Marathon Training

As I near the end of my semester, my marathon draws closer and closer. I don't think I've ever been this excited to do something so physically demanding. As a former swimmer, I've been conditioned to enjoy grueling workouts and I find new physical challenges really fun and exciting. There's no denying how ready I am mentally to run this marathon, but at the same time, I am a little bit nervous.

I have just about four weeks left until the race and I haven't even hit my peak mileage yet. The farthest run that I have to do before the race is 20 miles, which makes me a little nervous. That's adding a whole 6.2 miles onto the actual race distance! But I guess there's power in a plan, and I've been following mine fairly well. True, I do adjust my plan to fit my weekly schedule, which means that if I don't have time to do a 7 mile tempo on Monday, I'll swap it for my Tuesday 4 mile and do the tempo the next day. But no matter matter what, I always make sure that I get in the necessary runs. I'll have to trust that my plan will have me physically prepared to run this race.

Another thing that makes me somewhat apprehensive about running this marathon is that I have absolutely no idea what to expect. What do I eat the night before? The morning of? Afterwards? Am I even going to be hungry afterwards? I really hope that I don't vomit, or worse, get randomly injured. I'll have to know my body, know when I need to walk, when I need to grab some gatorade, know when I should stop and take a gel pack. Should I even take a gel pack or should I do some of those weird running espresso beans or fruit snack things? Again, part of this goes back to the training, experimenting on my training runs so that I know what works for me and what doesn't. But aside from this, I also don't really know what to expect from the course and the race organizers. I can only take comfort in the fact that people organizing it have definitely done this before and know what they're doing. As far as the course goes, I guess I'll find out once I get there.

Pushing aside all of my concerns, I really, truly, am very excited to run this marathon! I can't wait until race day, when all the adrenaline of toeing the starting line and running with the huge crowd will pump me up and allow me to forget all of my worries. I'll be sure to keep you guys posted on the remainder of my training, the actual race, and, of course, what I liked and maybe didn't enjoy so much about the whole endeavor. Until then, just keep swimming! :)

This has nothing to do with running but I felt that this post needed a picture.

Olympic Inspired Workout

Hey guys! Sorry for the lack of post lately, I've been quite the busy bee. Before I start, let me just preface this post by saying that I am fully aware that the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games have been over for 2+ weeks now and I realize that this post comes a little late. Moving on......

I love, love, love watching sports. The Olympics are always my favorite time of year (during the years that they occur) and so when they start, I'm pretty much glued to the TV. This year I even downloaded the NBC Olympics app on my iPhone. I think we can all agree that the Olympics are a good thing. They bring people around the world together to aim for a common goal, and even those that don't reach their goals can still be happy and celebrate for their fellow athletes'/coaches' athletic success. Aside from just being a uniting event, the Olympics also, for me at least, are extremely motivating. Whenever I watch the Olympic athletes competing in their events and rocking their sports, I automatically get the urge to get up and do something. In fact, I think that watching the Olympics this year even made two weeks of my marathon training go better.

Now, on to the superficial part of this post. Can we take a minute to talk about how pretty much every olympian has a freaking beautiful body? I mean, six pack abs, hugely muscular thighs and legs, seriously toned arms. Who wouldn't want a body like that? Seeing these people's bodies alone motivates me to go workout. So in celebration of the not so recently passed Winter Olympics, I give you my original, Olympic-inspired workout. Try it out and let me know what you think! :)

I intended to have tutorial pictures but my little camera broke. :/

The Breakdown:

Set an interval timer for 24 rounds of 30 seconds of work. Rest for one minute between each completed circuit (all eight moves). Keep track of how many reps you get through in each round and try to beat that number the next time you try the workout!

1. Speed Skaters:  Start in squat position with knees at 90 degrees. Jump to the left landing as softly as possible on left leg, using arms to get momentum. Jump to the right, landing softly on right leg. That's one rep. Continue to jump from one leg to the other, trying to maintain as much balance as you can without putting your other foot on the ground between jumps.
2. Skeleton Plank Pikes: Get in pushup position, arms straight, back and butt flat, body in a straight line. Move your weight to your arms, using your abs to pull your legs feet off the ground, creating an upside down V with your body. Using your core muscles, kick your legs up into the air, keeping your knees as straight as possible. Return to start. That's one rep.
3. Luge Supine Plank: Sit straight up, legs together and extended. Place your hands by your butt, just outside your hips. Using your core, lift your legs, butt and hips off the floor, extending your body in a straight line and keeping your weight in your hands and heels. This should look like a plank only instead of facing the floor, you will be facing the ceiling. Hold for 30 seconds to a minute. 
4. Ice Dance Jumping Lunges w/ Twist: From standing, go into a lunge, right leg forward, both knees at 90 without back leg touching the floor. Push off into a jump and while in the air, use your core muscles to twist 180 degrees to the left. Land in a lunge with left leg forward and right leg back, both knees at 90. Repeat, only this time twisting to the right and landing in a lunge w/ right leg forward. That's one rep.
5. Half-pipe Box Jumps: Stand next to a gym box with your left side facing the box. (Don't face the box head on). Jump laterally to left, landing softly and quietly on top of the box. Jump off the box laterally to the left so that your right side is now facing the box and repeat. That's one rep.
6. BOSU Ball Snowboarders: Put a BOSU ball ball-side down, flat-side up. Stand on the flat part and center yourself so that you are balanced in a squat position with legs hip width apart. Using you legs and engaging your core, begin to transfer your weight onto your right leg. Quickly switch your weight to left leg. Keep moving your weight from leg to leg as quickly as possible, tipping the BOSU ball to the side that your weight is on. Hold your hands together in front of your face. Do this for 30 second to a minute.
7. Ski Jump Burpees: From standing, jump back into a pushup position. Do a push up then quickly jump your knees to your chest, feet between you hands. Keeping arms at your side, use your legs to jump yourself up and forward. As you land, jump back immediately into pushup position and repeat. Each time you land back into pushup position is one rep.
8. Figure Skating Fliers: Using two 5-20lb. dumbbells, go into your best arabesque, balancing on your left leg, keeping a soft bend in your knee and letting your arms hang with one dumbbell in each. Using your back and arms, lift your arms out to the side, as if you are flying, maintaining your balance on your left leg. Return your arms to start. This is one rep. Do 10 then switch legs and start over.

Give it a go and let me know what you think! I hope you guys enjoy it!

What's your favorite Winter Olympic sport?