Increasing Running Mileage

I'd like to introduce you to a blog friend, Alycia, who just finished her first 5-mile race over Memorial Day Weekend.

Here's the sweaty proof of just how hard she was pushing herself in the race (she's in the middle).

Recently, Alycia started running longer distances and she has learned quite a few valuable lessons along the way.  She has offered to share her wisdom with us in this post!  Take it away, girl!

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Hey guys, Alycia here from Fit n Fresh, the place where I babble about the fit happenings and fresh eats in my crazy life! When the lovely Miss Ali requested guest bloggers for Redhead Reports - I was only too thrilled to oblige!  My post is going to focus on how to increase your running distance. Being fairly new to running, I didn’t really think there was much to it before besides, well, you know, running.

Oh how wrong I was! There is much much more to long distance than I originally thought. Here are a few tips I’ve uncovered to get you out there and upping your mileage in no time!


The Golden 10% Rule

This is probably one of the most important things to remember when increasing your mileage: Never increase more than 10% at a time. This means if last week, you ran 10 miles total then this week you should max out at 11 miles. If you ran 20 miles last week, this week you should max out at 22 miles. This is key to safely increasing your distances. By doing too much too soon, you greatly increase your chances of fatigue and injury and, trust me, nobody wants that!


Give Your Legs A Break

It is never beneficial to workout the same muscles two days in a row and the same is true for your legs. They need a break in order to rebuild muscle tissue and repair tears so try not to run too many days in a row. Normally, I run four days a week. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. I always make sure that my Thursday runs are easier on my poor, tired legs!


Mix It Up A Little

When building up your mileage, it’s better to alternate between long and shorts runs than to run the same amount every day. This helps you build up to making your long runs even longer. I do my short runs on Mondays and Thursday and my long runs on Wednesdays and Saturdays. It’s always good to have fresh legs for your long runs and to aim for your longest run to be your last running day of the week.


Be Comfortable

I can tell you from personal experience - running SUCKS if you’re not 100% comfy! A couple things I always make sure I do before a run:

• Put on good running sneakers. Sometimes the shoe is what’s really holding you back!
• Wear light, breathable clothing and a supportive sports bra.
• Pin my hair out of my face (I absolutely hate when my bangs hit me repeatedly in the eye!)
• Hydrate aplenty during the day so that I’m not dehydrated during my run
• Strap on my iPod for some serious jam sessions and musical motivation

Just Keep Swimming

Come up with a mantra! Something to keep you motivated when your runs get hard. I’m constantly psyching myself up, especially on long runs and during races. My personal favorite: “You can do anything for five minutes!” And normally five minutes is all it takes to get me back in the game. Another secret of mine? Sometimes - I just start counting. I’m not really sure why I do it, but it helps to draw my focus off of what’s going on around me to what’s going on inside me. Try it next time! I promise it helps.


Smile!

Retaining a positive outlook through your runs is crucial to completing them. I once got a fortune that said “If you think you can’t, you can’t. If you think you can, you can. Either way, you’re right.” The Chinese are wise for a reason, people. Running is often more mental than it is physical. If you think you can do it - you will do it. Never sell yourself short.


Body Language

Listen to your body. All of these other tips are great, but there’s a difference between pushing through a hard workout and pushing through PAIN. If it’s pain you’re feeling, never hesitate to take a couple days off. Remember: you’re running to improve your health, not worsen it!


Reach For The Stars

Set a goal for yourself! And when you complete it, set another one! There’s no limit to how far you can go - I have a cousin that just finished his second 100 mile race!! The only person that could ever keep you back would be y-o-u. So go show yourself what you’re really made of. (:

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I hope this has inspired you guys to get out there today and go for a nice, long run - but not too long! I’d like to thank Ali for letting me do this guest post and all of you for reading it! Oh and check out my blog sometime if you’re feeling up to it, I’d love to see you there (:


Happy running!

Rainy Day

This morning, I woke up before it started to rain and went for a run around the neighborhood.  I set a new personal distance record: 6.2 miles!  It took just over an hour for me to finish my run, and by the time I got home, I was ready for breakfast!

I was incredibly thirsty, so my first priority was fresh-squeezed orange juice.

I cooked up some "Migas Verdes".  I scrambled a few eggs, crumbled tortilla chips, and verde salsa in the skillet, then chopped up a few green onions and sprinkled some cheese on top.  I added more chips and salsa around the perimeter of the bowl.

I had a couple bites of this before I made myself a bowl of cereal:  Special K with a sliced banana, peanut butter, and ground flaxseed. 

After breakfast, my body was ready for some rest!  Naptime!

We made a quick trip to the store to buy some charcoal before lunch.  Austin fired up the grill for steaks.

He also grilled some corn on the cob.

We had sweet potatoes and mushrooms on the side.

We ate outside on the patio so we could watch the rain.

Dozie was very curious about what we were eating for lunch.

Of course, he had to balance the t-bone on his head before he got to eat it.

But it was definitely worth his effort.

For dessert, we tried a VitaBrownie.  It was very chocolatey and delicious.  I added the pecans myself because I prefer to have a "crunch" with my brownies.

If only I had a bowl of ice cream to go with it, this would've been perfect.

I've also tried the Vitatops.  These 100 calorie "muffin tops" are great for an easy snack.  Just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds, and it's ready to eat!  I love the nutritional facts behind them, too.

We made a short shopping trip to the outlet mall, then came back home to watch a movie. 

We watched Earth.  It was an inseresting educational film about the earth and the creatures who live here.  There were lots of baby animals in the movie!  My favorite scene was when the Mandarin ducklings were jumping out of their nest for the first time - they were fearless about free-falling to the ground below.  Fortunately, their crash-landings were cushioned by the piles of leaves beneath their nest in the tree.

The rest of the rainy evening was spent reading, doing laundry, and baking homemade raisin bread. I'm planning on using the bread to make french toast in the morning.

What is your favorite rainy-day activity?

I like to listen to the rain while curled up reading a romance novel.

Indulgence

Lately, I've been attempting to maintain my self-control around snacks.  I failed today.

Or, if you're a glass half-full type of person, I succeeded at increasing my indulgence!  Which technically I deserved to reward myself, since I set a new personal record on my 2-mile run yesterday!

I went a little nuts and ate an entire bar of Orange Dark Chocolate, along with four Fig Newmans.

No, you don't need to have your vision checked: you read that correctly!  I ate all of this for a snack.  A little excessive, perhaps.  Am I feeling slightly dizzy from all the sugar and deliciousness?  Yes, as a matter of fact I am.

Where did these goodies come from?  Sally at Newman's Own Organics hooked me up with the best care package ever!

Newman's Own Organics is the Second Generation of Newman's Own.  The ingredients list on all of these items contain the word "organic".

Be careful, though, because apparently there is such a thing as "organic corn sugar".  Just because it's organic doesn't mean you should eat it by the bucketful.

To demonstrate why I felt the need to make this statement, see below:

As soon as this guy walked in the door, he was ripping open bags and munching down on snacks.

Full-disclosure: He's a vulture.  He eats everything. 

Want to know a little about the soy crisps that he's eating?

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  Serving Size: 1 oz, Calories per Serving: 110, Calories from fat: 20, Total Fat: 2.5g (saturated fat: 0gm, trans fat: 0g), Cholesterol: 0mg, Sodium: 650mg, Total Carbohydrates: 14g (dietary fiber: 3g, sugars: less than 1g), Protein: 9g

I had an interesting conversation with Sally about these.  They have a very high protein content - at 9g of protein per serving - which caused Austin and I to ask a question regarding the "soy" ingredient in these crisps.  As we suspected, they are made from unfermented soy.  Now, I'm not an expert on soy, but I do know that fermented soy is proven to be healthier than unfermented.  Some research indicates that there are risks associated with unfermented soy, such as skewing estrogen hormone levels in both men and women.  I encourage you to do your own research on this matter, but here's my outlook: eat everything in moderation and you'll be just fine.

Anyway, the crisps taste great!

Moving on to what I have deemed "the best cookie ever":

Newman's-O's are a healthier version of Oreo's.  They are made out of organic ingredients, with a much lower fat content than Oreo's.  Oh, and did I mention that they taste amazing?  The mint-chocolate flavor is my favorite.  I keep accidentally referring to them as Oreo's though.  I guess Newman's-O's just doesn't roll off the tongue quite as easily.

While we were stuffing our faces with treats, Dozer was sitting in the corner looking awfully pathetic.

Okay, who am I kidding?  Jack Russell Terriers do not sit still.  As usual, he was jumping up and down attempting to snag a crumb of whatever we were eating.

Fortunately, Newman's Own Organics has a line of organic dog food that Dozer was lucky enough to sample.

He loved it.  And clearly he's no longer interested in his dry kibble.  "That sh*t's for the birds".

Dozer was completely satisfied with his organic dog food.  But we didn't stop there.  It was his lucky day: he also got to sample a Salmon & Sweet Potato treat!

We took this opportunity to work on his begging skills.  He likes to paw at the air.  He probably thinks this improves his chances of earning the treat.  He would be correct.

Do you teach your pets tricks?

Dozer is quite the talented pup!  He can sit, stay, lay down, stand up, beg, jump, balance food on his nose, kennel-up, and fetch.

New Shoes

This week is National Women's Health Week.  In observance of this occasion, I'd like to give a fitness update.

I've been increasing my running mileage in the past few weeks.  Going futher distances can result in a higher risk of injury or pain.  One way to prevent these issues is to wear good running shoes.

I haven't exactly been abiding by this rule.  I have two pair of shoes that I've been splitting my time between:
One pair is 4 years old, and the other is 2 years old.

I am well aware that both of these have surpassed the suggested mileage limit.

Therefore, the thought of needing new shoes has crossed my mind a couple of times.  I did some on-line shopping for running shoes, but I didn't see any good deals.

In case you didn't notice in the pictures above, I have a set brand of running shoes that I'm happy with and prefer to stick with unless this brand starts giving me problems.

By some miracle, Austin and I were shopping on Saturday and came across these beauties for only $31 at Marshall's.  They were exactly my size!

This is my fourth pair of shoes from Saucony!  I have happy feet again! :)

How long do you wear a pair of shoes before you replace them?
As you can see, I keep the same pair of shoes for years and years!  I try to take really good care of my shoes and will wear them until they start looking raggedy or causing me pain.  I always wear an older pair when I'm outside in the rain or mud.

"I still have my feet on the ground, I just wear better shoes."
- Oprah Winfrey

Day Trip to Bever's

On Saturday morning, I got up and went on a 4.5 mile run around the neighborhood.  Aside from the inappropriate harassment of a creepy man driving by, my run went well.  I came home and got a quick shower and drank a protein smoothie before we left to go to the mall.

After a few minutes of shopping, I found a present for my parents at the Chocolate Crocodile.  My dad's birthday was last week, and I also wanted to give my mom a present for Mother's Day, so I picked out a couple of candied apples, chocolate cherries, and dipped pretzels for them.

Then we drove to Chappell Hill, near Brenham, and met my parents for lunch.  We ate at Bever's Kitchen.

The food and service were both amazing.  We arrived half an hour before our reservation, and they were still able to accommodate us.  I would definitely recommend eating at Bever's if you're ever in the area.  My favorite part of my meal was the salad bar.  Everything was fresh, and they had a great selection of salad dressings to try.  For my meal, I had the grilled tilapia with broccoli casserole, and a huge salad with poppyseed dressing.  Austin had chicken fried steak, mashed potatoes, a roll, and a salad.  My mom had a grilled chicken sandwich and my dad had a burger.  We were all very satisfied with our meals.

After lunch, my parents rode their motorcycle and we followed behind them in our car to Washington on the Brazos State Park.  It was about a 20 minute drive from the restaurant.

The scenery was beautiful.  We took a walk around the park and sat on a picnic table in front of the river.

It was a great day.

Yesterday I went for an 8 mile bike ride in the morning, and ran 1 mile last night.  Since it was such a gorgeous day outside, we went to the park and played 18-holes of Disc Golf.  We also got our grocery shopping done, watched a movie and just relaxed at home.

Do people ever harass you (cat call, honk, etc.) when you're running or biking?

This is the second time this month that I've been inappropriately harassed by people driving by.  I always feel a little worried when I'm running by myself now.