Fueling for the long run

I've been asked a lot about my eating habits and nutrition and how it plays into my training and distance running, so I thought I'd post a blog about it for those who are curious.

First of all, I've always been a skinny kid. I had a crazy high metabolism when I was young and I was full of energy. I started running when I was just 14 years old, but back then I didn't think anything about nutrition or training. I ate what I wanted and I ran whatever I felt like running that day. It wasn't really until I began racing back in 2006 that I started thinking about what I was putting in my mouth and how it would affect my running.

My very first race (Turkey Trot 5k)

 

 

Running distances like 5ks and 10ks is pretty much what I stuck to for years. I never pushed myself out of my comfort zone or did any kind of training plans. I just had a natural affinity toward the sport and it made me feel good about myself. I was placing in my age groups and I was content with that. I never was really into eating out at restaurants or eating fast food, but I definitely wasn't eating healthy. My idea back then was "fake healthy"...like Lean Cuisines, basically anything that was low fat, low calorie. I had the attitude that the lighter or thinner I was, the faster I could run. So I skipped breakfast, had a light snack for lunch, then I'd eat a Lean Cuisine for dinner and call it a day. I never got crazy about my weight or anything like obsessing over the scale. I never looked in the mirror and thought, "I need to be thinner, I'm too fat"  I never had issues like that. I think I just had the wrong idea of what fueling my body for performance meant. 

 

 



It wasn't until I suffered a major injury shortly after the race I did pictured above in the fall of 2012 that I starting questioning my nutrition habits. I was at the time, running the best times I had ever run. I had just finished my first half marathon a few months prior and finally considering a full marathon. I ran a 5k PR of 20:39 and was dominating the local short distance races in my area. This injury was devastating to me because I was doing so well and it was making me second guess becoming a distance runner. During my downtime from running, I took advantage of educating myself on running form, nutrition, and training. It was then I realized that my idea of "healthy" eating was SO far off. I was not eating enough calories and was not even close to fueling my body for what I'd need for long distance running. That was when I made a change.

I'm not perfect by any means. I love pizza, cake, candy, ice-cream just like the next person. And even now, I still indulge in those things every now and then. Not often, but I do a couple times a month. For the most part, I try to eat clean. I avoid processed foods, simple sugars, or man-made chemicals. I used to drink diet pop like there was no tomorrow, but I've replaced it now with water or Zevia (an aspartame free soda)

I eat now...A LOT...every few hours, I'm eating something. Some key foods in my everyday diet include, almonds, nuts, Greek yogurt, chicken breast, quinoa, brown rice, oatmeal, Vega nutrition shakes, peanut butter(typical, right lol) pretzels, fig newton bars, Quest Bars, and of course try to get some fruits and vegetables in there with a lot of water intake. I do not count calories. I do not count fat grams or carbs. I just try and aim for complex carbs, healthy fats, and protein with each meal or snack. When I run, especially after a hard workout, I immediately refuel with either a Core Power protein drink or Vega accelerator shake. I've noticed eating a good blend of carbs and protein after a hard run, improves muscle soreness and energy. Running definitely helps me make better food choices throughout the day. I eat to run. I fuel my body like you'd fuel a car. When I eat like crap, I feel like crap, and I run like crap. I don't care about a number on a scale, I care about how my body feels during mile 9 of a tempo run and how I recover after so that I can get up the next morning and do it again. It's taken many years, but I'm happy with what I've got. I don't have a perfect body and I'm still at times insecure with myself, but I'm proud of what I can do with my legs. We are all human. It's our imperfections that make us beautiful and unique. And I'd like to add, that I get my ass handed to me many times by runners that are "bigger" than me. Strong is beautiful. Strong inside and out, and everyone is strong in their own way. I'm not the greatest or fastest runner, but I'm out there everyday giving it MY personal best.  My ultimate goal when it comes to eating is to stay injury free, full of energy, and able to blast out some intense miles. Happy Running :)

 



My Magnificent Weekend/Mag Mile 1/2 marathon recap

The moment I heard that Lauren Fleshman was pacing the 1:45 group at the Women's Mag Mile 1/2 marathon in Chicago, it was a done deal...

I was going to run a local 1/2 marathon right in town that same day, but there was NO way I was going to pass an opportunity like this up. For those of you that don't know who Lauren Fleshman is, she's a pro runner for Oiselle(the same company I run for) except that she's way faster than I am and holds records such as a 14:58 5K and 2:37 marathon. She really caught my attention with the "keep it real" movement that encouraged women to be proud of our bodies and imperfections. Basically an all-around, real and inspiring woman runner that I and soooo many other women look up to.

The weekend started with packet pickup in downtown Chicago at Fleet Feet. Lauren was going to be there along with Coach Jenny Hadfield(another amazing and inspiring woman). I drove myself there and of course got there way too early and sat around the store waiting for the 3 mile shake out run that they were going to host. I heard a voice say, "hi" and I turned around and saw Lauren walking toward the store. I was able to mutter "hey!" back and just watched in amazement as she walked by. I looked at the girl sitting next to me and I could tell she felt the same way I did...total fangirls! We were both like, "oh my God, that was her!"

 

 

Coach Jenny and Lauren giving us a pep talk before our shake-out run

I felt like a creep taking pictures of her, but she was so amazingly nice and humble and was more that happy to get into photos with all of her fans. I met up with Sarah(@mahaney2) and we did our 3 mile shake out run together. We basically talked about our upcoming marathons and how we were feeling. After the run, I saw an opportunity to get a pic with Lauren. So I grabbed it! Meeting her was the highlight of my entire summer for sure.

 

 

 

 

The next morning was race day and I was up at 4am getting ready. I threw on my Oiselle singlet and never felt more proud to wear it, knowing I'd have other teammates wearing theirs too. My husband was kind enough to drive me out to Chicago and support me before he went into work that afternoon and my mom had my daughter for the night. I totally was getting flashbacks of the Chicago Marathon I ran last year, except there was way less runners at this event. Between the 1/2 marathon and 5k, there were about 5,000 runners instead of the 40,000 I ran with at the marathon. So parking and walking to Grant Park was easy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It didn't take long before I saw other women wearing their Oiselle singlets and immediately we acknowledged each other and offered words of support and encouragement. Even though we had never met each other, there was definitely a sense of empowerment and friendship between the Oiselle runners. That singlet is powerful. I met up with Sarah and Jessy(@momonthe_run) and did a warm-up with Lauren Fleshman as she offered more words of support. Then before we knew it, we were lining up in our assigned corrals.

 

 

All 3 of us were starting in Corral A, so we were about 10 feet away from toeing the start line. A few minutes later, we were off and running. I ran alongside Lauren who was pacing the 1:45 group for almost 2 miles. It was like a dream to me to have an opportunity like this to run with her. My legs actually felt amazing, even in the middle of marathon training with the Hanson's Plan(which is brutal) so I ran ahead of the 1:45 group and ran my own pace.

 

 

 

 

 

Around mile 4

 

 

 



The beginning of the race was of course down the historic Magnificent Mile in Chicago. From there the course ran along the Lakefront bike path and was an out and back course. I found my husband, Doug, at mile 4 standing alongside the course ready to cheer me on which was a huge mental boost for me. I was running crazy strong until about mile 10 then I could feel myself fading a bit. Chicago had 100% humidity that day and running along the lakefront there was hardly any shade, so the sun was taking a beating on me. I could feel the sweat dripping down my legs and flying off my fingertips as I ran. I just kept telling myself, "I can handle anything for 3 more miles, I've got this"

 

 

 

 As I entered Grant Park toward the finish line, I finished strong with an official time of 1:42:21. My Garmin showed I had ran 13.25 miles, so I'll go with that, ha!  It was no PR for me, but considering the heat and humidity and being in the middle of a brutal marathon training plan, I feel like I'm on the right path for a great marathon this November. I kind of walked in a daze to get my medal(I was so tired)chugged down 2 bottles of water, and turned around to see my husband walking up to me to give me a big hug. Perfect ending to an amazing weekend! I laughed and told him, "Man, it's going to be tough to do that for another 13.1 miles in a couple months." He replied by telling me that I've done it before and I'll do it again...but a lot faster!

 

 



 

The love of my life and biggest supporter :)





I was pretty happy to see my official results online later that day. I finished 63rd overall out of 2,571 total half marathoners and 17th in my age group out of 507. Congrats to all who finished and what an honor to be able to run with thousands of strong, inspiring women. Here's to finishing the rest of fall marathon training successfully and bring on the 50 degree temps! :)