Dietitians Go-to Adventure Foods for Long Runs
two decades working in the sports nutrition food industry designing fuel for athletes, I learned a lot about how people feel about eating and drinking during long runs.
All posts tagged: running
Ed Anacker Bridger Ridge Run is On My Mind
A few years ago I had the chance take part in the making of a short film about the community that gathers every year in the Bridger mountians outside of Bozeman, MT to run the four peaks. This race is one that calls you back. The beauty of Montana the and runner comradiere is hard to deny which, is why I am joining in again. Being from Montana, a MSU grad, and an ultra runner, this race and it’s people are in my DNA. Check out this flick I was part of during my second sabbatical (earned after 14 years of leading nutrition strategy for Clif Bar & Company). I would like to dedicate this years run to someone or something. Any ideas?
Running Out of Gas
The last two months have been a practice of going inward and reflecting on everything from career, parenting, running, and relationships. This has resulted in no recent posts. No apologies necessary. This is just a time of year I go inward. My career coach, mentors, and long-top therapist have all said in separate instances that ” it is time to get out of your head and into the world.” Nothing proved their point more than the circumstances that brought about this photo! Let’s just get to the point. My car ran out of gas thirty-five miles outside of my mountain home. I was returning home after my weekly working-in-the-office-stint in the Bay Area, listening to Jenny Blake’s Pivot Podcast, and reflecting hard on my next career move when they car began decelerating up the mountain pass. I quickly realized that the car was dying still, with no idea why, pulled over, called my husband and said, “Something is wrong with the car.” He says, “How? It is a brand new car.” It was then that I …
We Run in Good Times
We get to run when all is well. Right now all is not well in the communities where I work and play. Waking each morning this week to the smoke-filled air has been too eerie. The smoke represents devastating amounts of loss happening in the North Bay communities where friends and families live. Ash is falling from the sky and it is hard to think of anything but what that ash is from and what we can do to help. We wear facemasks, stay in doors if we can, and try to breath softly. We mobilize our networks, remind ourselves what important work really is, and try to do something, anything truly meaningful when feeling helpless in light of yet another tradegy, this time much closer to the place we call home. Running and recreation are luxuries to be grateful for doing. When things are good again remember, no matter how ” bad” it feels, it is good. In gratitude for running times.
Three Principles to Rethinking the Workout to Get It Done
I have four full-time jobs. I am mom to two beautiful boys, I am in a committed relationship, and I have a career in nutrition. Each one of these things requires my full attention. How on earth do I have time to train for trail races in the mountains? This isn’t a question of why I feel compelled to add one more “thing to do” into the mix of overwhelm that sometimes spins around me. It is about prioritizing self-care, soul care, to diffuse the overwhelm so I can properly prioritize my attentions. Adventures in the mountains, kicking up dirt on the trails, breathing in that low-oxygen air, and moving in whatever silly ways my legs will take me feeds me so that I am able to show up to “work” each day. I must train and prepare to adventure out in the wilds. How do I possibly squeeze it in? I re-think my workouts, which also brings a little urban adventure into my day! Three key principles to rethinking a workout: Get creative. For example, I …
Human Powered Priviledge in Snow Shoe Running
By my own human-power I can to go where I want, when I want, and at whatever pace suits me.
Endurance Mamas
My bib number is in hand. My clothes, race food & hydration, logistics to getting to the starting line are set. Oops, except my alarm. Pausing here to go set my alarm for ….wait for it…..3:45 am to voluntarily run 31.8 miles (50km) with 7200 ft of climbing and descending. This is about the point before a race that I ask the question “why”? It hurts, is really hard, cold, early, and tiresome. Yet, here I am toeing the line time and time again. You know why? Because why not. What if it isn’t any of those things or, the smiles, support, camaraderie , community, sense if accomplishment, the beauty, and the simplicity of putting one foot in front of the other so purposefully outweighs everything else. It is funny to me that I never thought this kind of running to be something I could do until after having children. Getting pregnant, staying pregnant, carrying on daily activities while pregnant, birthing a child out of your body, caring for the child, positively influencing the child, …
Deep Nutrition Thoughts: Sweet Potatoes
One of the favorite parts of being both a runner and a dietitian is observing the eating habits of other runners before, during, and after a long training run or race. The variability is hardly surprising given a lot of people are either afraid to eat, don’t know what to eat, don’t think about it enough, or do think about it and have adapted a routine that suits them. It gets even more interesting to observe athletes who are traveling to compete or train. I have seen suit cases full of persimmons and most recently met a runner who goes no where without fresh sweet potatoes! She throws sweet potatoes into her suitcase to have just in case she has difficulty finding foods that will giver hear a boost when she is traveling to races. She can eat them whole, cooked, raw, whatever, and be all set to do what she loves, run. Carbohydrate is of the highest priority before (3-4 hours), during, and after a long run, and a sweet potato certainly has …
Head Lice and a Boston Marathon Finish
When doubt set it in that I might not have the wear-with-all to run the Boston Marathon last April, one man removed all doubt. He said “Do not run the Boston Marathon. Your marriage, your kids, and all you do are too much in need right now to take this on.” Those were all the reasons I needed to at least try and run this thing. I needed a break, not from running but from working so hard to try an keep the circus of my life – sick kids, sick me, dying grandmother, struggling marriage, insecure family members, loud-mouth family members, desk job – in control. I needed this marathon to set in stone what I always knew. I have no control over any of those things. I can however, control myself and this self needed to check out for a week and surround myself with people who run. All it took was one more well-meaning family member to say “Don’t run”! Are you kidding me? That is all I want to do right now. …
Making It to Boston Marathon My Way
Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is an achievement I have computed the math on many times over many long runs. Not too long ago I tested my limits on the a half-marathon road-run to see if I was capable of at least running a half-marathon at the full Boston-qualifying pace of 3:40 or 3:45 (depending on the year I was looking at). Yes, indeed I could run a BQ pace for the thirteen point one distance. So then what? Soon after that experience my running sights were set not longer and faster, but rather higher. I began training on the trail for higher elevation mountain races and haven’t looked to a road marathon since. Then Clif Bar & Company opened the door to the one road marathon possibility I might consider if I could do it without risk of too much injury, Boston Marathon. I have attended Boston Marathon festivities without actually running the event a couple of times. I have run the Boston Athletic Association 5k twice to make that historic turn onto Boylston street …