Tips and resources for new runners

A while back I was asked by a member of BlackGirlsRun Cleveland to post some tips for folks who are just starting out with running. While I don’t do too much running these days (because I have 0 time with med school and all and I’m focusing on aesthetics more than cardiovascular fitness these days) I think these tips are pretty good so I thought I’d share them here also.

 

1-    Start off slowly:

1. Your pace as a beginner should be “conversational” this means that you should be able to run and talk at the same time if you had to. While you should have an increased heart and respiratory rate (it is exercise after all), you shouldn’t be gasping for air, or completely out of breath at any point. If you begin to feel this way, slow down.
2. Walk breaks are ok. If you need a break, take it. Over time, you’ll find that your break-less intervals grow longer and longer.
3. As a beginner you’re just trying to build an endurance base, so don’t worry too much about mileage or pace. *A good goal is to be able to run (at whatever pace) for 30 minutes without stopping.* Once you’re there, you can choose to focus on distance or time for your next goal. Your goal could be totally different, and that’s ok. There are many people who have no desire to be able to run for an hour straight without taking walk breaks. For these people distance is a goal (i.e. they want to be able to run 10 miles or just complete a 1/2 marathon). This said, it’s perfectly ok to continue to be a run/walker. Continue to listen to your body and set realistic goals for yourself. Take walk breaks when you need/want them!

2-    Distractions are a good thing:

Truth is, running kind of hurts when you first start. You’re breathing heavy. You’re making extra demands on your muscles. Its hard for everyone to get out of bed in the morning, lace up their sneaks and run…especially in the cold. Everyone, even great runners have a voice in their head that says “Why the hell are you doing this.” Distractions are great for beginners because they get your body used to the activity of running and will help you establish the routine without feeling miserable. The time will fly by if you’re having fun or listening to songs you like.

1. Run with a buddy and talk. Your ideal running buddy is slightly faster than you, is motivating and is the type of person who is going to annoy the heck out of you if you flake on a morning run.
2. Run in a nice area and get lost in the scenery. I use the scenery on our group runs to also mark my progress and keep me going. When I feel like stopping or slowing down I’ll say “ok just to this tree then you can stop” then when I get to the tree I say “just to the big rock”, or “just to the top of the hill.” Before you know it you have bribed yourself to the finish.
3. Run with music (not too loud if you’re running through the streets – you want to be able to hear approaching traffic and weirdos)
4. Once you’ve established running as a habit, you might find that you can let some of the distractions go.

3-    Record your progress:

Recording your daily/weekly/monthly progress will motivate you tremendously.

1. I use dailymile.com and my nike+ to record progress – on both of thee you can keep track of workouts, distance, pace, times, incline, calories burned, how you’re feeling, etc…
2. Other resources: myfitnesspal.com;  smartcoach from runner’s world

4-    Comfort is really important:

If you are uncomfortable, you are going to be less likely to run for a long period of time.

1. Get fitted for appropriate running shoes asap! You can do this at running stores like second sole (Lyndhurst) and foot solutions (off Chagrin in Beachwood). I usually let the people there tell me what kind of shoes I need and then go off on an internet hunt to find the shoes at a cheaper price (do this if you don’t have money to blow on often overpriced shoes at the running store).
2. You can get a good estimate of your foot/shoe needs by just determining your own pronation. Runnersworld has an awesome link for this à

http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-240-319-327-7727-0,00.html

Once you know your pronation you can use the runners world shoe finder to find a shoe that might suit your needs à

http://www.runnersworld.com/shoeadvisor

3.  Dress appropriately for the sweating and the weather. Wear moisture wicking fabrics close to your skin. Cotton is an enemy if you sweat a lot. This includes cotton undies. You don’t want to find out the hard way when you have equivalent of a rug burn on your nether regions from chaffing. Dressing for cold weather running will come from experience. You won’t really know if a certain amount of clothing is going to be enough or too much until you’re actually out there. Remember you’ll warm up within the first mile so don’t overdo it with the layering unless you want to carry all of that stuff around with you for the rest of your run.

4.  Make sure you go to the bathroom before you run. By this I mean #1 and #2. This is advice that an experienced runner on dailymile gave to me and as unpleasant as it is to discuss, it’s a pretty good tip. The #1 thing is understandable. Using port-a-potties is the epitome of gross. As for #2, if you’re constipated or have sluggish bowel habits, you will likely have more side-stitch pain than you would if the pipes were clean.

5-    Hydration and Electrolytes:

1. Pretty self explanatory, drink water. You should drink at least 2 liters of actual water/day. This should be your minimum water goal. In addition, you should be water drinking whenever you are thirsty.
2. Drinking water while running is a matter of personal need and preference. If you find that you are becoming thirsty on a run, it’s a good idea to bring a water bottle and sip during your breaks in the workout.
3. If you’re sweating a lot (because it’s hot or because you’re in beastmode!) then you need to make sure you replenish your electrolytes as well. Most people overdo it on the sports drinks. You should not need a Gatorade/powerade BEFORE a run or when you are not working out. These should be reserved for during/after high intensity exercise to replenish electrolytes that are lost through sweating. Also keep in mind the caloric content of your sports drink and don’t forget to log that as part of your daily calorie consumption if weight loss is your goal.

http://www.fitday.com/fitness-articles/fitness/exercises/drinking-gatorade-vs-drinking-water-during-sports-games.html

6-    Eat Real food:

1. Don’t diet. Fad diets (cabbage diet, lemonade diet, severe carb restricting diets) usually will lack some of the macro and micro nutrients that you need when embarking upon a fitness regimen. What I like to do is “eat sensibly.” Your meal at whatever time should contain some protein (eggs, chicken, fish, tofu, nuts/nutbutters), lots of green veggies (green ketchup doesn’t count), and some starch (brown rice, potatoes, whole grains). I don’t believe in deprivation because for me it makes me binge eat. If I know I can’t have a snickers bar every now and then, I’ll find myself one day devouring a king sized snickers and a snickers blizzard in the same setting just to satisfy a craving…no bueno!
2. There’s a misconception that people who run frequently will not gain weight. Runners, especially beginner runners often overestimate their calorie burn and assume they can eat whatever they want all the time. A 6 mile run at 11 minute pace will burn about 800 calories for a 140lb person. If you eat fully loaded burrito from chipotle. Your calorie balance is still +200-500 calories, so you basically “undid” your run and still are down 200 calories for the day in terms of what you can eat. If you go ham at every meal, you’ll find yourself gaining weight despite your running efforts. If weight loss is your goal, make sure you continue to eat sensibly, despite the fact that you’re working out really hard and have a few extra calories to consume. Keep your treats for the weekends, or have them in small calorie controlled portions once or twice a day. If you’re undure, track your calories for a while using myfitnesspal or a similar program. You will see that your workouts give you a longer leash, but you still have to maintain a little discipline.
3. Running can also lower your immune system. One of the reasons that running is a great exercise is that it calls on virtually all parts of your body to work. This in effect weakens the immune system for the 24-48hr period right after a hard run. Make sure your diet is rich in antioxidants, fiber, and anti-inflammatory nutrients so that you don’t immobilize yourself with a cold.  The best sources of these things are fruits, veggies (corn is not considered a vegetable for these purposes), whole grains, and legumes (beans, lentils, raw or roasted/unsalted nuts).

7-    Set Goals:

Running for no reason or just because you can is awesome, but truth be told most people will do better with concrete goals.

1. Weight loss: If this is your goal, pick a realistic weight and time frame (1-2lbs a week). Then set a running schedule that will help you to meet these goals. For example you can say that you’re going to run/walk 3 miles a day, 4-5 times a week until you reach that particular weight loss goal
2. Couch to 5K. Even if you’re new to the sport, you can progress from a couch potato to a 5K runner in as little as 8 weeks!!! That means in 2 months, you can race a 5K, running the whole time. Check out the couch to 5K program if you’re completely new to running/walking or want a program to take you from walking to running for 30 minutes straight

http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtm

3.  Racing: Having a 5K, 10K or ½ marathon that you’re training for is a great motivator to actually run. If you’re going to use a race as your goal, put the race on your calendar (Same one you use for personal and work obligations). Also sign up for the race as soon as possible. After you have paid your money, you’re going to work that much harder to make sure that you get your moneys worth out of the experience.

8-    Training plans:

1. If you’re doing a race, you need to devise, inherit, buy, or find a training plan. I use smartcoach on runner’s world. It’s a free application on runnersworld.com

http://www.runnersworld.com/cda/smartcoach/1,7148,s6-238-277-278-0-0-0,00.html

To use the smartcoach program, you have to first time yourself running a mile at a perceived race pace. This is one full mile without stopping for any rest intervals. If you have to stop, do not stop the timer on the treadmill or whatever device you are using. Then you click on “new plan” and follow the instructions for entering data (how many miles you want to run per week, the date of your race, etc…). The smartcoach will generate a program and give you exact distances and paces for running.

1. Hal Higdon also has ½ marathon and marathon training programs for various levels of experience.

5K training plans: http://www.halhigdon.com/5K%20Training/index.htm

10K training plans:

http://www.halhigdon.com/10ktraining/10kintro.htm

15K training plans:

http://www.halhigdon.com/15Ktraining/GateIntro.htm

½ marathon training plans:

http://www.halhigdon.com/halfmarathon/

marathon training plans:

http://www.halhigdon.com/marathon/Mar00index.htm

 

9-    Consistency is everything

You have to stick with it. It’s amazing how quickly you’ll gain strength and speed. It’s also amazing how out of shape you’ll feel after just a few months of slacking off. Set up a goal get a training plan and make sure you move every day.

 

10-Cross Training

1. It’s important to give your legs a rest, so cross training with non weight bearing cardio is good to do every now and then. Elliptical and the bike are most common for runners.
2. Yoga and pilates are great for flexibility and core stability. You especially want a strong core to improve you posture and running efficiency and having flexibility in the hips will prevent injury and increase your speed over time.
3. Weight training is also great. Make sure you do full body weight training, because believe it or not, tired arms or rear deltoids from pumping back and forth for an hour will slow down your pace.

11- Change is good

After a few months on a particular program or in a particular routine, you’ll stop reaping the same calorie burn and cardiovascular benefit. Your muscles will get used to the exercise and your body as a unit will learn to execute the movements more efficiently. To combat this, it’s good to switch up your routines every now and then. Change the course or the terrain on which you run to engage different leg muscles. Try adding speed work (temp runs, fartleks, track sprints).

 

12- Run through the pain or give it a rest?

1. As a new runner, you’re going to feel soreness in your muscles. This is lactic acid buildup and muscle tears from working out. It’s supposed to happen. If you feel sore and a run is scheduled for that day, you can still do the run. After you get started the soreness will dissipate.
2.  Pain – excruciating pain, or nagging pain with every step while running is not something you should be running through. If you feel actual pain  – in your joints, or muscles and it doesn’t go away within a few minutes of warming up, then you should stop and go see a doctor to make sure nothing is injured.
3. Stretching after a run is essential to preventing injury. You want to make sure you get the major muscle groups – hamstrings, quadriceps, calves, groin area and gluts/hips. Hold each stretch for a count of 10 and do not bounce in the stretch. Try not to lock your knees out while stretching.
4. Foam rolling also helps relieve pain from running injuries and prevent future injuries. If you buy a foam roller it will likely come with exercises and stretches you can do on it. This (myofacial release) hurts more than static stretching. The hurt is akin to what you feel during a deep tissue massage – a good hurt.
5. Ice Ice Baby: If you do have pain in your joints or shins during or after a run, it’s a good idea to ice the area down for 10-15 minutes a few times a day until the pain is gone. A lot of the pain is from inflammation and cooling down the area will decrease the inflammation.
6. Doctors: If you do get injured, make sure you tell your doctor you’re a runner. Best-case scenario he’ll tell you precisely what to do about your issue because he is super knowledgeable about running ailments. Worst case scenario he’ll refer you to see a sports med doctor. Either way, you want to make sure you get sports specific advice here. A sports med doctor in particular will work with you to make sure that you’re back to running as soon as possible. Also, before you begin any training program, you should consult with your primary care provider so you can make the necessary modifications and take the necessary precautions for your specific health concerns.

 

Additional Resources:

–       Runnersworld.com – As you can probably guess, there is a world of information about running for all levels and abilities on Runnersworld.com. This website is maintained by the makers of the Runner’s World Magazine that featured BGR! this month.

–       Runningtools.com – This has a lot of info about form and has a few training plans. The plans are a little different from the ones generated by runner’s world, so check them out even if you’ve already decided runnersworld will be your main go to web resource.

–       Complete Book of Women’s Running, Dagny Scott Barrios (A Runner’s world book, available on amazon.com for around 12$, available at ½ price bookstore in Golden Gate Plaza for around 6-7$) – This book is a great buy! It has lots of information about running with 2 X chromosomes – covers everything from sports bras, to kids, to weight loss and body image.

–       Fitness magazines – Shape &  Self are two mags that pretty often feature running and nutrition articles for people who like to run.

Phd, Med school, catching up…

Wow it’s been a long time. Thought I’d take today, a surprise break from clinical duties, to dust off and revive the old blog.

So much has happened since my last post. I defended my PhD so now I’m Dr. OCD Runner. For those who need a refresher, my doctorate work was in cancer biology. My research specifically focused on the role of DNA repair as a therapeutic target in lung cancer. The defense was on August 23rd and it was amazing. My family came up from Jersey and we just had a small celebratory thing (just dinner and spent the weekend together).

After that, I had about a week or so before I was reintroduced into the life of full time medical student as a 3rd year. I started out with surgery and emergency medicine at the Cleveland Clinic. I was SO INCREDIBLY NERVOUS to start clinical rotations. I’d just defended my PhD and then two weeks later I was feeling like a complete idiot that knew absolutely nothing. My plan for the rotation was just to try my hardest to did what I was supposed to do, when I was supposed to do it. The medical knowledge would come. I’d figure out the anatomy. At least that’s what I told myself.

I made it through both surgery and emergency medicine and thankfully, no one in charge of evaluating me was as hard on me as I was on myself. I took my first shelf exam which is a 100 question standardized test on surgery that all medical students around the country take after completing the rotation. Let me just say that I hadn’t had to focus on a standardized test in 5 years and I did not miss them AT ALL. I sat down to take the test and couldn’t really stay focused. Most med students can remember a question or two from a tough exam…you know the post test post-mortem “what did you think about the question where…” people like to do after exams. Well I couldn’t remember a single question but I can tell you how many pieces of chocolate the fool next to me ate and how many times the guy across the desk from me got up to go to the bathroom. Totally could have used something to help me focus for that one. Thankfully I passed the test and the rotation. Completely surprised that I actually enjoyed surgery. Couldn’t be a surgeon because I enjoy having some time that isn’t in the hospital and for at least the first 5 years of my life I wouldn’t be able to do such things.

Anyway that was September and October. Then for November and December I was at the county hospital (Metro Health) for neurology, neurosurgery and psychiatry. Psychiatry was by far the most draining rotation that I have done to date. I spent two weeks on the patient psychiatry ward, locked unit. If I wasn’t afraid of the patients (the schizophrenics or the patients tripping on PCP), I was finding myself too much emotionally invested in their stories. I went home every night feeling like I could actually use a little Ativan and Prozac cocktail to calm down and lift my spirits. Neurosurgery was AWESOME. The first case that I scrubbed for was a woman with a 7cm diameter meningioma. I got to drill a little, and suture a little and outside of standing for sometimes 12hours in the same spot for a surgery, I found rain surgery to be as cool as it sounds.

Now I’m doing obgyn and I have to say that I am presently surprised by the specialty. I didn’t realize how surgical obgyn was. Did you know that for gynecology-oncology, the obgyn physician actually does the laparotomy and bowel resection if cancer of the endometrium or adnexa has spread to involve the gi tract? I certainly had no idea. I’m glad that I made the decision at the beginning of the year to be open minded about all of the clinical experiences. Even though I know I’ll probably go into something oncology related there is something relevant to learn in all of the specialties.

So with all that clinical excitement going on, I certainly fell off the competition prep train. I made it to about 5 or 6 weeks and the dress of finishing my thesis and starting surgery (where I worked some days from 6am to 8pm) was more than enough to bear on its own without having to worry about counting calories and eating every 3 hours. I still was lifting, because it is, after all, the way that I unload my aggression. But like most medical students, I ate when food was available and when I got home from surgeries or talking to suicidal people, I slept.

Lifting and eating a ton of calories means that currently I fit NONE of my clothes. I guess we shall call this an accidental bulk. I weigh right now about 145lbs…there’s quite a bit of new muscle there, but a lot of new fat covering it up too. I have to say I am not a fan of the way I look right now. Thank god I wear scrubs most of the time, because broad shoulders are nice, but broad shoulders and a stomach pooch look nice in no ones shirt.

Anyway, the obgyn schedule so far has been amenable to working out consistently, so since last week I’m back on an every day workout rountine…LOVING IT. Also, the schedule is so far proving to be conducive to eating every three hours so for this week I have packed my meals and am planning to restart Dave’s nutrition plan. The hope is to get this fluff off and to build a solid foundation for competing in a figure competition in October. That will be after my mandatory clinical rotations are over and just before I hopefully start making my tour of the country for

Not sure when the next time I’ll be able to write is. Medical school is a real time suck (understandably so of course =} ). But until next time, stay fit and happy 🙂

Today’s Run: 7/24/2013

Distance: 6 miles

Time: 58:00 (pace ~9’40″/mile)

Conditions: Indoors, treadmill 1% incline

Today I cheated on my diet with a kashi bar and a banana. This is far better than my former cheats/binges on kitkat bars, rolos and gummy bears but it still screwed up my macros significantly (my carbs are pretty low typically). I figured I better stick to my workout plan and get all of my cardio done. Today was hamstrings and shoulders day. I usually do that along with an hour of steady state cardio. I ran because I get the most caloric bang for my effort/time when I run and I need to trim down my thighs some more.

My workday was horrific today. I was immensely frustrated with the undergrad summer student that’s working in the lab and one of my thesis committee members wants to move the date of my public defense at the last minute (I only JUST scheduled it with the graduate studies department). To top it all off I still have some side projects of my own to finish and have to take a bit of time to relearn anatomy so I’m not a total turd on the surgical suites when I start my first clinical rotation in Septembers. Lets just say I’m under a bit of pressure. I got off work at 3pm, which is super early considering I’ve put in 2 x 16 hour days this week. I had every intention of running outside but I laid down for a 15 minute nap and ended up waking up at 6pm…I have to get these impromptu naps under control before my rotations too. Anyway, I was all excited that I got off work early and would be able to run outside in the cool(er) weather [it was like 65/70 today] but oh well…I guess I needed rest.

My hamstring and shoulder workout was typical…high intensity, heavy weights. For my run, I decided to go at an easy-moderate pace (used perceived exertion not a prescribed speed…I actually covered the console with a towel and just used the up and down arrows to change the speed to accommodate how I was feeling). The plan was to stop at 6miles or 60 minutes. I was surprised when I ended in under an hour which is good because I was just 5minutes shy from the exercise floor closing.

Meh…it wasn’t all pretty, but I got it done. More running on the menu tomorrow…but for now, I’m going to sleep.

Today’s Run (and other cardio): 7/21/2013

Distance: 2 miles

Pace: 9’15/mile (19:12 total time, moderate effort)

Location: campus gym, treadmill

Today I had a goal to do 60 minutes total of cardio in addition to my bonus leg day as a part of my fitness challenge. For my warmups lately, if I run I’ve been doing interval runs at a moderate pace. It’s amazing how consistency and leg training peels seconds off your pace over a short time. My rest speed for the intervals used to be in the 5mph range and then I’d up it to 6.5mph for the work intervals. Today I did a 5 min warmup at 6.0mph pace and moved right into intervals with 6.0-6.5 rest speeds and 7.0-7.5 work speeds. Felt the same as before but I was moving faster. I always keep the treadmill incline on 1% grade when I run to simulate the effort of being outdoors.

After the warmup I got my leg workout done (hit 145 on the squats today! BOOYEAH that’s more than my bodyweight!). I did a few other standard leg work exercises as well then it was time for cardio round 2. I had 40 minutes left and planned to do an interval workout on the stairmill. Basically I did 10 minutes of stair intervals increasing the speed every minute or so and then did 100 ab movements. For abs these days I mostly do in & outs and full situps (military style). I’m avoiding oblique crunches and using plank movements to tighten that area mostly because I’m not interested in having bulky obliques. Let me tell ya, having to hop on and off of the stairmill to do ab work is both a blessing and a curse. If you’re using the stairmill right then you’re not using your hands to support your body weight (it irks me when people are on there leaning on the rails…you’re definitely not getting the full benefit of the workout when you do it that way…slow it down and use your hands only for balance and trust me you’ll feel the difference!) Anywho, if you’re using the stairmill correctly and not holding on, your abs are definitely engaged to keep you balanced. So combine the excitement that you feel from getting a break from climbing stairs to insane amount of soreness your abs are about to endure for 100 reps of situps/crunches/in&outs/etc… Totally tough.

I need to start wearing my heartrate monitor so I know how much I’m burning during these workouts. I don’t trust the heart rate monitors on the machines and feel like their grossly underestimating the burn. (Maybe they aren’t but I won’t know until I start strapping on my polar).

I’m hoping to be able to wake up early enough in the AM for a 3 mile jog…we’ll see though I’m pretty tired.

 

 

Weeks 5-6: Celebrate victories and learn from mistakes

So it’s been a busy busy 2 weeks. When I came back from my NJ vacation I had a ton of work to do for school. I had my first-author manuscript accepted to a peer-reviewed scientific journal. I had a 1-on-1 session with Dave, my trainer. We found out that JJ’s uncle (who’s had pancreatic cancer) had passed and had to do funeral stuff and spend some family time. I had to reserve a room and officially schedule my thesis defense. I had some experiments to do for side projects and clinical trials that are going on….and then, on top of all of that, I had to find time for the gym and meal prepping. I’ve been BUSY!

With everything going on, I’d be lying if I said I was able to stick 100% to the diet and fitness plan that Dave has laid out for me. Emotional eating (of sweets) has always been a thing for me and I definitely had a couple of slices of cake at the funeral repass dinner. I also ate subway for lunch and dinner that day because I didn’t really have the time or the inclination quite frankly to meal prep. Some things are more important than boiling 1000 eggs and cutting up chicken…I felt it was better for me to be there emotionally for my boyfriend and his family than to be spot on with diet and exercise. In life we make choices and they all have benefits and consequences.

Instead of feeling guilty about these past 2 weeks I decided that I would give myself mad props for not totally jumping ship and secret eating kit kat bars in my car (which is a bad habit I used to have that thank God is behind me). I’m recovering chocolate/candy addict. I also have done all of my lifting workouts despite missing a day of working out in week 5 (for the funeral) and 1 day of working out in week 6 (overslept, worked late and we’d planned to take JJ’s mom to dinner for her B-day) – I just double up my lifts and did 2-a-days to compensate. I also was able to hit 145 on the squats this week which means that I”m getting stronger. My running is getting faster and I’m able to maintain 9’15″/mile pace for 2 miles without stopping and it feels relatively easy. HU-friggin-ZAH! That’s cutting 45seconds off my per-mile pace. So yea, basically what I take from this week is to celebrate the victories and learn from the mistakes.

I did not lose anywhere near as much as I wanted. I could say that I did well considering the “cheat meals” (4th of July week, JJ’s uncle’s repass and the surrounding events where I was just too drained to think about packing meals, etc…). You can see that in a month’s time I lost about 4lbs which is about a pound a week. Dave tells me this is exactly on target. We’re aiming for slow progress since drastic calorie deficits tend to strip me of muscle mass, slow my metabolism to snails pace and have me spinning my wheels. When the scale only moves a pound after 5-7 hours of cardio/week though it can be a bit aggravating and disheartening. But I didn’t gain weight and I am still losing fat, which is much better than my past weight loss efforts…so I’ll take it.

Numbers:

• Weight: 135lbs
• Waist: 27in
• Hips: 38.5in
• Neck: 14in
• BF%: 26%

Pics:

These are just comparisons from the last progress pics I took and today. I could have pic-stitched the pics from my initial consultation with Dave and I’m sure the changes would be more drastic, but I’m a busy med student after all…and I’m tired from cardio…so there ya go. I’ll do it one day…maybe next update. I didn’t expect anything really mind-blowing with just a 4lb weight loss…just gotta stay on the grind and stick to it 100%.

I’m liking that the cellulite is smoothing on my thighs. My original pics weren’t flexed so I didn’t flex here, but I have a lot of new muscle in my back too 🙂

My belly continues to shrink. Not as fast as I would like but the lower pooch is definitely disappearing. Gotta stick with it.

Had to throw in a gun show pic (excuse my baby guns…lol). Again the best thing about the progress here is the smoothing of cellulite on the thighs.

Today’s run: 7/15/2013

Distance: 6.3 miles (total)
Pace: varied
Conditions: indoor on the trendy 1% incline

So much for running everyday last week. A lot went on that kind of derailed my fitness agenda (like funerals and sinus infections & other miserable things) but I won’t get into that here. I’ll recap it on Sunday in the week 5/6 summary for my lean out fitness challenge (sorry for the lack of update/pics this past Sunday…but really more important things were going on). Anyway, yesterday was Monday and on Monday I work arms. I also knew I needed to do a bit of running to work off that repast cake that I ate on Saturday. I ended up doing 4 x 1mile repeats before  strength training. The goal for each repeat was to be well under 10min/mile pace. What actually ended up happening was phenomenal…I got 9’53” / 9’28” / 9’24” / and 9’21” for each mile. Booooyah!

I then did my lift which was brutal considering I was already kinda pooped from the mile repeats. Luckily it was only an arm day because my legs couldn’t have lifted a feather.

After lifting I went back to the tready and set it on ‘custom intervals’ to complete 90sec of 5.5mph pace and 30sec of 8.0mph pace. This was about 2 miles. Toss in my 0.3 mile warmup jog and we have a great day of running!

It’s supposed to be hot this week so I’ll probably be doing quite a bit of treadmill running. Trying to stay spot on the diet and fitness this week so that I can make some serious progress and make up for a few of the chuckholes life sprinkled on my road this month.

Hopefully life cooperates.

Today’s Run: 7/8/2013

Distance: 2.04 miles
Pace: 9’38″/mile
Route: Indoor on the tready
HOT AS HADES IN THE GYM!

I’ve decided to commit to running at least 2 miles every day this week to make up for a semi glutinous week of 4th of July vacation (by glutinous I mean I ate probably my maintenance calories or better for a few days without watching my macros). Enter the 2 mile Monday jog. I had plans to go to spinning class, then lift (arms), then jog 2 miles. However, something was going on with the spin bikes and all of the displaced spinning folk were monopolizing the treadmills so I decided I’d lift weights first.

When I lift upper body I do arm circles and arm swings to lubricate the joints a bit. I also do a few 30 second jump rope intervals to warm up my body and let my muscles know that we’re about to get working. My arm workout was brutal since I have increased the weights and am now bicep curling and doing tricep kickbacks with the 17.5lb dumbbells for 5 sets of 15 reps. After the arm workout, I moved grabbed an open treadmill (the spinners were still at work, so I was lucky to grab one) and did the 2 mile run. I had taken most of my pre-workout drink during my lift (planned to take it towards the end of spinning to get a pump for lifting), so I was starting to feel a little bit of an adrenaline buzz. A simple 2 mile jog was not going to cut it anymore. I decided I would run the first mile at a moderate pace and run the second mile a bit faster. I ended up going 9’47″/mile for mile 1 and 9’28″/mile for mile 2.

After the run, I hopped on the stair climber for 15 minutes @ level 5: // left side sideways for 2 minutes (to target the hips, inner thighs/adductors) // right side sideways for 2 minutes // forward for 7 minutes // left side sideways for 2 minutes // right side sideways for 2 minutes //

Between the stairclimber and runnign I was a sweaty mess…but I still had 25 minutes on the elliptical to get a total of a little under 1hr of cardio.

I think that dropping almost 10lbs of fat/fluff/water weight has helped me to pick up the pace quite a bit for my runs. From lifting, my legs are definitely stronger (I lift legs 3 times/week) so that helps a bunch. Also, because of my fitness goals, I’m focusing on shorter distance runs (1-5 miles) as opposed to the longer runs because my goal is to be able to do quality speed play and efficiently torch calories vs. work on muscle endurance. I just got a notification about reduced pricing for the Cleveland Perfect 10 miler though…so maybe I’ll make an exception just to get some racing miles in this year.

We’ll have to see.

Week 4: jersey shore without funnel cake :(

My goodness this past week flew by way too fast. I was on vacation in New Jersey ( then fan lives there and I’m too poor for a vacation to a real desirable destination). My boyfriend and I drove down (7-8hr trip) and stayed them whole week.

It is beyond difficult to maintain a healthy diet if you rely on restaurants and travel centers. On the trip there I packed protein (17egg whites), meal replacement bars (cliff builders in peanut butter) and a bag of romaine lettuce (for something crunchy). Now when I say a bag of romaine lettuce please know that I mean I washed 3 large romaine hearts and stuck them in a bag. Classy.

I stuck to my macros for the first 4 days of vacation. My parents (who are the typical concerned, often overbearing parents who had modern American nutrition habits) were very concerned by my eating. The fact that I needed to eat every few hours, the fact that I wouldn’t eat rice, or chips or cakes. When we got there my mom had prepared chili, rice, corn bread and collard greens and asked me in a concerned voice ” you can’t eat chili?” We’ll, I can, but I’m sure she added 80/20 chuck instead of 93/7 turkey as the meat, and I’m sure it was high in sodium.

All in all it was great to be at home with my family. I got to see my grandmother any my cousin. My boyfriend had a good time as well. I was able to secure us a gym to workout for 20$ for the whole week so we got all of our workouts in. The highlight for me was that on chest day I hit 115 on the bench for 1 (I did this at the end of my workout so I wasn’t fresh) my boyfriend spotted me for negatives too so I actually did 1 rep +a forced rep. I love being strong…well stronger than yesterday.

My diet broke down on the 4th of July when I decided not to log calls or macros no just live a little. I avoided junk food (no cake no pop no candy etc) but I did have some BBQ (chicken and ribs) a few plain tortillas with salsa, and fruit. I kept this loose diet until Saturday so basically I had 3 days where I ate over 1300 calories and have no clue what my macros were. Typically I’d feel guilty about all of this but I was still pretty clean and that guilt only brings about negative habits for me so I’m just going to move on.

I was super proud of myself though because on Friday, my boyfriend and I visited Seaside Heights and walked the boardwalk. I have amazing childhood memories of is place. Sadly, fun town is competent destroyed (there was a gaping hold still in the boardwalk in that area…thankfully they ha e taken the roller coaster out of the ocean). The rest of the boardwalk has been rebuilt though for the most part. Shout out to Michele Obama for nailing in that crucial board (:~p ). One of the best things about the boardwalk is the junkfood. Funnel cake, salt water taffy, candy apples, gargantuan slices of pizza, Italian hot dogs. I had none of this. I watched as my boyfriend ate a slice of pizza. I brought 3 candy apples for my mom, dad and brother. I practiced self control. I felt good.

On Saturday we drove back to Cleveland and I subsisted on protein bars and chicken. On Sunday I got in my bonus leg workout and meal prepped. I decided that since the week was off a little, I’d skip progress pics but I did take measurements:

Weight: 138
Neck: 14
Waist: 27.8
Hips: 38.9
Body fat %: 27%

I plan to hit this week hard. I am going to do mostly running and spinning classes for my cardio and try and get at least 2 miles of running in everyday and 60 total minutes of cardio. I also have quite a bit of work to do for school this week. I’m in the process of wrapping up my phd research and prepping for my public dissertation defense. This means I have to finalize my dissertation document, make sure that I have everything ready for returning to the clinical portion of my training and somehow box up and archive 5 years of research notes, data, protocols and reagents in the lab. It’s a busy time, but exciting also…and it’s certainly much more pleasant to do it in a body that I’m growing to love. 🙂

Till next time, eat clean, train mean!

Week 3 – when working out means you’re aggressive

What a week. I rounded Sunday out down another pound and sore all over. Honestly, it feels like a truck hit me then backed up and ran over me again for good measure. Getting in and out of cars feels like a chore and I’m finally starting to get moody/feel fatigued from the low calories that I’m consuming. Even with that I was able to meet all of my goals for this week in terms of exercise and meals. I’m still seeing progress which, I suppose is a good thing – especially since this week had me out of town traveling for the holidays.

The most inventive food thing I did with my diet was create clean chicken and clack bean tacos that fit my macros. I didn’t make a recipe or take pics though because I still need to tweak the recipe a bit. It was a little too high in sodium which made my legs swell a bit. I suspect it was the canned beans ( I used reduced sodium and rinsed them significantly, but when you haven’t had added salt or processed & canned food for a while and then indulge…I guess sensitivity ensues). I think I might try the recipe again but in the crockpot so the chicken gets nice and shredded -like. Ok clearly I’m a fat kid because that was a lot of talk about food.

On to the workouts…

So apparently it’s not “normal” for women to mean mug in the gym. Apparently being the only girl in the free weight room AND actually working out instead of engaging in mindless banter or getting coached up by other gym patrons means that you are…well a BEAST. If you didn’t know this…no worries, I just learned it this week. I do power lifting movements (squats, deadlifts, cleans) at the campus gym and do cardio and accessory movements literally next door at the private gym that’s on campus. When I walked into the campus gym on Wednesday, a kid @ said “didn’t I just see you at @ Veale (the campus gm). Then he followed it up with an accusatory “what do you work out twice?!” …so what I do? What’s it to ya?

Then when my bf comes home he tells me that Russ, the smoothie man @ the gym said “I bet your girl beats yo ass at home don’t she?” He qualifies this statement by saying that he got the impression because I walk in the gm, I don’t talk to anyone and I lift weights. While his logic is impeccable, I must say I was a tad offended by the notion that a girl who weight lifts and doesn’t waste time trying to chat it up *must* be an abusive relationship partner…Russ gets a big fat W-T-F on that one.

I was back to week 1 workouts and even though I’m tired down to my bones, I am able to lift more and more weight or increase reps each week. Being strong and workout at the same time is a little mind blowing but that’s how it is. I’m also seeing more of a pump and sneak peaking some vascularity when I do certain moves…c’mon veins and leanness!

On to the numbers:

This week again wasn’t dramatic. I lost 1.1 pounds, an inch, and another percent of body fat. I take new progress pics next week to round out the month. I also have another session with Dave, who was pleased as punch with my last progress pics.

Weight: 138.3
Hips: 38.8
Waist:27.5
Neck: 14
BF%: 26%

Til next week.

Sweet potato and oatmeal “cake”

One thing about being on a diet is that you start to crave the crap you can’t have. My diet right now is pretty sparse on starchy carbs and fat. I can get over the lack of fat pretty easily just by adding flavor to my foods. You see a lot of fitness nuts going gaga over Mrs. Dash seasonings…and believe me, when you can’t have salt or oil a little Mrs. Dash extra spicy and garlic herb goes a long way. The starchy thing however is another story. The carbs in my diet pretty much come from veggies (asparagus, green beans, broccoli) and brown rice, sweet potato, oatmeal and grits. There’s NO white flour anywhere in my meal plan even all of the “flourless cake/cookie/pancake” recipes that you find on gluten-free websites are so full of sugar (from white sugar, agave nectar, maple syrup) that they are out for my current diet situation.

So last night I was sitting up and thinking about when I make sweet potato pie (the full monty with butter, sugar and delicious buttery flour-y crust) I usually will have made a little too much pie filling and will bake it off in a pyrex dish. Even though it lacks flour (I don’t use flour in my sweet potato pie filling) it still rises and has a soft cake or spoon bread like consistency. In a word: Delicious.

So I thought, sweet potatoes are in the meal plan, so are eggs, cinnamon, and nutmeg…that’s almost like sweet potato pie filling…(well not at all…but desperate times call for suspension of reality). So I whipped up a quick “spoon bread” or soft cake using all legal meal plan ingredients just so that I can have a little taste of comfort food. I ate a serving of this for breakfast this morning along side 2 egg whites. Felt like cheating but it wasn’t.

Again, I’m not a chef…I’m just sharing the results of a culinary experiment 🙂

What you will need:

1 orange fleshed sweet potato (pick one with pointy ends – these are usually sweeter – that’s about 300g or so)

2 packets of PureVia sweetener

1/4 cup of Bob’s Redmill gluten-free oats

1 pinch of cinnamon (or to taste)

1 pinch of ground nutmeg (or to taste)

non-stick lo-calorie baking spray or well seasoned cast iron skillet

4 egg whites

1 whole egg

Fork

2 Medium sized bowls

Small pyrex dish or well seasoned cast iron skillet

Directions:

1 – Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 – Microwave sweet potato for 6 minutes turning every 2 minutes until soft on all sides

3- Mash sweet potato with fork in medium sized bowl

4- Add nutmeg, cinnamon, and truvia sweetener and mix well. Taste here to make sure you have your desired level of spice and sweetness.

5- In a separate bowl, whip 4 egg whites and 1 whole egg until fluffy (like you’re scrambling eggs). You can use the same fork that you mashed your tater with, save yourself some dishes)

6- Add egg mixture to sweet potato and mix until smooth.

7- Add 1/4 cup of oatmeal and mix well (The batter should be smooth and wet like cake batter – not dough-y).

8- Lightly coat a pyrex dish with non-stick baking spray and add sweet potato mix to dish. Spread evenly

9- bake for 10 minutes at 350 degrees or until set.

Serves 3. Nutrition facts: Calories/serving: 174 :: Carbs: 29 (5g of fiber):: Fat: 3 :: Protein: 10

 

Because of the consistency of the batter, I’m thinking I might also be able to make these into pancakes for the morning time. I’ve been meaning to try out walden farms 0 calorie syrups and I think this might be just the vehicle for that…more to come on that 🙂