Race Week: The Countdown Begins!!!!

It's RACE WEEK!!!!!!! 

I'm a little excited about Race Week, can you tell? You know I'm excited when I use more than three exclamation points on a Monday (and I'm not upset about something). Although my day started out dragging in the "positive emotions" department (it's still a Monday after all) the day got better and better with each passing hour (I know! I'm as shocked as you are!!).

This week I'm going to be focusing on proper preparation for my half marathon in the areas of: nutrition; hydration; sleep; training/tapering; stretching; and mental preparation.

Today's topic of choice will be Nutrition. 

So I've been fluctuating with my diet discipline. I wasn't on a specific diet (just trying to eat healthy) but I was also treating myself to these amazing apple croissants from Au Bon Pain....every day.
I tend to be an emotional eater, which doesn't always work out well when I combine that with my sweet tooth. Anyway (I shall not dwell on these instances of indulgence), this week I really want to focus on nutrition. I told myself (and many of you all in a previous blog post) that I was not going to do Paleo again. And I stuck with that decision....until this morning...

I'm doing a modified Paleo 80/20 diet with my brother Mark. He started Paleo on Nov 1st and I said I would do it with him (so I started today)...but with a few exceptions. For example: salad dressing (all types) and chewing gum are on my list of "ok" foods. And I'm carb loading on Friday so obviously Friday will be a non-Paleo day for me. I'm also trying to stay away from anything too greasy, too spicy, or too "outside of my normal food intake", while maintaining a respectable resemblance to the Paleo diet.

I did some research on the Runner's World website and came across THIS ARTICLE about race week nutrition. There were some key points that I found interesting and some great tips that I figured I would share with you in the form of iPhone screen shots (you're welcome)...

And even though I don't normally eat before I run, I may try something simple and basic (like 1/2 a bagel etc) on race morning...

Disclaimer: I'm not a dietitian or a nutritionist or any type of food expert. I do my own version of research and eat whatever I like based on the theme/mood of the phase I'm in. Please don't consider anything I'm doing regarding my diet as a formula that will necessarily work for you. You have to do your own research, visit your physician, see a dietitian or nutritionist (ones that actually get trained (and paid) to do this for a living), and listen to your body. 

Today was a rest day for me but also Day 3 of my November 30-Day sit-up challenge...

I have been following the challenge from November 1st and so today I did 30 sit-ups. I initially planned to start with 50...but then I got lazy so I'm just sticking with the plan as it's laid out. I may skip the rest days and jump ahead though (we'll see). 

Happy Race Week to everyone racing this weekend!

What race week nutrition advice do you follow?

Anybody doing a 30-day challenge in November?