Park City Half Marathon by Jesus Castaneda

Just want to say thanks to Jesus, one of our SLRC employees, for sending in this race report. I am sure it is no surprise that one of my favorite things about this post is his nutrition choices for dinner the night before and breakfast. Great stuff! No wonder you ran so much faster!

Seriously though, isn't it great to remember our race experiences? What worked, what didn't and why we do it? Time to think back at 2009 and start planning for 2010. Maybe more Half's for Jesus. How 'bout you?

So there I was at the starting line of the park city half marathon. It was a chilly Saturday morning and weeks of training were about to pay off. It was my second half marathon of the year and I was eager to better my time from my first one.

The course of the half marathon was nice and very challenging for me at times. With great views of the area that made me feel sheltered by the mountains as I run as fast as I could. The first half of the race was pretty much all uphill which meant that the second half was gonna be all pretty much downhill, so I took it a bit easy the first few miles just to make sure I was gonna have enough gas on the tank to have a strong finish.

At mile 9 I took my last gel and I was ready to start my strong finish so I started pushing a little bit harder in every stride. Up to that point I was pretty comfortable with my performance and I didn't have any major set backs (no upset stomach or bathroom breaks). I attribute that to a great dinner the night before, my father in-law grilled some salmon and served it with grilled sweet potatoes (it was delicious). For breakfast I had a bowl of quinoa with hemp milk and a sweet potato from dinner plus lots of water. It was great to see my wife Jenn with my kids at the finish line and even greater when I looked at my watch and realized that I had improved my previous half marathon time by almost 10 minutes. I love running, I love the good days and the bad days and I am most thankful for the people who make it possible for all of us to compete in such a great environment. My goal was to better my time and to set a good example for my kids. Their smiles and big hugs at the end was the best feeling after a great event. Thanks to everybody involved in the Park City Marathon and ½ Marathon. I am looking forward to making it a tradition for years to come.

Essential off season leg stability work

I am sure many of you out there have gone through a knee, hip or ankle problem. Joint issues are very common among endurance athletes,but the good new is that you can dramatically reduce your chance of getting one of those kinds of injuries! Strengthening weak muscles, stretching tight ones and relieving muscle tension should become not just an off season, but year round mantra of any one who doesn't want to get injured.

STRENGTHEN

Most joint injuries are a result of muscle instability. That means that certain dominant muscle are much stronger as compared to weaker large muscles or weaker stabilizing muscles. If this happens then joints, like hips and knees get yanked on too much in one direction by the stronger muscle and not equalized because the weaker muscle groups are too weak to do their job and pull it back into alignment.

For knees and hips specifically, working your abductor and adductors are two of what I consider to be the essential injury prevention exercises. There are some others like different types of lunges, but start with these first. These can be added to your existing leg routine or done at home with stretch cords. I prefer that people do this on cable machines though like the videos below show.

How many? Well, if you have never done something like this before, then start with 2 sets of 10 reps on each leg for about 4 weeks and then add another set to make it three. Or if you are really time crunched, the use this exercise as your warmup for leg day and do one set of 15.

IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT, AS YOU AS YOU CAN, YOU BEGIN TO LET GO WITH YOUR HAND AND LEARN TO BALANCE ON YOUR SUPPORTING FOOT. A BIG PART OF THE STABILIZING AND STRENGTHENING GAINS YOU MAKE ACTUALLY COME FROM THE STANDING FOOT AS WELL. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT YOUR STANDING LEG BECOMES TIRED AND BURNS BEFORE THE WORKING LEG.

STRETCH AND RELIEVE TENSION

There are numerous resources that have effective stretches. There are now multiple DVD's and Books on stretching and Yoga for athletes. These are great because they show you poses that you can do when you are tired and don't need any more strength or power work. Just relax and stretch. Flexibility Training is one of my favorite DVD's. It is a great 25 minutes stretch routine and has some good leg stretches as well. Do this once or twice a week will really help your body unwind.

For relieving muscle tension and knots, you either need to have a really good sports massage therapist you see once or twice a month AND/OR you use something like a Trigger Point Therapy kit. You can read that post here.

Oh and, this quick video demonstrated the yoga stretches that target specifically the adductor/abductor muscles we are concerned with today. ACTUALLY, you will have to just do what this video says and then drop your leg the other direction as well(across your body.) to get both sets of muscles.

So, just remember that injury prevention should be a staple part of your year round program. Happy strengthening, stretching and relieving of muscle tension!

Jena's Journey

Thank you so much Jena for sending us your story. It seems as though that no matter who you are, your goals, your experience or your natural talent level, the dedication it takes to get where you want to go is unchanging. It is so inspirational to talk to all kinds of people and be motivated by their own sacrifices and passionate pursuits through this race we call life.

JENA'S JOURNEY

My name is Jena, I am 31 years old, I have a 7 year old daughter and a 3 almost 4 year old daughter. I got married 12 years ago in May. Before I got married I ran almost every day and I enjoyed running local 5ks. In Junior High and High School I ran Track and Field and Cross Country. A year after High School I got married, and my Husband and I started focusing on having a family. The first 7 years of our marriage we found it was not easy for us to have children and we experienced many failed pregnancies but eventually were able to have our two amazing daughters. During this time, I focused on my children and Husband and I forgot about me. I didn't realize I could balance both taking care of myself and taking care of my Husband

and Daughters. When my youngest turned 18 months old, I decided to make a change. I wanted to be the best Mother and Wife I could be and in order for that to happen, I realized I needed to take care of myself and lose a lot of weight and live a more healthy life style.

In August 2007 my Journey to a healthier happy me began. My oldest was 5 and she had just started school. Her school is 1 mile away from our home so I decided to walk her to school and home everyday, 4 miles a day. Then I started jogging to school while pushing my baby in a jogging stroller with my oldest riding her bike right next to me. I started getting stronger and stronger. I later found some friends to workout with a few times a week and that was very motivating. I decided that I wanted to run a half marathon so I began training by running almost everyday.

On March 28th 2009 I ran my first half marathon in Riverton, Utah and my time was 3:08. After 11 years of not running I was hooked and hitting the pavement again and I ran and completed a half marathon. My husband ran by my side and some good friends followed us around the race with our kids so that they could see us accomplish this goal. It was an amazing feeling to accomplish this. On June 13th 2009 I ran my second half marathon at Bear Lake and my time was 3:09.

As many of you know, Salt Lake Running Co. hosted the Nike+ Human Race on Saturday, October 24th 2009. My Husband and I participated in this awesome race and finished in 1:23:09. This was an amazing race because I saw a lot of people supporting one another. I witnessed friends who had finished who ran back to find friends who still needed to finish and helped motivate them and get them to the finish line. I personally had 2 friends come back and find my husband and I and it was a great feeling to have that kind of support. I came to the practice training runs that Salt Lake Running Co. provided for us the weeks previous to the race and loved the encouragement and support I received from everyone in the running group. The running community is such an awesome bunch of people and running with a group is a great way to stay motivated.

GETTING THE FAMILY INVOLVED!
My daughters are part of my workouts. They watch me lift weights at home and they go on most of my runs with me. I have made a point to tell them that I need to be a healthy happy mommy and so they support me and never complain. I know that my example will be something that they take with them throughout their lives. They enjoy eating the healthful food I make them and they also like to exercise and be active. My husband is also eating better and trying to be more active. He is helping me reach my goals by encouraging me, being very supportive, and he runs in every race that I enter, I love having him there. I am working with a friend who is a personal trainer and nutritionist and she is also helping me reach my goals, thanks Brynnly!

JENA'S TIPS

Since my weight loss Journey started in Aug. 2007, I am happy and excited to say that I am 50+ lbs lighter than I was then. I still have 70 lbs to lose to reach my goals and I know I can and will reach my goal. The message I would like to share with whoever reads this is simple. Your Mind is amazing and you can do anything if you say you can. I hear a lot of people out there making a lot of excuses. Excuses keep you on the couch and keep the pounds on! Surround yourself with a support group, let people know what you are doing, eat better and exercise more and start saying you can, make it happen.
It is not always easy, but I can tell you from experience that it is a lot harder to start from scratch.
Here are a few things that help me stay on track and will help you:

-Weight loss doesn't happen overnight, it is a long Journey , but you will benefit greatly by doing it right.
-Exercise often, get your heart rate going!
-Find a group or friend to workout with or run/walk with.
-Keep a Food Journal, you will be surprised at how many calories you consume in a day.
-Avoid eating out, if you eat out make wise choices and don't finish your plate.
-Weigh in once a week with someone, it helps to have someone other than yourself to answer to.
-Stay Positive, tell yourself you can, your mind is much stronger than you think.
-Set small goals that add up to a bigger goal.
-Reward yourself when you meet your goals, new running socks, some new music on iTunes...
-If you have a bad day get right back to your plan the next day.
-Teach your kids, explain what you are doing and why and they will be a huge motivation and support to you.
-Don't start next week, Start Today!

I just want to say thank you to the Salt Lake Running Co. for sharing my story. I hope that it will inspire many to get out there and make a change. You can do it!


-Jena Marston