The Challenge before me for #StartClean2013 today was - Avoid Added Sugar!
Given all of the marathon training hoopla and my 'Do It Once, Do It Right' vow of virtual sugar celibacy, this particular challenge didn't present me with too many problems. I've been aiming for products that are either have no sugar at all, are naturally sweetened by fruit (or are actually fruit) or, at the very least, don't have sugar (or one of its many guises) listed in the top five ingredients.
Needless to say this has often led me to be that crazy person blocking the aisle at the supermarket, muttering at packaged goods, shaking my head in disbelief at all the things I would never have imagined to contain sugar!
Take pasta sauce for example... A couple of weeks ago I was in search of a quick carb rich lunch so I was looking for some jarred pasta sauce to make it as speedy as possible. I examined label after label, about twenty different brands... The basic ones, the fancy ones, the organic ones, the low-salt one and ALL of them contained sugar! I never expected that pasta sauce of all things would be so hard to find unsweetened.
Eventually I found one brand, hidden on the lower shelf, off to the side a little, in an inconspicuous looking jar... Only seven or eight ingredients, all things I recognized, no numbers, no additives and no sugar!
I was so happy that I gladly handed over the astronomical amount (for me anyway) of $5 for the jar. And do you know what? It was the best freakin' pasta sauce I have ever tasted from a jar! So to my fellow Australian's, if you're looking for a healthy, local, sugar-free pasta sauce I can't recommend 'Picasso Foods' pasta sauce highly enough! (I found mine at Woolworths)
Eventually I found one brand, hidden on the lower shelf, off to the side a little, in an inconspicuous looking jar... Only seven or eight ingredients, all things I recognized, no numbers, no additives and no sugar!
I was so happy that I gladly handed over the astronomical amount (for me anyway) of $5 for the jar. And do you know what? It was the best freakin' pasta sauce I have ever tasted from a jar! So to my fellow Australian's, if you're looking for a healthy, local, sugar-free pasta sauce I can't recommend 'Picasso Foods' pasta sauce highly enough! (I found mine at Woolworths)
I feel a little like I have written the words 'training schedule' about a million and one times while writing blog posts in the last three months... I have to admit to being happy to be taking a break from the phrase for awhile after Sunday. There will be no colour-coded chart on my wall, no date on the calendar, no mileage targets to hit... Don't get me wrong, I enjoy those things and I especially enjoy being able to look back and see my progress but after seven continuous months of it (including the half-marathon) I am ready to run just for the pure joy of it.
I've been recording all of my runs both through Garmin Connect and DailyMile and with four days to go and only two runs left (maybe only one if my knee is still being wonky on Friday) I logged in to have a look back at the last three months...
Month One
Marathon training got off to a rocky start with the whole shoe dilemma. It led to my first DNS for a training run leaving a blight on my untarnished record... Damn... Luckily, the running store were terribly understanding and let me switch for my dear old friends, the Brooks Adrenalines. My favourite run from Month One was the 22km that I did while visiting my sister in Melbourne. Not only was I back in the same state that I'd done my half marathon in but it was also a new distance PB for me! My least favourite was the 5km when I pushed through the pain in my foot when I really should have stopped.
Month Two
In Month Two I was introduced to the wonderful world of hill sessions. Since I had gone and signed up for a particularly hilly first marathon I knew that I would need to get some incline specific training in there somewhere. And do you know what? My hill sessions actually rated amongst some of my favourite shorter runs! Not that I will be putting my hand up for them when I don't need to... I had a couple of long runs in the month where I really struggled towards the end and found myself questioning if I could go the full marathon distance but at least my foot felt better.
Month Three
So, technically we are still in Month Three but I'm hoping for no big surprises during my last two runs so I'm going to go ahead and summarise it anyway! My first 32km run (the longest distance on my training schedule) was the one where I gave everything a trial run - fueling, clothing, timing, pace, equipment... Everything! And thankfully, it all worked better than I could have hoped! That said, I really started to feel the mileage in my legs and I found my pace for the shorter runs started to take a hit. I also started to get mentally fatigued constantly thinking about the marathon all the time and I knew it was definitely time to get this show on the road!
I'd Like To Know...
What foods have you been surprised to find are laced with unnecessary sugar?
Do you suffer from a bit of race fatigue when you start to get close to race day?
Absolutely! Since I moved up to the longer distance races, I can always tell when I'm hitting the peak weeks in training...and know I'm ready for the taper. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait for your race!
Sometimes I get to just before the race and think that I just can't be bothered with it. But I always do it and I never regret doing it.
ReplyDeleteHaving been through this journey alongside you but a couple of thousand kilometres away, I'd like to say how well you've done with your training. You've come to a couple of speed bumps (like the fuelling thing) and navigated your way through them and shared what you've learned. I've really enjoyed your process.
Can't wait to see Monday's post!