A Day of Firsts

Today I completed my first brick of my triathlon training cycle and it was glorious. It was a day off first for me and I loved every one of them. I started the workout off 45 minutes on the trainer. I kept the resistance light since I wasn't sure how my legs would feel on the run. During the ride I drank sips of nuun every couple minutes since I hadn't had much to drink all day.

Between the ride and the run I had my first energy gel. I few weeks ago I bought a bunch of different types of gels and chews to try during training but I hadn't tried any until today. I ended up having a Clif Shot Gel, I think the Razz flavor. It was an interesting taste and consistency but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I chased my gel with the rest of my nuun.

I then set out for a four mile run. When I first started running I forgot that I had just been biking and was frustrated with how tired and heavy my legs felt. But then I remembered I had just biked for 45 minutes and my legs weren't supposed to feel fresh. I worked hard to keep the pace easy at the beginning of the run since the first mile is all downhill.

I was surprised with how much better my legs felt as I kept running. I was also surprised with my pace compared to how I felt; I was able to keep the run at a 10:00 average pace. The last mile was pretty tough but not the worst I have endured. Overall I was pleased with the entire workout, especially the run.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	39:51.2	4.00	9:57
1	9:53.7	1.00	9:53
2	10:06.2	1.00	10:06
3	9:27.9	1.00	9:27
4	10:22.0	1.00	10:21
5	:01.3	0.00	10:07

I am not sure how I liked the energy gel but since it was only my first time I am going to keep trying different brands and flavors. I was, however, happy that my stomach didn't reject the gel. It went down easily and I never really felt out of energy during the run.

Proper Race Recovery

I am still on a runner's high from Saturday's half marathon and I have been itching to get outside for a run all week. But I know that is not a smart idea just yet. I pushed myself hard on Saturday and my body could definitely feel it on Sunday. The last thing I want is to get injured because I jumped back into running too quickly. Even though I am no longer sore I know that my body needs more time to recover. Because I do not do well unless I outline my plan for things, I put together a recovery plan to get me ready for my next training cycle healthy and happy.

1. At least five days of no running. Even though I want to run, there is really no need for me to run just yet. After my first half marathon I only took three days off and as a result dealt with IT Band pain for almost two months. Originally I was planning to take an entire week off from running but since I am home for spring break I can run on the trail here which is both flat and soft.

2. Indulge a little, but eat a healthy diet. I definitely ate whatever I wanted Saturday through Monday. I was constantly hungry and just wanted junk food. Since this week requires no training I think it okay to indulge a little more than normal. But at the same time, eating healthy foods will help my body recover better because it is being fueled properly. This week is all about balance and moderation.

3. Active recovery. Since my legs weren't too sore I started taking 2-3 mile walks on Monday. It feels really nice to loosen up the legs without any impact or requiring any effort from them. I am also planning on hitting the recumbent bike that is at my house for some easy biking. I really love using the recumbent bike and I know my legs will appreciate being able to do something this week.

4. Stretch and foam roll often. I have kind of become obsessed with my foam roller lately. I love the hurts so good feeling and my body feels amazing afterwards. The only thing that is still tight is my hips and I know that some quality TLC with the foam roller will take care of that. I have also been looking up some different stretches online to make sure that my body is being fully stretched. The biggest thing for me is to make sure that I don't get injured.

5. Ice. It may not be as helpful now but icing really helps my legs recover from tough runs, especially my knees. My muscles aren't really sore anymore but my knees always appreciate a nice ice session. My hips and IT Bands could always benefit from some ice too.

6. Sleep, sleep, sleep. Since this is my spring break I don't have to get up early and can sleep in as late as I want. I am taking full advantage of this and catching up on all of the sleep that I lost due to studying. I don't know the science behind it but sleeping really helps the body recover also, so win win situation.

7. Hydrate. This goes along with eating well. Staying hydrated helps the body do its job by fueling it. A dehydrated body is more tired and unable to do all of the things that it needs to to recover from a tough race. Additionally, it is important to rehydrate after sweating out so much fluid during the race.

Lessons Learned from Half Marathon #2

Like all races, the Rock N' Roll USA Half Marathon on Saturday was a learning experience. I wrote a post about the things I learned from running the Baltimore Half Marathon in October and I often referenced it while training for my second half marathon. I love being able to look back on what did and did not work during training. Even though Saturday's race was not my first, I think it was the most informative. So in no specific order:

1. I NEED to figure out how to fuel during long runs. I have done minimal experimenting with hydration during longer runs and no experimenting with eating or gels during long runs. During Saturday's race I drank a bottle of nuun but I could tell during the race that I needed something more. The idea of taking a gel kind of freaks me out but I am heading to the store anyway this week to buy different brands and flavors of gels and chews to try so that during my next race I will have a successful nutrition plan.

2. I need to work on my nutrition in general. It is pretty difficult to be a college student and always eat a healthy and balanced diet but I know I can do better. When I first became a vegetarian I always made sure I was getting enough protein, iron, and calcium. Lately, though, most of my meals consist of solely carbs. As much as I love carbs, I know that eating more balanced meals will help fuel my body through training.

3. Hydration is key. "Hydration is key" is a phrase that my swim coach used to always say. Regardless, I do not drink as much as I should be. Many runs have been ruined because I have been dehydrated and I do not want to continue that trend into further training. I have been doing a better job of hydrating lately and I can tell a big difference from days when I don't drink enough. 

4. Stretching and foam rolling consistently really do make a big difference. I bought a foam roller with a gift card I got for Christmas and I am so glad I did. Like most people, I could be better about foam rolling and stretching. But I did try to regularly do both after long or hard runs and I always felt so much better afterwards. Sometimes it is hard to find time to do these things but it is so worth it.

5. Pre-race anxiety is my drug of choice. Some people hate pre-race anxiety but I revel in it. I love the feeling I get in the week leading up to a big race. This feeling is my happy place and my comfort zone. It is a feeling that I grew up with and that I am familiar with. This feeling is one of the main reasons why I race, honestly. 

6. I am stronger mentally than I thought. When I was a swimmer I frequently struggled with panic attacks and was the victim of my own mental games. It got to the point that when faced with a challenge I would give up without even trying. During Saturday's race I fought mentally harder than I ever have before and in the end I didn't give up. I love that running has taught me how to be strong again. Thank you, running.

7. No matter how slow your time, running a half marathon is a great accomplishment. Compared to many of my favorite running bloggers I am beyond slow. But that doesn't matter. I did my best and pushed myself to my limits regardless of what my time is and that is what is most important. Running a half marathon is never an easy task for anyone.

Hydration 101

It is no big secret that I am terrible at hydrating. Some days I'll go the entire day without having anything to drink. I mentioned a few days ago that I was feeling unstoppable and I credit it to taking care of my body. I truly believe that fitness comes from within, meaning that what we put into our bodies is just as important as how hard we train. Because I have always struggled with drinking enough throughout the day I wanted to share some of my tips that I have found to work.. Most of the time.

1. Start the day off with something to drink. By having something to drink in the morning, even if it is orange juice or a smoothie, I have found that I am more likely to drink throughout the day also. A lot of people say you shouldn't drink your calories but I like to drink something a little more filling in the morning.

2. Brink a water bottle with you. I try to always bring a water bottle with me to class. Sometimes I will only have a few sips throughout the day but that is still better than nothing. I always find that it is much more difficult to buy a drink during the day than just grab something in the morning to bring along.

3. Dink with every meal. I have a tendency to not drink anything and then overeat. Then I try to drink a lot later but end up feeling like I am going to burst because I am so full. Smart plan, I know. If I drink with my meal then I save myself from all of that trouble.

4. Drink extra on days when I'm running. There have been many days where I don't drink enough and then I feel dehydrated while I'm running. Even if I don't drink on the days when I am not running (not recommended), I try to always drink extra on those that I am running.

5. Know how to hydrate during my runs. I never used to drink anything during my runs and boy what a mistake that was. I still haven't figured out how much or when to drink during runs but something is better than nothing. Lately I have been experimenting with water, Nuun, and Gatorade. So far I like Nuun the best. But I think it is really important to experiment and find out what works best for you.

Since I know that I like Nuun, my job now is figure out how to drink during runs. I want to feel hydrated but not over hydrated (hyponatremia). I recently got an email from Runner's World about their nutrition guide, which has a whole section about hydrating that I have been consulting to figure out this problem.

What I have figured out so far is..

• I don't need to drink anything on runs 30 minutes or less unless it is hot outside or it is a really hard run
• If it is a run between 4-6 miles I will bring water with a half tab of Nuun
• For runs between 6-10 miles I will bring water with a full tab of Nuun

I haven't done many long runs so I am not sure if I need to bring more with me, but I will be figuring that out shortly. This is all a learning process so things may not always go the right way but it is worth it to figure out what works for me.

What are your rules regarding hydrating? Do you bring a drink with you on runs?

This Is the Beginning of A Great Month

I can't begin to explain how beautiful of a day today was. I am seriously loving of all this sunshine and warm weather we have been having lately. Today also means that February is officially over! February is my least favorite month so I'm really glad that today marks the first day of March.

I kicked March off with a 5 mile run. I was hoping to get in more than five miles but I didn't feel too great so I stopped at five. This was a really tough run for me but I am really glad I finished it. Runs like these make the good runs so much sweeter.

After I wrote about struggling during my run on Monday you would think that I would have learned my lesson about properly fueling before going for a run. I had a presentation this morning that had me super nervous and not hungry in the slightest for breakfast. And then I forgot my water bottle at my apartment. So no food and no water, off to a great start.

I made plans with some friends to go out to dinner so I knew I needed to get my run in right after class. I quickly grabbed some yogurt with granola, which I think was the cause of the stomach cramp I had for the majority of the run. I brought some nuun with me but I added too much water so it was pretty diluted.

When I bring hydration with me on runs I try to have a few sips every mile or so, since that is what it will be like on race day. Since I hadn't had anything to drink all day I decided to have a sip every half mile instead, which may have also contributed to the stomach cramp.

I haven't run since Monday so I know my legs were not tired from running, but they felt like bricks. I just felt slow in general and was counting down the minutes until I was done running. I ended up taking a few breaks to stretch and give myself a little break. I hate taking breaks during runs but these were much needed breaks that enabled me to finish the run.

I am going to do my long run this weekend since I am going home. My legs will really appreciate running on the soft surfaces of the running trail near my house. Hopefully this run will go much better than my other runs this week.

Running Is Always a Learning Experience

I wish I was reporting that I had a great run today and that it made me fall in love with running even more, but that wasn't the case. I woke up this morning really tired after a weekend jam packed with studying and homework. The sun was shining and there were no clouds in sight though, which instantly energized me.

After class I grabbed a sandwich and got to work on some more studying before my run. I was so excited by how warm the weather was because I didn't get to enjoy last week's warm weather since I was sick. I think my sandwich was a little too much for me before my run but I'll address that in a minute.

From the minute I left my apartment I was smiling ear to ear. It was such a beautiful day and there was nothing else I wanted to be doing at that moment (wanted being the key word- I should have been studying). But after a few minutes I knew this wasn't going to be the glorious run I was hoping it would be. My legs felt tired and heavy, and were barely moving. I just figured they would loosen up as I ran.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	42:15.9	4.21	10:02
1	9:52.8	1.00	9:53
2	10:30.8	1.00	10:30
3	9:34.9	1.00	9:34
4	10:10.2	1.00	10:10
5	2:07.3	0.21	10:17

Not so much. The more I ran the worse I felt. I started feeling dizzy and my stomach was becoming heavy. I ended up taking a few walking breaks and my splits are all over the place but I still ended up running 4.21 miles. Then I walked the rest of the way back to my apartment.

It may not have been the run that I envisioned but it was still a decent run and in the end I am stronger because of it. I try to learn as much as I can from each run, and the main thing that I learned from this run is that I need to start paying a lot more attention to my nutrition. I had half of a bowl of oatmeal this morning around 8:30, a veggie sandwich at 3:00, a few sips of water throughout the day, and left for my run at 4:15.

She is hydrating properly. I need to do that.

I did plan on getting lunch at noon during my break but I had forgot my ID which has my meal swipes on it. Still though, I need to do a better job of fueling my body to do what I am asking of it. And more importantly, I need to drink more. I brought a 32 oz. water bottle to school with me and I hardly drank any of it. I did bring about 1/3 of a gatorade with me on my run (thank god!) but I think that also played a role in the heavy feeling in my stomach.

I have been doing a pretty good job of maintaining a dairy free diet, but I think I can do better. With all of my schoolwork piling up, I stopped paying attention to what I was eating and would just end up grabbing whatever was most convenient.