There’s nothing like a week in which you’re completely thrown out of your routine to make you appreciate how valuable a well-constructed routine can be.
Last week’s dietary experiments collided with a crazy schedule to completely destroy my running. Actually, two runs attempted during a three-day fast — and I do mean a real fast with no food whatsoever, as opposed to all those modern “fasts” full of exceptions — turned out to be acceptable and at least proved interesting under the circumstances. But runs attempted in the following days, when I was following up the fast with a ketogenic diet, absolutely sucked.
Was this because my body hadn’t “adapted to burning fat?” Maybe. All I know is that I’m eager to get back to my regular running routine, which means a return to a normal diet (or at least “normal” by my standards).
Still, new experiences do tend to leave their mark. One of the keepers from last week is a low-carb, high-fat meal that held my appetite in check for hours at a time.
The idea came from the same interview that prompted my fast. Dom D’Agostino was talking about how much more productive he feels eating two high-fat, high-protein meals a day on a ketogenic diet, as opposed to a few years earlier, when he was eating six smaller meals a day and felt like he was constantly fiddling with and thinking about food.
I did get a lot of mileage out of one meal in particular, and it wasn’t even that high in calories: two slices of bacon, two eggs, three or four big handfuls of spinach and some shredded cheese. It worked out to about 400 calories, and it really did keep me full for several hours.
There’s this mantra I’ve sometimes used on long runs where I’ll keep telling myself that I’m running at my “go all day” pace. Last week, marveling at how much mileage I was getting out of that particular breakfast, I found myself referring to it as my “go all day” meal.
It didn’t translate into good running, but it sure helped keep my mind off food. There’s got to be room in my diet somewhere for a meal like that.
90in9 