A Henry Ford Day...

"One of the greatest discoveries a man makes, one of his great surprises, is to find he can do what he was afraid he couldn't do"
-- Henry Ford

I swear when Ironman is over I am going to have a party and destroy a few things. First thing on the list, my ancient old alarm clock that goes off at 400 to 430am most days. Saturday for most means a good cup of coffee, a farmer's market visit, a leisurely breakfast or maybe setting up a tent on the beach for a nice day.

Saturdays for me means a long ride or a long run. Saturdays start early during these months because I really don't want to be out in 100 degree heat for the entire workout. Saturdays for me are a test to see where I stand. Where is my endurance?

Today's workout was to be 10 miles. For me, it ended up being 8. Now, that sounds like something went terribly wrong but I look at it as a learning experience.

I bonked.

I grabbed my fuel belt this morning and loaded it with 3 bottles of endurance drink, 1 water and two gels. I went for a two hour run but something must have been missing in me. I drank EVERYTHING. I did one of the two gels at mile 6 because I felt like there was just no gas in the tank. I RAN (and yes..you read that right) a full 6 miles with only stops at each mile mark to take in nutrition. No walking...anywhere during that 6 miles. I guess at this level of effort I need more than what I was taking in.

For a gastric bypass patient, running an endurance event is tricky. Since your stomach and intestines have been altered to absorb less calories, you really are never sure how many of the calories going into your face are actually making it to the rest of you. I know it sounds crazy, but in some cases, 20 to 30 percent of what I am taking in may never make it to the rest of my body. For the last 9 years, my nutrition has been an experiment...and the research continues.

The other issue is that my bypass is unique to the ones that are performed now. About 4 years ago, I had to have mine revised to remove some staples that were considered no longer appropriate for my body and to remove an apparatus that was part of the clinical trail that had a high failure rate. With all that done, I was actually left with two stomaches (don't call me a Cow..they have four..not two). There was so much damage from the faulty staples that they had to split my stomach in half.

So...we continue to play with the calorie numbers and pray we get it right. Today I realized that in this heat, I need more...but just like Henry Ford said ...we are just in the process of making new discoveries...

As always...ill keep you posted!