the one thing i have learned in my ~30 years on this planet is that we never stop learning. the minute you think you know everything, that’s when you know you’ve f**ked something up. seriously. keep an open mind, be humble, and know that you simply don’t know what you don’t know.

and so here i am at an interesting point in my running life, yet again. learning more, again. kinda funny.

I have posted many a time about nutrition. 3 guesses as to what this post is about, and the first 2 do not count. yep, nutrition. i have been seriously neglecting my holistic nutrition, and am now feeling the consequences.

while i was marathon training (especially in the 20k+ long run phase from about September to December), I was mostly concerned about carbs & hydration. this made sense, and it really worked for me. i probably ate an 80/10/10 split of carbs:protein:fat. i felt great, mostly. i am sure i also ate 2500-3000 calories/day, and i still leaned out – and i wasn’t running nearly as much as someone like Kara Goucher, but my body was working its ass off just to survive. so, voila – i ate a lot.

as soon as i finished marathon training, it all became a blur. it was a combination of burnout from training & fundraising, and winter, and who knows what else. but i became slack. i have no clue how much i have been eating, and no clue what i have been eating. the one thing i do know is that i have a preference to eat less meat than others might. some of you also saw me post on FB about trying the vegetarian thing. Which I think is was the icing on the cake – silver lining though, it immediately showed me my consequences: when i walk, my legs are tight. when i go up the stairs, i feel my quads. when i run, my legs are just exhausted. on my trail runs as I try to ascend hills, my calves & hamstrings are twitching on the verge of a spasm. not good. overall, i have significantly decreased my volume because i am just done.

so, i am running less. my rmt says my muscles aren’t tight. what’s left? nutrition. i’ve done a little reading, reached out to my past nutritionist for some suggestions, and now doing a lot more reading. Cue: time to get more protein, iron, and sodium. we’ll see how this goes over the next couple weeks. failing any improvement, i will be going to a sports nutritionist. wish me luck, because this kinda sucks right now. and sorry for not photos. low protein and iron deficiency symptoms include lethargy.

f**k, i’m lethargic. what a yucky feeling!