Spring Madness

March 20, 2014 by 8 Comments

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I really don’t care what the thermometer says – today is the first day of spring and winter needs to stop being the guest who has stayed too long at the party!

I’ve been chomping at the bit waiting for spring’s arrival – with it comes the hope of consistent runs outside, less layers, and a better attitude towards my runs (this winter more than any other has just wreaked havoc with my running mood!).

Spring will also bring its dose of insanity too – I must admit I just finished updating our family calendar for the next couple of months and had to remind myself to breathe! The calendar is overflowing with lacrosse games and tournaments (J and both my boys play), baseball games, road races (and not just for me!), and multiple school performances; in addition to trying to get a couple of house projects done and reviving my garden. Yep that’s spring madness in my house and I’m ready to embrace every minute of it!

Does it feel like Spring where you are? What are you most looking forward to?

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Filed Under: Spring fever

Training Check-in – Week 2

March 17, 2014 by 17 Comments

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So with my oldest son being off this past week for spring break, I probably should have guessed there was going to be some shuffling to get all my workouts in. Coach Bennett also change things up by swapping in some hill work.

All-in-all it was a bit of a mixed bag. (Actual in blue)

Monday: 40 mins cross training — 20 mins

Tuesday: 5 miles — 1.2 miles with my son – Best run of the week!

Wednesday: Strength exercises —  Ran 3.5 miles & a sports massage!

Thursday: Hill repeats — Done

Friday: Strength exercises — Rest day; Hanging out with my son

Saturday: 7 mile LSD — 7.8 miles

Daily: core work & rolling — Missed a couple days

By the end of the week, I was really feeling the fact that I’d missed a couple of days of rolling – so sore! This week will be my son’s second week of break, so I’m sure there will be more shuffling of the workouts. And he won’t be skiing this week, so we’re planning to get some more miles together!

How was your week?

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Filed Under: training

Benefits of Yamuna Body Rolling

March 13, 2014 by 18 Comments

As I’ve been working on getting and keeping my legs happy I have been very diligent about two things – my strengthening exercises and Yamuna Body Rolling. I did a post about Yamuna back when my mom was probably my only reader (Thanks Mom!) – so I thought I’d re-visit some of the reasons why Yamuna Body Rolling is my go-to choice these days for working out the kinks.

bodyrolling

Yamuna Body Rolling (YBR) utilizes several different-sized balls for different parts of your body. The idea is that the compression of these balls into bones, tendons, muscles, and fascia releases restrictions.  So how does it differ from foam rolling? Each ball is designed with a specific density and size and meant to be used for specific areas. As such, Yamuna balls can be used on more areas of the body, offering more flexibility and, therefore, more advantages than foam rollers.

YBR essentially uses the muscles as a roadmap to the body. YBR routines follow specific sequences that match the body’s own logic and order. Starting where each muscle begins, at its origin, you roll toward where it attaches to the point called its insertion. According to the YBR website, by following specific muscles from their beginning to end, you can maximize their length and restore space in your body. This direct approach affects your stuck, adhered tissue, helping to improve its health, balance and circulation while restoring length in a way that stretching alone just can’t.

I was first introduced to YBR by a Pilates teacher (who also happens to be a kick-ass marathoner), and I took classes to learn the various rolling routines. If you want to try YBR I’d highly recommend either learning from a trained Yamuna practitioner or getting one of the DVDs usually sold with the balls so you can learn the best ways to use the balls.

Have you ever tried YBR? What’s your go to method for working out the kinks?

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Filed Under: Recovery, Yamuna Body Rolling

Training Check-in

March 10, 2014 by 4 Comments

Happy Monday!

As I mentioned last week, I’m returning to training updates to help hold myself more accountable. The plan for last week was to “step back” to a week earlier in my training plan to see how my left knee responded.

So how’d it go? (Actual in blue)

Monday: 40 mins cross training — Yoga

Tuesday: 5 miles with negative split on back half — 5.5 miles but no neg. split

Wednesday: Strength exercises — Done

Thursday: 3 mi. tempo plus 1 mile w/u & c/d — Done

Friday: Strength exercises — Done

Saturday: 7 mile LSD — 7.25 miles

Daily: core work & rolling — Done

Every run felt like a serious effort but I got them done. And, while sore, there was no knee pain while running! So the week was a huge win in my book! To make sure I’m on the right track I’ll basically be repeating the same plan this week with just a slightly longer run on Thursday. Also looking forward to running with my oldest son this week while he’s home on spring break 🙂

What are you looking forward to this week? 

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Filed Under: training

Sleep is a Recovery Tool

March 6, 2014 by 10 Comments

Snoopy Cartoon

Like rest days, sleep is often an overlooked, but critical component of your training cycle.

While you sleep, your body does some much needed repair work. Did you know that it’s during sleep that the human growth hormone (yep the infamous HGH) is released to help aid muscle repair? Without enough HGH in your system, your recovery is slowed. Did you also know, that when HGH levels are down due to lack of sleep, that cortisol levels are on the rise? Too much cortisol in your system can also disrupt your body’s ability to recover properly.

There’s also the emotional impact of cutting your ZZZs short. Lack of proper sleep can really impact your ability to focus, think clearly and your mood — clearly not a good thing for anything you’ve got going on in your life including your running. I know personally that when I get overtired I become too dependent on my beloved coffee and some times don’t make the best food choices throughout the day. Being overtired also starts to drag on my motivation — hard to get up for that speed workout when your body’s craving sleep!

So how much sleep is enough?

While I’ve read time and again that “experts” recommend anywhere from 7 to 9 hours – most will also say, as with so many other things,  that it depends on the person. For me, I’ve found that I’m at my best with 7 hours – that’s when I can wake up sans alarm clock and don’t feel the need to cling to my pillow. I think the lack-of-alarm-clock test is a good one to help you find your “ideal” amount of sleep.

After going into sleep-deprivation last month during the Olympics, I’ve been trying to reel in my late night ways. A couple of things I’ve found that help:

  • Stepping away from my laptop at a reasonable hour
  • No caffeine after 3 in the afternoon
  • No late night snacking
  • Stretching and rolling to help wind down
  • Consistent bed time

How do you make sure your getting enough sleep?

 

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Filed Under: need more sleep, Recovery

Back to Weekly Recaps

March 3, 2014 by 5 Comments

One of my main goals for the month of March is consistency in my training. And, I think a return to holding myself accountable here on a weekly basis will help.

So how’d last week go?

My goals were to get 3 solid runs; daily strength and core work and at least 1 day of cross-training. I ended up giving my knee some extra TLC at the beginning of the week so I got 2 runs instead of 3 – but Saturday’s run was a glorious 5 pain-free miles that had me smiling the rest of the day! I did get a day of cross-training and strength and core exercises happened 5 out of 7 days. All-in-all not too bad.

After speaking with Coach Bennett on Friday, we’ve decided to return to an earlier (read easier) week in my training plan and see how things go. So I’m off to hit the bike for 40 minutes this morning – the rest of the week will include 16 miles of running, yoga and those all too familiar strength exercises. We dodged the snow here so while it will be bitter cold, I’m determined to stick to running outdoors!

 

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Filed Under: left knee, training

Friday Five – February Edition

February 28, 2014 by 12 Comments

21 days…

keep-calm-spring-is-coming

Just a mere 21 days until the first day of spring!

I am choosing to ignore the latest mention of snow heading our way for Monday (a lot can change between now and then!) and instead focus on the fact that we are inching closer and closer to spring running!

So with this last day of February being a rest day for me, I thought I’d dedicate this Friday Five to wrapping up February and looking ahead to March.

Race #1 completed — 13 to go! Ambitious but I still think it’s do-able

Strength training and more strength training — While I was disappointed to have to put plans to run both a 10K and tomorrow’s 10-miler on the back burner, I have no doubt it was the right choice and I will benefit from the extra attention to strength training.

Race schedule revised — With Coach Bennett’s help, I’ve made some changes to my race schedule that I think will give me the build-up time I need to have a really strong fall race season and I’m psyched about that!

More outdoor miles vs. indoor — Despite the polar death-grip we continue to be in I actually managed to up my miles out on the road — always a win!

Simple goals for March — Continue to build the mileage smartly, while strength training like it’s my job 🙂

How was your February? What are you planning for March?

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Filed Under: #14in2014, month in review

Monday Motivation – Reenergized!

February 24, 2014 by 7 Comments

Good day

Hello Monday!

Maybe it’s the fact that I got not one but two runs outside this weekend but I’m feeling very re-energized this morning and looking forward to putting in a solid week of training!

My goals this week are simple — to keep this left knee happy, get 3 solid runs, daily strength and core work and at least 1 day of cross-training.

What have you got planned?

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Filed Under: Monday Motivation

Friday 5 – This and That

February 21, 2014 by 15 Comments

What a week of juggling this has been! This was the first time since my boys started school that they’ve had different vacation schedules: my 8-year old was off this week while my middle schooler was not. So you can probably appreciate why I’m clinging to my coffee mug this morning 🙂

No Running — That’s right in the midst of this somewhat chaotic week I couldn’t turn to my runs for a sanity check. I’ve been resting my knee since I was hit with that surprise pain during last Saturday’s run. I had originally planned to wait until Thursday to run, but it still wasn’t feeling close to fabulous so I’m holding off until tomorrow.

Strength & Core — In the absence of running, I’ve been squeezing in core work and doing the strength exercises Coach Bennett wanted me to do. Doesn’t do nearly as much for the sanity-levels but oh so important!

No Toeing the Line — Thanks to all of you who weighed in on my question about my upcoming 10-miler. As you’ve probably guessed by now, I’ll be taking a pass. So it looks like I won’t be racing until April when I run the B.A.A. 5K and the Newport 10 Miler – gives me time to get this knee to behave.

385Great Gesture — Speaking of races, I got a great email last week from the race director of the Narragansett Summer Running Festival. He had come across my recap from last year and loved that I had run this with my son as his first race. He invited us to return this year with complimentary registrations! Seriously, how cool is that! My son was psyched so we’ll be running this one again 🙂

AltrasNew Shoes — After eyeing these for a while I finally decided to order a pair of Altra Intuitions! Given that these are zero-drop and I’ve been running exclusively in Kinvara 4s, I will be rotating these in slowly, starting with shorter runs. More to come!

So tell me, how was your week?

I’m once again linking up with the DC Trifecta – be sure to swing by and show them some love! DC_linkup

 

 

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Filed Under: Altra Running, crazy week, Friday Five, left knee, school vacation

Apera Yoga Tote Review

February 19, 2014 by 5 Comments

Until about a month ago, my gym bag has been the swag bag I got from the Philadelphia Half – your basic drawstring bag – not ideal by any means. And when I headed to yoga I’d usually carry my gym bag and then carry my yoga mat in a separate strap.

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Way too much to carry!

Yep! That’s how I rolled…until Apera sent me one of their Yoga Totes.

The Apera Yoga tote fits everything and looks great doing it.

Apera bag

  • Apera Bags are antimicrobial and have vented – say goodbye to gym bag stink!
  • Wipeable linings
  • Built-in shoe compartment
  • Loaded with pockets both inside and out – including a washable insert to store your sweaty clothes
  • Water bottle pocket on the outside – so no “sweating” all over my clothes and other stuff
  • Shoulder strap’s unique design gives you the perfect spot to carry your yoga mat (I’ve discovered it will also hold a foam roller too!)

(My camera’s been acting cranky so to do this bag justice I’m borrowing some pics from Apera’s site)

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Needless to say, I am loving this bag! Not only does it meet my gym/yoga needs, but I think this bag has enough space and features to serve as a great overnight bag. While I will say that initially I thought the $119 price tag was a bit steep for a gym bag – now that I’ve lived with it a while I think it offers the versatility and durability to last for years to come.

aspera blues

Apera currently has a couple sales: 40% OFF entire Blue line of bags; and, all of their Duffel Packs, any color, are 40% OFF.

 Would you like one for yourself?

Every month Apera Bags is giving away a bag to one winner, and for the month of February the bag they are giving away is the Yoga Tote! All you need to do is sign up for their email newsletter. Then, at the conclusion of each month, they will randomly draw a name from their list of subscribers. Just go HERE and follow the instructions!

Disclaimer: I was provided the Apera Yoga Tote free of charge. As always, the opinions expressed here are completely my own.

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Filed Under: Apera Yoga Tote, product reviews