"Now if you are going to win any battle you have to do one thing. You have to make the mind run the body. Never let the body tell the mind what to do. The body will always give up. It is always tired in the morning, noon, and night. But the body is never tired if the mind is not tired.”

- George S. Patton, U.S. Army General, 1912 Olympian

Saturday, September 5, 2009

Protein vs. Carbs

If the choice between eating protein or carbs the day before a long run was a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it early on. At my parents house yesterday I was offered some left over steak. Too tempting to turn down, I enjoyed it. And when I wasn't hungry later on in the evening, I realized that there would be no carbs running through my system like there usually is on Saturday morning runs. To the steak, I added a breakfast of three eggs, a tomato and two pieces of wholesome toast. I was interested to see if I would feel any different primarily eating protein rather than carbs.

Without giving a travelogue of the entire 11 miles (1:34:18, 8:34/mile), I'll just say that I felt like I had to gut the whole thing out. I didn't get any sort of second wind nor was I able to speed up at all the last mile, peaking with a kick the last 1/4 mile. I felt like my body lacked any sort of reserve energy.

Edge: Carbs

Also a first today, I ran in the rain. A different experience to be sure, but not too bad. Other than my wet socks causing my toes to form blisters on top of blisters. As I finished the run, I felt (and probably looked as well) like a cold, tired, wet dog.

I'm pretty confident in my ability to finish the half-marathon in under 1:50:00 in two weeks. I'm feeling like a great day would even put me under 1:45:00. This week will be similar to the last, 3 miles on Tuesday, 5 on Wednesday and 5 on Thursday. Saturday will be tapered back to around 7 probably, depending on which route I decide to run. I may go back to Bush Park and run on the unpaved bark trails. Easier on the knees for sure. After that, it's race week.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

I'm enjoying your blog! I just stumbled across it tonight.

Gab4net said...

This is great! Love your attitude, I too am quickly becoming a big fan of running. Will run my first marathon Oct 31, 2010 in Greece! It is the 2500th anniversary of the Marathon! Anyway - I am researching nutrition protein vs carbs - my friend is against GU/Gel of any kind, saying carbs/sugars bad for you. Cites anemic runners as proof. Says protein better and even running with peanut butter packets! I want some answers cuz, all I know is I need something for energy! Thanks for your blog - know it takes time! Good luck and keep running!