Goodbye, junk food.

I have been eating too much junk. It's time to change that.

As busy as we got in the home stretch of grad school, Joe and I started a bad habit of turning to junk food: stuff like Taco Bell, wings and beer, and pizza became standard meals on the weekly. This happened in spite of the fact that we love cooking and have a lot of above-average quality tools in our kitchen.

After today, I'm done. A couple of weeks back I started to feel crappy. The stuff coming out of my body was abnormally smelly and irregular. TMI? Whatever, I didn't like it either. I figured that it would pass, but it still hasn't. Last night I had an awful headache that lingered into this morning along with some serious gastro-intestinal discomfort inclining me to stay home. It's got to be the shit I've been eating.

Last week we finally started meal-planning. That was inadvertent step one toward improving our diet. I'm still feeling like poo, though. On Sunday night I was grossed out by the stir fry I made and made a naughty trip to Burger King to appease my stomach. Last night I gave in an ordered some pulled pork at Max & Erma's. Oh, and a couple of beers. In two work days I drank three lattes. I have not been good to my insides.

It ends today. Beginning tomorrow morning I will:

1.) Start each weekday with a green smoothie. After all, we dropped a few Benjamins on a Blendtec back in August.

2.) Eat a PB&J and Greek yogurt for lunch at work. Joe makes the best PB&Js. I'm already disciplined in this respect but maybe once or twice per month I forget my lunch at home and end up making a run to Wendy's. It's so hard to order a salad sans dressing when they've got that awesome but terribly unhealthy spicy chicken Caesar salad.

3.) Come home for a snack of vegetables, chips and salsa/hummus, or nuts. No more ghetto nachos or Churchill's donuts. Goodbye, forkfull of melted sharp cheddar.

4.) Drink only one beer in a sitting. I really only have a weak spot for beer during trivia on Tuesday nights. Most often I opt for club soda in lieu of beer, but on those nights that I do drink beer, I end up having two of those tall mofos. I love you, beer, but you aren't good for me.

5.) Only eat when it is time to eat. This includes time for that post-work snack and a similar snack between dinner and bed.

Fortunately we've got a good foundation for all of this started because, aside from the cheese, we don't have anything in our house regularly that I classify as "junk food." Our fridge right now is filled with almond milk, a few beers, Greek yogurt, a block of parmesan, vegetables, soda (I've been fighting that battle for a few years), and hot sauces. Oh, and there is a pumpkin cheesecake in there that I baked earlier today, but I just made that to be a good wife and to keep me busy. Our dry food cabinet is mostly seasonings, grains, and snacks like Clif bars and nuts. A neighbor child actually once raided our kitchen and was whole-heartedly disappointed in our selection.

The problem I have is that it's all too convenient and normal for me to drive over to Starbucks or Chick-fil-a when I have a craving. The next time I get that urge, I'm going to do my best to mentally refer to this blog post.

No more junk.

What can you do to improve your diet? Is your fridge a shameful display of preservatives and hormone-ridden junk that is destroying you or an exhibit of fresh and organic nutrition for your body to love?

I guess I'll run a half...

I'm in! As of yesterday I'm registered for the 46.5th Churchill's Half Marathon. It's fun being able to just register for a half marathon on whim. Two years ago I would have been nervous. Three years ago I would have laughed at the thought of me running a half marathon. Now it's just another long, weekend fun-run.

I ran the Churchill's Half in 2012 during Glass City Marathon training. It was a mild spring day when my plan had me running 20 miles. Originally I was to run the half then a "cool-down" 7 miles. Then I changed my plan to run to the race start in Monclova, run the race, then run back home, which would have had me just over 20 miles. The night before I chickened out and changed everything; instead I ran 7 miles around Perrysburg then drove to the race location. Had I gone with my original plan I probably would have run significantly faster. I had no serious time goal for that race, though, so instead I ran it for fun with Alyssa and Rob.

I passed on running Churchill's 46th Half Marathon this past spring because the route, assuming it was the same as in 2012, was pretty boring. For reasons I believe to be somewhat political in nature revolving around rival running shops and race sponsors the race director(s) added a round 2 for 2013, thus the and-a-half added to the event number. Why am I running this 46.5th if I didn't want to run the boring route this past spring?

New route!: http://www.toledoroadrunners.org/churchills/2013ChurchillsCourseMap.pdf

Instead of running the windy out-and-back course in Monclova the 46.5th Churchill's Half Marathon takes us from Perrysburg High School northboud, westward, south, across the Mighty Maumee in Waterville, then back up north along the river all the way to Fallen Timbers. It'll be my first point-to-point race. The route should be a pretty one; I love Perrysburg and Maumee. Waterville: Meh, I can take it or leave it. It'll be fun to cross the river, though! The small joys in life...

What's my plan for half marathon number five? Not sure yet. I'm going to focus this week on running smart and see where that has me come Saturday morning. It's possible that Joe, Rob, and I will run this together. It's also possible that my pride will make me take it too seriously and tear off on my own. I'm in trouble if Joe chooses to do that--his half marathon PR is a solid minute faster than mine. I've got him in the 5K (as of now) and the full, but he owns the 8K and half marathon distances in races that we've run together. We'll see what happens...

The year is winding down, but the races keep coming! Are you running Churchill's this weekend? What's your race schedule for the rest of 2013?

What now?

I waited four days after the marathon before I went out for a run. It wasn't until Sunday that I got a solid, feel-good run done. Yesterday morning I went out for a quick five under the stars of the 5-o'clock in the morning hour. I'm going to try and drag myself out the door for another five miles this evening.

There is no plan.

There are races coming up but none for which I need any serious training. I might run the Churchill's Half on November 9th and I'm registered for the A Christmas Story House 10K on December 7th and the Santa Hustle at Cedar Point on December 15th. I'm a runner who races, but I'm not running any races to win anything. And because I'm not running with a purpose to win anything I'm not inclined to go out and do crazy things like speed work and hills. Nope, I just keep it simple.

I'm just running to run.

With respect to distance I'll probably maintain the same thirty to forty miles per week. Despite no decrease in miles, it's a lot easier mentally to run without a purpose. I go out the door, wing a route, and about an hour later I'm home and feeling satisfied. The last few runs have reminded me of how nice it is to just get out there.

It's time to run.