AMMAN, Jordan -- After 16 hours without food or water, Moath al-Khawaldeh laces up pink training shoes and begins working up a sweat sprinting across a track in the Jordanian capital of Amman. Junior Seau Jersey .Running slower than his 4:19 mile best, al-Khawaldeh grimaces on the final lap and looks to the golden sky of sunset.The 27-year-old is on a multiyear quest to run in the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.With guidance from nutritionists and coaches in Jordan and the U.S., the runner follows a training program that has lowered his body fat, cut his marathon time by 15 minutes and has enabled him to train while fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.I forget that Im fasting and I just do it, he said. I feel that Ramadan is a one-month marathon.Believers abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk in one of Islams central tenets. Fasting aims to remind Muslims of the hunger pains of the poor.Al-Khawaldeh said fasting also builds mental strength.God will never change a person who hasnt changed themselves, he said, quoting the Muslim holy book, or Quran. For him training, or making the best of ones ability, is a form of faith just like fasting.Fasting for a month changes sleep cycles, body temperature, hormone and blood sugar levels -- all of which can reduce athletic performance if not properly handled, said Asma Aloui, an associate professor at Gafsa University in Tunisia.Her research on fasting athletes playing soccer and judo suggests that those who drink enough water, eat, sleep and train properly can maintain their speeds and strength.A starving body absorbs food differently as it adapts to a lack of minerals, nutrients and water, said al-Khawaldehs nutrition coach Aseel al-Saleh.After a few days of fasting, an athletes body switches quickly into deficiency mode to build up fat reserves, al-Saleh said in her office at DNA, a fitness center in Amman.The funny thing about human physiology is that it cant differentiate between dietary restriction and starvation. It just cant, it shuts down, she said.On the road to Tokyo, Al-Khawaldeh cant afford catabolism, or muscle loss, so he and al-Saleh crafted an athletes Ramadan diet.Instead of five small meals a day, he switched to eating the holy months traditional two meals loaded with vegetables, lean protein and nutritional supplements like omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, fish oil and branch-chain amino acids.During the day, he works as a program officer for the Jordanian peace-building nonprofit Generations for Peace. He naps after work, then rises for the first training session, which ends with the sundown call to prayer -- the signal that its time to eat.Al-Khawaldeh eats a few dates and drinks water at the track, then heads home to a sufra, or Ramadan table laden with foods selected to recover nutrients and hydration lost during the days fast.At the post-sundown meal, or iftar, he typically eats chicken on brown rice and steamed vegetables and washes it down with a smoothie of skim milk, dates, bananas, almonds and protein powder.The meal contains easily digested nutrients and proteins, while the second meal, suhour, eaten before sunrise contains slow-burning proteins.People often gain weight during Ramadan because the days hunger drives many to gorge on fatty foods and sugary drinks, said al-Saleh, the nutrition coach. Many also cut sleep to enjoy social gatherings often surrounded by calorie-heavy snacks.But Al-Khawaldeh interprets Ramadans tradition to his advantage with a support network of people helping him eat, sleep, hydrate and train safely.Two years ago, al-Khawaldeh began working with Lee Troop, a high performance coach at the Boulder Track Club in Colorado, a nonprofit running club and training center. At the time, he could run a marathons 42 kilometers or 26.2 miles in 2 hours and 40 minutes, but he needed to lower that to 2:18:59 to qualify for the Olympics.With Troops regimen and guidance, al-Khawaldeh got faster -- 2:33:36 in Vienna, 2:30:57 in Berlin and 2:27:35 in Hamburg. He still faces thousands of training miles over the next three years to try to shave nearly 10 more minutes off his time to get to Tokyo.Troop said the key to long-term success in long-distance running is determination and steady work. Al-Khawaldehs program during Ramadan left the runner leaner, but not faster, yet the mental exercise of fasting is preparing him well for Tokyo, the coach said.His work ethic is second to none, Troop said. Hes been very resilient and the key for success is that long-term development of every day, week, month and year.If al-Khawaldeh qualifies for Tokyo, he will be only the second Jordanian to ever run in the event, according to the Jordan Olympic Committees website.Jordan has competed in the Summer Olympics since 1980, mainly in skeet shooting and taekwondo. Five Jordanians will compete in martial arts, boxing and the triathlon in this years games in Brazil.The centerpiece of al-Khawaldehs Ramadan training is a midnight run, monitored and timed by Osama al-Qattan, 52, a Jordanian ultra-marathon runner.After a recent night session, al-Qattan drives while al-Khawaldeh relaxes in the backseat, sipping water and a protein shake. Running is 30 percent physical and 70 percent mental, the older runner said. And Moath has a strong will.Al-Khawaldeh said Ramadan is a welcome test of strength.Its a great feeling, the sense that you have that power in your body that you didnt know was there but comes out during Ramadan, he said. Philip Rivers Jersey . The deal is pending a physical, assistant general manager Bobby Evans said. Traded from Seattle to Baltimore on Aug. 30, Morse also can play first base and right field to give manager Bruce Bochy some flexibility in writing his lineup. Keenan Allen Jersey . -- Jimmie Johnson held off a teammate, passed a pair of Hall of Famers, and dominated once more at Dover. http://www.chargersauthenticshop.com/Chargers-Tyrell-Williams-Draft-Jersey/ .Y. -- Buffalo Bills coach Doug Marrone has drawn on his Syracuse connections once again by hiring Rob Moore to take over as receivers coach. BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- James Blackmon Jr. and the Indiana Hoosiers made quick work of overmatched Liberty.Blackmon made five 3-pointers and had 20 points to help No. 6 Indiana rout Liberty 87-48 on Saturday night.Indiana (3-0) scored the first nine points and built a 32-point lead in the first half.The game seemed like it lasted four days, Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. I cannot remember the start.Hoosiers coach Tom Crean sure did.The most important thing for us was to get off to a really good start defensively, he said.Liberty (1-2) tried to fight back with 3-pointers, but made it worse by continually missing. The Flames were 5 of 27 (18.5 percent) from beyond the arc, including 1 of 17 (5.9 percent) in the first half. Indiana finished 9 of 21 (42.9 percent).Thats one thing we wanted to definitely focus on, no matter who were playing, play like were us and not play to the opponent, said Blackmon, who is averaging 23 points and has 14 3-pointers.Robert Johnson added 13 points for Indiana and OG Anunoby had 10 points and 11 rebounds, the first double-double of the sophomore forwards career. Anunobys energy was noticeable at both ends on back-to-back possessions when he blocked a shot three rows deep into the stands and then threw down a two-handed dunk off a rebound.Were not where we want to be, Anunoby said of the Hoosiers defense, but we know well get better.Crean had stressed the importance of rebounding before his Hoosiers seized a 55-20 advantage on the boards.Tonight, it was more about, `Lets get on the glass, Crean said. `Lets get on the glass offensively. Lets get on the glass defensively. Lets make sure our effort and energy is really good there.Crean thought his teams season-opening trip to Hawaii eight days ago had his players jet-lagged earlier in the week. The legs weere fresher against the Flames as the Hoosiers hounded Liberty into 26 turnovers. Kellen Winslow Jersey. We try to be disruptive in passing lanes and box out and just pressure the ball, Anunoby said.Libertys John Dawson, who entered with a team-best 14.5-point average, scored just two points on 1-of-7 shooting. No Liberty player scored in double digits.McKay was overly effusive in his praise of the Hoosiers.Indiana is really impressive, the coach said. I sat on an ACC bench the last six years and saw a lot of quality teams and Indiana is as good as I have seen in years.They have everything; size, depth, strength, skill, unselfishness. That is a terrific team.ADVANTAGE BY 3SIndiana has made 35 of 79 3-pointers (44.3 percent) with eight different players contributing at least one basket from long range. In addition to Blackmons 14, Johnson, Anunoby and Curtis Jones each have four. Hoosiers opponents have made just 21 of 71 3-pointers (29.6 percent).INDIANA CLASSICIndiana improved to 2-0 in its four-team tournament, which also includes UMass Lowell and Fort Wayne. The Hoosiers drubbed UMass Lowell 100-78 on Wednesday.BIG PICTURELiberty: The Flames have never knocked off a Top 25 team in 14 tries and have never defeated a Big Ten foe in four meetings, so its not as if they expected to pull off an upset. They can bounce back with two winnable home games.Indiana: Its all about staying perfect against inferior competition as the Hoosiers inch closer to a Nov. 30 home showdown against No. 5 North Carolina.UP NEXTLiberty: Host UMass Lowell on Monday.Indiana: At Fort Wayne on Tuesday.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25 Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys NFL Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Authentic Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Cheap NFL Black Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys Throwback Wholesale Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale Stitched Jerseys ' ' '