Happy Fit Friday! I am so glad to have you here for this series! Before I introduce you to today’s guest blogger, I wanted to update you on my training. This week is week 4 of training. Our long run this weekend is 7 miles and I’m pumped! The dip in temperatures in Dallas helps more than you can believe. I will say though that I’ve been struggling with my IT band. I use the foam roller after each run which helps a ton, but I’m still feeling some pain. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to stay focused sometimes when you feel like your body isn’t tracking with your brain.
When I start feeling down on myself or frustrated with my body, I look to others for inspiration. My sister is my running buddy for my long runs and has been a massive supporter. My husband is training for the Dallas Half, too, and has been a daily encouragement to me. In addition to my training buddies, I look to other positive women for inspiration. Last week we heard from Lauren Sims, and this week we have the privilege of hearing from Kami!
Y’all, if you don’t know Kami, you need to. Trust me. I met her several years ago via the blogging world and am so glad. What you see is what you get – sweet, genuine, kind, fun, and inspirational. She is such a light in this world and strives to help women gain confidence and self worth and I just cannot wait for you to hear from her! So, without further ado, I’m turning it over to Kami to introduce her self and do her thang!
Ekkk I am so excited to be chatting with y’all today and loved that Anna asked me to share my experience and advice training for half marathons! But first…who am I? Haha my name is Kami Blease and I am creator of The Kalon Life, a lifestyle company geared towards encouraging and inspiring women to live their fullest and happiest lives through body acceptance, healthy nutrition and an active lifestyle! You can follow me @kamiblease and @thekalonlife ☺
When I trained for my first half marathon I was far from being considered a runner. I was actually doing it with my sister to get in shape for her wedding! Little did I know this would be the thing that changed my life! I’m not kidding…haha
When you decide you can or cannot do something, you’re right. And most of my life I had been told I wasn’t that active or in shape and I believed it. I believed there was no way I was capable of running 13.1 miles without dying or giving up. I believed I wasn’t fit enough to even think about doing something like that.
Honestly, I don’t know what changed but really I was just tired of feeling that way. Tired of believing that lie I had told myself and let the world tell me. So…I convinced my sister and we started training. Since then I have run two more and will be training for another come 2018. My goal is to run at least one a year now!
After training for my first half marathon I wanted to inspire and encourage other women to believe in themselves in a way that maybe the world had never let them. So I quit my corporate job in fashion, got certified as a personal trainer, started TKL and haven’t looked back since!! With my education in personal training I learned a lot I wished I had known prior to my first race. So I wanted to share some tips and tricks with you to hopefully give you the confidence to go and train for your first half marathon too!! Cuz trust me girl, YOU CAN DO IT!
- Your food matters! It can seem like a duh…haha but it is easy to think that because you are running your butt off each week (literally!) that you can eat whatever you want. And while you are definitely burning more calories you don’t want to improperly fuel your body so that it isn’t able to preform at its best each run. Our bodies are amazing things and can do amazing things when we take the time to give it what it needs! a.
- Pre-Run: Now for me personally I never ate before my runs. I liked to do fasted cardio but I know that can be really hard for some people but it worked for me. If you do want to eat something make sure it is high in carbs so that you have the energy you need for the run. Toast with peanut butter, banana and toast, even coffee (if it doesn’t make you go to the bathroom) is a good caffeine option before runs! Keep it light though so you ideally don’t have to stop or feel weighed down on a super full tummy.
- Post-Run: You can be a little more flexible here and of course after those super long runs this would be the time to indulge if you wanted to for the week. However, make sure you have a good amount of lean protein, lots of veggies and some whole grain carbs. You can also choose to do higher fat and protein which will support your body and give you energy! Just try not to go overboard on everything.
- Favorite protein smoothie: Almond milk, spinach, chia seeds, almond butter, maca powder
- During Your Run: If you are running higher mileage it is always nice to have something to help keep your energy up. I would usually carry a water bottle that had Nuun tablets in it but some people will carry gummies or goo packets that are easy to eat while running. Just anything that can give you some sugar to help push you through. Make sure you try these things out BEFORE race day. Do NOT try anything new on race day!
- Weight train on your off days! I definitely didn’t really do this for my first race and I could tell a difference when I did for my following two. When you have more muscle on your body it is easier for your legs to go longer distances, for your abs to support the twisting movement for longer periods of time…overall building muscle will only make running easier! Keep in mind that running doesn’t build muscles up like weight training so if you actually want to have lean defined muscles you need to lift weights ALONG with your running!
- Favorite moves: Deadlifts, Lunges, Squat Jumps, Russian Twists and Planks
- Plan ahead! Training for any race takes more time than you would think. Runs before work, runs Saturday morning before starting your weekend festivities! It is important to stay consistent so make sure you are in a season of life where you can really commit to the training needed. Look at your weeks ahead and if you know you are going out of town maybe do your long run mid week instead. Just try and stay on track so that come race day it isn’t the first time you are running over 10 miles!
- Epsom salt baths and magnesium tablets will help SO MUCH with soreness! Those long runs can be super hard on your body so taking a bath later that day or the next will help release a lot of those tight muscles so that you aren’t running on sore muscles the next week!
- Get you a GOOD playlist and/or running buddy! I found podcasts during my third race and it was a game changer. Listening to something that took my mind off the running itself helped it go by so much faster. So find a topic that interests you and download some to listen too!
- Fun Fact: If you talk while you are running you are forcing your lunges to work at a higher capacity so that come race day when you are actually not really talking, it will be much easier to run because your lunges have actually already prepared to work so much harder!
- Get good running shoes and wear them the whole time! I had major foot problems in my first race and had no idea it was due to not wearing the right running shoes. I have tried quite a few but always go back to Asics! Find what works for your feet and stick with it! Also if you want to wear a new outfit on race day, at least run in it once or twice to make sure you don’t have any issues!
I hope you found some of these tips helpful! I know it can be a little overwhelming but coming from someone who found running and fitness much later in life, you can really do anything you set your mind too!
Happy running babes!
xx
K
Huge thank you to Kami for being our guest today! Thank you for your wisdom, friend!!
