Where to Start: Tips to Start Training for a (half or full) Marathon

So a great way to figure out how to start training for a (half or full) marathon is to run as part of a team. Team in Training  (TNT) is great because they provide you with a work out plan, tips, support, etc. Also if there is a local team in your area you have people to run with. I did the Flex training, which means all the support was via email/online but it was still very helpful.

There are also lots of local running groups. I know when I was living in Nashville there was a local team called East Nasty that has twice (maybe 3) a week runs and would also do events together. So if you're new in an area a running group is a great way to meet people. Also Fleet Feet stores will often support a local running group so if you're not sure where to start look up your local Fleet Feet store and give them a call and just ask. They also have some training guides on their website.

Another option is to find other training guides online. This is the route I took. Although I found TNT helpful I had already started a training plan before they had emailed their training schedule out so I decided to stick with the one I started. My dad's friend has helped women train for Ironman and she recommended and emailed me the training guide for Your 26.2. You can sign up for a free or upgrade to a paid membership. Either way there is a lot of helpful information on the site.

One important thing to consider with training is whether the schedule and work outs are based on some kind of science about how the body works/recovers. Most training plans should increase mileage over time and fairly slowly. With off days here and there. Also if the plan you chose does not specifically include core or strength training work outs make sure you do them on your own!! Your core especially is so important to being able to do long runs. My dad kept telling me that after mile 17-18 it was all about nutrition (fueling) and my core. The key is to find a training guide that wasn't just posted by some random person who has no idea what they are talking about.

Anyone else have helpful websites, teams they know of, or tips?? Is anyone reading the blog haha?

Fuel and Supplements for Long Runs

So many! Where to Start?!?

A very important thing about training is making sure you are fueling appropriately. It is very difficult to train on a low carb diet. For shorter runs you will probably be ok but carbohydrates are the easiest fuel for your body to use. If you try to cut out carbs before your long runs it will make for a very tricky and tiring run. After a long run you want about a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein recovery meal. Something easily digestible that your body can use to repair after the hard workout you just put in. The hard part is finding a balance as to not over do it before or after. This is a common reason why many people will gain weight when they increase their work out regimen or start running more. If you're having a hard time do research about the number of calories and types of food to eat before and after work outs. Also consider that if you are sitting around all day after a long run that you don't need to eat massive amounts of food the rest of the day. Research, research, research. Knowing what to do and how to do it right will help a lot in the long run.

Fuel

In terms of fuel for training and race day the two important things you will need are carbohydrates and electrolytes. The best thing you can do is experiment with a variety of things on different runs and see how you do with them. Some people can't handle a lot of sugar and it makes them nauseous or throw up. This is good to know BEFORE race day. Here are a list of the different things I used during training and on race day.

GU Energy Gel - Flavors I like are Chocolate and Jet Blackberry

Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel - I used Cherry Lime but not my favorite flavor but not bad

Power Gel -  Pomegranate Blueberry Acai. This one had no caffeine so I liked it for runs later in the day so I could sleep or in between caffeinated ones to not over do it on caffeine. 

Accelerade 2nd Surge Gel - Chocolate. This one had lots of caffeine, carbs, and some proteins. This is what I used every 2 hours on long runs and race day.

Thermolyte MetaSalts - blend of electrolytes. These you just swallow with water. Nice because they aren't sweet. I took 1 every hour and then 2-4 if I started having any cramping as needed. 

Kramp Krushers - Electrolyes with some sugars as well. Taste really good. Nice to have toward end with cramps and as a distraction. If taking prophylactically don't need to take the same time as MetaSalts. If you have cramps throw everything you can at it haha (to a certain point)

Knowing someone who is a trainer or coach will be very helpful. Have them help you plan when to take certain things. Also know what they have on the course. Most races will have water and gatorade so if you plan to drink the gatorade on race day then train with it. After awhile you might not like how it sits in your stomach. Don't try anything new on race day. If you go into any running, cycling, triathlete shop they will have a variety of different things like this for sale. My dad was able to get all of these from the Tri shop that he used to work at. Talk to the people in the store if you need help too. A lot of them will have probably used some of the different products and have recommendations.

Supplements

There are a variety of supplements that can compliment your training. They aren't vital but they can improve your recovery or performance. Some people are all for them others are not. I will just list what I use and why and you can research them and decide if they are right for you. 

For Recovery: Recovery Amino Power - This is a blend of amino acids that help aid in the recovery process and bunch of other things too. Go to the site and read about it. You can spend way less and buy a variety of supplements that equal this one supplement or you can pay more and make it more convenient. I did 3 in the am and 3 at night leading up to the race and for most of training and then would always do 6 immediately after a work out (goal is within 20 min)

For Performance: Neogenis Sport BeetElite Neo Shot - this is pretty amazing stuff and the power of beets is starting to get really big in endurance sports. Basically it increases nitric oxide which helps you use oxygen in the body more efficiently. This is something definitely worth reading more about!! Do a shot in 4 oz of water before a long run. I noticed a big difference. 

Have a Plan

Mine was as follows:

Before race: 30 Min before Neo Beet Shot, 15 min before Roctane Gel

Every 45 Min: PowerGel

Every Hour: MetaSalt (or as needed)

Every 2 hours: 2nd Surge (if it was about the same time as a powergel I would skip the gel and just do a surge)

As needed for taste/distraction/cramps: Kramp Krushers

Hydration: I wore a water belt so I had water when needed and then planned to switched back and forth between water and gatorade at the aid stations.


**However,  you will have a plan and then at a certain point everything goes out the window. You will start doing what you feel you need, will sit well in your stomach, and tastes good but if you start just doing straight water after awhile you will need to force yourself to add some electrolytes and carbs or you will hit a wall. After about 17 miles my plan fell a apart and I did what I needed to do to cross the line.

Also have someone help you make a plan. Like I said. I would not take all these things if my dad didn't have years of experience, personal use, and knowledge about each of the products. Do your research!

Journey to My First Marathon

So as I had mentioned I ran my first marathon this past weekend! I cannot believe it still haha. I did the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. If you're new to the blog or haven't read many other posts let me start by saying I am not a runner. I actually kind of hate(d) running. Still not sure how I feel about it. But as a non-runner I decided to do a half marathon while living in Nashville about a year and a half ago. I was so amazed and proud of myself from going from barely running a mile to running 13.1! I then thought I am NEVER running a full marathon, no way in hell.

Well, life is interesting. I started to get this itch like hmmm I could do it... I could maybe run a full... I'd like to do a full before I'm 26 (26 miles by 26.. I think I'm clever). It's not like I kept up my running after the half either. I went back to only being able to run about 3 miles at a time again. 13 steps forward 10 steps back I guess. I had visited Chicago about 5 months after the half marathon and though well this place is amazing and flat; so I stuck this idea in the back of my mind about Chicago being the place to run a full if I ever decided to do it. Well some time passed and I decided to just look and see when the next Chicago Marathon was and saw that registration was a few months away. So there I was 25 and fully considering doing a full marathon. I set a reminder to register and when the time came it ended up being by a lottery system. I thought well if it's mean to be I'll get picked and if not oh well. I didn't make it in via the lottery and decided to forget about it (what a cop out).

Then the Boston Marathon bombings happened and instead of afraid I felt inspired. I thought I could channel all that negativity into something positive for myself and others. I decided to sign up for the marathon through a charity organization. I chose the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society because of my Great Grandma Mabel who died of leukemia. By the end of training I had raised $2,500!! Running for a cause bigger than myself was extremely rewarding and encouraging. Every time someone made a donation it was a reminder to keep training and keep pushing even when I wanted to quit. Come race day I am SOOOO happy that I ran with LLS's Team in Training! Every mile or so was one of the coaches who would jog next to you, encourage you, chat it up, or give you salt caps, GUs, or whatever you needed. Their little bits of encouragement go a loooong way especially at mile 23.

So I signed up, trained, and did it! However, I definitely had some set backs along the way. I didn't quite stick to my training plan as well as I should have. I let life and relaxing get in the way some days but I was able to keep up with my long runs for most of training. Then the last couple weeks of long runs I ended up getting sick and had a nasty cough that hung around for an extra week and a half. I wasn't able to do my last long runs before tapering began. The furthest I ran before race day was a training 13.1 miles... :-/ not what I had wanted to happen. But, I made a commitment to myself and LLS that I would do it. I made sure I carb loaded, hydrated, planned all my fuel and electrolytes, and told myself I would finish.

And I did! I finished 26.2 miles. Did I go as fast as I would have liked? No. But my real goal was to finish. I ran majority of it but did take quite a lot of walking breaks toward the end. And crossing the finish line I had tears in my eyes and was so happy and proud of myself. So now I am in recovery mode. The soreness has finally subsided but my foot is still killing me. I am nervous I had a stress fracture in my right foot but since I'm not working yet I have been able to rest all week and stay off of it, hopefully it starts getting better soon.

I will write a few more posts soon about specific training plans, how I fueled, and what I learned along the way.

The day after the race! Hobbled around the city for some last minute site seeing before heading home.

I'm Back!

I am officially back to it! March is the beginning to the next chapter of This is My Edible Life. It took me a month from moving in to get to this point but it is ok, better late than never. Saturday I went for a 3 mile run (woot woot, so happy, seeing that it had been months since running) and I started a BodyRock 30 Day Challenge. I like the idea of the 30 Day Challenges as it keeps me on a schedule and I feel more accountable. As much as I love(d) BodyRock I think I liked their old format more than their new one. Props to them for growing and expanding but I think I am going to try something either from their archives after this challenge or a different work out site. You can still find anything I did or do that is related to BodyRock underneath the tab above. Anything workout related will be under exercise (so if it's BodyRock it will be in both places). I will make another post dedicated to this 30 Day Challenge so if you want to follow along or start it with me you can.

Getting Motivated Again

So how have I motivated myself to get going again? I followed some of my own tips: Getting motivated again and again. On Saturday before my run I did these:

• Spent some time on Pinterest in the health and fitness section looking at quotes, work outs, and pictures of extremely fit women--jealousy is pretty powerful haha.
• Wrote on my mirror that "I will work out today" just a little reminder that I need to do something each day and to feel proud when I work out and then see it later. I get to say "yup, I did"
• Took some Day 1 pictures. I will post them once I'm done with this 30 Day Challenge so I can do before/after.
• I also though about why I had been motivated before and why I was feeling stuck and came to some of the realizations below...

Some Realizations

So it had definitely been awhile since blogging, cooking, and working out and came to a few realizations in the time being. I realized that my mood had really changed as a result of my lack of activity and (way) less than perfect eating habits. I just felt more... blah. It's weird because I rarely worked out before starting this blog, then started working out consistently, and then kinda lost steam which was when I noticed how good I had felt before. I had more energy, even being at a heavier weight I felt more confident on the days I worked out, my mood was better, and I had more energy.

Another thing I realized after yesterday's work out was how much I missed feeling strong. I had totally lost my stamina and strength I had gained from the first 30 Day Challenge and continued BodyRocking. I felt pathetic hardly being able to do the exercises but rather than letting it deter me I am motivated to get that strength back and maintain it. I like knowing I can carry something heavy, kick ass, or be active at the drop of a hat if needed. Time to get that all back!

Lastly, and it kind of goes with the first one, is that I am caring (a little) less about the weight on the scale. I know muscle weighs more than fat and everything shouldn't be measured by the numbers on the scale. However, I have always been someone who weighs myself everyday. I think since I have been taking pictures of my progress it's easier to see the changes and differences. Right now I'm about 139 without the added muscle and I'm seeing a big difference from the 139 (about) I was after the 30 Day Challenge. I really think taking measurement or pictures is a better way to track progress. If you aren't working out and just changing eating habits then the pounds is a pretty good indicator but if you have started a work out regimen especially something intense like cross-fit, bodyrock, etc. then there are much better ways to see improvement.

Motivation to Run Again

Well it took awhile but I finally went on a run again today. I did 2.5 miles (not bad for the first time in months) and at a better pace than usual. The first mile felt really good but the second one wasn't too bad. I can definitely tell that doing BodyRock on a regular basis has made a difference in my run. My muscles felt good and strong it is more of a matter of getting my breathing back in running shape. It was also the most perfect fall day today so that helped I think.

What helped me the most today was just saying "it's ok if I just do 1 mile and come home." Reassuring myself that it was ok to just go out and give it a try took off a the pressure and the dread of going on a run. If I get out there and just do it I'll usually do more than a mile. If you allow yourself to take baby steps it takes away that guilt if you decide to, or can only do, the minimum.

Some things that may help:

I mean... how can you not?

I'm letting go of the guilt for having stopped running but I am going to work on it and get it back and do my best to maintain from here on out.

Charity Miles app donates to the charity of your choice when you run, walk, or bike! The app tracks how far you run and a corporate sponsor donates $.25 per mile ran and $.10 biked to your charity of choice. Click here for more info

So this idea is one of the main things that got be motivated to make a change in my life. I've seen it written a few different ways but this idea regularly motivates me. I am in charge of my body and I am going to make it how I want.