Welcome to my new readers! If you came for my Bare{foot} Essentials posts then you may want to know that I’m currently in the middle of what I like to call “Runtober”. I am about to give a brief account of last week’s running activity! Thanks for stopping by! Click around, leave a comment, and don’t be a stranger!

Last week I was stressed about my mileage, but it turned out to be decent. Not my ideal, but decent.

Sunday: Rest
Monday: Cross train= Yoga
Tuesday: 4 miles
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 6 miles @ 9:15 pace
Friday: 3 miles
Saturday: 10 miles

Total Mileage: 23 miles

Seven miles shy of 30 miles, and 4.2 miles less than the week before. That’s ok. It was a much busier week and the weather was poopy.

What really stuck out to me this week is how detrimental or beneficial Friday evening is to my long runs. If I eat well and drink a lot of water, I have a wonderful LR (long run). However, if I’m negligent about my diet and water intake, then my LR is less than perfect.

This week I was negligent.

There are a few things that I try to avoid the day before long runs…all of which I ate the night before my run.

• Refined sugar
• Gluten
• Lactose

That brie/apple butter/apple panini might not have been the wisest decision I have ever made. Maybe it was the tastiest…but not the wisest.

There are 2 night-before-long-run meals that I just love. Those are:

• rice and bean burrito (with guac and salsa)
• plain protein veggie burger with potatoes and veggies

They just seem to be the perfect combination of carbs/fat/protein that I need without the negative side effects of the aforementioned foods.

I know that some people say to avoid things like beans and vegetables with a lot of fiber, but I don’t usually have any problem with it. I’m sure that if I ate a box of raisins and two bowls of granola with a side salad, I’d have an ugly run. However the fiber from the beans are no problem at all.

Well, I’m out. Dave is promising me a rice and bean burrito if I watch the rest of the Pens’ game (he knows how to bribe me!), and I’m icing my foot like a good minimalist runner. And later tonight is going to be devoted to yoga to get my heart rate up!

What’s your favorite pre-workout food? Are you anal about your diet the day before hard workouts or races?

I’m really not anal about much except running. Weird!

**Please understand that these foods are what work and what don’t work for me and me alone. Same with my Runtober Goals. They are designed specifically for me and my level of activity and running. I hope that you experiment and test what is best for yourself!