I decided that my 'someday' would start NOW. What I've been working on this winter.

For those of you who know me personally, you probably know that the end of 2014 was nothing short of awful.  It was laced with personal loss in multiple forms, combined with injury.  So there I was with my life looking extremely different than it did just a couple short months earlier, and with a sprained ankle I ran on for a full month, I was land locked. 

On a chilly night that December I bundled up, cued up a podcast on my phone, and took my new dog Nixon for a walk in my neighborhood.  I felt like a woman in search of traction and direction.  I needed something to channel my energy into.  Something that would help me heal, create something significant, do something that helped other people in some way.  I just didn't know what that would look like.  I needed to take that insanely challenging time I was going through and transform it into something beautiful.  After all, that's always supposed to be what happens, right?  I think Elizabeth Gilbert said it best in Eat, Pray, Love.  'Ruin is a gift.  Ruin is the road to transformation.' 

That podcast I mentioned turned out to be exactly what I needed to set the wheels in motion.  The podcast was from Doubt the Doubts, and was an interview with Jesse Elder.  You know how people say, 'when the student is ready, the teacher will come'?  Well this was it.  This was IT.  I finally felt like my fog was starting to lift, and I was feeling like me again.  I was no longer pouring all my energy into just holding myself together and getting through my day, I was getting super clear on what I wanted to do, how I wanted to help people, tapping into what kinds of things fired me up the most.  I enrolled in a course of Jesse's which challenged my thinking, pushed me outside my comfort zone, and connected me with a group of people that are also looking to light the world on fire like I was.  I was so appreciative to find this experience!!

For years and years I said that someday I wanted to have my own coaching business for adults.  I absolutely love helping people build a foundation in running, and set them up to successfully meet their goals.  It lights me up more than any victory of my own!  Investing in people so they have a better chance of developing a good relationship with running feels like a gift I've been able to give over the years, but I knew I wanted to do it in a bigger format.  I wanted to reach more people.  Put my work and my energy out there and attract people who are looking for it.  So that's what I've been working on!! 

This winter I focused my energy on what I love, and what I always said I'd do someday, and NOW, I am happy to tell you that I've created Level Up Coaching!  It is honestly a dream come true, and I am so glad I found the resources to help me make this happen.  Getting through such a dark time and coming out on the other side with this business is unreal.  It is a really authentic extension of who I am, and what I love to do.  I am beyond excited to start helping people get to their next running goal, create highly individualized training plans to set people up for success, and give them an experience that is all about THEM.  It really isn't about me, it's about doing something I love to help individuals work towards getting closer to being that version of themselves they want to be, and know they can be, but they haven't made it a priority yet.  Until now.  Much like my journey with this business - I wanted my someday to start now. And that's what this business is built on, helping other people do it now. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and to share this experience with me.  I think it's important to not just share all the good stuff, but also share the dark.  Then we seem to appreciate the light that much more.  :)  

Please check out the website, and if you think there's someone in your life that may be interested in what I'm offering, feel free to pass it along.  Or if you are interested, let me know.  Time for the journey to begin!

www.ItsTimeToLevelUp.com

Inspiration

All of us runners had to start somewhere.  At some point there was a person, or an event, or a book, or a movie or whatever it was, that got us to say 'you know what?  I can do that too.'  And then you laced up your shoes, put on whatever clothes that seemed most athletic, and went out the door to try and really run.  Those initial sources of inspiration are things we never forget.  We hold them dear to our hearts and look at them as the roots of the running we have grown to love. 

I clearly remember this day as the first day I KNEW I waned to be a runner.
Don't I look nice in my brother's letter jacket? :)

Through everyone's evolution in their running there are additional sources of inspiration along the way - friends that are running further or faster than you, people that are 'zen runners' and can get out there without a watch or a game plan and just run for the sake of running, people like Scott Jurek or Dean Karnazes or Ray Zahab, a podcast on Trail Runner Nation may have really resonated with you and inspire you to train for a 50 miler.  Each person has had key things in their running journey inspire them to take things to a different level, and those things are always kept in a special place in their memory.

On the flipside, you, as a runner, have very likely inspired someone else in your life to also tie their shoes and head out the door as well.  I bet there's more than once you've been running down the side of a road and someone in that car driving by that was smoking a cigarette and eating French fries out of a paper bag from McDonalds and looked at you and said - 'yes, I can do that.'  And afterwards, they did in fact do that.  They ran.  And they ran because they saw you out there. 

A great gift to us runners is that the running community is so accessible.  You can pretty easily get in touch with any elite runner out there, can often find out where they will be racing or doing a book signing and go there, and because of that can often talk to or meet the person who has inspired you to do so much more than you thought you ever could. 

A great gift in that accessibility is that we, as mere humble runners, can thank someone that has inspired us.  And that is a very personal thing!  Dean Karnazes is someone that helped push me from running road marathons to ultra trail races.  His endurance, positive attitude, and willingness to open up about his passion (while being a natural introvert) motivated me to do push further, and at the same time tell people about what I was doing.  That's a priceless piece of inspiration to me, and I was lucky enough a few years ago to meet Dean on a few different occasions.  I was very excited to finally be able to tell him, the man that I would think of is the darkest times of my running to help push me through, that he was my inspiration, and how grateful I was for that.

I was running with Dean towards the end of a group run that was coordinated by a local North Face store, and I was able to get out the words of appreciation for doing all that he does, and how he inspired me to push further in my own running.  His response was a simple 'thank you', and then quickly asked me a question about Madison.  Yes, my compliment was acknowledged, but it didn't quite give me the satisfaction I was looking for.  I mean, for a few years this man is what mentally pushed me to bring my A game, run further than I ever thought I could, and be much more open with my friends and athletes with something that I previously held close as incredibly personal. 

I didn't think much about that interaction again until yesterday. I was running with a friend of mine who is training for her second marathon.  She's only been running a few years, but is working hard on increasing her endurance while having fun, involving her friends, and is very mindful and open about the positive role running plays in her life.  We were in the second half of our long run when she told me that I was an inspiration of hers to push herself further when she was running.  It was such a nice compliment that I didn't expect at all, and I, like Dean had done to me, said a brief 'thank you' and wanted to quickly change the subject.

I see many runners (and people in general) brush off or even deflect compliments, especially ones that are meaningful - not just a 'you look nice today' or 'cute dress' compliment.  By nature I think we as runners are just humble, hard working people that are more than happy to do our hardest work in the darkness of night, by ourselves, away from being the center of any sort of attention.  But the reality is that our hard work is not unnoticed.  One of my favorite quotes is 'Work hard in silence, let success make the noise.'  And that 'noise' inspires people around us without our even knowing. 

So next time someone comes up to you, or sends you an email or text to tell you how much of an inspiration you are to them, acknowledge that.  Thank them for the compliment and even ask them a question to expand further.  It is an important moment for them to tell you something that personal and genuine, so do your best to accept it and be gracious.  It is hard for me to wrap my head around the fact that I can inspire anyone to do anything - after all, I'm just a runner.  But we are a community of people that are fueled by the way we are inspired by each other, and I think that's pretty awesome. 

 

To Live or Exist - A Distance Runner's Point of View

Sometimes you have one of those days that open your eyes a little bit.  Today was one of those days for me. Two things really caught my attention.  The first one being a running friend of mine finding out that he has a degenerative joint disease in his right hip, and will likely need a hip replacement.  The other thing is finding out that an old friend’s dad is having a cancer scare.  Hearing about things like that make you take stock of your life, your health, and those people you care about.

It leads me to think about lifestyle choices, and the potential risk that comes with them.  If you are a distance runner, you have probably been told more times than you’d like to count that running all those miles is hard on your heart, that we won’t have any knees left by the time we turn 50, that it’s dangerous to run at night, in the dark, in minimalist shoes, in traditional running shoes, whatever.  You’ve probably heard it all, and probably from a sedentary know-it-all while he sips his 8^th cup of coffee and chomps his Nicorette on his way to peruse the vending machine snack options.  (Okay, maybe that’s just my specific example, but you get the idea.)  All our lifestyle choices come with their own inherent risk no matter what it is.  There is no ‘perfect’ life to lead, so then we are all left with our own free will to choose to do what we want.  I have chosen the path of distance running. 

Who knows, someday I may have to go under the knife to replace my worn out body parts with new and improved bionic parts, or I may keel over of a heart attack on a mountain trail, but the life that my running has given me is something I’d never take back, or wish to change.  I compare that to the concept of renting or owning.  You could rent a house and keep most things in boxes, not hang anything on the walls to avoid nail holes, and always change into a pair of house shoes when you walk in the door so you don’t track anything across the floors.  Or you could really own that house, hang your favorite things up on the walls, put up a dart board knowing you’ll miss your target sometimes, but you don’t care because you just love playing.  That’s how I feel I have treated my body – I’m mindful of it, but I feel alive when I push limits, breathe hard, jump higher than before, hike to the top of a mountain, run hilly trails for 6 hours.  Part of this sport is how it feels –to feel alive and acknowledge the experience of it all – cold mountain air, standing in a stream after a race, connection to your running mates when you push through something hard together.  You’re really living in your body, not just existing. 

This concept crosses over every aspect of your life – your work, your relationships, how you treat strangers, choosing to bury your head in your smart phone or interact with the world around you – they’re all facets of your existence that you can really live in or just exist.  And the beauty of it all, is that it’s your choice, until that day that the choice is taken away.  Today I am thankful that the choice is mine.  Time to run.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. - Oscar Wilde

 

The Benefits of a Runner's Mindset

It's been a little while since I have posted. My running is winding down to head into a rest cycle, and my work has gotten much more demanding - at a convenient time, really, since I don't need to be logging 75 mile weeks any time soon. 

This week I have logged 12+ hour work days every day so far, and while juggling responsibilities, answering phone calls, attending meetings, making decisions, completing projects, coaching, and trying to keep my staff happy, I came to realize something.  I was in the same mindset I have on race day.  When you toe the line for a race, especially a long distance race, anything can happen.  You can run out of food or water, you could get lost (on a trail race at least), you could cramp, fall and twist an ankle, get sick - anything.  My work days have been the same thing - I had no idea heading into the office Monday morning that my workload was about to more than double.  And instead of freaking out and whining about it, I quickly organized what had to be done, prioritized a working list of things I was responsible for, turned on the Latin pop music (my new favorite thing!) and got to work.  As things would come up through the day I was able to pretty easily shift gears to accommodate what was needed, respond to people quickly, and stayed late to accommodate a deadline.  From there I ran some errands, took my dog on a long walk, and am now writing this.  I'm still in race mode!

Do you have those days?  Where you look out at the tasks ahead of you (or the miles) and know that the tasks need to be done, and the miles need to be covered?  There's no sense in being emotional or overly anxious about it, just figure it out and get it done.  Right?  As long as these days have been, part of me really loves it.  I am thankful for my running mindset I've developed over the years and can naturally dial into it when I need to.  I know right now that my desk is at least partially cleaned off, my dog is tired and happy, my fridge is full and the laundry is done.  The fire that comes as a result of a runner's mind is a pretty amazing thing! 

"Mental will is a muscle that needs exercise, just like the muscles of the body."
-Lynn Jennings

Work, run, work, then take a breath (and look at a postcard of Breckenridge) :)

5 Tips to Make Your Long Run Not Feel So Looooooong.

We, as distance runners, have all been there.  You can have three weeks worth of solid, enjoyable runs in a row. The weather is your friend, all the walk lights are in your favor, your legs have bounce, your favorite running clothes always seem to be clean, and even dogs smile at you as you effortlessly glide by.  And then it happens.  You hit a point in your long run where you think the miles on your gps are going backwards, you can barely lift your knees up, and you want to be anywhere other than where you are.  Those are the most difficult runs for me.  Now, 'long' is a subjective term, depending on what kind of running you're into.  For some people a long run is three miles, for others, it's 50.  At any rate, that weighed down feeling happens to all of us.  So here are a few things that I do to make the best of those long miles.

This was from one of my worst long runs on record.  Yes, it was so bad I had to take a picture.  It was THAT bad.

1 - Change up the route.  I am shocked by the amount of people I speak to that run the same routes, in the same places, year in and year out.  Anyone would get bored with that!  If you do the same urban route to fit in your 20 miler, think outside the box and look for an easy trail system - around Madison I love Military Ridge.  It's flat, straight, and soft footing which is great for the legs.  It may feel counterproductive to hop in the car to drive somewhere to go for a run, but the change in surroundings can make a huge difference.  I also like to go to my hometown a couple times a year and log miles on a 'memory lane run' going past my old house, schools, high school hangouts.  It's a great way to let the miles slide by while keeping your mind occupied with happy things.

2 - Get a sidekick.  If you're a super long distance runner, you might not have friends that are able to go the whole distance with you, so save them for the end.  Even if you are just meeting someone for the last 5 miles, it's worth it.  You can finally talk to someone besides yourself and they can also have a fresh water bottle and snack for you.  It's the best of both worlds!

Having a friend run with me in the dark hours of my relay helped me get through that last leg
 (which was 24.4 miles by the way...yikes).

3 - Give yourself something to look forward to.  People respond well to incentive - for me when I'm running it's a food or drink treat, or allowing myself music.  For a while I'd allow myself half a Red Bull and a handful of Cheez Its at mile 15.  It made a big difference to know that I had something that I really liked on the horizon, and the last few miles cruised by once I had my mood lifted from my sugar and salt injection. 

4 - Break it up.  Running a loooong way on the same terrain, with the same surroundings gets old. Well, at least mundane.  So think about what you can work into your routes to get some variety.  Here in Madison I can plan a 20 miler that includes lake views, hills, flats, ritzy residential, Big Ten campus, prairies and woods.  With variety like that you can split up the long run into shorter parts that are all just different enough to keep you interested.  If at all possible, I try and have the 'natural beauty' segments towards the end.  Nature rejuvenates me in all contexts so to catch some fresh air off the lakes and float through the floor of a pine forest refreshes me even on the worst of days.



View from a long run outside Tucson in April, 2011

5 - Mind games.  This is my favorite, and you can do this on the fly whenever you decide you need it.  Almost all of my long runs have been alone, so I resorted to brain games using the alphabet a few years ago.  All you do is go from A - Z and name a city that starts with each letter, then girls names, then boys names, last names, foods you like with each letter, foods you dislike, songs that start with each letter, bands...  It can be really fun!  I can recall some delirious moments where I start laughing out loud while mumbling these games to myself.  One particular laugh fest came when I decided my favorite boys B name was Barkley.  Yes, Barkley.  (I never said you did your best thinking 20 miles in on an 80° day.)

Balance

If there's  one things that runners often are, it's Type A.  We are driven, cerebral, analytical, rigidly organized, and have intense focus.  We are frequently over achievers who are driven by deadlines. This lends itself very well to competitive distance running, and it also lends itself to creating drastic imbalances in our work / personal / sport life.  I will be the first to admit that with past races I became so focused that my training practically consumed me.  I would think about my training at work, I would dream about it at night, if I was out with whichever boyfriend it was at the time I would be there physically, but in my head I was dreaming up different food combinations to try 18 miles into my next run, or calculating how many miles I had on my current Asics.  It can be so easy to let our sport focus take over our entire lives because we love it, we feel like we can think of a zillion ways to be more effective in our miles, and let's face it - it's fun to daydream about cruising through the finish chute like a gazelle, or running through mountain trails with Scott Jurek! 

But these things come with a cost, often times a pretty high one.  Over the years I have learned the importance of balance - not that I have perfected it by any means, but I strive for it all the time.  I don't believe in making New Years resolutions, but I am a habitual goal setter.  After running 11 races in 2011, and then training for and running a three person, 200 mile relay in 2012, I decided to hang up my competition shoes and focus on balance.  I wanted to be a more balanced athlete by doing more than just run, and I wanted to be more balanced in my focus.  I wanted to get better on concentrating on work while at work, I wanted to learn that it was okay to take a night in to read and stretch out, I wanted to take time to foster my other interests like writing and photography.  I wanted to work more on friend and family relationships. 



Showing off some balance with my friend Kelli at Red Rocks this summer!

I am very glad I've taken a solid year and a few months to practice this concept.  I noticed that this has become a habit when I was out having dinner at a cute little Asian restaurant with my boyfriend Monday night.  Over sesame chicken and broccoli I asked him, 'what would you think of me training for a 50 mile race next summer if my 50k goes well?'  He paused for a beat and looked at me - I of course thought he was thinking 'I think you're crazy! You'll be tired and worn out all the time, and who the heck would want to run for 50  miles?! There are cars for that!'  But thankfully he responded by telling me that it was a great idea, and that I should go for it.  He also told me that he wanted me to do whatever made me happy, that we're both individuals with our own lives, but we support each other in whatever we choose to do.  How's that for a great support system?  I was so thankful for that reaction.  I can see I want balance because instead of just plowing ahead, I wanted to talk with him about it. I am acknowledging ahead of time that it will have an impact on not just our relationship, but also my relationships with friends, family, and work. 

So how will I work on maintaining balance through what looks to be a high mileage 2014?  With the most effective training plan possible.  If there's one thing I LOVE to do, it's create training plans.  I do them for myself, friends, my athletes, co-workers, my clients, you name it.  I love taking an overview of the goal first, then break out the components of what should be involved.  Then look at the course and time of year so I know how to plan the best specificity training, and then look at the amount of time desired to be training.  Ideally I would like to do three one hour long yoga sessions a week during my entire training cycle, along with agility work three times a week, and biking twice.  If I had a very boring life with no other commitments, I could definitely do that.  But instead I have to get creative.

I tried something new this summer, and that was eliminating all 'junk' miles, unless it was a social fun run with a friend.  (That counted more as social time than a work out.)  It felt great to know that each time I laced up my running shoes I was either going for a long run, doing a track workout, a tempo run, or a hill workout.  On a day I would typically log junk miles I went to yoga instead. (I consider junk miles anything in the 3 - 7 mile range that is just conversation pace.  It doesn't serve much of a purpose other than adding mileage to your weekly total, and loosen your legs up.)  It definitely made me look forward to my running a lot more, and the addition of yoga into my routine made my legs feel a lot better and stronger.  It was a very effective way to make the most of my time.

I am looking forward to this process of looking at all the components I want to include while also weighing out other things that are important to me.  It will always be a work in progress as a person's relationship with running and their goals evolves over time, but it is a fun, Type A friendly activity to work on, which I of course appreciate.   

You know, balancing on a log takes a little skill too.  ...  Sort of. :)

So You Want to PR This Fall? Three Mental Tips to Help You Race Faster

                One thing I love about writing this blog so far, is that I don’t have to look far for ideas.  Every day I have based my post off a conversation I had with one my friends or athletes, or from a podcast I listened to, or from a book I’m reading.  Inspiration for things to write about are all around these days as cross country season is in full swing, and the fall road race circuit is well underway.  One thing I keep hearing from people around me that are racing this fall is that they want to race faster.  They want a new PR as a reward for running so many hot, hilly, painful miles this summer.  You may have done everything by the book this summer – increased your mileage by no more than 10% each week, did runs that emulate the race course, ate right, did your long runs as scheduled, and even did some tempo runs to help your overall pace.  But there is one big, important, often detrimental x-factor that often goes without attention during training. The mental game.  Have you ever gotten to a race a little early and surveyed your competition, and then got incredibly intimidated?  Or started to push your pace in a 5k and the voice in your head said ‘you can’t hold this pace, you’d better slow down and conserve energy for later so you have a kick’?  Or even questioned if you can complete the mileage in front of you?  You can thank your untrained brain for all that self-doubt.  The mind is a wonderful tool, and if you give it just a few things to focus on, you will be amazed at the difference.  It can change the whole experience of a run or race for you. And it will prevent your imagination from running away from you… and ending up in a very negative, questioning place.

                My first tip may seem like something impossible to you. In fact, you might think that your head will explode if you try it.  But that’s where the growth comes from, because we all know that the best things happen when we get outside our comfort zone.  So what is it?  It’s simple.  Leave your watch at home.  Try it on a training run first.  Sport the watch tan line so many of you have and give yourself a break from looking at your splits, doing mental math and projections, and focus on what you are doing. Running.  Have you ever been a couple miles into a run or race and then look at your watch – and then think ‘I went out way too fast! I should slow down!’?  That is letting your watch dictate how you feel.  Do you want to know why you ran those first couple miles so fast?  Because you felt good, and that felt natural for you.  There is one caveat with this – if you’re running a marathon or beyond, and aren’t one of those people that really knows your body and your pacing, you may still want it.  I only race with watches for marathons and beyond so I know I’m eating often enough.  The rest of you who are racing 5Ks, 10ks, and half marathons – think about going watchless!  It can be very liberating to give your brain a break from thinking about times and math, and instead enjoy the act of racing unencumbered – look at people in the crowd, listen to your breathing, and let your body run the pace it wants to without the nagging voice from the digital display on your wrist telling you to do anything other than what is coming naturally that day.  Maybe this style of ‘zen running’ isn’t for everyone, but every single PR I have hit in the last 2 years has been in a race where I didn’t where a watch.

                   Here’s the second thing.  It’s a harsh truth, but here it is.  Racing isn’t supposed to feel good the whole time.  If you are truly racing and pushing yourself, no matter what the distance, you are guaranteed to hit a point where you want to slow down, and your mind wants to tell you to back off.  As I mentioned earlier, the best things happen outside your comfort zone.  You will never surprise yourself, or feel like you’re hitting your potential in ANYTHING if you don’t get uncomfortable once in a while.  So do it.  Get comfortable being uncomfortable.  If you feel like you’re grinding and you are working hard in a race, you’re doing it right.  Have that conversation with your brain before the gun goes off so when you hit that uncomfortable place at mile 4 of your 10k, think ‘okay, I’m right where I’m supposed to be.  I’m doing this RIGHT and I’m going to embrace this discomfort and kill the rest of this race.’  That subtly turns the negative of being uncomfortable into a positive – it’s a pat on your back.  Good job!  You are working hard and doing your best!  THIS is what accomplishment feels like!  Every step you take outside of that comfort zone is an investment in who and where you want to be.  Rise to the occasion and get after it.  It is much easier to embrace that place of hurt when you know you’re going to be there for a while.  

                This is a Tracey patented mental trick I am going to tell you now.  I adore this one, I thrive on this one, I savor the opportunity to use this one and light up inside whenever a chance to use it comes up in a race.  This one may also sound harsh, but it’s effective.  Prey on other people’s weaknesses.  It may make me sound like a bloodthirsty crazy person, but the only person who knows you’re thinking this way on a race course is you.  This is the mindset that helped me get through my 50K back in 2011, and finished 6^th overall, first in my division.  I picked off many women in that race by thinking that way.  Here’s how it works – at some point everyone hurts in a race, we already covered that.  Look at your competition when you are out there, past your half way point usually.  Many runners wear their pain on their sleeve, and you will hear them breathing loudly, or see them slow down, or even walk.  Breakdowns in posture and form are also good cues to look for.  This is when you turn on blood thirst mode.  I almost view it like a video game – you imagine yourself sucking the energy right out of them and filling up your own tank.  They are obviously tired and losing steam, so in your mind take that steam and blow right past them.  Some of you sweet, soft hearted, hug lovers out there may think that you could never go into blood thirst mode, but I’m telling you.  It completely invigorates you when you try it.  I did this many times in my 50k and it was such a boost that it had me sailing at a stronger pace for a solid 5 minutes after I passed the person, so not only do you pass someone and feel stronger, but you can put some solid distance in between you and them. 

                Give one, two, or all three of these a shot in a race this fall, or even just a training run.  Each tip gives your brain a different, more positive focus than just letting it run wild.  You will definitely surprise yourself, and will learn some things about yourself in the process.  I’d love to hear about any experiences you all have with these If you decide to try them!  Now go get zen, hurt a little, and smoke someone out on the trail!

 

I would not have had this awesome moment with Dean Karnazes if I didn't

get a little blood thirsty out there!

My Food Tips and Tricks

                As much as I love diving into the mindset of a runner and writing about issues we wrestle with, I also want to post some workouts, recipes, running book reviews, and various tips and tricks.  Probably the second most common topic people ask me about in regards to running (behind injury questions) relates to food.  What do you eat on race day?  What do you eat on a long training run?  What do you eat to recover?  In this blog post I will let you into my own personal world of food tips and tricks that I have found to work well for me.  There is no guaranty that any of these food-isms of mine will work for you, but I encourage you to try some of these things if you want, and experiment on your own.  It is an invaluable practice to experiment with your running nutrition on training runs, especially when you are covering distances that get well into the double digits. 

                I should first tell you my philosophy on running food.  I try not to dissect things and analyze too much.  I analyze things all day in my professional job, as well as in my coaching job.  When it comes to my own personal time, I don’t want to have to think that hard about it.  I keep it simple.  I’ll try eating something, and will then pay close attention to how my body reacts and how my performance is in my workout.  If it’s good, I keep it.  If I get queasy, I don’t like the texture of it, if it feels hard to digest, if I get sluggish, if it’s hard to carry or stash on a route, it’s out.  Simple as that.  There are tons of conflicting sources of information out there telling you what to do and what not to do with the food you consume in regards to performance.  I look into quite a bit of that information, but the voice I listen to most closely is my own body.  That being said, let’s get into my food quirks.

                The night before a long training run or a race that is marathon distance or longer, I stay pretty traditional.  I do angel hair pasta, and a meat sauce that consists of tomato basil sauce and browned ground turkey.  I’ll also have an organic salad with extra veggies on it – usually cherry tomatoes, a couple different colors of peppers and cucumbers with a little bit of organic dressing.  I think that meal is pretty standard for most runners.  We grew up hearing about carbo loading and had pasta dinners before meets, so it is just as much tradition as it is strategic eating.

                Here is my first real ‘tip’ I will give you, and it works incredibly well for me.  A friend of mine who is a cyclist told me this trick because a Graeme Obree (a world champion cyclist nicknamed ‘The Flying Scotsman') did this.  To preface this, I have to tell you one thing.  I hate running and racing in the morning.  I hate getting moving before I’ve been awake for 7 or 8 hours, I hate forcing a big breakfast down so I have sustenance to get going, I hate the creaks in my body as I get rolling before the sun comes up.  It’s just not my thing.   When we are sleeping at night we are basically fasting. We aren’t drinking water, we’re not snacking on almonds and applesauce.  We’re just sleeping.  I always felt that I had to have a very large breakfast to offset the fasting factor before I hit the road for more than 15 miles in the morning, which lead me to choke down a big breakfast, digest slowly, and be somewhat miserable.  Here’s the trick – drink two or three large glasses of water in the last hour before you go to bed.  Put a granola bar and a banana (or whatever works for you for a snack) on your night stand next to your bed, and set your alarm for the morning when you have to eat breakfast.  During the night you will have to get up and pee because of all that water (if you don’t wake up to do that, you were probably dehydrated that day which is a whole different issue).  Your body will naturally wake you up to go, and when you do, eat that snack you laid out the night before when you get back to your bed.  You should fall back to sleep pretty quickly and you have a little extra fuel in you before your alarm goes off. 

                You might be wondering why I don’t just say to set your alarm for 1am to eat. The problem there is that you’ll be jolted out of your sleep.   You will most likely have a harder time getting back to sleep, and you’ll be more tired when your alarm goes off to eat breakfast.  When your body naturally wakes you up, it is much easier on your body and your sleep cycle.  I totally swear by this and it has helped me a ton for my morning runs.

                My pre-long run / pre-race breakfast is always the same.  Two packets of oatmeal, a sliced up apple with peanut butter, and a cup of coffee.  I make sure I have finished it within 1 hour and 50 minutes of the start.  If I’m racing a marathon or longer I also have half a Snickers bar 45 minutes before the gun goes off.  That is probably superstition more than anything, but for some reason it works for me. 

                What I choose to eat while running depends on the distance and the weather.  Worst case scenario I’m running long (further than… 22 miles or so) and it is hot, humid and uncomfortable.   I will of course carry water and make sure there are spots along the way to re-fill.  I know that I will need salt because I’ll be sweating so much out, and in that case there are two things I love for salt replacement.  Boiled red potatoes dipped in seas salt, and chicken broth.  The potatoes are just fine cold (so I boil them the night before, cut them up and put them in ziplock bags), but the broth I like at least warm, even on hot days.  For that I’ll heat it up in the morning and put it in a thermos.  If I have a crew member they hold on to it for me, or I will stash it along the route to drink half way through. 

                On hot humid days, and even just on very long runs in general I like to add some electorlytes to the water I’m drinking every hour or so.  I prefer Nuun tabs that you can drop into a water bottle.  You can find them at REI.  The lemon lime ones I get have a very subtle flavor and dissolve quickly.  Even on a touchy stomach this works well with me.

                After years of trying gels, candies, and liquid calories, my favorite staple on long runs are Cliff Shot Blocks.  They are easy to get out of the plastic sleeve, they don’t get sticky gooey stuff on your hands or face, and the texture is totally bearable.  I don’t like intense flavors of anything if I’m running long, hot, or hard, so I stick to ones that are lighter in color.  I’m in no way scientific, but I feel like the more intense the color, the more intense the flavor. (The cranberry raspberry ones are dark red and WOW – super intense flavor.) I eat something every three miles on those long days.  It is probably more than I need, but I prefer to be a little ahead of the curve.  I hate to say this, but *knock on wood*, I have yet to ‘bonk’ while eating this way. 

                As for a post run / post race food, I make sure I eat something with carbs and protein immediately after (usually a banana with some nuts), but I also listen to what I’m craving at that time.  I’m a big believer that when your body is craving something in those situations, it’s telling you something.  After the Madison Marathon in 2006 (I think) it was incredibly hot, and all I could think about was nachos and Coke for the last 8 miles or so.  You can guess what I had as soon as I finished the race.  Nachos and a Coke.  And I felt great afterwards. 

                Again, I encourage you to experiment.  I’ve tried all sorts of things on runs.  Dried fruit, oreos, Cheez Its, Red Bull, Ensure, peanut butter pretzels, Pringles, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, …. Your options are endless, so try some things.  Listen to cravings.  Try things that sound weird – you never know what will end up being your go-to food combination of choice 30 miles down the trail!  

 

The complex relationship between mind and body –Part 1 of 3. Performance

                Relationships between people can be extremely complicated, but the relationship between your brain and your body can be even more intricate.  In this blog I will talk about the role of mind and body working either together or against each other in terms of training runs and racing. In subsequent blogs I will go into the mind body relationship in regards to body image, and nutrition.  This dynamic within ourselves fascinates me on a daily basis and I am always looking at how these two often opposing forces can wreak havoc on our plans, or sling shot us to success.  Let’s dive in. J

                I believe that our bodies are always telling us things.  If we’re hungry, if we’re coming down with a cold, if the lunch you ate was poor fuel, or if you got a great night of sleep.  But how often do we listen to what it is telling us?  Often times people spend a majority of their day up in their heads, thinking about the next thing they have to do, the vacation they’re planning a for a month from now, or about a conversation that ended in an argument over the weekend.  Being in one place but having your mind in another is called dissociation.  And it is incredibly common for people to dissociate during exercise.  It can be easy to face a 20 mile run and head out the door, thinking all the while about your grocery list, listening to an upbeat playlist in your iPod, or running angry while mentally rehashing something that upset you at work the day before.  All these mental tactics to get yourself through the miles also brings you away from yourself, in that you’ve logged a 3 hour run without paying any attention to how your body feels.  Creating this split between your mind and body can be good in that it will often times get you through the workout you’ve set out to do, but the outcomes can sabotage the success you’re trying to reach.

                The most common way I see this in the athletes I coach is when it comes to illness and injuries.  I have a very talented team as a whole, so the competition within the team itself is pretty strong.  This competitive drive along with the internal desire to do their best can cause the girls to miss serious signs from their bodies that something isn’t right.  Sure, we all want to be deemed ‘tough’ and shine in competition when we can, but when your foot is aching, your shins are burning, or you’re getting dizzy with blurred vision, it needs to be tended to.  There of course are different kinds of pains – some aches and soreness are to be expected and can be run through, but when you have acute pain, tingly extremities, or a sudden change in body temperature, you should listen!  Countless athletes have their season cut short because their brain would override their bodies for too long, until their body was screaming at them to stop.  Often times by then it is too late. 

                So what can you do to turn the noise from your brain down and tune into your body better?  Here is a trick I used with an athlete I used to coach, and now find myself using it personally when I can’t seem to get out of my head on a run.  I go through my five senses.  What am I seeing? (trees with leaves changing color, a for sale sign in a person’s front yard)  What do I smell? (bacon from someone’s kitchen, car exhaust, my own sweaty dri-fit shirt)  What do I feel physically? (rain drops, tightness through my right calf, the weight of my ponytail)  What do you hear? (cars passing by, birds chirping, the tapping of my shoelaces on my shoes) What do I taste? (mouthwash, orange Cliff Shot Blox)  Walking through these five senses, and taking your time with it can quickly bring you into the present moment.  Take your time with these, go through the five senses multiple times if you’d like.  I find that it also curbs any anxiety I may be carrying into the workout.

                Another way to look at the mind body relationship is to picture yourself as a builder.  The goal you have in mind to run your best marathon (for example) is the same as a goal to build your dream house.  Your mind can perfectly envision the feeling of crossing that finish line with the clock showing the time you want, or can envision the house with the white shutters and the three season porch.  Your body is the means of getting you there.  Your body is the collection of tools you need to build that house.  Just as it is the main tool you need to get across the finish line in that goal time.  If your drill is broken, and the saw is rusted and worn down, you’ll have a hell of a time building that house.  You can still probably force it to happen, but the odds of it looking the way you want and being truly sound are slim.  You need to have good working tools to build.  Just like you need a healthy and sound body to meet your running goal. 

                Next time you are out for a run and feel like you are at war with your body and having a miserable time, go through the five senses.  Let yourself be where you are in that run and take inventory.  Is your body telling you something you have been ignoring?  Take care of your tools, and they will take care of you.

 

This a one of my 'zen moments' from an afternoon of Yoga on the Rocks at Red Rocks, July 2013