Coach Jen B

The day is almost here.... the day I've been training for the past couple of months.   Tomorrow after school I'll be heading off to Mount Washington for a small little race.  You know, no big deal.... just 7.6 miles ALL UPHILL....  for the Mount Washington Road Race.      How does one prepare for a 100% incline race?   I've been putting in a ton of time on the treadmill on 100% incline runs.  Lots of and lots of those.  My favorite workout was run @ 10-12% incline for 0.3miles, power walk at @14-15% for 0.2 miles.... and repeat.  I've been doing lots of leg strengthening as well.  Because they are going to be working so HARD on Saturday!   Because let's be honest, there are some super steep parts where power walking is going to be much more efficient.  I found that out last year when I ran it for the first time!  I've set a goal of sub 1:50.  Last year I s...

Well hello there!  This Saturday is shaping up to be a gorgeous day!  Instead of Friday Favorites, because I didn't get this post done on time, I'm going to bring you a Saturday Favorites.   It's my blog and I can do what I want!  Premier Protein. Something I've been dying to tell you about.  It's the newest Premier Protein flavor - Bananas & Cream .  It tastes amazing!  Almost like a dessert.   But a dessert that is packed with 30 grams of protein, essential amino acids, 24 vitamins and minerals, 1 gram of sugar and 160 calories! I tried it as a recovery shake and definitely felt satisfied and ready to take on the next day's workout.  Plus I still cannot get over how delicious it tasted!   Even as a meal replacement shake it was the best!  I'm huge into smoothies for meals anyway but I was out of my normal powder.  So I grabbed one of these instead....and my lunch was taken care of!   ...

Taper week is here, at last! I'm not sure which Spandits I'll be wearing this Sunday.... maybe these?   I am positive I'll start to get the crazies this week - but for now, I'm surprisingly calm.   We'll see how I really am come this Thursday or Friday!   or these?   Let's talk about training.  I chose to follow the Hanson Plan this marathon cycle...mostly because the last time I trained with it, I PR'ed at Sugarloaf.  I wasn't looking forward to all of the speed and longer mid-week runs.  To me, they seemed rather anxiety provoking.... How on earth was I going to fit them in?   Somehow I managed to get them in - thanks to my fabulous support crew.  Don't you think LL Bean should use this?  I'm completely in love with this photo by a sweet and talented friend ! Thanks to Gore, I've had excellent gear to train in as well.  I see LOTS and LOTS of miles in this warm gear as the temps drop....and ...

I admit it.  I'm a number junkie.  When I'm running, I'm constantly running numbers  through my head "my pace is...",  "I have xxx more laps to do", "wow, my VO2Max is 167", "If I run xxx today, then I have xxx more to run this week to meet my goal."   We're all guilty.  But it's a healthy kind of obsession.  I think so anyway.  To be honest, I'm getting older, and my memory isn't like it was.  I totally blame it on the kids.  They are memory suckers.   I still love them to pieces though!   I've tried many a recording methods - notebook, websites, apps, a nd now a p ersonalized running log custom made just for me by journalMENU !!!   I've got to say, I'm a huge fan of tracking my running with this running journal!    This is what Erica came up just for me from my blog.... my logo and purple....and a shoe print.  Perfect!   A quick glance at the book - brings out many great high...

It's taken me a long time to get to a place in my fitness life and training cycles to realize that recovery is just as important to running and strength training.  I define recovery as replenishing the body - whether it come in the form of rest/refueling/rehydrating/stretching.  It's all important and you really cannot disregard recovery at all. I was offered the opportunity to review the Teeter Hang Ups .  My kids love to call it the teeter totter, but it is definitely not that.  This is far cooler and has many more benefits than a teeter totter.  Plus you can hang out (upside down) on the Teeter alone and do not have to rely on anyone to be on the other side.   It's great for back pain, increasing blood flow in the legs.  Hello long run recovery! The Teeter Hang Ups is an inversion table and it's rather simple to put together and to use.  I put the Teeter together by myself - and I'm not very good at putting things together....

I finally did it and I'm nervous as heck.  Every little ache or pain is going to send me into a tizzy.  And believe me, that's easy.  I finally registered for my spring marathon - Maine Coast Marathon .  I talked about it, created my plan, but didn't truly commit until last week when I finally officially registered.     I will not be doing the 39.3 Challenge.  While it sounds enticing, to me it sounds like paying for another injury.  I'd like to get through this marathon without injury as I have some pretty big plans for the rest of 2015.   Last Sunday was the official kick off for training - with a 12 miler with Carrie, my fellow Mainer Team Spandits training partner.  We even did something that doesn't happen a lot in December - we ran on the Kennebec River Rail Trail!  Usually by now I've sworn off the rail trail as it's not maintained very well during the winter and it is plowed, then the melting/reicing actio...

As my dreams of completing my 4th full marathon came to an end with that nagging gluteal injury, I decided to scale back and do the MDI Relay with the girls!  Next Sunday we will be heading up to MDI with two relay teams.   As I recovered from my injury, I didn't say goodbye to my long runs.  I still kept up my longer runs - getting back to 10 miles, then 12, 13.5, then 14.  And I plan on keeping long runs in my training plans.   Especially since I'm eyeing up a spring marathon.   As I continue to train with long runs, I continue to use my favorite running accessories to get me through these long runs.   Camelbak Marathoner  My love for Camelbak has been been increased.  You see, I had trained for my first 3 marathons and few half marathons with my Camelbak original.  Heck, I've even raced with it.   I love the hands-free design of Camelbak - a place to store your fuel/cell phone/toilet paper/gum and a water ca...

Happy Monday!  Let's get this workweek started off right with Move It Monday!!! What's your plan to be active today and this week?  I have found that when I have a plan, my workouts happen.    this past week I challenged myself and signed up for a 6 week Speed Session class! Here is a snapshot for this upcoming week:  Monday:  30-45 min recovery run Tuesday:  off or if I can squeeze in some biking Wednesday:  run as much as I can possibly squeeze in before I need to get back to school for parent teacher conferences from 4-7pm.  Thursday:  30-45 min run Friday:  hills with Aimee  Saturday:  5-6 miles Sunday:  14 miles  I LOVE running with my kids...or even having them bike while I run.  Fit Kids are happy and healthy kids too! Now - keep in mind, if something comes up and I need to swap around some days, it's not the end of the world.  I try to keep an open min...