Marathon Lifestyle

New kicks! Good food! Less booze!  All elements of getting my body excited to kick 26.2 miles.  While I'm already a runner, marathon training is still an adjustment for me.  From everything I've read, your body is typically cool with you running up to 20 miles (something about glycogen storage...blank stare).  Anything beyond that, is a real test of both physical and mental fortitude.  Since I'm not one to subject myself to discomfort, this is going to take some real dedication.  

The first thing I needed to do before I could get started was get new running shoes.  I have to be honest with you (and all you runners out there are going to chide me), I'd been running in the same sneakers since last August.  My Brooks Defyance had taken me more than 1000 miles (you're supposed to get new shoes every 300-400 miles), and it was time to retire them.  I headed to the running store in Doylestown (where they are AWESOME and hard core), and they set me up with a new pair of Brooks GHOSTs.  They are bright!  One of the things I love about getting my shoes there is that they send you outside (outside!) to try out potential purchases on the block.  Running a full block on the road gives you a better sense of how it will feel to run miles in them, plus you get to look like a nut to all the passersby (I never say no to a chance to look crazy in public...I learned this in New York).

The next thing I've been doing to prep my lifestyle for 26.2 is a diet overhaul.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I'm already a pretty healthy eater.  However, the number of miles I need to log in a week has increased, and I need more protein to do it.  This means that my regular diet has been infiltrated by protein powder, and the starchy snacks I'm partial to have been replaced by fruit and nuts (or fruit and cheese).  Right now I'm really into pistachios, because they're salty enough to make me think they are chips or pretzels, but pack a little bit more protein.

Last night for dinner I had a lot of peas (I like it when half of my plate is green), griddled chicken with Bone Suckin Sauce (I never say no to condiments, especially ones that come out of North Carolina, aka the land of the pig pickin'), and corn on the cob with a little lemon juice, hot sauce, and parmesan (obviously there needed to be cheese).  I eat wayy too fast, so I thought I was still hungry afterwards, but I waited it out about 15 minutes and it became very clear that I was FULL.  Even though I was stuffed, I had a few spoonfulls of frozen yogurt before bed (calci-yum!).

This morning marked my second "I WILL run in the morning" run.  I booked 4 decent miles, a little slow, but steady, and got a great stretch in afterwards.  

What have you had to change in your life to train for an event/get healthy?  What would you like to change about your current habits?