diet

Tammi and I were going to run a local 5k today, but at a $25 sign-up fee we decided against it.  For a local race in a local office park, with no bells and whistles and no technical T-shirt, it wasn't worth the price of half a week's groceries.  So I did a 20 miler instead, and for the first time in a while, felt great.  I credit the extra sleep this last week, the improved diet, and last Monday's trip to the gym. 

My body beat and my mind frayed from a bunch of conference-related activities, the weather cloudy and rainy and dark, I shifted my running to the evening last week and slept in.  I also ran less.  I needed the break.   Avoiding baked goods, sweets, and refined grains over the past four weeks has also improved my running, keeping my energy levels even, and leading me to replace those empty calories with whole grain bread, lots of potatoes (but pasta, because it's refined and becauase we're still pasta'ed out, is out), more fruit, and more protein.  Nutrition matters, I guess.  Finally, I went to the gym Monday for lifting and stretching, and after I got over the initial soreness, it made me more limber and made me feel like I had more control of my body when running. 

The diet control and supplementary work is a big step for me and frankly, I'm proud that I've been able to do it.  For so long, I didn't want to think about diet or any supplementary fitness; I just wanted to run and get it out of the way, and continue to believe that running was self-care enough, or that running allowed me to get away with ignoring other aspects of health.  Yes, you can run well on a crappy diet, but if you have a good diet you can run better.