Nutrition for Exercise Recovery - Calorie Needs to Help You Recover Faster!

Calorie needs during recovery.

Energy needs increase during acute injury repair. In fact, basal metabolic rate (BMR) may increase by 15 to 50% based on the severity of the trauma.  For example, sports injury and minor surgery may increase BMR by 15-20% ,while major surgery and burn injury may lead to a 50% increase in BMR.
Of course, comparatively speaking, an athlete or exerciser will have to eat less during injury recovery than during training and competition. Yet if they return to baseline intake, they may be under-eating.
Thus, nutrition coaches must balance the increased energy and nutrient needs of injured and recovering clients with the reality of less activity.

One example of calorie needs

Let’s take the example of a young male athlete. He’s 14 years old, 5’6″ and 140 lb.

• Basal Metabolic Rate - 1611 kcal/day
• Energy needs when sedentary - 1933 kcal/day
• Energy needs with daily training/competition - 2739 kcal/day
• Energy needs during recovery - 2319 kcal/day (20% increase in metabolism due to injury)

As you can see, during injury repair, energy intake should decrease (2319 kcal) relative to training and competition (2739 kcal).  However, returning to sedentary baseline (1933 kcal) will lead to underfeeding.
Less physical activity means lower appetite. If an athlete is eating based on hunger cues, s/he may under-eat during recovery. S/he might lose lean mass, heal poorly, and progress slowly.
Thus while injured athletes should eat less during periods of injury, remember: They’re still athletes, and should eat as such. This includes things like eating every few hours, getting enough protein, balancing macronutrients, and getting enough important micronutrients.

Macronutrient needs during recovery

Protein

Injury repair requires more protein. Injured athletes should aim for 1.5-2.0 g/kg, up from the usual 0.8 g/kg. Many already do this.
To ensure a quick recovery, make sure to get this higher protein intake consistently. At minimum, injured athletes should be taking in 1 g of protein per pound of body weight.

Fat

We recommend balancing dietary fat by getting about 1/3 of total fat intake from each of the three types of fat. Most importantly, aim for more omega-3s and cut down omega-6s, to get an omega-6 to -3 ratio that’s at least 1:1 and preferably closer to 3:1.

Carbohydrate

While athletes need glucose for athletic injury healing, no specific carbohydrate recommendations have been established for injury periods. However, you should probably include enough dietary carbohydrate to ensure adequate micronutrient intake and stable insulin concentrations (which, as an anabolic hormone, may affect wound healing). In some athletes accustomed to a higher intake of carbs, not getting enough will be an additional — and unwanted — stressor.

These are recommendations for injury recovery for runners and all athletes! Taking in the right calories will help you recover that much quicker from injury!

Feel free to email with questions or make comments!

Happy Injury Recovery Running :)

Dysfunctional Gluteus Medius & Strengthening Exercises to Correct It - My Current Running Struggle

A dysfunctional gluteus medius can lead to running injury. When the left gluteus medius is weakened, your right side is lowered (or vice versa), throwing off your pelvic alignment. The role of the gluteus medius during walking & running activities is to dynamically stabilize the pelvis in a neutral position during single leg stance. With this type of dysfunction, and what happened to me during the first 12 miles of Chicago Marathon, is the appearance and the body's compensation of basically running on one leg.

To strengthen your gluteus medius, and keep your pelvis in neutral position, there are a couple key exercise to perform.

1. Side-lying hip abduction &/or standing hip abduction
2. Single limb squat
3. Lateral band walk
4. Single-limb deadlift

Check out the link of the article I found online -

http://www.mikereinold.com/2009/10/best-exercises-for-gluteus-maximus-and.html

Since Chicago Marathon, I am currently resting, stretching, foam rolling, and light elliptical and running for 20-30 minutes every one day. I started my strengthening exercise this past weekend. My exercises consist of the following...

Warm Up - Body weight Body Bar Squats, Med Ball Squat Lifts, Walking Lunges with a Med Ball Twist

Exercises - 12 reps - 2 sets

1. Arm & Leg Slides - to warm up my inner core
2. Quadruped with Leg Extension
3. Single Leg Hip Lifts on the mat
4. Prone Cobras on a stability ball
5. Standing Leg Abduction
6. Single Leg Squats
7. Band Walks with a resistance band

I am hoping with one more week of light cardio exercise and strength training to be up and running soon! Sacramento is only about 6 weeks away! Unless I am up and running in the next 2 weeks, I may need to hold off on my racing until the spring and just take care of myself through the winter. I am really hoping this is not the case! I would love to run Sacramento again this December, but time will tell.

If you have any questions feel free to email me or post any comments!

Happy Gluteal Running :)

Tips For Buying Running Shoes

- Types of Running Shoes -

Neutral – You pronate very little. You tend to have high arches & don’t need any motion control features in your shoe.

Stability – You’re not an excessive pronator. You have a normal arch and do need some degree of stability in your shoe.

Motion Control – You excessively pronate. You tend to have flatter feet. You need quite a bit of stability in your shoes.

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- Details About Each Type Of Running Shoe –

Neutral Shoe – Pronate very little or Supinator

-Main Characteristics –

1. Feet roll to outside (supinate)

2. Arches are high &/or rigid (pronate very little)

3. Knees stay neutral or move outwards through foot strike

4. Shoe wears along the outside of the sole

 

-Injuries- stress fractures, knee and/or shin pain

 

-Best Last- curved, slip-lasted shoe for low or moderate rear foot stability

 

-Best Shoe- Neutral/Cushioning shoes with no pronation control or extra stability features

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Stability Shoe – Normal Pronator

 

-Main Characteristics-

 

1. Feet roll in

2. Low arches

3. Knees move towards each in the middle when bending

4. You quickly break down midsoles

5. Foot strikes on the outside of the heel & rolls inward (pronates) excessively

 

-Injuries- Stress fractures, knee &/or shin pain

 

-Best Last- Semi-curved

 

-Best shoe- Stability shoes with moderate control features that provide extra cushioning & some degree of stability

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Motion Control Shoe – Overpronator

 

-Characteristics-

 

1. Feel roll in

2. Low arches

3. Knees move towards each other in middle when bending

4. You quickly break down midsoles

5. Foot strikes on the outside of the heel & rolls inward (pronates) excessively

 

-Injuries- Knee pain, IT band, plantar fasciitis

 

-Best Last- Straight or semi-curved for maximum rear foot stability as well as medial & lateral support

 

-Best Shoe- Motion control or strong stability shoes with firm midsoles, a wide landing base, & control features

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-How to Buy the Right Running Shoes-

 

1. Buying a quality pair of running shoes is one of the best investments for training essentials & helping to prevent injuries

 

2. Stop by a running store & get a foot exam. Knowing whether you are a neutral, stability, or motion control shoe, we can pick out the best pair of shoes for your running needs

 

3. Bring in your current running shoes. Knowing which shoe you are currently running in will provide information on possible aches & pains or just in finding a similar pair if not the same pair that is currently working for you.

 

**As with your training, don’t put guess work into which shoe fits you best. Have a specialist check you out & recommend the best pair of shoes for you. Like I said it is one of the best investments you can make for your running needs! **

 

- For more details & where this information is found – Running Room Store Website-

 

http://www.runningroom.com/hm/inside.php?lang=1&id=2357

 

Stop by a Running Room Store location near you today & let us find a running shoe that fits your you!

 

For any questions, please email me or post comments!

 

Happy Proper Running Shoe Running :)

Aerobic Exercise Adaptations - Improving Muscle Quality

There are significant adaptations that occur when performing aerobic exercise. It influences your muscle quality through exercise that is lower intensity, longer duration. Your mitochondrial  activity is enhanced and your substrate usage of intramuscular glycogen and triglyceride is increased.

During lower intensity, longer duration exercise, oxygen is present to deliver oxygen to the working muscle. Your blood volume is increased by increased red blood cell content and your body's oxygen carrying capacity. Capillarization occurs in the muscle by developing more capillaries per unit of muscle. This increases the number and size of the blood vessels.

The body's ability to deliver oxygen/fuel to the muscle cells, enhance CO2 removal and waste products, and transfer heat away from the muscle is increased through aerobic exercise and capillarization. Oxygen deliver across muscle cells increases with the increase of myoglobin in the skeletal muscle.

Not only is..
1. Oxygen transport increased (capillarization)
2. Muscle can uptake more oxygen (increased myoglobin content)
3. Greater oxygen use (increased # and size of mitochondria)

The more oxygen that is present during exercise, the more fat that can be utilized during exercise. Not only preserving your glycogen stores, but allowing your body to burn fat more efficiently during exercise. To lose fat, your body must be able to burn fat. The more aerobic exercise you do, and the more your body produces these adaptations, the more efficient you will be. You weekly volume of exercise should contain about 80-85% of your total volume at this lower intensity, longer duration exercise.

For example - If you are working out for 30 minutes, 5 days per week - a total of 150 minutes - 120-127.5 minutes should be at a lower intensity exercise. Exercising right around your aerobic base (burning 50% fat, 50% carb) is where you want you body to be.

Do you know what your fat burning zone (aerobic base intensity) is? If not I highly recommend that you get your active metabolic assessment done. I am a personal trainer, nutrition coach, metabolic technician at Lifetime Fitness, at this is an assessment that can be done.

If you have any questions, feel free to email me!

Happy Aerobic Running :)

Find An Upcoming Race & Sign Up!

Through out Minnesota, there are plenty of races you can still sign up for in the upcoming months. This is one of my favorite websites for locating upcoming races!

Upcoming Road Race Running Schedule! Find a race and sign up today!

http://www.raceberryjam.com/indexrr.html

If you haven't signed up for a race yet check it out!

Happy Road Race Running :)

My Website www.runwithmemeghan.com - Check It Out!

Hey Everyone!

Check out my website!  - www.runwithmemeghan.com - My blog updates right onto the website. Check out the links at the top of the page. It will direct you to different pages on the sites. An about me tab, contact tab, nutrition, training, my training, and my races tab. If you click on the links, they will bring you to that article on my blog! Please feel free to contact me with feedback on different topics you would like me to discuss! I will try to blog daily! Thank you for taking the time to check out my site!

Happy Running Everyone!

Rough Weekend In Chicago But Change Of Running Plans - California International Marathon December 8th

Going into the race, I knew I had months of great training under my belt. Coming off of the best race of my life to this point (Grandmas Marathon 2013 with a new PR of 2:48:54) I was feeling better than ever.

 The week and a half prior to Chicago, I had a nagging ache in my left gluteus medius. Hoping that it was just part of tapering and a small tweak that would go away before the race, I tried not to stress out.

Considering I made it through my 70, 80, 90 mile weeks injury free, the last thing I needed was an injury right before the race! Waking up the morning of the race, I still felt the dull ache, but I hoped that a little stretching, warm up, and Ibprofen would take care of it.

 At this point, it's hard to do anything about it, so I figured go out there and see what happens and hope for the best. I felt great for the first handful of miles, but as I continued the pain slowly started to sink in. Not knowing how far I would get in the race I just kept running. Finally at about mile 12, I knew that any minute my left glute and lower back was going to give out on me and take me out of the race.

I kept going trying to find an aid station and by mile 13 I was put to a stop. I couldn't take the pain. I could barely take a step without a sharp pain in my left side. Going into the race not knowing what would happen, I mentally prepared myself for the worst. Not being able to finish the race.

Still extremely frustrated, this was my first marathon that I did not complete. My last 9 marathons I was at least able to finish even if I was having a bad racing day for whatever reason. I have never had to drop out because of injury.

 I really wanted Chicago to be my #10 marathon but looks like it will now need to be my #12. I am already planning on rerunning California International Marathon in Sacramento December 8th.

California International Marathon Link -
http://www.runcim.org/

As long as I can heal up in the next couple weeks, it would give me a month of training, then back in California to rerun my terrible race performance from last year. Yes the weather conditions were terrible, but this is my other race I need another chance to run! I will be an elite runner for the race and have a chance to win prize money in pursuit of running an Olympic Trials time of under 2:43.

What a perfect opportunity coming out of Chicago! Not even a day later and I already made plans for my next race :). After all my hard work going into Chicago, I do not want to wait until June when I run Grandmas Marathon 2014. Chicago changed my racing plans for the next year. Now it looks like I will be rerunning all of my races from this past year!
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2013-2014 Marathon Race Schedule -

1. California International Marathon 2013 in Sacramento December 8th
2. Grandmas Marathon 2014 Duluth, MN June 21st - http://grandmasmarathon.com/site/
3. Chicago Marathon 2014 October 12th

2014 10K & Half Marathon Race Schedule -

1. Get N Gear 10K 2014 April 26th -  http://www.getingear10k.com/
2. SeaWheeze Half Marathon 2014 August 23rd in Vancouver Canada - http://www.seawheeze.com/run/about-seawheeze/ (bucket list race)
3. Life Time Fitness Outdoor Triathlon Lake Nokomis (Run 10K for Team Wood) July 2014 - http://www.mplstri.com/
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After this weekend, I pray that I heal up in the next 2 weeks and look to my new & next pursuit California International Marathon 2013.

What races do you have schedule for the rest of 2013 and next year 2014? Please feel free to share or post a comment!

Running Failures Lead to Happy Successful Running :)

Chicago Marathon This Sunday October 13th - Runner Tracking

Chicago Marathon weekend is almost here! After months of hard training, the one race I have built up to this year is less than 3 days away! In pursuit of an Olympic Qualifying time (sub 2:43), I am SO nervously excited.

Here is the link to the Chicago Marathon site -
http://www.chicagomarathon.com/

For many people that can't make it for the weekend, there is a link on the website that you can still track runners. You can see how your runner is doing and what pace they are at on different mile markers on the course.

Here is the link for Runner Tracking -
https://register.athletetracking.net/bacm/index.html

For those of you that would like to track me during my run, I am Bib#1540. I would love all of your support! The race starts at 7:30am on Sunday!

Happy Runner Tracking Running :)

Pre Race Nutrition - More Iron & Energy

My pre race nutrition consists of a couple essential foods. Red meat and vegetables. Along with a couple other high fat, low carb foods. This is my own personal nutrition and the same nutrition I did before Grandma's Marathon 2013 where I ran my most recent personal record (2:48:54) cutting 8 minutes off of my personal record from 2011 on the same course (2:56:54).

Here is the list of foods -
1. Ground Beef - 80/20 and 96/4
2. Vegetables - My Favorites - Brussel Sprouts, Green Beans, Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Peppers (I eat them raw or cooked in coconut oil and sprinkled with sea salt)
3. Roasted Coconut Chips
4. Cowboy Salsa
5. Almonds
6. Coconut Oil
7. Sea Salt
8. Coffee & Tea & PowerAde Zero (not in the picture above)

My nutrition consists of only these foods Monday until Friday morning. I then eat mostly carbohydrates with some proteins and fats for the 2 days prior to the race. I eat a lot of sushi, cliff bar & other granola bars, sweet potatoes, Friday lunch at Chipotle, etc. before the race Friday until Saturday night. On Sunday, the morning of the race I eat a protein bar. Why do I do my nutrition like this? This is exactly what I did before Grandmas Marathon and I felt great for the race. My idea with having only red meat for 4 days is the amount of Iron I would get into my system. Since red meat is a great source of Iron, here are the benefits & the functions Iron has in the human body.

1. Helps to form Hemoglobin (which stores about 2/3 of the body's iron) and Myoglobin and assists in the transport and storage of oxygen.

2. Assists in the enzymatic activities responsible for increasing red blood cell formation, blood vessel growth, and production of anaerobic energy.

3. Helps to form the cytochromes involved with cellular energy production and drug metabolism

4. Forms an essential constituent of hundreds of proteins and enzymes

When it comes to cardiovascular exercise, I would say these would be some great benefits. It's like doping but naturally with an excess of red meat before a race. I am not sure how much it actual helps compared to not having the red meat, but on my last marathon I got a personal record by cutting 8 minutes off of my marathon time.

Not only does it provide a lot of iron and a great source of food (protein, fats, no carbs, nutrient dense) all of the vegetables provide an abundance of vitamins and minerals and are low in carbohydrates. Cooking them in coconut oil adds some more healthy fats to my nutrition.

By keeping my carbohydrates low for 4 days, then carb loading, my body with store more glycogen in my muscle tissue and liver to utilize during my marathon. More oxygen and more energy stored through nutrition? This is what works for me!

Feel free to share your pre race tapering routines and food sources!

Happy Tapering Week Nutrition Running :)

Check Out My Website - www.runwithmemeghan.com

My Top 40 Running Songs

This is a list of my top 40 running songs! I love a variety of music and listening to music when I run! It keeps my music fresh and keeps me from getting sick of the same song over and over and over again! When you run a lot of miles, there is a lot of time for me spent listening to music.

Here Is My Top 40 List Of Songs -

Wake Me Up - Avicii
Roar - Katy Perry
Applause - Lady Gaga
Red - Taylor Swift
Mind Would Be You - Blake Shelton
I Want Crazy - Hunter Hayes
I Love It - Icona Pop
Hey Girl - Billy Currington
Everything Has Changed - Taylor Swift & Ed Sheeran
Beautiful - Akon
Blurred Lines - Robin Thicke
Boys Round Here - Blake Shelton
Counting Stars - One Republic
Demons - Imagine Dragons
Don't Ya - Brett Eldredge
Everlong - Foo Fighters
Give Me Your Hand - The Ready Set
Girlfriend - NSYNC
Hey Porsche - Nelly
I Can Only Imagine - David Guetta (Feat. Chris Brown)
I Don't Want This Night To End - Luke Bryan
It Goes Like This - Thomas Rhett
It's Gonna Be Me - NSYNC
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Larger Than Life - Backstreet Boys
Let Her Go - Passenger
Love Story - Taylor Swift
Run - Matt Nathanson Feat. Sugarland
Somewhere Only We Know - Keane
Summertime Sadness - Lana Del Rey
Tearin Up My Heart - NSYNC
The Good Stuff - Kenny Chesney
The One - Backstreet Boys
The Other Side - Jason DeRulo
This I Promise You - NSYNC
This Years Love - David Gray
Tongue Tied - Grouplove
Turn Up The Night - Enrique Iglesias
We Run The Night - Havana Brown
White Walls - Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

PLEASE post some of your favorite running songs! I am in need of a new and different playlist!

Happy Music for Running :)

One of my favorite foods - SUSHI!

Sushi is one of my favorite meals. It is a good source of carbohydrate along with some protein and fat. Carb loading meals prior to my race, this is one of my staples. Along with about 3 times a week with my training.

Nutrition Information - 12 grams of fat, 62 grams of carbohydrates (4 grams of dietary fiber & 10 grams of sugar), 12 grams of protein

 

Feel free to comment or post any of your training or pre race meal ideas!

 

Happy Carb Loading for Running :)

2 Week Taper & Getting Ready for Chicago Marathon

This week I started my 2 week taper to Chicago Marathon! Since your body can not make adaptations 2 weeks prior to a race, it is important to dial back your volume of training and give your body the recovery it needs. This will add significant performance gains when it comes to race day!

What do I do for my 2 week taper? Here is my current training plan...

2 Weeks Out - About 70-75% training volume (65-70 miles)
Monday - 2 Miles Easy Recovery
Tuesday - 2 Mile Warm Up - 8 X 1 Mile Repeats Threshold Pace - 0.1 Mile Recovery Between - 2 Mile Cool Down
Wednesday - 13 Miles Easy Run
Thursday - 2 Mile Warm Up - 8 X 0.7 Mile Repeats Speed Work Pace - 0.1 Mile Recovery Between - 2 Mile Cool Down
Friday - 5 Mile Easy Run
Saturday - 8 Mile Easy Run
Sunday - 14 Mile Easy Long Run
(I take my easy runs a little easier, and maintain the intensity with my threshold & speed work runs)

1 Week Out - 50% of training volume including race (45 miles)
Monday - 4 Mile Easy Recovery Run
Tuesday - Testing - 2 X 2 Mile Race Pace Run - Try to determine a starting pace for my marathon
3 Miles - Easy Run (Warm Up & Cool Down)
Wednesday - 4 Mile Easy Run
Thursday - 3 Mile Easy Run
Friday - 2 Mile Easy Run
Saturday - OFF Completely
Sunday - 26.2 Miles Chicago Marathon!

This is what my actual workouts look like for those 2 weeks. These are my hardest weeks of training. It is extremely hard coming off a 90 Mile week to tapering off! I know the importance it has when it comes to performance, so it is worth the wait and taking the time for you body to be at its peak going into the race! I will cover more on my pre race nutrition a week out from the race soon!

Feel free to post or email me with any comments or questions!

Happy Tapered Running! :)