Category Archives: Fitness

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week was another solid week of base training. I didn’t have any great workouts, but didn’t have any bad ones either. As much as I love the heat and prefer running in it over the cold, even I have to admit that it slows me down. This was especially obvious at the track and on my long runs this week. Hopefully it’ll just make me tougher for a fall marathon though.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class.

Tuesday: 7 mile run plus 4 striders after work. I got absolutely poured on during my run, but it just reminded me how much fun it is to run in the rain when it’s warm out.

Wednesday: Today I got in a 30-minute strength workout with a focus on legs and a lot of single leg squats.

Thursday: I hit the track at American University for a 2X1 mile and 3X1000 meter workout hitting my splits in 7:22, 7:34, 4:44, 4:42, 4:41.

AUtrack

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: 9.65 miles starting at 10 a.m. along Mt. Vernon Trail with temps in the high 80s and close to 70 percent humidity. It’s definitely time to start getting my runs in earlier. As I passed through Gravelly Point Park on my way back and was struggling a little, a random lady yelled, “love your newtons, good job!” It totally made my run, put a smile on my face and got me moving along for the last couple miles. Runners are the best!

Sunday: I didn’t make it up early enough to get my run in before the day started and felt completely unmotivated all day. I finally got myself to the gym close to 9 o’clock at night and slogged through a slow 5-miler on the treadmill. It wasn’t a good run, but I’m sure glad I got myself to do something.

Resolution Check-In

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And another month down. Wow. This year is just flying.

Time to check in on my New Year’s Resolutions and make sure I’m still on track. Five months in and I’m still running pain free! While I’ve had a few slip-ups here and there, I’ve been pretty good about sticking with my stretching, rolling and icing routines. I’ve also stuck with a couple days of cross training each week instead of running 6 days a week, which has played a role in keeping me healthy this year.

My streak of P90X core workouts came to an end at 127 days. At first I did a good job of still doing it 4-5 times a week, but that has dropped off the last couple weeks, so I’m making core workouts my focus again for the month of June. May’s focus was on strength workouts, which I did a really good job with. My new program from my running coach has me doing these twice a week, but I used to do about 10 minutes of strength stuff and call that a workout. Now I’m doing 30-45 minutes each day and am already noticing a difference. I’m sure this will help make me a stronger runner too.

gym

The drinking less soda thing disappeared last month and I was back to my soda-a-day routine. I need to do better at this!

Three weeks into my new running program I feel like I’m building a great base to kick off my Marine Corps Marathon training so I can go after my BQ.

I’ve got some work to do, but overall I feel pretty good about my resolutions for this year. How are you doing on your resolutions?

 

Race Recap: Charity for Children 8k

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I’m a week late with my recap, but Sunday the 19th I ran the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes when I was back home for the weekend. I knew going into this that I wasn’t in the kind of shape I needed to be yet to actually race this, but I was looking forward to a challenging 5-mile run and that’s exactly what I got!

I’ve become a big fan of smaller races as of late and this fit the bill with just about 500 runners for both the 8k and 5k. Another draw for me for this race was the 10 a.m. start time! I always appreciate a race that doesn’t require me to wake up at the crack of dawn or when it’s still dark out to get to the start line on time. I was also excited to run at Green Lakes. I haven’t run there since I worked there in college years ago, and I was looking forward to taking things off the road since that’s normally the only surface I run on.

The 8k and the 5k started at the same time on a narrow beach path so  I worked my way near the front of the start line to avoid being boxed in. We looped around the beach and into the woods changing from a concrete path to gravel and then dirt as we ran around Green Lake. I kept myself from going out too fast like the previous week’s 5k and hit the first mile marker in 7:15. As I worked my way past Green Lake and around Round Lake the path changed again to mulch.

The different surfaces definitely slowed me down a bit and so did a short, but steep hill on the way to mile three as we came back out onto the beach path past the third mile marker where my Mom was waiting to cheer me on and snap a picture before she headed to the finish line! Miles 2 and 3 came in a bit slower at 7:49 and 8:18.

Passing the 3 mile mark at the Green Lakes 8k!

Passing the 3 mile mark at the Green Lakes 8k!

After coming back onto the beach path we quickly turned and ran up a path, out of the beach parking lot and on paved roads, up through the campgrounds past the frisbee golf course and to the cabin area. The emphasis on that sentence should be on the word up! Mile 4 was pretty much all up hill… a long steep hill! My pace slowed all the way down to 9:29. I don’t normally drink water in races this short, but I was pretty relieved to see a water stop at the top of the hill at the mile 4 marker.

I grabbed a cup as I turned around and started the final mile. We didn’t go straight back the way we came, but I did get to enjoy a downhill to the main road through the park and decided to pick up the pace putting in a 7:04 final mile. I turned back into the beach parking lot and onto the beach path I started on around to the finish line. I crossed the line in 40 minutes flat according to the official results. My watch had me at 39:57 and even though 3 seconds shouldn’t make a difference especially when it’s not even a PR, it still made me a little upset when I saw I hadn’t officially beaten 40.

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

Regardless, it was a great race. The packet pick up that morning was incredibly quick, the water stops were staffed with great volunteers and the course was really well marked. I had a great run and would love to go back and do it again next year!

At the finish line with Mom!

At the finish line with Mom!

I do wish I had stuck around longer after the race though – turns out I would have gotten an award! I finished 45th out of 235, was the 8th overall female and 3rd in my age group!

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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Last week started off tough. I was really sore – a couple days of hard running and not keeping up with my stretching and foam rolling had taken its toll. I made up for it with a couple days of serious rolling, stretching and icing and finished the week strong. I’m really enjoying the new training plan I’m on and also liking the group track workouts. We don’t all do the same workout, but it’s nice to have other people in it with you.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: After not fitting in the previous week’s track workout when I was back home in Syracuse, I headed out to Hains Point at lunch and ran 5X1000 meters. I was supposed to try and hit 4:38 for each one. I started out a bit too fast, but got the hang of it as I went on hitting my splits in 4:20, 4:30, 4:38, 4:39 and 4:33. After work I got a 40-minute strength workout including a lot of single-leg squats and pistol squats leaving my legs killing me!!

Tuesday: I took my sore legs out for a slow 5.35 mile run around Hains Point.

Wednesday: Today I got in a 30-minute full body strength workout after taking a client through a personal training session.

Thursday: I metroed out to my old stomping grounds at American University after work for a track workout with the DC Running Coach group. Today wasn’t too difficult of a workout, but I felt really great after it and feel like I’m starting to get the hang of the pacing thing. I was set to do 3X1 mile at a 7:25 pace with a 1-minute break and hit my splits at 7:18, 7:22 and 7:21.

Newton2

Friday: Our office closed at 3 for Memorial Day weekend so I decided to get my long run in early and put in 10.35 miles along the Mall and Hains Point. It was a bit chilly after the warm weather earlier in the week and really windy, but I felt surprisingly strong especially for doing a long run the day after a track workout.

Saturday: Rest day – although it turned into quite a busy day with some apartment hunting (more on that later!) and a fun trip to visit some family in Gettysburg!

Sunday: Today was a perfect day for running. It was absolutely gorgeous out. I put in just more than 6 miles along the rolling hills on the Custis Trail.

Syracuse Weekend Fun

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No matter how old you get it always feels good to go home. When you’re from Syracuse it feels even better when it’s not winter! Ian had to drive up to his camp north of Syracuse back-to-back weekends so last weekend I rode along and had him drop me in Syracuse to spend the weekend with my parents.

We left Thursday night after I got out of work and made pretty decent time after a rough start to the drive battling traffic and three accidents along the 8-mile stretch of the GW Parkway to get on our way. My parents have remodeled the “guest room” which my Mom calls the kid’s room. It was my brother’s room for most of the time growing up and then I took it over when he left for college and my room was turned into an office. Now it has the most comfortable bed I’ve ever slept in. Seriously, I would steal it if I could figure out a way.

I always try to pack everything I can in on weekends home and this one was no different. Friday I met my Mom for lunch and pedicures before heading home to meet up with Dad for our usual Friday night dinner at Mulligans. I’ve been going to Mulligans for as long as I can remember…so long that I actually could never have tried to drink underage in this bar because they knew my birthday and wouldn’t want to upset my parents! It wouldn’t be a Friday night at home without going to Mulligans. After dinner my Dad and I always stay up late watching TV or a movie. We rented Silver Linings Playbook on demand and I loved it. He fell asleep, but I assured him it was a good movie, haha.

Drinks at the bar at new Toby Keith's restaurant in Syracuse

Drinks at the bar at new Toby Keith’s restaurant in Syracuse

Saturday my Mom and I were up early to go to the Y and try out an Aqua Blast class hoping it wouldn’t just be us and a bunch of old ladies. Well, not only was it us and a bunch of old ladies, but the instructor never showed either. We ended up grabbing the water belts and doing some aqua jogging instead. I took a trip down memory lane later on a long run to my old high school and back. I ran around all the athletic fields and couldn’t help but be jealous of the new fence at the softball field – that would’ve made chasing down fly balls so much easier!

I spent some time at my grandparents too. I hadn’t seen them since my Florida trip in January so it was great to visit. I was always very lucky when I lived at home to have them just 5 minutes from our house during the months they were in Syracuse. They very smartly get out of there before the cold and snow hits.

We headed out to Destiny USA for dinner Saturday night – better known as the Carousel Mall to those of us who lived there when it was first built. I couldn’t get over the new addition and how many new stores and restaurants have moved in. Just saying…I might have to make a trip back to check out those go-karts! We ended up at the new Toby Keith restaurant. It was really cool. The bar was ginormous and in the shape of a guitar. I could probably have dealt with one of the hundreds of TVs not being tuned into Nascar, but oh well. The beers were cold, the mac ‘n cheese bites app was amazing and my buffalo chicken sandwich was great as well – so all in all it was a great spot!

After an 8k race at Green Lakes (recap coming tomorrow), Sunday was spent at the house before Ian and I made the trek back to D.C. I attempted some tech support fixes that did not go as well as planned (thankfully I was at least able to restore the Internet before leaving), enjoyed a home cooked meal and wrapped up the ridiculous amount of laundry that I brought home. I will never be too old to take advantage of free laundry…unless I eventually live somewhere that doesn’t require me to go to the basement to do laundry.

It was a great trip home as always. Hope you all had a nice weekend too!

I’m Going to FitBloggin!!

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If you follow me on twitter, you might already know this, but I’m going to FitBloggin’13 this June in Portland, Ore., and I’m super excited! For those unfamiliar, FitBloggin, according to their website, “is for anyone who blogs about fitness, wellness, good food and a healthy lifestyle–regardless of where they are in their journey… More than just another blogging conference, FitBloggin’ is all about the desire to use technology, blogging and social media to motivate, inspire and foster a culture of health and wellness. We strive to bring together bloggers from all walks of life to create a tightly connected group of men and women who care deeply about and are committed to spreading this passion for fitness.”

I was lucky enough to get a FitBloggin assistanship meaning I get to go to the conference for free in exchange for live blogging one of the sessions on their website. My session is How to Create a Media Kit that Showcases Your Brand and Gets Companies Knocking on Your Door. I think this will be a really interesting topic, so I’m excited to not just cover it for their site, but also learn more about it. The schedule is jam-packed with great educational sessions and fun early morning fitness classes. I wish I could go to them all. It’ll be tough deciding which ones I plan to attend, but I’ll be sure to give a full recap here of all the sessions I make it to!

Have you ever been to a blogging conference? What did you think? What would you like to learn at FitBloggin? Let me know if you’re going this year too!

Ian will be making the trip with me as well and we’re planning to spend a couple extra days in Portland. Neither of us have ever been there and have heard great things about the city, so we thought it’d be fun to explore. Any sites/restaurants/etc. that we should definitely put on our list while there?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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I had to do a bit of shuffling with my workouts this week, but felt great and feel like I’m on my way to getting back into racing shape. This was the first week on my new program designed by my running coach and I think it’s going to be a really great program for the next couple months. I ended the week with a fun 8k at the state park back home I worked at during the summers through college.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: 30 minutes on the elliptical, followed by a 35-minute full body strength workout and a 15-minute core workout.

Tuesday: I ran an easy 6.5 miles around Hains Point at lunch averaging just under an 8:30 pace.

Wednesday: 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by a 30-minute full body strength workout

Thursday: Getting to work early, a conference call during lunch and a long drive to Syracuse right after work turned today into an unplanned rest day. I was supposed to hit the track today and ended up moving it to the following Monday, so you’ll see it in next week’s recap!

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: I put in an easy 9.8 miles around my hometown running up to my old high school, around the athletic fields and back home. I enjoyed the run, but forgot how hilly it is there!

Sunday: I ran the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes State Park on Sunday. Full recap coming soon, but I loved this race and would really like to “race it” next year in better shape instead of just running it as a workout. I finished in 40 minutes according to the official results and wish I’d hung around for the awards, but didn’t realize till this morning that I would’ve gotten an age grouper award!

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

At the finish after the Charity for Children 8k at Green Lakes

Endurance Nutrition Tips

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Last month I went to a clinic on Endurance Nutrition Tips featuring sports nutritionist Rebecca Mohning, MS, RD, LD, put on by Team Z at Fast Track Physical Therapy. I’m always amazed how no matter how many of these things I go to or how much I read on the subject, there’s always something new to learn.

Rebecca talked about nutrition pre, during and post workout or race. She highlighted the usual important tips including eating the proper amount of calories, fat, carbs and protein for training; staying hydrated; not trying anything new on race day and choosing the appropriate calorie level for weight loss so it doesn’t impact training and performance.

Some new things I learned and interesting stats…

  • Be careful of sugar alcohols in bars or energy drinks. They can cause GI distress.
  • If you lose more than 3 percent of your body weight in a training workout, it’ll hurt your performance.
  • Just 4-6 ounces of OJ or 1/2 a banana will give you 30 percent more energy for a short morning workout. (The 1/2 banana thing actually drives me crazy. Does anyone ever actually just eat 1/2 a banana?!)
  • Women have an exaggerated increase in appetite hormones after exercise leading many to eat more calories than they’ve burned. (So not fair!)
  •  Your weight in kg. times 1.2 is equal to the number of grams per day of protein you should eat.
  • Always take vitamins with food and not with teas, colas or coffees.
  • Women need 350 mg. of magnesium per day. Nuts and seeds are the best source, but need to supplement it as well.
  • Many people are Vitamin D deficient and should get a blood test to determine further supplementation needs.

I’ve tried over the years to take vitamins, or at the very least a daily vitamin, but never stick with it. What do you all think about taking vitamins or supplements? Any new nutrition tips you’ve learned recently?

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A Marathon View From the Sidelines

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Last weekend I volunteered with the DC Capital Striders at the Potomac River Run Marathon along the C&O Canal Path. It’s not too often I’m up before 6 a.m. for any reason other than going running, but Sunday I would just be manning the sidelines. I met up with the rest of our group at Lock 7 and helped set up the aid station. The marathoners would go out and back twice along the path so we’d see them all four times along the course. We were stocked with water, Gatorade, bananas and power bars.

Lock 7

Lock 7

Volunteer Group at Lock 7

Volunteer Group at Lock 7 (stole this from the DC Cap Striders FB page)

The race had about 500 runners with a 7 a.m. non-competitive start and an 8 a.m. regular start. After we got things ready to go it wasn’t going to be too long before the first set of runners were coming through since the first time they’d pass us was just about 3.5 miles in. It was an overcast day and temps were in the high 40s at the start with a slight breeze – perfect for runners, but a bit chilly for us. I’m glad I packed some hand warmers that I still had on hand from when I used to teach outdoor boot camps during the winter!

I handled the water cups and doled out encouragement to as many runners going by as I could. I know how much it means to me to have some encouragement along the course, especially one without a lot of crowd support. I also knew a couple runners so it was fun getting to cheer them on as they passed by. Other than one botched water handoff to one of the faster runners during his first trip through our station, I managed not to drop or spill the water cups on anyone! Successful day if you ask me. Although if you ask the guy who I botched the handoff with, he might not agree! There was a somewhat steady stream of people after the 8 a.m. group got going and we had people coming from both sides, but it was never overwhelming. I can’t even imagine working a water stop at one of the mega races. I need to remember to say extra thank yous at the Marine Corps Marathon stops this year!

Runners on the C&O path

Runners on the C&O path

It was fun to be out there and it was really inspiring to see so many people of so many different abilities putting it all out there to finish their marathon. I love this sport!

Aid Station at Lock 7

Aid Station at Lock 7

Congrats to everyone who ran Sunday! Have you ever volunteered for a marathon? How’d it go?

Footprints: Monday Morning Recap

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So this week’s Monday morning recap is brought to by Monday night. I’m running a bit behind this week! After last weekend’s half marathon I took this week as a recovery week, and I actually – gasp – did not run at all. It felt good to give myself a break and recharge, but now I’m itching to get out and run and am actually excited for my early alarm to go off tomorrow so I can lace up my running shoes and hit the streets.

Here’s the day by day breakdown…

Monday: Spin Class, Upper body strength

Tuesday: Rest Day

Wednesday: Rest Day

Thursday: Spin Class Body Ride and strength

Friday: Rest Day

Saturday: Spin Class Endurance Ride

Sunday: I might not have been running this week, but I did man an aid station at the Potomac River Run Marathon – fun way to spend the morning!

On Saturday, Revolve brought in some Cinco de Mayo enterainment to go along with the ride!

On Saturday, Revolve brought in some Cinco de Mayo enterainment to go along with the ride!