nutrition really matters

This week I had a bad run day and a good run day.  And I think that it all centered around being nutritionally ready to run.  On the day prior to the bad run, I didn't fuel myself properly and I definitely did not fuel myself as I should have on the day of.  And I could really tell that I didn't have any juice.

On Wednesday I had a goal of doing 12 miles - but due to other commitments I was going to have to split it into two runs.  I also had the idea that since I was splitting up the run that I would do more than 12.  But for reasons that I can't fathom, on Tuesday I didn't eat balanced meals (carbs/proteins).  In fact, for some reason I was very protein intensive (but I did end the day with some totally awesome, over the top good, smoked ribs compliments of my neighbor!) .  Prior to my Wednesday run, I did a goo pack and took off with a goal of doing 7 miles prior to breaking for an appointment.  But despite the fact that it was a beautiful day, cool, no wind, sunny, I never found my rhythm, I was constantly struggling for juice.  At mile 2, I sucked down another goo and forced myself to finish 5 miles.  And to make matters worse, I felt totally fatigued for the rest of the day.  I never made it to the second part of the run.  This was bad because I was slightly behind in my training schedule for the AA marathon.

But the one thing I did on Wednesday was eat. In fact it occurred to me that I was eating more than usual. Small portions, and all leaning towards carb-heavy.  But I ate. I even went out and had a few beers that evening (I had taken myself off beer because I thought that it was adding pounds on me that I didn't need).

Thursday morning I had a whole wheat English muffin and after 90 minutes hit the road.  And I had a great 10+ mile run.  I did 5 miles on flat terrain, goo'ed up, and then did 5 hilly miles.  The hills were hard, but the work out felt great.  And I felt strong afterwards.  I even toyed with the idea of doing an extra 2 hill miles, but decided that sanity needed to take charge.  Let's not get ahead of myself....

Bottom line:  pre-run nutrition is so important.  And it's not just the day-of, it's also about the day-before.  And the day before that, and so on.  I'm slowly figuring it out.

This weekend is the Sham-Rock 10K
10 weeks to the DexAnnArbor HM
12 weeks to the AA Marathon