As race day draws ever closer, I have started focusing more on the run work and trying to make my legs stronger. My Color Manila Glitter Run experience showed me that I have the aerobic engine and can sustain a pace for an hour. For the next few weeks I will need to keep putting kilometers in these legs. As I told a friend, “I don’t want to hurt on race day.”
Long runs are important, but I never seem to be able to stay on a treadmill longer than an hour. That’s why I’ve decided that while my weekday runs will still be done on treadmills, I need to make time on the weekend for runs outdoors.
I did my first one on Saturday and did pretty well, although I miscalculated and ran out of water so I had to go back to my car to top up. It was nice to see a few familiar faces on the road, and runners greeting one another with a wave, a nod, or a smile. Although I was smashed at the end of it all, I know it was a good kind of tired — the kind I can use as a building block for my endurance.
(I completely neglected riding my bike last week. I keep swimming to keep my core strong and so that my upper body gets a workout!)
Meanwhile in other news, the weight on my scale has plateaued between 129 pounds and 132 pounds for the past four weeks (the difference is water weight). It’s high time I took a closer look at how much I eat and when I eat.
I’ll take the infographic above from Manulife MOVE as a starting point in my nutrition. It’s not just about percentages, but also timing. I find that when I consume my carbs before a training session I feel a lot better and can push harder. Higher protein content in the post-workout meal then helps with recovery.
Coming from being overweight I know my metabolism is actually on the low end of normal for my size and body type, so it means I am more prone to storing excess calorie consumption as fat. I also eat a lot of my calories at night, instead of before training sessions when my body actually needs the energy. Yikes. So I will be keeping a closer eye on my nutrition in the next four weeks, eating mindfully for fueling and recovery.
