One thing I am noticing as I go through this marathon training is that I am paying a lot more attention to my overall health than I ever did before. The thing that set this off to me was that I noticed that I am actually flossing and using mouthwash on a regular basis. I never did this before. I just think that I am seeing this as an opportunity to totally revamp the way I look at things and how I take care of my body. I will say that when I started running two years ago, I did not really fit the mold of someone that needed a physical overhaul due to getting out of shape. I do know that I am getting into the years where I am creating some of my habits that I will carry with me through the rest of my life. It is important to make sure that I am choosing wisely with what to do during these years.
The running program that I am following was created by Hal Higdon. I haven't read too much about him as a person, but know that he has been running for a very long time. In his running schedule he talks about strength training and stretching. These are both areas that I have neglected in the past and want to get to spend more time doing. I started this morning doing push-ups and sit-ups with some stretches. Boy was I humbled with the push-ups. I was winded after like 10 of them. I remember when I could do much more. I am sure that in the coming weeks I will see that number increase greatly just like I saw my ability to tackle larger amounts of miles. I am hoping that by the marathon I will be doing 50 of each with no problems.
With two little girls, I know that I need to take care of myself to make sure that I am around for a long time. I also want to show them a good example of how to live. I have started eating much healthier and have been making a lot better choices with what to do with my free time. Breakfast is a must for every day for me. I eat a bowl of Cheerios or something without sugar and a piece of fruit. Melissa makes my lunches and does a great job. Today I am having a peanut butter sandwich on whole wheat bread, a banana, a bag of carrots, celery and broccoli, and a fruit roll up. For dinner Melissa has done a fantastic job lately at planning good meals and making them pretty well rounded. I have been eating very well lately and am really looking forward to keeping this up. I am not saying that I am now very militant and regimented with where, when, why, and how I eat but I am trying to be much wiser with these things. I try to eat a few pieces of fruit each day along with some veggies. I have taken to eating smaller pieces of meat when served, because my body only takes in so much of it anyway. I drink milk (skim) and water as my main sources of liquid with the occasional can of pop. I did just buy some powder Gatorade that I am going to be drinking after runs. I had been drinking just the regular bottles of it, but it was just getting to be too expensive so I went with the alternative. On my mid-week long run and by weekend runs, I also drink a Boost shake to try and get more nutrients back into my body. I do still eat a bunch of sweet and salty snacks, but those have definitely been cut back.
Over the past few years I have had health screenings provided by my school where they draw some blood and do some tests on it to check different levels of stuff. I am interested to see my results from this test because I really do think that it is going to be much different from previous years. I'm interested to see if all that I am doing is really paying off. If not, I am probably still going to continue and will just have to wait until next year's results.
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