It’s ok to have a cupcake every once in a while. I type this as I’m starting a nutrition challenge at the gym for the next six weeks and cupcakes surely won’t help my team win. However, I made cupcakes with my eight year old today. And I ate one. It was chocolatey and the perfect size. And I don’t feel bad one bit!
There was a point in life that I wasn’t making great choices in my diet. And I’m not perfect to this day. I have a sweet tooth and could probably eat cupcakes every day if given the option. That would certainly be a problem. You need to have cupcakes, as with most other things in life, in balance.
Running is a perfect example of aiming to achieve balance. Look up any training plan for a race and it balances hard running with easier runs and rest days. The rest days are just as important as the hard running days. I’ve learned the hard way when training for races in the past and not following the plan, running too much or too fast, not allowing enough time for recovery. You burn out.
As I head into this year’s half marathon training I’m conscious that I need to pay attention to achieving this balance. Like cupcakes, too much fast running, or too many days in a row, aren’t good. I’ve outlined my training plan, put it in my calendar and reflect on the workouts I am doing so that I do achieve the optimum balance during training. And I’ll look forward to my next cupcake a few weeks from now when the nutrition challenge ends!
