Wow, so much afoot, just been too busy to blog lately…So much to report!
On the Plant Strong front, I feel the movement has real wind in its sails and I am so proud to be a small part of it. The evidence is everywhere. Last week I had a very interesting conversation with the producers of the DR. OZ SHOW, a new network syndicated daytime talkshow brought to you by Oprah’s production company and hosted (obviously) by the well-known Dr. Mehmet Oz that will premiere September 14.
In any event, they are very interested in doing some storylines on plant-based nutrition and are wrapping their minds around how they might utilize me to help educate people about whole food plant based nutrition, athletics, disease prevention and long-term wellness. I really hope it works out — it would be very cool.
And just the other day I was flipping channels when I saw plant-strong Kathy Freston on the tabloid TV show “Extra” interviewing the filmmakers of the documentary FOOD, INC. as well as T. Colin Campbell and his son Thomas Campbell about their amazing book THE CHINA STUDY. This book is one of the leading sources of scientifically backed studies on nutrition, wellness and disease prevention that evidences (beyond a doubt) the advisability of a plant-based whole food diet. For the doubters and adoptees alike, this is a must read. But what was remarkable about this interview was that it was on “Extra” of all places — a show generally devoted to celebrity puff pieces. Buttressed by my plant strong brother Rip Esselstyn’s many appearances on shows like the TODAY SHOW and GOOD MORNING AMERICA to discuss his book THE ENGINE 2 DIET, everywhere I turn I see the word getting out to the masses. Translation? The Plant Strong movement is going mainstream — in a HUGE way. I couldn’t be happier.
Although I read the CHINA STUDY, I recently downloaded the audiobook version and have been listening to it. Campbell lays out his research results with such compelling scientific backing. In its most elementary terms, a diet based primarily (if not entirely) on plant based whole foods WILL control weight, lower cholesterol and blood pressure, fight the development / promotion of cancer, diabetes and countless other diseases, prevent and actually REVERSE heart disease, a condition that begins early in life and afflicts 40% of Americans. Don’t believe me? Still not convinced? Buy the book.
Enough ranting….
On the training front, I just finished my first “Race Simulation” weekend — performing 75% of the 3-day Ultraman distance this past Fri-Sun. I will do a few more of these as the November race date creeps closer, each simulation increasing in volume, culminating in doing 95% of the race distance about a month or so before the race. The weekend went well and I can honestly say I’m twice the athlete I was last year at this time.
Friday I started off with a 4 mile straight swim workout, which felt rather easy and smooth. With all the cycling and running focus, my body has leaned out considerably and I lack some of the strength and power I am used to on the swim. But my aerobic base is good and the distance isn’t a problem. But need to work a bit more on my upper body power.
Friday afternoon I headed out on a challenging 60 mile / 4 hour ride outside of Escondido, tackling Mt. Palomar with some hard threshold interval work. Its not often that I go really “hard” on the bike, but this was one of those days where I needed to lay it all out, reaching a max HR of 168 (I usually ride at an avg Z2 HR of 120-135). It was hard but the legs were great. A good confidence booster. Good power in the legs and finished very strong.
Saturday I spun out 140 miles on the bike over 8 hours in the Santa Monica Mountains, with an array of long rollers on PCH and backended with tons of climbing — Latigo, Mulholland and Stunt if you know the area — about 11,000 feet in elevation gain. Despite some fatigue in the legs from the Friday ride, I held up nicely and my energy was solid all the way to the end. Another good indication that my aerobic base is building nicely. I was pretty wiped, but after some good plant-strong recovery nutrition I bounced back and felt pretty darn good 2 hours after the ride. I wish I could say I rested for the rest of the day, but instead I went to a pool party with the kids and swam and played with them the rest of the day — lots of fun.
Then Sunday I headed out on a 35 mile run. For heat acclimation purposes I opted to do the run in the heat of the Valley (rather than the cool air on the PCH) through Agoura, the Chesebro trails and into Westlake Village — a mix of trails and pavement. I paid for it. It was super hot, up into the high 90’s for my last 10 miles and it slammed me. I started out on pretty heavy legs from the 2 days of hard riding, but I loosened up about an hour into the run and felt pretty darn good considering. At about 40 minutes into the run I did 90 minutes of technical trail running through the gorgeous Chesebro trails and then back on pavement. At the marathon mark I was 3:49 and feeling very solid and easy, hitting a decent pace and feeling like I could actually negative split the run. Then the heat hit me. Hard. I can only carry so much hydration on my fuel belt and I got behind in my nutrition. The last couple miles my calves and groin started to cramp up and I had to resort to the walk/run method, which seemed to come out of nowhere. Once you get behind on hydration, its very difficult to catch up. In retrospect, I believe I was just a bit too cavalier about this run — I should have taken the heat more seriously, planned my hydration better and brought along salt tablets (which I fogot). Good learning lesson and good experience in the heat which will prove valuable on the Kona Coast come November. My running fitness has never been better. I think that had I done this run on PCH in 70 degree whether I would have been able to power it home hard. Alas, that was not the case.
In any event I was totally depleted when I got home. I was cramping badly despite icing. I was sure to get alot of good plant strong recovery nutrients pronto — including alot of antioxidants. Amazingly, when I awoke this morning after a good night of sleep I felt quite good — and only slightly sore. I was amazed that I could as recovered as I did in comparison to how I felt the evening prior. All good indicators that I am progressing well….
Anyway, onward and upward. You would think I get a bit of a rest week this week but its not to be — 24 hours 30 minutes of training on tap!
