Eating Like a Champ

It seemed like the legs were coming around near the end of last week and there was proof of that as I coasted through 20 miles on Saturday morning at a pace of 6:40. I ran with my friend Dave, who just recently completed The Boston Marathon in 2:48 and change despite the crazy weather they got there this year. It was nice to have company for the 20 miler and it made things really fly by. I think the unbelievable weather that we had on Saturday morning probably helped as well. Temps were in the high 60s to low 70s for the run and the sky was spectacularly clear. Chicago is bidding to become the host of 2016 Olympics and I think if there would have been members of the IOC in town this weekend, we'd be a shoe-in for selection.

On Sunday was an extremely slow 11 miles. The legs just did not snap back like I hoped they would after yesterday's 20 miler, but I'd have to say it was directly related to my post run meals. I might have over-indulged a bit on the junk food on Saturday with meals of hot dogs, with salsa and chips for lunch, and Spicy Buffalo Wings for Dinner…and these weren't exactly small portions either. Not exactly what the dietician would have ordered to replenish those depleted glycogen stores.

For the week I ran 90 miles in 8 sessions with a 14 and a 20 miler. While a lot of the runs were done at a slowish pace I think overall it was a decent week. While I still feel the hamstring scream at me every once in a while, everything else seems to be holding up pretty well.

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson and ate smarter on Sunday but I didn't. Ribs on the grill was the meat of the day and once again I paid the price with a sluggish run of 7 miles on Monday. Actually I was feeling pretty sick all day on Monday so just the fact that I got out there and did anything was a small victory. Hopefully now that I'm back at work, I'll get back into my normal eating patterns and things will return to normal.

This morning I did manage an 8 miler at a 6:07 pace, which was probably a little too aggressive, but it felt comfortable. I'll go out for another short run this afternoon, just to shake the legs out in preparation for my first 5K of the year tomorrow. Last year, I did this race in my PR time of 16:26, so this year I'd like to at least be flirting with 16:00. I have no idea how realistic that is, but I guess I'll be finding out tomorrow.