Intro to good nutrition

This is how I feel

** Note: over the next few weeks I will serialize in blog entries the Nutrition page over there on your right. Feel free to read ahead. But the daily entries will be sometimes different than what's on the Nutrition page.

Good nutrition is a critical component to marathon training. In fact, I consider it important as road work. And nearly as important as rest, which you may recall me browbeating you about earlier. Rest is important and too because it is easily ignored and forgotten during a serious training regimen. Neglecting rest could be harmful to your health. Neglecting nutrition, too, is harmful to your health, but there are few Americans in these modern times who ever neglect a meal.

When I set out to write this blog I did extensive research on nutrition, foods, nutrients, vitamins, phytochemicals, nutriceuticals, and everything I could get my hands on about the science of nutrition. With a head obese with gluttonous food information, it occurred to me that not only was this information unnecessary, it missed the point. This blog is about dreaming the Big Thing and grabbing hold of it, all in the metaphor of marathoning. This is not a blog about dietary nutrition. I will give you advice if you prefer to tackle the science of food, but for the purposes of this blog, I will keep it simple, but essential.

And without stuffing your brain as much as your stomach with food information, there is still a lot to say about nutrition. It is critical to your marathon success. This cannot be stressed enough. And planning out a dietary strategy, in my opinion, is just as important as the actual running.

Failure / Set Backs

A benefit of measuring the progress of a specific, value-oriented strategy is that when failure darkens your doorstep, it can be dismissed as incidental, not coincidental, to your goal.

If a goal has true value and meaning, then it has purpose, and you are validated in that purpose.

A strategy, as your plan to fulfill that purpose and reach your goal, is merely a means to an end – albeit a very important means to a very important end. The strategy should never be confused with the goal it supports, so when you encounter failure along the path, do not assume that your goal is unachievable or worthless. It is not. It remains pure gold.

On the other hand, your strategy might be kaput. If you fail, keep trying. Failure doesn’t mean your goal is wrong, it means your plan is wrong. Ask yourself what went wrong and what needs to be fixed? Adjusted? Eliminated? Improved?



Big time "failure"... before he was president

Remember, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result each time.

Never lose faith that you know how to reach your goal. If you crap out in a 10-mile race while training for your marathon, analyze what went wrong and endeavor to fix it (dehydrated, soreness, cramps, fatigue?). Don’t think for a moment that 26.2 miles is impossible.

You’ve heard that when Failure closes the door, Opportunity open a window. Failure is not the end. It is only an interruption. Just ask Abraham Lincoln. Better still, ask me.