Getting Psyched for Baltimore, 2008

Steve Carton — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 05:48:12 GMT

It's been awhile since I've written. I'd like to say I've been hard at work training, but that just ain't so I went through a funk in July, coupled with a long vacation and some work travel that left little time for running. But October 11 and the Baltimore Running Festival is drawing closer and I definately needed to get going with the training. Thank goodness for the great base we've created in the last 18 months. I was able to jump back into the long runs at about the 16-mile point. Not fast, but in the DC summer heat, I slow down a lot anyway. But now I'm back on track and feeling great about it. This is an off week -- my mother in law passed away and my family is embroiled in the funeral so not much time for training, but that's okay -- I'll be back on it next week.

I decided to run Baltimore as a part of "Team Sadie" representing Sadie's Gift Charity (http://www.sadiesgift.org/) if they'll have me. So if this kind of charity interests you, please let me know how much you would like to donate and I'll hook you up. More on that later.

I've been trying some protein mix in my fuel for the long runs and this seems to work well for me. Or, at least I don't feel bad or anything. Hard to tell if it is actually doing anything, but as the runs get longer, the protein may pay off. We'll see. At least I'm not smelling amonia anymore.

Ammonia Smelling Sweat

Steve Carton — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:37:40 GMT

Sometimes when I run a long training run (upwards of 12 miles or

so) at the end, I feel like I can "taste" or "smell" ammonia. I've

always assumed that this is caused by my body depleting all my glycogen

stores and going into ketosis. I've never tested my pee with a

keto-stick, though I do have some, left over from an Atkins stint

several years ago.

Last week I ran a 16 miler in San Francisco San Francisco Long Run (Wow)

and then wrapped my clothes up in a hotel plastic bag and packed them

for the trip home. The next morning, back at home (Annapolis), when I

opened the bag, the running clothes reeked of ammonia. First time I've

ever noticed that. I didn't eat anything prior to that run and had two

gels during it (breakfast of champions). So the question is, am I going

into ketosis? And, more importantly, is that a bad thing. I think

I am and that it's bad because it indicates consumption of muscle

tissue to supply energy. But I'm no physiologist or nutritionist. So I

may be dead wrong.

Thoughts?

Blog Posts From Turtle Training Tagged With ammonia_smell

Getting Psyched for Baltimore, 2008

Ammonia Smelling Sweat