Running
Running has been a huge part of my life for 6 years now; I joined my high school cross country team after being desperate for a new community. Little did I know that I'd find a life-long passion in a sport that I knew practically nothing about. I thank my 14-year-old self every day for taking the leap of faith to begin running, and not quitting after it got hard.
Why I wanted to race
I ran casually throughout the entirety of my first year of college. My motivation for continuing to run after high school was purely fitness and staying in shape; originally, I had no interest in competition or road racing. I was completely burnt out from four years of weekly races and intense competing and wanted to take the time I needed to start to love running again the way I had in high school. My mileage dropped over the course of my first semester at UC until I could barely handle running two miles. I had no interest in running any longer. Second semester came, and something changed-- I realized how much I missed the longevity of my old runs, the endorphins that came at the end, and the satisfaction of being utterly exhausted but indescribably content at the end of a good run.
I slowly started to push my mileage, quarter mile by quarter mile. I remember the first time I ran over three miles and how pleased I was. I was finally finding my old joy in running. As time went on, I felt like I was missing one more thing, but I could never put my finger on what it was. Eventually, I figured it out: I missed competition and running with a goal in sight. There was an easy fix to this gap in my running: the Cincinnati Flying Pig.
What training looked like
Training was a feat in and of itself. My days are busy as it is, so much of my training was getting over the mental hump of waking up early in the morning to get a treadmill run in. A goal I set for myself was to be intentional about training and to listen to what my body was telling me throughout my runs, so I didn't set out each week with a set amount of mileage that I wanted to accomplish. I went on each run with an idea of what I wanted to do in my head, but altered it in the moment based off of how I felt. Sometimes, that meant cutting a run short. Other times, that meant lengthening the run because I felt strong. Additionally, I rounded out my training with high-rep-low-weight strength training to strengthen my muscles for joint support. Core was a daily exercise set, as well.
Nutrition
I enjoy cooking and baking, so nutrition was an aspect of my training that I fully looked forward to. I knew I wanted to increase my protein and carbohydrate intake as I was running, but I wasn't sure how to keep myself accountable or monitor my eating in an emotionally healthy way. So, I decided to create an Instagram so I could share my nutrition with close friends as a creative outlet. I would post pictures of my meals and was able to track the variety of food I ate during my training. I consumed extra protein through protein shakes and powder while incorporating different proteins into my meal like tofu (a new favorite food now), chicken prepared in different ways, and chick peas. I discovered new forms of carbohydrates like couscous, quinoa, and, my personal favorite, weekly trips to Lil's Bagels with friends.
Tracking my mileage
I used the platform Strava to track and share my training plan. It automatically connected to my Garmin watch program, so each time I tracked a workout using my watch, it automatically uploaded it to Strava. This was a convenient and easy way to monitor my growth as a runner. Pictured below is 4 of my workouts; two are biking as cross training, and two are runs. The last run is the actual 10k I ran!
