Sarah the Blogger

I've built my way up to 9 miles. I honestly am pretty amazed how far I have come! I am continuing to walk with my group as well as on my own. Our long Saturday walks our now up to 9-10 miles. Wow!

My race is only a month away. I am definitely more confident that I can do this! I walked 9 miles this weekend, with a few more weeks training I can walk 13 miles for my race!

Our training group has been very helpful and offered a lot of good info on many different topics.  Recently we had a these great tips on performance foods for runners and walkers:

Complex Carbohydrates:  for muscle energy and endurance
Cereal:  especially Oat Squares, Oatmeal, Raisin Bran
Bread:  whole grain is best;  anything with added wheat, oats is ok
Pasta:  macaroni, spaghetti, any other; cooked al dente will retain more nutrients
Potatoes:  not fried or chips!
Other:  waffles, pancakes, bagels, pretzels, Power Bars, cereal bars

Fruits and Vegetables:  for healing, recovery, and repair
Bananas, Broccoli, Watermelon
Oranges or OJ, Blueberries, Apples
Carrots, Strawberries, Red Grapes
Salsa, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce are great ways to get tomatoes, peppers, onions

Protein:  for structure, repair, recovery, prevention of injury
Egg whites        Low fat yogurt
Peanut butter        Fat free milk
Baked beans        Skinless white turkey or chicken

Fat:  for long-term energy, vitamin absorption, hormonal regulation
Tuna            Nuts, sunflower seeds        Lean cuts of beef and pork
Salmon        Olives and olive oil        Skinless white poultry

Other Fun Foods
Pizza made with lower fat cheese
Jell-o            Raisins, even chocolate covered
Fig Cookies         Oatmeal & Peanut Butter cookies
Licorice        Gummy Bears
Yogurt            Pudding


Foods that will hurt performance
All fried foods:  chicken nuggets/any breaded and fried chicken, french fries, doughnuts, fried fish

Foods high in saturated fats:  all fried foods, fatty cuts of meat and poultry, most cheeses (go for the cheese made with skim or 2% milk), butter, whole milk, coconut and coconut oil, palm oil, ice cream (choose frozen yogurt or the lower fat kind instead)

Carbonated, sugary drinks:
The phosphorous in the carbonation depletes the bones of calcium:  an especially important mineral for females.
The amount of soft drink many athletes drink keeps them from drinking enough water, which is truly what the muscles need to perform.
While caffeine may give them a boost for awhile, too much can cause jitteriness and decrease performance.
Sports drinks are a much better choice.  They have the sugar, but the muscles can use it.  They replace fluid and are more easily absorbed than soft drinks.