I had a two-bag-a-week habit...Bazooka Joe himself had to stage an intervention for me. I have been training for the Lincoln marathon, which goes off a week from now. A month ago, I decided I would get aggressive with my nutrition because I figure an old runner like me (43) needs every possible advantage if I want to crawl across the finish line in under four hours much less 3 1/2. So I set out to eliminate empty cards and refined sugars from my diet about five weeks ago. I thought that this would be a good means of enhancing my nutrition while also improving my chances of turning in a good performance on race day. I said goodbye to the chips and candy, and mourned the loss of my fries and popcorn... There definitely is a connection between intake and output. How you eat, how you sleep, and whether you're drinking enough water- all those things contribute to outcomes on race day, not just miles and pace. ...