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Mission: Catch Cheetara I happen to have come of age to start noticing girls at exactly the time that Thundercats was a big deal, and so this fast and strong gal was probably my first (non-human) crush. She can hit thirty seconds to the mile, but only for a little while, so I have a chance if I can go the distance. I am signing up for the Scenic City Trail Half Marathon on 26 April 2014. I have been following a very conservative race training plan based on this one (warning PDF file). It started very low-mileage for me, but I am choosing slow-but-steady this time because I have developed chronic-use injuries while training for races in the past. 1. I will run following the training plan 3x/week and take care of my body. Small deviations outside of my control will be tolerated. I will do self-care with stretching and rolling as necessary. 2. I will do resistance training 3x/week. My current plan is a warm-up and then at least three circuit sets: a. Warm up i. Windmills ii. Neck rolls iii. Burpees b. Bodyweight Squats -- getting better form before I load weight again c. Pushups progression. Current plan: i. Diamond (can already do 3x15 with good form) ii. One arm extended, holding dumbbell (trying to get good form) iii. One arm extended, hand up on a bench (possible next step) d. Chin ups and variations e. One arm dumbbell snatch (or snatch and press) f. Single-leg BW glute bridges or split stance dumbbell deadlift 3. I will eat to the plan: six days regular, no more than one day for treats, all mostly following the "paleo" principles in Lean Ape Living. I will count impulsive eating in servings per day to avoid binging on failure. Treat day will be pre-planned to fall on a heavy exercise day, preferably one with a long run and resistance training. Treat day will not be an excuse to go crazy once per week. Six days per week I will: a. Avoid added sugar, corn syrup, grains (corn, wheat, rice), potatoes, liquid calories, and snacks. Minimize if not eliminate. b. Moderate dairy (some cheese, some yogurt), moderate fruit (dried and fresh). c. Maximize whole vegetables (like spinach, broccoli, bell peppers, carrots, onions, green beans, peas).

Over the weekend I read a free Kindle sample from a book called "Lean Ape Living" (links to the book on Amazon.com and their website). I personally think the book's name is unfortunate, but I liked the sample and am thinking about getting the whole book. They claim their system to be something more than the standard paleo/primal/low-carb that has been discussed increasingly over the past five years, including (maybe especially) on nerdfitness.com. Their diet prescription (again, not the whole thing, just from the free sample) seems to me pretty standard paleo/primal fare. It boils down to: Avoid: 1: Added sugar 2. Added fructose 3. Snacks (just eat regular meals, and maybe try out the "intermittent fasting" trick of skipping breakfast) 4. Grains (rice, wheat, corn) 5. Potatoes Eat high protein, moderate fat, low carbohydrate (this flows naturally from "avoid" list above I think). Protein from eggs, fresh meat, poultry, fish. Fat from natural fruit oils, nut oils, animal fat (including butter). Carbs from vegetables, salad. Moderate amount of peas, beans, lentils. Moderate sweet fruit. Moderate dairy (little/no milk, cheese, cream). Don't drink your calories. "Cheat day" once per week of higher carbs, preferably same day as a heavy workout. Eat complex carbs within an hour after workout for maximum benefit to muscles. (End summary of sample chapter) The initial sample was good, easy to read and clearly written, but not a lot was new to me specifically. Still, if I just lived the "avoid" list I would be better off than I am right now. There is a section of the book that talks about doing 2-3 workouts per week, and goes over in detail the exercises, but that was not in the sample.