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Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #4

Happy Wednesday! I hope you’re staying cool as it’s supposed to be HOT outside today! I can’t believe we may hit 100 degrees in NYC today or tomorrow!

This week’s Marathons+Moderation guest post is from one of my new favorite bloggers; Monica! I finally had the opportunity to meet her in person last summer at Healthy Living Summit! She is as hilarious and real in person as she is on her blog! This lovely California girl knows how to kick it on the asphalt (she’s super speedy!) and at the dinner table. I hope you enjoy her guest post as much as I do! Also, if you’re interested in submitting a Marathons+Moderation post just leave a comment or email me at healthyhappierbear at gmail dot com.

Hello my name is Monica and I have a little blog called Run Eat Repeat. It’s about running and eating – not necessarily in that order.

I thought it was funny when Ashley asked me to write about moderation because I normally practice gluttony and sloth. But, those were her wishes so we’ll see what we can do 😉

Here are my tips for Training for a Marathon While Keeping Moderation in Mind
1. Run a lot. Then, run some more.

2. Eat a lot. This is my favorite part. I spend the last few miles of my run thinking up what I’ll eat after. Carb loading has never been a problem for me since my guy and I usually have a date night before my long runs and often hit up pizza, Thai or sushi – all loaded with deliciousness and carbs 🙂

3. Take Rest Days seriously. I am religious about my rest days. The day after every long run I don’t do anything at all. I basically get on the couch, order in Thai food delivery, get a bed pan and turn on The Real Housewives. That’s it.

4. Sleep. In addition to running and eating more – I sleep a lot more during marathon training. If you’re asking a lot of your body make sure you are giving it proper fuel and proper rest.

5. Have fun! I think this is one of the most important things to remember while marathon training. Unless you are getting paid by Adidas to run this race, treat it like a hobby. Find running routes you enjoy. Look forward to your runs, not with dread. Remember this is an amazing accomplishment and be proud of every run you cross off your training plan.

If you have any questions for me feel free to reach out at Run Eat Repeat.

Have a great day!

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Marathons & Moderation: Guest Post #3

Hi Healthy, Happier readers! I’m Shayne, and I blog about running, cooking, eating, and

living healthfully in NYC at just gathering.

img_06461 (230x232)  I met Ashley (who is just as sweet and friendly in real life as she is on her blog) last

summer when she was training for the ING New York City Marathon. I had such total

respect and admiration for anyone who would put herself through such a grueling

training process, but I couldn’t even fathom taking it on myself. And then somehow, I

found myself registering for one. (Funny how the running bug gets you. You start out

barely able to go a mile, and before you know it, you’re at the starting line, taking on

26.2.)

 smalllogo4 (150x92) In February, I ran the Rock ‘n’ Roll Mardi Gras Marathon. This was my very first

marathon, and I had no idea what I was doing, but I learned a few tricks to staying

balanced along the way.

1. Be Flexible, Figuratively

I couldn’t find a training plan I liked, so I made up my own.

screen-shot-2010-11-04-at-2-23-37-pm (600x424)  Here’s how I described it at the time:

"I’ve purposely designed this plan to be flexible. Some of my long runs are conservative,

with the intention that if I feel able to do more, I will. It’s all about balance and being

understanding and forgiving of myself. The training plan must fit my life, not the other

way around."

Like Emily said in her guest post, it’s okay to miss a workout here and there. When I

trained for my first half marathon, I thought that missing one long run would keep me

from having a good race—and I would sacrifice sleep and my social life in order to get all

my runs in. Training that way left me exhausted, so I approached my marathon training

with a completely different attitude.

When things came up, I just went with it. During the 4 months that I was training, I was

traveling for 8 weekends, and I moved to a new apartment. I also trained through the

holidays and through a harsh New York winter.

CP Snow (640x480) Some days, scheduled runs just didn’t happen. Many of my runs were done indoors on

the treadmill due to snow and ice, including a 20-miler. (I even wrote a little

ode to the treadmill about the benefits of being stuck on one from time to time.) You just have to go

with it.

When I was traveling, I used my long runs to explore. I even got to do a practice long

run through New Orleans while visiting my sister for Thanksgiving. I acted like a total

tourist, stopping every mile or so to take pictures.

NOLA streetcar (600x449)  This applies to all types of running: the more fun you can incorporate into your runs, the

better. Sometimes this means running with a friend. To an ice cream parlor. Or a bar.

Whatever keeps you happy and looking forward to running.

happy run (600x449)  The thing is, running is mostly mental. Going into a race feeling positive and relaxed is

equally as important as training mileage and speed work, if not more so.

2. Be Flexible, Literally

There is one activity that I cannot recommend enough during marathon training, and

that’s yoga.

doggy yoga (600x450)  Yoga is the perfect counterbalance to running; it stretches all the muscles that running

shortens and tightens. Staying loose will help keep you from getting injured, and taking

some time to recenter will keep you sane. Even if it’s just fitting in a few minutes in

downward dog post-run, I can always tell the difference when I’m mixing up my running

with yoga.

outdoor yoga (480x640)  You don’t even need a studio to start getting into it. I often do yoga podcasts at home—

here are my favorites.

3. Be Really, Really Nice to Your Body

The thing that surprised me the most about training for my first marathon was that I put

on weight. Since then, I’ve heard that this is pretty common, and it makes sense. Long

distance running is a huge shock to the body. It’s easy to get dehydrated, and weekly runs

of 18 and 20 miles don’t give your body much time to recover, especially if you’ve never

put it through something so strenuous before. The result for many of us is that we have a

bit of inflammation and water retention to deal with. Add to that sore, achy muscles, and

you might not feel so hot sometimes.

cheering fam (640x478)  So be extra nice to yourself. Massages, pedicures, all those special indulgences that long

distance runners love… now is the time to treat yourself. Don’t wait until after the race;

it’s the little things that get you to the starting line feeling strong in the first place.

finish line marathon (478x640) Even if you train "perfectly," race day might not go as you planned. So forget perfect

training and just listen to your body as you go. It’s your marathon!

Thanks again to Ashley for starting this conversation. Enjoy the running!

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Marathons & Moderation: Guest Post #2

Hello Healthy Happier Bear readers! I’m Emily and I blog about my addiction to sweating at Sweat Once A Day. I love following Ashley’s posts about her fun, fit and fabulous life in NYC! When Ashley tweeted for people to write about balance during marathon training, I eagerly offered to write about one about one of my favorite subjects: run hard play hard.

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I’ve run 11 full marathons while holding a full time job (and a few part time jobs), dating, spending lots of quality time with my family and friends and partaking in my fair share of happy hours. If there’s one thing I feel I can speak with some degree of authority, it’s balance and marathon training.

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Here are my top 10 tips for how to run like a rockstar without sacrificing anything else in your life.

1) Embrace the Mornings.

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Okay, don’t hate me, don’t hate your alarm clock, stop pushing that snooze button.

If there’s ONE thing you can do to make your life more balanced during marathon training, it’s learning how to hear your inner rooster, rise with the sun and get miles logged before most people get out of bed in the morning.

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Through 11 marathon training cycles, I’ve learned a valuable lesson: I will never regret working out in the morning, but I will always regret not getting out of bed to get my sweat on.

You never know what will come up after work: a late night at the office, an impromptu happy hour, a dinner date with that hot guy from the gym. You will never have to worry about fitting in the spontaneous fun in life if you get your training over and done with before you head to work.

2) Get Creative.

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There are never enough hours in the day. I tackle this unfortunate fact of life by making sure no hour goes to waste.

When time is tight, I’ll get creative with my training schedule: run home from work at night, run to happy hour, stretch during a conference call, run errands…literally.

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Why waste 30 minutes on the subway in the morning when you could use that time to run the three miles to work and cross your training off the overflowing to-do list for the day?

3) It’s okay to miss some workouts.

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One of the biggest mistakes during marathon training is to adhere too closely to your training schedule. Don’t stress out if you miss a 3 mile easy Wednesday run. If there’s one workout to prioritize during marathon training, it’s unquestionably the long run. As long as you get that in, you’ll be golden on M Day.

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Some things are more important that sweating. Please do yourself a favor and choose to prioritize your best friend visiting from out of town, your boyfriend’s birthday celebration or meeting a work deadline over squeezing in a shake out run.

4) Pick a Night to Party Like a Rockstar
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When I trained for my first marathon, I learned to live for Thursday nights. I was too worried about my Saturday morning runs to go out on Friday evenings, so I would take advantage of Thursdays to go out like a champ.

Instead of limiting yourself to never going out, or stressing about always being tired, pick a night to do it right and stick to that so the remainder of the week you can get good sleep and be focused on preparing for the 26.2.

5) Reward Yourself

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There are some mornings, days, evenings during marathon training when you’re just not going to be motivated to log your miles.

One of my favorite ways to overcome this challenge is to reward myself for dominating my training plan. I’ll tell myself “do these 5 miles and you can drink champagne with the boyfriend” “finish your long run strong and a guilt free bottomless brunch is in your very immediate future” “get out of bed to run at 6am tomorrow and your favorite salad place is serving lunch”…you get the picture.

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There’s no shame in a little personal bribery mid-marathon training.

6) Con Your Friends to Join

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Marathoning is a foreign concept to many people.

How many of you have gotten the question “how long is the marathon?” That’s what I thought.

Get your friends involved. Have them join you for 3 miles of your long run, get them to meet you for brunch after a 5k, bribe them to make signs for your race, get them drunk and convince them to sign up with you…I mean, no…that’s what I meant.

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Your friends will get excited about something that’s so important to you. Help them figure out how to become a part of your marathoning world and you’ll get to spend more valuable time with them while getting your training/racing done at the same time. Golden.

7) Make Friends While Training

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The best thing I’ve done while training for various marathons and triathlons, is to put myself out there and meet people who are also in training. Look for running groups, fellow bloggers/tweeters or triathlon clubs in the area with group workouts.

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Take a chance and go. I guarantee that the worst thing that happens is you have a good time. Many of my best friends in the DC area started as strangers on the internet or randos in some running group I found in the neighborhood. Do it. Trust me.

8) Cut Corners

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If you’ve ever read my blog, you know that I don’t shower. Ever.

I’ve learned that if I can squeeze in a run at lunch, but not a shower, it’s worth it if I can make it to my best friend’s birthday BBQ.

9) Lunch on the Run

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The best way to balance training for a marathon with a full time job is to utilize your lunch breaks for quality sweating.

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Now, I by no means have a job that grants me a full hour to lunch on a daily basis. But on days when I can sneak away from my desk, I do. And I find that having a midday run helps me accomplish more than usual in the morning before I lace up my running shoes, and the noon endorphins refocus me for the afternoon workload.

10) Love Sweats

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Before I tricked my boyfriend into dating me, he had never raced before. Sure he ran for fitness, but getting him involved in the all-consuming world of running/triathloning and sweat addiction has helped keep me sane and balanced while amidst my many training cycles and has given us a new passion to bond over and keep our relationship exciting.

And single people?

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Do you know how hot sweaty men are. Refer to tip #7 and start meeting some new men in spandex. I’d be lying to you if I told you I don’t spend every minute I’m on my bike checking out the muscley calves of the hot boys who pass me.

Happy running and marathon training to all of you! Run hard, play harder and you’ll be dominating 26.2 miles in no time. Thanks again to Ashley for letting me hang with all her lovely readers for a bit and consume more than my fair share of her blog space rambling about my love for sweat filled marathon training!

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