Confounded by Carbs

7.2 miles - Greenway out and back, trails are still muddy :(

Last night, I mindlessly munched through about half a box of apple cinnamon cheerios. They are just so sweet and sugary and good, and since I'm "carb loading," I let it slide.

Only problem is I'm sure that this is not what the experts have in mind when they talk about carb loading.

I've read articles and books, but I'm still confused about the what/when/why of this mysterious long distance runner ritual. Part of it is probably due to my eating habits in general. I'm a single gal. I don't cook. If it comes in a box, can be microwaved, can be unwrapped, or opened, or unscrewed, then it's up my alley. Otherwise? Well, let's just say that if a lovely red pepper were to enter my fridge, the chances of it coming out alive are slim to none.

Of course, there are also a lot of carbs already in my everyday routine. Many things that come in boxes are loaded with them. No, I'm not including the box itself. Even I have limits.

What I'm trying to do is walk a fine line of eating the right things at the right times without eating simply because "I can." And I don't want to not eat when I actually need to simply because of some previous evening's lapse in judgement.

While all of this sounds wildly complicated and overthought, remember: I am running 26.6 miles in less than a month. I am running 20/21 miles this Saturday. The chances of being physically injured due to improper nutrition are very real. Not impaled on spikes injury, but still, crashing and burning? Not fun. It's not a question anymore of the age old girlie mag treatise of "eating a little lighter then next day if you splurge the day before." You can't eat light when you run 7.5 miles like I did today; I learned that lesson the hard way.

Read back on my old posts. The pre-injury ones. Go ahead. There are only two of them, it shouldn't take long.

OK! What was the common theme? Sloggy. No energy. Not fun. Tired.

And I can assure you that there are many many pre-blog runs where this was also the case. I tripped, I cursed, I nearly fell down on Laural Bluff several times, I thought, "Oh god, how long is this trail again??" I was also running on empty, literally. On my long runs of 10+ miles, all I took along were some Hershey Kisses. As Genisis told me, I was running longer, but not getting any fitter.

Now go post injury. Gus, carbs, loading up. Ta and Da. The connection between proper fueling and running better is not rocket science, nor is it a placebo effect.

Case in point? Today's run. I worked at The Writing Center until noon, and had to go straight to my run in order to fit it in before a 2pm meeting. I had a powerbar at ::gasp!:: 11:30 and then another protein bar post run. The run itself? Fantastic. I felt like I was FLYING, no joke, I was CRUISING down the Greenway, I was TEARING IT UP. I couldn't crush it because the distance wasn't epic, but if I could have? CRUSHED IT.

This run wasn't a victory proving that the cheerios were necessary. By the time I ran, they were probably gone, and they were in addition to my dinner, not in place of them. This run was a victory because I stuck to my pre and post run nutrition plan, cheerios be damned.

So. Carb loading. After all this blogging, where do I stand? Still a little shaky. But, I guess if I have to choose between overdoing it a little or underdoing it a little, I would rather choose the former. I'm only 16.98% body fat at 115 pounds. If I lost any of that, think it would be fat? No way. My body isn't that stupid and I'm not an elite athlete. It would be muscle, the exact thing I need to keep going.

Am I trying to talk myself into this? Maybe, It sure sounds like it. But fortunately, I'm a good salesman. I think I'll take it.