October 16, 2015

Being a professional runner is about more than just running fast. The little things day in and day out, such as eating right, getting enough rest, working to build strength and prevent injury, and recovering properly, all go into becoming the best athlete possible. The training varies day to day, but every day has a purpose to help me reach my goals. Here’s a look into how I trained and spent my day this past Monday:

7:00 AM Wake up, typical breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal, granola, and honey. I spend some time reading emails and checking on the latest running news.

8:15 ElliptiGo. 30 min. My mileage isn’t too high, so I generally do a second session of cross-training several days a week. I love the ElliptiGo because I can get a great aerobic effort without all the pounding.

8:45 Weight lifting/Strength training/Core work

10:00 Recovery snack. Apple and peanut butter.

10:30 Work. I work as a scientific editor. Essentially I proofread and revise scientific articles to get them ready for publication. This is the ideal job as a runner because it’s incredibly flexible, allows me to work from home, and it can be done while relaxing on the couch 🙂 I usually work 20-25 hours a week.

12:30 Lunch. Turkey sandwich on whole-wheat bread, cucumbers with dill dip, crackers.

1:00 Grocery shopping.

2:15 Work. More editing.

3:30 Snack. Nature Valley granola bar.

3:40 Household chores. Fold laundry, wash dishes, tidy up the house.

4:20 Hip mobility routine. Includes strengthening and flexibility exercises. Also some general stretching/running prep.

5:00 Fartlek run. Went to the Radrick golf course with my husband. This was my first harder effort of the season, so it wasn’t too crazy. After some warm up drills, I started out with 10 minutes of easy running and then went straight into 8 sets of 2 minutes hard, 2 minutes easy, followed by about 8-9 minutes easy to end up at 7.5 miles total. The hard segments were about 5:30-5:50 pace with the easy segments at 6:30-7:00 pace. This was a good aerobic effort for me and a nice transition to the harder strength workouts that will come later. Did some stretching and rolling out once I got home.

7:30 Dinner. Garlic chicken with orzo and spinach with a side of zucchini, broccoli, and cauliflower sauteed in olive oil, oregano, and Parmesan  cheese. Followed by dessert (Coco Marshmallow cereal. I always need something sweet).

8:15 Relax. Waste a little time browsing online and log my training for the day; then I generally read for the last hour before bed to wind down. I’m a big fan of Victorian literature (I’m currently reading Vanity Fair).

10:00 Sleep! I aim for 8-9 hours of sleep a night, sometimes more when I’m really tired.