Take It And Run Thursday - Eat This, Not That

The theme of this week's "Take it and Run Thursday," brought to us by the good people at The Runner's Lounge, is "Eat This, Not That," a nutrition guide for runners!

This is a pretty timely post for me, as I'm struggling with a lot of things right now in the realm of diet and fitness -- as you all know (ad nauseum, ad infinitum), I've started a new job, one that took me away from my leisurely "work at home" lifestyle (translation: gym at 10, yoga at noon, dog park by 2 PM), and squashed my feet into uncomfortable shoes 5 days a week.

(I'm kinda kidding about the shoes, but kinda not -- it's been 5 years since I wore heels or dress shoes everyday, and hot damn, my feet are sore and tired ALL the time).

It's also meant major changes in my dietary habits -- I've been following Weight Watchers for as long as I can remember, but in the past few years, my lifestyle had become active enough that I could slide by a bit without paying as much attention to the quantities of food I was eating: I'd conditioned my habits to the point of automatic healthy choices 80% of the time ("80% broccoli, 20% pizza and beer," as I like to say), so quitting at the point of satisfaction was pretty easy -- and the calorie burn was high. I was always caught up on laundry, housework, and errands, so it took very little motivation to get to the gym, the running trails, or the yoga studio.

But NOW... things are very different. And while I think I'm doing a pretty good job of maintaining the status quo, given the lifestyle change, I'm not making a DENT in the 30 lbs I'd like to lose. Super frustrating. I've found that if I "automate" breakfast, lunch, and snacks, I do really well... but it's the notion of making dinner, in my hot little house, after a long work day, that I'm struggling with. Baby steps, and I know I'll get there (it's all about preparation, frankly), but Age 31 seems to have stolen my metabolism and run away with it, so I'm dealing with a great deal of frustration in the world of ill-fitting pants.

Le Sigh.

But this isn't supposed to be about weight loss, it's supposed to be about running, so here are my tips:

• Most importantly -- if you are training for an event, don't do anything different on race day than you've done the night before / morning of your long runs.


• During the course of your training, experiment with diffent dinners and breakfasts to see what gives you the most energy.


• Take note of the little things: for example, I like to pre-treat with some advil before a long run (especially right now, but more on that in a bit), but advil often gives me heartburn, which is further exacerbated by the act of running -- so it's and advil and Pepcid partnership before my long runs, unless I want to be in a world of hurt.


• A lot of energy products also give me heartburn, specifically, GU. So I don't use it. I do much better with sport beans, shot blocs, or Z-bar (or, frankly, a Snickers bar, if I could just find a way to keep it from melting!)


• What works for somebody else will not necessarily work for you. Every runner I know swears by Gu, but I can't stand it. My friend Jason, an elite athlete and physical therapist, told me "some people like a candy bar and a coke, and there's nothing wrong with that." I tend to like his suggestion. ;-)


• Too much fiber and too much protein sits in my stomach wrong. In the dietary world, I aim for high fiber, whole grains... eliminating as much refined sugar and processed foods as possible. But in the running world, that doesn't work: I end up feeling like I have a blob of Play-dough in my tummy, and that's no fun. My night before meals usually consist of a white (NOT whole grain) pasta with chicken or shrimp, a salad, and some bread.


• Any amount of booze, even one glass of wine, the night before a run completely takes the wind out of my sails.


• Water water water water water (the night before)


• Coffee, coffee (just two -- any more than that, and I'm dehydrated), the morning of a long run. I was amazed to discover the difference between a One Cup Run and a Two Cup Run.

So those are my tried and true suggestions, and I think they're pretty good ones -- I've had to change my diet for running, and change my running for my diet so many times over the past 5 years that I think it's pretty solid.

On an actual running note... training is not going well. My feet hurt ALL the time. I've been working out with Scary Trainer Liz, and yesterday we discovered a possible bone spur / tendonitis on my left acchiles tendon. It's not incredibly painful, but not exactly comfortable either. I like to say "it's definitely NOTICABLE." So we'll see. A week and 3 days before the half marathon, it's not a good feeling. I'm not "out" yet, but I'm not 100% "in" either, mentally or physically.

Off and (not) running,
~JessiferSeabs