Day 74: Liquid Carbs

I am learning to embrace carbs because I know they are an important part of the runner's diet. Before running, I avoided them like the plague, instead favoring massive amounts of protein, which I thought would keep me full and magically build muscle without my having to exercise. (You think I'm kidding? I'm not.)

I am going to see a nutritionist soon to get the official lowdown on good carbs, but what I understand now is that I'm supposed to get about 60% of my daily calories from carbohydrates, and the good carbs to focus on are the complex ones - things like whole wheat, brown rice, chocolate and alcohol.

I think I did pretty well today. I had meeting after meeting, and was surprised to realize the food served on typical meeting platters and in chafing dishes is actually quite runner-friendly! For example, I had a bagel and cream cheese for breakfast, with coffee. There were other really good high-carb options I could have chosen from there too, like muffins, pastry, cookies and coffee cake.

Then, for lunch, the agency I was visiting brought in a huge spread from Rosa Mexicano. Sweet! More carbs! Rice, tortillas, flautas, and deep fried chips. Runner's delight! I made sure to get a good variety of the options.

After lunch, I drank Kahlua Mocha in a meeting, which was definitely high carb, and then had tea and a square of 90% cocoa content dark chocolate. I am getting faster by the minute! Good girl, Michelle.

This evening, I'm going on a pub crawl with a different agency and my boss, which is going to be the perfect opportunity to cover the other major carb food group - liquid carb. Really important to stay hydrated when you're training for a race.

All these lifestyle and diet changes take a lot of focus and hard work; but I think it's worth it. Tomorrow I'll be back on my feet again running 4-5 miles before heading to the office to yet another early meeting. I sure hope all my carb-o-loading today pays off and I have a lot of energy! OK, off now to tackle those liquid carbohydrates like I mean it. Cheers!