cranberries without sugar experiments, part 1

Walking through the vast halls of my local Costco the other day, I came across this 3-lb bag of fresh (not frozen) cranberries.



Intrigued (and without much thought), I grabbed it. I knew that cranberries are one of the healthiest foods around, and the opportunity to get them fresh only lasts a couple of months per year.

Now I have never cooked with cranberries before, but I knew from years of thanksgiving dinner experience that these little morsels of health were usually served in a super-sweet sugar glaze that makes them.. less healthy. A few internet searches confirmed this, recipes typically added a whole cup (8-oz) of sugar to a 12-oz package of berries. Wow!! And sugar-free recipes were usually sweetened anyway, just with sugar substitutes.

So, living by the rule to "approach love and cooking with reckless abandon," I did the unthinkable: cooked cranberries completely without sugar. I boiled them for ten minutes until most of them "popped", then let them cool for an hour. Then I force-fed the result to my wife and kid.


The water had turned into a thick glaze, but without sugar.

Steve, unusually tolerant of unsweetened bitter flavors (I eat 100% chocolate.. and prefer it to milk chocolate): "This is ok. I can learn to like this."
Alex, "It's not as bad as I thought it would be. Which isn't saying much."
Joe (5-years old), "Um, it's ok." do you want more? "No."

Verdict: too tart for most tongues.

I decided to add a little sweetener to what was left. The last time we made pancakes, we used half of one of those little cracker barrel bottles. The remaining half was sitting in our cabinets, waiting to become a science experiment.


It seemed to me, and I was hoping, that when it came to sweeteners, "a little bit goes a long way." So I added that little bit of maple syrup to that big bowl of cranberries, and repeated the force-fed taste-test.

Steve: "Cranberry taste and tart still present, but the overall flavor much more pleasant."
Alex: "Much better. I like it."
Joe: "Um, it's pretty good." Do you want more? "No."

Verdict: not inedible. would serve with dinner.

I have 3lbs of this stuff, so I will experiment more and report back here.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Ultra Listserv Gold Part II: Does running 100 miles ever get easy?

The wisdom of Lazarus:

Sat, Nov 7, 2009 at 12:31 AM

i dont know that it becomes easier, so much as you simply adapt.
as you extend your boundaries, distances get easier.
50 miles makes 50 k easier.
100 k makes 50 miles easier.
100 miles makes 100 k easier.
and the first time you are excited to have "only" 100 miles left,
nothing is the same any more.

i look back on my earlier ultras,
and some of the reasons i felt i had to slow down... or drop out,
and i am amazed that i gave in so easily
when i later discovered how much more i could survive.

you learn to take the pain
wall it off in a corner of your mind
and just keep moving.
it doesnt matter if you are having a good day, or a bad day.
the only difference in the two is your time.
you dont think about quitting
you dont think about finishing.
you just keep moving.
because that is what you do.
that is who you are.

it is a useful skill,
knowing how to simply endure.
it is the ultimate reward for running ultras.

i think some people come by it naturally.
but everyone can acquire the skill.
if i can, anyone can.
no one is less inherently tough than me.

laz

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

2009 is a wrap

I seem to have caught a cold. It's been with me all week, and hasn't gotten any better. I waited until Thursday, but I reluctantly withdrew from this weekend's 50-mile race.

Which means - 2009 is probably finished, at least with marathons and ultras. The highlight of the year was the PR at Caumsett 50K, and the finish at Grand Teton 50M - I persevered in the latter, and had a really good solid run in the former.

As soon as I get over this cold, I want to dedicate a few months to running faster speeds and shorter distances, because I really feel like that kind of training makes me better at longer distances. Marathons and Ultras are "easy" after a few really hard efforts at sub-half-marathon, and all of my best performances have been in periods of short training runs.

Also, short intense training seems to be the best fat-loss strategy for me, as the "long slow burn" only seems to increase my appetite in compensation.

But for those of you who crave ultra content on this blog, don't fret! With the Umstead 100-mile a mere 4½ months away (crap!!), I'll be certain to be writing plenty about going long as that approaches!


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Meb is not an american?

This is just an educated guess, but I'll bet that most the people who complain that Meb Keflezighi is not really american, have something in common - they're the ones who've never heard of Meb Keflegzighi before he won the NYC marathon. Letsrun.com cretins notwithstanding, they're not the running fans. Only running fans bothered to watch the 2008 olympic trials that were not televised, but were streamed over the internet. I don't think many fans who watched him struggle with the stress fracture he had and ultimately drop there said, "well, he's not american anyway."

This is what I'm talking about: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/sports/03runner.html

These people don't deserve to have their opinions printed any more than I'd deserve to have my opinions on Cricket printed. I don't know anything about Cricket. Why should my opinion matter?

Fortunately, at least the talking-head haters are getting what they deserve: http://www.businessinsider.com/cnbc-on-nyc-marathon-winner-of-course-he-is-an-american-2009-11.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

What I learned at the NYC marathon

1. I'm fat
2. I'm hopelessly inconsistent in my training
3. The best way to make your legs feel like they ran a 50-miler without actually running a 50-miler is to run an ashpalt/concrete marathon in trail running shoes.

My official time was 6:10:53, a half-hour off my PR.

great race, btw. crowds were amazing, especially in brooklyn.


full race report later.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am EST and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Race Preview: NYC Marathon

I'm finally in. I applied for the lottery 4 times, was turned down all 4 times. This may be the reason I hate race entry lotteries - I just have no luck with them. This year, I got in not in the lottery, but on a "three consecutive year loser" rule. At any rate, I finally get to run it.

There is an aura around NYC marathon unlike anything else. Oddly, most of my non-running friends acknowledge it as an enormous accomplishment, with greater reverence than any of my ultras, even the 50 milers. I find this fascinating.

Because of this reverence that people have, I won't bother with a race description, because everyone already knows all about it. It's the NYC marathon.

My plan for the last couple of months was to have a great time with it. My buddy Fraioli, also a fat Italian guy, and I were going to take the opportunity to have a slice of pizza in each boro during the race. How cool would that be? However, as of this writing, it seems that he's going to ditch the race for lack of training, meaning I might have no excuse to avoid actually having to run this thing..

Which, frankly, wouldn't be so bad. A 5:45 finish would allow me to experience the crowds that NYC is so famous for - crowds that would have dissipated for the 6:45 finish I probably would have had with Fraioli.

Either way, I really am looking forward to the whole NYC marathon experience. Come back next week for a report.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

People who think I shouldn't run marathons exist, get NYTimes ink

(This is the 400th post I've written to this blog)

Years ago, I finally internalized the futility of arguing politics with people, especially on the internet, and thus almost never do it even though I retain very very strong opinions. I mostly keep them to myself and reluctantly tolerate others' political rants. Avoiding these arguments has helped me keep friends that I would have otherwise lost. It's a nice perk.

Having learned that lesson, in the past couple of years I have tried, and sometimes failed, to avoid online debates in particular. I'm getting better at it, I swear. But every now and then something comes up and I just can't resist writing about it, or at least spending some otherwise valuable productive time reading people's comments and getting emotionally vested in it.

So when this article in NYTimes came through my feed reader, I knew that if I wasn't careful, the ensuing conversation would descend into a rapidly-downward-spiraling argument that would accomplish nothing. The reason is, this article was talking squarely at me. The Times was printing opinions of people who'd prefer I NOT run marathons.

Stated simply, I have no patience for these people.

I have to leave it at that and resist writing a three-page angry rant here. It would just be a waste of time, as nobody would read it anyway. Instead, I am going to go right into light-hearted mode, and quote some of the funnier opinions of folks who happen to agree with me.

JMF: ...you know you're closer to being Joe Six-Pack that you ever will be to being Paul Tergat. You think Paul is cramped behind a pc someplace ranting about how he's a 'real runner' who can't stand that some people jog the whole way and can't finish in less than 3 hours? But for you 'Real Joggers" - in your little gel pak addled minds, walking it in six hours constitutes being a wooly mouse, and jogging it in 3.5 hours equates to racing through bomb craters and hailstones...

SG: If someone runs a 3:00 marathon, they are still 55 minutes (8 miles back) off the world record. Does that make them a slowpoke fatty?

Shawn D: I'm all for the back-of-the-packers. I say take 10-hours! That way my slow ass times appear all that more impressive :)

Mark: I'm going to have to stop telling people I "run" 100 milers.

legallyillegal: so when some fatf**k does something other than sit at home and have donuts, you're there telling them to go home and have another donut?

B: Shhh!!! If you eliminate the 'casual' or 'walker' marathoner, then you won't get an ego boost comparing yourself to pros & elites that ran past you like you were standing still. How will you feel coming in DFL at 3:10?

There were no shortage of less funny but very insightful comments, either.

Laz: an inherent desire to belittle less talented athletes is a sure sign of an athlete who does not respect his own performance. as a coach, you find that every athlete has their own particular needs. the athlete who belittles others needs to be taught the worth and value of his own performance. the athlete who believes in himself treats other athletes with respect.

Spurgeon Hendrick: Snobby runners can all bite me. Fast runners who complain about slow runners need a reality check. The lady at the end of the article who tells 6+ hour runners, "that’s fine, but you didn’t really run it" ... who does she think SHE is? She's snooty just because her 4:05 time beat somebody by two hours? The elites beat HER by two hours ... Does that mean she "didn't really run it?" And to say, "a six-hour marathoner is simply participating in the event, not racing in it" ... is just plain stupid. Is a four hour marathoner "racing it?" Uh ... no. Is a three hour? Hmmm ... let me think ... the elites will beat him by an hour ... so .. uh .. no. Although I would argue that ALL of the runners are racing against themselves, either against their old PR or against that little voice in their head telling them to quit.Do these elitist numb nuts realize that for some people running the race in 6+ hours requires more effort, more hard work, and more determination than it does for them to run a four hour marathon?

Ed Parrot: But exactly what is the point of saying that someone didn't really run it? I mean, is someone suffering from an insecurity complex or what?

Byron Lane: I've won races that I can't even remember doing, but I can tell you stories from each one of these days on the road with my dad, and so can he. It's my favorite race each year, and probably his, too. Other people can call it a run, a non-race, a fast shuffle--I don't care.

MN: I ran along with a guy who was well into his 80's and had finished every single TC marathon since it began. Started running in his late 50's to keep him off the bottle and from smoking. Hell I'm prayin I can pull that off in 40+ years too and I don't want some douche whose a "real runner" telling me that if I'm not sub 4 hours I shouldn't be there.

New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Fat people who exercise healthier than skinny people who don't

(I just realized I made a typo in the publish date, so this is Monday's post on a Tuesday. Sorry.)

via Amby Burfoot's Peak Performance blog

Here's Why Exercise Counts, Even If You're Fat
More and more studies are finding evidence for the "fat by fit" finding, first uncovered by Steve Blair and his many studies at the Cooper Clinic. In case you've forgotten, this line of research has found that overweight individuals who exercise regularly have roughly the same health profile as lower weight people who exercise, and a better profile than thin people who don't exercise. In other words, exercise is the uber-health-enhancer. This review looks at the "how's" of fat-but-fit, and finds that the exercise has significant effects on inflammation, insulin sensitivity, visceral ("belly") fat, and cholesterol even if you don't lose weight. Powerful stuff. Source: Current Opinion In Lipidology.

Here's the study


having said that, i'd still rather be a thin runner than a fat runner.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

Ultrarunning Listserv Gold - How to run 50 miles in 12 hours

A bit of wisdom from Joe Judd of Colorado, who writes,

You are more than ready. I think that 50 miles in 12 hours is very
attainable, especially if it is a flat course.

1) Focus on keeping moving for the whole 12 hours.
2) A run/walk startegy works well for most people. Something like run for 5 minutes, then walk for one minute. I just run at a comfortable pace for as long as I can, then walk when I feel I need to have a break. Getting exhausted is hard to come back from.
3) Don't stop for too long. Keep aid stops to a maximum of around 5 minutes, maybe 10 minutes around dinner time. Remember, if you stop for 5 minutes every hour, you've lost a total of an hour of the race.
4) Most of what you need to overcome is in your head. It's not terribly hard to run a pace of 14:30 per mile. Doing it for 12 hours is another issue.
5) Stay in the moment. It is not a good idea to think of how much longer you have to run. Focus on how you're doing at THAT moment. The hours and miles will take care of themselves. Relentless forward motion!
6) It will get bad. But, then it will get better. It's never a consistent downhill spiral. No matter how bad you feel, you WILL bounce back.

BTW, pretty much all of these things I have learned from the ultra list. Of course, I've had to wade through some bad jokes.

The signal-to-noise ratio on the listserv is pretty darn low, but when something great does come through, it really makes it worth reading.


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com

knee update and winter race plans

The good news is that I think my knee will be ok for the NYC marathon, which is a week from Sunday, and then for Stone Cat 50M a week from that. The bad news is I'm not 100% sure.

* I haven't tried running on it yet
* I have not felt pain by walking on it since Monday night, including stairs
* I still feel pain when I touch it
* It feels "fragile" or "glassy", if that makes sense.

I have no idea what would have happened had I attempted to continue running on it at the 50K. My gut tells me the odds are 50/50 that it would have been fine or I would have made it worse. I would have been pulled from that race anyway, so it doesn't really matter.

After Stone Cat, the only thing on my calendar before Umstead is a 50K fatass in the new year. I am not sure what I'll do with the downtime. Tony and I are working on something fun for mid-november to early december but that's not set in stone. If I can get a killer airfare deal, I might head to las vegas for the marathon there to see some friends - that's also early december. I promised Rizzo that I'd go do Rocky Raccoon 100 if he'd man up and do the 50, but you should hear him cry on the phone. "I can't do that!"


"So certain are you. Always with you it cannot be done. Hear you nothing that I say?"

Those three things notwithstanding, I pretty much have nothing going on for this winter - and I'm kind of happy about that, because that frees me up to spend lots of quality time with Joe on the ski slopes, and focusing on dropping some weight for umstead..


New entries for Steve's blog are published every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 10:00am NY time and can be seen at http://www.tursi.com