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Training
in Black Earth, WI
Where the hills never end…where friends make it so
much better…and the Hauser
Diet is evident…
Last weekend my husband Ross and I traveled to Wisconsin
to one of our favorite places – Black Earth, which
is right outside of Madison, WI, also known as the Horrible
Hilly Hundred territory by cyclists. Our friends, Kurt and
Diane, have a cabin up there and they allow us to stay there
with them, so we always have a great time. Kurt is a chiropractor
in Morton, IL, just outside of Peoria. We met him about 10
or 12 years ago when he volunteered at the charity medical
clinic that we used to run in rural Illinois. His wife Diane
is the office manager at their practice, and is also an excellent
natural medicine practitioner.
We always have a blast when we travel these friends. They
too are into natural medicine, love to eat “weird” foods,
like to go on adventures, and shop in quaint little towns
for local delicacies such as wine from a local vineyard,
homemade chocolates, distinctive mustards and hot sauces,
or hand made soaps and lotions. So usually our weekends with
them are filled with training, eating, and adventure. And
this weekend was no different.
I must digress for a moment…I am training for the
Disney Marathon in January, as well as the team duathlon
at Miami Man in November. I am doing the 56 mile bike portion
of that race. My partner is Rob Donovan who recently ran
the Chicago Marathon during the heat and chaos in October.
His wife Christine completed her first Ironman last April – IM
Arizona. We met this couple while in Sanibel Island, FL.
They live across the street from our other good buddies,
Rick and Evette. We have become fast friends with this great
group of people and see them whenever we can and communicate
with them on email. Rob and I spent the day together “sherpa’ing” our
Ironma triathletes back in April. The four of us really didn’t
know each other back them – we had only just met the
month prior. But we bonded like glue during that trip! Talk
about adventure! Well, one of the weird things that happened
at that race was Rob discovered that I am a picky…well,
not only about picky foods that I eat, but picky about everything
that I put in and on my body. I wouldn’t eat in submarine
sandwich shop because the meat had MSG; I didn’t want
the suntan lotion because it contained PABA. I wanted to
find fresh food. So having spent 15 hours together, he quickly
learned about my natural
medicine passions. Clearly he thought
that I was from another planet. You may be asking why I am
even telling you about this – well…the reason
is that when he signed us up for the team duathlon at Miami
Man, he called us “Team PABA”…because
ever since that weekend, he has been mercilessly making fun
of me and my idiosyncrasies! There are many more, but we
don’t have time to go into those…so anyway,
the point is…I went up to Wisconsin to do some cycling
and running in preparation for Miami Man duathlon and the
impending Disney Marathon. Whew…
My coach Pete Alfino, from www.milehighmultisport.com, planned
some very interesting workouts for me – back-to-back “bricks” on
Saturday, followed by a half marathon on Sunday. For those
of you who may not be familiar with the “brick” – these
are where you bike, then run immediately following your bike
ride. These are used to help strengthen your legs, and get
you used to running immediately following the bike, as you
would in a triathlon or duathlon. When you first start doing
these, you hop off the bike, change your bike shoes to running
shoes, and then start out on the run, your legs think that
you are not going to be able to run, but eventually you start
feeling better and you are able to do it. I remember my first
duathlon about 4 years ago…I didn’t really practice
any bricks very much, so after I got off the bike and started
running, I thought I wasn’t going to be able to run.
I just wasn’t used to it. So it’s definitely
something good to practice when you are training for triathlons
and duathlons. But I digress…
So, Coach Pete had me doing three back to back bricks. Now
mind you, this is very hilly countryside, so biking and running
in this terrain is rigorous, to say the least. When I did
the Horrible Hilly Hundred ride last June (you can read about
in the “in the news” section of this website” I
would power up some of those hills thinking I was not going
to make it. A couple of them required me to walk up…so
needless to say, I am a bit apprehensive about training in
this tough territory. But it will make me stronger in the
end – so that’s a good thing.
My husband Ross is also training for the Miami Man ½ Ironman,
so he too was to do the triple brick workout. Our friends
Kurt and Diane are just getting into biking, so they wanted
to ride with us. So all four of us set out on our bikes on
a chilly, but beautiful, Fall morning. We rode for an hour
along the hills of Black Earth and the surrounding areas – beautiful
countryside, but difficult riding. Then we all rode back
to the cabin, and Ross and I set out on our run. Running
on hills is just as, if not more, challenging than biking
on the hills. You can definitely feel it in your calves and
thighs after running up and down the hills.
I would have to say that I used to be kind of psyched out
by the hills of Black Earth. Prior to attempting the Horrible
Hilly Hundred back in June, I used to get really upset riding
in Black Earth. The hills would kill me, I’d have to
walk up some of them, and I just dreaded what was around
the corner. Having now been training with Coach Pete for
a number of years, I have definitely become stronger and
more able to “embrace” the hills, instead of
fearing them. I was actually quite amazed at how much I had
improved since June.
Part of my training program involves weight lifting and
CORE strengthening. This is a key factor to becoming a better
athlete. It is particularly important for women because we
have a predisposition to osteoporosis – so this type
of training will help prevent fractures, as well as improve
overall health. Strong women stay younger. I cannot encourage
you enough to do get on a program to help yourself.
But back to the triple bricks – we completed our run,
then got back to the cabin, changed from running shoes to
biking shoes, slapped on the helmet, gloves, and long sleeve
shirt and got back on the bike. We repeated this three times.
So we were out training for over 4 hours. The temperatures
were nice and cool, in the 50’s for most of the training.
I personally love this type of weather, because I do not
function optimally in the heat. I, of course, attribute this
to having a propensity to alkaline (higher than normal) blood
pH levels. This is one of the key factors related to determining
your Hauser Diet Type. You can read more about that at www.hauserdiet.com.
My Hauser Diet Type is a Monkey. You might be thinking – “what?
A Monkey?” The
Hauser Diet involves blood testing to
determine which of the five Hauser
Diet Types you are – Lion,
Otter, Bear, Monkey, or Giraffe. The macronutrient breakdown
of each of the five diets correlates with the way these five
animals normally eat in nature. For example, a lion eats
meat. The Hauser Lion Diet Type is a high protein and fat
diet – just like a lion would eat. The Otter eats meat
and a few plants. The Hauser Otter Diet is made up of a lot
of meat/fat, yet adds in some carbohydrates. The bears eat
a little of everything – meat, vegetables, fruit, carbs.
The Hauser Bear Diet Type is the balanced Diet
Type, requiring
that the Bear eat meat, veggies, fat, fruit, and some carbs.
Monkeys eat a little bit of protein and a lot of veggies.
Hence the Monkey diet is a lower protein/fat diet, consisting
of a lot of veggies, and some fruits. Finally Giraffes eat
plants. I am sure you have all seen the Giraffes chomping
on leaves from trees. Giraffes don’t eat steak – they
eat veggies. So that’s how we determined what to call
each of the five Hauser
Diet types…but I digress….again.
I continue to be amazed at how much better I run and ride
when the weather is not 80-90 degrees. If you have these
same tendencies, you may want to check out www.hauserdiet.com where
you can take a short quiz to help you figure out what your
Diet Type might be. The best way to know for sure is
to come into our office and get tested. But taking the quiz
will give you some insights. One word of caution – be
careful not to answer the questions related to what you LIKE.
We want to know how you FEEL with certain foods and in various
situations. Anyway – back to the training… |
Getting off the bike during one of the transitions! |
| So included in
this article are a couple of pictures of us training that day
of the triple bricks! Don’t we look like we are having
a blast? Well, you know what? The reward was Ehling’s Apple
Explosion! This is a recipe from the Hauser
Diet book that Kurt
Ehling is famous for. He and Diane made that pie for us, so we
were able to eat it after that massive workout. What a treat!
That’s one good thing about exercising, eh? |
Ehling’s Apple Explosion from the Hauser
Diet book! Does that look
fabulous or what? What a great post-exercise
treat! |
| Diane had also
recently just purchased the Hauser
Diet book. It was so funny
when I arrived at the cabin to find her reading it – and
trying out the recipes. She made MJ’s Chicken, Green Beans
Almondine, and I made some of the salads from the book. So at
least I know that one person has been using the recipes! Just
kidding. |
Yummy Caprese salad, together with the Apple
Explosion! |
Day 2: We
woke up to a drizzling day in the 40’s. I needed to run
a half marathon – 12 miles through the hills. Would we
let the rain stop us? Nope. I knew that I would quickly heat
up, so I decided to just wear a tank top and shorts, even though
the temps were a bit chilly. Good move! I was even hot! Plus
the rain cooled us down a little. I also just recently purchased
an IPOD nano and tried that out for the first time on the run.
This really pumped me up and helped me power up those hills,
keeping my stride short and strong. I listened to wide array
of music that most people probably wouldn’t like – including
patriot songs like God Bless America; contemporary Christian
praise songs; old 70’s ballads; and even some Italian
crooners! I know – what a mix! But hey, whatever gets
you going, right?
We have many maps of the area, so we mapped
out our 13 mile course – taking a new direction that
we have never done before. We ran through beautiful wooded
areas, with an occasional smelly pig farm, through corals with
horses, and of course, a few cows - it is the dairy state,
right? We came upon some new hills that we had never tried
before. I jacked up the volume on my IPOD and embraced them.
Even as it began to rain harder, I just stuck in there and
worked hard at it.
Interestingly enough, I believe I paced it
very well. I actually had some strength at the end of the 13
miles as we were approaching the last hill. I powered up the
hill as best I could, then leaned into the downward run…and
kept it going, finishing the last 2 miles under 9 minutes/mile.
For me, that was a great accomplishment – considering
I used to be an 11 minute/mile person just a few months ago.
I was very happy to finish strong.
|
YEAH – I finished! Soaked and sore, but
done! |
For the next
few days, my calves and thighs were very sore. I know it was
due to all the up and down hills on the bike and run. Coach
Pete was actually happy with this because he knew that I put
in a good effort. I took a rest day on Monday. Tuesday I rode
my bike with my riding group (yup, it’s very dark at
5:30AM in Chicago pre-day lights’ savings). By the end
of the week, I was feeling no pain. I took Enzyme
Max, and
MSCLR Enzyme 2 of each every few hours. This helped heal the
massive tissue damage incurred that weekend!
We did finish up
the Ehling Apple Explosion too! And boy did it taste great
post-run! Yet another great time was had with out good buddies
Kurt and Diane too…
|
Ross and I walking in the forest area around
Black Earth… |
…along with Diane and Kurt. |
What did I
learn from this trip?
| 1. |
I can overcome my fears – fear of the hills of
Black Earth. I embraced them and felt stronger for it. |
| 2. |
I can run when I am tired. Having done the triple brick
the day prior to the half marathon, I was tired. This will
help me be able to complete the marathon. |
| 3. |
The Hauser
Diet book recipes are yummy! Ha ha |
| 4. |
The Ehling Apple Explosion is awesome – try it
out some time! YUM! |
| 5. |
That good friends can pick up where they left off and
have a great time no matter what the circumstances – and
good friends can eat leftovers for breakfast and not bat
an eye! |
The training is going well ….I’ll see you on the
road… |
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