return void;

so a few days ago, i posted about how i finally met my primary physical goals for the year. well, i ran into a snag that slowed me down quite a bit this week.

crystal and i have been counting calories and i found out that i currently ingest a little over half the calories i should have for the year. on average, i don’t take in more than 1600 calories, when i am supposed to take in 2800-2900. that’s quite a difference and this difference was heavily felt.

on monday, when i got home from work, i felt like i was run over by a truck. i had a complete lack of energy and slight feeling of nausea. since i haven’t been sick in over 4 years, i knew it was unlikely that i was actually sick. that prompted the calorie counting. i am also seriously deficient in protein and carbs as well. given that i ran an amount per week that most people consider ‘competition level’, i needed to seriously revise my diet. since i’m not trying to lose weight, i started looking at my options.

i’ve been a reader of runner’s world for a while, and i know their website usually contains the same content as the printed form (only slimmed down). i found several rules that runners should bear in mind when doing more than a casual jog per week. basically, my diet is completely wrong and my running schedule is a tad too much for my body. i have revised my run schedule to allow for more recovery time. also, before each big run, i will make a point to do the “carbo-loading” tip (pack on some carbs, protein would be good as well).

since monday, i have tried to include snacks in my day that are high in protein (mostly graham crackers and unsalted nuts). tonight is my first official run since then. i have been leary about jumping back into the grind as usual, so i will be taking it easy on my low intensity runs for at least a week. here is my revised schedule:

Sunday: Weight Training
Monday: Weight Training
Tuesday: Weight Training, 1 mile run (LI)
Wednesday: Weight Training
Thursday: Weight Training 1 mile speed run (HI)
Friday: Weight Training
Saturday: Weight Training, 5K run (HI)

Note: HI = high intensity, LI = low intensity

i will not be doing a speed run day for the aforementioned reason until next week. i will also not do a full 5k this saturday for the same reason. i will continue normal schedule next week.

we’ll see if this works. hopefully i will have enough calories, protein, and carbs to get through these runs without exhaustion.