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Tag Archives: workouts

Training Log: Long Runs, Races, and Swimming

May 27, 2019 By in Big Cottonwood Marathon, Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , , 1 Comment
Training Log: Long Runs, Races, and Swimming

Hopefully, everyone has a good Memorial Day Weekend.

The next few weeks of training are geared towards upping my mileage. Upping mileage while the weather gets hotter, doesn’t make for the most enjoyable running but I will keep racing and keep on trucking along.

Monday: Easy 60 minutes/Swim 3000-meter swim
Tuesday: 5X1000 with 90 seconds rest
Wednesday: Easy 60 minutes/3000 meter swim
Thursday: Easy 3000-meter swim
Friday: Easy 60 minutes
Saturday: Elizabeth River Run 10k
Sunday: 12 miles (11 easy, 1 mile worth of strides at the end)

Thoughts:

Workout Wednesday: 5X1000 averaging 6:25 pace.

It’s a little faster than the week before, which is the most important to me. I’m not where I was a year ago, but I’m further along than last week. The weather was ideal, and I couldn’t ask for a better day.

Elizabeth River Run 10k: 42:40

I haven’t run the ERR since 2013. I thought I would run faster than the Cape May 10k a couple of weeks ago but the weather was much hotter, and the course was much more challenging. The effort was harder, but the time was slower. I ran most of it by myself. It was great to see family, friends, and people I had grown up with.

12 Mile Long Run:

I planned to do 14 but the weather was so oppressive, and my legs weren’t feeling it, so I settled with 12.  I ran 11 easy, followed by one mile of doing strides. 6-minute pace doesn’t feel natural for me right now, so I’m trying to get my body to remember how.

Swimming:

I’ve been swimming 2X1500 meters each time I get into the pool. After going through so many years of stress of sets, etc., I am enjoying just freely putting my face in the water, turning everything off, and swimming. I do plan to keep swimming during this training cycle. Why? Because I want too. I’m enjoying it.

Other than that, everything was low key. My goal for the next few weeks is to get a quality workout in and maybe a race or a long run.

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. This week I talked about rest days and cross training.  In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Posts from the Week:

Vital Protein Collagen Water Review

Hoka One One Bondi 6 Shoe Review

Movie Madness 13.1 Recap (That turned into 14 miles)

Questions for you:

What is your favorite cross-training activity?

How was your Memorial Day Weekend?

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Vital Protein Collagen Water Review

May 24, 2019 By in vital proteins Tags: , , , , , , , 18 Comments
Vital Protein Collagen Water Review

As many people know, I’m a Vital Proteins Ambassador and have been using Vital Proteins Collagen for over a year now.  Vital Proteins sends me products to try, and I share my favorites or answer questions people have.

One of the most common questions I get is: Which is best?

Unflavored peptides?

Whey?

Beauty Greens?

Collagen peptides? 

Like most anything, it depends on your goals. Any quality Collagen can benefit most people.  I like to have it after a run because it’s easy, portable, and I can get protein in.

I’ve written several posts of how it’s personally helped me, including:

Why Collagen Post Run?
Hair and Nail Benefits of Collagen
Skin Benefits from Collagen
Top Benefits of Collagen

Before we Dive into More Different Products, a Few Things About All Vital Protein Products:

  • Free from artificial flavors, colors, sweeteners, or additives
  • No added sugars
  • Contain All Real Food
  • Dairy free

Always keep in mind these statements have not been evaluated by the food and drug administration. The products are not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure disease.

Recently, I had the privilege to try their new Vital Proteins Collagen Water Flavors. I appreciate that Vital Proteins Collagen Water is easy, packable, and transportable.

If I do a race, or decide to run somewhere away from my house, I don’t have to worry about a source of protein afterward. I can just rehydrate with collagen water.

Before I talk about all of the flavors, here are a few benefits of the collagen boosting water:

  • 10 Grams of Collagen.  I’ve blogged about before, but collagen supports healthy hair, skin, bones, and joints.
  • It’s made with whole food ingredients and real fruit juice.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

They Now Have 5 Different Flavors:

The Vital Proteins Collagen Water Orginal:

The original has the taste of lemon water. It’s refreshing but light and doesn’t feel overpowered in any way. Each serving contains 10g of collagen and 1g of sugar from the juice of real fruit. Refresh your wellness routine with ease, courtesy of collagen.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

The Vital Proteins Collagen Water Blackberry Hibiscus:

This is my favorite flavor. If you like blackberry or fruit drinks, this is a good one to try. The blackberry is mild, and it has a sweet taste to it.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

The Vital Proteins Collagen Water Lemon Ginger:

Of all of the flavors, the lemon ginger has the most zest. If you like something with a little bit of zest or zing, this is your flavor.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

The Vital Proteins Collagen Water Blueberry Mint:

Admittedly, I wasn’t sure what to think the first time I heard of the flavor. Blueberry+mint seems like an interesting and unique combination. After trying it, I can admit I’m a fan. I think it pairs well and it’s a sweet, refreshing flavor.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

The Vital Proteins Collagen Water Strawberry Lemon:

This reminds me of the staple of most flavors. Who doesn’t love a good strawberry and lemon flavored what option? It tastes exactly like the both combined without being overpowering of either. I don’t enjoy strong lemon drinks.

Vital Proteins Collagen water

I like each of the flavors for different reasons, and I would grab any of them. My favorite is the Vital Proteins Collagen Water Blackberry Hibiscus.

Thank you Vital Proteins for allowing me to try the new flavors.

Questions for you:

What do you have post workout?

Have you tried Vital Proteins before? 

 

Hoka One One Bondi 6 Shoe Review

May 22, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , 3 Comments

Like the Clifton, the Bondi was one of Hoka’s first shoes. When you think of Hoka, you think of maximum cushion and something like the Bondi.

If you’ve never run in Hoka before, the Bondi is a lot of shoe. In fact, the Hoka Bondi is probably the most shoe in the industry. The 6th version doesn’t bring a lot of changes like previous versions. Throughout the last few versions, Hoka has made the Bondi much firmer. There is a big difference in feel of the cushioning. If you like a softer, marshmallow type of shoe: go with the Clifton, if you like a firmer cushioning go with Bondi.

I am team Bondi, as well as Mach, and Cavu, which all are much firmer. (I still like the Clifton, I would just choose the others before).

Hoka One One Bondi 6 Shoe Review

Fit:

Hoka has started to fit big throughout the last year. Not big enough I would go down a size, but big enough that you will have more space. You can’t go wrong with a bigger shoe. You can have plenty of problems when the shoe is too small.

I usually wear between a 10-11 wide in running shoes, and 10.5 regular width is fine. (The Bondi does come in wides which is awesome!).

The major update in the Bondi 6 is a better upper. The mesh has been redesigned to allow more breathability as well durability.  (so hopefully your toes don’t poke through the top). Plus as your feet sweat, they will be able to breathe.

Hoka One One Bondi 6 Shoe Review

Ride:

Explaining how a Hoka feels before someone has tried it on is next to impossible. If you’ve never worn Hoka before, they use Meta-rocker technology which allows you to roll forward.

The Meta-Rocker is designed with a lower heel to toe drop to create a fulcrum effect. Think of it like a rocking chair.

If you’ve worn the Bondi before, the update in the ride is minimal. If you ran well in the 5, you should run well in the 6. Since the 4 to 5, was a more significant jump, Hoka kept this version very similar.

The Bondi 6 is one of my favorite shoes for recovery and easy days. Days I don’t care about pace. Since there is so much cushion to them if you are looking for an easy day, recovery day, walking shoe, these are going to keep your legs and feet happy. While the shoe isn’t a stable shoe, it’s got a wide base, so it is going to provide some stability. You feel like you are well cushioned from the start, middle, and end of the run. Sometimes after a run in the Bondi, I think…did I even run?

Hoka One One Bondi 6 Shoe Review

Conclusion: 

The Bondi is an excellent choice for recovery or easy days. It’s also a great choice if you work somewhere where you are standing all day long. I feel like out of any shoe I’ve ever reviewed (Yes, any), if I needed a shoe I could be in for hours or days, it would be this shoe. If for some reason I was running for 10 hours, I would choose this shoe.  It’s not the fastest shoe out there, but not designed to be either.

Current Rotation:

Easy/Daily Runs: Hoka, Bondi 6, Hoka Mach 2, Brooks Glycerin 17,

Speed Work: Reebok Float Ride Runfast Pro, Nike Streak Lt,

Long Runs: Hoka Cavu 2

Races: Nike Fly, Reebok Run fast Pro

You can see all current shoe reviews here.

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. This week I talked about the differences between social media runners and running specialty.  In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Questions for you:

Have you tried a Hoka shoe?

What is your favorite recovery shoe? 

Training: Building Fitness and 10ks

May 13, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , , 3 Comments
Training: Building Fitness and 10ks

Last weeks training was good. I got what I wanted for the week.  Over the summer, I plan to race as much as possible to get back into shape. That’s what I did when I set my 5k PR several years ago. I want to keep racing until I’m back in shape. I personally find I’m able to push myself harder in races versus workouts.

Monday: Easy 60 minutes
Swim 3000 meters
Tuesday: Easy 60 minutes
Swim 3000 meters
Wednesday: 3X1 mile averaging 6:30 pace
Thursday: 3000-meter swim
Friday: Easy 60 minutes
Saturday: Cape May 10k (42:35) Total miles with warmup/cooldown 10
Sunday: Long Run 12 miles averaging 7:58 pace (last 3 miles 7:08, 7:01, 6:56)

Thoughts:

After a rough Spring and putting the effort in, and not getting anywhere I’ve finally committed mentally to building back fitness. When I start trying to build back speed, I’m usually faster, so this feels as though I have a long way to go, especially considering Spring didn’t go my way.

My easy runs were just that, easy. There is never much more to say about them.

Workout Wednesday: 3X 1 mile (averaging 6:30 pace) with 2 minutes rest in between:

This was my first-speed workout in about a month. I intentionally took time off to allow my body some rest from hard workouts. It felt challenging, but I’m happy with my effort and getting back out there.

Swimming:

As most people know by now, I’ve been getting back into the pool more. I still plan to swim throughout the summer. I was a competitive swimmer through college, and it seems like a different lifetime ago. I’m having fun in the pool right now because I can mindlessly stare at the black line for about an hour. I can’t compare myself to previous fitness levels because there is no way I’ll get back in the pool for 10,000-14,000 meters 5X a week as we did in college (yes that’s 2-4 hours most days).

Cape May 10k: (42:35)

This pace was slower than my 10-mile pace at Broad Street. I have struggled to get the turnover in my legs faster recently. It feels as though my body as one pace for hard efforts and that is between 6:45-6:55.

This is another personal worst in recent years, but as I said on Instagram, my goal is to show up at races. The good, bad, ugly, I’ll be there. I still had a great time with friends, and I’m happy to have done it.

 

Long Run: 12 miles averaging 7:58 pace

My long run on Sunday felt better than my race on Saturday. My last 3 miles of my long run were 7:08, 7:01, 6:56. My last 3 miles of my 10k the day before were 6:58, 7:01, 7:01). Somewhat comical but that’s how the legs felt. I would have loved to run better at the race, but it wasn’t in the cards. I didn’t set out to run that fast, but it was motivational that I felt better for my long run.  

Posts from the Week:

Broad Street 10 Miler (1:07.35) 

Hiking Parker Loop at High Point State Park

Aftershokz Headphone Review

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. This week I talked about the differences between social media runners and running specialty.  In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Questions for you:

How do you get your turnover faster?

What is something you struggle with in running? Long runs? Easy runs? Workouts?

 

April Training

May 2, 2019 By in Running, Training Tags: , , , , , , 8 Comments
April Training

April was April.

I didn’t plan to take an entire week off from running, but then it happened.

I’ve talked to many people about it but running this Spring didn’t come together for me. I never got anywhere close to my PRs, and my training was inconsistent.  I still ran and consistently ran 1:30 half marathons from Carlsbad, to Shamrock, to Atlantic City.

I can look back and see why: I was mentally tired, plus I wasn’t doing all of the little things to gain fitness. Truthfully I felt like I didn’t have a goal except “get faster.” Well, that never happened, and when I crossed the Atlantic City finish line, I knew I needed a change. So I took a week off from running and refound the pool.

There are maybe two people that have been reading my blog since it’s birth in 2010 when I still swam. In fact, the original name for this blog was LOLZthatswim then LOLZthatswim(andrun) and now just FueledbyLOLZ.

The first LOLZ header in 2010.

Anyway, The later half of April was precisely what I needed: a change. I started getting into the pool and swimming. It isn’t tough to compare myself to my previous self. I used to compete in the mile for swimming, and now when I swim a mile in 28 minutes, I feel like I’m “crushing it.” The best example of that is thinking that you once ran a 5k in 18 minutes, but now you run it in 28 minutes.  There is nothing wrong with either, but it’s just different from what you’re used too.

That’s the difference. Swimming is so new again because I’ve taken a decade off. When I swim competitively, we didn’t use GPS watches to track laps; it was all in your mind!

And no, I have no interest in doing a tri. I don’t enjoy cycling.

Miles Run: 150ish 

Range of Pace: 6:06-10:40-untimed

Rest Days: 10 (does not include days I “just” swam). 

Swimming Days: 6 (12,000 meters total)

Next Month:

As I type this up on May 1st, I feel a strange feeling of wanting to run and train again. I haven’t felt that since NYCM. I’m putting together a racing schedule, but I want to run a lot of races and race my way back into fitness. That is what ultimately led me to my 5k PR. I just kept racing and slowly layered speed workouts on top of each other. I may not reach that fitness again, but I do want to try.

I’m also traveling a lot next month for weddings and to see my family. It’s going to be a hectic month on all fronts.

Posts from the Month:

Shoes:

Hoka One One Speedgoat Midi Shoe Review

Reebok Floatride Run Fast Pro

Altra Escalante 1.5 Shoe Review

Running:

The Difference Between Runners and Non-Runners

Hiking:

Hiking Watchung Reservation

Finally, have you subscribed to the LOLZletter? It’s a free newsletter that comes out each Monday. In the newsletter, I share running industry trends and things relevant to the sport. There are often giveaways as well as discount codes.

Questions for you:

How was your April?

What is one goal you have for May?

 

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