On March 17th I will be running my first Marathon, the Rock and Roll Marathon in Washington DC.
Even after completing 3 half marathons, I am anxious to jump into a race with double the milage. Marathon time requires more running, strength training, and a greater amount of detailed is paid to fueling, icing, etc. I also have to be sure to schedule my workouts into my weekends and work schedule. That being said I am taking a modest approach to training, I know I have the capibility to run distances and so I want to be mindful of being engaged mentally, not getting injured, and also not feel as though it is affecting my routine. If I feel as though I can balance my work, social, and training life, I know I will not burn out.
My approach is to do 3-4 days of running per week, I started my long runs at 8 miles and will increase by 2 miles each week until I reach 20 miles. I have two step down weeks at 10 miles, one halfway through, and one the week before the race. During the week I am doing a 7-10 mile run, and a 4-6 mile run, with an occasional 4th day of running a short distance. I am also incorporating strength training or yoga one day a week, and 1-2 days of rest.
A sample week would be:
Monday: 6-8 miles
Tuesday: Strength Training/Insanity Workout DVD
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: 4-5 miles
Friday: 3 miles
Saturday: 10 miles
Sunday: Off
The weekday mileage will increase with time.
Have you ran a marathon before? What was your approach to training?
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Fueling During a Run
By: Kait Fortunato
My very first half-marathon helped me realize a huge mistake. The last 2 miles of the run, I was hit with fatigue and nausea—common “bonking” symptoms. Even though I trained adequately and ate properly leading up to the big event, Race Day was a different story and it was then I realized the importance of fueling during a long run. Even with a substantial pre-run meal, my body was still not lacking energy and key nutrients. Ever since then I have perfected my fueling and therefore enabled myself a solid finish. I did some research and tested different fueling methods. Here are my tips for fueling during a run:
- Create a fueling plan. Practice new tactics during training runs and avoid trying anything new on race day. Map out where water stations will be on the trail and know what food and drinks you will need to carry with you.
- Drink every 20 minutes. Remember if you feel thirsty you are past the point of dehydration.
- Beware of Commercial Sports Foods: Sports Gels, Sport Beans, Gu. Personally, I am unable to tolerate these forms of fuel. They are known to cause diarrhea and be uneasy on a runner’s stomach. That being said they do offer quick, efficient energy and nutrients and are easy to carry during race days. Make sure you try one ahead of time.
- Alternative methods of fuel. Things I have found to work for me are Fig Newtons, Swedish Fish or Gummy Candies, Pretzels, and Protein Bars. The candies can provide an immediate sugar rush and help prevent the light headed-ness. Protein bars are better for long term fuel and can last much longer. Pretzels are great if you have a high sweat rate and therefore losing sodium.
- Drinking you calories. High sugar sports drinks such as Gatorade can act in a similar fashion to gummy candies- enabling a quick burst of glucose in liquid form. Drinks such as these should be used in addition to solid calories for a long-term affect. However, if you are planning on only drinking calories you would likely want to try something with more protein or added buffers, such as Perpetuem, which is meant to sustain you for a longer period of time.
- Timing. If Exercise lasts 1-2.5 hours, rule of thumb is to consume 30 to 60 grams carbohydrates/hour. This totals to about 120 to 240 calories of carbohydrates . If exercise lasts longer than 2.5 hours, consume 60 to 90 grams of carbohydrates/hour
Stayed tuned for more information about pre and post workout meals, and ideas leading up to the big day.
Source: Nancy Clark’s Food Guide for Marathoners
Last weekend was a great time with some of my best college friends in NYC.
Friday afternoon we took the Washington Deluxe Bus after work and I planned ahead to pack snacks for the ride and the rest of the trip. Packing protein bars and snacks really helps save money and allows you to have healthy foods in the mix. Dinner included some baby carrots and overnight oats in a jar, a peanut butter jar, to be exact. Delicious and healthy.
Friday night we went to a couple of bars in my friends neighborhood and it was great to catch up over a beer.
Saturday morning I woke up and had a ThinkThin Bar from my bag before heading out for our 5 mile run along the river.
Following this run I was so hungry and excited we were going to a more indulgent place for lunch, Max Brenner. From the minute you turn the corner you can smell the chocolate coming from the building. Everything on the menu had chocolate in one way or another and in celebration of a birthday and a mini vacation weekend, we knew dessert was in our future.
My friend and I played it smart by splitting a more healthful meal and splitting dessert to save money and calories! We started with a chicken panini with goat cheese. It was full of flavor and the perfect size.
For dessert we chose the Euphoria Sundae due to the chocolate, peanut butter description. It totally hit the spot and it was such a fun afternoon.
We walked off our big meals and headed back to the apartment to plan for the birthday girl's festivities. We ended the night at an 80s cover band at the canal room and it was a perfect ending to a great weekend.
On the bus home today I was just thinking how blessed I am to have such great friends and experience different things. While I love NYC, this weekend made me appreciate DC even more. I love that while it is a city, it is a small city that I have learned to love and call home.
By: Amy Bortnick
As an athlete and nutrition major I am well informed about the importance of proper hydration in both, athletics and everyday life. However, it was not until I was training for my second marathon that concept of proper hydration and programmed drinking to replace fluid loss really hit home with me. Nutritionally, I strive to eat mindfully and intuitively the problem with hydrating in athletics is that, an athletes’ thirst mechanism often fails as a proper signal for fluid loss because the intensity of exercise and the mind can mask the effect of thirst, allowing an athlete to loose a dangerous amount of water.
What is a dangerous amount of sweat loss?
Dehydration is defined as losing 2% of your body weight from sweating and even loosing 1% (1.5 lbs) can significantly impair your physical performance, by raising your body temperature, causing your heart to beat 3 to 5 times more per minute. Dehydration takes away from an athletes mental edge, physical ability, and can be deadly if your body looses its ability to cool itself down and heat illness occurs. When I began marathon training I would always bring water with me on long runs but I would drink mainly before and after running, I had no clue how much I needed to drink, and usually blamed the headaches I would get afterwards on my homework and waking up early.
How can sweat loss be monitored?
The headaches persisted to get worse in the summer and in the warm weather training. In the absence of homework and a lack of sleep I came to the realization that dehydration was the primary cause of my discomfort. Eager enhance my mood and performance I learned a great way to monitor hydration Is through the color and quantity of your urine. I have attached Urine Color Chart to help you identify what a well hydrated urine color should compare to. However, in marathon training and endurance sports it is important to pay special attention to your sweat loss which is individual and influenced by many factors such as age, temperature, genetics, gender, and fitness level. In order to know how much sweat you loose during exercise you must determine your sweat rate by weighing yourself nude before an hour of exercise and then again right after. By knowing the amount of sweat you loose you can determine the amount you need replace which should be 80-100% of what is lost. Approximately 16 oz or .5kg of water should be consumed for ever pound lost. For example, I found that I loose 3lbs of water weight while exercising for one hour this means I need to drink 38.4-48 oz of water.
Overall, maintaining the proper amount fluid balance essential to life, and specifically during exercise when your muscles generates 20 times more heat than at rest .There is no one size fits all recommendation for fluids so it is important to learn and pay attention to your own sweat rate and replace lost water accordingly.
Resource: Nancy Clark’s Sports Nutrition Guide Book, Chapter8.
Monday: 3 mile run and lift
Tuesday: Insanity Workout DVD
Wednesday: Sunrise Yoga
Thursday: 4 mile run
Friday: Insanity Workout DVD
Saturday: 5 mile run in NYC
It was a great week. I loved doing my long run with friends and different scenery. I am excited to get into some longer runs in the coming week.
Tuesday: Insanity Workout DVD
Wednesday: Sunrise Yoga
Thursday: 4 mile run
Friday: Insanity Workout DVD
Saturday: 5 mile run in NYC
It was a great week. I loved doing my long run with friends and different scenery. I am excited to get into some longer runs in the coming week.
Where is this month going?! The days are completely getting away from me and though it is already Thursday of the following week I still have to share the fun we had in DC this past weekend.
Friday night we got a great deal off of What's The Deal DC for a beer tasting at RFD in Chinatown. This is one of my favorite happy hour spots because they have a variety of great beers and they are all included in various specials throughout the week. I love when unique beers are part of happy hour as opposed to your run of the mill Bud Light, Miller Light, etc. The deal was $12 for 5 flights of beer to taste and a complimentary glass of whichever beer you liked the best! There were four of us so we had fun trying around 15 or so beers. I tried to stick to small sips and really enjoy the different tastes. Lately I am loving dark beers and the Vanilla Porter was my favorite, thought it is definitely a winter drink.
After seeing some clients in the morning we also went to a new to me place in DC, Cafe Japone, on Saturday night. Friends of ours set up a college reunion type dated night and it was great seeing everyone. We had a section of the bar all to ourselves with great specials.
We started Sunday with a 4 mile run, our first "long run" to wrap up our first week of training. Overall I'm feeling strong and excited to add some extra mileage. After our run we rewarded ourselves with homemade peanut butter and jelly pancakes, yes that's right. I stirred natural peanut butter into gluten free pancake mix instead of oil, and reduced sugar free jam on the stove with a pinch of cornstarch for the syrup. The combination was extremely rich and flavorful and it definitely hit the spot!
The good eat's continued throughout the day with a BBQ at a friends house with burgers topped with avocado, watermelon, and lemon feta pasta salad. They also made homemade peach frozen yogurt. The eating is definitely my favorite part of half-marathon training.
Friday night we got a great deal off of What's The Deal DC for a beer tasting at RFD in Chinatown. This is one of my favorite happy hour spots because they have a variety of great beers and they are all included in various specials throughout the week. I love when unique beers are part of happy hour as opposed to your run of the mill Bud Light, Miller Light, etc. The deal was $12 for 5 flights of beer to taste and a complimentary glass of whichever beer you liked the best! There were four of us so we had fun trying around 15 or so beers. I tried to stick to small sips and really enjoy the different tastes. Lately I am loving dark beers and the Vanilla Porter was my favorite, thought it is definitely a winter drink.
After seeing some clients in the morning we also went to a new to me place in DC, Cafe Japone, on Saturday night. Friends of ours set up a college reunion type dated night and it was great seeing everyone. We had a section of the bar all to ourselves with great specials.
We started Sunday with a 4 mile run, our first "long run" to wrap up our first week of training. Overall I'm feeling strong and excited to add some extra mileage. After our run we rewarded ourselves with homemade peanut butter and jelly pancakes, yes that's right. I stirred natural peanut butter into gluten free pancake mix instead of oil, and reduced sugar free jam on the stove with a pinch of cornstarch for the syrup. The combination was extremely rich and flavorful and it definitely hit the spot!
The good eat's continued throughout the day with a BBQ at a friends house with burgers topped with avocado, watermelon, and lemon feta pasta salad. They also made homemade peach frozen yogurt. The eating is definitely my favorite part of half-marathon training.
Today started out with one of my favorite activities, Yoga. I took a sunrise class this morning and really value starting the day this way. Not only am I getting a good stretch and a hard workout, I also feel better mentally and have a positive outlook on the day ahead.
I am fairly new to yoga and I really want to challenge myself to master the moves and push myself, not just go through the motions on my way to savasna.
I came home famished and immediately had one of my favorite breakfast bars, ThinkThin. The bars are so delicious (hello creamy peanut butter covered in chocolate) and are packed with 20g of protein.
Today at work I'm giving a grocery store tour. I love bringing nutrition education out of the office and into the real world.
Good morning! I'm feeling nice and relaxed after a long weekend at home, filled with good eats, running, pool lounging, and of course quality time with the family. It was great to spend the weekend catching up over our favorite foods and activities. One night we actually broke out the home videos, party animals.
In other news, I officially started training for the Boston Half Marathon. Again, I am doing things slightly different this time around due to some recent injuries. I plan on running 2 short runs during the week, 1 long run on the weekend, and using the rest of the days for rest, strength training, and yoga. Yesterday I did an easy 3 mile run at home before hitting the road, followed by some strength training.
I started today with Shaun T who kicked my butt in the Insanity Total Body Workout. I love these videos because they go by quickly and I feel like I am getting both a cardio and strength training workout.
I am really getting excited for those 8-10 mile runs. The feeling you get when finishing a long run is unbeatable; such a productive way to start the day. Just hoping my injuries hold off!
Off to work! I have some exciting clients and some fun events planned this week. Enjoy!
In other news, I officially started training for the Boston Half Marathon. Again, I am doing things slightly different this time around due to some recent injuries. I plan on running 2 short runs during the week, 1 long run on the weekend, and using the rest of the days for rest, strength training, and yoga. Yesterday I did an easy 3 mile run at home before hitting the road, followed by some strength training.
I started today with Shaun T who kicked my butt in the Insanity Total Body Workout. I love these videos because they go by quickly and I feel like I am getting both a cardio and strength training workout.
I am really getting excited for those 8-10 mile runs. The feeling you get when finishing a long run is unbeatable; such a productive way to start the day. Just hoping my injuries hold off!
Off to work! I have some exciting clients and some fun events planned this week. Enjoy!
