Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Top Ten Tuesday - what I wish I'd known and new reading material

Tuesday workout:
- 1 hour step class
- 20 minutes stretching


The top 10 things I wish someone had told me when I started running longer distances

10. Listen to your body - you have a training plan but you also have to listen to your body
9.  Get out there and do it - there will be days where you just don't feel like it...it's been a long work day/week, but I guarantee you'll feel better after the workout.
8.  Don't compete against anyone but yourself
7.  Buy a foam and leg roller - they will save your life
6.  Rest days and recovery days are key - even if you feel okay, rest days are important.  These days, especially with the 100 day challenge I'm doing, I can feel my body telling me when it needs a break and when those days happen, I will just do a long walk with some abs or arm workouts.  For recovery, the day after a long run, you need to walk/ recovery run at least a couple miles to get the blood flowing
5.  If you're a female, always carry an extra hair tie...
4.  Don't just run - the strength training and cross-training are vital.  I've learned this in the last couple months - my race times are faster, I'm not as tired and my body just feels stronger overall.
3.  Don't underestimate the power of sunscreen and chapstick.  I ran a 10k in 18 degree weather in November and didn't use either.  I had applied sunscreen on my nose and chapstick on my lips beforehand and then spent the whole race in the sun.  The next day my lips and face were so chapped/burnt that it took almost a week to recover.  Now I zip a tiny bottle of sunscreen and chapstick in my running tights or jacket.
 2.  Before a long run, map out where bathrooms are - enough said.

Annnnd the number one thing I wish I had known before I started running longer distances is...

1.  It DOES get easier and the road will be worth it.

*Sidenote - I am currently reading these two books  - the are amazing and I definitely recommend them.   This year, since I read so fast and so much, I started reading one fitness book and one other book per week.  I know that seems like a lot, but really for me, reading those two genres per week has been easy - there have been a couple weeks where I have done three.  I love to read and with all the dreadmill running I've been doing this winter, I change my nook font size and the miles fly by.  These are the two from this week. 




I actually have a lot of books to read in the next few months that I'm pretty excited about.  

Any recommendations?

How do you make the dreadmill miles pass faster?

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