Category Archives: Articles

Marathon Minute

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The Marathon Minute by Lauren Ganes, Marathon Coordinator, September 25, 2011

The WOW Team is very busy training for Fall Races. Congratulations to Iris T on her PR at the AT&T Half Marathon at the end of August. Iris is on her way to finishing 5 Half Marathons this year. Four of those will qualify her for the NorCal Half Marathon Challenge and her final Half Marathon will be the Walnut Creek Half in December.

Robbi C, Fiona B, Michaela R, Kathrina W, Eileen, and Laura will be joining her for that Half Marathon.Also running that day in the 10k will be Beth W, Claudia, and ?. Let us know if we missed your name.

Photo 1 Lauren G. Photo 2 Lauren and Robbi C at 2011 Oakland Marathon. Photographers Ellen G and Andy G

When Iris runs the Healdsburg Half Marathon there will be 5 aid stations serving water, Accel Hydro Drink and Accel Gel.

Laura L will be running in the Nike Half Marathon, and I’m still researching the electrolytes being provided. I think that Clif shots will be the non liquid electrolyte.

Our own Coach Stephanie is training for the full marathon at CIM. There will be aid stations with the electrolyte liquid of grape flavored Ultima Replenisher. There will be at least 12 WOW members participating in the relay. GU will be provided at mile 13, 20 and 23.

It’s important to try these liquids and gels during your training runs. You don’t want to have a surprise upset stomach on race day.

Remember your Fall Marathons will be successful based upon your following through with your training of track work outs, tempo runs and long runs. Eat well, sleep well and listen to your body, and you will cross the finish line with a smile on your face!

Follow Coach Stephanie's Bay Area Women's Fitness Column on examiner dot com. Here's the link

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The WOW Team encourages fitness, through running and walking, for all women, all sizes, all ages, all abilities, all year round. Join us!

Good Fat, Bad Fat

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Are these women getting too much fat in their diets?, Photo, courtesy of photobucket

Are you one of those people who thinks FAT equals BAD?

We've been taught to think this way and, in fact, the stores are full of gimmicky foods that state boldly "NO FAT" like that makes a can of cola good for you! Or those chips that are BAKED instead of FRIED are now great for you? NOT!

Fat is essential to living and we all need it to survive. Therefore FAT IS NOT ALWAYS BAD! There are 2 big problems however:

1. Most of us eat way too much fat for how much we need

2. There is FAT and then there is FAT. They may sound the same but there are big differences in FAT versus FAT

The GOOD FAT is called poly unsaturated or mono unsaturated and, generally speaking, is more like oil than lard. This type generally stays liquid even when it's cool whereas most animal fat (lard) gets hard when it cools. Unsaturated is found in fish, seeds (sunflower, sesame, etc.) nuts (almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc.) and certain fruits and vegetables like avocados and olives.

The BAD FAT is the saturated type that is found in meat like beef, lamb, chicken, and pork. There is also a scientifically manipulated fat called "trans-fat" that is another one of those experiments that, when tested over time, showed several negative side effects.

If you are like millions of others, you may have too much stored on your body. This will prevent you from living a healthy life. Additionally, you may be eating the type of fat that, when mixed with today's sedentary lifestyle and/or super-sized portions, leads to high blood pressure, clogged arteries, strokes, and other possible life threatening conditions.

Limiting the BAD FAT by eating smaller portions or less frequent meals of saturated fat will make you feel better because digestion is quicker. You'll feel lighter.

Eating the GOOD FAT will help your body function. You can't live without fat but you can definitely live without excessive amounts of it.

The first step to changing from Bad Fat to Good Fat is to be aware. You've got the information. Now, it's time to use it for your personal benefit.

Coach Stephanie is a fitness writer for Examiner.com. Here is a link to this article

Blessing in Disguise

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Coach Kerry talks about the true joys of running...

Photo by Lauren Ganes

The blessing in disguise, with being sidelined from a few of my favorite local races, was the ability to spectate. Last year, the San Francisco Marathon was the first race I spectated when I could not run it.

At the time, I was pretty bitter that I could not race in it. The San Francisco Half Marathon was, in fact, the race I had wanted to run since moving to the Bay Area three years ago. After having ran Nike Women’s in 2005, I “patiently” awaited my chance to run the streets of San Francisco once again.

Throughout the race, I remember feeling excitement for those that I knew when they passed, but unfortunately, it was quickly replaced with this feeling of frustration that washed over me each time I would be reminded that indeed my body was hurting.

Once time passed and I was on the mend, I still was no where near ready to run the Oakland Half Marathon in March. However, since the race was adjacent to my neighborhood, I grabbed a cup of coffee, brought my DSLR camera, and stood on the corner of Lake Merritt and waited.

I had a handful of people to cheer on from multiple groups of friends. At this point, I was back to running smaller distances so the bitterness I felt at San Francisco 9 months prior was no where to be found during the Oakland Half Marathon.

Instead, it was replaced with appreciation.

I suggest taking the opportunity to support a local race that you have not signed up for, or better yet, volunteer.

When floods of runners pass you, the perspective you gain is worthwhile. What each of you take away from watching another race might be different, but I can guarantee that it will impact you.

It takes losing something to realize its importance to you.
For me, personally, this race is not about the time, but the fact that I have the ability to run it.

Good luck to all those out there this weekend!

Track Etiquette

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Remember when you are on the track that the fastest runner has the right to be in the inner (first) lane. You must move to your right when you hear someone coming from behind you or when they call out “TRACK!”

Another "biggie" is wearing head phones and running in those inside lanes. Come on!

Those runners are focused and you've got other distractions to get through it all.

Be considerate and run in the outside lanes. Better yet, skip the head phones, tune into your body, or as a last resort, only use one ear bud when you're out there (on the outer lanes). Thank you very much!

Coach Kerry Says...

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Due to the business of the past few weekends, I had not been able to make a WOW workout on the weekend. However, this weekend I planned on running more local and it worked out that I could participate in this Sunday’s workout at Point Isabel. I had the pleasure of running with Kelly and it made the 10 miles click away. To all those who finished another week of training, congratulations!

Coach Kerry's photo was taken at Point Isabel by our very own wonderful photographer Lauren Ganes

What I am finding with my training plan, that Coach Stephanie is providing, is the confidence to conquer my next week of workouts. The workouts are challenging, yet I know that I am meeting them with my best effort. As a result, I am making sure that all the hard work translates to a fun, enjoyable race.

This will be my first half marathon in over a year and it will be #7 total. Since moving out to California 3 years ago, I always wanted to do the San Francisco Half Marathon. Last year, I did not make it to the starting line due to [somewhat] preventable injuries and an overambitious training plan.

If there is anything I’ve learned from not being able to train [and I’ve learned a lot from that], it is this - be patient, yet proactive. I wanted so much to try again the next week, and the next to see if “time would heal all wounds.” Unfortunately, it usually doesn’t...maybe only with break-ups, and even then it can get a little tricky.

My point is that what you are doing when you aren’t running is as important as what you do when you are running. What many training plans lack is a disclaimer that says,

“This training plan will work muscles, muscles that when overworked can lead to injury. So be sure to do something else except running, only.”
Next week, I hope to talk about some routines that can keep you moving through a full training plan.

Daily Calorie Requirements?

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How many calories do you need? According to WikiHow "Obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death in the U.S". This is both scary and indication that we need to watch our calories.


The bottom line is that if you eat more calories than you need you will gain weight. So how do you determine how many calories is enough? It's not complicated but it may surprise you how few calories are needed unless you add regular activity to your daily regimen.

There is a simple formula that gives you a good baseline and here goes: Take your current weight and multiply it by 10. For example, a 130 pound woman will multiply 130 X 10 = 1300. This is your baseline calorie requirement. A man who weighs 180 will multiply that number by 10 = 1800. This is his basic requirement.

The basic requirement only gives us a guideline as to what our body needs to maintain when it is entirely inactive. This would mean someone lying in bed all day. So, where do we go from here? If you do nothing but walk to and from your car, sit at your computer, then head home to watch television you can still add 10% to this calculation.

Our woman gets an extra 130 calories and the man gets 180 bringing their totals to 1430 and 1980. This is not a lot of calories and can be consumed in one meal if you're not careful. One jumbo cheeseburger with fries and a shake comes close to 1300 calories! WHOA!!

What do you do with this information? Please understand it is very general. Younger people who are still growing will use more calories. The older we get, the less energy our bodies need to maintain us so, someone at age 70 we will need less calories than someone at age 40. Each of us is unique so we certainly can't gauge an exact calorie need by the formula described. It is a starting point and a guide line. It is also a reminder that you are what you eat.

Try this general guide and see how it works for you. Tweak it to your needs. Finally, and we'll talk about this in another article; you can adjust the number of calories you consume by your level of activity.

While you don't control your gender, your body type or your ideal weight, you have total control over your activity level and what food goes in your mouth.

Food for thought...

Link to Youtube Video above http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLSnZjLPor8

Time to Taper

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Nike Womens Marathon time to taper

October 17 Marathon and Half Marathon Training is now in taper mode

For those of you who have trained long and hard for the upcoming marathon and half marathon at Long Beach, Nike, Redwoods, and others, the light is at the end of the tunnel!

Now is the time to rest, eat well, and mentally prepare for your event. Take the time to run the course in your mind. If you have already seen or raced on the course, this helps. If you have not been a participant before, try to drive the course ahead of your race. In the meantime, look at a map on the website and mentally “map out” your strategy. Think the course through. Consider the START and how to navigate the crowd; think aid stations- how you will utilize them and how much time you allot to them; think bathroom stops and how to avoid them or, in an emergency, what are your options; think nutrition – how long will you be on the course and what will you need to stay strong.

There are other questions to think about so, do this in a quiet place when you are in a relaxed mode. Run the course virtually, several times, always improving, always fine tuning your strategy.

The physical training is waning and the mental component is taking over. Take on this challenge and practice it. This is the final part of your training plan. This is the culmination of what you’ve been working so hard at for the last several months! Go for it! Your time is here!

The Marathon Minute 7-14

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The Marathon Minute is brought to you by Lauren Ganes, Marathon Coordinator for the WOW Team. Lauren is trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon this year, needing a 4:30:59 to get in. Join her in her training. Make your comments on these posts. Thanks!

July 14, 2010

FUELING FOR LONG RUNS

Yesterday, at the track, a couple of people asked me how I fuel for long runs. The question made sense, because we are scheduled for a 13-14 mile run this Sunday.

The most important day to fuel your body for Sunday is Friday. That is the day to make sure you are eating a healthy diet that includes complex carbohydrates (vegetables and whole grains) and some protein. You also want to be making sure you drink plenty of liquid over the next few days. Saturday is the day to eat lightly, but still focus on hydration. You don’t want to have a heavy stomach when you run on Sunday morning.

On Friday consider having meals that include salad and or vegetables, potatoes or whole grains, some bright colored fruit and a small amount of chicken or fish. I like to eat sweet potatoes. I also enjoy quinoa which I prepare in a rice cooker. I probably will have some spinach either as a salad or in an omelet.

Greek yogurt is another one of my staples, and I eat it with berries, or another fruit and cereal.

On Saturday night I will drink a large glass of water and also some Gatorade. (Any electrolyte you can tolerate)

On Sunday morning I’ll get up early enough to have a small breakfast of ½ whole grain English muffin with peanut butter and jelly. I have some hot water, and I also have some more Gatorade, (some people have coffee). I get my caffeine later from my gel.

On Sunday I will try to remember to take a mouthful of water every 15-20 minutes, even if I’m not thirsty. (This is a work in progress for me.) I will definitely drink at any time that I feel thirsty. I will take a gel or shot block every 45 minutes. It’s important to use the gel or shot block before you actually need it. Rather than taking it when you get tired, keep your energy and blood sugar level up, so you are not exhausted at the end of the run.

After my run I like to drink low-fat chocolate milk or make a smoothie with banana or other fruit and protein powder. It’s important to eat some protein within 30 minutes to aid with muscle recovery.

I’m happy to send out some recipes I’ve collected and to talk to people in the future about how to fuel our bodies for running. I’m also very interested in hearing about what other people do.

The WOW Team encourages fitness, through running and walking, for all women, all sizes, all ages, all abilites, all year round. Join us!

Follow Coach Stephanie's Column as Bay Area Women's Fitness Writer for examiner.com

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Personal Training Site for Coach Stephanie at Health and Fitness Professional's Network follow this link

Your Resting Heart Rate

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Are you at a peak level of fitness or just starting an exercise program? No matter, your resting heart rate can monitor your current condition and measure changes. You can track your fitness progress and overall health with this simple tool.

Here’s How:
First thing in the morning, before you jump out of bed, take your pulse for 60 seconds. Write down the number you counted. Do this for at least 7 days. There should be a pattern in the numbers.

Generally speaking, if you are in the 60-80 beats per minute (bpm) range you are in the “normal” range. Good for you! Many athletes will be lower than 60 bpm, first thing in the morning because their resting heart beats very efficiently. I have met many “athletes” who have resting heart rates (RHR) in the low 50’s. This is normal for them.

Here’s Why:
Before you get up in the morning your body has been resting overnight. Your heart rate, at this time, should reflect a rested body, ready to take on a new day. After 7 days of measuring, if your rate is similar (within a few beats) every day, and you are also below 80 bpm, you can assume that you are getting the rest you need.

However, if one day, you wake up and your RHR is 10 beats higher or more, STOP! Take a rest. Something is going on here that is keeping your body from getting the rest it needs. This is why your heart is beating faster. Skip the training and opt for the recovery phase. Your body, via your RHR, is telling you it needs rest..

Repeat this test once a week as a general measurement or any time you are feeling tired or sick. If your heart rate is elevated your body is telling you it needs some rest. LISTEN! Take it easy.

Naturally Simple and Effective
Your Resting Heart Rate is a very effective tool in monitoring overall fitness and heart health and when you might be overdoing your training or coming down with something. Any time you can use information direct from the source, to stay in touch with your own body, take advantage of it. In addition to the convenience factor it is also free.

About the author:  Stephanie Atwood is a Long Distance Running Coach, Nutrition Consultant and Certified Personal Trainer who writes and speaks about fitness and good health, focusing on women. Atwood founded the walking and running club called The WOW Team to encourage all women to include activity in their daily lives. See http://gowowteam.com and workout sites at http://meetup.com/gowowteam Contact her at Stephanie@AskAboutRunning.com

For weekly fitness event updates in the greater Bay Area subscribe to Coach Stephanie's articles at Bay Area Women's Fitness Examiner

 

Train for the SFM Half Marathon

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Only Three Runs a Week!

This is a tough one for those addicted runners to buy into but it works!

In Run Less, Run Faster, Authors Bill Pierce, Scott Murr, and Ray Moss explain the benfits of "less is more". For experienced runners, you add quality to your workout instead of injury-prone extra miles. For relative newcomers you limit the amount of miles you train, keeping yourself from the likelihood of high impact and over-use injuries. Sound good? It is!

The difficulty comes in the intensity of each workout. Each week you need to run with a purpose. Workout 1 practices all out speed. Workout 2 adds mid-distance at a tough pace. Workout 3 works on distance and endurance, based on your past running experience. Each workout has a specific purpose. Additionally, you are expected to cross-train on some of the other days with rest also being essential. How much rest depends on your experience level and your recovery. Please refer to the article about Resting Heart Rates. You're half way there!

May 24-30 - Goal - Build Strength and Endurance
Monday - REST
Tuesday - Cross train, focusing on core strength and upper body conditioning plus flexibility
Wednesday - Track Workout or 3 miles or 30 minutes hard pace/tempo run plus 5 - 10 min. warm-up
Thursday - REST or Cross Train
Friday - 4 miles or 40 minutes tempo pace plus 5 minutes warm-up
Saturday - Cross Train 1 Hour or REST
Sunday - 10 miles or 2 hours steady whichever comes first (5 mins warm-up, 110 mins steady, 5 mins easy)

Home Made Energy Bars

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Energy food, Energy Bars for Runners

Home Made Energy Bars For Runners

Want an alternative to those expensive sports/energy bars that you buy in the specialty running stores? This recipe for home made energy bars is delicious and easy to make.

Save money, be natural, and get the nutrients you need to perform well in sports.

My teenage daughter and my 70 year old uncle both love these energy bars. You can vary the ingredients dramatically and they're still delicious. Try using raisins or apricots or a combination of dried fruit.

    Ingredients
    1 C rolled oats
    1 1/2 C almonds, chopped semi-fine
    1 1/2 C dried cranberries
    1/2 C nonfat dried milk
    1/2 C ground flax seeds
    2 tsp butter
    1 C molasses/honey - either one or a combo
    1 1/4 C peanut butter

Chop almonds. Mix dry and wet ingredients until well-combined. Spread on a flat baking sheet lined with foil or wax paper or roll in balls. Roll balls in chocolate chips for a special addition or press chips on top of flat mixture. Cut into separate portions, wrap with foil, and keep in freezer until needed. No baking is required.

The recipe above costs maybe $5 to make and produces about 30 bars! If you buy energy bars in a store, you are paying at least $1 per bar. Big difference in cost - especially if you've got a teenager eating them by the handful. I didn't do a calorie calculation on these but my guess is it would be pretty high. That's what you want in an energy bar - lots of instant energy (fruit and sugars), along with fats, and protein for a full complement of nutrients.

Stephanie Atwood is a long distance running coach who coaches The WOW Team, a women's running and walking club in the Bay Area. Atwood is certified as a personal trainer and consults on sports nutrition. Ms. Atwood is also a Master's Runner and runs or walks almost every day. When we're moving, we're getting fit. It doesn't matter how old we are or how fast we're moving!"

Ms. Atwood is author of the weekly fitness E-zine The Weekly Pep Talk (TWPT) and hosts http://goWOWTeam.com

Strollers OK?

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Question of the week…

Hi Stephanie--- I just joined online. I have a 3-year-old and a jogging stroller. Is it ok to bring her? Will I be the only person walking? I'm hoping to not just get in shape, but also meet some people and have conversations that don't involve threatening to turn off the cartoons - Teena

Hi Teena - Thank you for contacting The WOW Team. We definitely have women who walk and even some with strollers or dogs! That said, the group is for fitness so, you need to walk (or run) hard. If that is your goal, then why not give us a try? We also strive for 60 minutes of movement. The pace is not the issue, just the attitude that we're not strolling...

Conversation is essential and definitely a part of what our group strives for. The social and supportive part of exercising with other women and, for you, having interaction with adults is, I know, an issue. I have 4 children who are now grown but I remember the days when everything was scheduled around them. It was great when they started in to school full time! So, give us a try. I think you’ll be glad you did! Go WOW Team! - Coach Stephanie

Spicy Black Bean Burgers

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Spicy Black Bean Burgers

These burgers are spiced to perfection. To make them even spicier, you could melt jalapeno soy cheese on each patty and serve topped with salsa.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup flour
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 small hot or jalapeno pepper, minced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium red pepper, diced
2 cups cooked or canned black beans, mashed
1/2 cup corn niblets
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp chili powder
2 tbsp parsley, minced (optional)

DIRECTIONS
1. On a small plate, set aside flour for coating. In a medium saucepan, sauté the onion, garlic, oregano, and hot peppers in oil on medium-high heat until the onions are translucent. Add the peppers and sauté another 2 minutes, until pepper is tender. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mash the black beans with a potato masher or fork. Stir in the vegetables (including the corn), breadcrumbs, cumin, salt, chili powder, and parsley. Mix well. Divide and shape into 6 patties.

3. Lay down each patty in flour, coating each side. Cook on a lightly oiled frying pan on medium-high heat for 5-10 minutes or until browned on both sides.

Makes 6 patties.

Reprinted with permission from HOW IT ALL VEGAN! by Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer (www.GoVegan. net) Arsenal Pulp Press.

Nutritional Info Amount Per Serving: Calories: 189.9 Total Fat: 3.5g Total Carbs: 32.6g Dietary Fiber: 6.7mg Protein: 8.1g See Full Information

Free Running Groups

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I thought you might like the article I wrote about The WOW Team in my examiner column this week. Follow the link. Thanks!

Free Running Groups

Questions? Contact Coach Stephanie at coachstephanie@gowowteam.com

Go WOW Team! Ongoing fitness for women through running and walking

Knotted Calves

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Stretch and massage to break up knots

Photo from inmagine.com

I read an article the other day about Sara's calf situation. It is called acute, chronic something and has to do with knots in the calf muscles that come on instantly and with debilitating, excruciating pain.

Evidently you build up knots in the muscles and they need to be kneaded out, literally. Deep tissue massage or "The Stick" or even a wooden dowel to dig into those muscles and break up the knots.

Stretch those muscles and warm up slowly 5 - 10 minutes, also cool-down and stretch after.

A good exercise is the stair stretch - up on toes then lean heel over edge of stair and stretch out your calves. Repeat several times.

Run those Hills!

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As I was running a hilly race course in Martinez my mind went back and forth between listening to my breathing and wandering. I love running as a time to process things. It's done wonders for me in helping clarify "issues" in my life. On race days the mind is definitely focused on racing. On the Martinez course when I wasn't thinking about my pace, my mind wandered to BALANCE. I mean the kind of balance that we use to run well. I was thinking about running uphill (we had plenty of them) and how you have to shorten your stride to maintain a forward balance. When you run downhill you lengthen your stride to balance out the effects of gravity pushing you ahead. The downhill seems to stymie a lot of people. It's important to take advantage of the huge opportunity that gravity provides and trust in your balance. Your body will land properly without "putting on the breaks" if you let your feet take you forward as much as they want to go, as extensions of your legs. The next time you're running hills, think about letting yourself go on those down hills. Let natural balance and rhythm be your guides. You might surprise yourself at how easy it is and how well you do. Interestingly, the more strength and agility workouts you do at the gym, with free weights, and with a flexibility component, the better you will do on the up and down hill! Go for it! When you try to stay upright (instead of moving forward with the slope of the hill) you lose all that wonderful opportunity that comes from not having to lift your foot up to produce the next step. Instead, when running downhill you only need to push off with the ball of your foot and the slope takes care of the elevation part by sloping away from you. I've come to realize that it takes strong, well balanced knees to allow runners to run hills the way I've described because you MUST be landing with shock absorption in the right places or your lower body, (especially your knees) will suffer. When landing, place the heel first, but LIGHTLY, NOT as if digging in for the long haul. Continue the forward momentum with an immediate rolling to the ball of the foot where you push off at the ball and also with your toes to continue the movement. This is not a static motion. It is very dynamic with gravity being your guide. LISTEN to your body, relax, and let gravity do most of the work.