I dive into my overall experience of the Big Chief 50K, and:
• My experience with COVID in training
• How I used live-time CGM data to make fueling decisions
• How the elevation impacted me and the ideal time to acclimate to elevation
• All the rookie mistakes I made this time around
• My overall experience from the Big Chief 50k!
Over my birthday weekend, I continued my annual tradition of celebrating my birthday running a race. This year, I ran the Quicksilver 50K to celebrate my 31st birthday. In my race recap, I write about the following:
• A conversation with the 100K overall winner, Ryan Ung, who also worked for Supersapiens and wears a continuous glucose monitor during races
• My insights running with the Supersapiens CGM app
• The 100K 1st place finishers glucose strategy for racing (i.e. his minimum baseline for glucose)
• Why most food supplied at races are junk (i.e. M&Ms, Cinnamon rolls, Snickers, Cookies, etc.), and what food sources I chose at the aid station (Sweet Potato, Banana, That’s It! Bar, Nuts, Seeds, etc.)
• Why I chose Spring Sports Nutrition Gels to power my race, in addition to HVMN ketone esters
• How a late-night game two nights prior impacted performance
• How long I plan to continue to running my age in years
• The camaraderie of running
Congrats to Jenn, Christine, and Jaymin for completing their 100K!
Each marathon that you run is an entirely different experience. I’m always experimenting and learning more about myself, my limits, and my body during races. I dive into my experience running the East Canyon Marathon, and a few other topics below in my blog post:
• How fueling both with UCAN gels and HVMN Ketone Esters helped me feel strong for the race
• Why training miles matter, and why they don’t
• Running in poor air: My decision to run wearing a KN95 mask
• PurpleAir vs AirNow and my AQI threshold for not running outside
• Why I carbo-loaded for this race
• The diminishing returns of fueling
• Muscle imbalances, possibly due to boxing
• The fluid nature of goal setting during marathons
The ideal cadence for running
I dive into my overall experience of the Big Chief 50K, and:
• Why athletes like Eliud Kipchoge are using glucose monitors to prepare for races
• The best time to fuel during your race (hint: it’s not pre-race as that and the onset of exercise causes a blood sugar crash immediately)
• How my glucose monitor impacted my fueling and race strategy
• Two startups (Levels Health and Supersapiens) and their differing philosophies for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels
• Why I stay away from most gels and how the steady glucose impact of UCAN gels helped my performance
• How the elevation impacted me and how I used my (surprising) heart-rate data to determine my pacing [cont.]
My fastest marathon didn’t coincide with the typical training story of having the most logged miles and vigorous training leading up to race day. Heading into the Mountains 2 Beach marathon, I had been averaging about 20 miles per week, but had sufficient cross training to feel comfortable with my aerobic capacity to be able to run the marathon. My marathon race strategy seemed a little unconventional – to pace myself for the first half according to the highest pace at which I could maintain nasal breathing.
Marlon Fernando a Strength and Conditioning Coach based out of Los Angeles who currently works with professional boxers out of Pullman’s Gym.
Hey everyone, I’ll be putting out a weekly series to highlight some of the trainers, boxers, runners, and other members of our community. This week’s feature is on none other than my mom! My mom is the founder and owner of Downtown Yoga Shala in San Jose, CA. She’s also one of the major influences in my life – we regularly like to geek out over health and wellness and share podcasts, books, training plans, etc.! In this interview, my mom and I discuss: -Our shared interest of podcasts, Mark Sisson, Zone Training, my status wearing a CGM (continuous glucose monitor), Self-Quantification -My mom’s… Read More »Community Spotlight: Veronica Cruz (Downtown Yoga Shala owner, and my mom!)