It's Thursday, which means another Take It and Run Thursday. This week, I get the opportunity to be completely devoid of knowledge and insight. Instead, I turn the tables on my BRF's and ask for your advice.
And babies, I've got questions.
1. What kind of vitamins do you take?
I have a handful of vitamins that I take every day. A multi-vitamin, sort of as insurance. And because I'm anemic, I take iron twice a day, plus a Vitamin C supplement that aids in the absorbtion of iron. But I see other stuff in the aisle at the drug store that intrigues me. Glucosamine, anybody?
2. How do you integrate shorter races into an overall training plan?
I've got a fall marathon that I am about to start training for, and I'm following a plan that is more intense than the one I did last time around. Still, I like to do the occasional 5K, or run the Bix 7. There are a ton of races where I live, and it's a lot of fun to run them and be around the people, get the t-shirt, what have you. But weekends are also the time for my long runs. If I am running a 5K on a day that I have a 10 miler scheduled, is there a way to do both? Do I run a 5K, then run 7 miles later instead of 10? Do I run the 10 miler the next day? Or, if I am truly serious about the marathon, do I skip these shorter races and focus just on training?
3. Has anyone used the FIRST program for something other than a first marathon?
One of the problems I'm running into lately with my trisko training is that Uncle Hal has me running pretty much every day except for Fridays and Mondays - and sometimes a weekend day off. I love to run, but on nights that my husband has to work late - or that we get sweet 12th row seats to see Go Diego Go Live - I end up missing a day of training... and worrying about getting in the miles to be prepared. Running three days a week with FIRST is intriguing to me, so I'd love anyone's impressions of the plan, especially for someone not running their first marathon.
I guess that's it for now. Thanks, BRF's!
18 comments:
1. Multi-, CoQ10, L-Carnitine, and more often than not some Glucosamine. CoQ10 & L-Carn are the fat burning & energy ultimate pair.
2. Presuming I have any wisdom to impart, double up the runs that day depending on length -- last year I had Half the same day as a scheduled 18. I killed the Half with my 7 minute PR, and skipped the other 5 miles. If it had been a 5k, I probably would have put in some additional miles (maybe not the entirety due to the difference in effort between a training run and race effort).
3. Matt Tartar of Dump Runner Club fame used the FIRST method as his training method of choice up until last year.
I also just take a multivitamin and iron (I don't eat red meat). I also have antioxidant vitamins but they're pretty expensive so I'll probably stop when I run out.
I did one 5k training for the half this spring, and I think I had a 9-10 mile run on the schedule for that weekend, and I ended up doing the long run on Friday, resting Saturday, and running the 5K on Sunday.
1. I don't
2. Not very well :D hee hee Actually, I just move the days around a bit if I can or take it as a cut back week if it works. I did two 8's, then a 10k race, then came back the next week for 10 miler. Seemed to go okay.
3. I know that Vanilla at Half Fast used First last year to do Boulder Bolder and felt that it made a huge difference (I think that is a trisko)and improvement in his times.
Ok here goes.
1. I talk a woman's multi-vitamin, and cold fish oil. (Three tablets) Now, while I am a bit dubious about it, the man does glutamine and swears that it helps recover. Big fan of Cold Fx as prevention too.
2. Re: shorter runs. If the 5K/10K is a on a day that calls for a longer run I'll just tack the miles on afterwards. Now if the difference is just a mile or two I don't bother.
3. Don't know much about training plans. I did find that Hal Higsons plans just never fit in my life. (Anything more than 6/7 miles on a weeknight is hard for me.) I'm a slow poke so I did John Bingham's plan -- looking around for others.
1) I take the kids vitamins ROLMFAO! I know it's probably not the best choice of vitamins but since I always remember to give it to them, I just give myself one too :P
2) It depends on the race. Like if it's a 5 or 10K. I'd do the additional mileage for the long run
3) I used the FIRST plan for HM training and I intend to use it for marathon training. Here's the dealy though. It can be really intense (ie: outside of your comfy zone running), since it based on quality miles instead of quantity miles. I can't say if it helped improve my times because I'm a newb runner but I do like the setup. 3 days running and 2 days cross training because it works with the "Mom" lifestyle LOL
1) I just take a multivitamin. I know I should do more, but, I don't!
2) We would sometimes either run a little bit before or immediately after (or both!) a 5K to get some more distance, but it usually wasn't on super-long run days. I ran a spring marathon so there weren't as many opportunities.
3)I'm not familiar with the FIRST method, but I have run one marathon and a half-dozen half marathons only running three days a week. Granted, I'm pretty slow, but I finish! I think you only really need more than three days if you're working on speed as well as distance.
1) I just take a women's multivitamin. I take so many other meds for my allergies I don't really feel like adding more pills to my life.
2) I have the same question. Since our training season is so long this time (4 months for the half marathon and 6 for the full) I want to do a few 5Ks in there. I'll be talking to our coaches and if I get any wisdom from them I'll let you know.
3) I've only run one marathon, but the 3-day a week training schedule is the one I used. I felt fully prepared and definitely didn't feel like I needed more running than I did. I'll be using the same schedule for my upcoming races.
1. Women's Multi, Iron, Glucosamine, Vitamin B12, Calcium/Mag.
2. Darnit, this was my question! I'll have to check back and see what answers you get :)
3. I've never used FIRST. I love my garmin, but I don't want to be SO tied to watching my pace.
1. Women's One-A-Days.
2. Like others, I'll finish up my mileage that same day if I'm running a 5k or 10k and there's a significant difference in what my long run is supposed to be. I also tend to do some tweaking of the schedule where possible, on the off chance I can switch a couple weeks around and take the race week as a fall-back week.
3. No experience with FIRST. I have all of Hal's plans memorized, though. It's kind of sick.
Daily supplements:
--> multi-vitamin
--> glucosamine/MSM
--> Airbourne (1)
--> fish oil
1. Multi inc. BCAA, CoQ10, Calcium chew, Vit C, Zypan, Fish Oil, Glucosamine/Chron/MSM thingy & Hammer Race Caps
2. I ran a 5k as part of a tempo, 1 warm up, 3 race, 1 cool down got a new PB of 20:47!
3. No, although I use the FIRST prinicples, 3 quality and 1 long, couple XT sessions, at least that was/is the plan!
Hi Betsy
I know I don't always comment, but i do really enjoy reading your blog.
Vitamins.. I take 2 glucosamine/MSM, an anti-oxidant based multi, a regular multi, an iron supplement and an occasional Ibuprofen when I'm really sorry which is pretty often...
I honestly don't do many short races, but am looking to do a couple 5 and 10ks this summer. I do quite a bit of interval speed work, but my God does it hurt..
Best of luck with your training and your guys.
1. I used to take a multivit/mineral, extra calcium and omega 3. But this made me wonder whether I should just be trying harder to eat properly:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7349980.stm
2. Sorry I'm a newbie - I'm as interested as you
3. I've been looking at FIRST too. Then seem to have schedules for everything from 5k to marathon, and I plan on using the 5k schedule to train for some autumn sprint triathlons. I'll report back then shall i? :)
Hi Betsy...my 2 cents:
1. Stick with a multivitamin. The research on supplements are always shady, and since it's not regulated, the amount can vary from one to the next. Besides, no one knows what the long term consequences of taking any of these are, so why take a chance.
2. I'm always in the same boat as you. I try to do a small race every month to test my race pace and see where I am in terms of stamina. To incorporate them into a marathon training plan, i see 3 choices: a) shift other workouts so it falls on a rest week; b) run some distance before the event so that the combined total = long run, c) run on two consecutive days so that the combined total = long run (this is a relatively new concept called the double long weekend)or my personal preference, d)treat the race as a speed session for the week and run long on your usual speed day.
3. I think the FIRST method is a good plan...I've used it multiple time before to train for half and full marathons, although I think sometimes the paces are a bit aggressive and the progression in long run mileage is kind of steep.
Hope my two cents were worth something.
I take a multivitamin, glucosamine and a Vitamin D supplement (doctor's orders for the latter).
With this round of training I'm incorporating 2 half marathons and one 10K. The first half marathon fell on a weekend where I was to do a 14-mile long run; the second is a weekend with a 17-mile long run (I may add to it, but given I'm racing rather than running long run pace, I may just add a 1-mile warm-up). The 10K race was one of my tune-up races.
I tried FIRST for my first half marathon after getting back into running. I think I over-estimated how fast I could go, as I got burned out very quickly. But if it's working for you, all the better!
1. No vitamin supplements
2. I like doing halfs (and the New York Road Runners 18-mile tuneup) during marathon training and adding miles at the end if need be.
3. Sorry, no experience with FIRST yet!
I take omega-3, and a fiber supplement (fiber-psyll i think). I have had the same question about the running.
I can't address any of the running questions but I can answer about vitamins. Currently I'm taking prenatals with Vitamin C thrown in. I used to take a women's multi, B6, and Vitamin E regularly, and extra Calcium/Magnesium, Vitamin C, and Acidophilus as needed. The calcium/magnesium combo is especially great for muscles.
I'd really like to take Glucosamine because people SWEAR by it and I am really starting to feel joint pain. However, I'm trying to find one without sulfides. (I'm already allergic to Sulfa and I don't want to develop a full-blown sulfur allergy.)
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