10 Things Inspiring My Training Right Now
This Monday, I entered the 16th week of my marathon training and, as of four days ago, I am six months out from the California International Marathon (Dec 8, 2024). Training for 40 weeks is a very long time for a marathon. In fact, most of the training plans you will find online are going to be for about 12-20 weeks depending on your fitness when you start the program.
While I have run a couple full marathons in the past, for this training cycle, I started at zero miles per week so I knew that building a base before I got into higher mileage was critical for injury prevention, burnout, confidence… all those fun things. Hence, the 40-week training program that I am excitedly not even halfway through.
Other than taking twice as long to train, there are a couple of other things that I have incorporated in my routine this time around. Here are ten of those that I am getting strength, recovery, inspiration and nutrition from that I cannot rave enough about:
Mobility Training - I hate to stretch. I have gone entire months of training cycles where I never so much as intentionally touched my toes. Injury prevention has been really important to me the last couple months though so I have incorporated 10-20 minute mobility training videos in my routine, aiming for 3-4x/week. My absolute favorite right now is Julia Reppel and her channel. These videos make mobility and stretching feel much less like a chore and more like just something that is easily improving my running recovery and form.
Normatec Boots - Every day that I have an hour of time that I am sitting on the couch to work, read or just relax, I am strapped into Normatec boots. They increase blood flow, help reduce muscle fatigue, and speed recovery between runs and strength training. Not to mention, they’re like a nice lil massage for my sore muscles.
Sauna - Whether it’s an infrared or a dry sauna, I am in it… At least four times a week. I love the way that the sauna can help me acclimate to running in higher temperatures during the summer, aid my recovery, improve circulation, increase endurance, increase lung capacity and help my immunity. I always feel better after a 20-60 min sesh (depending on what kind of sauna I am in).
LMNT - I have been pouring a pack of LMNT into my water before nearly every workout of this training cycle as I absolutely love to drink the electrolytes during my run, lift, yoga practice, etc. My favorite flavors are citrus, grapefruit and watermelon.
Protein and Carbs - Cooking my meals at home has been the perfect way to incorporate all the carbs and protein that are giving my body energy to sustain my workouts and my life outside of them. One of my current favorite recipes is this Spicy Salmon Sushi Bake.
Podcasts - I am a podcast connoisseur. Truly, I listen to at least a couple episodes of my favorite shows every day. I am currently pulling the most running inspiration from The Choose Strong Podcast, The Nick Bare Podcast, The Strength Running Podcast, Crack a Brew with AJW, Marathon Training Academy, to name a few.
Nick Bare YouTube Videos - I never really followed Nick Bare, hybrid athlete and founder of Bare Performance Nutrition, until the last couple months. Now, I have gotten sucked into his marathon training videos as well as his ultramarathon documentaries. These are some of my favorite things to have playing in the background while I cook dinner or am folding laundry. They are a great source for tips, tricks and inspiration.
Strength Training - I have never strength trained while marathon training. I have always just counted on weekly mileage to get me across the finish line. Not this time! I have been in the gym working on building muscle at least twice a week to improve my endurance, prevent injury and further improve my body’s overall foundation.
Movie and Music - I am not a movie girl. I very, very rarely watch them or TV. However, recently watching Redbull’s The Art of Flight not only reminded me of how amazing Outro by M83 is, but also gave me my fix when it comes to my desire to only watch things that have to do with extreme sports, overcoming physical/mental challenges, and training in the great outdoors.
Training Journal - I have always kept track of my training somehow, but never quite to this much detail. Daily, I have been logging notes about my activity, my heart rate and speed during my runs, and more to help inform the training decisions that I make and see how far I have come. This system has kept me extra motivated because every day I am excited to fill in the notes about my most recent training experience.
These are just a few of the things that are really working for me right now. Let me know if there’s anything you think I should check out or add to my routine during my 24 weeks of training!