BLFE: Day 3 and 4

Day 3: January 9, 2013

Day 3 was a little rough. I haven't been packing my lunch the night before so, I did the morning scramble. Throwing things into the lunch box. Hoping I have what I need to keep me full and satisfied all day.

Day 3 was also rough because I had a cheerleading competition. I am a Varsity cheerleading coach so eating dinner is a challenge for me, especially on Wednesday competition days. I always get really high anxiety during competitions. Especially if they're close. My team was second going into Round 3 and they totally choked. Which made me both angry and disappointed. We ended up getting fifth. Not happy.





This is one of those times where you eat bad because you feel bad moments. My coaching staff and I went to Chili's and I ordered their new guacamole burger. I only ate half and I ordered broccoli instead of fries. Although, I had about 20-30 tortilla chips and salsa.

I also didn't work out. I should have but, I was too pissed off to even think about working out. Thinking back on it, it probably would have helped my anger and probably calm me down.

Overall, Day 3 was not my day.



Day 4: January 10, 2013

I got back on the grind Day 4. But, yet again didn't pack my lunch so I was scrambling in the morning. For lunch, I ended up making a turkey sandwich with light mayo on sandwich thin bread. I threw apples, oranges, almonds, yogurt, anything I could find into my lunch bag.

I didn't eat dinner, AGAIN! Although, I didn't even pack it. But, whatever. I really need to work on this. After cheer I went home and did a 40-minute Insanity workout. It was tough. I'm glad I did it!

After Insanity, I toasted a sandwich thin, threw some peanut butter on it and had that as "dinner."

Dinner is my weakness.

Thoughts so far:

• Dinner is for sure my weakness
• I have a problem with emotional eating - that burger was really good though!
• I have a lot more energy. I'm not dragging like I usually am.
• I need to make my meals the night before

Detroit Free Press Half Marathon

Two half marathons in ONE month....AM I CRAZY?! 


Yes. Yes, I am.


Pre-Race Day:


Well, let's just say it was homecoming weekend at CMU...Now let me tell you that there was a 5k before the homecoming game....one more update, it was freezing and drizzling. Mind you, I told myself it was going to be a training run because I was running the Freep the next day. Did I listen to myself? NO! I semi-raced it and ended up having really sore thighs. Awesome. 


At least I received a medal. Dumb. I am dumb.


Race Day:


I woke up with a stuffy nose and sore throat. Awesome. Not the best way to wake up on race day.


Mom and I left at the crack of dawn to beat the traffic. We parked in the Joe Louis and met up with Paul and Mary. It was only a short distance from the start line so we walked the difference. 


One word to explain the Detroit Free Press Marathon: Mass Chaos. Okay, that was two words but, that's what it was. There were people everywhere. Shoulder to shoulder. Being bumped into every two steps. Literally insane. 


I left my Mom at the bleachers and Paul, Mary and I headed to our pace times. Since Paul and Mary ran the Chicago Marathon the weekend before, we decided to take the intervals to 3 and 1's. (Do you still think I'm crazy?) 


The start line was amazing. I have never seen anything so extravagant and inspiring. The start line designers should give themselves a pat on the back! 


I hate bridges. I get nervous and start sweating just thinking about crossing one. Good thing I had to run across the Ambassador Bridge and it was the first thing I had to do. yay.


To tell you the truth it wasn't that bad. I thought it was going to be way worse than it actually was. But, I did notice that I started gravitating to the edge and that made me a little nervous. Kinda like when you're watching a train and your body moves forward. It was that sort of feeling. 


Once we were in Canada, we had a DJ welcoming us and reminding us of the terrible MSU/UM outcome. (Boo State!) But, it was actually really cool to see the Detroit sky line from Canada. We are always so accustomed to seeing Windsor so it was cool to see it from the other side. 


We were in Canada for a good 3 miles (I think). It started drizzling as we were making our way towards the tunnel. This tunnel was SO much worse than the bridge. Imagine 20 thousand runners going through the same tunnel. It was hot and it was sweaty and I could barely breathe. Worst mile of my life. One of the most memorable moments during this race is when all the runners came out of the tunnel and you could hear everyone take a big gasp of breath. A breath of fresh air. (get it?)


My legs started to really tighten up while we were in Corktown and I think we only had 4-5 miles left. So, I wasn't that worried. At the beginning of the race, I wanted to PR. By mile 11, I wanted finish. I stopped at every water stop because I had the sick throat thing and I really slowed down my pace because of my legs.


With 3 miles left, Paul and Mary told me that we can finish it. So we just ran it in. I saw Kelly and Steve (family friends) on the sideline and my Mom was waiting for me at the finish line.


Overall, it was a great race. I overcame my fears of bridges...kinda and found a new hate for tunnels. Will I run the race again? Yes. Will I still hate the tunnel? Yes. 

Final Time: 2.21"12 

PR'd by 3 minutes!

Upcoming Races:

November 13, Big Bird 10k

November 24, Turkey Trot 10k

Brooksie Way Half Marathon

So more than a month later, I will tell you about my experience with the Brooksie Way.

As I may have mentioned in previous posts, my goal race was to run the Brooksie Way Half-Marathon. I felt as if I needed something to strive for since I am out of college. Plus, it didn't hurt that the race was on the day of birthday! Some people get drunk for their birthday, I run a half-marathon. Ha!

The week before the race, we did a training run on the Brooksie Way course. I was a little nervous especially because I didn't have a lot of time to do training runs on my own. Weekdays were filled by work and cheerleading practice. By the time I got home, I was beat. So, when I did train it was a quick 3 miles. 

The training run definitely put the race into perspective and I'm glad we did it. I knew where the hard parts were and when I needed to slow/increase my pace. For example, the course is flat for a good mile and then right after that flat mile, there's a huge incline. I think that was at mile 7. Not fun.

Needless to say, I'm glad we did the training run.

Race day!

To make it a non-stress morning, I listened to other marathoners advice and prepared all my stuff the night before. I filled up my water bottle, packed sweats for after the race and put all my racing gear together. I tried to go to sleep early but, I was so nervous/excited!

My Mom and I left the house at 5 a.m. to get to Oakland University by 6 a.m. We got there super early so my Mom and I just relaxed in the car for another hour. The race was supposed to start at 8 a.m. but there were a ton of delays because of construction. I think the race ended up starting at 8:30. Anyway, we got there at 6 a.m. to meet up with my Brooksie Way training group. I'm glad we got there as early as we did because we missed the atrocious parking lot traffic. 

Once I met up with my group, we headed over to the tent where the other BW training groups were meeting. This is where I started to get a little nervous. There were a ton of people and the energy was unreal! Everyone was so amped it made me that much more nervous/excited. 

As we lined up in our pace groups we discussed the plan of action for the race. We decided to run 4 and 1's at a 9-10 minute pace. Perfect. The first half was a lot of fun and my body warmed up after the first mile. It was freezing that morning and I was really nervous I was going to be cold the entire time. (I was wearing a short sleeve tech shirt and running capris). 

The second half was tough. Tienkein Hill took a lot out of me. It was definitely a struggle after that hill but, it was moderately easy compared to it. My knee started hurting around mile 9. I never had knee issues during my training run so I have no idea what I ended up doing to it but, it was super tight the rest of the race and the day after. 

I decided to ditch the intervals and run the last 3 miles. I figured, it's a 5k. I can do this. I saw a couple of the BWs on the side cheering on other BWs. It was awesome! I love the fire at the end of the race. 

When I turned the corner to the finish line, it was a little emotional for me. I had a million thoughts going on in my head and it was such a great achievement for me to have fully finished a goal. My Mom cheered me on by the finish line and I sprinted it all the way in. 

Overall, it was a great experience. I love my BW3 group and if it wasn't for them I probably would have never achieved this goal. So thank you for being amazing!! 

You know what they say, you'll always remember your first. 

Final Time: 2.24

Is fueling while racing important?

In my running groups, we always talk about fueling for our long runs, especially, a half marathon, or a full marathon. As Paul says, "Don't wait for a race to test."

The Science:

Bear with me for a minute while I try to explain to you why we need to fuel for long runs.To keep the body healthy for long runs, we have to maintain normal levels of glycogen in the blood. Glycogen is the way your body stores carbohydrates for future use. It's important because glucose is brain and nervous system food and the brain requires to act normally. For example, have you ever felt woozy or have a headache because you didn't eat anything? It's probably because your blood sugar is low. Which means the liver ran out of glycogen due to not eating carbs. This directly affects exercise because one system is functioning normally the others won't as well i.e. muscular system.


Carbohydrates:

Stop thinking terrible thoughts about carbs. Carbohydrates are not the enemy! The sole purpose of carbohydrates is to provide energy to the body. This is especially important for distance runners as it is the source of quick energy. It is recommended that runners' diets consist of 50-70% carbohydrates.

There are two type of carbohydrate, simple and complex. 

Simple carbohydrates consist of one or two molecules. Therefore, they are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. But, that's not always a good thing. Although it's great for a quick spurt of energy, it also induces an insulin response. As a result, the blood sugar returns to the low level resulting in decreased energy and performance.

Complex carbohydrates, unlike simple sugars are made up of several glucose molecules linked together. The result, a slower process of absorption into the blood stream. Experts recommend that the majority of the calories obtained from carbohydrates be in the form of complex carbohydrates.

 Examples of high complex carbohydrates: ALL the good stuff. whole grain pasta, whole grain bread, brown rice, potatoes. 


Although carb baskets are a carb, they are usually a simple carbohydrate because they are made with white flour and have fewer nutrients, and tend to be less satisfying and more fattening.


But, it doesn't stop me from indulging in some of my favorites:

Olive Garden...mmmmm

Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits...mmmmm

Texas Roadhouse Dinner Rolls with Cinnamon Butter...double  mmmmmm

Feul/Energy on Long Runs

Rule of thumb:

Jog for 30 minutes, H2O will suffice. 

Longer than 30 minutes, you gotta get yourself some carbs!

HOW TO REFUEL:

• Sports drinks: But make sure they have a 6-8% carbohydrate concentration.
• Ex. 15 grams of carbohydrate per 8-ounce serving equals 6.25% of carbohydrates
• Recommendations: Gatorade Endurance or PowerBar Endurance
• Gels/Sports Beans: Sugars in the gels provide fuel! 
• Select a gel that has 25-30 grams of carbohydrates and 50 mg of Sodium
• Chase with water NOT a sports drink
• One gel/packet of sports beans after 60 minutes of running and then every 45 minutes
• Recommendations: GU Chocolate, GU Milk Chocolate, Jelly Belly Sports Beans 
• DO NOT TRY THE FRUIT FLAVORS...I almost puked when I had the tropical punch Gu.

• Energy Bars: jam-packed with carbs to satisfy hunger
• Select bars with 40 grams or more of carbohydrate
• WARNING! Too much fat can delay digestion.
• Ideal: 200-250 cals with about 5 grams of fiber and 10 grams of protein

INGREDIENTS TO AVOID: 

• Partially hydrogenated oils
• High fructose corn syrup
• Artificial dyes

LOVE YOUR HONEY! 

• Sure, love your significant other but, love the natural honey too! It's a great fast-acting carb! 

I hope you learned same fabulous information about fueling. 

Do you have a go-to fuel flavor?

Fell off the wagon...literally

No, I didn't really fall off a wagon but, I was supposed to do my homework this weekend. As in, my running homework. Keyword, supposed to. Well, as you may have already guessed that didn't happen. I ran a mile on Saturday but that's about all I did. #fail.

 

A couple weeks ago, I won tickets to BRU Fest. The fest featured Bell's Brewery beer aka Oberon aka my all time fave beer. So, naturally when I attended the fest this past Saturday, I drank mass amounts of beer, well, as much as 10 tokens and a 5 oz mug could get me. Now, was this a smart decision when I know that I'm training for a race? No, probably not, but, it was one heck of a time.

Jackie, Catherine, Angela and myself at BRU Fest 2011 (Photo Credit: The Hungry Dudes)

Which brings me to my topic: How does alcohol affect the training process? Besides the hangover, nausea, dehydration, etc. etc. 

• Fat loss: Obviously if you're running/exercising you want to pay attention to calories going in and calories going out. If you have more calories going out, you will lose weight and have fat loss. 
• Try not to drink alcohol if you're on a strict diet/training plan. Alcohol prevents fat burning and has hundreds of extra calories. Not to mention after the bar binge eating at Sonic. But those cals don't count, right?
• Sleep deprivation: One of the largest studies to date on alcohol’s effects on sleep shows that drinking alcohol before bed may disrupt sleep and increase wakefulness in healthy adults -- affecting women more than men -- regardless of family history of alcoholism. (WebMD)
• Long runs on the weekend are hard to being with, why make them harder by not having any energy to run them. 
• Moderation: Don't alter your alcohol intake if it's not affecting your workout. 
• A few drinks won't kill you but larger amounts of alcohol that help you make poor decisions (like drunk texting) or make you feel miserable in the morning so you don't get the most out of your workouts, now that's a different subject.

If you're going to learn anything from this post, know that moderation is key, when to stop and definitely drink responsibly. 

Cheers! 

Danielle