Eggs over oatmeal: a new approach to training

     I am in my 2^nd week of training for the Yukon Do It Half Marathon, which is on New Year’s Eve. This year will be my 5^th time participating in this particular half marathon! 

In the last mile of the 2014 Yukon Do It Marathon

My approach for training for this year’s race is much different than it has been in the past:

I am strength training.

     I tend to avoid any sort of exercise that requires upper body strength, and my core muscles are problematically weak. I added these types of workouts to my schedule though in hopes that seeing them written down will force me to do them. So far it’s working!

 I am logging fewer miles.

     Normally running is my only form of exercise.  Now that I am incorporating other types of workouts, I am easing back on how much I run (for now). I don’t have a gym membership and winter is approaching. By intentionally planning on running less, I feel less stress about trying to manage long runs in freezing temperatures.

I am eating more protein.

     I was a vegetarian/vegan up until a few years ago, so I don’t eat much meat. This coupled with the fact that I have a dairy allergy means that I really don’t consume the recommended amount of protein. Over the past few weeks I have been intentionally adding protein to my diet. For instance, I have been eating eggs for breakfast instead of oatmeal. Just by making small changes like this, I have doubled the amount of protein I get in a normal day.

Here is my training schedule:

     I am excited to make progress! I think by focusing on getting stronger, my finish times should improve. My stride length is normally pretty short, and I think this is because I am lacking in leg strength. It will be interesting to see if I see any improvements just by making these few changes, even though I won’t be logging as many miles as I normally do. I will keep you posted!