August 4th, 2010
Had a satisfying speed session yesterday, 9.5 miles with 6 x 1/2mi@5K pace, 2min rec’s. My schedule originally called for 8 reps, but it was heat index of 80 and the pace would have suffered too much for VO2max, whereas with 6, I could keep it in the right neighborhood.
I did this a couple weeks ago in similar conditions, so I have something to compare it to (the one two weeks ago sucked, btw). My workout was infinitely better yesterday, my splits dead even and I was in control throughout. They also averaged 10 sec’s faster.
A couple reasons this workout was probably much better than two weeks ago is:
#1) My new fueling regime. I ate nothing before the workout 2 weeks ago, figuring the previous evening’s food would tide me over (wrong!). Yesterday, an hour before leaving for the run, I had a slice of whole wheat with peanut butter and 1/2 banana.
#2) I did those Ryan Hall leg drills before leaving the house. (I’ve been doing the RW exercises every day but didn’t feel like getting on the floor yesterday)
Btw, I’m keeping my interval and tempo paces under my hat for a bit so I don’t feel pressured about any of the workouts. I’ll return to reporting all the dirty details soon enough, but right now I’m in a transition period so mum’s the word.
I Love My Fancy-Ass Tanita Scale!
Got it on Monday, and of course, spent the day hopping on and off to see how the numbers changed depending on how close to meals, hydration level, etc. Don’t worry, I’m not an obsessive weigher at all, but it is a new toy, so the entertainment factor was high.
Turns out the old scale was off by a little more than a pound which makes my weight from July 23rd when I started tracking, 123. So there’s the dealio today:
Weight: 119.4
Body Fat (averaged over 2 days):14.8%
Accuracy
Tanita says there’s a tolerance of +/-5% accuracy in their scales compared to DEXA testing, which is actually very accurate (.74% in this case). Edit: Blogging pal Jaymee had hydrostatic testing done and found in comparison with that, the scales she’s tried are consistently 5 points higher for women, making that 14.8% which I already thought was suspiciously low, to be 9.8%. That’d be insanely low, knowing my pockets of fat (and the electrical current doesn’t reach the arms, just lower body), so I’ll stick with the scale number. The measurement is for trends more than anything, anyway.
Whatever it is, it’s a pleasure after having the Omron handheld analyzer tell me I was 24% for over a year. I knew it had to be wrong, but it still managed to mess with my head. In the Omron’s defense, it takes its measurement through your arms so maybe my arm flab skewed the readings, though I have a lot of muscle there, too. I’ll give it to my friend Lara and see what she gets.
There are a ton of additional stats I could share, like Metabolic Age, which puts me at 12 years old (12 is the lowest the scale goes, I’m sure it wants to tell me I’m a fetus, but can’t). There’s also a BMR reading which is cool. It’s more generous than the online calculators I’ve used in the past, and seems to fit better with the amount I actually eat/burn.
Dry Feet vs Wet
In the Racing Weight book, he tells you to moisten a towel before stepping on the scale to improve conductivity, but the Tanita FAQ only mentions that if you must wear nylons when measuring “…use a drop of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol on the foot pads to act as a conductor.” Other than that, no mention of damp feet. Some scales specifically ask for wet feet but since this doesn’t, I’m sticking to dry tootsies.
The Subject Of Food
Kristin, a wonderful blogger and smarty pants MIT student, made a comment in the last post that really hit home. She said “I think your (and Jaymee’s) thoughts on weight are interesting because they sound so matter of fact and not emotional”. This was pretty huge to read because I’ve spent the greater part of my life dealing with food as an emotional salve and going from fat to thin to fat again. So I’m going to save this and more food talk for Friday because it really is a post a book unto itself.
So that’s about it for today. Oh, if you find yourself in need of something to do at 8PM EST tonight, a reminder that I’ll be on Runners Round Table talking about running (or collapsing, lol) in the heat. Later, gators!
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I think it’s probably “add points directly”. I’m sorry to say it, but I think those scales can be _way_ off.
My Tanita consistently (over the past 2-3 years) gives me a body fat reading that’s so low as to be absurd — as in, I wouldn’t be functioning well at that level, and I certainly wouldn’t have cellulite.
Oops, this was in the spam folder for some reason, just unspammed it, sorry for the delay. Turns out Jaymee got the opposite of your results, resulting in a higher reading than her hydrostatic test, and she finds that measurement consistent with different scales. Good thing there will not be a test at the end of this weighing session.
Hm. It might hinge on how fat is distributed? I’ve consistently measured ludicrously low on electrical impedance tests (between 10-11%) be they the Tanita scales or those Omron handheld things. However, I also carry all of my fat in my thighs and rear (thanks Mom), and very little in my lower legs or arms (or chest, *sigh*). I do wonder if the bias is different for those with a different weight distribution.
I bet it is, since my scale can’t know I have those silly arms of mine. But it seems if your butt and thighs are the home for your fat, the Tanita would get a higher reading since the current goes up one leg and down the other. I guess the only way to really know is to get tested but I’m too cheap to do that.
I actually called Tanita yesterday to ask if their +/-5% meant a fraction of the result or full points added and the person I spoke to was all “oh no, it’d be a small fraction at the most”. But it’s all ethereal anyway, since matching hydration levels between days is pretty near impossible to do. So they recommend measuring BF every 2 weeks or month, but I think you’d still need to average it over a few days even then to account for hydration differences. That said, I’m sure I’ll be checking BF daily, because I love me some bunches of numbers.
Flo, nice job on your workout. Sounds like everything is starting to click for you. When I said 5% off I meant that the scale reads 5% higher than what the hydrostatic testing indicated. That would mean subtracting 5%: 14% would be 9% which is a lot. It really depends on the formula the manufacturer uses for calculating BF. For men, that formula seems to be spot on since my boyfriend reads 5% consistently on the same scale and that’s what he measures with other methods. So, it looks like your weight and BF are right on target! Thanks also for mentioning the food-emotion issue. I’ll be interested to read about your experience with this tough issue.
Hah! Well that’s quite the opposite of what I was thinking, and like double opposite.
That sounds like a kooky too-low number though, while I’m not fat, I’m not that lean, either. One thing is that it only does the lower half of the body, so if it hit my arms, the number would be higher. Guess I’ll just call it what the scale says, even that seems too low to my brain.
About the emotional eating thing, too bad we can’t have a “conference blog” about it. :-) Maybe you’ll feel like posting a similar entry on your relationship to food since it’s such a loaded and universal topic. We can all stand to hear more on it, for sure.
Cool about The Runner’s Roundtable! Also, nice examination of the scale issue. I’d consider getting one, but would catch more grief at home than I’m willing to bear. I could keep it at the office, I suppose . . . LOL
Looking forward to learning your fast paces as soon as you’re comfortable sharing.
Finally, please take notice of the self-restraint exhibited by my not commenting on your unwillingness to get on the floor. ;-)
LOL Ron, you only ever flirt with two extra pounds anyway, you’re lean as can be! So you don’t need a silly ole scale. Hee on the floor comment. Me and the dust mites are gettin’ it on!
9.5 miles with 6 x 1/2mi@5K pace, 2min rec’s.
That’s a strong run!
I am getting more into the speedwork this training cycle than I have in my last 2 marthon plans.
Go, Bill, Go! It’s changes like adding more quality stuff that’ll make a huge difference in your race. Glad to see you’re getting into like this.
yeah i totally agree with kristin on that one. very nicely put by her.
and great speedwork. definitely a smart thing to cut back to 6 intervals. very strong run and i like your pre-run strategy. i always find that when i eat a little bit before running and do anything to warm up a bit and loosen up, then the run becomes great.
Thanks girl, you’re having some fab runs yourself these days!
Interesting about eating a hour beforehand. I’d have to wake up even earlier to do that, but might try the pop-tart thing for some quick carbs. Have you tried a wet-feet measurement to see if it makes a difference?
If you only have 15 minutes, just eat a banana or other easily absorbed carb like sports drink (or pop-tart?). I took an hour since my sandwichy thing was a little more complex and I had the time.
No I didn’t try wetting my feet. Bwahahaha!! You had to ask?
It adds 2 decimals to it, not enough to care.
aw, thanks
way to cause my hits to spike, haha!
Hah! The byproduct of a mention…blog traffic.
Hope you don’t mind me calling you out, btw. Your comment was great though and made me want to talk about it. Doesn’t happen too often!
Flo – Appreciate your contributions during yesterday’s Runner’s Round Table – which I just heard. Especially interesting was your point that running injuries increase in the fall due to we summer runners slowing down of necessity (leaving our tendons and ligaments especially vulnerable to speed increases), and from your frightening experience heat can badly affect us for distances as short as 5K. Yikes!
Thanks Mark! You’re such a positive guy, I appreciate the kind words. Though it wasn’t the same without you!
Nice going with the speedwork Flo, and good to see the fueling and leg drills helping the session.
Yes, maybe the trend of the % fat is all you need. At one time the AIS used body fat calipers for accurate % body fat testing of gymnasts. Not sure that they still do though.
That’s weird — my handheld Omron usually says I’m around 23%, which I think it probably pretty close since I am the Michelin Man compared to you. I don’t use it anymore, or just only when I want to feel really, really bad about myself.
I’ve given up on various devices, even regular scales (I have two, since I didn’t trust the Tanita). I’m just going by how I look and how I’m running these days. I see more muscles and my paces are dropping for harder workouts (and, strangely, a ton on recovery runs — like about 30-45 seconds per mile — what a timesaver), so I’m going to stay low tech for now.
Lol, the Omron is certainly great for making you feel bad about yourself, works for me perfectly! Yay on the dropping paces, this is wonderful to hear and we’re not even in cooler weather yet. Good stuff!