Team NO Deficit + Boston Training Recap Week #11

Today’s blog post is sponsored by fairlife, makers of Core Power®!  I am so grateful for this drink and how easy they make refueling for everyone that works out.  Do not forget to grab the discount code at the end of this post!

I know I take you back to previous days often, but this one really stood out to me as I was thinking about it the other day on a long run.

I remember when I first started training for marathons (I can remember some things like this clearly but don’t ask me what I did/wore/ate yesterday, ha).  I remember those 20 milers and long runs well.

I remembered two things that I would think about in terms of a long run—> 1) Wahoo, this run will put me in quite the calorie deficit, aka I’m going to lose weight from my long run.  2) Or I would think about how much food I could eat later at dinner/dessert after a long run because of the huge calorie deficit I would be in from the morning and not fueling properly before/during/after.

The consequences of those thoughts and actions—> I felt miserable during those runs, injured myself, didn’t have a period because of how I was fueling (RED FLAG), and never hit my race goals.

Now when I have a long run, I am scared of deficits.  A deficit to me now makes me think I won’t recover well.  I think about how if I don’t fuel well with enough of what I need, it will break down my body and take what it needs from the bones and muscles.  I know I won’t be the mom/wife/friend I want to be because I will be grumpy and exhausted if I go into a big deficit.   I know I will feel terrible afterward without doing what I need to fuel and refuel.  So I look at these long runs now and plan to not be in a deficit between what I eat the night before the run, the morning before the run, how often I fuel during the run, and how I refuel after the run.

And the difference between these two ways of viewing the long run has made me faster/healthier/happier than I was in the previous way of thinking.

I’m team no deficit now for my training, and I love it.  You can read all of my fueling before and during runs HERE.  I think there are a lot of people that start running to lose weight and have similar thoughts about being in a deficit, but as far as performance and recovery go… I’ve learned so much about giving my favorite vehicle (myself) the fuel it needs.

I am very grateful for how Core Power makes my goal to ‘get on the road to recovering from my run asap’ easy and so dang delicious.

Core Power is 100% real, lactose-free, ultra-filtered milk.  <—Because of these things and they don’t add any powders, I think it tastes so creamy and fresh.

My Core Power drinking quickly became one of my favorite rituals.  I’m either drinking it while chatting with my friends after a run about all of the details (that only runners care about;), or I’m drinking it while stretching out on the ground and trying to think of a clever Strava caption.  It also accompanies me many times in the car as I am a chauffeur for these kiddos.

With either 26g or 42g of protein, the high-quality protein in Core Power helps to build that muscle after a run; no matter how long or short that workout is for the day.

Keeping a case in the back of my car is expected at this point.  I want this in my hand asap to get the recovery process going.

Also, I have discovered something I love so much to do with my Core Power—>  I either add it to a bowl of cereal (vanilla + Honey Nut Cheerios = heaven) or add it to my chai (I’ve heard it is amazing in coffee too)!

Long story short, one of my biggest goals after struggling with this topic for so many years is to help runners fuel to hit their goals—> before, during, and after.

I’m grateful to have found Core Power to help us refuel after a run.

I like to have it out and ready to pass to my friends when they stop running.

And to end things off, here’s what week 11 looked like for Boston training!

Monday: 12.5 miles @ 8:51 pace

Tuesday: 10.1 miles @ 8:21 average

Wednesday: 18 miles @ 6:57 average.  2 mile w/u, 3 x 3 miles (6:12, 6:08, 6:05 averages for those) with .6 mile recovery jogs, c/d.

Thursday: 10.5 miles @ 8:43 pace with some good hills.

Friday: 8.1 miles @ 8:32 pace

Saturday:  22 miles with 13.1 in the middle at a 6:20 average (on a 13-mile course that was just like a condensed Boston course).  My legs were feeling pretty tired from a big week of mileage and the workout on Wednesday, but doing a bit faster than marathon paceish on tired legs is just what I need for my training.  I was also dealing with crazy period cramps during this run, so I was pretty proud that I didn’t quit.   4-mile warmup, and then I had 7 fast friends pacing me for the 13.1 miles (we were never stopped once during this, which felt like a miracle), and then they went and did their workout.  Being paced helped me a lot to have people to chase after!  I usually try to do some strength after my hard days but that wasn’t possible after this one… I was so tired.  I took a gel every 4 miles and that worked great.

Sunday:  Off!

81.41 miles.

Use the code 15HRGIRL to get 15% off Core Power HERE!  Just enter the code at checkout; it is active until April 10th.   This works for any number of cases for one order!  Please let me know what you think after you try it, and you are welcome in advance for hooking you on to your new favorite thing.

Tell me about a highlight from your weekend!

Tell me about the best run you have had recently!

Tell me about a change you have made that has made you healthier and/or happier.