I have been selected to be a Jeff Galloway blogger and could not be more excited for the opportunity. Incase you aren't familiar with him, he is AMAZING, a former Olympian and the official rundisney training consultant and probably one of the most down to earth people you could ever meet. 
Here are past tips: here, here , here ,  here, here and here.   

Run/walk 26.2? Yes! For Quick Recovery, Faster Times

How can runners, even Boston Qualifiers, run faster by taking walk breaks? I know, it's counter-intuitive but in numerous surveys I've found that former non-walk-break runners improve an average of more than 13 minutes when they walk early and often. 

How does it work?  Those who have a strategy almost always do better than those who just get out there and see what happens.  A muscle, etc., that is used constantly will fatigue and break down more quickly.  By taking scheduled walk breaks, the muscles stay strong and resilient to  the finish.  The principle behind walk breaks is “Conservation of energy”.

How can you run a faster marathon with walk breaks?  Almost everyone who runs continuously experiences a slowdown during the last 3-6 miles. Runners who use strategic walk breaks from the beginning tend to either speed up at the end or at least avoid slowing down.

Can you actually set a PR with the run/walk method?  I hear from thousands every year who set Personal Records by using the method.

How does the run/walk method protect you against injury?  Each runner has certain “weak links” that ache more and are common injury sites. Continuous use of the muscle will first cause the muscle to fatigue early, reducing muscle performance.  Continuing to run run under increasing fatigue will cause muscle, tendon and joint damage.  Walk breaks stop the abuse of a weak link, allowing the tissue to adapt, significantly reducing aches, injuries and recovery time.

How does the run/walk method affect your day-to-day recovery? Because there is less damage to repair after a run, the legs, knees, etc., feel better, sooner.  Many report that by using my run-walk-run method they can run the next day after a marathon. Some injured runners have been able to train for and run marathons while the injury gradually healed.  Walk breaks can keep  one below the threshold of further irritation. 
 
Did you  miss out on the fun of of the 2015 Jeff Galloway 13.1 weekend? It is not too late to join in!  Register for the Virtual Race (5K and/or Half marathon) and receive:

• Awesome Race Shirt
• Official Race Medal

Deadline extended. Register now!
Interested in hosting a Jeff Galloway 13.1 virtual race in your area for 2016? Contact us at kelley@jeffgalloway.com!

Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it !


EAT WELL

• I did well until the Super Bowl party but that is expected. Even though I'm a bit sluggish this morning from all of the carbs, I know I'll be fine soon. 
• I'm going to eat low carb and high fat until weds and then slowly start incorporating carbs in the form of rice and potatoes before going full carb load on thurs. gotta be ready for the LAM! 

SLEEP WELL

• I slept pretty well all week averaging around 7.5 hours of sleep but the weather has been a bit weird (super cold and now super hot) so I've been tossing and turning more than I would have liked. I want get 8 hours and be well rested for Sunday. 

EXERCISE WELL

• This week:
• Monday: weights 
• Tuesday: yoga-core 
• Wednesday: Piyo upper body 
• Thursday: weights 
• Friday: unplanned rest day because of work issues 
• Saturday: 5 mile run 
• Sunday: massage and stretching


• Last week:
• Monday: weights 
• Tuesday: 3 mile run 
• Wednesday: Cize abs 
• Thursday: 3 mile run 
• Friday: yoga
• Saturday: Rest day with lots of stretching! 
• Sunday: LA Marathon 

BE WELL

• I had a very social week!
• Weds I went out with some of classmates for a fake bday party (long story short-one of my classmates somehow hid her bday from us so we threw her a bday haha)
• Thurs we tried to go to the men's basketball Usc/ucla game but the student section was full so we watched at the bar next door. Usc won! And went 14-0 at home!
• Sat I went to DL to celebrate Devins bday and closed the park down. 
• And sun was super bowl!
• This week will be chill and a bit Boring as I take the taper seriously. My goal is to drink a lot of water and also keep my leg loose. I will going home every night and just work on my dissertation and going to bed at a good time. 

How was your week? 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!). 
Let's look at my Fitness goals and see what I have plan for this month!  ​

JANUARY GOALS

1. Roll at work C
I did this when I was sore. One thing I did do was buy a lacrosse ball for my office (of course this week it is cold so I will wear 

2. Plank every day C
I started off strong and then stopped after some of my races. I have picked it back up again 

3. Roll every day B+
I am getting back into this even if it just for a few minutes

4. SLEEP 8 hours
I got much better at this. It is amazing what a difference sleeping almost 8 hours does for my body and mind! 

FEB GOALS
1. Bff every day for 5 minutes 
I have gotten a Buff which was a great use of money-for real! I am using it every day but want to extend the time I am using it. 

2. Roll every day
I have the LA marathon in less than 2 weeks and then also Glass Slipper right after. I need to stay loose

3. Eat healthy recovery race meals 
I have often used the time after races to indulge. I have been trying to eat better after long runs (over the weekend I made carrots and chicken breast) and I want to keep that in mind after my races this month

4. Weight train 3x a week
I have been trying to do heavy weights 2x a week (I can only hang about 5 min each time!) and then a 15 min weight workout. 

5. weekly PiYo workout
When I started doing Piyo more, I started improving my running. I want to make sure I am still doing Yoga and weights so I think a good compromise is once per week. 

How about you? 

FInally time to get this race recap up!!!

I signed up for this race at the LAM back in March which is pretty crazy! I decided to do the Doubleheader Challenge which was a 10k and then a half as I needed to get in 20 miles that day for both a taper for Star Wars half as well as prep for the LAM. Originally the time was supposed to be 4 for the 10k and 6 for the half so I had planned on taking the train down to the expo, over to the race and then back home. In October, the race times were moved to 6 for the 10k and 8 for the half. Since races downtown seem to start late, I decided to get a hotel so I could head back to the hotel and not be on the train so late or have to pay a lot to park. It worked out that Ralph works 2 blocks away so he was game to have a less than 5 min commute to work. 

Since I had Star Wars coming up, I decided to do a Disneyland day to get my walking in instead of running 6 miles the day before and then just rest and relax. The morning of the race,I packed up all of the Christmas stuff, put up my laundry and started getting my things ready to craft for future costumes and relaxed and rolled (I probably should have taken it a bit easier but oh-well: hindsight). We headed down to the hotel at 2 (check in was 3 so I was worried if we went earlier, we would have nowhere to go!) and I got prepped and walked around the hotel. We stayed at the Biltmore which is a very famous hotel in Downtown. The Oscars were started there (in the room where the Expo was!) and so ornately done. 

I waited for Mallory and we went to the Expo to get our bibs and shirts and also ended up buying ProCompression socks for our Ewok costumes. One thing I did not like is I went to the Info table to ask if we would be able to get to our bags in between races as I had food and such I needed to get to and was told, "I don't know. No one has asked that before but I think you can." Mallory also asked about 10k corrals and he said-I don't think so. I feel like an info table should be a bit more informed than they were. 

We went to the room to get ready and relax before grabbing Starbucks (I needed caffeine!) and walking to the race start. We were able to use the real restrooms, check our bags, eat a snack and head to the start with ample time. 
People were very bundled up but I knew it would be pretty warm as it was only 60 when we started. I brought my arm sleeves just incase. 

We started the race about 10 min late, which was annoying as that would mean I would have less time in between races. With the no corrals for the 10k, it was a cluster at the start with all different speeds so I just walked until it opened up which was after about 30 seconds. For this race, I knew it would be hilly but I also knew it went over part of the LAM course so I wanted some practice. Since I had a half after, my goal was to go by feel and make sure my heart rate wasn't too high. I figured I would settle in around an 11 min mile pace and see how I go. I also had the plan to take the hills easy. I would stick to my intervals but also make sure to exert the same power going up the hills, so if it became hard and/or breathing got labored, I would just walk. 

The race basically followed the start of the LA Turkey Trot, up and around the middle of Grand Park and then around to the 2nd street tunnel. The tunnel is where I got insanely hot-I stopped to take off my arm sleeves and felt better right away. We continued down 2nd street to an out and back and then headed towards Sunset where the 10k and 5k split and the 10k course was very uncrowded. Right before the split they were handing out CANS OF REDBULL. Just no-haha. This part was pretty flat. As we headed to Sunset we crossed the freeway (who knows what those people were thinking!) and on Sunset to an out and back that was VERY dark. At one point,I couldn't tell if the people in front of me were moving or not so I slowed down to be safe. Thank goodness for my blinking hat! It slighty glowed so I could see where I was going! We headed over towards Chavez Ravine and had the largest hill of the 10k which as soon as I started, I walked it. It was a steep incline and I didn't want to waste my energy. We continued on and do a nice downhill before heading back up hill and towards the finish. Once we crossed the freeway again, there was our final water stop and I used the porto as I was worried about the time I would have between the races. I had a skirt and flip belt entanglement as it was pretty dark but I got out in less than 2 min. With about a mile to go, we headed back through the 2nd street tunnel and around the middle of the park to the finish line! 
Mile splits: 11:00/11:16/10:55/11:27/10:57/11:39
Running finishing time: 6.29 miles in 1:09:58
Official time: 1:11: 35 (difference was my crazy bathroom break!)

I had about 30 min to regroup. I grabbed all of the food I could, went and got my bag and sat and stretched on the ground. I had water, some protein drink(actually the same one I hated at the Christmas run but this time it was super cold and actually good!), a bag of BBQ chips, and a banana. I met up with Mallory and we chatted in the Porto line. I was cutting it close but I had a feeling this would start late and they did. I got in my corral at 7:58 and felt surprisingly refreshed from my break. However after the National Anthem, we waited. With no info but with a violin quartet playing. Yes you read the correctly, a quartet. Eventually they said it was delayed-ugh i just wanted to be done. There were 4 corrals and I was in the second one and started about 8:20. 

As predicted, the start was crowded but cleared out quickly. I wanted to go fast but knew what was coming so I held back. We headed up a slight hill back through the 2nd st Tunnel and towards Dodger stadium. I knew the big hill from the 10k was coming so I held back and then walked it. We went up and down until we hit the entrance to Dodger stadium and were supposed TO RUN! Like what? At that point, I knew a PR would not be possible and decided to do whatever it would take to feel okay when I finished. That monster of a hill was insane. I've never in my life seen every person walk up a hill in a race until this one. I knew we would be in for it. (It was about 250 foot gain in the span of a few minutes). 

We went around the stadium and got Gatorade and there was a table with boxes so I investigated: boxes of Clif shots just chilling there. I grabbed 2 to make sure I had enough fuel and kept on. We went towards Elysian Park and had a steady climb for a few miles and our reward-gorgeous views of the city and beyond. I stuck to my rule of not exerting too much energy because I knew more hills were coming. 

At mile 5, we hit a downhill and it was amazing! At this point I was close to the 2:30 pacer and heard him say we would hit another hill at Mile 6 and 8. I really just wanted the race to be over, as I was just tired (see, I should have taken it easy that morning!). He was right because after our awesome downhill, we did a down and back on a hill to climb back up. I was starting to feel blah-I know since it was about 9 o'clock that I was hungry so I had the applesauce I packed but knew that wouldn't be enough. The lack of Gatorade on the course was just embarrassing especially with the hills and sadly I didn't pack any salt packets. I was feeling like I did at the NYCM when I realized I was just tired and hungry. After eating I felt better but I never felt great. 

One thing I didn't like about this race was there were no spectators and not a lot of music (I think we passed 2 DJs on the course) and people were just silent. I kept having to turn up my music louder to keep me engaged. 
​
We did a slight downhill and then climb back into Dodger stadium (ahh the hills) and then ran down into the field. On the way to the field, there was another Clif station stop (just boxes out again) and Gatorade. Oh and then it started randomly raining! LIKE WHAT?!!?!? Running on the field was great. It was cool to be down there and I can know say I have run on both the Dodger stadium and Angel stadium fields! Afterwards, I knew there were more hills. As we exited, we ran over the first half mile of the LAM course. Even though it wasn't crowded now I knew it would be crowded on race day!

Another Tuesday, another Tuesday on the Run hosted by our favorites: 
Erika from MCM Mama Runs, Marcia from Marcia's Healthy Slice and Patty from No-Guilt Life.This week's topic is Spring races-here you go!

I have a lot on the calendar and then a potential long break for the Summer:

• 2016 LA Marathon
• 2016 Glass Slipper Challenge (10k + Half)
• 2016 Coaster Run 10k 
• 2016 Pacific Half Marathon
• 2016 Carlsbad All Day 20k
• 2016 Santa Anita Derby 5k
• 2016 Star Wars:Dark Side 5k
• 2016 Dark Side Challenge (10k + Half) 
• 2016 Tinkerbell 5k 
• 2016 Pixie Challenge (10k + Half)
• 2016 RnR San Diego Remix (5k+ Half Marathon)
• potential half marathon PR??

The LA marathon is a just over 2 weeks away and I am already getting nervous. This is my third time running and I am really hoping for a sub-5 marathon and a new PR! It is my only marathon for the year so I want to do well!

Glass Slipper challenge the next week will be a nice recovery weekend-I do not plan on speeding through but plan on stopping for a lot of pics and my costumes are almost done!

I have been wanting to do the Coaster Run for awhile so I figured why not now? I am not sure this will be a PR as I have an All Day Running Clinic the day before but who knows! 

Pacific Half marathon will be a beautiful half marathon but the elevation is a bit all over the place. I plan on running it as strong as possible but if the elevation is super taxing, then I won't push the pace. 

Carlsbad All Day 20k will be a very unique experience and should be super fun. It will also serve as my taper for Dark Side. Since I will be running 4 5ks, my plan is to use the first one as a warm up. The second one a bit faster. The 3rd one (my age group) as a PR attempt and the last race as a cool down. We will see how it goes!

The next weekend is the Santa Anita Derby 5k as I loved this race last year. It should be fun and I will base my performance on how the 20k went the week before. 

Star Wars Dark Side: all 3 races. My costumes are coming together nicely and I am SO excited to see how this will go. I think it will have great photo opps but the weather may be difficult. This will serve as my taper for Tinkerbell. 

Even though Tinkerbell Half Marathon weekend is pretty close, I have a lot due in school before then so I will be busy busy busy!! I am beyond excited to try out the 5k (the only one that starts in the park!) and also run the half! I will be a Perfect Pixie when I finish!! My first legacy race :0) 

and finally the RnR San Diego. I will run the 5k the day before as a warm up (and it should also be on part of the course so I can get a feel for it) and then try and PR the half. They have a new course coming so I will need to study the elevation but I definitely will be trying my best. 

I may throw a random local race in there but will keep the summer mostly to just training as I will be defending my dissertation proposal, along with taking 2 summer classes and traveling like crazy (SD for RnR, Texas end of May and beginning of July, NYC in May) so I will be busy and stay busy. Once August hits, I won't have class anymore!! AHHH! just dissertation! 

​So that is all I have now. How about you? What are your Spring race plans? 

​Time for some weekly accountability! I will recapping how I have done on the 4 Well Rules over the last week: Eat Well, Sleep Well, Exercise Well and Be Well New Linkup for Monday! I will linking up with MissSippiPiddlin and HoHo Runs to talk about my week recap! Welcome to the 4 well rules that I try to follow as I go through my week! Let's get to it !

EAT WELL
Last week I went a bit overboard with the treats and definitely felt it. I got back on track by the end of the weekend and am hoping to stick with healthy eating all week. I am trying to stay away from sweets and trying to bulk up my meals with more veggies. 


SLEEP WELL
I averaged about 7.5 hours of sleep and felt okay but had some issues. two nights iw ent to bed with a migraine and then last night i was up much later than I would have liked because I had tea way too late in the day. 

The goal for this week is to get as close to 8 hours of sleep as possible. The marathon is 2 weeks away so I need to make sure I am getting enough sleep. 


EXERCISE WELL
Last week:
Monday: weights
Tuesday: 2.5 miles
Wednesday: extra rest day
Thursday: 2.5 miles
Friday: rest day
Saturday: 10 miles (10 x 800 repeats which I definitely struggled through depending on the elevation of the Rose Bowl)
Sunday: Recovery Yoga

This week:
Monday: Weights
Tuesday: 3 miles (1 at tempo)
Wednesday: Piyo Upper Body + Cize abs
Thursday: 3 miles
Friday: Cize abs
Saturday: 5 miles (3 at tempo)
​Sunday: Running strength weights 

BE WELL
As you may have noticed, I have been MIA! I had a heavy dissertation week (I read about 60 articles!) so when I was ready to relax, I was EXHAUSTED! My brain hurts but I think I am at a good point to where I can stop reading for at least a few days and start writing. I have a 4 page intro due next week-so crazy! 
I had a great friends' bday party last week-the first of my super close friends to turn 30! SO CRAZY!! I will be 30 in less than 8 months. 
This week my goal is to really work on finding a balance. I am trying to have time to have fun with friends, get in my workouts, work on my dissertation as well as keep blogging. We will see how it goes!

How did your week go?