6. Don’t worry so much about what you eat.

Running tip #6

When it comes to food, I tend to side with Quentin Cassidy from Jon L. Parker’s Once a Runner:  “He did not live on nuts and berries; if the furnace was hot enough, anything would burn.”   So, for today’s tip I say stop worrying so much about what you eat.  Remember when you were a kid and you came home from school to immediately change into your “play clothes” to go outside and find who(m)ever was playing in the neighborhood?  There was kick-the-can and chase, hide-n-seek, ditch-it, or any number of running games where you ran and ran until you had to stop to catch your breath before running again … then, when it was getting dark,  you’d hear everyone called home for dinner (in my case it was a barbaric yawp from my dad shouting, “JeffJulieJoanJohn!” out the front door) and you’d sprint home to meatloaf and Parker-house rolls and a tall glass of cold milk waiting at the dining table.  Back then, I don’t recall anyone being vegan or gluten-free or lactose intolerant.  We just ate.  Because we were hungry. When you run hard, you work up a healthy appetite.  It’s pretty simple.  Don’t fret about calories or carbohydrates; just eat what your body craves.  Unless, of course, you are Homer Simpson: