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!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Monday, October 14, 2013
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!
_______________________________________________________
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/
_______________________________________________________
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 :)
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!
_______________________________________________________
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/
_______________________________________________________
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 :)
Thursday, October 10, 2013
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 :)
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 :)
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
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
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
Saturday, October 5, 2013
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 :)
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 :)
Friday, October 4, 2013
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 :)
Thursday, October 3, 2013
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! :)
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! :)
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