Take Nothing With You

2.64
It's 5 days until my 2nd half marathon... that means it's go time, baby. I started training last month with some shorter and longer runs and built up to the 10+ mile run I did last weekend. Then this past week I really fell off the wagon where my nutrition was concerned (cake?? I actually had cake... with buttercream icing...) I noticed a few irritating (and preventable) consequences; if I had just gone without, none of them would have happened.

One telltale from my poor eating was a strange sluggishness Friday night, a total demotivation. I remember that feeling from years ago before my body was detoxed and tuned up; I was surprised how pronounced it was going into the weekend. Problem was, I planned to go out for a medium distance run on Saturday morning. I needed to get my head in the game.

What all of this affirmed is that keeping our bodies tuned up makes a difference. Now, since eating clean this weekend, I feel great again. And I was able to plow through a six mile run yesterday and just over three today. Add yard work and playing with the kids to that, and I'd say it's been a great weekend, despite the poor eating last week.

I'm very convicted of the need to shed extra baggage, especially going into something like a half marathon. I don't want to take last weeks' poor food with me, or any unnecessary pounds, just like I wouldn't run a race with a bunch of books in a bag over my shoulder in case I got bored. I couldn't afford to put up with the weight, and I can certainly do without a book to read while I'm engaged in a race.

So this week I'll be focused on the essentials: what do I really need for next Saturday in order to be prepared? If I don't need it, I'm ditching it, and that goes for nutritional choices, mental perspectives, and my clothing and accessories for the race. Do you have extra baggage that you're carrying? Would you be better off without it? If you're not sure, have you tried to reduce and then get rid of the baggage to see what the result feels like? There's no time like the present.

By the Way

It takes about 24 to 72 hours for our bodies to naturally digest and metabolize food. Toxins are filtered by our liver and kidneys and gotten rid of with a day or two, and possibly up to about a week is needed to get rid of everything our bodies would identify as foreign.