Runners Tell All: What is your training routine?

I decided to do something crazy. Something wild. Something insane.
I’m sponsoring this month’s Runners Tell All! I know, cuh-razy, but I figured in honor of my birthday month (no shame in shouting out my own birthday – it’s this Saturday by the way) I’d step a little out of my blogging comfort zone. Life is good when you’re about to be twenty-fine (not a typo), so let’s get started!

Training Routine.

This prompt couldn’t have come at a better time seeing as I just started training for my fall races last week. I mostly took off from running over the summer because I had a non-fractured foot that was healing and wanted to try my hand at weight lifting.
For the past two years I’ve really enjoyed learning to love the run itself and haven’t been crazy interested in getting faster. But then my marathon happened (or didn’t happen) and I know if I would have been faster I would have completed the race – so I’ve decided to start from the bottom up. That 5k time is going down this fall.

Like all of you, I have a busy life - working full-time, being a mother to an incredibly awesome 3 year old and a wife to a very studly 31 year old – so in order to get my workouts in my best option is my lunch hour. It’s not for everyone but I work in Higher Education and have the luxury of free access to the gym. It’s literally a 2 minute walk from my office. My excuses are limited. Le sigh.

Today, I wanted to share with you a few of my training routine tips that help me get in and out of the gym in less than an hour and still looking somewhat presentable.

1. Pack your bag. I (really try to) pack my gym back the night before and put it in my truck – that way the excuse “I don’t have my stuff” won’t technically work. Especially when my mind is telling me I should take a nap in my truck instead. (For the record, lunch hour quickie naps are the best.)
   
   If you’re able, I would recommend renting a locker so you don’t have to tote a ton of stuff every day. You can keep your essentials in there. A few things in mine are: deodorant, blow dryer (with a cool setting), dry shampoo, and extra hair ties/bobby pins. I also keep out my printed workout sheets as a fall-back plan (see #1) in a little pile that I can pull from if need be.
   
   Things in my gym bag: clean dry underwear.
   
   I don’t know about you but I sweat like a chicken in a deep fry competition and to combat that, I need some clean panties. I just can’t get behind butt-sweat. (See what I did there! ha!)
   
   Other essentials in my bag: gym clothes, tennis shoes, O2 Gold, body wipes, towel, headphones, make-up bag.
   
   
2. Plan your workout. I can’t stress this enough – know exactly what you’re wanting to do when you get to the gym so you don’t waste time wandering around wishing you were eating enchiladas instead. I usually write down my plan of attack on a small piece of paper or put it in the notes section of my phone.
   
   Also, have a small inkling of a back-up plan in case the equipment you need is full or out-of-order. For me, the first few weeks of the new semester the gym is packed with all the new incoming students wanting to look fly,and I plan accordingly. Treadmills all taken? No worries, I’ll hit up the stair master.
   
   Since I work so close to my gym, travel time isn’t usually taken into account, but I can generally get a solid 40 minute workout in – with the other 20 minutes spent on changing into and out of my gym clothes. 
   
3. Shower or No Shower? Um, can I be real with you guys? I totally don’t take a shower after every workout. Sometimes I’m just not that sweaty to justify wasting 5 minutes rinsing off that could be better spent towards running an extra half mile.
   
   On those non-shower days, I wipe myself down with a body wipe, apply deodorant, & body spray and BAM, smelling like an artificial rose in no time. On days when I look like this after my workout,
    
   there’s just no way around it despite my best efforts.
4. Looking Presentable. I keep a blow dryer in my locker that has a cool setting on it (because let’s face it, I ain’t about to blast my body with HOT air after a speed session) and try to wrangle this hair situation I have. Sometimes my hair will have mercy on me and I can go for the beach wave look afterwards and let it dry naturally – most times, it goes in a braid or a bun.
   
   
   For make-up, my face usually stays pretty red for about 20 minutes after a workout, so I’ll throw some powder on, fix any smudged eyeliner or mascara and add some lip gloss. Boom. Nailed it. 

I think the best tip I can give you is to keep it simple as possible. The more extras you throw in there, the less time you have to murder that workout.

Oh and I almost forgot to mention this month’s giveaway!

Beka is super adorable, am I right or am I right?

You can win an Under Armour Tank Top (fitted heat gear, size large) and headband just by following the prompts below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now, your turn! Tell us about your training routine by linking up below.

Runners Tell All: Favorite Runner Gear

You know, I’ve been running consistently for at least 2 years and I don’t think I’ve once talked about my running gear in a post. I mean, a mention here or there, sure – but nothing specifically about what I use/have for my runs. Thank goodness for this link-up (join here!)

When I first started running, I just had cotton Wal-Mart capris and t-shirts and those did me just fine – but when I realized I actually enjoyed it and was signing up for races left & right, I decided to take the plunge and buy a few running specific items. I could certainly do without these, but they make it easier for me to get out the door and truth be told, they make me feel like an actual runner. Like, I’m not faking it when I put on my shoes and watch and runner fanny pack (yeah, I got one of those) and my own personal sassy man. I like to think I’m the real deal.

My Go-To Gear List

• Shoes. I’ve been wearing Mizuno Waveriders (I’m currently in the 16s in the picture above –Christmas present from the husband, but lived in my 15s forever) and I love them. They give me enough support without feeling like they weigh me down. Shoes are different for everyone, so I would highly recommend getting fitted. I actually did that when I got serious with running – you can read about that process here – it was, uh, interesting but not scary at all. If I can face my fears of having man-feet, you certainly can.

This selfie shows off my shoes, but mostly it just proves that I’ll never be a fashion blogger. Ever.

• Garmin 405cx. This watch lets me know how slow fast I’m going and my elevation and even where my heart rate is sitting at (if I ever actually wear the HR monitor) and so many other things that I don’t even use. I bought it on a whim, well before I actually even needed it. I was a little excited about my running future and wanted to feel like a real runner.
  For the first year of my running escapades I lived on the treadmill, so the only time I needed/wanted it was during my races. Looking back it was not worth the price (for me) because of how little I used it in that first year, but it definitely has had my back this past year as I finished my sixth half-marathon and my non-marathon.
  Basically, if you’re starting out I would not spend this much money on a watch ($180 at the time, on sale). You live, you learn right?

• Wireless headphones. These were a surprise Christmas present from the husband. I knew I was getting new running shoes (above) and even though I dropped a ton of hints (as in, “HEY ALFRED I WANT WIRELESS HEADPHONES, KAY?”) I didn’t expect to get them because, uh, they can be pricey and he kept telling me “NO. YOU DO NOT NEED THEM.” He was right, they are not a need, I mean, my regular headphones do just fine. So, I was way pumped about them come Christmas morning. Alfred picked out the Motorola S11 HD Wireless Stereo Headphones on the recommendation of the guy in the store (it was either Radio Shack or Best Buy). The instruction manual said they’d be good for only an hour of play time, but I’ve used them in two of my half-marathons recently for the entire 3 hours of running and they were still going strong afterwards. WINNING. They’re actually really comfortable and don’t interfere with my swanging ponytail at all. If you have extra monies and love your jams, I definitely recommend a pair.

• Moving Comfort Sports Bra. I have a few of them (all bought on sale because pricey) and they are fantastic. My favorite ones are the ones set up like ‘regular’ bras where I don’t have to pull a boob-sweat soaked racer back over my face to get it off.

I don’t consider myself huge in the chest region but I’m big enough that I need support (at a ‘full’ C, sometimes I get into the D range) and despite my best efforts, the cheapie Wal-Mart bras don’t cut it for me past the 10k mark. They chafe me every time. It doesn’t look like much but I promise you, it hurts like a mofo.

A couple places where I consistently find cheap, great workout clothes are Zulily and Sierra Trading Post.

What’s your favorite running/workout gear?

Miracle Match Weekend Race Recap

This past weekend I double upped with a 5k on Saturday and a half-marathon on Sunday plus I added 5 miles after the half on Sunday to give me 18 miles for the day.

Sounds crazy, right? It is but I have only 4 weeks until I lace up my shoes and throw down 26.2 miles so it was a necessary evil. And one that just helped affirm that while my legs may be tired and the sweat may be flowing from my pits, my mind & heart are ready to tackle this.

And what’s the thing they say about running being mental? Yeah. That. Anyway, less about marathon madness and more about race shenanigans!

For the past 4 years, I’ve ran the 5k portion of this race. It’s actually the first 5k I ever participated in (before I was hit with the running bug) and has kind of been a tradition for me since. I considered running the half portion last year but had already registered for the Houston Half and since I was fairly new to running longer distances, I wasn’t sure if could handle it.

Besides Miracle Match boasts as being the Toughest Little Marathon in Texas, so it was a little scary as a newer runner. Below is the elevation change/hills for the half marathon course from my Garmin.

I knew after I finished the 5k in 2013 that I would sign up to run the half in 2014, just to see. And when an email showed up in my inbox with a discount code for signing up to do a double race weekend, I couldn’t say no.  Also, 100% of the proceeds of this race goes to Be The Match to help people who need marrow transplants.

Yeah, not 80% or 90% but 100 freaking percent. How amazing is that? It was also one of the most personable & personal races I’ve ever run. I would highly recommend this race to anyone – even out-of-staters. On to the recap.

January 25th, 2014 5k

The weather was cold. With wind chill in teens & upper 20s so I went with running tights, long sleeve shirt, pullover, gloves (touch screen that I scored from my MIL over Christmas!) and a headband.

Overall, good choices. I was definitely over the gloves by Mile 1 and considered chunking them at My Emilie (who was awesome and volunteered at the water station!) but didn’t want to seem like a drama queen so I powered through the finger sweat. I didn’t want to really push crazy hard for this simply because I knew I was planning on doing the half the next day and overall, these races were set up as part of my marathon training. Last thing I want is an injury.

Time: 38:25 with a 12:23 average per mile.

My 2013 time was 40:30 with a 13:03 average per mile, so maybe not a 5k PR but definitely a course PR! Since starting to run one of my favorite things has been to do the same race each year (if possible) just to be able to compare. It’s a great way to remind yourself of where you are and that the work you’ve put in isn’t in vain.

Here’s a few race pictures from the 5k. They turned out, in one word, glorious. I seriously couldn’t stop laughing at myself when I checked them out. (Yes, it’s true, I’m easily amused.)

Totally not planned but couldn’t have been more perfect. Leo + Tam = Running Love

Once I crossed the finish line, Emilie & I had a girls day where we went to Target and then carb-loaded on some Italian food at Johnny Carino’s. I thought about taking a picture of my Smoked Chicken & Jalapeno Ravioli to share with you but then I took one bite and pretty much shoveled the rest in my mouth at an epic speed. It was amazeballs and I have no regrets.

January 26th, 2014 Half-Marathon

The weather was warmer (in the 30s) and it really was a great weekend for a race. Based on my experience for the 5k, I opted to not wear gloves and a headband. I thought I might still need a pullover so I started the race with a newbie I picked up at Target during our Emilie & Tam day. I’m actually wearing it today as I type this and y’all, it’s wonderful. I love it. The brand is C9 and everyone should have one. I wore running capris instead of tights (Christmas present from My Emilie. Have I mentioned lately how much I love her? Because I totally do.) and I recently purchased a SpiBelt to try/use for my marathon. This was the first race I’ve used it with and it did wonderful. I’ll do a review on that in a later post.

I started the race telling myself I’ll run as I’m comfortable and try to focus on just getting to the 13 since I had planned on running 5 more miles afterwards (and I did!) to make my total for the day 18. Almost immediately I felt a presence right next to me, same pace, same relaxed mode for at least a quarter of mile before she turned to me and said, “ 12:30 pace?” and I turned back and said, “That’s the plan. Fingers crossed, right?”

We introduced ourselves (side note: runners are amazing and wonderful and crazy friendly) her name was Adrian and her dad/sister were also running. We ran the first 6 miles together before we hit the hills. Once we got to the hills my plan was to speed walk up them and run down, her plan was to run the entire race so for the rest of the race I was a minute or two behind her.

This was at Mile 5 right before I ditched my pullover (thanks Adrian for holding my watch!) and just tied it around my waist. She really helped pull me through and it was nice having someone to run with for a bit.

At Mile 8 I got bacon. Like, literally, I got bacon. We were running through a residential part of the race and there was a group of 5-6 college kids in front of their home cheering runners on with cowbells. One girl had a giant bowl and as I got closer, I heard someone yell, “We got bacon!” So as I ran by I grabbed a handful and yelled, “HELL YEAH”. They started jumping up and down screaming, “SOMEONE TOOK THE BACON!” I popped a piece in my mouth and immediately regretted it. Not that it wasn’t tasty but it was bacon and kind of dry and I had no water for the next half mile.

I’ve decided that at any point in my life when I think something is going to be great and it turns out to be a bad decision I’m going to call it “Got Bacon”.

Yo, I decided to run a marathon but then I got bacon when my legs fell off at mile 21.

The race split up based on the race you were running right after Mile 5 too – the half went straight, the full & relay turned left and the 10k turned right. The half & marathon courses met back up around mile 10 I believe.

At Mile 11, the lead racer for the full marathon passed me. So basically this dude ran 26 miles faster than I could run 13. Dude was in beastmode.

At about that time I met another running partner (didn’t grab her name but she was from the Dallas area and said she loved the course and it was better than the Austin 3M she ran the weekend before – winning!) and we talked for about a mile before I started getting eager to finish and decided to push it a bit.

I know, I know, I run slow enough that it looks like I’m walking but I promise I was running. Also, the guy in the background is getting sassy about it, so don’t mind him.

I wasn’t expecting to run this (much harder) course any faster than my last race since I still had 5 miles to throw down but y’all, TOTALLY PR’ED ON THIS BITCH.

Time: 2:56:09 with a 13:26 average per mile.

When I crossed the finish line I was thrilled! I really think it helped that I had people to talk to during the race to keep my mind off the mileage.

I picked up my extra swag (for running two races, I ended up getting 3 shirts!), my medal and seriously considered grabbing a free fajita & margarita but instead I booked it to my truck and then to the house to finish up my mileage for the day on the treadmill.

I was exhausted by the end of it but I didn’t sit down (I do have a kid/husband to tend to) and tried to keep myself busy in hopes that I wouldn’t be too crazy sore come Monday. I finally sat down at 7pm to watch a movie with the husband and I didn’t make it 15 minutes before I passed smooth out. I woke up around 9pm with stickers on me (thanks Lillie) and a husband telling me I’d be more comfortable in our bed.

I moved around a lot on Monday to ward off the soreness, and it wasn’t too terrible. Mostly if I sat for an extended period of time (desk job, woohoo) and then sat up and by Tuesday there wasn’t much soreness left in me. HOWEVER, I did manage to chafe fairly bad on thighs (even though I wore capris) so I busted out the Desitin and am now aware that for my marathon I should probably have some Vaseline I can get to incase I need it.

Overall, this was a beautiful course that you should totally do. It’s for a wonderful cause and they really do a great job at making it personal. There were signs along the course for motivation and the volunteer stations really out-did their selves.

Until we run again!

Color Up 5k

Back in June I did a color run. They’re gaining a lot of popularity so there is a variety of them out there but essentially they’re all the same race – Color Up, The Color Run, Color Me Rad, Color Vibe – that’s not even close to all of them.

What it comes down to is you’re going to be thrown up on by a rainbow and dammit, you’re going to be happy about it!  I had initially registered with 3 other girls but due to situations beyond their control, none of them could attend. That meant I was all by my lonesome.

All By Myself…

GIFSoup

Fortunately, my husband is amazing and decided to at the very least ride along (still no luck in getting him to run with me). It was located in Temple, Texas at the Lions Park which was great because it gave the husband and the kid something to do while I was sweating color. She was not happy that I forced her to take a before picture with me when there was clearly more fun things to do.

I had registered for a 9am timeslot but had to be there by 8 to pick up my race bag, so I opted to jump into the 8:30 corral. We actually didn’t get started until 9am though because the EMT had not arrived yet and due to the weather (it was already 90 degrees) the race officials didn’t want to risk it.

Or at least that’s what was being said through the crowd.

They let the waves go every few minutes so everyone could get optimum time at the color points. For this race it was at every 1k point. Because of the weather, I told myself that I was just planning on enjoying the event and not trying to beat my 5k time. And that’s what I did. I helped people take pictures (there were a lot of families), I walked some, I randomly talked to people, I clapped for people who were literally rolling on the ground in the color and I just did the damn thing.

This isn’t a timed event so according to my watch: They had great aid stations and even had people with water hoses spraying us down – which felt freaking amazing. The husband got this candid* shot of me.

*definitely not candid

Those are what we like to call “fast hands”. We watched a movie once where the main character was running from something or someone that they should not have been able to outrun but they did. We assume it was because of the shape of their hands. It was distracting…and hilarious (you probably had to have been there) so there’s that. Fast hands, for the win!

I did a huge no-no for this race – I wore things I have never worn on race day before or trained in. If you’re a runner, or interested in running and have read over any article one of the things it always tells you not to do is try something new on race day.

I am apparently quite the rebel because I did the following and still finished:

Sunglasses: Overall, I didn’t like it. I’m not used to wearing glasses in every day life so by mile 1 they were sitting on top my head.
Sweatband: This came with the race bag and I’m so glad it did. It helped keep the ridiculous amount of sweat I was creating away from my eyes and it gives me hope that one day I will be able to wear a cute headband without it rolling up the back of my backless head.
New running skirt: I had previous run in a different skirt and it didn’t phase me (I’m a victim of chub rub), so when I received this one in the mail the day before I thought, “Eh, why not?” Well, here’s why not – it’s much shorter than my previous one and my thighs kept making out with each other from about the halfway point to the end. I really love the skirt – it’s Adidas – and I felt adorable in it, the shorts underneath are just too short and do not have grippies on them to keep in place. I still wear it to do other workouts in, so I count it as a win.

This is definitely not a race you go into looking to beat your time. Not because it’s hard, but because most people who have registered are looking for the experience of running through color and not running through their previous 5k time. A lot of people stopped to take pictures or were walking or would stop right in front of you to walk even though you were running right behind them.

Overall, I’ll end up doing this again. Except hopefully next time I’ll have my friends there. Maybe you? I’ll totally pick you up myself. No gas money required.

 

Until we run again!

Chub Rub Loophole

Does the title of this post sound like a really cheesy 70s porn to you guys?

Yeah, me too.

Anyway, a while back I wrote to you about how I get the dreaded “chub-rub” which is basically my thighs making out with each other when I try to run in shorts. It can actually be pretty painful. But mostly it’s just wonderfully embarrassing to get all excited when you hear someone is doing the slow clap for you as you run only to realize it’s actually just your thighs cheering you on.

Instead of using it as an excuse, I just run in capris. Not really a big deal except for the fact that I get incredibly jealous whenever I see someone running in shorts. I mean, it’s Texas. It’s hot (hello 96 degrees today!) and shorts come in all sorts of adorable colors. Capris are charcoal, black  & slightly more black with maybe a side stitch of pink. I have a hard time bringing myself to buy another pair of black capris for $50+ dollars. Just, no.

One of my unspoken goals has been to get to the point that I can run in shorts comfortably. I don’t know if that will ever happen, I do have some lovely baby-making hips on me and it doesn’t help that my body likes to store the Oreos in my thighs & hips. I’m assuming because they look like cookie canisters.

I’ve seen running skirts on a few of the blogs I frequent and on National Running Day with a coupon in hand (or in email), I made the plunge. I bought a running skirt (or skort, whatever) that has shorts attached to it. This is the Pearl Izumi Infinity Run Skort. I ended up getting it on close-out from Sierra Trading Post with an extra 35% off, about $25. It’s a great site for a lot of things outdoors related. I’ve found some great workout gear for reasonable prices on there during sales. Hint – sign up for their emails, they send coupons out all the time.

I received it at the beginning of this week and immediately tried it on to see if it fit. It did. But Lillie kept telling me to take it off that it was Dada’s. Not sure what that was about but you don’t argue with a 2 year old. You just take off the skort, say yes sweetie and make a mental note to talk to Dada about what he does when I’m not home.

Yesterday I ran 3 miles on the ol’ treadmill. I have to say I was really nervous about it. One, because I don’t know if I’m necessarily a skirt girl and two, I didn’t want to cry when they didn’t work out since I had really high hopes about them.

But friends, THEY DID! THEY DID! I ran 3 miles without a rash one and I felt pretty adorable while doing it.

The shorts underneath had little grippies on them so they didn’t roll up at all on me where I had to keep pulling them down. They did however make my thighs resemble stuffed sausage.

Mmm. Stuffed sausage.

 

It wasn’t uncomfortable for the wear though. Just a reminder that I have a lot of Oreos still left in my cookie canisters.

So, it looks like I’ve found myself a loophole in the chub rub department (at least with this particular skort) and I couldn’t be happier. I can’t wait to wear it in my next race!

Have you ever wore a running skirt?
Do you suffer from Chub Rub?
Are you still thinking of sausage?