Happy New Year! What to be expecting from me.

     Only four days into 2011 and it's still hard to believe that time has flown by so quickly. It seems like only yesterday that I was welcoming in 2010, and now it is passed. 2010 was a wonderful and eventful year for me and I hope it was the same for all of you.

     With this new year comes changes in my life. I enjoyed my first semester of college immensely. I feel that having the chance to live away from home allowed me to grow and explore who I am. I made some amazing friends and had the opportunity to try new activities. I got into rock climbing/bouldering and outdoor cycling; I was able to try my first triathlon and to preform a flying squirrel. However, all good things must come to an end and I am back at home. Union College provided me with a wonderful education but the tuition was just to high for me to stay. So I am now attending my local community college while I look for some scholarships and save my money. If I play my cards right I will be able to attend a very good private university for my last two years of undergraduate studies. My goal is to graduate with my bachelors degree debt free.

     Don't worry though, I still plan on keeping busy and updating this blog more frequently. I have so much planned for the future. Currently I am collaborating with my mom to write and publish a vegan recipe book. It's going to be half raw (mostly LFRV) and half cooked vegan recipes. The goal of this book is to help those who are transitioning from being SAD or vegetarian to being vegan and eventually (hopefully) raw or high raw. Personally, If I get enough feedback from you and those who purchase the finished recipe book I may publish a recipe book with just the raw recipes for those people who have already transitioned from cooked and just want the raw recipes. Also, I am working on starting up my own part-time business this summer. Stay tuned to find out what it will be! =)

     This year I also plan on training as hard as I can while going to school and improve my athletic performance. I have another half-marathon approaching in March and an obstacle course race called The Warrior Dash. I will training outside as often as possible but I will also be training at a gym on the days where the weather is unfavorable. My fitness goal this year is to become a bit more versatile in my athletic abilities.

     I will be working on developing my upper body more this year. I plan to do this through weight training, rock climbing, swimming, and yoga (hopefully). I will still be running and cycling, I just feel that increasing my upper body strength will improve my running. Remember that in running stronger arms give you more power to quicken your pace.

     How does all this effect my blog? I plan on documenting my training more often along with pictures of what I eat. I'm going to try to blog every day that I train, giving as much detail as possible. Blogging my progress will hopefully encourage me to really give it my all and maybe give you readers some ideas.

Running for Beginners: Getting Started & How To Keep Going Pt. 2

Amanda's How To Start Running Guide Continued. . .

Part Five: Variety = Better Preformance

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     Once you've gotten into the swing of things in your running routine, you might be tempted to run every single day, however, I don't recommed that you do this. When you're running you're putting stress upon your knee joints that can cause a lot of wear and tear over a period of time. TO avoid this it's a good idea to give your knee joints a rest every now and then. Go for a bike ride, swim, do some strength training, practice yoga. Any one of these things are a good source of movement without putting a lot, if any,  stress on the joints.
     
     Another good reason for doing other types of exercises in between running days is that you are toning other muscles and shedding fat around other areas of the body. The leaner your body, the faster you can run, so using other muscles in your body other than you legs and you will be on your way to becoming a lean running machine!


Part Six: Recovery
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     When you do any sort of high impact workouts, the muscles you use are broken down. It's during time after a workout that the body begins to rebuild those muscles and they will either become stronger or weaker depending on what sort of nutrients the muscle has at its disposal to use as building block for the new muscle.


     I have found personally that the best kind of recovery meal is some sort of smoothie. The nutrients in the food are already "chewed up" making for quicker digestion and nutrient absorbtion, which is good what you want so that you can get the nutrient building blocks into your body as soon as possible to build stronger muscles.


Some smoothie combonation ideas:

• banana/mango/spinach
• banan/date/coconut water
• banana/pineapple/spinach
• banana/grape/spinach
• banana/spinach/apple juice

Note: Raw fruits and leafy greens will provide you with the correct carb/protein/fat ration needed for your body to rebuild and repair itself. If you want to know a more about the protein myth that has been spread across the nation by medical propganda, then I recommen reading "The 80/10/10 Diet" by Dr. Douglas N. Graham, "The China Study" by T. Colin Cambell and a previous blogpost that I wrote here. 

     It's also very important - especially if you are participating in high impact workouts everyday - to take a full day off from high impact workouts. Doing so gives your body a break from contantly breaking down and rebuilding muscles on a daily bases. This doesn't mean that you have to be a lie around all day, it just means to obstain from any really strenuous activities. For example, on your rest day you could do go for a walk or do some housework, ect.

Part Eight: Keep Up Your Health

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     The key to having an energy filled run and still having strong energy levels through out the day is to make sure that you are keeping the 7 steps of health: NEWSTART

1. Nutrition - Keeps you fueled for your runs and keeps you from getting sick so you can workout. Eat plenty of carbs from fresh, raw, sweet juicy fruit! Eat some raw leafy greens, vegetables, nuts, and seeds as well and you have yourself a nutrient and water rich diet! 
2. Exercise - e.g. running
3. Water - When you sleep you aren't drinking water, when you exercise you sweat out water, and your body is approx. 75% water. If you don't replenish your water body's water supply you won't be running anywhere.
4. Sunshine - Allows you body to make vitamin D which is used in the absorbtion of calcium (which strengthens your bones so you can run without bone problems) and vitmain D gives you a boost of positive energy (will keep you energized and motivated to run).
5. Temperance - Alcohol will dehydrate you body and kills irreplacable brain cells, not good!
6. Air - Fresh air keeps your blood cells running and can give you body a pleasent, relaxing sensation, getting rid of stress.
7. Rest - When you run you have broken down muscles in your body and released free radicals into your system due to the stress put on your body during ecercise. Your body need to shut down for a minimum of 6 hours while 7 hours is prefered, and 8 to 10 hours would be the best.  Whatever the number of hours you choose, the most crucial hours of sleep that you body needs to regenerate is between 10pm and 2am (has to do with specific hormones that are secreted at this time of night). Miss these four hours and you've dprived your body of muscle repairing time and you will most likely find your energy during your run and throughout the rest of the day will take a nose dive. 
8. Trust in the Creator - Spiritual peace is important for your emotional well being. Trust in the Creator brings emotional stability to cope with life, which leaves your body free to function positively for your running and anything else in your life.

Part Nine: The Conclusion
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     I hope that all the information, suggestions, and ideas that I have provided in this two part article for you, will help you reach your running goal(s). There is so much more information I would have loved to write and share with you, but if I did that I know it would turn into a book!  So I leave instead with this basic synopsis that will steer you in the right direction, and I am sure that over time as you become a better, more seasoned runner, that you will discover many tips and tricks that will benefit your preformance along the way. Good luck!