Things We’ve Learned & Wished That We Knew Sooner

April 24, 2012 by · 13 Comments

As you may or may not know in 2010 was when we began our training to run our first half-marathon.  Both of us had run in high school and/or college, but never to the distance we would hit in our half marathon training.  The two of us and probably like a lot of people who train for their first half marathon followed Hal Higdon‘s guide.

 
Hal Higdon’s guides are great and perhaps there are some people out there who work their way through a number of his different plans.  We, however, did not and kind of decided to start looking through different plans (one of which was definitely Hal Hidgon’s) and piecing them together.  After all what works for one person might not work for another and it never hurts to try something to see if it works for you!

Throughout the not quite two years of us running together we’ve learned to appreciate aspects of our training, realized some things that needed to be added and why, so we shall share with you!

Weight Training

Both of us got personal trainers at a point where we each wanted to lose weight (You can read about Beth’s story here and Teal’s story here).  Boy are we thankful to Will & Johnny for helping us to get into shape, get healthy and teaching us a lot!  Weight training is very important as you need to build a base for yourself.  If you only rely on running to build your muscles then you are missing out!  Not every single race you might run will you actually feel yourself digging deep and using that core strength or pumping those arms hard to get to that finish line, but those are important parts of your body to work on strength so you have it when you need it.   With that said it’s important to find a balance with your weight training and make sure you are working every part of your body.  Build that strong foundation so you can be a stronger runner!  It was well into us running together that we realized we were at an advantage by already having trainers and having those weekly weights session.  We didn’t know where we would be in our running if we didn’t have them!

While yes, a trainer makes it so much easier to get your weights session in you don’t neeed to have one! Grab a friend that’s knowledgeable about weights and ask them to show you the ropes a few times or look into one of the many apps that’s how there and available to guide you through a workout!

If you would like more of an explanation of the benefits weight training please see this post from Runner’s World.

Tempo Runs

We just recently started to incorporate these into our workouts.  What were we waiting for with these??

What? There is lots to read out there about tempo runs and sometimes it doesn’t seem to be written in layman’s terms, or is that just us?  Part of why we probably did NOT do tempo runs for awhile was because we did not truly understand them.  A tempo run normally consists of running at an easy pace to start, let’s say we are doing a 4 mile tempo run, so you may run your first mile at an easy pace then for miles 2 and 3 you kick it into a higher gear. This higher gear is a hard pace yet if you were rate levels of hard you might have comfortably hard, hard, and extremely hard.  You want this higher gear to be at a comfortably hard pace so that you can sustain this level of intensity for the entirety of your two miles.  Once you hit mile 4 take your speed back down to where you were in mile 1 for a nice recovery mile.

Importance.  The idea behind a tempo run is to raise your lactate threshold. If you are at a point in your running where you are able to run the mileage you want in a long run but are ready to work on speed this is a workout you’ll want to add into your training schedule once a week to build speed and strength.  The one thing that really helped us in determining how to do a tempo run was by using the McMillan Running Calculator not only did it help with tempo runs but also discovering what type of speed we needed for all sorts of runs.

Hill Workouts

What? While yes there are races out there that you might register that are flat, flat, flat!  But that is simply not going to be the case for each and every race that you will ever run.  Those hills in your runs/races continue to help challenge us as runners.  The best workout we have found to make sure a hill does not defeat us in a race are hill repeats.  We’ll be honest they aren’t the most fun type of workout, but believe us when you finish a race with hills you’ll be thankful for the time you spent on hill repeats.  For us a hill repeat workout consists of:

1.  Doing your homework and find a hill that will work.  You might want a hill that is somewhere between .1 – .2 of a mile.
2.  Get a little bit of mileage in before your hill repeats, i.e. run from your house out to the hill
3. When you reach your hill if it’s your first time maybe try 4 or 5 runs up the hill and back down (but have a goal of working up to 10 hill repeats)
4. Get in that last bit of mileage back to your house
Importance.  We’ve recently heard a couple people say this and it is the absolute truth, “the difference between me continuing to run and the people walking up the hill in that race are these workouts.”  Even if you are not specifically training for a race that has hills in them, this workout is beneficial! It’ll build muscle that running on a flat path does not, help with your endurance and help you to get faster!  Throw this type of running workout into your weekly mix as well and you’ll feel a difference at your next race!

Tangents
Just for good measure we are throwing this one in this post.  And no we aren’t taking you back to geometry class either! 🙂 Or is it basic algebra?? Ha, math is hard, y’all! 🙂 There were plenty of times that we can remember one of us saying “ugh! My Runkeeper says I ran 6.43 in that 10k race!” and there were times when we’d finish our long runs together that we were asked “why did Teal run a further distance than you Beth?” TANGENTS! It’s about tangents!  We can honestly say we were taught this very valuable piece of information from reading katieRUNSthis’ blog!

The majority of races we have run together have a certified course so it has been measured and is exactly the distance the course claims it to be.  When a course is measured it is done so on tangents, so when there is a curved portion of your course the person who measured it did so on the tangents.  This is also why for instance when we go run our long runs or even if we run side by side during a race our mileage for that long run or race could be different because neither one of us is running the curves the exact same.  For the visual people out there, let us show you the tangents in visual form.

 

While you might have learned about tangents today know that at your next race you might do your best to run the tangents but still find that you have some extra mileage at the end, well, it’s hard to run the tangents EXACTLY.  As you have to be looking ahead and plotting out exactly how to run the next curve not to mention that there are other runners out there with you on the course that might keep you from running that straight line exactly.  All we can do is do our best!

We are no experts by any means! We read articles, blogs, etc. online in an effort to try and learn how we can improve our running.  We wanted to share some information that opened up our eyes, helped us to understand running more and that we think everyone should have the benefit of knowing!

If you already knew all of this, well, thanks for bearing with us today!  If you didn’t know all of this – are you going to be making some changes now to your weekly running?  Glad to know why there is extra mileage on those races you’ve run before?
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Welp, March is Over So Time for Our Report Card & April Goals

April 3, 2012 by · 12 Comments

Y’all, how is it already April?! Good Lord, time flies!  Well, here is how we measured up for March’s report card! Hope we aren’t grounded!

Teal

1. Paint Bedroom and guest room for real this time. Spring break should make this possible! A+: Done! I did this all by myself from 8-1am one day during spring break! So glad that is done. Every room in my house is now painted! Wahoo.

2. Survive my 2 week break from running and cardio by not cheating. I am going to give my body a true rest. I think it is overworked and is partially to blame for the plateau of weight-loss, my injury and that it is not fully gone, and from being tired from having 2 jobs and grad school. The break will be hard because rest is really not part of my vocabulary but it’s a needed part of life. Must get better.

A: I survived this and technically started cardio back one day early. I am happy to say that I have no foot pain, well minus our run from Saturday, but it feels great! I think my body feels better, but is ready to get back into training. Running has not been what I want but I am glad I did this. I really only ran 2 times last month outside of the 3 races we did. So it really was a good well needed break!

 

3. Yoga 12 times this month. This will be how I survive the “rest” from running/cardio. Low impact, restorative, and a good way to focus on flexibility.

C: I only went 6 times. I think my break went to my head because I really didn’t want to do anything. I was, however able to earn new Yoga bling for my 50th class this month.

 

4.  Finish Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes F: Not only did I not finish this book I A) can’t find it and B) I read the Hunger Games instead! Whoops.

 

Beth

1.  Run a sub 2:00 hour half marathon at Rock ‘n’ Roll Dallas! A+: I did it!  In case you need the proof here it is 🙂

2. Lose 5 pounds. Seriously, y’all!! I need to get SERIOUS about take some pounds off for my wedding! F: Pretty sure I gained a pound. Womp! Womp!

3. Get a caterer for the wedding.  You thought this one went away didn’t you?  Well, I was all on track, got one approved by my venue and haven’t heard back from him after our initial phone call about my homes and dreams of wedding food.  I’ve chosen to take that as a sign and look elsewhere just need to setup tastings! B: Brent and I are going to a tasting Thursday and Saturday of this week! Never thought it would take THIS LONG to get to that stage of getting a caterer! Holy geez!

4.  Attend 3 to 4 yoga classes a week. You’re probably like whaa?? You yoga all the time!  Well, technically I don’t totally have yoga goals like I did for all of 2011 and I took 2 weeks off when I hit my 200 and let me tell you my body knew it!  So I want to see how I do with 3-4 times a week for a month where this blog holds me accountable! B+: I did this every week with the exception of the last week of April! So pretty darn proud of myself!

5. Update my handwriting/calligraphy website.  It needs a MAJOR change starting with a new theme that allows for a real blog inside the website.  Change is a coming! D: It still looks the same.  Part of this I need my sister’s help on and we thought she’d uploaded a new theme for my website but it didn’t go through.  AND she got to work on self-publishing her first ever book, Creative Chaos, so she got a little tied up which I don’t blame her!

As far as hills went in March I did a hill workout in 3 out of the 4 weeks of March.  And I’m totally behind on my two books a month goal and only got through Mile Makers by Kristin Armstrong in March.

 And now for April’s goals….

Teal:

1. Successfully complete the BluePrint Cleanse.  This will start Monday April 2nd and end Tuesday April 10th.

2. Complete one hill and one speed training per week, in place of regular runs or cardio.

3. I have one paper left for Grad School that is technically not due until the middle of May but I want to finish it and not procrastinate. Also I would like to finish up with all of my hours before the end of the month so I can order, submit, and file everything early to be ready for graduation!

4. Earn my 75th class yoga band.

Beth:

1. Please don’t hate me, but I’m going for lose 5lbs again.  Third time is a charm right?  I plan on doing the Advocare 10 day cleanse again this month and take a two week supply of the Advocare MNS Max 3, so all of that alone should guarantee I lose more than 5lbs we’ll just have to see how I do keeping it off the rest of the month! 🙂

2. Save the Dates – have them printed, addressed (myself) and sent off to wedding guests before this month is over!

3. Stadium workouts once a week.  This week sometime I should be meeting Johnny to do a stadium workout the way he wants me to do them and should that happen I would like to complete them once a week!

4. Prepare food for each week on Sunday nights this month.  I’ll have to do this for at least the 10 day cleanse, but to help me get serious with my food and losing weight this has to be done every week!

So time for us to get busy!  What do you have in store for the month of April? Personal goals you are trying to accomplish, running goals or both?

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Runner Stubbornness

December 16, 2011 by · 14 Comments

I am pretty sure I am not alone when I say I am stubborn in terms of working out in some sort of pain. I do it basically every time. Some days are worse than others, but I have very few where something doesn’t hurt in a weird way. I basically have gotten used to it. I have been to the doctor a bazillion times, each time for them to basically say the same thing, “Well, if it hurts, don’t do it.” If I followed that rule I would be out of shape. I hate admitting something hurts; I would rather just be tough about it. I have terrible knees that grind and pop and have deterioration of cartilage much more than someone my age should have and arthritis in both. The knee doctor said my IT band was too tight and that he should not be able to see it and he can. This is partially to blame for why my knee doesn’t stay in socket. Recently I have some pain across my lower stomach from running so many miles and being so tight. See… Stubborn – I don’t really stop doing anything.

 

The problem is I think most of the aforementioned problems have resulted in this current one that I can’t make go away. One week before White Rock I ran a super easy 6.2 mile run, symbolic, yea probably, and I was nervous about the race so I wanted to run something. My foot was sore but not in pain. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill that Tuesday and have essentially been in foot pain ever since. The Thursday before the race I was seriously wondering if I could run it, I told Beth that day that it was bothering me but I really didn’t say much. Saying it out loud would be admitting that something was more seriously wrong.

 

I ran the marathon, obviously, but have not run since. We are basically two weeks out from the marathon and I haven’t so much as run a ¼ mile. Something is wrong. My friend Cynthia had foot pain so bad she ended up having surgery. She went to so many doctors and eventually ended up in surgery that really didn’t completely work. She has been lecturing me since I told her my foot hurt. I think it is time to not be stubborn because now I am just scared. Everything else has seemed manageable, but not this.

 

I ran across a blog post from The Trail Jogger the other day and I am going to share with you kind of what it says BUT shockingly enough I have to STOP BEING STUBBORN. You can read the full post here but here is the condensed version.

 

1.      Stop Running: easier said than done, when it stops hurting start running with low mileage.

2.      Ice: This bores me and I hate it but isn’t that rule number one when something is hurt?

3.      Roll it: Use a tennis ball or golf ball and role the arch

4.      Stretch: especially the calf muscles – apparently all of that stuff is connected

5.      Hang your feet off the end of the bed when you sleep:– this is the easiest one! I’m 5’10”- apparently it helps in the morning when it hurts the worst

6.      Support it:– Wear shoes all the time (this one is hard for me. I HATE shoes!)

 

As far as everything else goes- I am foam rolling everything, stretching and going to yoga to strengthen and stretch, and using the “Stick” whenever I can.  Beth has had on and off hip flexor pain that she says has been so much better since yoga, so I am tagging along in that. We both attend Sunstone Yoga.

source

Here are some pics of the recovery process! This really is progress for me in terms of not ignoring something!

icing at home

rolling at work

Thank you to Emily for passing along the Ozarka bottle tip!

 

Yesterday we showed you our December running plan – I have essentially done none of it. This makes me SO nervous because I don’t want to lose endurance! That crap is hard to build. I hope to be able to run the New Year’s Double. My heart and mind say run the race- “How cool is this race, and the medal and the people,” but my body is like- “Really Teal, Why do you hate me?” I am torn and nervous. Essentially I know I will make it!  I ran 26 miles on it already. I know it will work for 26 more especially split into 2 days (see the crazy rationalization) but how long do I want it to hurt, and how do you really stop being stubborn?  

 Beth hasn’t exactly been following the plan either.  She keeps herself pretty busy too and now that the goal of a new unknown distance isn’t looming over her head she’s been enjoying some down time.  She’s still pretty much making it to yoga, Johnny’s or the gym every day with a rest day or two thrown in the mix. 

I can pretty much guarantee that you will see BOTH of us at the race! I’ll run regardless, even if it is slow and terrible, BUT perhaps admitting stubbornness is the first step to solving it?

Do you have any additional advice on treating Plantar Facsiitis?

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Marathon Training

September 9, 2011 by · 2 Comments

Technically our marathon training started a month before the Disneyland Half, but we just kept on track with the half training plan we’d been using.  But now here is what we are looking at for the months leading up to White Rock Marathon December 4, 2011:

With our half training we actually looked to Beth’s trainer Johnny (@JohnnyHFitness) for his suggestions and with the above plan we thought about what Johnny had previously laid out for us, Teal found a program online and we may or may not have looked at an organized running club’s current marathon training to come up with our plan.  Plus we had to move some long runs around and/or add mileage on certain race days to make up the miles we wouldn’t get in our race. What do you think?  Do you have any suggestions?

We are complete marathon training newbies so feel free to leave your friendly advice in our comments section!

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