Nourishing My Life, One 12-Minute Mile at a Time

Had a busy time at the end of the week, and a busy weekend as well.

I currently weigh in at 178 pounds, My goal this week is 177, which has been kind of a barrier for me in the past. If I can get to and stay at 177 for a few days, I'll be very happy.

I continue to learn about nutrition and about the foods I have been putting into my body. The low-cal breakfast bars have been OK, but I have switched this week to dried apricots and almonds.

As I go along, I find that nutrition is much more important than I ever imagined. Healthy eating more and more seems to be at the center of a fit life -- and I mean "fit" in a number of senses -- and yet, this fact also seems to be a bit of a secret. It's not the kind of point that's really stressed in advertising, media, entertainment, and so on.

It's funny. We get these fad diets that target one thing (e.g., carbs or fat). We also get pummeled with exercise routines, methods and equipment (e.g., Pilates, Tae Bo, Bowflex). But generally, healthy eating really seems to be more fundamental and important. Maybe it's the fundamentality that keeps it under wraps in our daily lives; it's just not that sexy.

Having registered for the Westford 5K race, I went out on Sunday to train. I did "run" three miles, but my first mile was almost 12 minutes, and my second was only about 10 seconds faster. I walked the third mile and had a 15 minute split.

I was absolutely shocked. Somehow, I imagined that I did an 8-10 minute mile. On the positive side, for the second mile, I incorporated four 100-yard dashes. With each one, I tried to increase my speed.

My children's story, UJAHS, will probably arrive to the second publisher today. I feel confident that this time will work out. We'll see, though.