Training for an endurance event - Iron Girl Giveaway

I am training for the Nike Women’s Half-Marathon with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Team in Training. I have never run more than 6 miles in my life and this in addition to raising $4000.00 for me is a serious challenge. Although I have some moments of doubt about the fundraising aspect of this goal, I know I can do it and have been inspired by my personal hero Ja’Naya and the countless other folks that have successfully completed endurance events with TNT.



I am constantly on the lookout for words of advice for my training and I was lucky enough to participate in a webinar with experts from the Iron Girl event series and Fitness magazine. This tips are helpful for training for a 5k to tri-athalons.

• Find creative ways to fit exercise in your day. Join a group of moms in the neighborhood and share childcare(playdate) responsibilities on a rotating basis so everyone can train.
• Stretch not only before and after exercise but also throughout the day.
• If you are a runner, be sure to vary running surfaces, try to do at least one day on the treadmill. This will help lessen the impact on your joints from running.
• Vary training intensity from day to day. Don’t stay in the grey zone/same level daily. If you train that way you will only develop one speed and not improve.
• Be sure to stay hydrated. Drink before you arrive at races, before training, make it a part of your daily routine.
• Be sure to include hills in your training, it will build strength in your glutes.
• Incorporate strength training into your workouts. This is especially important for endurance athletes over 30 years of age. Pilates, yoga, and resistance training recommended at least twice a week.
• If you are injured, take care of it right away. Missing a week or two of training is the best way to handle it instead of attempting to “work” through the pain.
• Motivation - to stay motivated put a race on your calender and work toward that goal. You will have a tangible goal to keep you going.

Race Day

• Breakfast: Be sure to eat something before your race, nothing too heavy stick to your usual pre-workout meal.  
• Warm-up: Dynamic stretching, walking lunges, high knees or any other stretches that include movement instead of static stretching. 30 second stride, ramp up speed slowly until you get to your race pace and repeat.
• Finish: within 30 minutes of finish get some carbs and protein in your system. Don’t forget to drink water!

I found these tips to be very helpful for me. I especially liked the race day warm-up plan. I have found myself wondering what to do before the race and I like this plan. 

Giveaway

Now for the giveaway! I have a ton of products including an Iron Girl bag, socks (love them), and visor. Entry for two in upcoming Iron Girl Events (signing up with a friend will keep you motivated!), googles, foot soak. Luna bar, Cliff bar, body spray, an interval running DVD and more. 

To enter (mandatory entry)- just let me know what you are doing to stay healthy? Are you training for a race? Have you started walking, swimming or running? Let me know in the comments! 

Extra entry: Tweet about this contest - Enter to win Iron Girl fitness bag on Cutie Booty Cakes @reneejross http://bit.ly/9NDDvc

Please leave a comment for each entry, you can tweet once daily!

This giveaway is open to the entrants in the U.S. and will be over on Sunday, July 18th at 11:59 E.S.T. Please be sure to leave your email address in your comment if you are not on blogger.

Good Luck!

Disclosure: I received the IronGirl giftbag for my participation in the webinar.