spicy

My schedule (work and otherwise) has been out of whack this week with Christmas parties and celebrations. As a result, my running schedule has also been out of whack. I couldn't run on Monday because I worked a double. I ran 4 miles on Tuesday. I was too busy to run on Wednesday. Knowing that I would be working a double today (Friday) and traveling to New Jersey/Pennsylvania tomorrow (Saturday) and with Christmas celebrations on Sunday, I knew that I needed to get a run in last night (Thursday). After Christmas shopping and getting some things done around the house, I looked at the clock...it was 10:15 p.m. I never run that late! But, I knew what needed to be done...I needed to run. I went down to the basement, jumped on the treadmill and set it to a modest 7.5 mph. I was not feeling all that great. I knew that running so late certainly played a role in this feeling, but I also knew the bigger reason: what I had eaten for dinner.

As I said, I had been out Christmas shopping earlier in the evening. I was hanging out with a good friend in the process. We decided to drop into the food court at the mall to grab some grub. Per usual protocol, I opted for an Asian fast food spot. Since the particular spot was Thai, I opted for some "Bang Bang Chicken" on top of my rice to go with my standard barbecue chicken. Let's face it...I love spicy food. It was delicious.

Unfortunately for me, as much as spicy food agrees with my taste buds, it doesn't always agree with my stomach. This was seemingly the case last night. And sadly, that wasn't the worst of it. I was sweating a little more than usual and my sweat had a little bit of a burn to it. It wasn't miserable, but it was uncomfortable. I learned a valuable lesson...I shouldn't eat spicy food before I run.

Actually, what I was reminded of was actually bigger than that. As I recently blogged, food is really fuel. I did a terrible job fueling my body yesterday by eating what I ate for dinner. I was thinking about this last night when I was reminded of a recent excerpt I read in the "Ask Miles" section of the September 2011 edition of Runner's World magazine (p 20). The question submitted by Joshua H. was "Which one is better? Run a lot but eat unhealthy or eat healthy and don't exercise?" Miles quoted Bill Roberts, M.D. in his response. Dr. Roberts quote: "That's like asking, 'Is it better to shoot myself in the right foot or the left?'" I agree with Dr. Roberts' reaction to that question. Exercise and eating healthy work hand-in-hand. You cannot choose one over the other. You need to find a way to balance them harmoniously in your life. And yesterday, I failed to reach that balance.

As I thought a little bit more about it, it also occurred to me that as in most other things, this is true of many aspects of our lives. I have changed Joshua's question to ones with regards to other aspects of our lives:

Which one is better? Pray but not read the Bible or read the Bible but not pray?
Which one is better? Love my spouse but despise my children or love my children but despise my spouse?
Which one is better? Breathe in but don't breathe out or breathe out but don't breathe in?
Which one is better? Treat others with respect but not myself or treat myself with respect but not others?

I think you get the idea I am trying to make. When you look at the same logic in different situations, it seems a bit laughable. Yet we have all likely been guilty of making this mistake in some area of our life. We need to be careful not to choose between things that are both important. Sometimes it can be hard to find that harmonious balance between them, but we will be much better off if we put in a little hard work to find it.