Ashley D /

Getting Through Your First Marathon

Today’s Marathons+Moderation guest post comes from Abby, an inspirational runner and doctoral student. Abby loves sharing her fitness journey with others through personal training, run coaching, and her blog. She shares her workouts with readers while also inspiring even the busiest person, whether they live in Iowa or New York City, to just get out and move! If you’re a local New Yorker, you can find her at the Lululemon East 66th store inspiring others or tagging along with the run club in her spare time. I hope you enjoy this week’s installment as much as I do!

Hi there! I’m Abby from Run Stronger Every Day. I’m a personal trainer, run coach, lululemon Ambassador, 20+ year running veteran, and a doctoral student at NYU’s Steinhardt School for Physical Therapy. Ten years ago, I ran my first marathon in New York City with 30,000 of my closest friends and P. Diddy. Since then, I’ve run eight more in four difference cities and served as a guide for a blind marathon runner. I’m looking forward to hopefully running my best marathon this fall at the Marine Corps Marathon and love the challenge that every training season brings, but I’ve never forgot my first.

Without a doubt, I am always a little nervous (ok, more than a little) at every start line. Along the way, I have learned tricks and tools to get me through the hard miles and to the finish line.

#1. Know why you’re running. For yourself, for a charity, for a family member. Whatever the reason, it had better be a good one that will motivate you when you want to give up. I run for Team Fisher House because my husband was a Marine for ten years and it makes me feel like I’m helping in some small way. I remind myself who I am running for when the miles get hard and it never fails to get me through.

 

 #2. Train smart. Too much and you’ll risk injury. Too little and you may not make it through the big one. Get a coach or a trusted friend who knows their stuff to mentor you and follow your plan.

 #3. Test drive every aspect of your marathon: food, drink, clothes, gear, music, bathroom breaks, everything. Once you figure out what works, stick with it for race day. Practicing takes the guess work out of what to do on race day when you’re too nervous to think straight.

 #4. Tell everyone what you’re doing. You’d be surprised how motivating it is to have people as how training is going. Even better, they’ll be the ones cheering the loudest for you as you take to the road on marathon morning. And everyone needs cheerleaders!

#5. Have a post-marathon plan. A lot of runners experience depression after the marathon. You can avoid this by having something else to look forward to in the weeks and months after the race. A trip, a shorter race, a new goal to conquer, anything to keep you going after the big day.

If you are thinking about running your first marathon, do it now! There’s nothing like crossing the finish line at your first marathon; you will remember that feeling forever. Be smart, train hard, and have fun. Now go out and run!

What are your tips for getting through your first marathon?

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ashleyd /

The Odds Will Forever Be In Your Favor If You Survive This Workout

Until last Wednesday I had no desire to read The Hunger Games. Sure, I’d heard wonderful things from everyone and their brother about this book, but normally I tend to avoid cult favorites. For example, I’ve never read the Harry Potter series or Twilight. I know, you can lift your jaw off the table now. I haven’t been under a rock, I promise. I just haven’t been interested.

What changed on Wednesday you ask? Well, my ass got handed to me by Daily Burn’s Hunger Game inspired workout which Theodora organized as part of her day job. I was the only person who didn’t understand the constant survival jokes, comments regarding some people named Peeta and Katniss.

Compliments of Samantha's Blog (www.checkmypulseblog.com)

I rarely want to be the odd man out or confused so after this workout I vowed that I’d spend time on the bus to Washington, DC starting the series. A few days later I’m hooked on both the book and this workout.

The workout, which took place in the beautiful IAC Building, overlooking the Hudson River, was led by the Daily Burn team and Lisa Wheeler, their fitness program director.

Lisa Wheeler motivating the group as we get ready to conquer the workout.

The Animal Core workout, which is rated intermediate by Daily Burn, took us through a warm-up followed by four circuits of animal inspired drills such as dolphin jumps, donkey kicks, crab walks, and other plyometric exercises.

This is definitely harder than it looks, especially the third time through.

Surrounded by some awesome athletes, I pushed myself through every exercise which means that on Friday I was still feeling the pain in my glutes. By the end of the workout, we all decided that if we incorporated this into our training at least two times per week, the odds would be in our favor for sure.

Don't we look confident?

While I’ve discussed my love of Daily Burn on here before, here are a few of my favorite things from this workout.

  • The countdown clock on the right side of the screen allows you to see how much time you have left in the workout.
  • It is truly a full body workout! My arms and pecs were sore the next day from the planks and pushups while my glutes and calves were feeling every dolphin jump and donkey kick.
  • There are 15 second breaks between the workouts which allow for a quick water break, getting readjusted, or just a breather.
  • If this is intermediate than my ass is already scared to feel the affects of a hard or advanced workout.
  • This workout could be done in a NYC size apartment as long as you have about 10 feet of space for crab walks and duck walks.

If you’re looking for a library of sweat inducing workouts and some nutrition tracking, Daily Burn is most likely a great option. The $9.99 per month price tag is hard to beat and the workouts evolve based on your previous experiences and headway due to the tracking ability. For a limited time, you can preview it online for free!

Have you read The Hunger Games? If so, who is your favorite character? If not, will you see the movie?

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ashleyd /

2012 Rock ‘N’ Roll DC Half Marathon Recap

 

I could spend hours reviewing this weekend’s race in my head. I wasn’t expecting to run my second slowest half marathon on Saturday. In fact, as you all know, I’d trained for a PR of a sub 2:10. I could drive myself crazy analyzing all the things I did right, a few of the things I did wrong, and how frustrating it is to work towards something and not succeed. I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t admit that it’s tough to see other friends finish a half marathon faster when they admittedly didn’t train properly.  (Picture compliments of Jess)

But, last year in one of my favorite posts, I discussed the importance of not coveting another’s run. Since then I’ve learned to support my friends and cheer them to victory, knowing that one day they’ll do the same for me. At the end of the day, one of my Twitter friends said it best

Chin up! Whenever I have a bad race, I think a couple years ago, a half- even a bad one- would not have been possible.’- Anne @rileduprunner

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