Category Archives: Marathons

Fueling on the Run

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Figuring out the right way to fuel along the way during your races can be tough. For my first few marathons, I honestly had no clue and no plan. I just drank the water and Gatorade along the course, and well, there was that Kit Kat Bar I basically stole from some guy at mile 18 of my first marathon!

Eventually, I smartened up and got a better understanding of how important it was to give yourself some fuel along the way. What a difference! My stomach is usually pretty strong, but I still had a tough time figuring out what to eat since I can be a bit picky. I remember just taste testing a Gu once that came in a bag of post-race goodies and thinking it was the grossest thing ever. That was probably in 2003, but I wasn’t about to give it a second chance so I started looking elsewhere.

I tried breaking a peanut butter Powerbar into pieces, but it could be really dry and tough to get down, especially later in the race. When various gummy type energy bites started to come out I got very excited. I used the Gu Chomps at first, but they could also be tough to chew through. PowerBar blasts were my savior. They were a lot easier to take since they are juicy in the center.

In my last two marathons though I haven’t taken my last set of planned bites around mile 21. The first time I felt sick to my stomach and the second time I just couldn’t stomach the idea of eating more of them. My plan this time is to have some variety so I’m not eating the same thing. That means trying something new though.

I’ve been practicing with things during my long runs and I noticed Gu has flavors like chocolate and peanut butter, so I thought it might be time to drop my decade long grudge against them. I’ve tested out the chocolate Gu twice now, and not only does it taste alright, but my stomach handles it well and it’s actually easier to down the Gu then fumble with 5 or so PowerBar blasts. I have some Honey Stinger gummies to try out soon too, and I’m going to keep experimenting till I’ve found just the right combinations.

How do you fuel your long runs and races?

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Just be sure to take your Gu with water, not Gatorade!

30 Before 30

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Yesterday was my 29th birthday! I had such a great day after a fun weekend with my family, and since I love birthdays figured why not just make this my whole birthday week. When I was in high school I thought it was the best time ever until I got to college and thought what could top that. Since then each year has only been better and better. Last year was probably my best yet, so I can’t wait to see what 29 brings. With 30 right around the corner as a pretty big milestone birthday I thought it’d be fun to create a 30 Before 30 list of things I want to do this year before the big 3-0.

I broke my list into several categories in no particular order below. Seeing as this is a fitness blog a lot of them are based around that, but I threw a few others in there as well. My categories are Racing, Fitness Challenges, Around Town, Getting Certified, Social Stuff and Grown Up Things. I’d love to hear your thoughts on my list. Did you or will you do something similar before hitting a milestone birthday? What would be on your list?

Rocking My I Run This Body Shirt!

Rocking My I Run This Body Shirt!

Racing

  • Boston Qualifying Time
  • Race in Hawaii
  • Break 21 in a 5k
  • Break 44 in a 10k
  • Run another race back in my hometown (Syracuse!)
  • Set a PR in a race I’ve done before
  • Run a track race
  • Do a triathlon

Fitness Challenges

  • 50 consecutive push-ups
  • 100 consecutive burpees
  • 5-minute plank
  • 8-minute wall sit
  • Bike for 30 miles

Around Town

  • Go hiking around Virginia
  • Go to 3 D.C. museums or sights I’ve never been to before
  • Eat out at 3 D.C. restaurants I’ve never been to before
One of my favorite views into D.C.

One of my favorite views into D.C.

Getting Certified

Social Stuff

  • Do 30 group or partner runs this year
  • Volunteer for races at least 10 times
  • Go for a run in 3 new cities
  • Watch 3 movies on the AFI top 100 list

Grown Up Things

  • Try 3 new foods
  • Cook a turkey dinner
  • Attempt to make homemade pasta
  • Buy my parents dinner (they make this harder than you may think)
  • Find a new place to move into and learn how to rent current condo

Seminar: Running Your Best Race

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On Saturday, the DC Capital Striders hosted a seminar  at Lululemon in Georgetown called Successful Race Execution – Preparation, Fueling, and Pacing Strategy to Run your Best Race featuring RRCA certified running coaches Lisa Reichmann and Julie Sapper. Lisa and Julie are both experienced runners themselves and are also co-founders of local running company, Run Farther & Faster, coaching everyone from those doing their first 5k to runners looking to PR in a marathon.

They covered the right way to taper, nutrition both while your training and racing and pacing strategies. Some of it was new and some was info I’ve heard before, but it’s always great to be reminded. They highlighted the importance of the taper, which is good for me to keep hearing because like most runners I go a little stir crazy during that time and have trouble trusting that I won’t lose all my fitness in the week and a half or so before the race.

Their info on fueling was great. They talked about avoiding sugary foods so you don’t crash, embracing carbs and making sure to eat a protein/carb snack or meal within 20 minutes of finishing a run. They also gave some good advice on in-race nutrition including the invaluable – don’t ever mix Gu with Gatorade!

Gatorade and Gu - Do not mix!!

Gatorade and Gu – Do not mix!!

The top takeaway for me came when I asked Julie about her long runs. I have a tough time doing them one to two minutes slower than race pace as most training plans recommend. I always worry that there is no way I’ll be able to run the pace I want to come race day if I do that despite what a lot of the science says on the subject.

She said she used to have similar concerns at a point where she was about a 3:45 or so marathoner before hooking up with a coach and a running group and following the long-slow distance method. (You can run the last few miles of some of these slower runs at race pace as a confidence booster too.) That helped bring her down into the 3:20s. Since I’m just under the 3:40 mark now and the 3:20s is where I want to be, this was exactly what I needed to hear. Granted the same things don’t work for everyone, but hearing it form someone that it worked for as opposed to reading it in a book makes a big difference for me.

I’d love to hear about your training – what plans do you follow? How do you fuel along the way? Does the taper drive you crazy? Let me know in the comments!

 

Crazy Running

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I know some people think all running is crazy, but I love it anyways. Still, I’ve had some pretty crazy running experiences at races over the years and thought I’d share a couple with you.

In 2010, my friend Lindsay and I flew out to Nashville for the Country Music Marathon. On race morning we took the earliest shuttle our hotel offered to the start line because we were worried about overcrowding on the later ones. Other than the volunteers we might have been the first ones there as they set things up in the darkness. As the race start drew nearer, the sun shined brightly and it looked like a perfect day for a marathon. It was cool, but not too chilly and looked to be a very calm day, although the forecasts were telling an entirely different story.

In light of oncoming severe thunder storms and a possible tornado, race directors decided to start things early. While this was probably a good decision, unfortunately they did a terrible job of communicating this to the runners. While I waited in the bathroom line half an hour before the race was supposed to start I had no idea the starting gun was already going off. When I finally worked my way over to the starting line and hopped into the ninth corral I looked around and realized by the bib numbers that I was standing with the 35th corral.

They were starting each group about a minute apart so that’s when I caught onto the fact that they’d started things early. I was able to push my way forward a few corrals, but I was still so far back that I was in line with many people planning to run/walk the half marathon distance. I spent the first 13 miles bobbing and weaving before I was able to get into any sort of rhythm and find some space on the course. The craziness didn’t stop there though.

Calm Before the Storm - pre-race pic

Calm Before the Storm – pre-race pic

Turns out the forecasters were right as the sun soon disappeared behind the clouds, the sky turned very gray and eventually it opened up. Thunder and lightning rocked the course as I was pelted by rain and even hail. At mile 20, a cop with a bullhorn was announcing that the course was closing. It felt pretty surreal and I couldn’t believe this was happening. I was on pace for a nearly 30-minute PR and had no intention of stopping. I said some regrettably not so nice words as I dodged the cop and kept going. I wouldn’t get much further though. Volunteers formed a human wall at mile 21 forcing runners still on the course to divert directly to the finish line.

I ran the last mile in a state of disbelief and felt so wrong crossing the finish line and taking a medal after “only” running 22 miles. Lindsay and I somehow found each other after the race and braved the weather to snag a cab back to the hotel once we learned there was a couple hour wait for the shuttles. It was a mess. In retrospect, it does make for a pretty funny story though and I do laugh every time I see my 22.2 mile marathon certificate that they sent finishers who were forced to divert early. Now I guess I can’t get frustrated when people ask me after each marathon how long this one was!

I don’t think I’ll ever have a race top that one on the craziness scale (or at least I hope not), but running a small marathon in Canada last summer definitely had some quirks too. Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely loved my first small race experience – there were just more than 100 marathoners – but after all the mega marathons I’d done I was a bit taken aback when the race director called us all in for a pre-race meeting and reminded us to be on our best pedestrian behavior since the roads were still open.

Cruising along all alone during the Niagara Marathon

Cruising along all alone during the Niagara Marathon

The fact that the race director could call all participants in and make pre-race announcements without using a megaphone or loudspeaker system was pretty amusing to me. This was nothing like the past races I’d done with 20-30,000 other runners alongside me. There was no dodging or weaving at the start line. In fact I was the first woman through five miles – how’s that for crazy?! What really threw me for a loop though was that I actually did have to stop twice at different road crossings to wait for a break in the traffic. I don’t know if that’s ever even happened to me in a 5k before. I still nailed a PR though and had a blast seeing my parents and boyfriend throughout the whole course, so it was totally worth it.

OK, enough about my crazy race experiences, tell me about the craziest thing that’s ever happened to you while running whether it was on the race course or just during an everyday run.

Hitting the Hills

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My February focus is all about getting my speed back, so I’m getting two speed sessions in a week as part of my half marathon training. When I think of speed workouts I immediately think track and tempo workouts, but my Hal Higdon training plan alternates each week between a track workout and a hill workout for the first month and a half. In a sick kind of way I actually enjoy running hills and love that they make me faster and stronger.

Earlier this week I did my first hill workout after a few mile warm up near the Iwo Jima Memorial running the hill next to Arlington Cemetery up to the Netherlands Carillon Bell Tower. My fellow Marine Corps Marathon alumni know this hill as the finish line. I like  using this hill for workouts because it reminds me of finishing my marathons there (although that race turns right half way up this hill), and will hopefully give me confidence to charge up it and finish strong when I tackle the marathon there this year. I took on the MCM hill six times before a short cool down and returning home to start my day. I was beat but also felt great at the same time.

When I run hills I focus on what’s right in front of me instead of looking up the hill at what I have ahead. I try to shorten my stride a little and lean into it. I love this Runner’s World video where Bart Yasso says to think about running with your “nose over your toes” so that you don’t lean too far back or too far forward. I also pump my arms to pull myself up and really focus on engaging my glutes as I crank out the repeats.

Check out this great RunWashington article on hill training for some more advice on how to use hills to improve your speed.

I tackled the MCM hill six times this week and am already thinking about my next hill workout. If you’re in the DC/NoVa area, do you have any good hills I should try and run? Do you use hill workouts as part of your race training?

I ran out of time after my morning workout, so I tried to get some pics after work yesterday. I got out later than expected and ran out of light so these aren’t the greatest shots, but here it is…

Marathon Tours Photo Contest

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For today’s post, a shameless plug: please go vote for me in the Marathon Tours photo contest. Marathon Tours & Travel provide travel services for runners combining running and travel into an experience you’ll always remember. I traveled with them to Ireland in 2009 and Greece in 2010, and both trips were truly amazing.

Ireland was and still is my all-time favorite travel destination. I loved everything about it from the history to the beautiful views of endless green up in the mountains – and of course, the pubs were pretty great too. I didn’t exactly train well for the Dublin Marathon, so I lined up at the start line really unprepared. I paid for that in pain, but my days in Dubiln and Galway were worth every second of hurt.

Kylemore Abbey - my photo contest entry

Kylemore Abbey – my photo contest entry

Greece was the race experience of a lifetime. I ran the 2,500th anniversary of the original marathon trekking from Marathon to Athens. I never thought there would be a way to top the rush and excitement of crossing the finish line in my first marathon, but this was absolutely a finish experience like no other. It wasn’t the prettiest course, but taking in all the history along the way was unbelievable and incredibly humbling.

The end of the race took us into the original Olympic Stadium with the final 100 yards playing out on the track. Tens of thousands of people filled the stadium cheering. My eyes filled with tears and I pumped my fists in the air with excitement as I ran to the finish.

I traveled to both of these races on my own and never would have done so without the organization and camaraderie that came with participating through Marathon Tours. As I’m sure you can imagine, I would love to do another destination race with them sometime, and winning this contest could help me get there a lot quicker!

Entries have to be pictures from one of their trips and monthly winners for their photo contest receive money toward a trip. The end of the year prizes are what I’m after though, especially that trip to the London Marathon. The rest of the year end prizes aren’t too shabby either!

Thanks for taking the time to vote for me!

2013 Race Calendar

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I love racing. I like big races and small races. I feed off the crowd’s at the big-time ones and the challenge of pushing yourself at the smaller ones. It’s one of my favorite things about running, and keeps me pushing towards getting fitter and faster and reaching tougher goals.

In 2013, I want to race smart though. Seven races in seven weeks at one point last year where I ran my hardest in most of them might not have been the smartest idea. Adding a marathon to my schedule a month and a half out from race day was another one of my not so bright moves. My break from running as I recovered from an overuse injury in 2012 has left me hungry for all the races I can sign up for, but to make sure I don’t overdo it, I’m only planning two goal races for this year. I know I’d go crazy only having two races on the schedule so I have a handful of others I’m planning to run for fun as training runs.

2013 Race Calendar

February 10 – Love the Run You’re With 5k

March 9 – Four Courts Four Miler

April 7 – Cherry Blossom 10 Miler

*April 28 – Nike Women’s D.C. Half Marathon*

July 27 – Crystal City Twilighter 5k

*October 27 – Marine Corps Marathon*

December 8 – Jingle All the Way 8k

*Goal Races*

Now it’s time to get running to get ready for all these races! Let me know what your race plans are this year, and if you have any big race goals!

Should the NYC Marathon Have Been Cancelled?

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There has already been a boatload of coverage and debate about whether or not the New York Road Runners (NYRR) and the City made the right call canceling the New York City Marathon. I think they made the right decision, but they made it too late. Regardless, I would not have wanted to be in charge of making that decision. It was a very tough call.

There were plenty of reasons holding the marathon made sense. The marathon brings $340 million dollars to the city, which could go a long way in helping residents and small businesses trying to recover from the devastation caused by Super-Storm Sandy. According to NYRR, no resources would have to be diverted from relief efforts to hold the race, which was one of the same reasons given for still holding the Giants game. This post on FloTrack.org does a good job of summing up how important this marathon is for a lot of professional runners, especially those who aren’t at the top of the pack. MarathonGuide.com posted a message on their homepage saying the event was cancelled only because of the media turning public perception against it.

Former Mayor Rudi Giuliani even came out and supported Mayor Bloomberg’s initial decision to hold the race, saying how important big events like this race are to NYC. He said making sure that race still happened after 9/11 was a top priority for him. After hearing this I started to think it made sense to still hold the race. After all, nothing quite symbolizes community and resilience like 47,000 runners taking on a marathon. So, the show must go on.

Then more stories started to roll out, many that were not even showing up in the news. This was no ordinary storm and it caused an unbelievable amount of destruction. How can you justify handing out huge amounts of water when the spectators might need it more? How can you justify filling hotels with tourists when they could be used to house people who had just lost their homes and all of their belongings? Too many people were hurting too badly to let the race go on – not to mention the logistical nightmare it was going to be to transport all the runners to the start on Staten Island, which was hit very hard by the storm.

Many people criticized runners for being selfish about getting upset over wasting months of training when others had just lost everything. I don’t think this is fair though, and I think many runners probably handled it better than onlookers expected. They came for the race because they’d been told it was still on. The decision really should have been made earlier instead of waiting till the last minute, but even this turned into a positive as thousands of runners ended up pitching in for the relief efforts.

There will be other marathons and most runners get that. My friend Lindsay and I ran the Country Music Marathon in Nashville in 2010. Well, at least we started it. Forecasts for race day were a bit foreboding, predicting severe thunderstorms and a possible tornado, but the race went on. The day actually started off beautifully with no sign of a storm coming, but it turns out there’s something to that saying, the calm before the storm.

Around the halfway mark, the sun disappeared behind the clouds, the sky turned very gray and eventually it opened up. Thunder and lightning rocked the course as the rain got harder and some hail even started to fall. As I approached mile 20, a cop with a bullhorn was yelling at me that the course was being shut down. I didn’t want to hear it though, so needless to say I may have used some unkind words and ran around the officer. I was on pace for a more than 30-minute PR and wasn’t going to let a little storm get in my way. The volunteers forming a human wall at mile 21 forcing people toward the finish line did however get in my way.

I angrily ran the last mile to the finish and took a medal in disgust after “only” running 22 miles. After meeting up with Lindsay and making our way back to our hotel though, we were able to gain some perspective and even laugh about what had just happened. We were able to enjoy a great night out in Nashville, while joking about our really expensive training run. The storm let up the following day and we were lucky to fit in a trip to the historic Grand Ole Opry before leaving town.

We got out just before more major storms hit, leaving most of Nashville under water including the Opry. Many people lost their homes. We just couldn’t run a race. You can’t compare the two, and we – like many of the runners unable to compete in the NYC marathon – had the perspective to understand that. It made for quite and experience and quite a story.

While it’s a bummer for the runners who put in so much work to train for the marathon, it’s absolutely tragic what many of the residents of NYC and New Jersey are going through. In my opinion, NYRR and the City made a very tough call, but they made the right call.

What do you all think about the decision to cancel the marathon? Was it the right call? If you were planning on running the marathon, did you pick a back-up race? Let me know in the comments – I’d love to hear from you!

Check out pics below taken by my brother in Hoboken a week after the storm and pics from my 2010 trip to Nashville.

Deep Tissue Massage: Relaxation or Torture?

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As part of my physical therapy I had a deep tissue massage before one of my recent sessions. My muscles had been so tight and flared up that my physical therapist wasn’t able to get to the joint to work on it,  so the massage was supposed to help loosen things up and relax the muscles.

I’ve never had a deep tissue massage before, so I had no idea what I was in for. When I think massage, I think relaxing and something that makes you feel good. If this is your thought too and someone suggests you get a deep tissue massage, then I suggest you run away fast! If we just sent massage therapists to interrogations we could learn any secrets out there. It was one of the more painful experiences I’ve had, and I’ve run 9 marathons! I had to constantly force myself to remember to breathe.

In all seriousness though, despite the initial pain, I saw immediate gains in my session that day. I even went back for more before one of my sessions the following week. Combined with the daily foam rolling and icing, the area around my hip flexors, quads and IT band is starting to feel human again and a bit less like steel! You can actually feel some of the tissues in there and I’m much better at relaxing my muscles rather than tightening them up and muscle guarding to protect from the pain when my physical therapist works on my legs. It’s great to notice some progress and feel like I’m closer to getting back out on the road again.

I’m told that eventually as the injury goes away, deep tissue massages will get less painful and can be a helpful tool when training for and running marathon distances. Based on the results I’ve had so far, I believe it!

Have you ever had a deep tissue massage? What did you think? I’d love to hear from runners that incorporate them into their training and recovery plans.

Time to Get Healthy

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After an injury consult from Fast Track physical therapy at the Run for the Parks 10k, I set an appointment with their office so I could figure out what was going on. I’d been ignoring pain for much too long (I’m sure this comes as no surprise to anyone who knows me), and it turns out I’d done quite a number on my legs, especially my hip flexors.

My mobility is limited and my hamstrings, IT band, quads and calves are all extremely tight. I also had an appointment with Dr. Ochiai, an orthopedist, for X-Rays that showed a small build-up of excess bone on my left hip, which could cause torn cartilage in the hip joint. We agreed that surgery would be a last resort so we decided to hold off on an MRI at this point and see how I’m feeling after a few weeks of physical therapy.

I’ve gotten several physical therapy sessions under my belt now and it seems like things are going in the right direction. Liz, my physical therapist at Fast Track, is excellent. She’s given me a series of exercises and lots of stretches to do everyday to help get my flexibility back to where it should be. It apparently takes about 10 weeks to really have an effect, so I’m going to have to have some patience, which isn’t exactly one of my stronger qualities. I’m also foam rolling and icing everyday to help with the pain and hopefully loosen things up. After using my rolling pin as a roller for the past year, I finally broke down and got a real one from Amazon!

Watching the Marine Corps Marathon instead of running it was a bit of a bummer last week, but it’s also hard not to get excited seeing so many people out there running such an awesome race. I was able to defer my entry, so I’ll have an automatic entry into next year’s race. I’m going to really work these next couple months to get myself healthy again and then be smart enough to stay that way this time – mostly because I want to get back to my goal of qualifying for Boston, but also because I’m going a bit insane not being able to run!