Marathon Update! Getting back on track.

July 30, 2013

As you all may know, I am running MCM! Although, I am really excited and craving some serious long distance milage, the beginning of my Marathon training has not really been as disciplined as I would have liked it to be.

But that is OK! No biggie, because this week I finally feel like I am starting to get back on track.

What exactly side tracked me?

Heat.

Travel.

A Bad Cold.

Being Side Tracked

HEAT

The first couple weeks of Marathon training is very low easy mileage. My fitness level is beyond this easy mileage, however my body in the beginning of training was not accustomed to the summer’s hot, humid, weather. So I became very grateful for the shorter, easier, lower mileage weeks.

TRAVEL

Right when I began to feel comfortable in the heat, I left for a week of travel. I went to Vegas for work, but also went early to play. I will admit, I played a little too hard. I stayed out late and didn’t get the sleep I needed. I did squeeze in three different workouts, but it wasn’t necessarily following the marathon training plan.

COLD

Then I came home excited to get back to training, but woke up Monday morning with a really bad cold. I never thought a cold would make me feel this tired. I have been congested which made it hard to breath. I felt choked by my cough.

Getting back on Track

I’m not too worried, because it is still early in my training. I’m glad all of this happened early on, instead of later. Even though, I still am getting over my cold, after 5 days of rest, on Friday, I started running again. All of my runs have been pretty good, I am just hoping that once I can breath again my runs will feel easy. I have also been extremely blessed with some color less humid days, which I have been taking advantage of. The one thing that I have been really craving is some heavy lifting sessions and some HIIT at the gym. However, because I still have a cold I have been avoiding the gym. I’m not contagious anymore, but I still don’t want to take the risk and get anyone else sick. I have a feeling, that once I am 100% better I will have enough energy to do some 2 a days.

Question for You…

Who else is running a Marathon?? Let me know, I am having tons of fun reading about everyones’ experiences with their marathon training.
Have you ever been side tracked durning training?
Would you ever run a marathon with a cold?

Running with a Cold…

July 26, 2013

When I got home from Vegas, last Saturday, I came down with a really bad cold. I think it was a combination of too much partying/lack of sleep in Vegas, and coming in contact with the germs that cause the cold virus.

I feel like I am being really wimpy complaining about having a cold, I mean there are much more severe illnesses out there. But I haven’t had a cold in a really long time, and I never remembered it being this extreme.

My throat hurt so bad that I went to the doctor thinking it was Strep. My strep test came back negative. So the doctor diagnosed me with the cold virus and sent me on my way.

For several days, I haven’t been able swallow which means no solid food for me. My nose is so congested that I am unable to breathe. With out food or oxygen, I feel low energy and lifeless.

I only took off one day of work, which made my other days insanely busy and long. On both Tuesday and Thursday I worked from 10 until 10.

The lack of food and oxygen, and then the long days at work, made it impossible to run.

When I was in Vegas, I was very worried about my Marathon training. There was no way I was going to take a week off of running and cross-training. I was really proud of myself for squeezing in the three workouts that I did. However, then I came home sick and exhausted. Everyday this week the weather was perfect, low humidity, low 80s. I so badly wanted to run, but also knew that it would be best just to rest and hydrate as much as I could. So that is what I did.

Today actually was my first day back on the trail. My first run since last Saturday morning. I did a short easy 5K. I didn’t want to over do it. I didn’t look at my watch at all. I wasn’t worried about time. I just wanted to feel good running, and although, I am still sick (its the tail end) I did feel good running.

And out of all the beautiful days we had this week, today was by far the prettiest.

Running Professionals say you can continue to run and train with any cold that is from the neck above. If the cold spreads to the lungs or chest, it is time to take a rest day.

Questions for you…

Have you run sick before?
Do you have any at home remedies or tips to cure a cold?

Running in Humidity

July 25, 2013

Of corse the minute I start comparing dry heat to humidity I end up seeing a fabulous article about it in the August issue of Runner’s World. This article has some very interesting facts about running in humidity. Here’s some of the things I found most fascinating…

The higher amount of moisture there is in the air the hotter it feels.
When you run your body temperature rises it becomes hotter and creates sweat. Sweating is the process when your body carries excess heat to your skins surface. In dry heat this sweat evaporates cooling your over all body temperature. In humid conditions this sweat is unable to evaporate, instead it lingers there, and making you hotter.
While running your body temperature can spike in minutes. This causes dehydration. When dehydrated your body goes into survival mode maintaining blood flow to essential organs.
Breathing can change.
Heart rate will escalate.
You may loose control over body mechanics. (Hands may shake, running form may become sloppy.)
Mental abilities my start to break down causing dizziness and you may become disoriented.
Don’t worry about pace. Your speed is guaranteed to decrease.
A humid day does not indicate a lack of fitness or mental toughness.
There are different types of sweat. Some people are sweat more salt. For the people who sweat more salt, they are more common to have stomach cramps. It is very important for these types of people to consume more electrolytes.
It normally takes 10-14 days to get adjusted to running in humid conditions. Those that are use to humidity run better in it.

Tips:

Hydrate
Eat salty foods. Salt helps retain water.
Don’t wear a hat. The hat will prevent your body heat from escaping your head.

Post Workout Drink

July 8, 2013

Everyone who lifts, knows protein is the best thing for your muscles to repair and grow. This is true, so I always try to have a protein shake with in 30 minutes after my workout. However, July is here, which means hot and steamy, air smothering days. And although, I have found a new passion for weight lifting, my love is for running, that is where my heart is and always will be.

Week 1 of Marathon training is over. I am officially in marathon training mode. And training in this hot July weather, has made me craving something a little more refreshing then my traditional protein shake. Protein shakes are great ways to refuel, but after a run outside in the heat, my body needs hydration.

Well after flipping through the pages of my favorite cook book, Super Natural Every Day, I found the perfect drink to hydrate me post run.

Cucumber Cooler

INGREDIENTS

1 cucumber
A couple cucumber peels
1/2 cup of water
3 cups of ice
1/3 cup honey
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 lime juiced
mint leaves or you can garnish with a cucumber slice or lime wedge.

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients in a blender until slushy like consistency.
Pour into class and Enjoy!
Garnish with mint, cucumber slice, or lime wedge. (Your choice)
Store in a pitcher in the refrigerator for up to a day or freeze as popsicles.

Cucumber is a Super food. It is a good source of silica, which helps promote joint health by strengthening the connective tissues. It is also rich in vitamin A, B1, B6, C & D, Folate, Calcium, Magnesium, and Potassium. Cucumbers are also 95% water, but always remember to chose ones that are organic because pesticides can be hard to remove from skins.

*This would also be a wonderful drink after Bikram Yoga!

Questions for You…

What is your favorite post workout drink?
How do you hydrate and prepare for the heat?
Do you like cucumber flavored drinks?

Day 2 of Marathon Training

July 3, 2013

“And yet ultra runners – even the fiercest competitors – grow to love each other because we all love the same exercise in self-sacrifice and pursuit of transcendence. Because that’s what we’re all chasing- that “zone” where we are performing at the peak of our abilities. That instant when we think we can’t go on but we do. We all know the way that moment feels, how rarely it occurs, and the pain we have to endure to grab it back again…
We all struggle to find meaning in a sometime painful world…
We’re all human, that there’s so much messed-up stuff going on, we need to hold on to what we love. “

-Scott Jurek

The above passage is from yet again, Eat and Run. And although, it mentions ultra runners- I believe all runners can relate. People don’t understand why I am so passionate about running, and they wouldn’t, unless they too run. But it is all about the “zone.”

Day 2 of marathon training was another short 3 mile run. Today the heat and humidity was a little suffocating, but it was tolerable.

Questions for You…

Have you reached the zone?
What mile are you at, when you reach it?
What sport are you doing when your reach the zone… yoga? running?

Day 1 of Marathon Training

July 2, 2013

“Run for 20 minutes and you’ll feel better. Run another 20 and you might feel tire. Add on 3 hours and you’ll hurt, but keep going and you’ll see and hear and smell and taste, the world with a vividness that will make your former life pale.”

– Scott Jurek

The above quote is by far one of my favorite quotes from the book, Eat and Run, by Scott Jurek. And it totally sums up the reason why I run marathons.

Today, was my first day of marathon training. I ran a short 3 mile run. I was relieved from the heat by a heavy rain.
So far it has rained a ton this summer. Hopefully it will stay mild.

Get your beauty sleep!

June 16, 2013

This week I really took things easy. I needed a good long week of rest. I ran on Monday. I slept in on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday.

Rest is very important! I can’t stress that enough.

When you lift heavy you create little tears in your muscles. For muscle growth, these tears need to repair. Repairing happens when your body is at rest.

When you run far your body creates lactic acid, which makes muscles sore. Adequate rest and hydration helps flush the body of toxins, reducing soreness and inflammation, preventing injury.

Your body is capable of repairing itself, but it needs rest and hydration in order to do so. It is designed to repair. It wants to repair. So listen to it.

On Friday, I’m back to grind. I hit the gym hard. It was amazing how much energy I had after a couple days of rest. I worked my back and arms, by combining super sets and active rest periods into the mix.

I have come to the conclusion that I prefer circuit training, supersets, and active rest periods, oppose to heavy lifting with less reps. Simply because it gets me a lot more sweaty. However, I know there is a time and place to do each one. If your goal is to build muscle then lift heavy with less reps. If your goal is to burn fat and build endurance then circuit training, and active rest periods are necessary.

Always remember that when lifting heavy you should NEED to take at least a 1 minute rest period in between sets. You should feel so tired and out of breath that you need to take a rest before moving on. If you are able to move on to the next set then you are not lifting heavy enough.

MARATHON TRAINING

I have completed the Livefit trainer and because I love it so much and saw amazing results I am repeating phase 2 and 3 again. This time with a closer focus on clean eating, carb cycling, lowering my sugar intake, and upping the protein shake and water intake I am also going to customize the trainer according to what my body needs.

The plan for this coming week is to continue to take it easy with a couple of heavy lifting sessions mixed in. The reason why is because my Marathon training will be starting in a week, and I want to make sure I am physically refreshed and mentally ready.

Marathon training is going to be interesting this time around because I will be training with L. This will be her first full 26.2, so I am going to teach her everything I know about running this distance. I am also going to continue weight lifting and yoga during my training. I also want to cross train on my bike. It will be hard to juggle everything, but it will be important to do so.

I also wanted to mention that I was featured on Fit Blogger.
Please head over there and read my article.
I hope you enjoy it!

To all the Dad’s out there, including mine. I hope you have a wonderful Father’s Day!

It’s not my first time…

April 6, 2013

I know I am late telling you guys this news … but better late then never…

Last, Wednesday, March 27th, something very exciting happened!!

I registered for Marine Corps Marathon, and I GOT IN!! YAY!

Let me explain, this is how it all went down….

In 2009, I ran my first Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon (MCM.) Registering for the race was smooth sailing. I got online the day of registration, filled out the form, paid, and received my confirmation email.

In 2010, I ran my second Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon. I didn’t register for this race on the day it opened. I received an email from them the day after registration had opened. The email claimed that they were 80% filled, so I freaked out and registered as quickly as I could. I got in, and received my confirmation email.

In 2011, I registered for the Chicago Marathon, again registration was a piece of cake. Done and Done.

In 2012, when registration day for MCM came around, I was busy at work highlighting a client. When I was finished I went to the back room, to check the status on MCM, and it was sold out already, filling up in 2 hours and 45 minutes. So I took a break from marathons that year. Instead, I ran several 10 milers and a Half Marathon. I switched my running shoe to Newtons, a natural barefoot running shoe. I worked on improving my running form, and speed. I also started this blog.

On Wednesday, March 27th, 2013 registration for MCM rolled around again. I had promised L that I would run this race with her. It will be her first full marathon. She was able to sign up early, because her husband is deceased military. Because it filled up so fast the year before, I knew I had to be on it immediately when registration opened. The only weird thing about the registration is that it opens at noon, when most races open at midnight. This is a problem for me because my first client at work is noon.

Anyway, because I thought my internet would be faster and less unpredictable at home, I decided I would sign up really quickly at noon, and then head into work for my first client by 12:30.

Turns out, the first minute I tried to pull up the website, Active.com, I couldn’t get on. I tried for the next 5 minutes, still nothing. I went to MCM official web page to click register and when directed to Active.com ERROR.

I decided to head into work. When I saw that my first client had swapped spots with her high school daughter I was relieved. Yay! High school girls are very tech savvy. I told her the situation and she immediately wanted to help. She pulled out her iPhone and started registering me.

I highlighted her hair, while she continued to refresh the webpage. Finally we got through the the first registration page. I quickly filled out my information. She submitted it and then again… WEBSITE ERROR, WEBSITE OVERLOAD. While her hair color processed she continued to refresh the page. I shampooed her, and glossed her. Still she continued to refresh the page, finally we got through to the payment page, but again WEBSITE ERROR, WEBSITE OVERLOAD. While she sat with her gloss on, adding shine, and refreshing the color on her ends, I checked the MCM facebook page, to find information. They apologized for the Web Error and said to continue to refresh page until the declare a sell out. So that is what we did. Finally as I was rinsing my client, I heard her yell, “WE DID IT!! YAY!!” My client is a high school cheerleader, so she definitely showed enthusiasm. Ha, it seemed like she was more excited than I was.

I received my confirmation e-mail.

Dear Meghan,
Thank you! You are now registered for the Marine Corps Marathon 2013 – Marathon Registration. Please check the event’s website for updates.

CONGRATULATION, You are in!!

Thank you for registering to participate in the 38th Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday, October 27, 2013. Please note that you are officially registered and this is your confirmation e-mail.

Although, a week has gone by, since MCM registration, a lot of people, whether they got in or not, are still complaining about how complicated the registration process was on Wednesday. To make up for it, Active.com has donated to Wounds of Warriors.

But honestly, I expected the complications, and I loved every second of it. The complications made registration really exciting, and I appreciate getting in even more. And seeing website overload and errors, on day of registration didn’t shock me not one bit. Some people are annoyed by it, but this makes me happy. It proves that more people are becoming runners. It shows that running is becoming more and more popular. Our country is stepping forward toward healthy. More people are becoming aware of running as a sport, and it’s heart healthy benefits.

Running is no longer for the athlete. Runners now come in all shapes and sizes. Some are fast, some are slow. And that is what the Marine Corps Marathon is all about, hence why it is called, The People’s Marathon. So whichever kind of runner you are, MCM is the race for you.

Although, this will not be my first time running MCM.

I am beyond EXCITED! Marathon training will start in July.

Questions for You…

Have you had a difficult time getting into a race you really wanted to run?
Do you find running getting more popular where you live?
Are you running a marathon this year?

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