I’m on day 11 of my fourth Whole30. And midway through
training for my 9th marathon. I just got back from a 15 mile run and
I think I’ve had a breakthrough.
I was worried heading out this morning because my last two
short runs sucked. I was following the Whole30 timeline to the letter. No
energy, heavy legs, just couldn’t do it. Everything I’d read on the forums had
me prepared to go out today and turn around after a few miles, and just wait a
few more days to try again, as most people reported the suck continuing until
week 2. I’d already played with my training plan, and that would’ve been ok. I
could adjust and still be ready for my marathon.
Somehow today was fine. A 20 degree drop in temperature from
yesterday helped. Eating potatoes yesterday probably helped. Drinking coconut
water with salt on the run may have helped. Finally sleeping through the night certainly helped. My legs felt good. I took a few
walk breaks, but ran pretty consistently at my training pace. My energy was
good. I had a larabar before I left home, and most of a sweet potato while I was
running, but was very hungry by the end and need to bring more food with me
next long run.
I came home and raided the fridge. Took out container after
container of leftovers and had a breakfast of egg salad (homemade mayo of
course!) on yellow pepper slabs, roast cauliflower, grapefruit, dates and
almonds. That’s when it hit me. There would be no treat after this long run.
In the past, the focus of training often wasn’t on the
training, but on where we’d go for brunch/beer after a long run, and then what
sugary baked good we’d pick up to have for a snack later in the afternoon (my favorite). I rewarded my long runs with food. I have two more long runs (17 and 19 miles) planned before I’m done with
this W30+ (I’m planning on 33 days – just the way my schedule is working out),
and I’m shifting my focus to what to eat to make the runs better, not what to
run to justify eating crap. I’m using these long runs as experiments to learn
what I need to eat and drink while I’m running now that I’m not using Gatorade
and Gu (lesson #1: need to bring MORE!). I’m just back to running after a bad
injury/surgery that somehow took 4+ years to rehab from, so my goal isn’t to
PR, but just to do the best I can do at 5 years older than I was when I ran my
last (PR) marathon. I’m really interested to see how eating right changes the
equation.
I’ve been home for a few hours now, and my legs feel good. Noticeably
better than they usually do after a long run. This might really work!
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