Sit Up Straight!

Growing up, I heard "sit up straight" a million times, from my mom and my grandmother. Who knew, they were getting me ready for my most favoritest hobby later on in life!

According to this Runners world article I found, good posture plays a huge role in your running. When you run slouched over, you put too much weight on your lower body, mostly the knees. While this is done, your legs can't fully extend and your hip flexors contract. Also, while slouching, your diaphragm is contracted and you can't breath in as deep, which causes side stitches. I hate side stitches! 

Check out this article, to see some workouts that will help improve your core, so you will not slouch!

Plantar Fasciitis Got You Down?

Runners World has a great article about this common injury. There are a few things you can do to help prevent it:

-Where the right type of running shoes, and make sure they're not overused.

-Run on soft surfaces

-Wear a heel cushion or cup in all shoes you wear (running and every day shoes)

-Chose your every day shoes very carefully

-Use a night splint

-Stretch your calves before getting out of bed in the morning

-(mostly importantly) take care of your feet and calves

If you have Plantar Fasciitis, there are things you can do to help heal it:

-Stretch

-Ice after running (during the winter time, this may be the most difficult thing to do, but so worth it)

-Take an oral anti-inflammatory

-Use shoe inserts

-Wear a night splint

-most importantly) See a Doctor!

I hope this helps and any problem, your Doctor can help you!

What injury are you suffering from?

Merry Christmas

I hope everyone stays warm and has a great day! May it include a great run, too!!

What to Wear for Cold Weather Running

Hope everyone has a great Christmas!



Usually (depending on where you live) Christmas time means that it's cold outside. I mean really cold. I live in Cali, so it's not nearly as cold here as it is in North Dakota. I still need to dress warm, in order to prevent myself from freezing. Here's what I'm wearing right now, when I run outside (on the weekends and all this week). I'm still wearing my Nike capris (my legs get really hot), but I know that will change very soon. I wear my long sleeve tech shirt, then a short sleeve tech shirt and arm warmers on top of all that. I also have winter socks and my comfy new(ish) shoes. While running (when it's super cold), I also wear my running jacket (it gets washed a lot more often during the winter time than the summer). Every time I run, I bring my water bottle, my head band (it's a must to keep my hair out of my face) and my mp3 player (only if I'm running solo).

How cold has it been where you live? It's been in the 30's when I wake up and a warm 50 during the day. What do you wear during your winter runs?

I had Patellofemoral Pain, Have You?

When I started training for my very first half marathon, back in late 2010, after some time, I started having very bad pain in my knee. It was mainly my left knee, but sometimes my right would hurt too. It was no fun. When your knees are in that much pain, you can't run, you can't train. I went to my Doctor, and she gave me some ant-inflammatory meds and some exercises to do at home (or in the gym). That's when I started getting serious about my training and needed to include some x-training. it helped so much, I was able to run without my brace and enjoy running...pain free!

After reading this article from Runners World, I realized that this injury is more common for women than men, just because of how we're made (and we place more stress on the knee cap). My problem was that my quads weren't strong enough. See, the knee caps role is to provides protection to the front of the knee to any direct trauma. the cartilage beneath the knee cap has the thickest in the entire body. This cartilage doesn't have any nerve supply, it can become very vulnerable if damaged. 

I worked for months to strengthen my quads and it really paid off. I now know to keep x-training in my weekly workout schedule. I try not to go a week without it!

The Best Yet

This is the best my feet have ever looked during half marathon training (don't zoom in, trust me)

They're not prefect, but they do look good, from a distance. I'm not pushing myself as hard as I did in 2011. But, I am pushing myself. After every workout, I'm dead. I always make sure that I've left everything at the gym. 

On Monday, I ran my speedy (for me) 5k (32:53) and then headed over to the last ripped class of the year (don't worry, I'll continue January 7th). It was really difficult, but so much fun. The room was packed and the lady next to me would run right, when we were suppose to go left (and always ran into me). I think she apologized ~50 times (not exaggerating) for running into me that night. It was getting really old, though. I'm not perfect when it comes to my ripped class (I have no coordination), but I've never ran into anyone (especially 50 times in one class). 

Well, I have my long run tonight, then I don't have another one planned until Jan 3rd. So, this is my last long run of the year. Since I'm off of work all next week (I have 11 days off...in a row), I'll be doing some shorter runs around my house, to get more familiar with the new(ish) neighborhood), and some other, at home workouts to keep i shape while I eat a million cookies and other sweets. 

If you paint your toes, what color are they now? Do you have any coordination? When is your last long run of the year scheduled? What are you training for?

Ginger Bread & a Chilly 5k

This weekend, I had my friend over to build ginger bread houses. This is the first time that either of us had ever made these. since both of us hate ginger bread, we made these out of graham crackers. This is the site where I found the cutting templates and recipe for the royal icing. I was nervous about making the royal icing because it only called for 2 egg whites (only liquid), I was thinking it wasn't going to be enough. But it was! I had lots left over, too!

Here's my candy spread: I had xmas wreaths, red hots, pb pieces, mini m&ms, red & green jelly beans and so much more!

 

Here's the beginning of my houses. My friend houses kept falling over, so she said that they went through an earthquake.

Here are our houses (mine & her rubbish).

After we finished, we got ready to go for our 5k. We usually go about 6:30 am, but we're changing it to 10am. It's just too dang cold. I hate being cold. We ran about 3. It was about 50 degrees, slightly foggy and just starting to sprinkle. It was the most perfect running weather. We loved every minute. 

This time, I decided to push my friend more than I have before. I wanted her to pr this time. This time, she préd by 3 minutes! I'm so proud of her!

Here we are after our 5k, very proud of our houses. Jason loved them too!

Do you build houses? Ginger bread or graham crackers? What is a holiday flavor you hate? I hate pumpkin and ginger bread.