Fuel and Fretting

Today's Take it and Run Thursday question is:

It's the morning of your weekly long run... what do you eat and why?

I'm STILL trying to figure this out. I feel like I run out of fuel so fast. Additionally, I'm a really salty sweater so I think that makes me hit the wall even with taking fuel mid-run. Typically, I eat a whole wheat English muffin with crunchy peanut butter and dried cranberries. I try to follow that up with a granola or energy bar shortly before I actually start my run if I ate the English muffin more than an hour before.

I've also tried the oatmeal with tons of add-ins (almond butter, honey, nuts, dried fruit), but it doesn't always work.

I'm definitely not one of those people who can just grab a banana and a glass of water and call it pre-run fuel. My metabolism is pretty fast so by the time I get up in the morning I've fairly well digested all of my dinner. I've tried running in the morning without eating and I tend to get cold sweats or feel super dizzy after I'm done.

So, yeah, still working on the perfect fuel.

Speaking of how things make me feel (yeah, that was a crappy segue), I took my first yoga class last night at the Y.



I'm generally a very tense person, so there were some times during the class that I felt as though I should be relaxing more than I was. Our instructor really lets us take our time in each pose, though, so I was able to attempt to relax each part of my body. We did very basic mat exercises (such as the poses above) and she indicated that this isn't a very strenuous class but that we will be working harder by the end of the 8 weeks. Sadly, I don't think that doing yoga combined with rushing home to get dinner on the table before 9PM is really all that calming or centering or whatever yoga is supposed to be spiritually.

I feel strange (and a little guilty) for not doing any cardio on Wednesday nights. I've done some kind of cardio on Wednesdays for so long that I'm not used to not ending my day by dripping sweat. Also, even though my original plan was to run Thursdays at lunch to make up for it, I don't think that's going to happen very often. Here's hoping that swimming helps make up for it.

Speaking of which, my first swim lesson class is tonight. I'm stupidly nervous. Not that I'll be bad at it or anything. It's lessons; they're not expecting me to be any good. It's just that I have to get in a pool with a bunch of strangers to do something other than splash around and be silly. Also, I'm still not sure how to actually get TO the pool at the Y or whether or not my Speedo tank suit even still fits. Will I need goggles? Do I bring a beach towel or a regular towel? Will I need a swim cap? Probably should have thought about all those things before today, huh?