Tag Archives: summer

Swim | Bike | Run … and hydrating.

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Don’t tell anyone… But I’ve starting biking. I have a super sweet bike, and in our super tiny cramped apartment, we have no room for it except leaning up against my bed. Our room looks great.
So after having it leaning against my bed for 3 months, my school/work load kind of let up, and I introduced her to the world! Lately I’ve been biking the 3 miles to the beach, running about 5 miles on the sand, and jumping in the ocean for a swim for about 20 minutes. After I bike back, this whole exertion has taken about 2 hours!

People tease me that I should do a triathlon. Nope. I’d rather keep all of my miles in the single digits when doing all three :) (maybe I could be convinced to do a mini-mini-mini triathlon? We’ll see!)

Basically, being near the water is what I’ve been doing in order to ‘keep cool’ while working out this summer. Another important aspect of healthy summer working out is keeping hydrated. I know, everyone keeps talking about our water intake, but what’s some tips on making sure you have enough?

In this heat, it’s important to keep the hydration up… water is vital to our athletic performance and health. Before a long run, a race, or a training workout, drink plenty of fluids. The day before an event, drink extra water and monitor the color of your urine. The goal is pale yellow, not clear.

The morning of the event, drink 2 cups (8 oz.) of fluid two hours beforehand. This gives your kidneys enough time to process the liquids, giving you sufficient time to empty your bladder before the start of your event.

These tips should help out in keeping you hydrated in this extra-hot summer, and will definitely help with post-race throwing up and other problems.

Source: How to Hydrate Before, During, and After a Workout

Back from Vacation!

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Just came back from the best vacation ever! Tyler’s family is much more relaxed on vacation than my family was, so it was an adjustment… and I had to FORCE myself to slow down! We didn’t even have Internet.  Even though it was more relaxed than what my family does, we still did a lot of stuff, and kayaking was one of them! We went twice last week, and I got stuck a couple times because the water was so low- AND I almost died getting stuck over a water fall with rocks jutting out at the bottom! Don’t worry; we only had class 1 rapids on the first two miles, and the rest was pretty calm. :)

Since we were nestled in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, there were plenty of hills to train on. Not that I’m actually training for anything right now, but I can pretend. :)   I was seriously sore every day that I ran. I did a couple four-mile runs, but on those mountain trails, it felt like twice that! It was so awesome to run on such gorgeous trails.Williamsburg Run for the Dream

I did terrible on not eating sugar during our trip, and I’m going to have to pay for it for a couple days. So back to the strict diet from here on in! :) How are your summer fitness goals coming along? What do you find the hardest to maintain during the warmer months?

Eating Healthier

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As a runner, it’s so easy to think “It’s OK, I’m going to run today” and proceed to eat whatever I want. Which is pretty often ice cream, chocolate, brownies… and then I make myself sick. And is not definitely not healthy.

Another Mother Runner

OR it’s the OTHER extreme, and I eat tons when I really don’t need to be eating all that. One of my new years resolutions was to eat more veggies (which is hard to do with such a busy schedule), and I’ve been able to incorporate them into my daily routine, but I want to set higher goals than that (no, I’m not starting the Paleo diet… yet).

Cutting out white flour and sugar is about as lofty of the goals that I’ll setting this summer, while trying to run in the summer heat!
I’m in Virginia, and SERIOUSLY this humility is worse than usual (since  I’d really know what usual is since this is my second May here!).

There are a few really important things to include in your diet is you are a woman running. The first and foremost thing you should be worrying about is your iron levels (this is the one I struggle with the most). This is vital in transporting oxygen through your bloodstream, as well as providing a key building block of muscle tissue. One thing I found interesting is that caffeinated products will counteract with your iron intake… so wait a couple hours after eating or taking your iron supplement.

The next important dietary need is calcium, (you know, all that stress on your bones in running). If you don’t drink milk, purchase calcium added products (soy dream, rice milk, orange juice).

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but the third most important thing to include is FAT, from nuts, olive oil, seeds, and avocado but stay away from saturated fats (which mainly come from animal products. ewww).

Notice the lack of white flour and sugar in this list? Yup. Need to cut those out!

Awesome list of foods adapted from Running For Fitness

Summer Running

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Last weekend I almost ran 7 miles, which was broken up with a lot of walking. This is the story. I was going to meet my friends at the beach front to run 6m with them. I live three from the beach and left waaaay to late, so I booked it. I did 7minute miles. 3 of them. Terrible idea. Remember the fact that I’m a slow runner? SO combined with the summer heat?

This summer heat: GREAT for tanning, HORRIBLE for running.

I’m considering giving up running for the summer (after our half marathon in May)… But right now I’m just trying to balance my school, work and running. I need to change up my routine to run during the cooler moments of the day, which might call for my beloved 3 mile morning runs (I would do more, but there is something inherently wrong with getting up before 5:30 am for a run).

The glorious news is that I am 81% of reaching my goal of running 50mi during the month of April! Woot! This will be a glorious feat for me, as I’ve been trying all year to achieve this goal :) (which is a whole 3 months…)

I ran another 2 (measly but great feeling) miles tonight, and I feel amazing. All the hard work is paying off, and thankfully my husband isn’t coming home to fat wife. I ran off all the calories from the hot chocolate and marshmallows AND whip cream I drank last night as I plunged into depression because my husband was gone a whooooole week. But he’s coming home tonight and I had to run my hot chocolate off before he can back ;) !

My biggest weakness is chocolate and hot chocolate… what’s your foodie weakness?

Staying Healthy on the Road

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With the warm weather here in Virginia Beach, all I can think about is tanning by the ocean. My hair whipping in the wind, and my skin soaking in the sun. My waterbottle strapped to me since I dehydrate quickly… and just generally being on the go. With our lives ramping up for summer, it’s easy to lose sight of our fitness and health goals. It’s far to easy to skip the healthy snack and hit up ice cream at the beach or fast food on the road, but that can quickly undo all of our hard work! Now, I’m not against a little dessert here and there (see photo below), but we can stay healthy (and save some serious money) with a little lot of planning!

What you need:

  • A sweet little cooler that can roll or be carried to the beach or Busch Gardens (my two ultimate destinations this summer)
  • Apples/Banana’s with peanut butter
  • Trail mix (preferably with chocolate, except if you’re gunna be in the sun all day. yucky)
  • Mini carrots with dip or hummus
  • Premade sandwhichs (no meat, that can give ya Salmonella)
  • Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies. Healthy and filling!
  • Tons of water bottles. Freeze them to keep your cooler cold

If you stay healthy during the day, you can afford (both financially and physically) to go out and enjoy yourself in the evening. If you’re heading out to a resteraunt, order a salad with the vinaigrette dressing. If the day in the sun leaves you famished, order the grilled, baked or steamed options and resist ones that are fried or battered (think grilled chicken or salmon with a baked potato or steamed veggies).

Enjoy the sunshine (load on the sunblock!) and stay healthy this summer. I know this girl is aching to enjoy some beach time!