There is no better food combination than peanut butter, banana, and chocolate--so good.

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

xx

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

I love to run so my workouts revolve heavily around my running schedule.

I liked to run 2-3 times a week, depending on the lengths of my runs. At the moment they range anywhere from a 5k to a 10 mile, so some weeks I might run an 8 mile, and maybe a 5k and/or a 10k, and other weeks I might run a 10 mile and a 5 mile. It really all depends on how I am feeling that day, or week, since currently I am not training for anything, but I love running long distance so I usually keep my mileage pretty high.

For my post-run I always do what is known in the running community as Myrtle. It is essentially mobility, strength for the hips. Again, depending on how long I've run and how I am feeling that day, I will either do 1 or 2 rounds of this.

Myrtle (each move on both legs)

15 clams

15 leg lifts (5 foot flexed up, 5 foot flexed straight, 5 foot flexed downward)

15 fire hydrants

15 forward leg circles

15 backward leg circles

10 donkey kicks

10 donkey whips

15 standing forward leg circles

15 standing backward leg circles

I also like to do abs post-run, and, surprise-surprise, what I do depends on the length of my run and how I feel. I have two different routines I tend to do the most, one I do more after shorter runs and the other after longer runs where I may feel a bit more fatigued/run down afterwards.

Post-Shorter Run Abs (2 rounds)

1 minute center plank

15 side plank raises (each side)

15 lower ab leg raises

10 lower ab single leg raises (each leg)

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast  x4

10 jack knives

50 Russian twists

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast  x4

30 crunches

15 side crunches (each side)

Post-Longer Run Abs (2 rounds)

1:15-1:30 minute center plank

15 side plank raises (each side)

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast    x2

15 lower ab leg raises

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast    x2

10 lower ab single leg raises (each leg)

Stretching is probably the most important part of my post-run. Anytime that I don't stretch after a run, I really feel it. I usually hold each single leg stretch for 20-30 seconds and each stretch for both legs at the same time for 30-40 seconds.

Stretching Routine

Standing toe touch

Standing right-over-left leg toe touch

Standing left-over-right leg toe touch

Sitting toe touch

Sitting single leg toe touch (both legs)

Butterfly

Downward-dog single leg calf stretch (both legs)

Pigeon stretch (each leg)

Runners lunge (each leg)

In-between running days I love doing HIIT. I can end up doing 2-4 HIIT days, depending on my running schedule.

I love HIIT. I find it such a great way to strength train, and keep up cardio, without the gym and without weights. I have never been one to enjoy weight training and almost a year ago I discovered High Intensity Interval Training. I was watching Anna Saccone's videos on YouTube and she started posting a summer workout series with her trainer, Lucy Wyndham-Read. I ended up loving this style of strength training so ever since then I have been using Lucy's videos for HIIT. She has so many videos on her channel that range from 4-minute HIIT workouts to longer 15-minute HIIT workouts. She also has low impact HIIT workouts and toning workouts. Because there is so much variety and so many different workouts, I will usually do a few of her videos on a HIIT day, adding up to 20-45 minutes, depending on intensity.

A lot of Lucy's HIIT workouts involve the use of the core, so for post-HIIT I do a short and simple ab routine, just to get a little extra core burn. This ab routine was inspired by the one done at the end of Anna's Summer Workout Routine Week 4 video, in case the moves don't make complete sense as I've described.

Ab Routine (2 rounds)

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast    x2

20 side-to-side leg taps (10 each side)

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast    x2

20 in-out leg taps

5 slow bicycles, 10 fast    x2

20 diamond leg lifts

I also do the same stretching routine that I do on running days after abs.

I make sure to have at least one recovery day a week. I usually take active recovery days, so I will do yoga and/or pilates. This just gives my muscles a bit of a rest, but not letting them get stiff by lying around all day. I like to take time to stretch them out and work any body part that doesn't necessarily feel like it got worked hard enough the rest of the week. Some days I will just do yoga or pilates, and some days I will do a bit of both, but I like to keep it usually pretty relaxed and slower-paced than on workout days.

For yoga I will either go to a class at my university's gym or I will do a Yoga With Adriene video. A lot of the time the classes at my gym aren't at convenient times or are just too crowded, so I will do a yoga video in the comfort of my dorm room. The thing I love most about being able to do a yoga video is that I can pick what the yoga flow will be. Some days I'll want more of a slow, stretching form of yoga or one that targets specific body parts that I don't stretch as much or at all in my normal stretching routine, and other days I will want to do more of a power yoga flow. One of my favorites from Adriene's channel is the Runner's Yoga because it really focuses on stretching out the legs for runners.

I have never been to an actual pilates class in an actual pilates studio, but I do love doing Blogilates' videos. Cassey Ho's videos are great for when I want to do some low-impact strength training, that also involves some stretching and using muscles in ways I wouldn't normally. Some long-run days I won't do abs at all after, so I will do a Blogilates video that targets abs, and sometimes I will do a quick total body workout from Cassey's channel. Like Yoga With Adriene, it is nice to be able to pick a video that targets exactly what I want, and the thing I love most about the pilates element of these video is the fact that pilates uses a lot of moves that use different muscles in different ways.

Claire

xx

Anna Saccone

Lucy Wyndham-Read

Yoga With Adriene

Blogilates

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