Iskiate - Chia Fresca

I have been eating chia seeds in my morning concoction for almost a couple of years now. Chia seed is extremely good for you - it contains a bunch of nutrients and is a complete protein and contains omega-3 fatty acids. On a calorie for calorie basis it is hard to find a food as potent as chia seed. Just recently while reading Born To Run by Chris McDougall, he mentions iskiate (also called Chia Fresca) which consists of chia seeds, water, sugar/honey and lime juice. I filled up a 16oz jar about half way with filtered water and then added a few squirts of lime juice and about the equivalent of maybe 2 teaspoons or so of organic brown sugar and kept adding chia and waited until there was enough in there to form a gel. Chia gels up if you let it sit in water - it takes about 10 minutes or so to get a real good gel. It looks like slime with seeds it in once it sits for awhile. Chia has no taste so it will taste like anything you soak it in.

Throughout the day yesterday and today instead of getting my usual lunch I took regular doses of my iskiate gel. I took it once before my lunchtime run and 2-3 times in the afternoon. My usual serving size is about 5-8 tablespoons of the gel. The jar I make lasts about 2 days. I have not been hungry during the day and have lots of energy. I have to add that I felt really good on my run today. I may just keep this up!

Here is a good article all about Chia

Here is another blog post about iskiate - in the post the author uses a measured recipe while I just add the ingredients until I get a good tasting gel. By my estimation, the recipe in the article would leave you with mostly water and some gooey gel. Mine is like a consistent gooey limeade as I add enough chia seeds to get that consistency.

Lows in Teens - Highs in the 40s - Snow forecasted for tonight - time for a trail run!

I did my first trail run of the New Year with two of my buddies from work over at Renaissance Park today. We did the usual short loop just shy of 3 miles. It was chilly out in the low to mid-40s but it felt great. I do not run often in the cold weather but I have to say I find it quite exhilarating. Two miles into the run I felt very warm and I was not cold at all. I recorded a time of 23:34 which is not my slowest time but way off my best of 22:19. I thought I was running at a good clip but I was extra cautious on the downhills and big dips. It was very difficult decipher between soft mud and frozen mud and between water and ice. One spot early on in the run was a huge muddy icy puddle that we had to walk around as running through it looked way too treacherous. So the bottom line, I got through without incident and felt like I could have gone much further but had to get back to work.

2009 - Looking Back and Looking Ahead

Happy New Year!

As far as physical accomplishments, 2009 has probably been the most active year of my life. From beginning to end I have kept things interesting and have entered events that have challenged me mentally and physically.

When the year began I was working out at Crossfit Charlotte. I was going there to train for my first half-marathon down down in Miami on January 26th. I did not do any running to train for this half-marathon. I did lots of rowing on the Concept2 and pumping away on the Airdyne bike to get my cardio during Crossfit workouts but that was it. I just was not up for running in the cold and last December and January had some really cold mornings. I also cannot stand running on a treadmill.

The ING Half-Marathon was a great half-marathon experience. It started and ended in downtown Miami and took us along Miami Beach. The course was mostly flat except for the bridges which had a decent but minor incline. I remember waking up that morning and walking to the start in total darkness. It was odd seeing such a huge crowd of people at 5am on a Sunday morning. It was challenging and I ached towards the end of the race but finished at 1:54:43 which is around an 8:45 minute mile average. I was quite happy with that considering I had logged 0 miles ahead of the race. After the race I walked like an old man for the rest of the day. Even stepping off a small curb was a major effort. It took about 3 days to completely recover. I don't think I will do a long race again without including running as part of regimen.

I did a few Marine Challenges and 5Ks throughout the year but most memorable was the Rock2Rock Trail Run back in late May at the Mountain Sports Festival in Asheville, NC. This time I trained by running trails at Renaissance Park but was in no way prepared for the steep climbs of the race. I finished in 1:17 and hope to try it again this year and improve my time. Mountain running is something I definitely want to do more of this year.

I ended my year by reading Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. Even if you are remotely interested in running you need to read this book. Anyone who runs or had been a runner and got injured should pick it up. I am not an avid reader but read this one cover to cover in only a few days.

I am thinking of doing the Charlotte Running Company's Inaugural Trail Race at the US National Whitewater Center in Charlotte. They have 3.8 Miles, 8.2 Miles, 13 Miles distances. It has been cold here - in the teens this morning. I would like to step up my lunchtime running when the mercury visits above freezing and then it will be possible. If I can find a running partner here at work I will start tomorrow. If not I will stay focused on the Charlotte Grand Prix Series.

I hope everyone has a healthy and happy New Year!

Burning off the holiday excess!

Got on the scale first thing this morning and I was down to 176.8. Only 48 hours before that I weighed 182.6. So in that time I went back to my regular eating habits and did an intense 21 minute tabata and dropped 5.8 pounds. I would guess much of my added weight was water and just excess garbage hanging around waiting to be burned off. So as easy as I put it on, I took it back off. I was never really concerned.

Getting Primed!

I did an intense 21 minute tabata to get back on track yesterday during my lunch hour at work consisting mostly of jumping rope, air squats, ab roller and spinning the Bulgarian Training Bag. I felt pretty good considering it was my first day back at the gym in a while. I was all set to do another lunch workout when I realized I had a chiropractor appointment during my lunch hour today so I will take today off and tomorrow morning do my kettlebell/burpee workout. I was pleased this morning when I got on the scale and weighed 179.8. It was a nice one day drop. It is amazing how easy it is to lose when you drop the bad holiday eating and go right back to a regular healthy routine.

Back From Christmas Break

Spent Christmas week visiting the in-laws in New York and New Jersey. It was a fun eventful week but exhausting. It is nice to be back home before the new year.

New additions to my exercise arsenal from Christmas include a Garmin 405 GPS watch which I will review here in a week or so and some Brooks running clothes for the colder weather.

I plan on doing more running in 2010 and want to compete in the 2010 Charlotte Grand Prix Series put on by Run For Your Life. It is a series of 9 short races where you accumulate points for each race based on where you finish in relation to the fastest runner. They have cash and prizes for the overall winners and the top winners in each age bracket. I thought I would give it a go in the 40-44 category. If I actually do more running to train this year I am thinking I could be quite competitive. The Garmin 405 watch and the new running clothes should provide me with some good motivation.

My diet went into the hopper while I was up north. I got on the scale this morning and weighed 182.6. I haven't been over 180 pounds since early last year. I was fairly good as far as meals but went crazy on the desserts - cheese cakes, chocolate mousse cake, moose munch and other assorted goodies containing lots of sugar, chocolate and caramel. It has been non-stop since Christmas eve dinner.

I did not exercise since December 17th other than trying out my sister-in-law's Total Gym 14000 with a few brief exercises. That version of the Total Gym is a top of the line solid home version. I am not an advocate of spending lots of money on expensive gym equipment but I have to say it is a great way to work the entire body. I will talk more about it in another post.

So here it is the 28th and I have lots of work to do to get back in shape. Time to go burn some fat and build some muscle in the the gym.

The Power Runner Machine

My boss told me about his gym, The Fitness Factory over in Plaza Midwood in Charlotte, NC, and a machine they have there called the power runner.  Looks like a pretty great machine to improve power and speed.  Wish I had one of those!  At $1732 plus shipping I will use my hypervest as a poor man's version.  Maybe one weekend I may head over to the Fitness Factory and try it out.  The picture above is courtesy of BodyBuilderFitness.com