From The Couch To A Marathon

Stretching

My shins have been killing me when I run. They are fine afterward but when I’m running, my shins say words that are not appropriate for children to hear (and no, I don’t say them out loud.)

While looking for a solution, I came across one very good fact: stretching. Yeah, I don’t stretch, at least not consistently. I know it’s something I should do, but I have struggled to find a “perfect” plan so I haven’t done a plan at all. But now my shins hurt and I need to do something.

Did you know one of the best ways to avoid injury is stretching? Yup, simply stopping and stretching your muscles will make a huge difference.

The next question is, stretch before your run or after? Well, there’s no good answer. It depends on the study you read. There are several studies that show you should NOT stretch on cold muscles. Do a lap or two before you stretch, to warm up your muscles. Personally, I’m gonna stretch both before and after?

So, how should you stretch? Make sure you get all your major muscle groups. Get your calves, your quads, your hamstrings and hips. Me, I’m adding shin exercises too.

Like I said, I haven’t found a perfect stretching routine, but I will suggest a few from Runner’s World:

A Dynamic Stretching Routine

Warm Up The Right Way (Video)

Flexibility Training

Flexibility: Loosen Up

I’m going to try the last one starting with tomorrow’s long run plus add in a couple special stretches I learned specifically for stretching my shins. Hopefully I can do it soon without the agonizing pain!

Do you have a stretching routine? Why or Why not?

This is Letter S of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

Running Power

 Runner.com – Information and Inspiration for the Runner

I found this poster this morning on Facebook and I LOVE it! It really makes you think about the importance of every step you take.

Every time you get out there (or stay in and use the treadmill) you are making a big difference. You make a difference for your body. Don’t believe me, look at the stats above. The average woman runner will burn enough calories in a year to run her washing machine for 6 months. I don’t know about you, but my washing machine does a lot of work!

You make a difference in your family. Recently I’ve thought of my daughters as “future Olympic marathoners.” Not because I’m going to force them to run marathons (they can do whatever they want in their lives) but because once I started running regularly, they wanted to do it too. Now we run together two or three times a week. Sunshine asked to walk to school last week, which is a 1.5 mile trek up a large hill.

You can make a difference in your community. Ask any person who runs for a charity. These programs brought in $1 billion in 2009. One billion dollars is a very big difference.

Running is powerful. It changes things. So my question for you today is simple. How do you make a difference with your running?

This is Letter R of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links to Amazon.

Quiet! (The Importance of Rest)

Image ID 426208 from Stock XChng

This morning I got up, made the girls breakfast, laid down on the couch and promptly slept/dozed for the next hour. And to be honest, I wasn’t really upset.

I will first point out that this is a very rare occurrence. I don’t remember about last year, but this is the first time since Beautiful G started first grade that I dozed on the couch while they get ready. Second, I was awake enough to hear when Sunshine knocked a plastic container down and ask what was going on. Finally, I knew I was doing something very important for my body.

As runners,  rest is part of the trifecta of training (along with running/strength training and nutrition). If you don’t rest, you don’t recover.

Sleep is the most basic and most important step in rest. Your body uses sleep to do a host of things, including rebuilding the cells. Exercise actually does a little damage to your body (and if you aren’t careful, too much damage). Sleep then turns around and corrects the damage, making you stronger. Think of it like you are remodeling your home. Exercise is when you tear down the walls, strip off the paint and tear out the cabinets. Sleep adds the new rooms, puts in the new cabinets and repaints the walls. If you don’t get enough sleep, you won’t have rebuilt your body enough to properly exercise the next day. So get your sleep!!!

But what about rest? Not just sleeping rest, but sitting around and doing a lot of nothing? Well, it’s important too. Rest, even non-sleep rest, rebuilds your muscles and improves your exercise. Your body needs to rebuild before you tear more down. Going back to the remodeling scenario, if you decide to add a room to your house, you don’t put a hole in the wall then start nailing boards along the sides, hoping it will stay up. You have to add reinforcement and build a framework for the new room. Rest, even non-sleep rest, does just that. Rest rebuilds yours muscles, refills your glycogen stores and helps your body move fluids where it’s needed.

So what counts as rest beyond sleep? Well, that depends on you. Some people can do an easy jog or cross train and count it as a rest day. Many others, though, need a full day off from exercise. The importance is that you truly rest on your rest days.

If you choose to do some basic exercise, then make it light exercise. Unless you are an ultramarathoner, an easy jog shouldn’t be more than 2-3 miles and should feel like you could go a lot harder than you are. If you use the talk test, you should be able to comfortably have a conversation during an easy jog.

If you take a full rest day, don’t fill it with things like deep cleaning the house, a hard day of work or all the errands you’ve put off all week. Stop. Relax. Sleep in if possible (I’m a mom of young kids, I know that’s not always possible!) Do things that won’t tax your brain or your body. If you can’t fit in a full day (again, mom of young kids, I know there is always something) take at least a few hours to really do as little as possible. Take a bath. Read a good book. Watch a movie or your favorite TV show.

I remember many years ago (pre-husband and kids) talking to a friend. I told her I was so exhausted and tired. I didn’t understand how it was possible since I worked only four days a week at a local bookstore. She had a few jobs at the time and often went two to three weeks before getting a day off and yet had no problem handling it all. The reason she wasn’t tired and I was? She took calculated time to rest during the week, despite her schedule. I, on the other hand, filled all of my time with activities that were taxing and never stopped to really rest. Rest is important.

Need another reason to rest? If you don’t, your performance will suffer. Ever stretched a rubber band and kept stretching it without letting it get loose again? Eventually, that rubber band will snap. The same can happen to you. Most injuries to runners come from overuse. Stress fractures, plantar fasciitis, ITB syndrome and blisters are all injuries that come from overuse without rest. You wanna keep running? Rest periodically.

Rest is part of the running trifecta. Like a tripod, take away a leg and you are asking for trouble. Do yourself a favor, take a rest day.

Want more info? The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke have a great article about the basics of sleep. Also, check out this article about the importance of rest from Runner’s World (which also compares it to an easy run, which is also important!)

This is Letter Q of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

Patriot’s Day

Patriot’s Day is a state holiday celebrated in Wisconsin, Maine and Massachusetts. The point of the holiday is rather simple: to celebrate and remember the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Remember Paul Revere, who rode on a horse and yelled “The British are Coming?” He rode through Massachusetts. The British did come and the very first battle of the Revolutionary War was The Battle of Lexington and Concord.

Now the day is celebrated on the third Monday in April (the original battle was April 19, 1775.) In Wisconsin, they have a public education day. Basically, all the public schools spend the day discussing the Revolutionary War.

Maine (which was a part of Massachusetts during the Revolutionary War. They became their own state in May 15, 1820) and Massachusetts treat is as a state holiday (the state workers get the day off and most of the non-state workers do too.) While most state holidays usually involve watching too many reruns and sleeping in, this is not true for Patriot’s Day. At least, not if you live in the city of Boston. They, instead of sitting in their pajamas and watching more soap operas, have a party. They get out there and line the streets and scream their heads off. Oh, and they have a marathon.

The Boston Marathon is the most famous marathon in the world. It’s also the only non-elite marathon in the United States to have time restrictions. That said, it still fills up faster than almost every other marathon.

In order to run in the Boston Marathon, you have to meet qualifying standards (which have been raised in recent years. You can go to Marathon Guide to see the times, which range from 3:05 to 5:25 (that’s hours and minutes.) Despite the time standards, every year more people qualify. The race has a limit around 23,000 people (despite how big that sounds, Chicago and New York both have around 50,000 people run) so they have in the most recent years set it up so that if you run quite a bit faster than your required time, you are automatically in and everyone else is set in a lottery type system. This was set up after two years of selling out of spots in less than 24 hours!

The marathon starts in a small town called Hopkinton. The marathoners stay in Boston proper and take a bus up to Hopkinton. Despite the race starting at 9:30am for the elite women, 10am for elite men and in waves after the men, buses now start as early as 7am so runners can get up there and prepare (and/or not worry about missing the bus and missing your start time!).

As the race starts, runners start on a steep downhill dropping 130 feet in the first mile. Most of the course is downhill, at least until you get to the Newton Hills, including the famed “Heartbreak Hill” which can literally make or break or your Boston experience. Heartbreak Hill is just under a half a mile but it falls between miles 20 and 21, which is often the infamous “wall” for most marathoners in all races. Add a hill after such a long downhill, it is generally considered the hardest part of the entire course. SB Nation has a great graph showing the elevation changes for the marathon

Racers go through Ashland, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley (home of Wellesley College, an all female college right along the course. One of the fun things to do while running Boston is kiss a Wellesley Girl!), Newton, Brookline and finally Boston.

The Red Sox have a home game on Marathon Monday (what Patriot’s Day is called in the marathon world and in Boston) that is scheduled to end right about the same time as many of the finishers of the marathon. Fenway Park is along the course, so the spectators leave the game and cheer on the marathon.

Why is Boston so popular? It’s the oldest marathon in the United States, started in 1897 after several members of the Boston Athletic Association (the group that runs the marathon) went to the first modern Olympics in Athens and were enamored by the race. It’s a race that requires you to push yourself to get (the time standards) but it accessible to all runners. It’s the gold standard of U.S. marathons.

That said, not all marathoners want to run Boston. Monica at Run Eat Repeat has stated she has no interest in it, as has Dimity half of the team that runs Another Mother Runner (SBS, the other half, actually ran Boston this year!) So if you don’t, don’t worry.

The Boston Marathon is certainly the biggest marathon in the United States in terms of popularity. It’s an admirable goal or if you aren’t interested in running it, an interesting week of partying and excitement in the marathon world (you can even watch it on TV or online!)

Are you interested in running Boston? Why or Why not?

This is Letter P of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

The A-Z Challenge Update and Goals for May

If you didn’t notice, the wheels fell off the A-Z Challenge. I’m still deciding if I should finish even though I totally ran out of the month of April (let me know your opinion in the comments!). Part of it was lack of motivation and part of it was busyness.

May is a new month (WHOO HOO!) and it’s time to start setting some new goals. I want to post my goals here so both you and I can see them. Putting it out there will help me keep it in the forefront of my mind.

1. Do some form of exercise every day. Whether strength training, cross training or running, I want to get my exercise done daily and make it a habit

2. Drink at least 64 oz of water daily. Again, a habit I want to create.

3. Track what I’m eating every day. Last habit for the month.

Another fun announcement! I created a SparkTeam for From the Couch to a Marathon on SparkPeople! If you don’t know what SparkPeople is, it’s a diet/weight loss group. It’s built on the ideas that small changes done habitually can make big changes and that having a community can make a big difference in reaching your goals. I really like SparkPeople and am reading the book The Spark by the founder Chris Downie.

The group is simply called Couch to Marathon and I’m the admin (my user name is C2Marathon, just like my Twitter handle).

So my questions for you today are this:

1. Should I keep up the A-Z Challenge?

2. What habits are you cultivating for May?

3. Do you have a diet program and if so, what is it?

Another Mother Runner

Another Mother Runner is one of my favorite blogs. It is all about the tribe of running women who are mothers (although lots of other women read it. Probably some men too, but it’s very woman-centric).

I know a couple of mother runners personally and more online (and some of them read here, so HI!!!) Today I met another mother runner!

A couple weeks ago, Sunshine’s school a jog-a-thon. If you don’t know what it is, you pay either a flat fee or an amount per lap they run. Then on a certain day, the kids will run for a certain amount of time. Parents then go collect the money and turn it in. It usually benefits the PTA.

When Sunshine ran, we found out less than a week before. The girls and I did a couple of runs around the building in the days before.(If you are wondering this has to do with another mother runner, we’re getting there…patience!)

Yesterday, we got a note from Beautiful G’s school. They are doing their own jog-a-thon in a couple weeks! This time though, the PTA gave us several weeks notice AND they are holding practice runs every Tuesday and Friday!!! For a half an hour after school, the kids are invited to run around the track. Oh, yeah, and the parents are invited to run with the kids!

So yup, I met another mother runner. She’s on the PTA and is in charge of the runs. A couple other moms showed up, but didn’t seem to interested in actually running. I am VERY excited about the whole thing and will probably volunteer to help on the day of the jog-a-thon.

I talked to the mom (whose first name I didn’t catch. I do know her last name though.) and it turns out that the school is talking about forming a running club next year. WHOO HOO!! I have been trying to get the girls out more often and I love knowing they are making this a priority.

So today was great, running wise. I met another mother runner, I learned more about the jog-a-thon, and the potential to the running club.

P.S. The jog-a-thon is to raise money for playgrounds at the school. If you are interested in donating, email me!

I Quit (for tonight anyway)

Fair warning: this me on a disappointed angry diatribe. I know this is part of every athlete’s life and think it deserves to be shared. So read or not is up to you but you have been warned.

I Quit. I Quit. I Quit. Not running a marathon or even running in general. But for tonight. I quit. I am tired, my shins hurt and I just quit.

I am sick to death of being slow. I keep getting fricking 18 minute miles. Long Beach closes the course after 7.5 hours and my current speed has me much slower than that. I keep thinking “I am going faster today” and I don’t. I am stuck at 18 minute miles. That is SLOW. That totally sucks.

So I decide I’m going to do speed work. Helps lots of other people, right? With no track available, I am doing intervals in my apartment. 1 minutes run like a mad woman, 2 minutes walk at a decent but acceptable pace.

But once again I am not feeling the run through the apartment thing but I didn’t get up early and I had other plans at lunch already so my only option is run through the apartment. So I do it.

But I quit. I flipping quit. Not gonna do my mileage today. Not going to blow my diet to kingdom come but not going to do it either.

But I need to. I will not fail at running this marathon. I will not. I will not. I will not. So I need to follow my training. I need to do these miles. But I can’t. I am barely keeping my eyes open. I can’t do it. Which completely and totally sucks. And I hate it. I really hate it.

No more skipped runs. No more off track plans. I will get up in the morning and run even if it means setting 4 different alarms to go off at 5. I will. I will. I will.

So I quit tonight. I tackle it again tomorrow. Good night. I quit. But only for tonight.

Ode to a Bruise

Ode to a Bruise

I have a bruise.
Ok, it’s really two.
They will turn many hues,
But is worth the big to-do.

-Jacqui Gonzales, 2012

That is the first poem I have written since my junior year of high school, a requirement in my creative writing class. So no matter how bad it is, smile and nod and remember there is a very good reason I write prose (I have no rhythm)

The poem is correct, I do have two bruises. I acquired them yesterday at the lab when they drew my blood.

If you work in the medical field, you might think “well the lab tech must not know what she’s doing if she ended up bruised.” You would be incorrect. The lab tech was great and experienced. I just can’t walk out of a lab without bruises. Here are the reasons:

1. My veins are deep. They use the veins in your elbow because they are closest to the surface. Mine are not.

2. My veins are thin/small. I have had more than one needle pushed through the vein.

3. My veins roll. This is the new fact I learned yesterday from the tech. I never knew veins could roll but mine do and it is away from the needle.

When you look at the facts, it makes good sense why I end up with bruises every time they draw blood. Yesterday the poor tech had to switch to my left are after trying (and failing) to get the vein in my right arm.

You may be asking why I had to get my blood drawn. Tuesday is my next visit with the doctor about my marathon training and to see how my hypothyroidism is doing. Checking my thyroid levels requires blood, hence the blood draw. I am hoping he will have good news and we will have gotten it under control.

Personally I think the advantages of having the doctor figure out what is going on is worth the bruises. Of course, I might sing a different tune if I had to do this daily or weekly. So I will be grateful for the small bruises every two months.

This is Letter O of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

Non-Sequitur

He's probably thinking about his next meeting!

I read a post the other day on Pioneer Woman about Non-Sequiturs. I could totally understand what she means, since my brain does non-sequiturs all the time, especially during a run.

When my feet get going, my brain does too. Yeah, I think about my running. Some. I think about my form, and that my hands should be at 90 degree angles. I think about my cadence, but since I have no rhythm, this doesn’t do much good. But then my mind wanders. I think about the hill I’m about to climb, my speed and that stop lights kill my time. But more often than not, my brain goes off in random tangents. I will think about my next meal, about how the kids are doing in school, my relationship with Dave, and the blog. I write stories in my head while I go down the street. I appreciate the view as I come to the top of the hill. Yes, the pain in my legs or chest come into play, but normally when I’m running hard (I don’t usually have pain otherwise.) My brain simply doesn’t stay on track when I run.

The best runners, so they say, focus on things like form, cadence and running. The rest of us, though, usually are just like me, with non-sequiturs running through our brains. I think there is good reason for that. Most of us run because we love it. We use running as a chance to clear our heads, solve problems, enjoy the peace and generally get outside of the busyness of life. Yes, we run races, speed up our pace and our miles. But we get out there and let our minds get away from all that. Runs are the perfect place for non-sequiturs and the often the best way to solve various problems we face in our daily lives.

Don’t be afraid of the non-sequiturs in your running. Yes, go back to focusing on your cadence, your form, your speed, and the fact that the lights never change fast enough. But don’t think that the non-sequiturs aren’t important too. It’s what makes the love of running so wonderful.

This is Letter N of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!

Love and Money

Most of us run for love. There are, of course, some people who truly hate running but do it anyway. They do it for the health benefits, because they have been doing it for years or because someone they know and cares about runs. But generally, we run because we like it.

We love feeling the wind in our face and letting all of the stress go. We love getting out there and going as fast as we can or going slow and savoring it. We love adding on the miles and melting away the calories. Running is a thing we enjoy, even as our lungs burst for oxygen and our stomach roils with discontent.

Sometimes, if we are very lucky, very talented or both, someone actually gives us money for it. Many long races actually give out monetary prizes for placing in the top 3 of the race and the top 3 in your age/gender group. For example, at the 2011 Long Beach Marathon, the top prize for Elite runners was $1,500 and the 3rd place received $500. Now, to get that $1,500, Abigail Swift ran a very impressive 2:43:20 (it’s a 6 minute, 13 second mile).

Most of us don’t get money for running. In fact, marathon running can be considered a VERY expensive sport. Personally, I figure that for me to run Long Beach it will cost around $300. That figure doesn’t cover training costs like shoes, gels, sports drinks, etc. That does include the entry fee, gas to get to LB, parking, hotel (Dave and I will stay Saturday night) and food. I could drop some of that down (bring food from home, slightly cheaper hotel) but overall that is a lot money for a race that won’t even last a full day. A lot of people run marathons in other parts of the country or world, so add in airfare and other travel expenses (see, expensive sport). Which brings us back to love. You don’t put money (or at least I don’t) into something you hate. But when you love it, you’ll spend the money.

So my question for you today, why do you love the marathon?

This is Letters L and M of my April A-Z Challenge. Want to read all the posts? Check out The Blogging A-Z Challenge Page!