Get Your Copy of the Runner's World Big Book of Running for Beginners!

More and more people are turning to running as a way to lose weight, relieve stress, stay active, gain confidence, and live longer.  Because of this, Rodale Inc, the publisher's of Runner's World have put together The Runner's World Big Book of Running for Beginners.

 

 

This is not just another "How To" book, oh no! It is definitely a resource for runners and those who are aspiring to become runners. I could have surely benefited from this book when I first started my running journey. Especially the section on Running Terms.  Did you know what the term "Athena" refers to during a race? I didn't even know there was such a term.

I had to chuckle as I read the section on Yoga Etiquette! I'm sure we all know someone who has broken a few of these rules!

Even though this book title suggests that it is for beginners, I assure you that every runner, no matter how long they've been out there, will find it helpful in some way.

A few sections of the book include:

1. The Basics: What to wear, pacing, differences in running surfaces, treadmill tips, running with your dog, running with others, running hills, cross training, FAQ about training,   running/race etiquette, etc.

2.  Become a Runner in 5 Easy Steps: Training Plans, race prep, etc.

3. Motivation: Getting out the door, getting out of a rut, etc.

4/5: Nutrition and Weight Loss: SO MUCH INFO HERE, losing weight and keeping it off, best foods, worst foods, grocery shopping, reading food labels, pre run/post run foods, etc, etc, etc!!!!

6. Run Safe and Injury free: Breathing, stretching, chafing, side stitches, heat, cold/snow,  mean dogs, etc.

7.  Preventing and Coping with Injuries: Touches on all the most common running injuries.

There are so many cool tips in this book that I wish I could share them all but of course that would make for an awfully long post and you would probably stop reading!

Hopefully I'll be able to fit in a few post here and there.  If you are interested in the fabulous book you are in luck because it goes on sale TODAY!  You can find it at your favorite bookstore or purchase it directly from Rodale HERE.

                                                            About the Authors:

Bart Yasso: Chief Running Officer of Runner's World and author of My Life on the Run.

"If you're lacing up the shoes and heading out the door, your a mentor to others. You may not even notice it, but you are. Maybe a neighbor sees you running and thinks, for the first time, "Hey, maybe I can do this, too"    (Quote from the Runner's World Big Book of Running for Beginners)

 

 Amby Burfoot: Runner's World editor at large and winner of the 1968 Boston Marathon.

Jennifer Van Allen: Special Projects editor for Runner's World and a running coach.

What was the best piece of running advice you've got from a book or magazine?

*I was provided a complimentary copy of The Runner's World Big Book of Running For Beginners from the great people at Runner's World but all opinions are my own.

Chocolate Hazelnut No Bake Cookie: Custom Oatmeal

Although I LOVE chocolate no bake cookies, Chocolate Hazelnut no-bake cookies aren't something that I normally make. I normally just make the chocolate ones and one time I made pumpkin ones.

I love those Ferrero Rocher chocolate hazelnut candies, so I thought why not make some cookies that taste like that?  There was also something else that helped spark this idea!

                           Introducing Chocolate Hazelnut Oatmeal from My Oatmeal.

MyOatmeal.com  is a company that makes Custom Oatmeal. You literally get to pick ALL of the ingredients that go into it.

1. First you choose what oats you want.  Steel, rolled, 5 grain, Gluten free, and organic are just a few of the choices.

2. Secondly, choose your flavors. This was literally the hardest part. There are SO many flavors that sound good. Just a few examples are Snickerdoodle, Pistachio, Strawberry shortcake, Key lime pie, Tiramisu,  You seriously have to go check it out. It's making me hungry just looking at the list.

3. Next you get to choose if you want any added fruit.

4. You also get to pick if you wanted any added nuts or seeds.

5. Finally, you get to choose how you want to sweeten it ( white sugar, brown sugar, etc).

If you find this process a little overwhelming you can leave it up to the oatmeal experts and choose one of their special blends of the month. The month of April is Carrot Cake! Yum! ( and I saw the month of March is Chocolate Shamrock)

For my first bag I did the Chocolate Hazelnut rolled oats. For my second and third bag I did the Vanilla Cream rolled oats and added cranberries and almond slices.  I will be using the Vanilla oats in a cookie recipe as well ( as soon as I can find the recipe I have in mind).


How I made the no bake cookies with this awesome oatmeal blend.
( I did not make a full batch because I wanted to see how it turned out first. The amounts I used made 10 cookies, but mine were rather thick. I could have probably got a dozen out of the batch had I been more consistent in the sizing of each of them)

Bring to a slight boil in a sauce pan:

About 3/4 cup of sugar ( remember there is already sugar in the oatmeal mix)
1 1/2 TBSP of cocoa ( this probably isn't needed but I wanted my cookies to be a brown color)
Dash of salt
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup of milk ( I used Vanilla Almond Milk)

Once all Ingredients are heated and blended together, remove pan from heat and add Peanut butter (1/4 cup) and Vanilla ( 1/2 tsp).  Stir till Peanut butter has melted.

Add Oats: I added 1 3/4 cups of the chocolate hazelnut oats.  Let cool ( or put in fridge).

Let me just say these cookies are AMAZING!  I admit that I started eating them before they were completely hardened ( and I had a hard time stopping)!


Do you like no bake cookies? Have you ever taken a classic recipe and put your own spin to it?

* I was provided this custom oatmeal from myoatmeal.com and Fit Approach at no cost to me. However, all opinions are my own.

 

Atlantic City April Fools Race: The Race that Fooled us all!

On Saturday my mom and I ran the Atlantic City April Fools Race. I am calling this the race that fooled us all because our experience this year was so different from last year and not all for the better.

A few weeks ago I bragged about how cool this race was and how I felt you really got your monies worth from the registration, well that was definitely last year. I can not say this about the race this year for these reasons.

1. Many of you know that I signed up for the 11K ( back in December of 2013) but recently have been having IT band/hip pain so I wanted to drop down to the 7K.  I didn't think this was going to be a huge deal because last year when we were at the start line, the MC told us that if anyone who was running the 11K felt that they wouldn't be able to continue that they could just turn around at the 7K mark and that it would be okay. Just let them know when you cross.  This did not effect me because I was only running the 7K last year anyway. But still I thought it was kind of odd and thought it would mess up the age group rankings, but I guess they would figure it out.

So when I picked up my 11K bib, I told the girl that I wanted to bump down to the 7K instead.  She sent me over to the guy from the timing company. I explained to him what I wanted to do and he said it wouldn't be a problem and that there would be no charge because I was going from the 11K to the 7K not vice versa but he said that he couldn't make the switch, so he handed me off to another lady who must officially work for the AC race. She was very unpleasant right from the beginning. She started writing my information down from my old bib and was going to give me a new bib ( for the 7k). She then told me I had to pay $20. What? I told her the timing guy said there would be no charge. She about flipped out after that. Another lady who worked for the AC race came over and started spatting off that those are the official rules and what not. Ok, I said and just asked her to give me my old bib back. She looked at me for a moment like she wasn't going to give it back.  I told the lady about what the guy said last year before the race about if you couldn't make the whole 11K that you could just turn around at the 7K mark. She told me that the guy who said that was a radio announcer and that he was just kidding. Well I clearly remember him saying that and it certainly did not sound like he was kidding. He sounded pretty sincere to me. O well. I took my 11K bib back and fully intended just running as much as I could. Really what were they going to do to me if I turned around at the 7K mark? There would be so many people running that the volunteers wouldn't even know.


2. Race morning arrived and I really wasn't feeling up to it. I honestly just wanted to go back to bed. It's funny that I felt like this because out of all the races that we have run, this one starts the latest! There are no early Disney starts here! I actually got to sleep till 7:15!   It was quite windy on Friday afternoon/evening when we were on the boardwalk, so I decided to wear my blue Disney zip up over my race shirt. This would also help me conceal my 11K bib as I made the turn at the 7K mark I thought.  The race started at the Revel Resort which is all the way at the North end of the Boardwalk and we were staying at the Tropicana which is pretty far down the other end of the boardwalk so we decided to just drive our car to the Revel and park there. Last year we did the same thing, but last year we were given Free Parking Voucher's in our goody bag. Not this year.  Even when we found out at packet pick up that we would have to pay to park, we still decided that we would be driving, so it was our own doing but still just one more thing that would have been a nice touch on race day.

The April fools race started and ended on the Boardwalk

It was pleasantly warm when we lined up on the boardwalk for the start.  The 11k runners and 7K runners all started at the same time. Unfortunately my Garmin had not found a signal before the gun went off, so I was playing around with that for about the first half mile or so. Since my mom was running the 11k, I told her to just go and run ahead. I didn't know how I would be feeling.  I completed the first mile and I actually felt good. I saw my mom up ahead so I picked up some speed to catch up to her. I let her know that I was feeling okay and that I was going to go ahead and run the full 11K.  To be honest I was kind of worried about turning around at the 7K mark.  I don't think that I would have been fast enough that I would have been able to take an age group award ( in the 7K division which I would obviously never accept) but it still worried me. Even though I was running this race for me and I didn't care about my time, I didn't want to be considered a "cheater".
I wasn't feeling great, but I was running smart and stopping to walk when I had to. After we turned around at the 11K half way point, I was starting to feel some pain in my legs, but not to the point where it was a pinching pain like at Disney.

You can tell it was just a tad bit windy out.

 I ended up finishing the 11k with a time of 1:12 which I was actually pleased with.

3. I think these medals are super cute and I love the pink and purple colors. However, They are SO much smaller than last year's medal.

Last year's huge spinner medal was part of the reason I said this race was one that gave you the biggest bang for your buck!  Last year all runners ( 7K, 11K, and half marathon) all received the same medals.  I can suspect that maybe the half marathon runners were a little unhappy that a 7K runner was earning the same exact medal as them. Maybe that is why the 7K and 11K runner's got small medals and the half runner's got much bigger medals ( that were different). I can understand this.    I do think all the shirts were the same and I like them very much. I hadn't had a purple race shirt until now!

4. Although I was happy to be given Gatorade and a banana, there was no food after the race like there was last year.

5. No free massages after the race like there was last year either.  We were really looking forward to this.  However, after we went back to our resort and cleaned up from the race, we did go back to the boardwalk and paid for massages.  I told my guy that I wanted 20 minutes and I didn't want my back and shoulders done, I wanted all 20 minutes on my legs and hips. I told him this twice. He must not have spoken English because he spent half the time on my shoulders, arms, and head!  I also had to tell him that he could use a little more pressure on me. He was being SO gentle. He never increased his pressure so that is another reason I didn't think he spoke English ( that and I couldn't understand him during the few words that he actually spoke to me).

My legs were VERY sore  for the rest of the afternoon ( I'm not blaming this on the massage). I actually had a hard time walking around town and up and down the boardwalk but I thought it was a good idea to keep moving.  I'm glad I did because I was actually quite surprised that I could get out of bed the next day. I thought my legs would be so stiff that I couldn't move them but they weren't. Still very tight, but not stiff.

Overall we had a good weekend at Atlantic City and I am so glad that the weather was warm.  We felt that the race was skimping on things that they provided last year ( free parking, free massages, post race food, huge medals) but it certainly was not a bad race and things we probably wouldn't have picked up on had we not raced it last year. We really love running on the boardwalk and I didn't smell any strange smells this year ( although I did only pass one person who was smoking this year). Since we've done the 7K once and the 11K once, I don't think that we will put this on our list of races to do again anytime soon. 

                                  ~M
(P.S Thanks for all your encouraging words last week. I didn't finish last, but I wouldn't have even cared if I did!)

Has there ever been a race that you loved to run and when you ran it again for the second or third time things were a bit different?


Don't forget to link up a food post tomorrow for Tasty Tuesday!

5 Things You May Hear at PT: and you wont know how to fix them

As many of you know, I've been going to PT for some time now for knee/hip problems. I've been given so much advice on how to run and how to improve my form to decrease the chance of further injury but it is all boggling my mind.

The best piece of advice I was given last week was "Get Out There And Go Be A Runner Again"!
So that's what I did. But instead of enjoying it, it's making me nervous and it feels like too much work...lol. 

So these are the things I've heard that I am trying to work on, but it's hard.

1. Lift your heals up to your knees as you run.
 When I was running with a running group once, one of the coaches had told me the higher you lift your feet off the ground, the faster you will go. This made sense to me.  But I don't always want to run fast, so picking my feet up off the ground that high isn't something I think about when I am just out for a jog, but according to my PT I should be running this way during every run.

My PT recorded me running for a bit this week. You can hear some of his suggestions.

2. Are you a heel striker?  I still don't think I am, but that is yet to be determined. The advice I'm given at PT is to land on the forefoot. I always knew this and hoped that I would do it. I've played my video back several times in slow motion and I still don't *Think* I am heel striking. What do you think?

3. Land with your foot underneath you, not in front of you.  Again, this is something I am trying to do.

4. Keep your feet pointed in front of you. Don't let them flare out. I am a huge failure at this as my feet flare out. Maybe you can tell during the video.  I know this is a problem but I don't know how to change it.  I'm sure this is what contributes to my knee trouble!


5. And for number 5, I just wanted to talk about shoes real quick.

 Remember when I posted this Post about How much cushioning was too much for your individual needs?  A learned a little bit about this too at PT and you can read about it in the link. Well I realized that I am probably one that doesn't need that much cushion in a shoe because I've never really had foot problems and felt maybe I needed a little more stability instead. I was thinking about exchanging them UNTILL I took them for a ride on the treadmill this week.  I have officially declared these my treadmill shoes!  Even though I have a Shock system already on my treadmill, the extra cushioning form the shoe is absolutely delightful!!!

So have you ever been told to change something about your running form that has been hard for you to do? Any advice on how to get your body to do what your mind wants it to do?  ~M

There's No Shame In This Game

  When I first started running, I had this irrational fear that I would be the last one to cross the finish line at any race. I've only ever trained with my family ( who are also runners) and I am the slowest one. I think that's why I love Disney Races, Rock n Roll Races, J&A Races and any other race that has thousands upon thousands of runners lining up at the start!  I like the fact that I can be "lost" in the crowd. For this reason, I have avoided many smaller races for some time.

I've come to realize that when I run those "Big" races, I am not slow and I probably will never be last. I am average.  Since the beginning, I have even run some "smaller" races and have even come one or two runners away from placing in my age group.

Last year was the first year my mom and I ran the April Fools race in Atlantic City. We had such a fun race weekend that we knew for sure that we wanted to come back and do it again the following year.

Last year we decided to start small, so we signed up for the 7k. The race course was completely on the boardwalk and was a pretty easy run  ( besides the smell of funnel cakes being made in the morning and the occasional spectator who would decided that he/she would watch while smoking a cigarette. Deep fried foods and cigarette smoke are two things you don't want to be smelling while you run a race).  The race shirt and the medal I earned for completing this race was among my favorite at this point.

So when we signed up to run the race again we decided to bump it up a notch and run the 11K.  This is the first race I'd be running since the Princess Half Marathon at Disney in February. It was going to be used as just another training run for another race that I was training for this month.....BUT since I have been suffering from terrible IT band and hip pain, I've had to make a few decisions. So with that being said, I've decided that I'm going to bump myself back down to the 7K. 

Not only am I going to run the smaller distance, I may not even run it at all. Okay, that's a lie. I will be running some of it. I will be doing my Run-Walk-Run-Walk method but it might turn into a Walk-Walk-Run, Walk-Walk-Run.  And ya know what, I don't care! I don't care if people look down upon me, I don't care if people are wondering why I am going so slow, and ya know what I don't even care if I am the last one to finish!  And just to be clear, we signed up for this race back in 2013. I didn't want you to think that I signed up for it after I was already injured. That would have been a dumb move!   I didn't want to give up a fun girls weekend with my mom and have her have to give up a race she already paid for.

This is probably the only race that I have absolutely no expectations on finish time. I know when I did the half marathon while I was injured my goal was to just finish, but deep down, I did have a time goal that I wanted to beat ( it was adjusted due to my injury, but I beat it). For this race, I have absolutely NO expectations at all. I just want to concentrate on running and being smart about it and not pushing myself.  I want to be able to feel good after I cross the finish line ( no matter what the time is) and not have to be wheeled to the medical tent afterwards!


Have you ever had the fear of finishing last in a race?   ~M

The evolution of Crocs: Can they be stylish?

A year ago if you would have ever asked me if I would ever wear a pair of Crocs out in public, you could guarantee I'd say I wouldn't get caught dead in them.

Source

I was the one that would always wear the cute shoes whether they hurt or not. And for as long as I am on my feet while working a 12 hour day, my feet are going to hurt regardless of the shoes I'm wearing.


 I don't know if it's because I'm getting older (which I would hate to think that) or if it's that shoes are starting to bother me a lot more lately. I have not found a shoe to wear at work all day without hurting my feet and even getting blisters, until now. Yes you guess it....CROCS! So next time you laugh at people wearing crocs, I'm sure they are fine with it, because they are laughing right back at people thinking that their feet are probably hurting in those  fancy shoes! Now I know what you think when you think of Crocs.

                                                                          Source

Those chunky rubber clogs with that strap on the back. Well have you gone to an actual Crocs store lately? They have very stylish shoes that do not look anything like the ones we are used to.

They have anything from sandals to flats, and even high heels. Yes I typed that correct. You can find high heels at crocs, along with other dressy shoes.


So now you do not have to sacrifice style for comfort.

After buying my flats, I went to the outlet store and got two pair of sandals. I am going to have comfy feet come summer!

What are your feelings about Crocs? ~L

Don't forget to check out the FIT MOM's Virtual 5K race for Mothers day!

Did you vote for the cover of Runner's World Magazine?

FIT MOMS Race Discount Code

Happy first day of April! Since we didn't quite see spring on March 21, I am unofficially declaring today as the first day of spring around here. This means no more snow and no more temperatures below 32 degrees ( keeping my fingers crossed).

So with that being said, I have a great offer for you this spring. I was approach by Fit Moms to help promote their Mother's Day Virtual Race.

Registration is currently open and will run till May 2.   The race will take place  from May 3 through Mother's day weekend. You can sign up for a 5K, 10K, or half marathon.

What will you earn? A great medal and of course a t-shirt.

This will be great motivation for those of you who don't have any spring races but want to get in a quick race.

As with all virtual races, this race is run at your own pace, on your own date ( with in the time period), and in your own location.  However, Fit Moms does have a few groups through out the nation that will be getting together to run this race.  For more information on this race or to find if there is a group in your city, click HERE.

If you would like to sign up for this Mother's Day Virtual Race  use the code FITMOMS for 10% off the registration price.

Medals will be sent out to participants  2 - 4 weeks after the race was been completed.

If you aren't a mom. that's ok. Find some one to run this race with that IS a mom or better yet, run it with your own mom. What a great gift it would make for a Mom to Be!