Antioxidants, and heading to the beach

I wanted to pass this along from Dean's Newsletter:

Did you know?
ORAC is a measurement of a food’s antioxidant capacity. Oranges have a score of 2,000, Red Apples 4,000, and Blueberries over 9,000. The so-called “Superfruits” (e.g., Acai, Goji, Mangosteen) can have values exceeding 20,000! .

ORAC is the "oxygen radical absorbency capacity," and berries, which are in season right now, have tons of it. Apples, just coming into season are very high too. In fact, if you ate mostly in-season fruits and veggies, you would certainly not be lacking in the ORAC category.


It's been a while since I posted, and it will be a bit longer because I am heading to Hilton Head Island, SC next week for a well needed family vacation. If you've never been to Hilton Head before, I highly recommend you check it out. It is the best beach I've ever seen for running. It's flat, about 100 yards wide, and after a nice rain, you can run for miles without seeing anyone.

My back injury is much better now, and in the last two weeks I've been able to return to some running. I've kept up my biking, so I have not lost too much fitness.

Run hard out there, and eat your superfruits.

Matt and Lily

Matt and Lily are over halfway back home now. They ducked into our place for a couple days to get out of the rain. We shared some good meals and lots of laughs over legos and Wii Bowling. I hope I don't have Matt hooked on video games now. Somehow I doubt it.

Continue to check out Matt's blog for updated photos from their journey. They left here with 14 days and about 530 miles under their belts. We loaded them down with leftover food and drink, and wished them well as they were once again on their way.

Two beautiful people, living the dream...

Out of commission, but here's some interesting reading

I hurt my back a couple weeks ago playing Ultimate with a bunch of 20 year old kids. After a week I was back to about 90%, but then I did too much too soon, and now I'm hurt again. It's keeping me from running, which I don't appreciate at all. I'm going to try to get in to see a doctor today to rule out anything more than muscle strain.

When I'm not running or working out I don't feel much like writing about running and working out. So here are some links to blog entries that have caught my eyes lately.

• Interval Training improves endurance, better than endurance exercise
• Tabata is mainstream now
• Better running through walking
• Eat like a Gorilla

Run hard out there...

Another Crossfit Endurance success story -- MMT 100!

Great job to Jen on a fine finish at MMT 100. Jen trains crossfit and is a very fine ultrarunner. Check out her blog to read her story.

Congrats Jen!

Good Luck to Matt and others on the BMT

Matt Kirk is doing what he does best... fastpacking. This time he is on the 288-mile Benton-MacKaye Trail. Learn more about the BMT and follow Matt's progress here.

Matt is a high school teacher. What would the world be like if every teacher spent a weekend out on the trail once in a while?

Run hard out there.

Neal

Clean Commute Day

Today is National Clean Commute Day, or something like that. Did you miss it? Oh well, there's always next week.

Run, bike, walk, crawl. Just do it.

Run hard out there.

Update: Ran to work today (Wednesday, 5/20). I drive a few miles in and park in a church parking lot. From there, I just pick my route depending on how I feel. This morning I hopped on the Murray Run Greenway for a soft mile or so, then through the Roanoke River Greenway in to downtown. 5.2 miles with a backpack on -- a great way to start the day.

Gymboss Interval Timer

I received one of these last week for my birthday. It is a cool, inexpensive (under $20) gadget for all types of interval training: Tabatas, track repeats, sprints, etc. It can even be used to remind you to take a nutrition or walk break during a long run. It chimes and/or vibrates, and is smaller than a small old-school pager. It also has a handy clip so you can fasten it to your shorts or watch band for hands-free running.

With just three buttons, it is easy to program after a very short learning curve. The first one I received in the mail was dead. I called their toll free helpline, and in two days I received a new fully functional timer with a postage paid return envelope for the broken one. They assured me that this was a rare occurence. Based on reviews I've read, quality control is not an issue.

For any runner who collects gadgets, and especially the runner who is in to speed training, track intervals, HIIT, Tabatas, etc., this timer belongs in your toy box.

I recently learned about a workout that kettlebell enthusiasts believe is the quickest way to improve VO2 Max. It is 30 seconds of high intensity KB swings followed by 30 seconds of rest. They repeat this for anywhere between 20 and 40 minutes. I personally believe this workout can be tailored to any exercise (hills, sprints, stairs, dumbell curl-presses, etc.). I plan to experiment with this some starting next week using my new Gymboss timer.


Run hard out there...