Last week my training schedule called for a decrease in mileage, this week a decrease in mileage again and a decrease in intensity. I have heard other runners complain that they hate tapering because they miss running or because they have this running itch that they just need to scratch. Screw that.
You want to know why tapering sucks? Let me enlighten you...
- Long John Silvers
- Cappuccino Heath Blizzard
- Multiple Cosmopolitan Nights
Now you should know, I don’t normally eat like this (ok other than the cosmos) but now that I’m tapering my eating as well as my running for the upcoming Bolder Boulder 10k, it’s ALL I can think about!
I average 25 miles a week, at an estimated 120 calories per mile this means I get 3,000 calories. I don’t consume them all, but I don’t obsessively watch what I eat- especially after a 10 mile run. I’ve been a runner for 2 years. For those of you who don’t know, I’m also an asthmatic, which is part of the lure to be a kick ass running machine. Needless to say crispy, greasy Long John Silvers is not a normal part of my diet- but I love it (don’t gag, you probably have your own ‘this-will-cost-me-10-seconds’ fat food). Guess what, if I want it, I EAT IT! But this week I will run 8 miles total and that devil scale called me slow this morning!
Non runners often ask why I would want to run so much. My brother’s skinny girlfriend even had the nerve to tell me she’d never even walked 10 miles (bite me). I have come up with lots of reasons, much like the Miss America answers...
- To kick Asthma’s butt
- To fight heart disease
- Because I have 2 boys (running is hours of an abandoned husband)
But my #1 reason that took me 2 years to realize (I’m not a fast learner- don’t mock): refined sugar, white flour, high fat, sodium overload splurges. Our family is on an increasingly healthy wheat, whole grain, high fruit and vegetable diet and this is going to open the gates for widespread temptation. Running for food is as good a reason as any. I think it was Amy Lawson who once said that she ran 40 miles a week because that was easier than saying no to baked goods and I’m totally with her. 40 miles a week huh? Just imagine all the food I could eat at that mileage.
Mmm, that list of food you shouldn't be eating sounds delicious!
ReplyDeleteI run to counteract all the empty booze calories I consume. True story.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both. I run for the ice cream. It neeeeeeds me!
ReplyDeleteClearly I should be running 40 instead of 20 a week. I'm still outeating the efforts. Nice work on figuring out your balance.
ReplyDeleteP.O.M., those booze calories are offended by your callous remarks. They are NOT empty! Oh, and ditto.
ReplyDeleteI definitely run for the same reason. I'm losing lately too. I've been doing speed work and reduced mileage. The scale says I'm slow too.
ReplyDeleteI was bred from the "will run for beer" mold.
ReplyDeletePerhaps a half breed mixed with a bit of "Yo quiero Taco Bell."
Either way, you effin' rock Vanilla!
I'm running my first marathon on Sunday, and I decided to follow the crowd and make a cool t-shirt with my name on it. However, I also put some text about why I'm running. It says, "Will run for ice cream. When I finish, I can have twelve scoops!"
ReplyDeleteYes, I actually figured out the math. And yes, I actually plan to eat that much ice cream.
This is totally the reason why I run. They sell gourmet (and gigantic) chocolate chip cookies at the grocery store here and I love them. Enough to up my mileage even more too.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree with Chia--Yo quiero Taco Bell. Thankfully they have yet to invade England, so I am currently spared that temptation.
At my last race I saw a chick wearing a shirt that says "I run for chocolate cake"
ReplyDeleteYes lady, I do. I also run for pizza, beer, and Mexican food.
mmm...... oh and health. Yeah that's it.
I with you on that. No run, no chocolate - no way. The only problem I have is that after the marathon, the mileage decreases, but not so the appetite.
ReplyDeleteCandis, you're preaching to the choir. I live for the cinnamon roll that follows a race (used to be just half marathons, but I've loosened my standards; any race will do). What I really don't understand is with all the running (30 miles/week) and other cardio I do, combined with a super-healthy diet, why I am not thin as a rail! I suspect that my body has become so efficient that I can run many miles without even burning a significant number of calories. That's the only explanation I can imagine. (Can't be that I'm eating more than I realize, can it?) (By the way... tapering for a 10K?)
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your run, and have fun!
I run for the food at times as well sometime just to lose for all the food I have loved in the past.
ReplyDeleteGood luck this weekend!
Well said Candis! I'm always of the mindset that I must eat to make up for the calories I just burned off.
ReplyDeleteI eat anything I want. It may mean more miles tomorrow. But I'm faster, and can go farther, than those who eat anything they can.
ReplyDeleteKristin,
ReplyDelete'tapering' in a much looser/less days sense. My longest race has been a 10k.
I've been following the FIRST plan.
Higher quality, higher miles only running 3 days a week.- love it- if it works.
come back next week and see.
i completely understand. i need a good beer (or 6) after a long run. and what is beer without pizza
ReplyDeleteI run for a similiar reason. To me, it's easier and more enjoyable to run off all the crap I eat instead of avoiding it.
ReplyDeleteI believe Ryan Hall trains on Long John Silvers so I wouldn't worry about it.
ReplyDeleteGood luck in the 10k!
Good memory Candis. I'm impressed! I think I even said I run 40 miles a week because it's easier than saying no to a stale piece of stale coffee cake. I'm more disgusting then you remembered :)
ReplyDeleteI feel deprived. We don't have Long John Silvers or Cappucino Health Blizzards in Canada. Tho' we do have cosmos ... lots and lots of cosmos.
ReplyDeleteGood luck to both of you at the race!