Learning as I go…the importance of proper nutrition

So – here I am trying to inform some people out there about the about the importance of good nutrition and I go and make a huge blunder of my own.

I had a run planned for this morning  ( that’s is me in the photo by the way!) – 16km – quite a long distance for me. I’m not a professional runner that’s for sure. I only run once or twice a week – sometimes…maybe!  According to all the runners blogs out there I should have fueled up on carbs last night eating no later than 7 pm or so,get up this morning and have an oatmeal or banana breakfast, make sure I’m properly hydrated …and run. Simple.

Not so simple…I stalled out at about the 5km mark – I just ran out of steam. My wife was riding along side of me cheering me on and feeding me water but my tank was empty. I felt great at the beginning – legs were strong  and I was  well rested. But I couldn’t keep running. I pushed on to about 9  km and then walked / ran the rest of the way home…somewhat P.O’ed and confused. I needed to think.

I showered and then my lovely wife Thai and I headed up to the Terra Cotta Conservation Area for a leisurely walk to relax a little.  Half way down the trail…hello…raspberries… all over the place. Sweet, young, juicy, wild raspberries. I ate more than my fill enjoying natures offerings. The we took a dip in a nice little lake to cool off. Maybe the berries helped me think a little more clearly and I began to review my diet over the last 48 hours. It wasn’t pretty. I knew where I went wrong. Wrong food – wrong time. So we came back home with a great finish to a day that started out quite rough.

Point of today’s entry? Lesson learned! Practice what I preach and remember the importance of proper nutrition taken in at the right times.

I’m still learning as I go…but that’s a good thing, don’t you think?

A little more tuning up and I do the Toronto Ten Miler – my first official run…I’ll keep you posted.

Until then – eat well – stay well.

Doug