Run, Eat, Rinse, Repeat

Ugh. I’ve been missing my protein targets for the past couple days. So when I came in from tonight’s 8-mile training run, I passed on a simple bowl of cereal (just cooking for one tonight) and went for a lump of protein instead.

For the past 2.5 weeks, I’ve been tracking my diet—and I mean everything I eat—using nutridiary.com. Ever since I upped the training ante, I’ve been concerned about my nutrition. I’m not eyeing any weight-loss goals, but I have learned that I need to eye some calcium and protein goals. Two weeks ago, it wasn’t pretty.

Nutridiary.com is a neat tool that allows you to track your mouth’s every move using data you input from your typically eaten foods, as well as a vast database of more common eats. It’s one of the most high-maintenance and time-consuming things I’ve ever done, but it’s also the most honest and enlightening.

My calcium in take, for example, is embarrassing. You can see from the Nutridiary graph of my calcium intake since Aug. 20 that aside from the Aug. 25 wedding I attended (there was a cheese tray with plenty of smoked gouda, muenster, cheddar and jack!), my calcium is shameful.

The blue line represents my targeted calcium value… which is higher than I generally get. So, I have to make my way to the store soon and get my hands on some Viactiv calcium chews. I should have known my mom was onto something when she force-fed me those things as a teen. Although I imagine I could kill two birds with a glass of milk. If only I drank milk.

My protein chart is even more tragic, so I took down a serving of organic kidney beans, mixed nuts (pepitas, pine and almonds) and a sweet potato. Granted, the sweet potato isn’t exactly packing the protein, but it tastes good! Unfortunately, I was packed with the rest of my vitamins today, so I didn’t require the 438 percent Vitamin A in that baby.

Despite feeling more ready for an all-night nap when I came home from work, I put on some running clothes and headed out. It has been a little warm for the past couple days, but not prohibitively muggy as in past weeks.

Tonight’s 8-miler was a doozy:

• 3 miles on 9:30/mile pace
• 2 x 2:00, 2 x 2:300, 1 x 3:00 aerobic intervals (AI) ~ 3 miles
• 8 gentle pick ups (GP) ~ 1 mile
• ~1 mile cool down on 10:00/mile

My legs didn’t take as long as usual to warm up today, but by the second AI, I felt beat. I kept repeating to myself that AIs are meant to push me a little past my comfort zone and to make me feel more comfortable within my normal pace… and, of course, that I would thank myself for doing them on Sept. 29. Or maybe it was the prospect of getting to speed-walk a bit during the GPs at the end. That was nice.

The middle three miles may have been a killer, but they rocked pretty hard too. I ran the set in 24:33 (that’s 8:11/mile), which is pretty speedy for me right now. Sure, I’ll complain about the AIs, but I think I’m feeling the beginnings of their benefits. I’ve been a good girl—not running these sets at too high intensity or verging on injury like I used to—and hope to reap the benefits.
What good is all this training is my bones and muscles are going to crumble at the end of the day? Perhaps I should go have another calcium-fortified protein bar or something.