Non-veg trail mix

May 30, 2008

One of the problems of fastpacking is having to carry the food needed to sustain your trip in addition to your equipment. The woods are full of ‘potential’ sustenance though and in the UK this year there is a growing interest in eating squirrels! Just think, the woods, and many yards, are full of them!

The following article recently appeared in the Daily Telegraph newspaper.

This summer, there’s only one dish to serve at dinner parties: squirrel.

Culinary delight: grey squirrel is becoming a vastly popular dish. Low in fat, the grey “tree rats” are seasonally available (between winter hibernations), sustainable (there are an estimated two million running around Britain) and easy on food miles, so they tick all the right green boxes. They’re also a patriotic meat to have on your plate - eat a grey squirrel and you’re improving the odds of the vastly outnumbered native reds. [Grey squirrels carry a virus known as Squirrel Pox that they are immune to, that sadly the native (to the UK)  Red Squirrel isn't]

I wanted to try squirrel for myself - but bringing Tufty to the table can be a time-consuming mission. The meat is selling faster than butchers can get it, not least because it is currently nesting season. Ever since Kingsley Village Butchers in Fraddon, Cornwall, began offering grey squirrel two months ago, it has shifted up to a dozen a day.

Normally, we Brits are almost uniquely squeamish about unfamiliar meat. Even during the food shortages of the Second World War, Ministry of Food recipes for squirrel soup and rook pie were broadly ignored, and horse meat only intermittently filtered on to the black market.

Mrs Tiggywinkle is safe for a while longer, if for no other reason than that coating a hedgehog in clay and burying it in the embers of an open fire is not the most convenient of urban culinary techniques.

Surely squirrels would be easy in comparison? My calls to some of the finest game butchers in London were countered by a sharp intake of breath (Mayfair), laddish mirth (Chiswick) and a promise to call me back from Holland Park (they didn’t). The redoubtable Oxford butcher Fellers offered to send out a huntsman especially, but that seemed rather excessive - and my budget certainly wasn’t up to it.

I began to salivate at the sight of a happy couple of squirrels cavorting in my tiny inner-city garden, and was transfixed by squirrel traps on the web. Never had the old cookery book directive “First, catch your hare” carried quite such force. Leaping to the rescue came Kingsley Village Butchers, the butchers who had started the trend.

After just a couple of calls, they dispatched three West Country squirrels, packed in ice and sent by special courier to the capital - instantly transforming them into the most expensive rodents in Britain.

As for recipes, the internet is stuffed with instructions: braised squirrel with watercress, squirrel pasty, fricassée, tandoori… One particularly recherché suggestion was for nettle ravioli with squirrel and wild mushroom filling.

My 1961 copy of the Thirties American classic The Joy of Cooking suggested stuffing and roasting them - recipes that hung optimistically between those for opossum and bear.

There were also diagrams for skinning squirrel - one foot braced down on the tail while the fur is peeled away with both hands, rather like pulling the water-logged wellies off a toddler. This gave me pause; even dedicated foodie as I am, I began to falter. So I enlisted the assistance of Simon Cherry - all-round good game cook and owner of the Carpenter’s Arms in west London, which has just been named best gastropub in the new Good Food Guide for London.

Despite spotting an intriguing recipe for Peking duck-style squirrel pancakes, we decided to try out a more straightforward squirrel and bacon casserole, courtesy of Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s A Cook on the Wild Side. I also saved a few slivers for Thomasina Myers’s recipe for squirrel popcorn.

Squirrel flesh is mostly on the back legs, and the saddle is so lean as to be almost fleshless, so you’ll need a fair few to feed a family. At £3 to £4 [Converts to approximately $6 fto $8] for one, the shop-bought variety is hardly an obvious answer to keeping the lid on an escalating grocery bill.

But it’s easy to joint, and Hugh’s casserole, with onion, garlic, parsley, stock and white wine, seemed to possess an appropriate rural simplicity. Once done, it was sweet, aromatic, hardly “gamey” in the slightest, and the meat was pleasingly un-rubbery.

As for squirrel popcorn - slivers of meat dipped in soy, then arrowroot, fried in vegetable oil and lightly scattered with crushed fennel seed, allspice, salt and fresh sage - let’s just say the results did not look good. But they proved unexpectedly delicious: softly puffed, lightly crunchy, tender and aromatic.

If it weren’t so fiddly to get so little flesh off the carcass, it could rival any drinks party nibble.

The only problem for me however, is that I don’t eat meat- I wonder how long it will be before squirrel flavored tofu hits the shelves!

On another note of interest to anyone who frequents the trails during mosquito season, researchers in Florida have discovered that N-acylpiperidines which are related to the active ingredient in pepper appear to be an effective mosquito repellent. Their research is still at an early stage but it could be a practical alternative to the more traditional Deet.

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Posted by mrbimble

Downhill running

May 29, 2008

This morning I awoke to start my fifth decade, to some a perhaps depressing thought, but what the heck you can’t go through life trying to be like King Canute. This past year though I’ve definitely noticed that training to try and maintain consistency has become harder, not in a negative sense, just that my body definitely adapts at a slower pace. Digging around the internet, I stumbled across an article that studied endurance performance in masters athletes.

Abstract

Masters athletes are typically older than 35 years of age and systematically train for, and compete in, organized forms of sport specifically designed for older adults. They are motivated to participate in masters sport for a wide variety of reasons. Age-related declines in endurance performance are observed across the endurance sports of running, orienteering, rowing, and swimming. These declines are curvilinear from age 35 years until approximately age 60 - 70 years and exponential thereafter.
The decline in endurance performance appears primarily due to an age-related decrease in VO2max secondary to an age-related decrease in HRmax and possible age-related declines in stroke volume and arteriovenous oxygen difference. While performance velocity at lactate threshold decreases with age in masters endurance athletes, it appears to increase relative to VO2max while exercise economy is maintained. There also appears an age-related decrease in active muscle mass, type II muscle fiber size, and blood volume that contribute to decreased endurance performance. However, research suggests that maintenance of training intensity and volume into older age may mediate the rate of age-related decline in VO2max, stroke volume, arteriovenous oxygen difference, blood volume, and muscle mass in masters endurance athletes.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the current research suggests that age-related reductions in endurance performance observed in masters athletes are primarily related to age-related decreases in VO2max secondary to age-related decreases in HRmax, lactate threshold velocity, blood volumes, and muscle mass.
However, the age-related declines in endurance performance and its physiological determinants appear to be mediated by a reduction in the intensity and volume of training commonly observed in masters endurance athletes.

 OK, so maybe the outcome is no surprise, but some of the details are interesting and the decline in motivation to train because of life’s other pressures is definitely a reality many older athletes have to deal with. To admit a lack of motivate can be regarded as negative, so perhaps it is fairer to call it changing priorities. On the other hand, for all of you glass half full runners out there, while athletic performance might seem to be downhill from here on, at least there aren’t any major up hills to contend with!

6 Comments | Anecdotes, Health, Racing, Training | Permalink
Posted by mrbimble

Why?

May 28, 2008

Came across this quotation today. Anyone training from a long event must, at some stage during their training, questioned why or what they are doing mile after mile. I know I have.

You have to wonder at times what you’re doing out there. Over the years, I’ve given myself a thousand reasons to keep running, but it always comes back to where it started. It comes down to self-satisfaction and a sense of achievement.

Steve Prefontaine

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Recharge the batteries

May 27, 2008

It’s back to work after the long Memorial Day weekend. After a hectic week it was a treat to be invited to join friends for a few days on Cape Cod. The highlight of the trip was a New England Clam Bake where clams, lobsters, corn and potatoes were to be baked in a pit lined with hot stones and seaweed. The process stared early in the morning and the results were tasty even though we did have to ‘finish’ off most of the food on a stove afterwards. Baking on hot stones isn’t as easy as it might sound and while there was a hint of disappointment that the bake didn’t produce fully cooked food, for a first attempt I suspect it will be tried again and I certainly recommend it. The day was a lot of fun.

Although this was a vacation, there was ‘no rest for the wicked’ , so for a long run I looped a lakeside trail in Nickerson State Park. The trip was my first to Cape Cod and I was impressed at just how spectacular the region is. The trail followed a challenging trail that circumnavigated a number of small crystal clear freshwater lakes. A few fishermen were also out in the early morning sunshine but otherwise the place was quiet. For a little under 4 hours I looped the same course, soaking up the peace and warm sunshine, my pace was steady and relaxed. On Sunday we took to the roads, just a short circuit around the neighborhood stopping briefly at an historic cemetery where the retains of victims from a small pox outbreak in 1776 lie, the small collection of slate headstones are tucked away in woodland and now preserved as an historic monument. Yesterday we did take a break and walked on the vast sands overlooking Cape Cod Bay; where I have never seen such large unbroken stretches of sand beach.

The drive home was perhaps, a little longer than we would have liked, but it had been a restful experience and a welcome recharge for tired batteries.

No Comments » | Adventure, Anecdotes, Food, Training | Permalink
Posted by mrbimble

You are what you eat

May 26, 2008

Go one admit it, you enjoy eating the ‘bad stuff’ now and again. Why not, the saying, ‘a little of what you fancy does you good’ is true, it is just that too many people indulge the urge a little too often. An active life style also calls for greater care to attention in what you eat if you want to maintain the lifestyle or ‘go the extra mile’. The following article was featured in the New York Times last week.

By now, most people know they should be eating more vegetables. But are there ways to get more from the vegetables you already eat? A growing body of research shows that when it comes to vegetables, it’s not only how much we eat, but how we prepare them, that influences the amount of phytochemicals, vitamins and other nutrients that enter our body. The benefits are significant. Numerous studies show that people who consume lots of vegetables have lower rates of heart disease, diabeties, hypertension, eye problems and cancer. The latest dietary guidelines call for 5 to 13 servings — that is two and a half to six and a half cups a day. For a person who maintains her weight on a 2,000-calorie-a-day, this translates into nine servings, or four and a half cups a day, according to the Harvard School of Public Health. But how should they be served?

Surprisingly, raw and plain vegetables are not always best. In The British Journal of Nutrition next month, researchers will report a study involving 198 Germans who strictly adhered to a raw food diet, meaning that 95 percent of their total food intake came from raw food. They had normal levels of vitamin A and relatively high levels of beta carotene. But they fell short when it came to lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes and other red-pigmented vegetables that is one of the most potent antioxidants. Nearly 80 percent of them had plasma lycopene levels below average.

“There is a misperception that raw foods are always going to be better,” says Steven K. Clinton, a nutrition researcher and professor of internal medicine in the medical oncology division at Ohio State University. “For fruits and vegetables, a lot of times a little bit of cooking and a little bit of processing actually can be helpful.”

The amount and type of nutrients that eventually end up in the vegetables are affected by a number of factors before they reach the plate, including where and how they were grown, processed and stored before being bought. Then, it’s up to you. No single cooking or preparation method is best. Water-soluble nutrients like vitamins C and B and a group of nutrients called polyphenolics are often lost in processing. For instance, studies show that after six months, frozen cherries have lost as much as 50 percent of anthocyanins, the healthful compounds found in the pigment of red and blue fruits and vegetables. Fresh spinach loses 64 percent of its vitamin C after cooking. Canned peas and carrots lose 85 percent to 95 percent of their vitamin C, according to data compiled by the University of California, Davis.

Fat-soluble compounds like vitamins A, D, E and K and the antioxidant compounds called carotenoids are less likely to leach out in water. Cooking also breaks down the thick cell walls of plants, releasing the contents for the body to use. That is why processed tomato products have higher lycopene content than fresh tomatoes. In January, a report in The Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry concluded that over all, boiling was better for carrots, zucchini and broccoli than steaming, frying or serving them raw. Frying was by far the worst..

Still, there were tradeoffs. Boiling carrots, for instance, significantly increased measurable carotenoid levels, but resulted in the complete loss of polyphenols compared with raw carrots.

That report did not look at the effects of microwaving, but a March 2007 study in The Journal of Food Science looked at the effects of boiling, steaming, microwaving and pressure cooking on the nutrients in broccoli. Steaming and boiling caused a 22 percent to 34 percent loss of vitamin C. Microwaved and pressure-cooked vegetables retained 90 percent of their vitamin C.

What accompanies the vegetables can also be important. Studies at Ohio State measured blood levels of subjects who ate servings of salsa and salads. When the salsa or salad was served with fat-rich avocados or full-fat salad dressing, the diners absorbed as much as 4 times more lycopene, 7 times more lutein and 18 times the beta carotene than those who had their vegetables plain or with low-fat dressing.

Fat can also improve the taste of vegetables, meaning that people will eat more of them. This month, The American Journal of Preventive Medicine reported on 1,500 teenagers interviewed in high school and about four years later on their eating habits. In the teenage years, many factors influenced the intake of fruits and vegetables. By the time the study subjects were 20, the sole factor that influenced fruit and vegetable consumption was taste. Young adults were not eating vegetables simply because they didn’t like the taste.

“Putting on things that make it taste better — spices, a little salt — can enhance your eating experience and make the food taste better, so you’re more likely to eat vegetables more often,” Dr. Clinton said. Because nutrient content and taste can vary so widely depending on the cooking method and how a vegetable is prepared, the main lesson is to eat a variety of vegetables prepared in a variety of ways. As Susan B. Roberts, director of the energy metabolism laboratory at the Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition, put it, “Eating a variety of veggies is especially important so you like them enough to eat more.”

 

2 Comments | Anecdotes, Food, Health, Training | Permalink
Posted by mrbimble

Subject of interest

May 23, 2008

The Western States Endurance Run will be supporting two medical research studies this year.

Study #1: Examining the Effects of Body Composition and Body Fluid Changes on Exercise Performance

All participants in the WS100 2008 event are welcome to be a part of a research study conducted by the UC Davis Sports Medicine Program. Participation is completely voluntary and you are not required to participate. There will be no written informed consent to sign at the event and each participant will be identified only by their race number.

What will be tested?

  • Body Composition: The use of a bioelectric impedence device made by ImpediMed (www.impedimed.com) will be used for this procedure. You will lie down on a mat and several tape electrodes will be placed on your arms, legs, hands and feet. These electrodes will be connected to the ImpediMed device by wire leads and a very small current (the size of a flashlight battery), will be conducted between the electrodes. This will allow the device to calculate your percent body fat and body water content. We will also make electrical measurements of your legs to determine the amount of muscle mass in your legs.
  • Body Height and Weight: Standard scales and devices will be used to calculate your height and weight.
  • Thigh and Calf circumference: Tape measures will be used to measure the size of both of your thighs and calves and relate these measurements to your leg muscle mass.
  • We also encourage you to get the post race blood draw offered by the race medical staff so we can relate body fluid changes to blood sodium levels as a way to measure if you took in enough fluids.

The information gathered before the race will be used to correlate with your race finish results. This will allow us to give conclusions about the body composition of competitive and successful trail ultra-endurance runners, which has not been done in the past. This may lead to explanations for why ultra-endurance trail running athletes have different types of bodies than other running athletes and may lead to training guidelines for the future. The information will also help us determine how many athletes drink the right amount of liquids to prevent fluid related illnesses.

For participation in the research study you will receive a race research T-shirt and will be given a copy of your results immediately after the measurements.

Study #2: Examination of Cardiac Function following a 100 Mile Running Race

A depression in cardiac function has been observed in trained individuals following prolonged endurance exercise. In addition a number of studies have shown that cardiac stress proteins are released following prolonged exercise, and that blood pressure control is also altered. Following on from our data collection in 2007 this year’s study is designed to examine whether the depression in cardiac function and the release of cardiac stress proteins is related to age.

Participants will be those volunteering and each of the following procedures will be performed the day prior to the race, and where indicated, again on immediate completion of the race and once more during the recovery period (4-6 hrs following race completion). Runners must be able to attend at least the first and second testing sessions, abstain from alcohol during the 12 hours before testing and be aged between 18 and 60.

What will be tested?

  • Pre-race questionnaire and informed consent (pre-race).
  • Anthropometric measurements: height, age (pre-race) weight (pre-race, post-race and during recovery).
  • Assessment of resting blood pressure using an inflatable rubber cuff and stethoscope (pre-race, post-race and during recovery).
  • Non-Clinical cardiac examination (echocardiography): this uses ultrasound technology to enable a non-invasive and painless assessment of cardiac function. During this examination you will be required to lie on a bed in a resting state (~10 minutes in duration) (pre-race, post-race and during recovery).
  • During the cardiac examination heart rate will be monitored with an electrocardiogram (ECG. Sympathetic nervous system activity will be assessed non-invasively with heart rate variability (HRV) during rest periods at each testing session. HRV is a tool used for evaluating the relative contributions of the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches of the autonomic nervous system. 3 electrodes will be attached to the runner’s shoulders (2) and hip (1) while they lie resting on their back for 10 minutes.
  • Blood sampling: a small blood sample (10ml) will be collected from a vein in the forearm (this will be done in exactly the same way a physician would normally take a sample of blood) (pre-race, post-race and during recovery).

I’ve signed up - just hope my heart is still beating at the end!

1 Comment | Anecdotes, Health, Racing, Training | Permalink
Posted by mrbimble

Juggling

May 22, 2008

This week has been light on running time. Being away at a client site it is difficult to juggle time to allow sufficient opportunity to running. Long hours and a lack of local knowledge on places to go always deaden my motivation to a point where I’ll head out the door more because I ‘feel’ I should go, rather than a desire to run. I know that once back in familiar surroundings, I’ll quickly get back into a more active routine. The timing of this trip is unfortunate in the build up to Western States, but work is work and I don’t get much say in when contracts will be won. It has been interesting to have the chance to see a small part of Montana and I’d definately like to return and explore more, but I am looking forward to returning to CT and focus once more on a more regular routine.

1 Comment | Anecdotes, Environment | Permalink
Posted by mrbimble

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