How Fast Do You Run?

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Do you know how fast you run? I started using the Nike+ Running app a few months ago and now have a very complete idea about my pace and what changes it. When I started using the app, I was comfy at a solid 10:00 minutes/mile. Not too shabby, but nothing to write home about, especially in the marathoning world. Now, I am down to a 9:14 average! That is a pretty big deal for this yogi. I have never averaged that low. This is also super fantastic for me because I wanted to be at 9:30 min/mile for the Expedition Everest Challenge. Nailed it. 

Now that I know my speed, I have so many other questions... What is considered a good running pace? What is a healthy increase in my overall pace? Should run times decrease during long runs or short? How do people run a mile in 4-minutes? 

Some of these questions are still left unanswered (future posts, perhaps?), but I found a website that gave me a pretty good idea of what bracket I fit into running wise. Runner's World has a pretty great race percentile calculator for all you time needs. All you do is input your age, gender, run distance, and run time. Then, your percentile is calculated for you. Turns out that I am the definition of a happy medium at 52% for 27-year old women running 4-miles. 

52% is pretty darn great and all, but being 52% made me search out information on how to decrease run times in a healthy manner. I am sure there will be a blog post on that soon enough, but this article is great (albeit long) in the mean time. 

Race Training: What, When, and How to Eat

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Races, we all have done them, want to do them, or have plans of doing them sometime in the future. Pretty much everyone who works out wants to compete in some sort of race at some point in their lives. Whether it be a 5k or an ultra marathon, there are certain things we can all consume to make our training easier and our results better.

What

The average person burns 100 calories per mile run. Depending on the race you are running, your calorie intake may increase a small amount, or vary greatly. Most people other than those competing for marathons do not need to massively increase their calorie load per day. The average racer should eat between 60%-70% healthy carbohydrates like vegetables and whole grains, 20%-30% fats that are high in omega-3, and 10%-15% lean protein like fish or chicken. If we break this down on a 2,000 calorie diet, it means that the average runner should have as much as 1,400 calories from carbs, 600 calories from fats, and 300 calories from protein.

It is important for runners to eat so much carbohydrates because the stored version of carbs, known as glycogen, is what our body uses to re-fuel while running. When glycogen levels get depleted, a runner will feel fatigued. Athletes also need up to 50% more protein than the average adult. Protein is used in muscle growth and repair- it is pretty obvious that athletes training will need extra protein for extra growth compared to sedentary adults. Just be sure not to overload on the protein; it is much harder to burn off than carbs during a run.

Check out this article for a full breakdown of servings per day.

When

When we eat is as important as what we eat when training. It is best to refuel with a snack within the 30-minutes after finishing a run. Great post-run snacks have both healthy carbs and protein. This will help renew your glycogen storage after an energy depleting run and increase muscle growth and repair. A great post-run snack should have 75% carbs and 25% protein. Smoothies and protein bars are great options after a run. Another great option is one serving of bread (one slice or half a bagel) with peanut butter.

Our bodies begin to rebuild muscle and renew glycogen levels 30-minutes after a workout. When we eat within this 30-minute window, we are giving our bodies more nutrients to work with. This will help keep our metabolism going and decrease soreness. Eating 90-minutes to 2-hours before a run will also help boost energy without weighing you down. It is best to have whole carbs before a run and low protein and fats.

How

The things we eat are equally as important as the percentage fats, proteins, and carbs and when we eat them. Great foods for runners include lean proteins like chicken and fish, almonds with their high amounts of omega-3 fats, whole grain pastas and breads, yogurt, black beans, and eggs. Most dieticians recommend eating six times per day. Three of these times should include whole meals and three should be snacks. Great snacks include yogurt, fruit, and almonds. Meals should follow the 60-30-10 principle listed above.

How to Train for a Race for Free

As you may know, I recently signed up for the Expedition Everest 5K Challenge at Animal Kingdom with a few friends. Even though I run three miles often without much trouble at all, I still wanted to train. My goal with the whole training deal is to get my run time down from a 10:30 average to a 8:30-9:00 minute mile average. In the process I am also starting to train for a certain half marathon that is still to be decided.

Since starting my mini training I have started using a running app that is pretty awesome and I have completely fallen for. Nike+ Running has been my favorite running tool and has completely helped me get my average time down by about 45-seconds so far. The app has multiple running programs depending on what you want along with multiple fitness levels. Right now I am on the 10K trainer at the intermediate level.

The different levels seem to be a mix of your activity level when starting and how much you wish to run. I am not one who likes to run everyday so the intermediate is pretty great since I only run 4-5 times a week! Each run is timed and logged so you can see progress as you go. You can also see your progress through a chart that shows your speeds and changes throughout the run. This is possible by holding your phone or putting it in one of those super cool arm, wrap things that I need to get. The gyroscope in our phones does all the work and seems to be doing it right since all of the mile markers in the treadmill, my HRM, and the phone match up.

The app also has a calendar, weather info for your area, and that ever so loved social aspect where you can get friends and compete with them for best times or most miles. Yes, some of the controls are what you would expect from a free app. I am still not sure how to change my name in the profile or add extra info and I seem to always forget the layout every time I use it. But it is free and it is fun and it has helped me shave almost a minute off my mile time. For that, I am quite content!

This Week In Workouts: Running

Happy Sunday all! I hope your weekend has been wonderful. This weekend I picked up a new book series, so all my spare time has been spent reading it. Book one was finished last night and book two started. Once I finish book three, I will be sure to tell you the book and my thoughts!

The hubs has also been pretty sick this weekend with that bug that seems to be hitting 60% of us. So, it has been a stay-at-home couple of days as well. Thankfully, I am not sick and have been able to kick up my running a bit this week. Next week my cousin will be introducing myself and her sister to Barry's Boot Camp down in Miami. Needless to say, this week has been filled with a bit extra cardio in preparation. The cardio has also been spurred on with a fun new app I got called Nike+ Running. I know, it has been around forever, but I just started having fun with it this week... More info on that to come in the future!

Sunday: My first Pure Barre class where my legs and back and abs were sore for two days.

Monday: My first Nike+ run of 4-miles followed by eating soup... It has been a cold week in Florida

Tuesday: Another Nike+ run of 3-miles followed by this detox yoga flow which I loved after a run.

Wednesday: This Power Vinyasa Yoga flow by Ali K. It was great! You will be about 3/4's of the way through before it feels like 10-minutes have passed!

Thursday: Another 3-mile Nike+ run and the first one I tracked! Whoohoo, tracking! It worls pretty great :)

Friday: Rest day which was meant to be another 5-mile run but I found a book and read through the run. What can I say, I am a story addict.

Saturday: Late night AMRAP kettlebell workout from Pumps and Iron that left me dripping sweat after 15-minutes (photo above). I was part-way through number eight when that glorious timer went off. This was followed by a nice full-body yoga flow from Tara Stiles. Then more reading, and bed much, much later.