As it develops

The running has been the best ever.  Literally.  I am running faster, recovering better and I have a few suspects as to why that is.

First I have not ingested animal products for two months.  I think that helps with my stamina and overall health. Second, I'm fueling much more consistently during my run.  I lose A LOT of salt and margarita shot bloks along with electrolyte drinks seem to help there.

Third, I make sure to s-t-r-e-t-c-h after each and every run, short or long, doesn't matter.  My legs get so tight if I don't, makes running painful and awful.
Number 4 - I really concentrate on my form when running.  I strike mid-foot, using my entire leg and ball of my foot to push off.  I try to keep the top half of my body from moving and jostling around and let my legs do the work.  I keep my hands hung low and loose.  Oh, and I look ahead down the road and pick some object to stare at as a marker, instead of looking at the ground.

All this and I'm still 33% body fat?  THAT, I cannot figure out but I'm on a mission to change it.  18 months ago I was running 20 miles a week and was at 26% body fat which I thought was still too high for endurance running.  Today, I am having great difficulty shedding this extra fat and I'm running 40 miles a week.  I do not eat processed or refined foods.  I can tell you that I do eat a lot of nuts.  And chocolate.  My diet is plant based - some refer to it as vegan but to me, it's more than that, since I don't eat processed or refined foods.  I prepare most if not all of my foods from scratch.  That's not to say I wouldn't buy pre-made vegan foods, it's just that they are hard to come by at my local grocery stores.  I'll have to check out the new whole foods in aliso viejo but still, that's a 20 minute drive.  We have something called farm to market.  I know they have a deli but I have not had time to check it out.  They are super expensive and when I say that, I say it wishing that Mother's would open a market down here.  I would shop exclusively at Mother's Market if there was one closer than the Laguna Hills Mall.

After typing that paragraph, I hopped on my scale and see that my muscle mass is up (98lbs) and my body fat is down. (32%)  That is some good news!  Let's keep trackin'  Today, I am running 10 miles.  I'm trying to keep up with a fellow runner in LA, Greg, who wants to run 50 miles this week.

One last note before I begin my day.... my decision to not eat animal products has less to do with animal cruelty and more to do with disease prevention.  I believe that saturated fat (found only in animal products, with the exception of coconut oil) will increase my risk of disease.  I believe the studies done in regions that do not eat animal products, have low or NO heart disease, cancer or diabetes.  Populations that do not consume dairy products do not have osteoperosis.  I just find that all fascinating.