Today’s Workout – Recovery
Total Mileage: 8.01 miles
Total Time: 1:16:05
Average Pace: 9:30 min/pace
I am quite impressed I continued my early morning workout again this morning. Today was more of a recovery day than anything else, but since I stick to the treadmill in the wee hours of the morning I opted for a small progression run to keep interesting.
Mile 1 – 9:41
Mile 2 – 9:31
Mile 3 – 9:23
Mile 4 – 9:05
Mile 5 – 8:57
Mile 6 – 8:49-8:41
Playing with the pace helps me keep my mind off the monotony of running on a treadmill and makes it go by much quicker.
The treadmill I run on early in the morning is in our “study/office” and since we have two cats that like to drive me nuts for food in the morning, I have to shut the door. After about 30 minutes it gets CRAZY hot in this room so every morning I get quite a good sweat session in.
I got home from work and decided to run 2 more miles SUPER easy and slow. My legs had been hurting throughout the day and I wanted to make sure they were recovered for my speed workout tomorrow morning.
I just ran an easy 2 miles at a 10:00 min pace followed by stretching and foam rolling.
Today I have been thinking a lot about fueling for running. I have never talked about it previously on the blog but I have had a hard relationship with food. Running in some ways complicates it because it really causes my appetite to go through the roof at times.
I have had to learn the hard lesson (10 added lbs) that even though you run a lot that doesn’t mean you can eat everything you want. The last time I ran a marathon I ate absolutely everything I felt like and when I felt like it, no second thoughts. I didn’t gain a whole lot of weight, but I didn’t get in the shape I needed to be in either.
This time around I am doing things differently. Yes, I give in some nights to foods that aren’t necessarily good for me – like last night I had a wonderful cup of frozen yogurt, my favorite food on the entire planet.
I make choices on what and when I eat foods. I don’t just eat for the sake of eating anymore, I eat at the best times and mostly choose the better foods to fuel my runs. I eat to help my body be the best and perform the best it possibly can.
The most important thing I’ve learned is that food is a balance. If you restrict everything you eat and never enjoy things you will be miserable and most likely you won’t perform optimally. You need to focus on finding a HEALTHY BALANCE and letting yourself enjoy things at times.
These are the rules I try to follow:
1. Eat primarily for fuel.
2. Eat at the right times.
3. Pick healthy choices.
4. Let yourself have a treat now and then.
5. Don’t obsess.
They are simple rules, but they really help me find a great life balance when it comes to fueling and eating.
What is your favorite food to eat to fuel your runs?
In the past I’ve always fueld with cliff gels, shotbloks, nuun, and Cliff mojo bars. Lately, I’ve been eating a mocha cliff gel and water before running in the morning. On my last longer run I couldn’t get down the mojo around mile 7 and ended up eating an entire package of shotbloks which were great. I’m still figuring out what foods are best during the run. I love a big bowl of oatmeal with almond milk before running too for long weekend runs. Great job again!
I began training for my first half and then subsequent marathon this year, I read so much about “Watch what you eat as even though the miles are high….” and yeah, didn’t listen. DIdn’t gain a lot which was fine but you do expect to lose more weight when you are doing so much miles!
Yes I know the feeling! It is so hard though when you are putting in the miles because your appetite can be all over the place! Good luck on your marathon if you haven’t already ran it! Thanks for stopping by! 🙂