{"id":4536,"date":"2012-02-25T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-02-25T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=4536"},"modified":"2012-02-25T21:02:26","modified_gmt":"2012-02-26T02:02:26","slug":"10-things-that-make-me-a-better-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=4536","title":{"rendered":"10 Things That Make Me a Better Runner"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wlWriterHeaderFooter\" style=\"float:none; margin:0px; padding:4px 0px 4px 0px;\"><iframe src=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/widgets\/like.php?href=http:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=4536\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" style=\"border:none; width:450px; height:80px\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>When I first started running I thought that all I had to do was put on my running shoes &amp; put one foot in front of the other.&#160; While that may work for the occasional or casual runner, that doesn\u2019t work for the one (ahem, me) that thinks she can take on the world of running.&#160; I love a challenge and happen to be a very goal-oriented person, so it only stands to reason that I am always looking for a race to train for and possibly set a new PR (personal record).&#160; But it isn\u2019t that simple, or it isn\u2019t for me.&#160; Everyone is different and finds different things that work for them.&#160; The following list is a list of 10 things that I have found that make <strong>me<\/strong> a better runner. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Bouldin_Crop_3849.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"background-image: none; border-right-width: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; padding-top: 0px\" title=\"Bouldin_Crop_3849\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Bouldin_Crop_3849\" src=\"http:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/02\/Bouldin_Crop_3849_thumb.jpg\" width=\"363\" height=\"500\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>1.&#160; <strong>Patience.<\/strong>&#160; I like to set goals, but once I set those goals, I want to meet them <strong>now<\/strong>.&#160; We all know that is not how it works.&#160; Reaching goals takes time, well-thought-out steps and perseverance.&#160; I like to write out my training plan on a calendar so I can see what I have coming up, and more importantly, see the progress I have made.&#160; <\/p>\n<p>2.&#160; <strong>Listening to my body.<\/strong>&#160; I grew up listening to my dad, a cyclist &amp; former runner, say \u201cNo pain, no gain!\u201d.&#160; While it is true that there are times you have to push through, there are other times when you should not.&#160; The trick is knowing the difference.&#160; I would love to say that I know the difference now, but I think it truly depends on the situation.&#160; Missing a run or workout is not going to make or break my race.&#160; Missing a rest day or not listening to my body and taking that rest when I need it, just might if I ignore my body long enough.&#160; It is much better to arrive at the starting line undertrained, than <a href=\"http:\/\/sportsmedicine.about.com\/cs\/overtraining\/a\/aa062499a.htm\">overtrained<\/a> and possibly injured.<\/p>\n<p>3.&#160; <strong>Running Friends.<\/strong>&#160; My friends that I have met through <a href=\"http:\/\/www.trainwithmit.com\/\">MIT<\/a> are priceless motivators.&#160; When it is pouring down rain or \u20135 degrees with 30mph winds, they are the reason I go run.&#160; Misery loves company.&#160; Yes, I may be a little sick in the head, but who better to be sick with than other runners, right?&#160; <\/p>\n<p>4.&#160; <strong>Hydration.<\/strong>&#160; Of course most runners know to hydrate during their run, but hydration is important all of the time.&#160; I normally drink <strong>80-100oz of water\/day<\/strong>, but I try to increase that a little on the days leading up to a long run or race, especially if the weather is particularly hot.&#160; I don\u2019t drink Gatorade, but do drink <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nuun.com\/#\/?exn=nuunnews\" target=\"_blank\">Nuun<\/a> hydration in the warmer weather.<\/p>\n<p>5.&#160; <strong>The ability to learn from past mistakes.<\/strong>&#160; They say that you learn something new every day, right?&#160; I log all of my training on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymile.com\/\">Daily Mile<\/a>, which is a website that is sort of like a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a> for runners\/athletes.&#160; Not only do I input my miles\/workouts, but I write a short blurb about how the run\/workout went.&#160; Should I encounter any issues, I can use this to look back to see what may have changed or led to the problem.&#160; Not only can I track what I do, but I have met so many inspiring runners &amp; athletes and can follow their training, too!&#160; It also serves as a wonderful place to pick the brains of those much more experienced in hopes of improving training or answering questions.&#160; <\/p>\n<p>6. <strong><\/strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.maxsportscenter.com\/\">Max Sports Medicine<\/a>.&#160; Dr. Bright &amp; his amazing team of professionals are the reason that I am running today.&#160; I got myself injured by training too hard and had to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=2734\">learn the hard way<\/a>.&#160; By following the guidelines set out by Max Sports Medicine, I have been able to keep myself relatively injury-free while training smartly.&#160; <\/p>\n<p>7.&#160; <strong>MIT aka. Marathoners in Training<\/strong>.&#160; This kind of goes along with Max Sports Medicine, as that is how I found out about MIT.&#160; Not only is MIT where I meet all kinds of running friends, but the training plans &amp; experience of all of the coaches in the group are priceless.&#160; MIT is where I learned how to properly train for a marathon and\/or half marathon.&#160; I learned that not every run should be run at or faster than race pace.&#160; Apparently running your 20 mile run at the pace you want to run your marathon at is a <strong>bad choice<\/strong>.&#160; Wish I would have known that prior to my stress fracture.&#160; This goes back to <strong>learning from past mistakes<\/strong>.&#160; <\/p>\n<p>8.&#160; <strong>Properly fueling my body.&#160; <\/strong>This has taken much trial and error.&#160; The error is not pretty, so I will spare you.&#160; There is a delicate balance for me in what I can eat before &amp; during my runs.&#160; Then, once I think I am in the clear, I have to eat after my run, too.&#160; Some people think I am nuts, as that is all they want to do after a long run.&#160; I have no appetite after a long run, making it tough to eat, but refueling within 30-60 minutes after is imperative.&#160; My muscles need to replenish their stores and the best way to do this is by eating something with a 4:1 ratio of carbs:protein.&#160; It doesn\u2019t stop there.&#160; Breakfast follows about an hour later, as does food the rest of the day.&#160; There have been too many times where I haven\u2019t properly refueled and have really felt horrible for the remainder of the day.<\/p>\n<p>9.&#160; <strong>Good running shoes.&#160; <\/strong>Do I like spending over $100 for each pair of running shoes I buy?&#160; No.&#160; Do I like being able to run pain-free?&#160; Yes.&#160; Having the proper running shoes for <strong>me <\/strong>is the key.&#160; <\/p>\n<p>10.&#160; <strong>My family.<\/strong>&#160; Last, but certainly not least, if it wasn\u2019t for my family\u2019s support, I couldn\u2019t spend the time I do on running &amp; training.&#160; THANK YOU!!<\/p>\n<p><em>***I am not a medical professional, nor do I play one on TV.&#160; Please take care to get the okay from your doctor before starting any exercise program.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"linkwithin_hook\" id=\"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=4536\"><\/div>\n<script><!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_div_class=\"linkwithin_hook\";\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 135270;\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts with Thumbnails\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I first started running I thought that all I had to do was put on my running shoes &amp; put one foot in front of the other.&#160; While that may work for the occasional or casual runner, that doesn\u2019t &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/?p=4536\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n\n<script><!-- \/\/LinkWithinCodeStart\nvar linkwithin_div_class=\"linkwithin_hook\";\nvar linkwithin_site_id = 135270;\n\/\/LinkWithinCodeEnd -->\n<\/script>\n<script src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/widget.js\"><\/script>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.linkwithin.com\/pixel.png\" alt=\"Related Posts with Thumbnails\" style=\"border: 0\" \/><\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1R9ov-1ba","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4536"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4542,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4536\/revisions\/4542"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.glutenfreeislife.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}