Wife Mother Runner Heart Rate Training Archives

Marine Corps Marathon 10 Mile Training Run

July 30, 2016

With the Marine Corps Marine marathon just 3 months away, I fell a little bit behind in my training. But I am picking it back up and am getting back on track. After my very difficult Marine Corps Marathon last year, I vowed that if I were to do it again I would be stronger, trimmer and more successful for the next time I run that race. So far I have been successful in getting stronger and fitter. I have been doing the 21 day fix program for 2 months and have lost pounds and inches. I notice especially, the strength in my legs. This has been helpful in tackling hills during my training runs.

I had been nervous about getting back into a double digit run routine again. I haven’t done more than 13.1 miles since the runDisney Star Wars Half Marathon. I wanted to enjoy this training run and take it slow and easy. I am still continuing to use heart rate training as part of my training plan. Ideally I would have liked to be out on the road early to avoid the heat and to get the run done early in the day; but I have also been valuing my seep much more lately. We are enjoying our summer with the kids which means late nights so on the weekends I want to get my extra sleep when I can.

I was out on the road around 11:30 which didn’t bother me. As I set out on my run I planned on going slow with walking in the beginning and end if necessary. I used my 30/30 intervals and they aligned nicely with my heart rate. The temperature outside was the high 80’s with humidity. So I was careful to make sure I chose a route that had a good amount of shade. I took my usual route which included the large hill in it so I could continue to work on my efforts to make it up that hill faster. I also remembered to make sure to fuel appropriately with food during this training run. I was listening to a special from Another Mother Runner about nutrition during and after running. I packed some pretzel fish and a Lara bar to use for my fuel for this run. I took in some pretzels around mile 4 after my large hill. Prior to my running I had oatmeal for breakfast. I was feeling good throughout those first 5 miles and my family met me at mile 5 to replenish my water and cooling towels. I love having their support.

I learned from the Another Mother Runner podcast special episode how to fuel appropriately for the runs. I continued on for my next 5 miles throughout my neighborhood and was feeling pretty strong. I had my Lara bar at the top of a hill under a shady tree with a nice breeze around mile 6 so that I would have enough gas in my tank to help me finish this run.

I continued down a steep downhill and ventured towards a new neighborhood where I could get in a good mile loop there. However, that loop was in full sun. At this part of my run I was feeling the heat. It was about 1:00 p.m. and the sun was strong. I was good about drinking my water and walking when I needed to. After completing one loop I determined that I would need to do another in order to finish with 10 miles under my belt. At the last part of the loop I was feeling really overheated so I took a break in a shady area and poured the last of my water on my head to help cool me down for the last half mile home.

I was very pleased with my run and am a little less nervous for increasing my mileage going forward to prepare for the Marine Corp marathon. Despite having many other races on my calendar like the Dumbo Double Dare, the Hartford Half Marathon and the Dopey Challenge, the race I am most concerned about is the Marine Corps Marathon. After my run I had some watermelon to replenish my fluids and also weighed myself. I lost 1.5 pounds of water during that run despite having had 32 oz. of water during my run. I also made an egg and avocado sandwich for my post run recovery meal and then enjoyed some time resting on our hammock and in the pool with the kids!

Yoga Lesson – Self Control

June 14, 2016

Last week when I was in Yoga class the instructor talked about self-control. Once again the topic she was focusing on was aligned with something I was focusing on in my life. Just the week before I was signed up as a Team Beach Body Coach because it was time for me to get control of my life. I had been struggling with weight gain from marathon training for years. It seems that as soon as I started to train for multiple marathons within a year my weight climbed along with my mileage. I am not the first person that this has happened to either. Many people have experienced this problem. But I was sick of it. It was slowing me down, I felt disgusted with myself and I wanted it to stop.

I started the Train Like a Mother Stride Into Summer plan to mix up my running with other exercises and also saw a lot of chatter on Facebook with several friends and acquaintances about achieving success with the 21 day fix. I had to find out more about it. One of my friends reached out to me and told me she was a coach and was very successful in losing over 40 pounds with it; so I decided to join. I joined as a coach in hopes that my experience will also inspire someone else. I also wanted access to all of the tools to make my transformation or commitment a success.

This was just the kick start I needed. In conjunction with the Train Like A Mother plan, which added a workout routine back into my life, I started to combine weight training back into my routine. I replaced one meal with a Shakeology shake and was very conscious about what I was eating and also drinking. I increased my intake of water and decreased my intake of alcohol. I was tired of the lack of self-control and failing at “trying” to lose weight. I wasn’t getting into a habit that was sticking for me. This habit seemed to stick.

As soon as I registered, I had access to many different workout videos to stream online. I used to do videos 15 years ago before I got into running. I wanted to learn how to get a full body workout with weights in a way that would also benefit my running. I didn’t want to do any dance type exercises because I am extremely uncoordinated. I came across Slim in Six and that was my first workout video that I started on Friday, June 3. The next day I discovered Chalean with Chalene Johnson and I was hooked immediately. Her videos included upper and lower body workouts and has three levels to it. The first is the Burn level, the second is the Push level and the third is the Lean level.

I can’t say enough good things about these videos. I don’t like to miss a day without doing one. What I like most about those videos is the fact that I am working out my entire body. I used to just do my arms, chest and back muscles and didn’t work out my legs. I figured all of my running was going to help my leg muscles. But I am seeing now that the exercises that help build my leg muscles will help me feel stronger when I run and will also support those lazy muscles that are being neglected from running alone; which in the past has been a cause of some of my running injuries.

I can’t see a different in my body yet; but I do feel the difference in my mind. And I think that has been the key element for me. I do think I noticed a little more strength when running up hills and I will continue to run the hills, while staying withing my heart rate zone, as I continue my heart rate training for the Marine Corps Marathon. So all in all, I think I may finally be on a road to success and I am proud that I have found something to stick to.

I took a before photo but that photo will not see the light of day until I have an amazing after photo to post next to it. If you are interested in my progress, what I am doing, how I am doing or if you need a coach, please reach out to me! I’d love to share the addictive good behaviors with you!

Getting In The Zone – Heart Rate Training

May 19, 2016

With my approach to a more successful Marine Corp Marathon this fall, I am working on my training plan. I already printed out my Jeff Galloway training plan for completing a marathon and filled in the dates going backwards from race day. However, I also want to incorporate heart rate training into my plan this summer. I was listening to two of my favorite podcasts, Another Mother Runner and Team Shenanigans, and they were both duscussing training plans in a way that I hadn’t really heard it explained before.

Dimity, from Another Mother Runner is training for an ultra with her coach Mary-Katherine “MK” Fleming, so she wanted to do so in a way that will help her be successful and also to avoid injury since she has been prone to injuries with her feet so frequently. The Team Shenanigans podcast had Matt Fitzgerald on the show several times and he was talking about doing an 80/20 plan. Meaning 80% of your runs are done at an easier exertion level, and then spend 20% of your training working on speed, whether that be cadence drills or track work.

For the last two weeks I have been doing the heart-rate training with my running. With heart rate training the rule is to keep you heart rate below 140. If it goes above 140 then you have to walk until it lowers. The purpose for doing this during your training is to establish a solid cardiovascular base. Over time you will become faster but while in the training it is grueling because your pace is significantly slower. Heart-rate training requires a lot of patience. It teaches your body to convert fat instead of glucose for fuel.

So far, despite feeling much slower while running, I am doing pretty well with using a heart-rate monitor and training at around 140 bpm. It’s hard because sometimes you easily jump up to 150; but it also syncs in well with my Jeff Galloway run/walk/run method. When my heart rate is higher, it happens just about the time that my timer goes off for a walk break. So my stats have been averaging around 140-144 bpm while running.

The Train Like A Mother Club is providing Heart-Rate Training Programs as well as a Stride Into Summer Plan so I may take advantage of those two plans to help me have a successful summer of training in preparation for the Marine Corps Marathon.

Injury Update – Making A New Plan

April 30, 2016

It’s been a while since I blogged and there are several reasons for that. One good reason was because I was on vacation with my family to Disney for Spring break and also to run the runDisney Star Wars Dark Side Challenge. I’ll have more on the race specifics in a future post. I have also been recovering from my recent bout with patellar tendonitis. I had been very good about resting it, icing it and doing various PT exercises to strengthen it. I did not run at all prior to the race; but wasn’t too concerned about conditioning for the race. I was able to walk around the parks at Disney with the family just fine and had my knee taped by my friend Merle while at the expo for the race.

That was great support for me while I visited the parks the two days prior to the actual races. I also took the advice of my chiropractor and purchased a knee strap for support to use when I run.

Once it was time to run the races, I felt good about the 10K. My plan was to run my intervals and see what happens. If things weren’t better, then I was going to walk the half the next day if necessary. I was running with Diana and Mandy and they were supportive of my needs. I ran the 10K with a few issues; but what I noticed with this race was that instead of doing my intervals, I kept running through them. I didn’t want to stop every 30 seconds. Part of the reason for that was because it was crowded and the second part was because I was feeling so good. I hadn’t run in three weeks and my legs felt fresh to run almost a mile without stopping for a walk break.

It’s when i stopped for the intervals that I was starting to feel the twinges. I also noticed it when I ran downhill. So I was very careful. All in all, I was very happy with my recovery and knew that I would be ok for the half marathon. I felt good the entire day after the race (despite the fatigue from being awake since 2:30 a.m.) and went to the Magic Kingdom with my family and met up with Diana and Mandy for pictures of us together for Dapper Day.

The next morning was the half marathon and I was going to take the same approach for that race. My legs were a little bit sore from running continuously but my knee felt ok. However, I had quickly gotten sick with some type of respiratory issue. I don’t know if it was allergies, or not having my oil diffuser with my in our hotel room; but I lost my voice and my lungs were very heavy. Once the race started I did ok for the first section and my knee survived it very well also; but by mile 6 I was deteriorating. I was very tired, I had trouble with my breathing and my throat and chest was burning from the illness I was fighting off.

I was not happy with my race results, and I am still processing this race mentally; but that will be left for a future blog post.

What I plan to do now that I am back home again and was able to go on a few runs with no knee issue is to put together my plan for the year going forward. I am signed up for the Marine Corps Marathon. I thought about my successes in the past and what I did to be successful with my races. The answer is to have a plan. So I went to my favorite website, www.jeffgalloway.com and printed out his marathon training plan and penciled in the dates from the Marine Corps Marathon date back. So now I have a plan. When I was successful with my races, it was because I used that plan religiously. I want to get back to that.

I am also exploring Heart Rate Training. I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts, Another Mother Runner and Dimity and Sarah were talking about Heart Rate Training, which Dimity has been doing a lot of because she is training for an ultra. They talked about Heart Rate training having benefits of better aerobic training, reduction in the risk of injury and an increase in your speed. They offer a heart rate training plan which I am going to join and give it a fair shot in addition to my Jeff Galloway training plan.

That’s where things are as of now, I’ll dig deeper into my race recaps, training plans and Disney vacation recap as soon as I can. Stay tuned!

Tag: Heart Rate Training

Marine Corps Marathon 10 Mile Training Run

Yoga Lesson – Self Control

Getting In The Zone – Heart Rate Training

Injury Update – Making A New Plan