Ripping off the headline and everything—but here's five choices that are relatively painless ways to improve the percentage of organics in your diet. Straight from the article in the New York Times (which is based on the work of Dr. Alan Greene and his book Raising Baby Green)"

1. Milk: “When you choose a glass of conventional milk, you are buying into a whole chemical system of agriculture,'’ says Dr. Greene. People who switch to organic milk typically do so because they are concerned about the antibiotics, artificial hormones and pesticides used in the commercial dairy industry.
2. Potatoes: Potatoes are a staple of the American diet — one survey found they account for 30 percent of our overall vegetable consumption. A simple switch to organic potatoes has the potential to have a big impact because commercially-farmed potatoes are some of the most pesticide-contaminated vegetables.
3. Peanut butter: More acres are devoted to growing peanuts than any other fruits, vegetable or nut, according to the U.S.D.A.
4. Ketchup: For some families, ketchup accounts for a large part of the household vegetable intake.
5. Apples: Apples are the second most commonly eaten fresh fruit, after bananas, and they are also used in the second most popular juice, after oranges, according to Dr. Greene. But apples are also one of the most pesticide-contaminated fruits and vegetables.

I'd been waiting for bottled Accelerade last year during my training and kept hearing it would be available soon. It's now been out for several months and I picked up a couple bottles today at my local supermarket. I'm not running far enough to justify it but I figured having it ready when I needed it would be a good idea. At $2 per bottle it's not cheap but it tastes much better than the powder mix version.

A handy comparison chart here.

What's good for major league baseball is good for the dairy industry:

Starbucks moving to hormone-free milk

Demand rising for milk made without additive

You've got to love Starbucks—they offer all their employees health insurance, they're cutting trans fats from their pastries and muffins (sure, the NYC alone forces them to do this but you don't see McDonald's announcing this), and now their switching to milk from cows not treated with rBGH.

Not a bad stock, either. Right in front of your nose.

Training for November 5 continues to go well. I'm a bit behind on the long run, with my longest run currently at 15 miles but I have 18 scheduled for this Sunday with the Fleet Feet group here in San Antonio. My weekly mileage is good, however—30+ miles which is a on the high side for me.

. . .

So I was planning to gush about Endurox, the recovery drink made folks who make Accelerade but the Endurox web site isn't responding. I had a jar of Endurox in the pantry for quite some time, a friend gave it to me when he was moving to Australia. It then sat in the trunk of my car for a couple of weeks before I remembered it and got it out of the heat. I didn't know what to expect but the taste left a lot to be desired—the orange flavor had a sour aftertaste, like it was really, really, old.

Well, I guess it was. I bought a new jar recently and I have to say, the stuff is pretty good. I prepare it as a frozen drink, 4 ounces of water, 10 ice cubes, 2 scoops of orange Endurox and a minute or two in the blender. After a long run the ice cold concoction tastes really good and maybe it's the placebo effect but I seem to bounce back pretty well after a long run if I use the Endurox.

Things are good with the running, for the moment, so I'm trying to enjoy it. Ran fourteen miles this morning and it went very well, despite the heat and humidity (77° with humidity somewhere north of 70%). It's remarkable that my run of twelve miles just two weeks ago could go so badly and this one go so well. Averaged 8:59/mile which I'm happy with given the heat.

I prepped for this run a little more seriously, trying to stay well hydrated at work on Friday as well as making sure I had plenty of carbs throughout the day. Plus, I went to bed early Friday night (and managed to sleep!) so I was able to rise at 4:15 and have plenty of time to have breakfast and prepare for the run. My right foot had been bothering me on Friday and it was a bit sore this morning but I decided to take my chances and run on it. It held up well during the run and it's okay for the moment (but I'm wearing supportive shoes all the time—a must, even in the house, when you're dealing with plantar fasciitis).

I also hit the Accelerade a bit earlier in this run to keep my energy level up and to compensate for the warm morning. This lasted until mile ten when I then switched to Gatorade Endurance Formula. This is what they'll be handing out in New York so I figured I better get used to it. I've tried it before and the extra sodium in the Endurance Formula (twice the sodium as in the regular version) gave me abdominal cramps. I decided to try it this time towards the end of my run, just in case. I've got to hand it to Gatorade, the taste is good and after ten miles of Accelerade it tasted really good. I was pretty thirsty by this time in the run and had to be careful not to drink too much because of the cramping issues. But, at 12.5 miles I could feel the stuff moving into my gut and within a few minutes I was pretty uncomfortable. With some mental concentration I was able to get through it but I had a moment or two of panic knowing I was two miles from home with no restroom in sight.

After the run I soaked both feet in ice water to keep the plantar fascia happy and sucked down a serving of Endurox. I've grown to like the taste when I mix two scoops with just 4 ounces water and ten ice cubes—makes a tasty slushy. Felt fine the rest of the day, a little tired but not nearly the way I felt after the twelve mile disaster.

The yin and yang of my running continues . . .

Some Lemon Lime Accelerade showed up at my door a few weeks ago and I tried it out this weekend. I've always used the orange flavor so this was a nice break. The taste is good, more lemon meringue than lemon lime. Because Accelerade contains protein it's going to be a bit thicker than other sport drinks like Gatorade and it tastes best we it's very cold (what drink doesn't?). This isn't always an option when it's being carried in the small of my back but I try to stick the by bottles in the freezer for thirty minutes or so before a run.

. . .

Here's an article on marathon preparation and strategy in the New York Times. The idea of distributing your calories throughout the day is an area where I could do better. I'm often starving late in the afternoon which means I overindulge at dinner. A couple of energy bars throughout the day sounds like a good plan but I've about had my fill of Clif Bars and most of the other bars on the market are loaded with ingredients I don't recognize.

Kellog's Pop Tarts make a yummy pre-run snack but I always feel a bit guilty feeding my body these things with all the junk in them. Well, my guilt-ridden days are over (with regard to Pop Tarts, anyway) because I've found Nature's Path Toaster Pastries.

Compare the ingredients in Toaster Pastries . . .

Organic wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic powdered evaporated cane juice, organic palm oil, organic apples, organic whole wheat flour, organic corn starch, organic vital wheat gluten, organic dextrose, organic blueberries, organic rice starch, organic blueberry flavor, sea salt, leavenings (baking soda, cream of tartar), rice bran extract, organic honey, organic molasses, citric acid, algin, sodium citrate, monocalcium phosphate, whey protein isolate, natural food color (vegetable juice extract), organic vanilla flavor, organic butter flavor.

. . . with those in Kellog's Pop Tarts . . . (emphasis added)

Enriched wheat flour (wheat flour, niacinamide, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate [vitamin B1], riboflavin [vitamin B2], folic acid), corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, vegetable oil (canola, cottonseed, palm, palm kernel, soybean, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, TBHQ for freshness), sugar, cracker meal, contains two percent or less of wheat starch, salt, dried blueberries, dried apples, dried grapes, cornstarch, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), modified wheat starch, citric acid, milled corn, gelatin, natural and artificial flavor, soy lecithin, modified corn starch, xanthan gum, caramel color, red #40, calcium phosphate, niacinamide, reduced iron, color added, blue #1, blue #2, vitamin A palmitate, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), folic acid, turmeric color. 

So enjoy and leave the guilt behind.

I was reading an article on MSNBC when the web ad below for 7UP caught me eye:

Wow! Is 7UP bucking the trend, switching to sugar in place of high-fructose corn syrup? 7UP has always been the also-ran, the Schick of the lemony carbonated beverage world. But this could actually work, I thought. With the popular press obsessing about the "obesity epidemic" and the theory du jour about its cause (including America's food being loaded with corn syrup), maybe 7UP has a real angle here. Whole Foods isn't carrying carbonated beverages sweetened with corn syrup (because of the GMO issue) and perhaps this "healthy" angle would make 7UP the crossover drink for the healthy crowd. Sure, the shelf space that Whole Foods delivers would be tiny in comparison to some of their other outlets, but when's the last time anyone actually ordered a 7UP?

But my cynicism wins out again. After hunting around for the new "100% Natural" ingredients, this is what I find: filtered carbonated water, high fructose corn syrup, natural citric acid, natural flavors, natural potassium citrate. I guess those smarties in Plano think if you use the word natural enough times it makes it so (3-Mile Island is now 100% Natural: natural uranium-235, natural plutonium, natural deuterium!). Yep, corn grows out of the ground, that's about where the natural part ends for corn-based sweeteners.

So, too bad. Just more of the same in a slightly different package.

Yet another health article from those peace-loving, Birkenstock-wearing crazies at the Wall Street Journal. This one about the high levels of mercury in canned tuna. When Wifey was pregnant we cut way back on tuna but even then you have to be careful. And here I thought we were buying the best when choosing solid white albacore.

With all the stories about thimerosol (approximately 50% mercury) and autism [which I think is hooey], you'd think mercury in tuna would be getting more coverage. Once again, the ever vigilant FDA is late to the game.

If you're concerned about mercury levels in seafood, check out this handy calculator.

Today's Wall Street Journal (link requires a subscription so I'll save you the aggravation) reviews wrist-top exercise computers (as they call them) and the Polar S625X comes out on top:

Polar's $370 S625X displayed the specific data we wanted to see on a single screen (no toggling), was the only watch in our test with a heart monitor that worked flawlessly underwater, and was the most comfortable of the bunch. "There were times I couldn't even tell I had the heart-rate transmitter on," said one of our testers. It's our Best Overall.

I'm happy to see Polar recognized for their good work, I've been very happy with all three of my Polar watches. Other models tested were the Timex Bodylink 5E671, Garmin Forerunner 301, Fitsense FS-1 Speedometer, and the Nike Triax Elite HRM/SDM.

. . .

I've blogged before that my drink of choice when running is Accelerade. My ultra-marathoner friend John told me about it a few years ago and it's worked well for me. Their shtick is that Accelerade contains carbohydrates plus protein in a 4:1 ratio and they claim that this extends endurance and improves recovery time. If you research the merits of protein in hydration drinks (as opposed to just carbohydrates) you'll see a lot of opinions on whether it really works. I can't say if it's helped me over Gatorade or Cytomax because I never used those in any serious manner—I started using it when I got serious about running and before I found anything else.

Anyway, Runner's World has an article on the debate and it's worth a read if you're wondering why there is a debate—why can't this easily be proved or disproved? Seems like a study on this would be a no-brainer to resolve but it's trickier than I thought.

. . .

I was excited to go to Chicago this week. I always hear great things about the city and wanted to experience it for myself. Wifey and I were there several years ago for a weekend but my perspective on things has changed since then (read I have two kids now). My employer has two offices in the Chicago area, downtown and Downer's Grove and I was going to Downer's Grove, west of the city.

Nothing against Downer's Grove, but as I drove from my hotel to the office I really couldn't tell what city I was near—Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Minneapolis, Phoenix? The problem with these suburban office/residential areas is that they have the individuality of a slice of Wonder Bread (I'm borrowing that phrase from someone). There were all the usual chain establishments—Bed, Bath & Beyond, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Best Buy, Panera Bread, etc. Every suburban area across the country looks the same these days and it's kind of depressing. Sure, that's what I get for being in the 'burbs but I can't help it, that's where the office is. And being in these areas means that you've got almost no chance of trying something different when it comes to restaurants. Yes, there's something to be said for consistency and a familiar brand but traveling on business to some of these cities is really anticlimatic—it looks just like the place you left.

In Chicago for work and am neglecting everything. But this article in today's New York Times is worth posting. Here's the net: donuts are bad for you. But it's the opening paragraph that made me chuckle:

No matter which route Reginald Burns takes when he drives to work each morning in Houston, he knows every doughnut shop along the way. Almost every day, he stops for a fix: a Diet Coke and six doughnuts - any kind as long as they have just emerged from the fryer.

Well, I guess the Diet Coke makes up for it. Seriously, who doesn't like a donut, but six a day washed down with a Diet Coke sweetened with a chemical produced by (who else) Monsanto?

The Associated Press reports that California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger wants to ban the sale of junk food at public schools. But a careful reading of the article indicates that they're talking about vending machines and replacing candy bars and soda with fruit and milk. A good start, but how about pulling the junk food out of the cafeteria as well? I'm talking about the Ding Dongs, Little Debbie Swill Rolls, Moon Pies, and Cheeze Doodles.

If for no other reason, see Super Size Me so you can see the junk that's peddled to students in public school cafeterias. No, I'm not talking about the rubbery Salisbury steaks or lumpy mashed potatoes, it's the "snack" foods loaded with highly-processed sugar and sodium (high-fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated oils are a safe bet, too) that the kids eat in lieu of the traditional hot lunch. Why is this? What is the argument against offering strictly healthy foods (i.e., main entrée item with choice of vegetables, sandwiches on whole grain breads, fruit for dessert, etc.). Sure, the kids will bitch—but let them. If they want to eat junk they can bring it from home where the parents are then somewhat culpable. As the parent of a 3-year old, you hear all the time, "If they don't want to eat what you're offering them don't worry about it, they won't starve." Why not using this approach on teenagers where they have an "out" by packing their own junk?

My high school cafeteria offered more junk items than the ones I frequented in college. My college cafeteria had desserts, sodas, french fries and all the rest but none of the packaged junk food. Do we really expect a horny 17-year old to sit still in chemistry class after gobbling two Dolly Madison Zingers and washing it down with a Dr Pepper? Then why be complicit by selling it at school? I understand the issue of vending machines, exclusive contracts, and revenues to the district but I'm talking about the cafeterias themselves. The vending machines can go but unless we get the junk out of the cafeteria you won't be changing much.

Am I the only one sick of the Super Bowl? The hype seems worse then ever and it ain't even in Houston this year.

Speaking of sports, why do we get so concerned in the U.S. about major league baseball players using steroids or other performance enhancing drugs? Is it the that we're worried about their health, that it's unfair to those who don't use them, sends a bad message to kids, what? And if it's bad to improve one's performance with hormones, then why do we feed them to cows to increase milk production?

I'm talking about our friends at Monsanto and their drug Posilac (mmm, sounds natural, huh?), the trade name for rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone). Monsanto prefers the term Bovine somatotropin (I guess a product with the word hormone in it isn't too appealing unless you're Jason Giambi). Giving rBGH to dairy cows increases milk production which allows dairy producers to make more money and that's what it's all about, right? Overlook the fact that the U.S. government spends billions of taxpayer dollars on price support programs if milk prices fall below a certain level.

But I digress, the real issue is whether it's safe for the cows and dairy consumers. Canada and most European countries don't think so and don't allow rBGH to be fed to dairy cows to increase production. And it's quite controversial here in the U.S. Among rBGH critics, the Center for Food Safety states:

In cows treated with rBGH, significant health problems often develop, including a 50 percent increase in the risk of lameness (leg and hoof problems), over a 25 percent increase in the frequency of udder infections (mastitis), and serious animal reproductive problems, i.e., infertility, cystic ovaries, fetal loss and birth defects.

Because rBGH use results in more cases of mastitis, dairy farmers tend to use more antibiotics to combat the infections, the residues of which also may end up in milk and dairy products. These residues can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals and contribute to the growth of antibiotic resistant bacteria, further undermining the efficacy of some antibiotics in fighting human infections.

Supporters of rBGH claim that you can't distinguish between milk from a hormone supplemented cow and a non-supplemented one. While this may be true (there's actually quite a bit of evidence that it isn't) I'll take my milk from the non-supplemented cow, thank you. Notice I didn't say hormone-free, otherwise Monsanto might sue me. They're going after dairy producers who go out of there way to advertise hormone-free milk on the basis that all milk has hormones in it. So I guess the term might be "No Hormonal Supplementation". Just like our baseball players.

Some companies that pledge not to use milk from rBGH-enhanced cows:

• Ben and Jerry's
• Organic Valley
• Horizon Organic
• Stonyfield Farm

From the Organic Consumers Association:

A QUICK LOOK AT HOW SOME COUNTRIES ADVERTISE FOOD TO KIDS

• Ireland: All television commercials for fast food and candy are banned.
• Sweden/Norway/Austria/Luxembourg: All television advertising to children is banned.
• Belgium/France/Portugal/Vietnam: All marketing is banned in schools.
• United States: Spending more per child than any other nation in the world, the U.S. plugs $15 billion per year into marketing food to kids, which is more than what it would cost to provide health insurance for all uninsured children.
  
  Sources: New York Times 1/12/2005, Children's Defense Fund 5/14/2003 press release, USgovinfo SCHIP Program

On my way to the gym yesterday I swung by GNC to pick up Accelerade powder. Why is it that GNC stores give me the creeps? They're always these narrow stores in a strip shopping center with no one in them except the teenager at the cash register. The only thing I buy there is Accelerade so I'm there maybe 5 times a year but I never see any other customers. The one I frequent is so pathetic that the one phone line to the store is also used by the credit card terminal so if it's verifying a transaction the line is busy to incoming calls (I've asked about it).

Accelerade is the sports hydration drink that contains protein (they've somehow managed to patent a 4:1 carbs to protein ratio) which they claim increases endurance and aids in recovery. This company also makes Endurox, the recovery drink. My ultra-marathoner friend turned me on to Accelerade (who has since switched to Hammer products) and I've been drinking it during my runs for about two years. I like the orange flavor better than their lime. One of the few perks about visiting the GNC store is that they carry (chilled, too!) the Accelerade ready-to-drink bottles. These always taste better than when I mix it at home (though they don't have a bottled orange).

We're big on breakfast around here and if you've got little kids you know it's probably the easiest meal of the day. If you can find it, try Farina Hot Wheat Cereal.

It's very similar to Cream of Wheat except it doesn't have wheat germ, it's just the wheat farina. Cooking it is a cinch, heat skim milk (or water but I go with the milk for the protein) to a boil and then add the farina. Cook for just a minute more and you're done. The secret is not over-cooking it, remove it from the heat while it's still soupy and it will firm up as you serve. With a big pat of salted butter and maple syrup you'll love it.

Ran seven miles on the treadmill at the gym today while watching Alfred E. Neuman take the oath of office. It'd be funny if it wasn't so sad.

My quads are really sore today. They're worse than I would have thought and I'm wondering if that's because I couldn't follow my normal hard-run recovery routine of lots of carbs and protein due to my stomach problems yesterday.

One thing I learned yesterday (these postings are in UTC (Universal Time a.k.a Greenwich Mean Time, btw) about the S625X and pace limits (upper and lower maximum pace) is that if you make them too tight you lose the heart rate info on the display because the watch shows you how many seconds over/under you are on your pace. Yesterday I wanted to be running 8:20/mile so I set an upper limit of 8:24 with a lower limit of 8:16. During the run I was often running faster than 8:16/mile and the lower third of the watch would blink with the number of seconds I was below 8:16 instead of showing my heart rate. I want to see my heart rate—if I'm running 7:55/mile but am only at 80% max then I know I'm okay and can maintain it. But if I'm at 86% then I know I need to pull back. With the excitement of the run it's hard to gauge this without a heart rate monitor. So next time I'll make my pace window really big (i.e., 7:50—8:30). The pace limits aren't that effective during a race, anyway, because you won't easily hear the beeping with all the spectators and you're not going to notice it blinking, either.

Better to keep the pace info and heart rate on the watch and check it every few minutes rather than not know your current heart rate. Not a big deal but it would be nice if the over/under data alternated with your heart rate info. I shouldn't lose instrumentation just because something has exceeded its threshold.

The New York Times reports about the new dietary guidelines the U.S. government released last week. I'm not sure of the value of these guidelines but apparently they're shocking some people with the suggestion of nine servings of fruits and vegetables with 60 to 90 minutes of exercise on most days for those who are watching their weight. One of the critics says that it offers no guidance and that “. . . unless you can parse a food label - which most people cannot do - it's very difficult." 

In an effort to make your label parsing easier, I offer some simpler guidelines that you won't find the government publishing. Avoid the following: 

• any food item that has a listed ingredient with more than two syllables;
• any item that contains an ingredient manufactured by a company that sells solvents to keep stains off your rug or makes products to clean your toilet (DuPont, Dow, Monsanto, etc.);
• any food item containing a hydrogenated oil (also contains more than two syllables);
• any food item containing high-fructose corn syrup;
• any food item you can buy out of a machine;
• any food item that is required to carry a warning or notice by the FDA; and
• any food item that appears on a “value“ menu, all-you-can-eat buffet, or is sold at warehouse clubs owned by a certain discount retailer in Arkansas.

A bit tongue-in-cheek, but as I review my guidelines I'm asking myself would I really want to eat any of the above items?

Time to consider New Year's resolutions and one of mine for 2005 is to increase my weekly running mileage to a consistent 30+ miles. This is absolutely reasonable and that I'm not doing this already but having a blog called Musings on the Marathon is a travesty.

Wifey brought home a chocolate Just Desserts cake today. These are the best store-bought (and actually better than bakery or homemade) cakes you can buy. I've had at least four pieces (with the obligatory glass of ice cold milk) with my logic being that the sooner I eat it the sooner it will be out of the house. Stay away from these cakes.

Training is nil these days. My chest cold is gone but I've got a sinus infection that is just now subsiding. Hoping to get in an easy five miles sometime today . . .

A thoughtful article in the New York Times about the creator of the PowerBar, the late Brian Maxwell. I've never had a PowerBar, I'm a Clifbar person, but we have Maxwell to thank for creating the market of energy bars.

Clifbar also makes Clif Shots, energy gels that I use during long runs. The Mocha Mocha flavor is good but I can't say the same for Cola Buzz.

How can Americans be the fattest people in the world and still consume gobs of artificial sweeteners? There's an interesting article in the New York Times today about the Splenda (sucralose) shortage and its impact on the beverage industry.

But here's the paragraph that caught my eye:

According to the McNeil Web site, sucralose is made by adding chlorine to sugar. Aspartame is not made from sugar but from two amino acids that are isolated from bacteria. Saccharin is produced from a combination of the flavor chemical methyl anthranilate and ammonia.

Mmmmm. Good wholesome stuff. And then, and I swear they're not paying me to plug them:

Not everybody has been so taken by sucralose. Whole Foods Market decided four years ago to remove all products containing sucralose from its stores. Margaret Wittenberg, vice president of marketing and public affairs at Whole Foods, said that she was skeptical of the safety of sucralose and that the product did not fit into the company's philosophy of promoting "real food." . . . Whole Foods also does not carry products containing aspartame, which has been mired in safety concerns on and off since it was introduced in the early 1980's, or saccharine, which for 20 years carried a warning label that it could cause cancer.

These artificial sweeteners shouldn't be referred to as sugar substitutes because they're not substituting sugar. They're substituting high-fructose corn syrup. Maybe that's the problem.

Well, I didn't do the 18 miler on Wednesday as I had planned. As I've said before, it's hard staying motivated with this heat spell we've had here in Houston. I just don't want to run 18 miles in 77 degree weather with 90% humidity. So I bagged Wednesday and Thursday ran a hard 7 miles. My plan was to do my long run next week when it is supposed to be cooler.

The gods must have been guiding me and Friday I talked to my friend, John, an ultra-marathoner who's completed 40, 50, and 100-milers and also at least one 24-hour run (112 miles). He has another 24-hour race coming up in November and his goal is 120 miles. Don't ask me why, but he enjoys it and is pretty good at it. Anyway, I told him I was "out of the groove" on my training plan so he said he'd do 18 miles with me on Saturday. This was nice of him--the park where I run is 35 miles from his house and the 3-mile loop isn't his ideal running environment (he likes trails). Since he was going to run 5 hours on Saturday, he figured he could do the first 3 or so with me.

Having John run with me on Saturday was what I needed--someone to get me out there and keep me honest. The run was good, too. We did 17.8 miles running and another 2.9 miles of walk runs (mostly walking) as a cool down. Our pace for the 17.8 miles was around 8:44 (the S625X was handy, again)--a good pace for me for that distance.

My problem with longs runs (and this is probably indicative of under-training) is that the recovery can take days--days that eat into the next week's mileage which then prevents you from being prepared for the next long run, etc. So I do everything I can to help my legs spring back as quickly as possible. Here's the routine:

• Accelerade while running. This is my standard running drink and it works well for me. It has protein, Vitamin C and E plus all the other stuff that a hydration drink has. Accelerade claims that their drink helps with recovery. They sell an after-exercise drink specifically to aid with recovery (and not hydration) called Endurox and I have that but I can't stand the artificial taste.
• A good cool-down. Saturday I walked/ran the last loop of 2.9 miles.
• A serious protein shake upon walking in the door after a long run. Nothing too fancy, 8 oz. skim milk, 20 grams whey protein (which contains BCAA [glutamine, lysine, etc.]), 1.5 teaspoon instant coffee, 2 teaspoons turbano sugar, 1 tablespoon flax seed oil, 1 teaspoon toasted wheat germ (the raw is healthier but toasted tastes better) and 11-12 ice cubes. This makes a pretty good coffee smoothie and my rough estimate is it contains about 29 grams protein.
• 400 IU of Vitamin E (debatable whether this helps reduce inflammation and delayed onset muscle soreness but I do it), bromelain supplement (grams escapes me), and a zinc-magnesium-calcium supplement.
• Ice-bath for 10-15 minutes. Ice bath is a bit of a misnomer. The water temperature coming out of the tap in Houston is probably 72-76 degrees. To a bathtub of this cool water I add 4 bags of ice (7 or 8 lbs each). It's much easier to get your legs covered in the water and then add each bag of ice--kind of the reverse frog-in-a-heating-pot-of-water approach. The water is cold, cold, cold, and my legs are white when I get out
• More bromelain and Vitamin E later in the day along with some orange juice and a banana to make sure I'm getting enough potassium.

My goal here is to make sure my body has what it needs to repair my muscles and replenish anything I may have exhausted. Does this work? I'm not sure, my legs feel pretty good today (actually, really good considering the distance yesterday) but since I do this after every long run (16+ miles) I don't know what they'd feel like if I didn't do this. I also make sure to walk-around later in the day to keep the stiffness from setting in (I had to push a gas grill about half-a-mile to the city heavy-trash drop off yesterday afternoon). The next day is important, too. Many marathon books talk about recovery runs but a recovery walk is as far as I get. Maybe I'll be up for an easy 5 miles on Monday but I'd rather get two days rest and run harder and farther on Tuesday.

I'd be interested in hearing what others are doing after long runs.