I really wanted to lose some weight and improve my running times in my Fall races and knew that I would have to start some kind of diet. My girlfriend Leigh showed me an app she had been using to track calories on her iPhone called myfitnesspal. I decided to check it out. Myfitnesspal is an app for the iOS and Android operating systems is also a website. So for those of you who don't have a smartphone, like me, you can use the website online. Even though I do not have a smart phone I have an ipod touch. I installed the app on my ipod and used my ipod and the website for tracking.
The app is fairly simple to use and provides a way to track calories from eating as well as calories burned from exercising. The app provides you with a food and exercise diary for tracking. It is a diary that allows you to track breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and exercise daily. Adding a food is easy and can be done by searching the myfitnesspal database or by taking a picture of a food's bar code if your device has a camera. The myfitnesspal database is very robust and contains virtually every food brand out there. This was perfect for me as I tend to buy a lot of generic items. You can also build recipes by adding a list of ingredients. You can store your own recipes, custom foods, and custom exercises. There is also a feature that allows you to add other myfitnesspal users as friends. It has a news feed to update you friends on your progress and you on their progress. You can also copy meals, recipes, and foods from your friends. This came in handy when Leigh and I ate a meal together; only one of us would have to track it and the other could copy it.
The app allows you to input your gender, age, and weight. You can then select how many pounds you want to lose per week. The choices are 1/2, 1, 1 1/2, and 2 pounds per week. The app then calculates a daily calorie intake to achieve your selected goal. When I first started I weigh somewhere around 270 lbs. I was allowed around 1970 calories per day in order to lose 2 lbs. a week. Any exercise where I burned calories was added to my daily allotment. So on a day where I ran 5 miles I would burn around calories so I would be allowed to intake 2770 (1970 + 800) calories and still achieve my goal of two pounds per week. When I first started tracking I decided not to worry about what foods I ate. My only rule was to abide by the calorie intake amount. I decided to try and meet the goal weekly so some days I could go over my allotted amount and others I would stay under the allotted amount (usually when I ran high mileage that day) as long as it balanced out at the end of the week. The app also provides many charts and tools for balancing carbs, proteins, and fats but as I said I was only concerned with calories at the time.
For nearly six months I tracked every calorie that went into my mouth. As time moved on I noticed that my diet naturally got healthier. Junk foods are packed with calories and would eat away quickly at my calorie allotment so I gravitated toward healthier lower calorie foods in order to eat more during the day. I also decided I didn't want to give up all high calorie foods completely. In order for that to happen I would eat a very light breakfast (anywhere from 100-250 calories) and a somewhat light lunch (400-600 calories). This would leave me with plenty of calories (especially if I ran that day) for dinner and snacks at night. Most dietitians would probably say that this is not the best approach for weight loss since many small meals a day helps speed metabolism, but I enjoy big dinners too much and don't intend to give them up.
In the months July through September I started dropping a good amount of weight. I was beginning to feel better and was able to run faster and farther without having to increase my effort. The better I felt the more I enjoyed going out on runs. I started to get very excited about my upcoming Fall races. I also wanted to learn more about the sport of running in hopes of using that information to help me in my races. My girlfriend Leigh is a pretty avid reader and goes through a few books a month. I tend to read a lot of articles in magazines and on the Internet, but have never been a big book reader. I figured that while Leigh was reading I could get some reading in myself and learn more about running at the same time.
I should mention that prior to this point in time I had only read one book on running, Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner. This book really kicked off my fascination with the sport of distance running. It is a very easy read, I think I read it in about six hours or less. The author is ultrarunner Dean Karnazes. He takes you through some of his childhood, his early years running, and many of his long distance exploits. If you have never heard of ultrarunning it is a great book to open your eyes to some the different races and distances ultrarunners cover. Some people criticize Karnazes for having a big ego, but if you ignore that stuff in the book it is a great read.
After I made my decision to read some running books that Summer and Fall I started scouring the Internet for some the best ultrarunnning books out there. I read some reviews and compiled a list of books. I went to the county library's online catalog and started searching for the books on my list. I was looking for printed books as well as audio books. I have a 45 minute drive one way to work so I figured I could listen to some audio books while on the road. From July through November I covered a decent amount of books. Following is the list of books I read and a short description of each book. I will keep the descriptions to a minimum so this isn't too long winded, but I would recommend all of the books I have listed.
Beyond the Marathon: insights into the longest footrace in the world by Grahak Cunningham - This book was written by a four time finisher of the 3,100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race in Queens, NY. For more information on the race read my description of the movie Spirit of a Runner below or following the link. The race is the world's longest and takes place over 52 days in Queens, NY around a city block. The book describes Grahak's early days in the sport of running as well as his running of the 3100 mile race. It is a short read and is extremely interesting as it covers this little known race and the runners who attempt it. This book is available in electronic form for only $5.99. Click on the book title to go the page where you can purchase it.
Beyond the Marathon: The Grand Slam of Trail Ultrarunning by Robert B. Boeder - This book follows the author's quest to complete the grand slam of trail ultrarunning which consists of running four of America's toughest 100 mile trail races in 14 weeks. This book is a short and good read. One interesting thing to note about this book is that one of Boeder's 100 mile races was the 1994 Leadville 100, the same race that Born to Run author Christopher McDougall describes in depth in his book about the Tarahumara running tribes.
Relentless Forward Progress: A Guide to Running Ultramarathons by Bryon Powell - This book is a great reference book for ultrarunning tips. The book provides training schedules for ultra distance races and a plethera of other useful ultrarunning information.
Eat and Run: My Unlikely Journey to Ultramarathon Greatness by Scott Jurek - Scott Jurek is a legend in the ultrarunning world. He is one of the most dominant ultrarunners in the history of the sport racking up multiple wins and some of the toughest ultrarunning events in the world. His book takes you from his childhood straight through to some of his greatest victories in the sport. The book also focuses on the fact that Jurek is a vegan. At the end of each chapter Jurek leaves you with a recipe for one of his many favorite vegan foods.
The Extra Mile: One Woman's Personal Journey to Ultrarunning Greatness by Pam Reed - Pam Reed is a great ultrarunner. She won the Badwater ultramarathon twice outright. This book tells of here life juggling relationships, family, running, and anorexia, the disease has battled for years. I will admit this is not the most exciting book, but it is still worth taking a look at.
The Longest Race: A Lifelong Runner, an Iconic Ultramarathon, and the Case for Human Endurance by Ed Ayres - Ed is a veteran ultrarunner with a very environmentally conscious mind. His book follows the 2001 JFK 50 mile race, one of the oldest (maybe the oldest) ultramarathon in the country. As he describes the race he connects running with our environmental sustainability as humans. The book is very interesting and Ayres parallels environmental issue with running very well. If you aren't concerned with environmental type things the book is still a good read as it describes the JFK course in detail.
Finding Ultra: Rejecting Middle Age, Becoming One of the World's Fittest Men, and Discovering Myself by Rich Roll - This book is one of my favorites. Roll describes his socially awkward youth and how a college visit and his first sip of beer change his life forever. Roll goes into detail about how alcoholism affected every part of his life. The book eventually describes Roll's sobriety and entrance into the world of endurance sports. Roll is great triathlete who has completed some of the toughest triathalons in the world. The book also tells of his feat of running five ironman triathalons on five separate Hawaiin island in seven days. I listened to this book on CD which is actually read by Roll himself. Another big focus of the book is Roll's strict vegan diet which he claims is the key to his success.
Running on Empty: An Ultramarathoner's Story of Love, Loss, and a Record-Setting Run Across America by Marshall Ulrich - Marshall's book follows his quest to run across the United States. He is a veteran ultra runner whose accomplishments are truly amazing. His book explains his running past and family life. He is very honest about his addiction to running and how it has affected his family life. The book's main focus is his run across the country. He reveals a lot about his experience during the run across America including some bad experiences with another ultra runner who organized a documentary that was being filmed about the run. You should definitely read this book before watching the documentary as it describes what really went on during the run. The film doesn't include any of the conflict that went on during the expedition since the other runner is the one who arranged the documentary.
Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen by Christopher McDougall - This book is very well-known inside and outside of the distance running world as it was national bestseller. The book covers many aspects of ultra running including the evolution of humans as runners, minimalist running, and a tribe of Mexican natives, the Tarahumara, whose culture is running. The book is a great read and will hold your attention the whole way through. I listened to it on audio book and thoroughly enjoyed it.
Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner by Dean Karnazes - I talked about this book above but just to reiterate it is an interesting, fast read for both runners and non-runners. Dean takes you through some of his childhood running, his life changing 30th birthday run, and some of his early ultra running feats.
Run!: 26.2 Stories of Blisters and Bliss by Dean Karnazes - This book covers more of Dean's running exploits. He covers several different types of races including multi-day adventure races and races around mountains. It is another easy read just like his first book and is a great way to get a little insight into the kinds of races that exist.
A few other books I am currently reading or intend to read are listed below:
Tales From Out There: The Barkley Marathons, The World's Toughest Trail Race by Frozen Ed Furtaw
Road to Endorphia: Running From John O'Groats to Land's End by Joe Donnachie
A Few Degrees from Hell: White Hot Tales from the Badwater Ultramarathon by Scott Ludwig
A Hundred Reasons to Run 100km by Margreet Dietz
To the Edge: A Man Death Valley and the Mystery of Endurance by Kirk Johnson
Ultramarathon by James E. Shapiro
Meditations from the Breakdown Lane: Running Across America by James E. Shapiro
Running Through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon by Neal Jamison and Don Allison
32 Miles From Fat by Ross Bays
Never Wipe Your A** with a Squirrel: A trail running, ultramarathon, and wilderness survival guide for weird folks... by Jason Robillard
Along with my reading I decided to check out what distance running films I could find. Some of the films listed below I had already seen or owned, but re-watched for some extra motivation and to see if I could pick up anything new from them. There are not a ton of films out there on the subject of distance running, in fact the majority of them are listed below, but all of these are worth watching even if you are not a runner. Here are the films I watched in no particular order:
The Spirit of the Marathon - This is by far one of the most inspirational films on running I have watched. It follows several runners through their training and running of the 2005 Chicago marathon. The film focuses on various skill levels. It follows two elite marathoners who are trying to win the race, some experienced marathoners trying to qualify for the Boston marathon, and some first timers attempting their first marathon. The film covers the history of the marathon as well as some interesting fact and stories about the 26.2 mile race. This is a great film to watch especially if you are contemplating your first marathon or in training for your first marathon. The film can be seen in its entirety on Hulu at this link. I have also embedded it below.
The Spirit of the Marathon II - This film has not been released but it being shown in tons of theaters nationwide on Wednesday June 12, 2013. You can locate a theater near you and purchase tickets here Fathom Events. You can watch the trailer on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded the video below.
Running on the Sun - This film follows the 1999 running of the Badwater ultramarathon. It is a 135 mile race deemed "The world's toughest footrace." It run through Death Valley, CA one of the hottest place on earth and finishes part way up Mt. Whitney. It is run completely on road were the heat radiates off of the asphault. Runners for the race are selected by submitting their "running resumes" to a committee that determines who gets in. The film follows several runners from all walks of life as take on this insanely tough race. You can watch the film in its entirety on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded it below.
Running the Sahara - This film follows three runners as they attempt to run across the entire Sahara desert, around 4600 miles. The film is narrated by Matt Damon and covers more than just running. It talk about the lack of clean water in Africa and how wells needs to be dug to supply the people living there. At one point the runners stop at a well digging project and are lowered down to where workers are digging a well by hand. One of the runners in the film is Charlie Engle. I talked about him above when discussing Marshall Ulrich's book about the run across America. After many days of long distance running emotions run high in any runner, but Charlie seems to lose his cool quite a few times in the film. This is a side of him Marshall describes in his book. Charlie is a great ultrarunner but puts a little damper on this film. Regardless it is a great watch. You can view the trailer for the film on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded the trailer below.
Running America - This film was originally supposed to follow both Charlie Engle and Marshall Ulrich in there attempt to run across America. Charlie ends up getting hurt and you end up seeing less of Marshall because of it. If you read Marshall's book about the run he describes how Charlie controlled the film and support crews and basically cut Marshall and his wife off from a lot of support they needed. He made the run much more difficult for Marshall than it needed to be. The film paints Charlie as some great person, but Marshall's book tell a completely different story. I have to side with Marshall especially considering Charlie spent a few years in prison for fraud, but you should read the book and watch this film and Running the Sahara to decide for yourself. This film is okay, but you are much better of reading the book. The trailer can be seen on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded the video below.
Ultramarathon Man: 50 Marathons 50 States 50 Days - This film follows Dean Karnazes as, like the title says, he attempts to run 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days. It is a pretty cool feat considering the logisitics involved with traveling and organizing the race. The schedule allows him to run at least one marathon a week that is actually live marathon. During the rest of the days of the week he follows the course for a major city's marathon with a small group of people without the race actually taking place. There is a lot of inspiring stories in the film including one of a woman who lost here leg to cancer. I had to be that guy but I used to think this was an amazing feat. It still is but once I started exploring the world of distance running further I found that there are many ultra runners covering way more than 26.2 miles a day for longer periods of time. I definitely recommend this movie just don't let it limit your brain to what you think is possible in running. The trailer for this film can be seen on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded the trailer video below.
The Runner - This documentary follows ultrarunner David Horton as he attempts to be the first person to run the Pacific Crest Trail, a trail that run 2,700 miles from Mexico to Canada. The trail covers some pretty treacherous terrain including mountains and large river crossings. David Horton is a professor at Liberty University in Virginia. The film isn't the highest quality as one of his student filmed it on a limited budget, but it get the point across. I really enjoyed this film as David is a Christian and talks about how running brings him closer to God and how he calls on God through prayer to help him on his runs. THe trailer for this film can be seen on YouTube at this link. I have also embedded it below.
The Spirit of a Runner - This film is extremely inspirational. It follows a runner named Suprabha Beckjord as she attempts to complete her 12th finish of the 3,100 Mile Self-Transcendence Race in Queens, NY. The race is world's longest race. It is run on a 0.5488 mile city block in Jamaica, Queens, NY. Jamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens not to be confused with the country. It take 5,649 laps to complete the race. The course is open from 6 AM to midnight for 52 days. The runners must average 60.78 miles in order to finish in the 52 day limit. Suprabha became such a staple in the race that the race's creator, Sri Chinmoy made a rule that the course would stay open until she was done running. Her longest run took her 63 days. This is a short documentary at 28 minutes but shows the power and spirituality in running. You can watch the video at this link. I have also embedded the video below. If the link does not work or the video does not play below visit http://3100.srichinmoyraces.org/. The video is available near the bottom of the home page.
As the months went on my Fall races got closer and closer. After reading and watching all kinds of things on distance running I started to get more and more excited about running. I started contemplating distances beyond a marathon and getting off the roads and onto trails. Overloading myself with all of this information was a huge part of my transformation into a brand new runner. By August I was down to around 240 lbs. and feeling better than ever. I started looking around for ultra marathons I could attempt after my three Fall marathons. Hunting for ultras online started to open my eyes to all of the different races available. I was excited for the upcoming marathons as well as a new challenge to go beyond 26.2 miles.
