Another Wednesday Q&A!!! Love these posts y’all, I hope you do too!! Let’s get into it.
It seems like you’ve been running longer distances, are you planning on doing a half or full marathon in the near future? Any tips for distance running?
I have been increasing my mileage but really for no particular reason except I’ve been sort of cruising at the 4-5 mile range for a couple years now after taking a break from distance running and I got some weird itch to start running a little further and seeing how my body did. My last real race was the Chicago Marathon in 2012 (that seems so long ago) and I got a stress fracture from training. And to be honest the hunger from training was crazy and I gained weight and it just put me in a weird place with running and eating and I didn’t like the dynamic of it mentally. So I took a break from it so I could get back to the place where I just enjoyed running just to run and for a while never considered running a race because I didn’t want to mess with my happy running place that I had gotten back to, if that makes sense! I would run 3-5 miles 3 times a week and I was happy with that, my body was happy with that, and I could manage my appetite, lol. But I think it’s good to push yourself and I do enjoy running so much that why not go a little further or a little longer? So I’m sort of gradually increasing my miles just to test the water. If I feel good once I hit double digit run mileage liek 10 or 11 miles and I’m fine…I may consider a half marathon. But I will never do another full marathon…I checked that box and I am done! haha 🙂
When it comes to distance running, my top tips would definitely include increasing mileage slowly and making sure to foam roll before and after a run. When I increase mileage too quickly and neglect my myofascial release & stretching…I get injured. And also, don’t get discouraged if you can’t go out there right now and run what you want to run or as far. You’ll get there…just put the work in and you’ll get there. Put on a good playlist and enjoy it!
What are your favorite shoes for running? And what kind do you recommend for strength training?
I have been running in the Brooks Adrenaline GTS for a few years now and I love them. I have flat feet and I over pronate, so they are very helpful for me. If you don’t have flat feet I wouldn’t recommend these…but I think honestly the best thing you can do is to go to a running store and get on their treadmill and let them analyze your running gait! They will be able to put you in a shoe that is best for you specifically. But I do love Brooks shoes very very much 🙂
For strength & circuit training, this may be lazy but hey I think it’s economical…I ususally just wear my old running shoes for those workouts. I’ve never had a problem doing that but I know some people prefer to wear different shoes for that. “Cross Training” shoes may be best for something like that but it’s all just personal preference. I never wear my current running shoes for circuits because I want to save their cushion for my miles, so whenever I get new shoes I graduate the old ones to be my circuit training shoes.
Is your husband active? If so, does he work out with you? Do you have any tips for getting your significant other to exercise?
Yes Craig is very active, and probably works out 5-6 days per week like I do. He will occasionally workout with me, but we do have pretty different schedules so a lot of times we are working out independently of one another. We used to run together a lot, but Craig has been battling a little hip issue for a while now that has been keeping him from running. But we hike a lot and go on walks, and he will do my circuits every now and then (and complain about how sore he is for a couple days after that, hehe).
As far as tips for getting your significant other to exercise, I think that can be a tricky scenario sometimes because you don’t ever want to make someone feel like you think they NEED to workout, if you know what I mean. But, I think just explaining that it’s something you love and it would be a great way to spend time together is a great approach!! Also, just be encouraging and find something that you both love to do together. Don’t make them do pilates if they’re gunna hate it! Go try out new things together and find what you like! Or, honestly, if you think they are too embarrassed to work out with you or would just rather do it alone, just continue to be encouraging but don’t pressure them to follow your schedule. Sometimes people like to have alone time to sweat it out, and that’s fine 🙂
Keep these awesome questions coming y’all!! I love it!
Have a great night!
xo,
Bess
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