2 months into my new diet: fat-charged turbo-diesel

Time flies, days, night, weeks and weekends are getting way too short... I started writing these lines on day 61 of my journey toward fat adaptation, right on 2 months, but it's already day 84 this Thursday, better get this post out before I reach the 3-month milestone!

While it has been almost 3 months on this path, I'm still feeling quite incompetent to write about a dietary subject, still very much learning about the basics. Or maybe more experimenting as a matter of fact because I'm certainly not studying everything I should if I was pursuing a degree to become a Registered Dietitian (yes, this field has specific Bachelors and Masters, and I assume Doctorates too!).

But, as a few people encouraged me to share about this experience, here are a few random thoughts on my journey to become a fat-adapted athlete.

First, I'd start with some contradiction. In my original post regarding this change of diet, I mentioned that was the toughest experiment I had ever attempted in my ultra running career. It's hard to compare it to a tough 100-mile, and I've yet to attempt 200 miles or multi-day events. It's certainly very different from a physical standpoint but it requires quite some mental to change these life habits. Tough enough if you are in the lab of your house, but even more challenging when you travel or have a social life. That being said, 

Take my breakfasts for instance. For more than 50 years I've enjoyed a bowl of chocolate milk every morning with a few toasts and butter. Quite simple, no jelly, no honey but I was really  looking forward to the taste of it to start my day. Every day, that is more than 18,000 times since that's my lifetime. Well, look at my new typical breakfast nowadays, quite a change!

From an experiment standpoint, it was great to pick the first month during Advent, right after Thanksgiving, and before Christmas. Yet, we had quite a few Holidays parties which could have derailed my plans but my motivation was high as I had wanted to test this new diet for quite a few years and I wanted to do a 30-day reset of my body anyway during my yearly running break. That being said, cutting on gluten, grains and even all dairy was still tough after leaving and thriving from them for 50 years.  Thankfully, and gratefully, Agnès accepted to do the same experiment and I must say that, having your significant other on board, is a huge success factor. Indeed, there is more cooking involved and you don't want to fight temptation at every meal by looking at others enjoying bread and pasta in my case, or other delicious desserts.

Ahhh, the desserts... I quite well adapted to all the other constraints but I'm still missing them so much! Being raised in France, a meal isn't complete for me without something sugary under my palate to finish on a sweet note, pun intended. To make the matter worse, I tolerate stevia rather well but Agnès not at all, and vice-versa for erythritol, darn! We are now experimenting with coconut sugar which, surprisingly enough for such a natural sugar substitute, is absent from most of the keto cooking books and recipes we've found so far. Initially, Agnès even did her wonderful chocolate mousse with 99% cacao chocolate: it was hard to eat but we finished all of it as we were starving for a dessert a few weeks ago! ;-)

In contrast to the previous picture, look at the last extravagant dessert plate I enjoyed on Thanksgiving dinner, before plunging head first in the carb starvation! I have to say that I pushed the envelope on that one, that wasn't representative of my daily diet, thankfully...

To be clear, I'm not doing the experiment to prove anything, there have been enough success stories in endurance sports including ultra running, just look at Zach Bitter, Jon Olsen or Anthony Kunkel! Yet, it has to work on the individual basis so, beyond all the proven theory, it still reminds a single-individual experiment. Here are my main motivations:

1. Get on a diet which makes a lot of sense from an ultra endurance standpoint, that is about burning fat which we have plenty of in our body, much more calories overall than the carbs our muscles can store;
2. Besides, a diet which allows you to cut on calorie intake during races, hence decreasing the risk of GI issues;
3. A diet which is also much more relying on natural ingredients, cutting on any processed food;
4. Decreasing the sugar which cancer cells are so hungry for and live from;
5. A diet which is also renowned to help your body better manage the cholesterol levels (good and bad ones), allowing you to avoid the infamous statins;
6. Decreasing the risks of inflammation associated with repetitive stress on all joints and high volume;
7. As for performance, not expecting much as I had quite some speed already, but hoping to gain more endurance in the longer distances (i.e. 100 miles and beyond).

I didn't include weight management in the list because I had already this under control and operating at a low weight already, but that's definitely a factor which some people are looking for when picking keto (or paleo at least). As a matter of fact, the first therapeutic application of keto diets is to help handle epilepsy, nothing to declare on that side fortunately. One other benefit which many people report about keto is mind clarity. This is definitely appealing but I can't say much about it from these initial 2 months (I never drank coffee to say awake or high, nor any substance, I'm probably not a great reference for that part of the experiment! ;-).

Regarding the management of my cholesterol levels, it's still too early to tell, we need at least 3 months for new blood test to be relevant.

So, the big question and the elephant in the room, is it working? What I can say so far is that I'm certainly functioning quite well, mostly running on fat for these past 2 months, and that shouldn't be a surprise to the folks following me on Strava. Over the first 6 weeks of this regiment (following a 2-week break at the same time I was getting fat adapted), I ran 483 miles including 2 ultra marathons and more than a handful of fast workouts at the track (short speed workout sessions or tempo runs of 64 to 80 laps). And since I'm not taking much carb anymore, all the energy has to come from fat, hence the title. As a matter of fact, I've never been so lean which makes sense since I use the fat I eat.

Another amazing benefit is the loss of sense of hunger with this diet. Since your body uses fat as fuel, you are not subject to the lows and highs associated with carbo loading, and I can now keep going for 6 to 7 hours without feeling hungry.

Since I delayed this post for so long, you've seen that I managed to run a good 50K 2 weeks ago. I'm now on my way to Vegas to run the 100-mile Road National Championships which will offer another major test of the fine balance I'm still working on between fat burning, the use of strategic carbs and the management of electrolytes. Leveraging the professional insights of my coach in this matter, Peter Defty. Then it will be time to post about the first 3 months, another major milestone in this journey which has been rather successful so far.

In the meantime, I look forward to keeping the new turbo-diesel running, meeting familiar and new faces at the Jackpot Ultra Running Festival this weekend, and hearing about how others do at our 2nd race of our Ultra Grand Prix in Auburn, the FOURmidable 50K which I feel sorry to miss. USATF calling in too many places at the same time! ;-)

My biggest ultra running experiment to date?

No, I didn't run an ultra this weekend, I didn't push the physical limits like other did for instance at the 24-hour World Championships or the California International Marathon. Actually I didn't run at all since my fast, albeit 0.1-mile short, Turkey Trot 10K. While stopping running for a few weeks is an experiment in itself for me every year, that's not new, I've followed this precept from Scott Jurek for more than 10 years now.

So what is it then? It had been in my mind for several years, I wanted to add to this running break something else which has to see with nutrition: follow a detox program to attempt an even bigger reset of my body. First, Agnès had told me about a 1-week detox program from a local yogi, based on drinking a lot of hot water for instance. Then it became the Whole30 which several of her friends have enjoyed recently. As the name implies, this is a 30-day program.No sugars, no grains, no dairy, repeat for 30 days!

I was about to go for it but I also took the opportunity to check another of these ideas which tormented since I discovered Vespa Power more than 5 years ago and heard about the great success stories of elite runners adoption the whole OFM approach. While Vespa helped me tremendously in races by allowing me to slash calorie intake, I didn't want to change my diet for this, I was so comfortable with my habits of 50 years. I love bread, I love pastas, I love dairy, great start! Besides, I travel so much that I took it as an excuse to not get on a strict diet. Last but not least, I did adopt this easy excuse for running when people ask "but why are you running ultras?": as Scott Dunlap once said, "so I can eat everything and anything!"

Change, so hard to do for most of us... The New York Time actually has an article on this exact topic this weekend, a quick and worth read for all (although I don't find the article so well written --unless the 7 yet in the text have the purpose of really making a point-- but the author is a Harvard Professor, and I not, so what can I say... ;-): Why Trying New Things Is So Hard to Do, by Sendhil Mullainathan.

Since I was going to go for a radical change anyway, I reached out to Peter Defty and he immediately accepted to coach me if I wanted to go OFM. OFM? Optimized Fat Metabolism, a state in which your body gets its energy mostly from fat, which we all have plenty of in our body, much more calories than our muscles can store of glycogen.

To be more explicit, you are teaching your body what it used to be great at: live a full and active live on less than 15% of carb. While fattier dairy is ok (cream, hard cheese) to do a faster reset I even cut on all dairy. Not a single fruit either, except avocados and nuts. The rest is meat, fish, eggs, liver, paté, and lots of vegetables. And no chocolate, yikes!

So, here am I, this is the end of day 10 and I'm proud to report that I'm holding on, I can still function, phew! First, I have to thank Peter for his guidance and motivation tips but also Agnès who got on board, is following the same diet and does a lot of the extra cooking needed to eat healthier. Not that we were eating much junk food but cutting all processed food is another level. And the hardest of all is to no be able to get a dessert, forgive the expression, that sucks... In France, a meal isn't over without something sweet, not to mention some cheese. To make up for them, we indulge a half cup of assorted non-salted nuts, but even that isn't too much to Peter's liking. Tough discipline.

As I said, I'm not exercising so it's hard to tell the effects so far. Besides, it typically takes the body to fully get adapted to this new mode of energy source, patience is required. To be honest, I would have hoped that cutting on gluten and dairy would already have more positive impacts, but this is certainly not the time to turn back, this is at least a 6-month experiment to be conclusive.

Overall, I'm learning a lot about nutrition, it was about time! And this was a big eye open on how bad the society has become about eating habits and the overwhelming presence of processed food everywhere. Also, I didn't realize how much I enjoyed eating certain things, not necessarily for their nutritional value or quality, but for the taste and pleasure I was taking. A very different philosophy of eating, which requires to rewire your mind and senses. And that takes quite some drive and will power... And some organization as well: for instance I did travel with my lunch and dinner today in order to stay on track...

That's it, no running pictures, I'll share more on the experiment, the biggest and hardest change I've experienced so far, with so many doubts popping in my mind since I don't have super strong drivers and compelling action to change. But I had been intrigued about OFM for a while, and was ready to give it more than a try, apparently. We'll see if it also helps on the race performance side, but I'm more interested in the health benefits such as the management of cholesterol levels and the reduction of sugars in the body, which represent the main fuel for cancer cells.

Overall, like we say about ultra running, this is a huge experiment and leap of faith because, although the approach is backed up by science and success stories, or even proven by the Inuits for instance, each body is different and we still need to rely on mind and guts feelings to adjust, without a full lab instrumentation. Let then see where it leads...

In the meantime, enjoy the time of Advent and the spirit of the Holidays. But please don't send me pictures of your Christmas cookies, ok? Thank you! ;-)

Vespa: power from the good fat

I cannot resist talking about the benefits of Vespa Power again, after seeing this article in the Wall Street Journal earlier this month.

Here is how to read the chart: the author looked at the energetic power of various sources, using the volume of the Apple iPhone 6S battery as a reference. And, guess what, body fat comes in second position, close behind diesel fuel! But, with body fat, you don't even have to stop by the pump...! ;-)

Many of you have heard me talk about how Vespa has changed my (ultra racing) life these past 4 3 years. How does that Japanese magic potion work? It accelerates the metabolism to burn fat and use body fat as a source of energy during a prolonged effort, instead of carbohydrates. I'm not a specialist of the field but here are some basic nutrition maths which are part of the theory: while our muscles can store between 2,000 and 2,500 calories (or rather kcal), during a marathon we burn about 100-120 calories per mile. With that, you run out of fuel around 20 miles, which corresponds to the famous, or infamous, wall. To avoid hitting the wall, and if you want to only run on carbs, you then need to ingest and process 600 or more calories to stay afloat, 6 GU gels for instance.

Meanwhile, a pound of body fat corresponds to roughly 3,500 calories. Even at a 10% body fat ratio which is already low even for athletes (lower than 6% is considered as unhealthy), that's 15 pounds for a weight of 150 pounds, and 52,500 calories which could sustain more than 500 miles theoretically, quite some distance! Of course you don't want, can cannot fortunately, process all your body fat at once, but the point is that you can run 50 or 100 miles without much else.

While Vespa triggers this body fat burning, you can also teach your body to naturally use body fat as the main source of energy by cutting on your consumption of carb. That's what Peter Defty labels as 'Fat-adapted metabolic state' in the Optimized Fat Metabolism (OFM) program.

And, yes, this works as you can see through the transformation and performances of not only elite athletes, but regular ones as well, and not only for running, but other endurance sports as well such as cycling, swimming, skating, triathlon. At the 50-mile road Nationals last week for instance, the top 2 males, Zach Bitter and Anthony Kunkel, are avid adepts of OFM and Vespa.

Now, I must admit that, although the Vespa maths make a lot of sense, you have to believe in this approach: it's not going to work if you just drink one pouch of Vespa randomly during a race when you are bonking. The way I'm using Vespa in races is one pouch 45 minutes before the start, one at the start, no calorie intake for 90 minutes, one pouch every 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the pace and intensity of the race (e.g. 3-hour intervals for 8-10 min/mile pace 100K+ races, or 2.5 hours for 6-8 min/mile pace 50-mile and under races).

Ironically, I'm writing this post on the day of Halloween when the whole country is going to go high on sugary treats! Oh, well, not everybody is interested in endurance sports... But, for those of you who are, then enjoy some fat and, since you are carrying it anyway, learn how to use it as a super powerful and natural fuel! You'll be amazed at your now power! ;-)

PCTR Woodside 50K: fast pre fat ass

I'm back, sorry for the long break on this blog, a good month to recharge! For one thing, I did take my yearly inter-season break in December, albeit only 2 weeks this year. After bragging about my mixed feelings regarding the pros and cons of stopping the momentum I built on in 2013, I received several advices, one of which saying that I don't necessarily have to stick to the 4-week break that Scott Jurek recommends in particular. Every year, I almost injured myself when resuming training too quickly in order to get ready for the first race of our Grand Prix season, Jed Smith 50K on the first weekend of February. So, this year, I only took 2 weeks off and had two easy weeks to ramp up. The other reason for not posting anything in December, beyond laziness or business doing many other things with this "free" time, is that I aim at publishing 52 posts a year and I was already at 54 by the end of November. Anyway, as I said, I'm back, the 2014 counter is reset anyway! ;-)

And I'm not even going to do my 2013 year in review or share about by many goals for 2014 but tell you about my very last race of 2013, the PCTR (Pacific Coastal Trail Runs) Woodside 50K which occurred this past Sunday, December 29. With my focus on the PAUSATF Grand Prix (GP), it's rather unusual for me to run the PCTR series but I wanted to get one last race in 2013 and see if I could log a 4th overall win. I had 4 of these wins in 2011 and 4 again last year except that the latter didn't count for Gary's UltraRunning Magazine listing because two of these races had less than 20 finishers, which is fair. That was actually my second PCTR race this year as Race Director, John Brooks, accepted to get his Headlands Hundred to be part of our GP schedule.

My other goal for this race was to enjoy this wonderful course which I had heard so much about, so close to home. And last but not least, get some good exercise as we desperately wait for some snow in Tahoe.

Upon getting to Huddart Park, I was pleased to see such convenient parking lots all around the start/finish area. I also like how the starts of the 4 races were staged, with the 50K being first (other distances were 10, 17 and 35 km). While my first ultra race was Way Too Cool in March 2006, my second was Angel Island in July of that year, and also my first overall win in an ultra. With PCTR's mantra, "Serious Fun", these races are not as competitive as the Montrail Cup races for instance, yet, some fast runners join from time to time. For example, the course record is owned by Keith Bechtol who ran an amazing 3:36 back in 2008. The second fastest time is Leor Pantilat's 3:39. They were respectively 23 and 24 when clocking these times. With that, I was just dreaming of breaking 4 hours.

Right from the start, Ben Johnson took the lead and I had hard time keeping him in sight. By mile 2, there was only one other runner I could see behind in the switch backs, Daniel Kono. I caught up with Ben in the fourth mile as we were climbing up Crystal Springs. Ben knew my name but I didn't know him so asked "Where are you from?" Although Ben is listed as living in Folsom in UltraSignup, he said "Ashland" to which I jokingly replied "Oh, you should definitely be in front then, you Oregonian....!" Ben said he was still tired after running the North Face San Francisco earlier in December and was going to take it easy. Given his speed in the initial downhill I thought that I'd rather build a serious gap before the last 5 miles which are all downhill on this course.

I kept pushing the pace although I only knew about the course profile from looking at the elevation charts from the PCTR website. I kind of guessed that the challenge of this course, beyond the two big climbs, was to maintain the effort in the short ups and downs on Skyline Trail. Using Vespa, I didn't stop at the first, second and fourth aid stations, and only once at the third to get my GU2O bottle refilled and grab a cup of Coke. With the current drought the trails were in pristine condition, not to forget the bright sun which provided enough light under the majestic redwoods, perfect conditions for a fast run. With that I was a bit disappointed to see my time of 2 hours by mid course, with the upcoming 4 miles up to get back on the ridge, on Skyline Trail. I ran most of the uphill, encouraged by the runners we were crossing in this section. I was so focused, or in the groove, that I didn't realize when I passed the Oak and Bear Gulch connector on the way back. I inadvertently told the first two runners I crossed on Bear Gulch that they were on the wrong trail, I'm very sorry about that and apologize, hoping I didn't ruin the rest of their run. Thankfully, they didn't seem to believe me anyway and kept going down, phew!

With all the turns and trees, I couldn't see anyone behind and was just hoping that the gap was large enough to avoid a sprint in the finish area meadow. But I had no idea of what was happening behind and that was quite stressful. While that kept me pushing, I was quite tired of maintaining a 8 min/mile pace in the ups and downs of Skyline Trail, but glad Vespa kept my energy level high enough to keep moving. After asking for a confirmation of the remaining mileage to the volunteers at the last aid station, King's Mountain, I rushed in the downhill. While I was visualizing Leor in the rolling Skyline, I was now thinking of downhill running guru, Ian Sharman. On tired legs (and older ones too... ;-), that wasn't enough to get the pace below 6 min/mile though but, quickly glancing behind from time to time, that seemed to be enough to keep the lead until the finish. The pounding on the final road section was tough on the knees but it felt good to hear the noise coming from the finish area, finally.

I crossed the finish line in 4:01:03, not quite under 4 hours, as I initially expected without knowing the course, but good enough for an overall win this year.

I felt lucky that nobody faster showed up this year and told John that was quite a slow year, despite the perfect conditions (and course marking).

Upon looking back at the results, I was still quite pleased to notice that my time was the 5th fastest time from the 22 past editions (the race is held twice a year). Again, perfect conditions, especially for winter, but still.

It was quite an unexpected and good surprise to see Agnès, Alex and Greg at the finish line, for a photo shoot opportunity! ;-)

Daniel came in 2nd place, 3 minutes later. He told me that he believed to have seen me in the distance since mile 15, quite a long hunt, I had no idea!

Ben finished 3rd in 4:08:29.

In quite a duel, Jennifer Pfeifer won the race finishing 37 seconds before Bev Anderson-Abbs. Also from North California (Redding), Luanne Park took the third spot on the female podium.

To complete this report, let me quote John's own write-up below. Congrats to him for building on Sarah and Wendell's initial enterprise, keeping attracting so many new people to trail and ultra running, recruiting knowledgeable volunteers and organizing very professional events. It will be good to see John compete in the Grand Prix in 2014, between his own races.

Back to the title, for the non insiders: January is usually the month we ramp-up after the holidays, aiming at burning the extra calories (or pounds) gained during the rich meals of the year end celebrations with casual 50K runs called Fat Ass. But since I resumed training mid December anyway, I'm obviously not waiting for the Fat Ass runs to get out of the couch.

Great way to close on a successful season. That was my 18th race in 2013, including 14 ultra races, and my 52nd 50K race so far, as many as my 10K races, time flies... Legs weren't too sore on Monday but I didn't go for a run, just a hike at Wilder Ranch State Park on Monday with the family and a short one at Fremont Older on Tuesday to watch the last sunset of 2013. Today (New Year's Day), I ran from home to the top of Black Mountain, coming back through Rancho San Antonio, for 29.5 hilly miles (3,800 feet). I met Agnès and Alex at the top of Montebello Road after their hike from Rancho on PG&E.

One of my 2014 resolutions is to not run as many miles as these past three years and I'm starting with 2 ultras in 4 days, hmm. Anyway more on 2013 (review) and 2014 (goals) in upcoming posts this January. Until then, Run Happy out there!

Good Morning!

What a fantastic day we had at the Woodside Trail Run yesterday.  It was such a great vibe on the trail and at the start/finish area.  The attitudes of our runners exemplify all the right things about our sport.  The weather was the best we’ve ever enjoyed at with this event.  It made for some very fast times and many posted new personal records.

We welcome the 81 first-time rail runners to the PCTR family and 37 runners that can now call themselves “ultra runners” after completing their first 50km event.  I was moved by the emotion and elation at the finish line.  You are all inspiring and the reason we hold our events.

There are  some individual results we also want to recognize:

10km:  Luke Baxter from San Francisco finished first among males with 47:55.  Sarah Clarke of Mountain View was the first female with 58:20.

17km:  Christopher Denucci from Menlo Park was the first male with 1:14:09 and Sian Turner from Truckee the first female with1:30:21.

35km:  Lennard Hachman from Menlo Park was the firstmale finisher with 2:41:10.  Laura Harmen from Corvallis, OR was the first female, at 2:57:32.

50km:  Jean Pommier of Cupertino flirted with breaking the four hour mark with 4:01:03.  Jennifer Pfeifer from El Dorado led a deep, fast women’s field with 4:23:41.

We can’t hold events without the support of volunteers.  16 energetic folks gave their day to help you  reach your goals.  The event was  successful because of their help.  Most are trail and ultra-marathoners just like you, others are friends and family of runners, and some, like Booth and Tina, run and then volunteer at the finish area.

I will be posting results on UltraSignup.com in just a few minutes.  For new trail runners, this is the website where we post your results for all of your PCTR events.  Your results will be saved under your  personal profile so that you can track your trail running history.

Important timing note:  There are several runners that changed distances just prior to the start or during the event.  If you do not see your posted time, please email me and I will correct it for you.  Remember, the official time is based on computer timing, not the clock that was staged at the finish line for convenience.  

We wish you the best of runs in 2014! Check out our 2014 event calendar on our webpage.  Feel free to email me if you’d like some  recommendations for events.  You can learn more at www.pctrailruns.com

Best,

John Brooks
Race Director, PCTR

Hello Mr June! June, really?

No, this isn't a scoop, the word went out in November 2010 when the page owners of the "Tribute to the Trails" Calendar Project page on Facebook, Glenn Tachiyama and Wendy Wheeler-Jacobs, sent a preview of the 2011 calendar. Several friends spotted me on the June page and here we are, it's June already! Well, with the cold and rainy weather, it surely doesn't look like June here in North California, what a strange year. I ran by the Stevens Creek reservoir this Saturday morning and it's 100% full! Conversely, Europe, and France in particular, experiences an extreme drought and tornados keep devastating the East of our country...

So, here is the picture Glenn took on the Western States course last June (2010) as we were approaching Duncan Canyon (the aid station manned by the Quicksilver running club of San Jose, my ultra racing club):

Photo credit to Glenn Tachiyama who is doing an amazing job capturing the essence of our sports at so many events and on so many different trails. His contribution to this calendar project helped raise $17,680 for the Washington Trails Association, what a great... Tribute to the Trails!

Just behind me is Meghan Arbogast who was going to finish in second place, just 14 mere minutes behind Tracy Garneau, in 19:15:58 and 22nd overall.

And check this link to the whole album/calendar pages.

Well, June is here indeed but what a strange weather! This Saturday, I ran to the top of Black Mountain in the storm (wind and rain), that was quite unexpected, I've never seen that since we settled in California 13 years ago. No way to get any heat training in this year so far...

Earlier in the week, on Thursday, I organized a National Running Day celebration at the office. Last year, only one runner showed up. This year, 6, quite an increase! We went to Alviso Marina County Park for a 4 mile out and back. We talked about participating to the Silicon Valley Turkey Trot in November as an IBM team.

Also, on Wednesday night, I attended the Vespa night organized by Peter, Gillian and Don at ZombieRunner in Palo Alto.

There was a lot of scientific studies to back up Dr. Stephen Phinney's speech promoting the virtues and benefits of a low carb diet. It certainly is surprising to realize that Inuits for instance can live a normal and very healthy life with a diet based on 15% proteins and 80% fat! Here is one of his article telling you more about the corresponding keto-adaptation mechanism: Ketogenic diets and physical performance.

I personally don't feel ready to kiss goodbye to my dearest carbs (bread and pasta to just name two) but the good news is that we have Vespa to help reaching out to our largest source of energy in our body: the so-called infamous fat! You should give it a try, it really works very well for me and many other athletes to get great runs.

2 graduations (Alex and Greg), one conference in San Francisco (I'm speaking on Wednesday at Semantic Technology, about Decision Modeling), likely not going to log 80 miles as I did this week. But at least a few fast miles, hopefully. And wishing you the same for this week, Run Happy! In the unusually good or bad weather you may have this Spring...