The Running Thread - 2016

[DVCFan1994]

Diet is extremely important in how we perform. You can't eat junk food all day every day and expect to go out and set a PR in a marathon. The higher the level of performance you want, the better your diet needs to be. I suppose that's why I'm not in any hurry to chase a BQ or a podium finish in a half-IM or IM. I'd have to give up my weekly champagne (or beer or wine) and pizza night, among other things, and life wouldn't be as enjoyable if that happened. That said, I do keep an eye on what I eat and avoid processed food, fast food joints, etc. My ideal running race weight is about 155-160 which is where I was for Comrades. My IM race weight will be about 165, a few pounds left to drop. As for guilty pleasures, I don't believe in them. If I want a beer, I'll have one, hard workout or not, though they do taste better after a few hours on the road or the bike.

This is me as well. I believe diet/nutrition is a very important aspect of overall fitness performance. But I love food (and wine) and see it as part of enjoying life. I am at a healthy weight, but I would be like to lose 5-8 pounds to get back to my goal weight - I lost ~40 pounds 7 years ago. I am guessing I would see some additional/more dramatic running improvements (if I COULD run ) if I lost more like 15 pounds, but I am not willing to watch every morsel I eat or sip of wine I drink. I do eat a mostly healthy diet that is high in protein, veggies and whole grains. But I also enjoy chocolate, ice cream, margaritas and wine. Life if too short to not enjoy the things I love. I enjoying running for what it is, I am racing more against myself and not looking for awards, so the extra weight loss is just not a high priority for me.

 

[roxymama]

ATTQOTD:
I've talked a bit about this in my journal off an on but last year my focus was just running and this year I've added diet into it. I knew I wouldn't keep up the running at first if I had to much pressure on me to do "everything" right. So now that running is routine, I'm working on the food part being routine. I've done the following:
1) Portion control. I only cook enough for one helping for each family member and the helpings are not large. Dinners range from 500-800 calories and are heavy in fresh ingredients...heavy in protein and veggies. We subscribed to blue apron to help along the "learning to eat better" and I'm using those skills to make some good things now even on nights without it. Read my journal at your own risk...I'm posting pictures of empanadas in a minute
2) I've been packing lunches at least 4 days a week. Easy fast food drive through is my weakness.
3) I've started watching "my shows" at lunch time at my desk instead of at night. This way I don't go out for food and it re-inforces #2 and I can just run at night during normal couch-time.
4) trying to reward myself with things that aren't food as much as possible. My journal people know that I don't get to watch the bachelor or bachelorette on Mondays unless I do my full long run on sundays. Do you know how much it sucks to see buzzfeed articles about the kicked off guy before I get a chance to watch it live all because I was too lazy to run? I've also used little things like painting my nails as rewards too.
5) this one is hardest...I'm starting to learn that I don't need rewards for being healthy. I ran...running was my reward for my day or work/whatever. I ate well...eating well was my reward for putting in the effort.
6) I can't go cold turkey on bad food...I still have to give in throughout the week but I can't let it take over completely because I will get lazy real quick.

My guilty pleasure? Ummmm...do I have time?
I do get to "pig out" on one thing the day of my race after I'm done. I've found the pigging levels to be decreasing as my stomach is getting smaller. I'm down 2-3 pants sizes depending on the store and my hubby is down over 50 lbs

We've graduated from 5k "run & die" to "10k & feel okay" because of this.

 

[dmross]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

ATTQOTD: I think diet is a key part to performance for any given run. To much or to little of anything can have a major impact on running without even realizing it. I learned a lot about proper nutrition when I was over weight and have been a little more relaxed since I hit a much more decent weight. Recently I started to watch what I eat again to try to go from 210 ish to 195. I am 6'-5" so at 210 I am not doing to bad, but dropping another 10-15 lbs would help a lot with running. Since I am unofficially starting marathon training while in the middle of a 5k (that isn't going perfect) I am changing up what I eat. My vice in the food world is Blue Bells, cookie and cream.

ATTQOTD: Fuel is key. I had a rough year because the busier I get at work the more my regular fueling falls aside, and then I just start shoving calories in my mouth to keep my blood sugar from dropping. I lived through two pregnancies with gestational diabetes (insulin and all) and I don't want to end up with Type II. On July 1 this year I fixed my fueling. I got professional help because sometimes even though you KNOW what to do, it gets jumbled up and is not clear. I've also changed my training significantly and if I'm going to get better at running, I will need to understand hydration and electrolytes and such. So we'll see if I can improve my running performance through steady careful fueling. Pulling out your phone to scan in some food in My Fitness Pal is not as fun as catching Pokemon, but I'm working with it. I love good crafted IPA's; I also like cheese and Lucky Charms.

Same here- it works!

ATTQOTD: I live by "Junk in = junk out." When I make poor eating choices for me, I feel poorly, whether I'm running or not. More good choices = feeling better all the time, so I mostly eat what makes me feel my best, which happens to be loads of veggies, whole grains, no red meat, full fat dairy products (except milk - can't stand the taste of anything but skim for some reason), and a small amount of things that have zero nutritional value but make me happy. Chronic hypoglycemia means no skipping snacks or meals, which, frankly, is a PITA: I need to always be carrying something to eat and I get sick of constantly thinking about and preparing food. I don't do anything special for short runs, but in the 24-48 hours before long runs, I try to reduce my intake of fiber (a challenge as a mostly vegetarian!) and increase carbs and sodium. Because a happy tummy makes for a more pleasant run and my primary goal in any run or race is to feel good! I don't reward myself with food, but I do seem to get cravings after especially long or hard runs - those are the handful of times per year I'll indulge in a cheeseburger, which normally sounds disgusting to me.

This is a great description! The goal for hyper- and hypoglycemia seems to be the same in a way: a steady level of blood sugar throughout the day/run with no dramatic dips and hills.

 

[Dis5150]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

When I decided to train for the WDW Marathon, I decided that losing the extra 10ish pounds that had crept on the past few years would help. Less body mass = faster runner? So back in March I did a round of Whole30. I lost around 5lbs and 9 inches in 30 days. Since finishing I have pretty much (80/20) kept to the eating plan. I cut out most wheat and sugar (and all soda) and cut way down on my dairy. It has helped me tremendously in my running! Obviously our bodies run better on better fuel, right? I eat better during the week and slack off a bit on the weekends. I am very boring in that I eat the exact same thing for breakfast and lunch every day, and eat whatever my mom fixes for dinner (she lives with us). The one food I tend to eat if I want to "reward" myself with something is chocolate. But once I eat sugar I start craving it so I try to not do that too often. I just weighed myself the other day for the first time since finishing my Whole30 round and was pleased to see that I had lost another few pounds without trying.

Of course when I go to Disney all that goes out the window!

 

[OldSlowGoofyGuy]

Looking at the discussion about medals clanging together got me thinking:
Would anyone else be interested in a Goofy or a Dopey challenge where you only got the challenge medal and shirt and not all the individual ones?
What if it saved you a couple of bucks on registration?
It's a little bit risky, because if you DNF on the marathon, you have nothing to show for the previous efforts.
I'm not trying to push this or suggesting it would happen, just curious.
I would be all for it. I don't wear the shirts that often (although I can't bring myself to get rid of them).
The medals are nice, but after the initial thrill, they just hang there, destined to be throw away by my survivors at some point in the (hopefully not near) future.

 

[roxymama]

Of course when I go to Disney all that goes out the window!

YES! Truer words have never been spoken!

 

[ebradley23]

ATTQOTD: I think everyone agrees that food impacts performance. That being said, I'm not out to win any of my races. I am a woman which means I'm on a perpetual diet of some sort. I run to be able to indulge occasionally. How strict I am with the number of occasional indulgences depends on my mindset. I haven't been very focused lately, so I'm up about 5 lbs from where I would be happy. We are on our way home from one vacation now and have our WDW vacation planned for Sept. Between now and then, I'm going to buckle down. I like to pre-lose 3-5 lbs before Disney, since I'm going to eat a ton there.

As for my training/race treats, I love sugar in all form. Especially donuts from a local donut shop called Sugar Shack. My MTT teammates recalled my affinity for the donuts during their most recent team social, so they sent my DH home with one for me. Maple bacon donut FTW!

 

[PrincessV]

The goal for hyper- and hypoglycemia seems to be the same in a way: a steady level of blood sugar throughout the day/run with no dramatic dips and hills.

Exactly! I've run several races with a friend who's diabetic - we're like yin and yang, lol! She's doing all she can to keep her glucose down, while I'm basically eating every 30 mins in an attempt to get mine back up.

Looking at the discussion about medals clanging together got me thinking:
Would anyone else be interested in a Goofy or a Dopey challenge where you only got the challenge medal and shirt and not all the individual ones?
What if it saved you a couple of bucks on registration?
It's a little bit risky, because if you DNF on the marathon, you have nothing to show for the previous efforts.
I'm not trying to push this or suggesting it would happen, just curious.
I would be all for it. I don't wear the shirts that often (although I can't bring myself to get rid of them).
The medals are nice, but after the initial thrill, they just hang there, destined to be throw away by my survivors at some point in the (hopefully not near) future.

Hmm... maybe... Normally, I am SO not medal-driven, so I do find the idea very appealing. But I'm pretty sure Goofy/Dopey wont' be an annual thing for me, so it's maybe the one time I actually want #allthenotsofreestuff lol! Let's assume it's optional for all challenges in our hypothetical - I'd be all over it for future challenges. What would really make it attractive would be extra medals at the finisher photo booths, so folks could don all of them for a photo, then give the "prop" medals back.

 

[FFigawi]

My reward for long runs or hard workouts is Chocolate milk

That's not a reward, that's a given. I have chocolate milk after nearly every workout because it's a great recovery drink.

 

[michigandergirl]

I've always been an "everything in moderation" person, but now that I'm over 40 it's more of a struggle to maintain weight, especially if I'm not running regularly. I try to make healthy choices daily, but at least once a week I'll fall off the wagon and eat something I know isn't good for me. When I'm running regularly, it's definitely easier to maintain my weight, eat well, and allow myself more treats/beer.

I love everything sugar. A few of my favorites are donuts (any kind), ice cream (especially Hudsonville Seaside Caramel), dark chocolate, and Cocoa Puffs after long runs. I have a horrendous sweet tooth. It runs in the family. When my Grandma died we found all kinds of sweets pigeon-holed all over her house.

 

[cburnett11]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

I probably should pay attention to this. I'm sure it could help my running. Five years ago, at my heaviest, I was about 50 pounds above where I am now. I actually lost 60 pounds in about 6 months, but then then put 10 pounds back on when I started running and I've stayed here for ~4 years (give or take). I lost all my weight with diet, and didn't start running until 4 years ago when I was at my lightest "adult weight".

This year, I had a little time in between my spring half marathon (and other races) and the start of my marathon training and I told myself that I'd try to drop 5 pounds or so in a month. That didn't happen. Now I'm training pretty hard, so not cutting back much of anything. I could eat a lot smarter while I'm training, but I'm not going to try to change too much because my mileage is significantly higher than I've ever run. I'm sure I eat too many carbs, processed foods, and not enough good things. However I don't drink alcohol and maybe have 1 diet mountain dew per month.

Like John, I also drink chocolate milk at the end of each of my runs.

 

[camaker]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

This is a very interesting question. First, I don’t think I’m at a place in my running where diet plays a major role in meeting my goals. My goals are not peak performance-based, being more along the lines of “let’s see what I can do in a marathon when trained” along with, perhaps, some small incremental goals in my half marathon times.

Ultimately, I think a lot of it comes down to whether you “live to run” or “run to live”. In my mind, “living to run” entails tailoring your lifestyle around running performance, setting priorities around running goals and making lifestyle changes to meet them. On the flip side, to me, “running to live” is more along the lines of making running a piece of the lifestyle puzzle, using running to enhance enjoyment of life but not making it a driving factor. There is, of course, a continuum between the two, and individuals may fall anywhere on it. I think we can all identify folks on here that fall in various places on the spectrum.

I consider myself to be somewhere in the middle, but definitely shading towards the “run to live” side. Personally, I want to enjoy my running, not feel like it’s a job. It has, and continues to, help with maintaining weight loss. I tend to view running as a bit of a “calorie sink”. I run not only to pursue general fitness and enjoyment, but also to allow myself to enjoy the foods I love in moderation. As such, I don’t really use the reward system with myself, as I tend to rebel against things like that and say “screw it, I want it”. I think that’s why the niche diets never worked for me, because I found myself craving the things I wasn’t allowed. I found my success with calorie counting where I could eat anything I wanted as long as I can work it into my caloric budget for the day. That’s not to say there aren’t splurge weekends or trips here or there, they are just limited. So, I guess that’s a very long-winded way of saying I don’t change my diet when training and I don’t tie my indulgences to running-based rewards, as I don’t want to create a negative feeling towards running if I don’t meet a set goal.

 

[camaker]

Looking at the discussion about medals clanging together got me thinking:
Would anyone else be interested in a Goofy or a Dopey challenge where you only got the challenge medal and shirt and not all the individual ones?
What if it saved you a couple of bucks on registration?
It's a little bit risky, because if you DNF on the marathon, you have nothing to show for the previous efforts.
I'm not trying to push this or suggesting it would happen, just curious.
I would be all for it. I don't wear the shirts that often (although I can't bring myself to get rid of them).
The medals are nice, but after the initial thrill, they just hang there, destined to be throw away by my survivors at some point in the (hopefully not near) future.

I would not be interested in this at all. Part of the joy of the challenge for me is getting something extra for doing all the races. I don't have clanging issues because I only wear the most recent or "highest level" medal earned on any given day. After Dopey, I will only be wearing the Dopey medal around the parks. The presence of the other medals is implied.

 

[huggybuff]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

I am learning to love running because without running, I don't lose weight, I gain. As you can see from my ticker below I've got a lot left to lose. When I'm running I also tend to eat better because why let the hard work go to waste? Right now I'm trying to stick to about 1800 calories a day and so far it seems to be working. My clothes are getting looser and I'm down 3 lbs from last week. I don't expect that type of loss every week but it's a nice confirmation when it does happen.

ETA: My guilty pleasure is probably too much caffeine. I know it's dehydrating. I would say alcohol but I only drink that at social functions or if I'm on vacation.

 

[Baloo in MI]

QOTD: How much of a roll do you think diet plays into achieving your running goals? Does your diet change based on training? Since we are talking about diet, what type of food or drink is your guilty please that you will reward yourself with after a hard workout/race/successful week?

ATTQOTD:
Great question. I know I am not stating anything new here, but I think weight has a huge impact. I know for me it makes a difference. Last year, around mid-summer I started really focusing on my diet. Eating a bit slower, less lunches out and more lunches from home during the work week. Avoiding all the bagels, donuts, etc. that seem to haunt me at many of my work meetings, simply eating better and increasing my water intake. I noticed that I did begin to lose some weight and also started getting faster. Last fall is when I set my PR in the half (1:50) and the full (4:05). Both while I was my lightest in awhile.

I do think it is important to eat right and continue to fuel your body. I don't like the idea of a diet per say but more of a smarter eating/fueling plan. I have recently begun these same efforts as I approach my first ultra in the fall. I am not a huge guy, but I am not a small guy either and I figure every pound lost in one less pound I have to haul over the fifty miles. If only Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia was not so good!!!!

 

[Kathymford]

Food is my downfall, both in life and in my running life. I don't like a lot of different foods, hate most vegetables and tolerate a few fruits. And I'm lazy: the buying, and the prepping, and the cleanup. And it turns out, when you buy fresh food and don't eat it EVERY DAY, it goes bad REALLY fast. Hmph. Who woulda thunk it. I know changing my ways would help me in many aspects. I just don't have the energy to do it. And we don't even have kids! I'll do it for a while, but I end up throwing away so much food that's gone bad, it just feels like a waste. I'm not an early riser, so I run after work. Those days I don't get home until closer to 8 p.m. My BF, who gets home around 4 p.m., is usually starving by then. Or not hungry because he snacked on something horrible.

Luckily, I've been mostly blessed with a pretty good metabolism; my BFs is even better, he's a stick. Is it catching up to me now in my 40s. Sure is. Running just maintains my weight right now. It has however, creeped up a bit during this injury recovery ...

Looking at the discussion about medals clanging together got me thinking:
Would anyone else be interested in a Goofy or a Dopey challenge where you only got the challenge medal and shirt and not all the individual ones?
What if it saved you a couple of bucks on registration?
It's a little bit risky, because if you DNF on the marathon, you have nothing to show for the previous efforts.
I'm not trying to push this or suggesting it would happen, just curious.
I would be all for it. I don't wear the shirts that often (although I can't bring myself to get rid of them).
The medals are nice, but after the initial thrill, they just hang there, destined to be throw away by my survivors at some point in the (hopefully not near) future.

I would not do this. #allthemedals. Although, like someone else mentioned, if it was a race I had already done and I KNEW the medal was going to be the same ... I might consider it.

I skipped my Tuesday run, life gets in the way again, so TONIGHT is my first run back from injury! *crossing fingers*

 

[cavepig]

I run in the morning and If I don't have a good solid dinner the night before I suffer, like pasta/rice/potatoes - I like my carbs. I eat the same breakfast of oatmeal & OJ almost every morning a couple hours before running, I know I need milk at this time or I suffer on my run, empty stomach does not work for me. I'm a vegetarian so get a lot of my protein from soy products on the market, I know it's processed & that is fine with me, it's convenient and easy to make sure I get protein. After long run days I guess I reward myself with eating extra snacks since I'm usually starving.

 

[LSUlakes]

A few weeks ago the office started a fitness challenge. No running was not included but they did this weigh in thing that gave a lot of data. The goal was to gain the most muscle. Well in the last 5 weeks I haven't really lifted any weights but I have increased my mileage from 20-25 mpw to 30-35 mpw over the last 5 weeks. Below or the results from the two weigh-ins:

6/9/16 - 7/13/16
Fat% 16.6 - 15.7
Fat Mass 35lb - 33.5lb
FFM (Muscle Gain) 176.5lb - 180.5lb

I will find out later this afternoon what my "prize" is.

 

[disneydaydreamer33]

5) this one is hardest...I'm starting to learn that I don't need rewards for being healthy. I ran...running was my reward for my day or work/whatever. I ate well...eating well was my reward for putting in the effort.

I wish I felt this way right now. It's such an awesome feeling when just being healthy is its on reward. I just wish there was an easy way to get to this place again!

 

[roxymama]

I wish I felt this way right now. It's such an awesome feeling when just being healthy is its on reward. I just wish there was an easy way to get to this place again!

You are right about how hard it is. I'm working on it...work in progress. And the cookie cakes that were just delivered to my work are not going to make it any easier. I'm trying not to pre-reward myself for going running later tonight. Struggggggle! 15 more minutes and I'm free of the temptation.