Comments on: road to half marathon: week one

By: sub 2 hour half marathon

sub 2 hour half marathon — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:03:46 +0000

Take this Sub 2 hour half marathon, in 12 weeks

By: Jen

Jen — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 02:49:49 +0000

Hey Whitney…just came across your blog and wish you luck on your 1/2marathon next week. I’am a runner and this will be my first training season for a 1/2 with my newly found RA! My pace is close to yours and I was wondering how your body has handled running that fast? What pace do you do your long runs at?

By: Lauren Hayslett

Lauren Hayslett — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 20:26:21 +0000

Perfect timing! I’m starting to train for my first ever half marathon. I’m wondering if you have any recommendations for training plans for people who haven’t run much before.

By: Keri

Keri — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 20:06:57 +0000

If you’re looking for some vegetarian recipes, you might want to check out the cancer project for some ideas. It’s basically about using nutrition to avoid cancer and other illnesses – sounds right up your alley. They just sent out a recipe today with Quinoa Burgers…a great vegetarian source of protein. http://www.cancerproject.org

By: Jenn

Jenn — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:37:03 +0000

awesome goal whitney! good luck with the training!
Quinoa is hands-down one of the best sources of protein available for vegans. AND, it’s so quick and easy to prepare. I add steamed veggies (esp. sweet potato) and black beans for a delicious meal. For quick smoothies with a nutritional punch, i love Braziers’ Vega powder (whole foods carries it).
Can’t wait to follow your journey!
cheers,
Jenn

By: Mary Ann

Mary Ann — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 15:47:49 +0000

My friend Emily is a vegetarian and 5-time marathon, not to mention an all-star blogger! She has a blog full of amazing protein-rich recipes and lots of tips for getting nutrients pre and post-workout. Check her out at http://www.thefrontburnerblog.com!

I started training for a half this week, too! Yahooooo!

By: Mea Jyn

Mea Jyn — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 05:27:20 +0000

Way to go Whitney! I am so proud of the steps you took to own your health by reading up and practicing good nutrition! As a food/exercise/wellness buff myself, I think that it is so important to take care of your body. Have fun with your training, you’re going to have a blast!

I would recommend Quinoa as an ideal vegetarian protein to eat. It is a complete vegetarian protein, gluten free, high in fiber, magnesium, iron and phosperous and can be eaten any way you like it! Check it out:

Basic Quinoa Recipe – Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups cold water
Optional: 1/2 tsp salt
Quinoa Cooking Directions:

Soak the quinoa for 15 min in the cooking pot. Soaking helps quinoa to cook evenly, and loosens up the outer coating of saponin, which can give a bitter taste if not removed
If you don’t have time for a longer soaking, use hot water and soak for five minutes
To Rinse: Stir the quinoa with your hand, and carefully pour off the rinsing water, using a fine mesh strainer at the last
Drain quinoa well in the strainer, transfer to the cooking pot, add 1 1/2 cups water & 1/2 tsp salt if desired
Bring to a boil, cover with a tight fitting lid, and turn the heat down to simmer
Cook for 15 minutes
Remove quinoa from heat and allow to sit five minutes with the lid on
Fluff quinoa gently with a fork and serve

Some of my favourites include, cold quinoa salads (cook day before or refrigerate same day), quinoa in place of rice for stir-frys and quinoa cereal (again cook day before and refrigerate) reheat next morning with your favourite sweetener and milk). There are so many other uses for it too! Pilafs, desserts, you name it!

Let me know how things go!

By: Whitney

Whitney — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:29:51 +0000

Thanks for all the tips and inspiration everyone! So happy you guys can help me out in this journey!

P.S. @Kerri, my nail polish is made by OPI and it’s called Midnight in Moscow. Glad you like it! )

By: Aleksandra S

Aleksandra S — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:25:47 +0000

Amazing! I’m doing my first half this Sept and I’m scared! What was I thinking?!

I ran the Sporting Life 10k last month and since then took time off to rest my knees. Am biking 25k this weekend to raise money for Heart & Stroke then it’s full on 1/2 marathon training.

My worries? Like Whitney, I’m not a runner. My mom has very bad RA so Whitney I feel for you. I have little injuries (a bum wrist and knee) that don’t seem to heal and act up on me so I keep getting blood tests to see if I have developed RA as well. So far, so good!

As this is my first marathon I’m not sure how I should be training and what is an acceptable time. I run 10k in 75 minutes. I’m not exactly the fastest runner. I’m not sure I can keep up that pace for…what…21k or so?

Any advice? Will be watching this blog closely for training tips!! G’luck Whitney and all the others training this summer! Remember to keep yourselves hydrated!

By: Kerri

Kerri — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:18:58 +0000

Awesome..I’m looking for a half marathon to start training for soon! Silly question, what is the nail polish you have on in the pics? Really like it.

By: callah

callah — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 07:00:06 +0000

awesome I can’t wait to follow this! I am starting my own half marathon training soon

By: Brian

Brian — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 04:23:45 +0000

Speed is what will wear you out faster than milage. If you are aiming for a personal best time in this half, I’d keep your runs to only 3 or 4 times per week and make them quality miles. Work on your speed on the short days and really take the pace easy on your long runs. I have never heard of someone getting injured from running too slow. On race day, all the different workouts will join together to give you your time. All the yoga is going to be a HUGE benefit to your training.
As far as the vegetarian advice, I would not be the best resource, but I know of a couple books by Brendan Brazier that would have some awesome ideas. He is a vegan Ironman Champion.

By: Whitney

Whitney — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:37:17 +0000

Thanks for all of the tips on mileage and food everyone, I am definitely taking all of these into account!

@Jo if you can run 3 miles today, you can run 13.1 in October no problem! Best of luck to you!

@Steph, AMAZING, thanks for your tips. I am increasing my miles by 1 mile on my long run each week, so that I can run the miles at hand as fast as possible. But I will try a few more longer runs during the week see if that doesn’t help!

You guys rock, keep the training tips & food suggestions coming!

By: Steph

Steph — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 13:15:01 +0000

It’s all about tempeh! YUM
lentils and rice too.
You’ve mentioned you’ve ran halfs before, maybe your mileage is a little low to begin with? Your goal race is only 12 weeks away, you don’t want to start ramping up the miles too fast later in your training because that might bring on injury. Unless you’re coming off of a break or injury?
Keep your runs easy, not all out fast at first. You don’t want to burn out (or get injured!)
it’s great that you’re incorporating cross training and yoga I recently bought the ‘Yoga for Athlete’s DVD’ on amazon.com
it’s a great DVD and is a nice cool down workout for after runs (long or short) and is nice on rest days when I need a morning pick-me-up

Good luck with your training!!!
ps.
What half are you training for?

By: Lynn Hogan

Lynn Hogan — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 12:29:50 +0000

Have you tried the Arbonne Protein Shakes? They are vegan certified!! If you’re interested, you can order through me and it will be shipped to your door.