Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 8 November 18, 2012

Race Week Tips

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you had a good training week.

1-      Taper: Up to now you have trained hard enough, so taper week is the pay back for that effort. On the week before the race, scale back your training to let your body recover from the tireless work you had put forward. Cut your training in half from the previous week, and enjoy the extra time off. You will be plenty busy with Thanksgiving preparations anyways!

2-      On race day, don’t forget your breakfast: Have your regular breakfast and yes, you can drink coffee. One to two cups of coffee a couple of hours before the race will not interfere with your running (now, if you drink that coffee 15 min before the gun goes off… you might be running for the next port-a-potty J)

3-      Stay hydrated during the race: If you think that your race will take you more than one hour, bringing an isotonic drink with you on the run will help by giving you that extra oomph instead of feeling drained after an hour. Use this taper week to try different brands and find the one you will like. My favorites are the Nuun tablets. They are mild in taste and are gentler than Gatorade. (Make sure you try them before the race, don’t try anything new on race day.) If you are going to finish within an hour, you can just take water at the hydration tables at the race. But don’t forget to grab them! You will feel much better at the end!

4-      Dress in layers: It might be cold, it might get warmer… you wish you could predict the weather! Dressing up in layers will take the pressure off. As you feel that you are warming up, start peeling the layers so you can run comfortably. One piece of clothing that became one of my favorites lately is a pair of arm warmers. These are sleeves that run from wrist to shoulder that you can use when cold and then can pull down to your wrists when you warm up. If you are wearing a top with back pockets, you can also store the arm warmers in there. They take little room, and you won’t have to deal with carrying a long sleeve shirt during the race.

5-      Hold your pace: This is your race! Make sure you hold your pace and don’t try to run anybody else’s race. Stick to what you know and trained for. In the end, this will give you a better experience than trying to run faster or pushing it harder to keep up with other runners.

6-      Post-race nutrition: The race organizers have that all taken care off! Chef Roscoe will be there to share his bounty! Stay for the after race party  and share your experience with the rest of the runners J

We are in Taper week this week. Training is reduced your by about half of the previous week which will reduce fatigue and increase performance during the race. Even if you missed a few of the last week’s runs, take it easy this week; you will be better off going to the race undertrained than over-trained. I promise you!!

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
8	40	30	off	20	off	race!!	20

 

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation.

* This 20 min run will help you recover better by “cleaning” the byproducts left from the race’s high intensity exercise. Run the 20 min at the easiest pace you can (walk as much as you need).

Do strength training (ST) early in the week this week, and only one session. Save your legs for the race .

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us” 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and good luck in the race!!!

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 7 November 12, 2012

Nutrition

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you had a good training week (and that your power has been restored!!!).

When talking about nutrition this week, one thing I won’t be worried about is that you might be undernourished for the Westfield Turkey Trot:-) Today we will talk about race day nutrition, but just let me get a little thing about nutrition in general out of the way. (The long version might lead to another blog later on.)

We have all heard that a healthy diet can reduce the risk of major chronic illnesses, such as heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, and some cancers. Now, what is a healthy diet? A healthy diet consists of mostly fresh, unprocessed foods, all types of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and healthy fats, including nuts and seeds. (There, I said it, now let’s get going with race day nutrition.)

If you want to cook more food on Friday after Thanksgiving to follow the famous “carbo-loading” tradition previous to competition, please, be my guest, but you don’t have to do so, especially if your total time will be less than one hour and a half (which I’m sure it will be!!!).

Let’s talk race day breakfast:

1. Don’t skip it!
2. Keep it simple. Eat toast, oatmeal or a bagel. Stay clear of heavy fatty foods, they will hold you back!!
3. Stay well hydrated. On Friday drink lots of water during the day. On Saturday, if you are used to drink coffee in the morning, go ahead and drink a cup or two one to one hour and a half before the race, so you don’t have to “race” for the port-a-potties!
4. If your breakfast was at 7 AM, bring a snack with you to have 30-15 min before the race starts

During the race:

1. If you will be running for one hour or longer, you might want to bring a sports drink with you to the race and drink a gulp every 15 min.
2. If your race will last less than one hour, the water at the hydration stations will be enough, but don’t forget to take them!

After the race:

The race organizers have it covered!!

Chef Roscoe will be there to share his bounty! Here is a sample of some of the yummy foods: butternut squash soup with apples, fresh fruit skewers, and veggie wraps!

If you can’t stay after the race, make sure to keep on drinking water or even better, sport drinks and have some snacks within 30-60 min of finishing the run. This will help you recover better and faster.

Next week I will have an itemized list of tips for race day. Stay tuned!!

As you can see, this week’s long run is quite short (45’), that is because on Sunday 11/18, you start “Taper Week.” Taper week is the week before a race, where training volume is reduced by about 50% keeping the same intensity. This kind of “reduction” of training will diminish fatigue and increase your performance during the race. I know we had a crazy couple of weeks and if you couldn’t fit in your long runs you might be tempted to do so next weekend. Do not! If you can fit that missed long run early this week, go ahead and do so, other than that, let it go. You will be better off going to the race a little bit under-trained than over-trained. I promise you!!

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
7	45	off	50	x	30	35	45

 

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

The X means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc. If you are a complete beginner, you can take those (X) days off.

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us” 

Happy training and see you next Sunday, Nov 18

Next week’s topic: Race Week Tips

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 6 November 5, 2012

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you are doing well and that your power is back!

I promised a Nutrition blog today, but due to the circumstances, I’ll spare you and we will resume with our regular blog next week.

Wishing you all the best, here is this week’s training schedule.

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
6	off	40	off	45	off	4 m* or 66 min	30

 * the Westfield Turkey Trot have a 4m scheduled on Sat Nov 10th (this is from http://www.practicehard.com/EventView.asp?eid=957 : Meet at 9 a.m. for a full 5 Mile Run along the Turkey Trot course at 9:30 a.m. See http://www.WestfieldTurkeyTrot.com for details and to R.S.V.P. to join us – NO fee!) 

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

The X means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc. If you are a complete beginner, you can take those (X) days off.

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us” 

Happy training and see you next Sunday, Nov 11

Next week’s topic: Nutrition

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 5 October 29, 2012

Workout intensity (keep it varied)

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you had a good training week.

By now, you know how important being consistent and overloading your system are so your training is as effective as it could be. Today we will focus on intensity and the need to mix it up. I will keep it short because I know you are more worried about Sandy than anything else this week, but if you have any questions, drop me a line.

What do I mean with mixing up the intensity? What I’m saying here is that you don’t have to be running hard all the time. If you are a beginner you might be thinking: running equals hard! How do I run easy! That makes no sense! And you will be right.

At the beginning running is ALWAYS hard! I’ve been there too. So how do you make it easier? Well, if you are healthy and you have been running consistently, running eventually will become easier. In the meantime, jog at an easier pace or pepper the runs with walking if you can’t find that easier pace. Now if you can run and find a comfortable pace, then run some days of the week at that easy pace and others at a more intense pace, alternating hard and easy runs. This Hard/Easy is another of the variables of training, and will add at your consistency and overloading ones that you are already applying to it (right?;-). Your long runs are going to be hard, then the next run should be easier, after that you can do a short run at a higher intensity pace and then an easy run again, and so on. Running hard all the time can lead to injury, and running always easy won’t make you better either.

Mix it up! Give your system a shock and then let it recover, that’s the best way to an affective training program.

Easy day, running down hill 🙂

As you can see I left Tues and Weds free. We might have to do some cross training those days. Last year Irene brought me a swimming pool. Let’s see what Sandy brings us now.

Stay safe, go to the gym tomorrow and pick up the training when you can and is safe to run outdoors.

By the way, on Sat Nov 10^th, the organizers of the Westfield Turkey Trot are holding a 4m training run for the race. They will have water and bagels at the end, so go check them out and RSVP if you are planning to go. I will schedule it on that week’s training.

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
5	40	off	x	35	35	X	60

 

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

The X means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc. If you are a complete beginner, you can take those (X) days off.

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us” 

Happy training and see you next Sunday, Nov 4 (I’ll be tired after running NYC marathon, but I’ll be here!!)

Next week’s topic: Nutrition

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 4 October 22, 2012

Back to Basics: the importance of building an aerobic base (part 2)

The Long Run

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you had a good training week.

We have already discussed the importance of setting up objectives, wearing the right shoes, keeping a workout log, and consistency of the weekly workouts. And of course, I’m sure you already signed up for the race!!

Today we will talk about the importance of the long run and how to survive them.

The long runs will get you ready for the distance of the race, in this case 5 miles. As frequency of the workouts is important to build up an aerobic base, completing one long workout per week will help your body get ready for the distance of the coming race. These long workouts will overload your system. Overload is another variable of effective training. You have to overload your body to make it respond and adapt to the new demand. In plainer terms: you have to get out of your comfort zone to see results.

The long runs are already challenging in themselves, so if you need to walk part of them, it’s absolutely OK. As long as you do one of these long runs a week, all running or a combination of run/ walk, your body will slowly adapt to the extra stress and eventually you will notice the positive changes in response to exercise.

I hope your long runs aren’t as hilly as Passo Stelvio, IT, but they might feel just as hard!

If you think that the race will take you more than one hour to complete, it is a good idea to bring a sport drink with you on the long runs and also to the race. Start by choosing a sport drink, these are better than bringing just water because they have electrolytes and carbohydrates. Investigations in the subject have demonstrated that in exercise as short as one hour, consuming carbohydrates improves performance. The electrolytes will replace the minerals lost in sweating, making rehydration easier and faster, and the carbs will supply fuel to the muscles in action. There are many kinds and makes to choose from. Lately one of my favorites are the Nuun tablets. These tablets dissolve in water and have a mild taste, in case that the most commonly found sport drinks are not of your liking. (You can find Nuun at The Running Company). Start carrying a bottle with isotonic drinks for the long runs to get used to the taste, drinking while running and the weight of the bottle (bring it half-full first and progressively add more fluids to get used to the extra weight).

This week’s training is a bit easier than week 3 (see the downward arrow by week 4?). This is because I follow the training principles of periodization. The key of this method is to give the muscles adequate time to rest, so they can keep adapting to the increased stress. If you just keep on adding stress to the body without rest, the consequences will be hitting a premature plateau and or injury, and we don’t want either of those in our training! Even if you feel that you can keep on increasing the distances and time, trust me, take it easier this week, it will give you an even increased energy to get started all over on week 5 and keep on increasing the stress.

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
4↓	35	off	40	X	35	X	53

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

The X means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc. If you are a complete beginner, you can take those (X) days off.

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us”

Happy training and see you next Sunday, Oct 28 🙂

Next week’s topic: Workout intensity (keep it varied)

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 3 October 15, 2012

Running consistently will build up your aerobic base

Back to Basics: the importance of building an aerobic base (part 1)

Welcome back to the Westfield Turkey Trot training blog! Hope you had a good training week.

Today we will talk about the importance of running consistently, so you can build up an aerobic base.  Your weekly short runs are the bread and butter of your aerobic training. That said, the long runs have their value too, we will discuss them next week.

If you have been consistent with your running for the past 3-4 weeks (run 3-4 times a week, with no more than 2 days off in a row) you should see a difference in your body’s response to exercise. There is no magic, if you run consistently and you are healthy, with enough time, the same distance at the same pace should have become easier.

Among the many training variables there are to make training efficient, one of them is frequency. Let’s say that last week you ran on Mon, then things got busy and the next run you were able to do was Friday, and then nothing during the weekend, and the next run you might be able to do will be on Tues of this week. Well, that was not a good week for building up your aerobic base. If this happens once in a while and you have been training consistently for a long time, you can get away with it, but if this happens constantly, then you will not be able to see a positive change in your training. Your body has no chance to adapt to the stimulus, in this case, running and what happens is that your system “forgets” what you did last time, and has to start all over again.  (Remember – use it or lose it?)

As we talked about it during week 1, setting up short term objectives will help you stay in track, so go ahead and plan those workouts in advance, and if running the 40 min scheduled for that day is not possible, 20 min of running is better than nothing.

What to do with those missed running days? If it’s one to 4 days, skip them and follow the training plan. If you missed 5 or more days in the schedule, you should go back to the beginning of that week, and start from where you last worked out. This will set you back one week in the 8 training schedule, but is safer than trying to catch up and getting hurt. You will be much better off undertrained than sick or with a soft tissue injury! I promise!!

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
3	Off	40	X	40	35	X	57

• The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).
• The X means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc.  If you are a complete beginner, you can take those (X) days off.
• If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us”

Happy training and see you next Sunday, Oct 21 J

Next week’s topic: Back to Basics: the importance of building an aerobic base: The long run (part 2)

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 2 October 7, 2012

What to Wear

Choosing the Right Footwear

Having the right running shoes is like having the right tool to do the work. Luckily, nowadays, there are many types of running shoes, and I’m sure you will find the ones that will fit you best.

How old are your shoes?

I’ll give you a few tips in choosing the right one:

1-    go shopping for running shoes at the end of the day, when your feet are the most swollen

2-    go to a running specialty store to get your running shoes

3-    know your arch type: high, neutral or low

4-    have a specialist look at your stride (mid foot, rear foot)

5-    try on different makes

6-    your running shoes should be from a half to a whole size larger than your regular footwear

7-    change them after 300-500 miles

8-    use them just for running

Luckily, here in Westfield we have a specialty store just for that, and the personnel at the Westfield Running Company do a great job in helping customers to find the right shoe for their needs. They even have a treadmill in the store, which helps them when looking at the runner’s foot strike.

Clothing

Besides having the right shoes, in running, the right kind of socks also plays an important role in keeping blisters away. The best types are the ones made out of synthetic materials and anatomically shaped to each foot. Synthetic materials have wicking properties and retain less moisture than cotton, and the anatomical shape, keeps them in place by being adaptable to the foot shape, reducing the likelihood of extra fabric generating friction.

anatomically fitted socks for right and left foot

Lastly, for us girls, a good running bra is our best friend. The best kind for running is the sport bra, now is up to you to find the one that fits you best. Just like the socks, the right sport bra should stay in place, not have extra fabric, and should be made out of wicking material. Also, you should change your sport bra at the same time you change your shoes.

Here is this coming week’s training schedule. Hope you did great with the last week one. Please let me know!

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
2	Off	35	40	X	30	Off or XT	52

The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

The x means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc.  If you are a complete beginner, take those (X) days off and let me know so I can set you up with a non-running to running 20 min straight program.

XT: Cross-training

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

Next week’s topic: Back to Basics: the importance of building an aerobic base

Here you have the Westfield Patch blog on   Running Log

Have a great week, and stay healthy! See you in cyberspace next Sun, 10/14 🙂

For more info, check out my book: “RUNNING For Girls Like Us”

Turkey Trot 5 Mile Training- Week 1 October 4, 2012

Hi, welcome to the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m training!

I’m sure you already talked to your doctor, found a buddy to share the pain… I mean the enjoyment of training, and started looking for your old running/walking shoes, and started also thinking about getting new ones. The last two, are optional, the first one is not though!

Great, now that we are all set up, let’s get ready for this week’s homework: setting up objectives; the more specific the objectives, the easier will be to achieve them, so, let’s get started!

Hopefully, you already signed up for the race, and if you didn’t, go ahead, I’ll wait… Ready? Ok then, let’s get going.

Main objective: (finish the race, walk less – run more, finish in such and such time, beat so and so, and/or not get beaten by so-and-so by 30 min or more;-). Make sure that it is easy to measure and fits within your fitness level. Such as if this is your first 5m and your last 5k took you 40 min, let’s set up a time for this race more close to 1:10’ than 45’, you know what I mean?

______________________________________________

Short term objectives: These ones will help you reach the main objective. Let’s set up three, such as: I will set up the alarm clock at 6 a.m. to fit in a run before… (Work, the kids get up, the dog needs a walk, etc.)

1-________________________________

2-________________________________

3-________________________________

I’m assuming that you have some running background, if not, keep on reading, and please let me know that you are there.

Run, Gloria, Run!

A few things to take into consideration that will help you stick to the program and have a great race:

1-      Start slowly

2-      Set up appointments to exercise

3-      Find a support group

4-      Make your goal public (you can start by telling us in this blog!!)

5-      Keep an exercise log

6-      Be patient, as long as you stick to it, good changes will come along!

7-      Have fun!!!!!!

1- To begin, if you have been inactive for the last few months, starting slowly is a must. For those of you who have been racing during the summer, you can pick up from where you left, but still taking it easy to make sure you get to race day in top form.

2- Then, establishing habits will set you free from making choices. Write down in your calendar the exercise sessions, so you don’t have to spend time and effort trying to fit it in during your busy day. I’m giving you a schedule, put it in your calendar and that’s it, you don’t have to think about it again.

3- Finding a support group will make things easier, either by running with a buddy or having help at home or work by letting know people what you are up to, so when you go for your run, you have somebody to cover your back.

4- This one will help you be accountable. If you tell everybody that you are running a 5m, then you better do it! You don’t want to let your loved ones down, do you?

5- Similarly, keeping an exercise log will let you know where you came from, where you are at that time, and where you have to go. It will serve as a guide and a testament of your hard work, especially on race week, when you will most likely ask yourself if you are ready for it. (Here you have an example: Westf. Turkey trot-2012 you can also go to the Patch for indications on how to use it: )

6- Lastly, trust me. I have been doing this for a long time and I have the credentials to prove my expertise. If you are patient enough and follow the progressive training program, you will see results.

7- Enjoy yourself! It will make the running time go faster!

So, with no more to say by now, here I present you this week’s training program, have fun!!!!!

8 Week Training Schedule for the Westfield Turkey Trot 5m – 2012

Week	M	T	W	Th	F	Sa	Su
1	30	Off	X	35	30	X	45

The x means that if you have been racing during the summer, you should do some kind of cross-training exercises, such as swimming, biking, elliptical machine, etc.  If you are a complete beginner, take those (X) days off and let me know so I can set you up with a non-running to running 20 min straight program.The numbers are minutes of walk/jog, jog, or run at a pace that will allow you to have a conversation (see why I want you to have a buddy? ;-).

If you do strength training (ST) exercises and you just started running, do the ST exercises on non-running days.

Hope this helps for the first week, you can always ask me questions though!

Have a great week, and see you on(line) Sunday 10/7 (I liked this, Julie!)

Gloria

(next week’s topic: getting new shoes!)