Our bodies have evolved on real food. Fruit from the trees, root and other vegetables growing in the ground or bushes, wild growing grains and meats, fish or fowl. From these foods it could get the proteins, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and minerals it needed to grow and reproduce. A vitamin is a nutrient that the body cannot make so it must be eaten in the food one eats. The same is true for minerals. So why are we encouraging people to take pills instead of only eating food?

Here's why...

Take a minute and run through what you ate in the last 24 hours.

What percentage of that food was grown organically, locally and eaten fresh? Probably less than 10%.

Where did that food come from and what was its actual quality in terms of nutrients?

Game by Ironman Age Group Champion Cherie Gruenfeld.

The difference between a pure marathon and an Ironman marathon is that the Ironman marathon is harder.

Not a very profound statement. It's fairly obvious, to even a novice, that running on very tired legs for that distance will hurt and is going to require a full dose of pain management. What may not be so obvious is that it will also be extremely hard mentally. If you have demons (and who among us doesn't at some time?), an Ironman run is a prefect playground for them. You may have doubts passing through your mind that run along these lines: "This is too hard"; "I have to walk"; "I will never make it to the finish line"; "I don't know what I was thinking"; "Never again"; etc. This type of negative thinking can make the run seem even longer and harder than it actually is.

But the truth of the matter is this: You can do it. You can manage the pain and the demons if you're prepared for both. Putting in the training miles with long, back-to-back workouts will teach you to anticipate and manage the pain but going into the event with a mental game plan is something that is often overlooked. So let's take a look at some race day ideas for handling the mental part of an Ironman marathon.

Some people are natural born runners, while others have to encourage their inner runner to emerge. Here are 5 tips that, if incorporated regularly into your training will help you to work your way up in the pack.

1) Transition run. After you return from a long ride, no matter how tired, take at least 10 minutes, up to 40 minutes, to run right afterward getting off the bike with as little transition time as possible. Teaching our muscles to run efficiently and fast after cycling requires physiologic and anatomic adjustment which can be trained and practiced and as we all know, practice makes perfect.

My progress has only continued to improve. Since my last entry I have run a half marathon (1:41) and a 12.6 mile mountain race, in which my team placed 1st out of 6 teams. The mountain race was 6.3 miles uphill (2500' gradient) and then 6.3 downhill.

I have also begun training for the Crow Pass marathon at the end of July. This marathon covers some of the roughest terrain Alaska has to offer and goes from sea level to well above 3000' during the race. The race includes a river crossing and traverses terrain inhabited by bears, moose, and other Alaska wildlife.

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