Monday, August 25, 2014

Eat. Eat well and often.


I’ve learned not to underestimate the value of a good meal anymore.
Since upping my mileage (initially, at least), I found myself lagging in energy. So much so, that it concerned me quite a bit. Had I signed up for my current hunnerd too soon? Was I pushing so hard that my body couldn’t keep up? Was I too old to try to run what I want to run?
I think the problem was something so simple that I overlooked.
I’ve never been much of an eater, but my routine used to be:
·         No breakfast

·         Lunch

·         Workout

·         Dinner
...and work, of course.
The funny thing is that I didn’t change it because I thought it would help with my lack of energy/running. Instead, I changed it because it started getting too late to eat by the time I'd get home after my workouts. 
My routine now is very simple…if I’m hungry, I eat, and it has made all the difference in the world. After changing my eating habits by eating when hungry, I've had a lot more energy. I've even been able to do back to back 2-a-day workouts while going at it hard, and even doing crazy mileage on back to back days. This was unheard of for me.
I thought about this yesterday that I had 6 meals. Yes, 6. This might be an exceptionally high amount because I'd run 25 miles the day before. Normally, I've noticed that I'll just eat about 4...or so. That's not including snacking, of course, 'cause there's gotta be snacks.
So, my advice to those running/working out: Eat. Eat well and often. You just might notice a big change.