Katherine Claire: Life

Why I Won't Be Running a Marathon Anytime Soon

Late last night around midnight I came to a HUGE realization as I was preparing to get up at 6:00am for my 14 mile long run before class--Why am I doing this?

All week I had been stressing over when I was going to get my long run in for the week--and to make matters more stressful, the weather forecast after tomorrow has been saying nothing but rain for over a week. I had been really feeling the pressure to get up, run for 2 hours, and get to class on time--but for what?

Lately I have caught myself saying that if don't get my miles in that I'm letting myself down, that I'm being a quitter and that I'm already weeks behind in training because of my injury so I can't lose anymore mileage. I have been putting so much pressure on myself to run a marathon this year, especially since I ran 2 half-marathons last year--but why? I had been convincing myself that it was something I really wanted to do, but in reality it isn't--not right now in my life anyway.

I felt like it was expected of me to run a full marathon after conquering the half and that if I didn't--was I really a runner?

Yes. I. Am.

I had a realization this evening that running was becoming more of a chore than something I enjoy doing. I LOVE running. I love the freedom in just mindlessly running forward and I love being able to spend some quiet time with my thoughts--but having a training schedule and not having a reason for running more than my comfortable 10 mile that was for me, made me begin to fall out of love with it. I have been dreading putting on my running shoes lately, and honestly, I don't care if I ever run a marathon in my lifetime.

Don't get me wrong--I think running a marathon is an amazing achievement, and props to you if you have or are planning to, I just don't think that it's for me at this point in my lifetime.

I love running--And I don't need to prove that I'm a runner to anyone else. I believe that I am, and running a marathon or not, is NOT going to change that.

Claire

March 23, 2017
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How I Deal With an Injury

Fitness

I am currently on the road to recovery with a knee injury--literally the WORST--and to avoid the FOMO of watching other runners run past my window, I have been doing a lot of different forms or cross-training to not only stay in shape and keep my body working hard, but also to strengthen the muscles around my knees.

When I first began to feel serious pain in my knee, I turned to yoga. Yoga is such a great form of exercise for recovering from injury and preventing injury. I am lucky enough to have yoga classes offered most days of the week at my university's gym that range from more mellow forms of yoga to power yoga. I usually go 3 times a week--twice for power yoga in the evening and once in the morning for regular yoga, but somedays, when I either can't make it to the class time or there isn't one being offered, I'll do a Yoga With Adriene video. Yoga With Adriene has been amazing for allowing me to practice yoga without even having to leave my dorm room! Her videos range from yoga flows that are aimed more towards stretching to flows that involve a lot more power and strength. They are super great at helping me make sure I get a lot more stretching in than I used to and strengthening and using different muscles that I normally wouldn't.

Alongside yoga, I incorporated some HIIT. At first, to increase strength in my legs, I stuck to low-impact HIIT and then as the muscles in my legs grew stronger and my injury subsided more, I began to include more higher impact HIIT moves. My personal favorite way to HIIT train is through Lucy Wyndham-Read's YouTube channel. I have been doing Lucy's HIIT workouts for about a year now and she offers everything from toning, to low-impact, to high-impact--anything for anyone at any level. Her workouts can range from 4 minute HIIT routines to longer 15 minute ones and what's great about all of her workouts is that she has both high and low impact options for all of the moves--so I could still do all of my favorite workout videos of hers and just substitute the low impact for any moves that caused pain in my knee. Incorporating HIIT training into my recovery plant allowed me to keep up my cardio, without having to turn to the elliptical--personally, not a fan.

I also did physical therapy on my knee with exercises that I was given by a doctor that targeted where I really needed to build the most strength. All of these things combined have really helped me speed up the recovery process and have kept me busy and active while being unable to run.

Although I am not 100% yet, I am getting closer to pounding the pavement again full-time!

Claire
xx

Yoga With Adriene

Lucy Wyndham-Read

February 15, 2017
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What's In My Fridge -- Dorm Style!

Food

Just like watching and reading 'what I eat in a days', I love 'what's in my fridge' videos and posts as well! Just me being the super nosy person that I am...

Since I love these kinds of posts, I thought I would make my own--but in a dorm! Living in a dorm means not really having that much space for food storage because, unless you are blessed with a single, it means you share a micro fridge with 1-3 other people. I happen to only have one roommate so we just make sure to share the space pretty equally between the two of us!

I always, always, always make sure I am stocked on fruit. It is such a staple in my diet and I am lucky enough that I can get most of my fruit using my meal plan at on campus markets. Pretty much the only fruit I go out and buy from the grocery store is apples because, no offense if you actually like these, but my school only sells red delicious apples, and, well, they are certainly not delicious--I've got high standards for my apples. I usually go out and get a bag of a few honey crisp apples every once and a while, keeping in mind that I need to make sure not to get too many at once so that there is enough space for both of us in the fridge. I also keep a fruit salad that I prep about twice a week or so and some grapes that I just washed and put into containers that the market sells melon in to add to my fruit bowls when I have them. For the fruit salad, I just further chop up pre-sliced cantaloupe that I get at the market and cut up some strawberries and a honey crisp apple.

Some other staple items that I always have in the fridge are nut-cheeses, a type of nut-milk, hummus, and peanut butter. I usually get a bunch of these little containers of almond milk from the grocery store and just keep one in the fridge. They're the perfect size for a small space and it's super helpful that until opened, they don't have to be refrigerated, so I can always make sure I have enough, without taking over the fridge. As for the nut-cheeses, I can't get any of these where I am for school so I usually just stock up on them whenever I am home. My favorite is the Kite Hill almond cream cheese--hence why I have quite a few. It is perfect for spreading on bagels and having with crackers if I want a quick snack. I also have a Heidi Ho cashew cheese and a Kite Hill soft ripened almond cheese to have with crackers when I want a little variety. Hummus is another item that I usually stock up on before coming back to school from home. I always get the Trader Joe's roasted garlic hummus and, sadly, right now I only have the end of one container left! (I've been eating a lot of hummus lately....) Peanut butter is the last must-have item for me to always have in the fridge. Like the almond milk, I buy a bunch at once and just keep the opened one in the fridge. I always get the Trader Joe's creamy peanut butter because it is honestly the best peanut butter I have ever had! I love always having it on hand to have with a banana.

Right now I also have some Arrabiata sauce that I got at Trader Joe's back home for when I cook pasta in the microwave and a container of baby carrots from the school markets that I like to have with hummus. Then I just have a tiny bit of an avocado that I was lucky enough to find at the market! It is very rare that they have any that aren't super mushy, so whenever I get my hands on a ripe one I make sure to make it last!

In the freezer section of the micro fridge I keep some bagels that I got at Bruegger's back home. I am kind of picky when it comes to bagels, and I really only like fresh, fluffy ones! Anytime I go home I make sure to bring a dozen back to freeze! Then I just have the most exciting thing ever--an ice pack! Always necessary to have as a runner!

Being on a plant-based diet while living in the dorms can be pretty challenging because I can't always have the whole foods that I want and as much of it as I want on hand, so I thought I would share what I keep in my fridge to make being plant-based as easy as possible!

Claire
xx

Almond Breeze Unsweetened Original Almond Milk

Kite Hill Plain Cream Cheese Style Spread

Heidi Ho Cashew Cheese

Kite Hill Soft Ripened Almond Cheese

Trader Joe's Creamy No Salt Organic Peanut Butter

Trader Joe's Arrabiata Sauce

Burger's New York Style Bagels

Ace Hot + Cold Pack