, be contented getting stuck at a traffic jam or at red lights or even running the extra mile, just to finish an exciting chapter. 

Daniel Suarez's Influx (Kindle | Audible) is one such book. 

I have always had a fascination with Tom Clancy and his Jack Ryan books, more so because the way he incorporates technology into the story line. In his era, it was the height of the cold war and parallel  advancement military technology & spycraft.

I find Daniel Suarez to be a similar kind of writer. He incorporates the use of technology of our era - computing, hacking, drones, robotics, etc while telling an absolutely thrilling tale. 

Influx highlights the dangers of concentration of powers - be it with a man, country or more predominantly in our times - corporations. 

Book Description from Amazon.com

What if our civilization is more advanced than we know?

The New York Times bestselling author of Daemon--"the cyberthriller against which all others will be measured" -Publishers Weekly) --imagines a world in which decades of technological advances have been suppressed in an effort to prevent disruptive change.

Are smart phones really humanity's most significant innovation since the moon landings? Or can something else explain why the bold visions of the 20th century--fusion power, genetic enhancements, artificial intelligence, cures for common disease, extended human life, and a host of other world-changing advances--have remained beyond our grasp? Why has the high-tech future that seemed imminent in the 1960's failed to arrive?

Perhaps it did arrive...but only for a select few.

Particle physicist Jon Grady is ecstatic when his team achieves what they've been working toward for years: a device that can reflect gravity. Their research will revolutionize the field of physics--the crowning achievement of a career. Grady expects widespread acclaim for his entire team. The Nobel. Instead, his lab is locked down by a shadowy organization whose mission is to prevent at all costs the social upheaval sudden technological advances bring. This Bureau of Technology Control uses the advanced technologies they have harvested over the decades to fulfill their mission.

They are living in our future.

Presented with the opportunity to join the BTC and improve his own technology in secret, Grady balks, and is instead thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison built to hold rebellious geniuses like himself. With so many great intellects confined together, can Grady and his fellow prisoners conceive of a way to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age?

And when they do, is it possible to defeat an enemy that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making?

I highly recommend listening to the Audible Audiobooks version. Jeff Gurner's narration really brings out the persona's of the characters in all of Daniel Suarez's books. Its like our forefathers listening to War of the Worlds over the radio. 

Here is a video of some behind the scenes commentary between Daniel Suarez & Leo Laporte. Jeff Gurner is also present and gives an on camera reading of an excerpt from the book.

Triangulation Episode #140 

Other Daniel Suarez books

Daemon (Kindle | Audible) & its sequel Freedom TM (Kindle | Audible) - control of the Internet leading up to a Utopian society.

Kill Decision (Kindle | Audible)- productive use of drones, for good and for bad.

Podcast Notes: Top 5 reasons triathletes get fat

by Ben Greenfield Fitness (3 Dec 2013) 

iTunes Link

1) Consuming in the evening too much Starch, Sugar and Carbohydrate (except if you do intense workout in the early-evening before dinner)

2) Gut-flora/ bacteria imbalance - consume kefir, probiotics, yogurt, fermented foods etc to create good gut flora.

3) Pre-workout fuel - over fueled. Eating before light/ short workout followed by post-workout fueling. Water, amino acids, electrolytes are ok. No need to eat post workout as normal eating thru appetite over 8hours will replenish glycogen and electrolytes. Exception if you are doing more than one workout for the day. Consume more amino acids and electrolytes during and after long workouts to maintain weight and prevent muscle cannibalization.

4) Nutrient Density. Fuels lacking in nutrients will make you eat more and more calories. Check out whfoods.com

5) Consuming too much calories - even though on diet of healthy foods.

Other notes: 

- 4 weeks of caloric restriction to induce starvation mode and weaken the immune system

- Fat burning occurs when best when sleeping.