Runners train hard for the races they run, and then that last week or two before a long race they reach the taper phase of training.  I love the taper.  It feels so good to go out for shorter runs, and your body always starts to feel more energized.  I’m sure we’ll mention more about tapering in the future, you know, when we actually get to point in our training where we taper.  We’re not there yet.  Instead, we’re at the point of training where we need to run more than normal because we most likely gorged ourselves on food and drink over the past couple of weeks.

I was sitting in the steam room at the YMCA yesterday, and a guy said, “I’ve got to sit in here to sweat out all of the alcohol and junk food I ate over the last week.”  I’m not sure sitting in a steam room for 15 minutes will get rid of it all.  Usually, I eat a lot starting at Thanksgiving and ending the first of the year.  This year I did really good at Thanksgiving and even up until just a few days before Christmas.  Then I fell into the temptation of eating cookies and fudge and peppermint bark.  And, as an added bonus this year, I made my first batch of homemade eggnog.  I managed to keep up with my workout routine over the holiday, and I’ve watched my weight only go up one pound.  So, I’ll consider this year a success.  On Christmas Eve I even went out for a six mile run in the morning and then a four mile run with my dad in the afternoon.  It felt good, but I still knew I was eating too much.  I’ve slowed down a little since Christmas, but I’m gearing up for New Year’s now.  See, some friends of ours’ and we have a tradition that we like to call “Deep Fried New Years.”  We bring our deep fryers together for one night to fry everything from chicken to shrimp to onion rings to zucchini to mushrooms…the list goes on, you get the picture.

As a runner in the coming year, I’m going to make a lot more of an effort to watch my diet.  I know that this will have an effect on my ability to run faster and stronger, and it’s something that I have never done.  I’ve always used running as an excuse to eat whatever I want.  And, in all honesty, if I was just trying to maintain weight or keep running at the same speed I’m running now, I would have no motivation to eat right.  As it is, I actually want to finish the Fifth Third River Bank Run in under two hours.  I’m pretty sure that all of the food I’ve mentioned above will not get me there.  So, I encourage you to not waste all of those hours of training by eating junk.  We all need to have seasons like Christmas where we eat, drink, and be merry.  But those should be very short seasons, then it’s time to get back to eating healthy and running strong.