Month: May 2016

The 200 Project S1:E3 | Living and Running NSNG

On By Jared ByrdIn The 200 Project1 Comment

dinner
Dinner of broiled steak and a salad of arugula, red onion, cucumber, watermelon and feta cheese. Sara made it because Sara is amazing. <– Sara wrote that.
Diet is what you eat; not a short-term, restrictive plan for losing weight.

We all tend to follow some diet or other, and while I was pacing Geoff a few weeks ago, we starting discussing mine. The other day he reached out and requested that I write a blog post on how I eat.

[Caveat: We are all an experiment of one. What works for me may not work for you. Also, I do not care how you eat, and you shouldn’t care how others eat. I have heard way too many people get way too passionate about the superiority of their particular food cult. Eat healthy, whatever that means to you.]

So what works for me? No sugar, no grains — NSNG. And this isn’t just while I am training for the Bigfoot 200 Mile Endurance Run, this is how I live.

I started eating NSNG just after the Super Bowl in 2013. Following that basic guideline, I lost approximately 20 pounds and have remained at that weight since.

But more important than the pounds I lost, I feel better. My energy levels are higher, I’m running better, and it’s not so restrictive that it complicates my life.

I have not been perfect in my implementation of NSNG, but I don’t want to be. Having a root beer float once in a while is not going to send me or my diet straight to hell.

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The 200 Project S1:E2 | Bigfoot 200: Training Snapshot

On By Jared ByrdIn The 200 Project2 Comments

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I am 80 days out from the Bigfoot 200 and taking a good look at how I am currently training.

I follow a three-up, and one-down pattern; typically running three weeks of higher mileage and then one week as a recovery week. My normal “up” week looks a little like this:

  • Monday: Rest day (Do not ever question the rest day. Ever.)
  • Tuesday: 7 miles
  • Wednesday: 7 to 15 miles on trail depending time
  • Thursday: 7 miles
  • Friday: 7 to 10 miles hopefully on trail
  • Saturday: 20 to 15 miles on trail
  • Sunday: 10 to 20 miles

This week was an excellent example of that pattern.

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The 200 Project S1:E1- The Other Side of the Bib

On By Jared ByrdIn The 200 Project1 Comment

Sometimes the race isn’t about you, but in those times it can be the most rewarding.

A year ago I spent the third weekend in May working the finish line of the Massanutten Mountain Trails 100-mile run. I spent it with friends I had made in the pervious six months, watching runners complete a hard and difficult race.

That Sunday, I can clearly remember standing in the field by the finish, staring at the mountains, listening to the crowd cheering runners to the end, and crossing a mental finish line of my own.

It was the moment I knew I was alright with my marriage ending.

This year, I returned to crew and pace a good friend who badly needed a win of his own.

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The 200 Project: Pilot Episode

On By Jared ByrdIn The 200 ProjectLeave a comment

Welcome to The 200 Project.

For the next few months I am going to turn Feral Ultrarunner into a live blog of my summer leading up to August’s Bigfoot 200-Mile Endurance Run .

Once or twice a week I am going to post an update that covers both my training and how it is affecting my life. Similar to a television or comic book series, the entire thing will culminate with a confrontation with the “Big Bad” that is lurking in the background throughout the entire series.

In my case, this Big Bad is Bigfoot.

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