Why do i take Glutamine...?

In my post a few weeks ago, "My Supplement Grocery List", i told you guys that i was taking 2-3 tsp of Glutamine a day. Here's why:

Protein builds your body, and amino acids build protein. Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in your body. If you combined all the other amino acids in your bloodstream, glutamine would still be triple the amount. And considering how important amino acids are, that's really a big deal.

Benefits of Glutamine:

Helps build protein within your muscles
Helps prevent muscles from breaking down
Helps restore glycogen levels which increases performance
Helps boost your muscle recovery time
Helps to improve digestion/intestinal health
Help to reduce risk of upper respiratory tract infections from training and racing

The TOP benefit for ENDURANCE ATHLETES is RECOVERY!!!

L-glutamine plays a crucial role in strengthening your immune system. Your immune system is your body armor, your bullet proof vest. It keeps you healthy by defending against illness. This makes it a powerful supplement for everyone, not just athletes. When people get very sick, their glutamine levels become depleted. Numerous studies have shown that supplementing glutamine while recovering from various illnesses and surgeries actually speeds the process up. For a lot of people, overtraining is very common. When we try and follow the regimes that top athletes and bodybuilders do, we tend to overtrain.

People who don't really study and read about supplements, don't know the value and benefits of this supplement. It's not flashy or heavily marketed. It stays under the radar, but it certainly get its job done.

95K Weekend

I'm starting to feel like an Ultramarathon Runner. This weekend the mileage was up there but i felt like i could of went for a lot more. I felt so strong trough my runs on Saturday and Sunday and had a tough time to hold myself back to respect the running pace i've set myself to make sure that i don't over train.

Saturday: Wow -18 with the windchill OUTCH cause i knew i was going to be out there for a good 5-6hours. Dressed warm i attacked the Chelsea Roads at 1030am. I decided to take a route towards Wakefield. It was beautiful, along the Gatineau River i pass trough Cascade, Vorlage and finally pass that amazing little village Wakefield. I did 55k total, in 5h05min, with a 5m32sec/km average pace. I decided to push it a bit more in the last 15k. My 10k in between the 40-50k took me 52min and my last 5k i ran it in just a bit more then 22min.

Sunday: Again another cold one -16 but the sun was out again. Again i did my run in Chelsea. Since i can't get on trails right now for my long runs i try to found routes that as a lot of hills. Sunday i felt pretty good a bit stiff at the beginning but the energy was there. I did a total of 40k, in 3h30min, with a 5m17s/km average pace. I had a little bit of soreness in my shins after my run but nothing to severe. So i decided to celebrate my two runs and weekend with a threat at The Chelsea Pub with there famous burger and poutine and a awesome pint of Guiness with my friend Erin.  YUMMY! 

Jim & The Nice Lady - To Inspire

“The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company... a church... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past... we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you... we are in charge of our Attitudes.” Charles R. Swindoll

Today when i was doing my hills repeat i came across a men in is 50s. Doing the same hill we came across each other 4 to 5 times. By runners respect, we gave each other a "thumbs up" or a "keep going wave" every time we crossed each other. After a while he decided to stop me. He said to me he couldn't believe how fast and focus i looked every time he came across me. He told me "You really inspired me" trough my hills repeats. He asked me if i was training for the Boston Marathon coming this April. I replied, no i am currently training for a 100 miles Trail Race coming in May. He couldn't believe it. Jim was training for the upcoming Boston Marathon. We wished ourselves good luck and both kept going with our training.

I also met an Nice Lady in her high 60s today, in my apartment elevator. She said to me: "omg you are so in shape". I was just in Pj's and sandals lol. She's said, I see you run all the time when i take my walk. It seems so easy for you and you seem to enjoy it so much i can tell. I replied, I do enjoy it a lot, and it makes me feel good every time i run. So the nice lady left by telling me, I admire you and you inspired me. Just seeing you going out there rain or shine, you seemed to enjoy every step of your run. Now i walk every day and i love it. Thank You!

“You don't have to be a "person of influence" to be influential. In fact, the most influential people in my life are probably not even aware of the things they've taught me.” - Unknown

Everyday we live, we influence someone in a way. Sometime in a bad or a good way. Sometime we do know, but a lot of time we don't even know we did. Your attitude plays a big role. Its your decision each and every day if you want to influence peoples life around you in a positive or negative way. Its a choice and i believe that every one in the world have the potential to influence someone life in a positive way.

Back in The Game

Monday's 90 min Yin Yoga just got the job done to loosen up my hips and legs. I felt 100x better right after class. Tuesday i decided to listen to my body and took it easy on training i only did a 5k test run (20min30sec) at a fairly fast pace to test my left hip that was bugging me. Everything went really good so i couldn't wait for my run on Wednesday.

Wednesday i did a fast 20k run in 1h24m45s with an average pace of 414min/km. I did a 3k warm-up @ 445min/km pace + 5k in 18m30s + 2k recovery @ 5min/km + 5km in 19m30s to finally finish with a 5k cool down @ 435min/km.

Today i felt really string compare to yesterday. Yesterday i felt like stopping a lot of times. I had to really fight with myself mentally to push me to keep on running. Today i could of went for a lot more, i had to hold my self back to prevent my self from over training. I did a total of 15k in 1h09m50s with a 439min/km average pace. I love Hill Runs. My 15k Hill Run was divided by a 2.5k Warm-up + 10 Hills repeat (550m Up / 550m Down) and a 2.5k cool down.

Tomorrow on my training menu ill do what i missed on Tuesday. A Heavy 1H Strength Workout and a 6k Run. 

Weekend Training 50k RUN

Saturday: i was at my parents this weekend so i decided to stay there and do my 50k run. Weather was just amazing, windy at some point but nothing to intense. I took mostly the back roads so it was all dirt and rocks roads. The overall course was fairly flat too. I did a big 50k loop. Starting at my parents in Clarence Creek pass into Bourget, Cheney, Bearbrook up towards Cumberland did not make it to the village just turn a bit before to come back to the starting point. Im starting to know body a bit more during those long runs. I decided to take it 10k at a time. Every 10k i walked for 500m to be able to eat and drink. Mentally and physically it was a lot easier i was always looking forward to that little break and to eat those delicious protein bars. It took me a bit less then 5 hours.

Sunday: i woke up with a bit a pain in my left hip today WEIRD! Anyways i decided to give it a try. I pick up my friend Erin, she is training for The Ottawa Marathon in May. So we decided to go to Old Chelsea for our run. I was suppose to run 35k today but due to my hip i had to cut it short to 25k. Its always fun to have a running partner for those long runs Erin did awesome it took us 2h15 it was a very enjoyable race. We decided to stop at The Chelsea Pub after our run for a nice cold pint of beer and there famous burger. It was well deserved after burning all those calories this weekend.

To be honest i am a bit disappointed that i could'nt finish my entire run on Sunday. But overall i had a very strong week. I have not felt that good in months. I still have my hip bugging me today. I'm going to Rama Lotus Yoga this evening for a 90min Yin class. This should do the trick to loosen up my hips, lower back, legs and shoulders and get ready for another INTENSE week of training.   

Training - Half Marathon & Hills

Wednesday: yesterday i ran 25k total. My weeks days are all fast run to help me to maintain my speed. I went along the canal from my place in Hull to just past Mooney's Bay and came back. I had a 21k fast (distance of a halfmarathon). I kept a 415min/pace, it took me 1h29min and did a 4k cooldown @ a 500min/km pace. I felt really strong again. I think my nutrition and supplements are helping a lot for my energy level.

Thursday: today i have some hills repeat to do in a 15k run and a 1h fullbody plyometric workout.

Mondays and Fridays are my day off of the running. If time permits ill write on supplements and nutrtion. What do i put in my system during the day to have the energy to be able to do that much training volume day after day. The Diet is CRAZY. Stay tune :) 

Training!

MONDAY: yesterday my hamstrings were killing me from all the mileage i did in Chelsea this weekend. I took time in the morning to do a 40min session of foam rolling and stretching. I also did 1h of Hot Yoga in the evening with Rebeca @ The Tony Greco School on Beech St. It felt awesome! I never run on monday's its my day to recover.
_______________________________________

TUESDAY: woke up today and magically my legs felt amazing and outside is just AMAZING!!! I did a 1h Heavy Strength Workout in the morning. Here was my strength training:

1- Dumbbell Chest Press: 75lbs DB
2- Barbell Front Deep Squat : 135lbs
3- One Arm Dumbbell Rows: 75lbs DB
4- Barbell Standing Shoulder Press: 100lbs

I did 8 reps of each exercises 30sec between each exercises with a 2min break at the end of the 4th exercise. I did that sequence 5x.

In the afternoon i had a 12k Tempo Run. I did 1k warm-up @ 445min/km then 10k Fast in 38:20min @ 3:50min/km pace and a 1k cooldown @ 445. I felt awesome and strong today. I really think all the stretching from yesterday help me so much for today.

My Supplements Grocery List

Since my training volume as increase a lot in the past few weeks i felt like i needed help from a couple of supplements to be able to maintain energy trough my long weekends run and recover as quickly as possible after each training. So today i went to Popeyes on Bank street and bought more then 300$ worth of supplements.

 Here was my shopping list:

 1- Iso 93 Whey Protein (6.6lbs): i take 2-3 shake a day. Always one first thing in the morning, a bit before my run and after, and before bed.
2- VegeGreens: i take 1 scoop a day with my morning shake.
3- BCAAs Aminocore: i take 1 or 2 scoop before and during run depending on duration.
4- Eload Endurance Formula: i take1 or 2 scoop during run depending on duration.
5- Tri-Glutamine Complex: i take 1 to 3 serving a day, after workout and before bed.
6- Multivatims Active Men: i take 2 per day, with breakfast and dinner
7- Vitamin D: i take 1 per day with breakfast
8- Nutra Sea Omega 3: 2 tsp per day, with breakfast and dinner

Here it is! In the next days and week ill will explain why do i take those specific supplements.

















 

MY FIRST ULTRAMARATHON! 100 MILES

Only 8 weeks till my first Ultramathon race. The 7th of May @ 6am ill be running in The McNaughton Park Trail Race in Vermont. The race is a 10 mile loop with a 2400 vertical that i will repeat 10x. Total of 100mile with a 24 000 vertical in some tough dirt, forest and river trails. I'm getting pretty excited. The training is getting more and more intense. This week it went ok. I twist my ankle pretty bad on Wednesday so i had to cut my run short and skip my Thursday run. It didn't stop me this weekend tho. Saturday i ran a solid 45k and Sunday 40k both in the Hilly Chelsea roads @ a 530-540min/km pace. Ran a total of 85k this weekend. U know your training for something crazy when u ran 2 full Marathons in a weekend just for training lol This week the mileage keeps on going up. CANT WAIT!