Great workout!

Today's workout:
Bike-70 minutes on the trainer
Run-20 minutes

What a great workout today! It was in the 50s and sunny. The trainer workout seemed pretty easy, but parts of it were challenging. It definitely got my heart rate up-but that usually feels good. Then the run afterwards was great too-we were doing 8:15s comfortably at the end. It always takes my legs a few minutes to switch to running mode. I had calf cramping after the first few minutes, so I stretched and then kept running and the cramping went away quickly. I love this training-how it has so many runs planned right after a bike ride. Definitely helps get our legs used to the transition on race day. This was one of the best workouts I've had in a while. Probably since the Thursday night workout a few weeks ago. And I credit it all to the chia seed.

Yup, the same seed that's in those Chia Pets. Except they don't grow grass, you just eat the seed. I'm reading a book called "Born To Run" and it talks about these Superfood seeds. The book explores why the  Tarahumara Indians of Mexico have almost superhuman strength, endurance, and health. I'm going to attach an article about this miracle food and the Indian tribe at the end of the blog. They say that just a few tablespoons of chia seeds will give you energy all day. I'm going to try them for a week and see if I can really tell a difference. You can add them to smoothies, yogurts, cereal, salads. They have a very mild taste, a little nutty. You can also put them in water and they form a pretty gross looking gel which can be a substitute for butter and oil in recipes. I tried the gel straight. It doesn't taste bad, but it's definitely a consistency to get used to.  Here's the article.

The most famous of all endurance runners using chia seeds as part of their diet were:

The Tarahumara barefoot runners

The Tarahumara barefoot runners area legendary people in the extreme endurance world: Their whole population are barefoot runners, all ages both male and female. They have been known to run hundreds of miles without stopping, Running all day long. Chia seeds are the fuel of these incredible barefoot super endurance runners.

Club endurance runners using chia seeds

Salba seeds have been discovered by a few endurance clubs around the world. They use them to stay hydrated longer. Because of the salba seeds ability to form a gel when mixed with drinkable liquid of your choice (usually water), it is capable of holding over 9 times its own weight in water. Like having a reservoir in your stomach that slowly releases the water as the gel is absorbed by the body, helping you stay hydrated for much longer periods of time, so you can train that bit more without feeling dehydrated. The Aztec runners kept a small pouch of Salba seeds with them when running messages. If you eat them dry you must take a drink also, this is great if you want the hydration to last that bit longer, egif running a half marathon.

A health benefit of using chia seeds which will aid endurance runners using them is Muscle repair

Many endurance runners using chia seeds have found that through taking this seed and adding it into your diet regularly, with its high protein content, the chia(salba) helped them recover from small muscle tears more quickly than usual. Most likely because the protein found in chia seeds is in a very accessible form and is easily used by the body for such injuries.

Other health benefits of Salba seeds

The incredible health benefits that chia seeds have to offer include the highest source of Omega-3, Omega 6, a great source of calcium (5 x That of cows milk), it also contain boron which is needed to absorb the calcium into your bones for healthy bone structure or bone repairs, iron, magnesium and many of essential minerals. Chia seeds can also help in weight loss, as eating or drinking chia gives a fuller feeling, it is also very high antioxidant properties. Endurance runners, football,soccer, tennis, squash and most other sports could probably gain from adding salba seeds to their diets.

Stamina Building is another important benefit of chia seeds for endurance athletes

Endurance runners using chia seeds found that the seeds ability to increase stamina was very important to them. This is accomplished through the chia gel (chia gel is salba seeds mixed with water and stiired for 15mins. You then end up with chia gel) forming a barrier between the enzymes and the Carbohydrates in the stomach. The Carbohydrates are slowly absorbed by the body, giving the effect of energy being expelled over a longer period of time, helping to increase the stamina of the endurance runner. Try chia today. It is easy to use, inexpensive and simple to incorporate into your daily diet. Whether using it in your regular baking or simply adding it to your morning cereal or yogurt, chia can help you reach your health goals.Salba seeds are good for anyone any age.

Pretty cool! Since my font and size changed, I'm going to stop here today. I just can't figure out how to get the font and size to return to normal after I add something to the blog....hmmm...

M :)