The Big Brown Bear

I had forgotten about this part of the taper. The part where you are so ravenous you could literally eat a bear as it clawed at you.

For months you've been traveling uphill. The training volume builds, you must take in more.... but the right balance of more.... to sustain the higher volume. You go up, and up and up...... and then you hit the cliff. Your training volume drops and sends you... the hungry bear off the cliff. Notice that the laws of inertia allow you to travel out a bit more before you drop.

And that's where I am, still traveling forward.

Taper is an easy place to gain weight. I have one rule. I can eat as much as I want during taper, with one catch..... it must be 100% quality food. So today I ate 2 bags of sweet baby lettuce, a pound of green grapes, four bananas, and more. No fruit isn't good to satisfy the bear but we have to pile as many nutrients in here as we can. I keep away from sweets, I even keep away from peanut butter. Just one scoop opens the door to a thousand more. And suspicious spouses know the trail of the whole wheat RITZ cracker through the peanut butter routine... all too well.

My carbs must be 100% quality. No white bread. No white pasta. Every single thing that passes through these lips must be beneficial to my body, or it stays on the plate.

The appetite will come around, it will. As will my body. The fatigue and soreness from months and months has not left yet, but give it a few more days. Hydration, superb nutrition, recovery... then it will all come together.

So beware, the big brown bear has arrived. She's kept herself in check with all of the berries and greens that Wegman's has to offer. So Mr. Wegman, keep it in stock. Because one ounce too few of Sweet Baby Lettuce and I could be forced into the peanut butter isle. Or worse yet......

Into the peanut butter ice cream isle....

Thanks for stopping by.

:-) Mary Eggers