"Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical" --Lawrence "Yogi" Berra

Wednesday was a learning day. I learned not to skip breakfast.

On Wednesday, without really meaning to, I skipped breakfast. Busy day, lots to do, early meeting at work. I hardly noticed until about 11:30, when I realized I was really, really hungry and my thinking was a bit foggy. So off I ran to get a healthy lunch at Subway. Normally, a Subway 6 inch roast beef sub is an excellent choice for lunch. Good balance of carbs, protein and fiber, low in calories (about 290). As I stood in line, starving and thinking about it, I realized that since I didn't have breakfast, I was about 250 to 300 calories behind for the day. Did I mention I was really hungry? So, naturally, I ordered a foot-long sub.

It was really good. But back to the point of the post.

By 1:30, my blood sugar had flipped so badly that I still couldn't think, and I couldn't sit still. Got up and walked around. Back to work after 20 minutes, feeling much better. Worked until 6--so far so good--but then hit a mental wall. Oh well, time to go home.

I got home, drank some water and milk, put on my running shorts, and out I went for a 4 mile, approximately 50 minute run. I felt great until about 1 1/2 miles into the run. Talk about a wall. I saw stars and had a hard time walking straight. No pain, no nausea, just felt like laying down and going to sleep.

Since that would be against our neighborhood covenants and restrictions, I walked--very slowly--home. By the time I got home, I realized that my skipping breakfast and trying to make up at lunch had really sabotaged my run. And again, I was really, really hungry. And I had lots of calories left for the day--approximately 1400! So I drank a glass of milk and ate:

• Peanuts
• Chips
• Chocolate
• Candy
• A baked potato
• A can of vegetarian chili (yes, the entire can)
• More candy
• More chips
• A bowl of Total cereal
• A bowl of Kashi cereal
• More peanuts, chips, and chocolate.

Bottom line: My 1400 calorie limit turned into about 2800 calories and felt horrible and went to bed early.

The next morning, I woke up early and decided to try that run again. Four miles, felt great, no problems. I watched what I ate all day, did an exercise ball routine at night, went to bed early. This morning, I got up early and pounded out another 4 miles in about 47 minutes. Not world record time, but I couldn't runt to the end of the block 3 weeks ago without effecting my vision and will to live. Now, I feel great and felt like I could have gone another 4 miles.

I learned not to skip breakfast, eat evenly and moderately all day, and run in the mornings when possible. One more thing: My blood pressure after my run this morning and after cool-down, about 10 minutes post run, is 103/74, and my heart rate is already down to 94.