12 Miles

This morning we did our long run since it's a holiday weekend and will be traveling over the weekend. We started bright and early at 5:45 am. My biggest issue these days is my gut and how much it hurts on long runs. I did quite a bit of research online and here are some findings from the mayo clinic:

Often, simple dietary changes can help prevent runner's diarrhea:

• At least one day before running, limit or avoid fiber and gas-producing foods, such as beans, bran, fruit and salad. If you run every day, experiment to find a tolerable level of fiber. Otherwise, simply eat high-fiber and gas-producing foods after you run.
• At least one day before running, limit or avoid sweeteners called sugar alcohols — most often found in sugar-free candies, gum and ice cream.
• For three to six hours before running, limit or avoid caffeine and high-fat foods.
• For at least two hours before running, don't eat anything at all.
• Before, during and after running, drink plenty of fluids. Dehydration can lead to diarrhea. Avoid warm liquids, however, which can speed food through the digestive tract.
• While running, use caution with energy gel and energy bars. In some people, these products can contribute to diarrhea.
• If you're lactose intolerant, switch to lactose-reduced or lactose-free milk and milk products.

So this morning before my run I didn't eat and wore my fuel belt with 20 oz. of water. I drank lots of extra water yesterday afternoon and night. I felt good on the run and didn't cramp up at all during the run. I felt great all the way and strong at the finish. I did have some "issues" after the run but not as bad as my last run so maybe it's helping.

We ran it nice a easy around a 10 min/mile pace. I took 3 endurolytes before we started, did an accelGel (no caffeine) at mile 4.5 and shot bloks at mile 8. I drank all 20 oz of water. I forgot to drink a recovery drink and didn't have time to do an ice bath.

I'm feeling a bit tired and I'm sure I'll need to stretch really good tonight.

10 Secrets of the Effortlessly Thin

I liked this article.

Here is the summary with my comments on the side:

1. They don’t diet (I usually don't diet - only after a baby)
2. They keep track of their weight (I always know about what I weigh)
3. They exercise regularly (definitely - I LOVE exercising)
4. They don’t solve problems with food (nope I use shopping to solve my problems)
5. They stop eating when they are full (I'm pretty good at this)
6. They don’t surround themselves with temptation (I try to keep good food in the house)
7. They allow themselves treats (oh heck yeah)
8. They eat breakfast (I have to eat breakfast cause I'm starving after 6:00 am workouts)
9. They move, stand and fidget more (I am a fidgety person)
10. They don’t skip meals (I'm usually too hungry to skip meals, but I do it sometimes)

The Weekend

Dieting over the weekend is sooooo hard. Saturday I went on a 3 hour bike ride (up southfork) and it was so much fun to be back out on my bike. Then I was running errands all day so it was hard to keep on top of preparing and eating healthy snacks and meals. It took quite a bit of extra effort but I managed to eat healthy meals and just skipped my snacks.

Yesterday was a totally different story. We have church at 1:00 so we slept in ate a yummy scrambled egg breakfast late, skipped lunch, hate a small snack when we got home from church (which took a while because the minivan battery died so we walked the half mile home) then went to my brother's house for dinner. Sunday dinners are a big deal to us and we love being with the family. Dinner consisted of hamburgers (off the grill...yummy), pasta salad, and fruit salad (which Kami left the yummy whipping cream off part of it for us). Rather than gorge ourselves like we normally would on such a delicious dinner we just ate normal portion sizes. Then my SIL made dutch oven peach cobbler with ice cream. Rather than suffer watching everyone else eat it I had a smaller (not too small though) portion and it was DELICIOUS!!!

So this morning I decided to do a extra weigh-in just to check the damage and I was the same weight as I was on Friday and when Todd did his check he was actually down another pound. So I guess our small cheat wasn't too bad after all.