It has been a while since I blogged...mostly because I have been truly enjoying my spring and summer! Spring welcomed running season for me, and summer brought more mileage and lots of fun trails to my already busy life, but I'm not even complaining because I love it!
Running and carbs go hand in hand! It is perfect fuel for all your running adventures, and eating a consistant high carb diet can truly help you make vast improvements. Even as a beginner, a decent running schedule paired with a high carb diet can make training so much better. It is like running on unlimited fuel all the time, lots of energy, even during fasted runs!
What most people do is carb load the night before a run, while consuming a high fat, high protein diet most other days. This is not the best method as the body slows down quite a bit when digesting fat and protein, leaving you feeling sluggish, and adding carbs onto a slow and miserable disgestion isn't going to make much improvement.
Eating a high carb diet means your digestion is moving smoothly and quickly leaving you energized and ready to move! No need to 'carb load' when you are literally running on carbs, haha! Food is your foundation! Though you still need to run your butt off a high carb diet will make it so much more enjoyable! If you want to improve your running, or begin a running routine, here are some tips:
1. Improve your diet, improve your speed! You just cannot out run a bad diet...seriously, lol! Eating too much fat or protein will leave you feeling heavy and sluggish...maybe even sleepy, which is not ideal for running!
2. Start with 30 minutes a day and see how many miles you can manage to run in that time. It is ok to do a run walk combo, as long as you just keep moving! Once you have an idea of how many miles you can run in 30 minutes, focus on speeding up a bit until you can run a 5k in 30 minutes or less!
3. Now that you are comfortably running a 5k in 30 mins or less, begin adding some mileage. Short runs turn into 4 miles, and a long run is now 6 miles. Hills and sprints should also be introduced. Finding a nice hilly route to do your long run is a great way to push your legs and your lungs!
4. Add some cross training like spinning, mountain biking, hiking, or some cardio based fitness classes.
5. Introduce weight training, especially on those legs and core workout. Strong abs, glutes, hamstrings, and quads are the key to speed and increasing distance!
6. Rest! It is important to include a rest day or 2! You won't lose any speed or distance...you may actually improve! Over training can lead to injuries as well as burning out!
7. Get out there and have some fun! Challenge yourself, compete with yourself, sign up for some races, and enjoy every mile!
