Running

Hungry Running Recap: Every Day is a Vacation, And I’m Taking a Long One

I’ll start with the bad news first. And don’t worry, when I say “I’m taking a long vacation,” I don’t mean from blogging. I mean from running. Not because I want to, but because I have to.

Unfortunately I’ve sustained myself another nice little injury. Last year it was my left hamstring. Now it’s my right hip flexor. It could be a labral tear (let’s pray not!), or it could just be a groin strain. Either way, I need to rest. Probably for at least three weeks. (Kill me now!)

The pain in my right hip started just after I ran the Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon. Three days after the race I went out for an 11-mile run and unfortunately that was just too much, too soon. After that I rested for about a week until I felt OK again. But even though I felt OK on my first run back, there were still some small twinges of pain, a sign that I wasn’t fully recovered. Stubbornly (just like last time), I chose to ignore that, simply because I love to run, and now, as a result, I can’t. Oh the irony.

Hungry Running Recap: More/ Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon

On Sunday I completed my third half-marathon. As I was training for my first half-marathon last year, I remember thinking, “This will probably be my first and only half-marathon.” I couldn’t imagine why I would ever want to put my body through all of that pain more than once in my life. But after just having completed my third, and with my eyes set on the 2014 NYC full, 26.2 mile marathon, now there’s no way anyone could ever stop me from racing. Again and again and again.

Cruise Control iPhone Running App Giveaway! {Closed}

Remember last month when I couldn’t stop raving about the new Cruise Control iPhone app that syncs your music to your pace while you run? Well, if not, here are a few snapshots from my Instagram to jog your memory.

Hungry Running Recap: So, I’m running a half marathon next weekend!

That’s right. Next weekend. Me. 13 miles. I decided last night that I wanted to do it. I’ve been debating about the More/Fitness Magazine Half-Marathon for months now. Every time I open the latest issue of Fitness Magazine and see the ad for it I’m like, “Yeah! I really want to do that!” but for some reason I just never signed up. Well, now I did! And I’m so ready to run.

This year is the race’s 10th anniversary, it takes place in Central Park, and it’s one of the largest all-women’s half-marathons in the country. Ummmm, sweet! Sounds like a good time to me.

So, crazy me. Signing up for 13-mile races two weeks before their start. Good thing I’ve been running a lot lately! In fact, I’ve been running so much that I’ve hardly had any time to write about it. I’ll make up for some of that now.

Become a Better Runner: 4 Ways ‘Cruise Control’ Can Help you Run Farther and Faster

Most runners can agree, the best kinds of workouts are the unplanned ones. The workouts where you just gear up and go. No hopes or expectations. No mileage requirements or goal paces. Just a free run. Exercise in its most basic form.

That’s my favorite way to run anyway. Which is a major reason why I’ve totally become addicted to a new running app called Cruise Control that syncs the beat of your music to your pace.

I shared a little sneak preview of the app a few weeks back when I recapped my first run back after recovering from a cold. But even a few weeks and plenty of workouts later, what this app is capable of still totally blows my mind.

It has revived my love for really rocking out to my music while I run (one of the reasons I originally fell in love with the sport), and taught me that there’s more to good running music than crazy, upbeat, bubblegum pop. (Who knew?!) But even beyond reconnecting a runner to the idea of running for the love of it, I’ve found that the app’s four different features actually have the potential to help everyone become a better runner.

1. Running Free

The app’s “Free Run” setting is the feature of the app that will sync your music to the rhythm of your pace. It’s beneficial for a few reasons. First, it really forces you to pay attention to your pace. For example maybe Bob Marley’s Red, Red Wine is playing but it sounds super sped up. If you had meant for your workout to be a more laid back run, it could be a hint that you’re taking it a bit too fast. A subtle reminder to slow it down a little. It’s the perfect way to make sure you’re paying attention to your body and cadence, while still being able to keep your earphones in. Second, it makes almost any song appropriate for any type of workout. So you can just hit play and go. No worrying about what song might come up next or pressing the next button seventy times before you finally find that one perfect running song. (A distraction I am quite often plagued by.)

2. Pacing

The pace feature of the app allows you to pick a goal pace that you aim to stick to throughout your run, and all you need to do to make sure you’re hitting that pace is match your steps to the beat of the music. Again, this is such a ground-breaking way to use music and technology for learning how to pay more attention to your body while you run. Not only will this help you run faster by keeping you on pace (I know it sounds almost crazy that a song can keep you on pace but I tried it and it really, works), but there’s a good chance that it could also help prevent injury by keeping you in tune with your body and the way that it’s moving while you run.

3. Target Heart Rates

This feature reminds me of that Selena Gomez song. “To the beat of my… To the beat of my… To the beat of my heart.” Oh wait, sorry. That was Hilary Duff. Not the same, because Hilary Duff is so much cooler. Except for the fact that she recorded that song. Anyway, this feature allows you to pick a target heart rate and according to the Cruise Control, “as long as you match your steps to the rhythm of the music, the music will drive you to your heart rate goal.” This is such a cool concept to me. However the only downside to this feature is that you need a heart rate monitor that can connect with your iPhone. My heart rate monitor, the Polar FT60, is not iPhone compatible, so I have not tested this feature first hand. For those with the means to use the feature, it not only has the potential to help you run faster, but to also improve your overall fitness because learning to train within specific heart rate zones will increase your body’s ability to efficiently deliver oxygen and fuel to your muscles during aerobic exercises like, running.

4. Cadence & Tempo

Put simply, your cadence is the number of times that your feet hit the ground over a period of one minute while running. If you’re a super serious runner and know, for example, that for a certain workout you’d like to train at 180 SPM (steps per minute), you can use Cruise Control to pick a target stride rate and the app will adjust all of your songs to play at the same tempo. This is cool for all you math lovers out there who would really enjoy figuring out where their SPM would need to be in order to keep a certain pace and another neat tool for workouts aimed at increasing speed.

Aside from syncing your music, the app also uses your phone’s GPS to record your distance and route. When the workout is completed you can review a map of your route, your average pace, your overall distance, and your total time.

The app is available in the Apple iTunes store for $4.99 and, I think, well worth the money. Especially if you’re like me, and really enjoy running along to your favorite songs and playlist.

What’s a song that you love running to, that others might not typically consider a “good” running song?

Hungry Running Recap: 6.5 miles on ‘Cruise Control’ with Bob, Steve, and… Lil’ Bow Wow?

Oh it is good to be back!

Last week I was feeling a bit under the weather, so I took a few days off from running. I was itching to lace up and get outside the entire time, but I knew that if I didn’t give my body the rest that it needed to recover I’d be down for the count even longer, which was not something I’m sure my brain could handle. So, I rested, and then I rested some more.

Now, I’ve been sidelined from running before, and luckily, without going too crazy, found ways to ‘deal with it.’

[image source]

But, I say that I’m not sure that my brain could handle more than a week off right now because, over the past week (the week of no running) I noticed something about myself. I was starting to turn into a real life April Ludgate.

Unamused by all and ever-so-apathetic. Everything was annoying and nothing was beautiful. OK, I’m exaggerating a lot, which I tend to do often in my writing (especially since I’ve been reading a lot of Hunter S. Thompson lately), but the main point is this:

Running= Feel like Leslie Knope

[source]

No Running= Feel like April Ludgate

[image source]

Which, don’t get me wrong, April Ludgate is one of my favorite TV characters and a personal hero of mine, but I imagine that being so cynical and disinterested in everything all of the time would get quite exhausting. Although, I guess constantly having as much energy and enthusiasm as Leslie Knope would be equally as exhausting, so maybe I’ll try to find a nice balance between the two. But if I had to choose, I’d rather have Leslie’s No One Can Stop Me attitude and eat waffles topped with whipped cream every day. Just saying.

Anyyyyyyway. What this run really was about is a new iPhone app called Cruise Control that I finally got to try out for the very first time. To put it simply, the app syncs the speed of the music that you listen to while running with your cadence. In other words, no matter what the song, the app will adjust the rhythm of your music to match your pace.

I was THE MOST excited runner when Cruise Control got in touch with me and offered to let me try their app, because one of my favorite things about running is moving along to a favorite song and feeling the music as fuel. When I first started running and every workout was a painful struggle, it was music that got me through. (OMG, is that so corny?) I really can’t imagine having done it without my earphones and a carefully crafted playlist. It’s part of the reason why I share my workout playlists with you all every month.

Of course, there’s also a time and place for running without music, but personally, and I think this holds true for many runners, some of my best running memories include just me, my headphones, and a long playlist of my favorite running songs.

So is this app magic or something? A huge highlight of this run includes the fact that I set a 6 mile personal record which, I do account some of my speediness to the fact that a) my muscles were extremely well-rested and b) I was wearing a brand new pair of already broken-in Brooks. But I’m convinced that it also had to do with the music. Which leads me to the moment you’ve probably been waiting a really long time for, an explanation of this post’s title. (I know, what the heck, right?)

-My new pretty, purple babies.-

So, when I choose my favorite running songs, I tend to gravitate towards obnoxious, bubblegum pop. And while you’ll find the occasional hip-hop, indie, or classic rock track in some of my playlists, for the most part I always felt like I needed really up-beat, super-catchy, annoying pop music to really get me going. However, Cruise Control showed me that is not entirely the case. No, it is not entirely the case at all.

During this run I rocked out to some much more mellow songs. Like Bob Marley’s “Red, Red, Wine, ” Mumford and Sons’ “White Blank Page,” and Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker.” When Bob first started playing, my first reaction was to reach and change the song to something faster, but then, I don’t know, something told me to just go with the flow and enjoy the music, something that is typically really hard for me to do while I run because I’m usually skipping through to find that one upbeat pop song that I just can’t get enough of.

And then after Bob, Steve came on and I was totally feeling him too. And all of sudden I was like, “Whoa! I never knew that I can totally do this mellow music thing while I run.” Running revelation! Thank you, Cruise Control.

Then, after that, Lil’ Bow Wow came on and ruined the moment with one of The Worst Songs Ever, which I somehow still deem totally acceptable to keep on my iPhone and listen to while working out because… Well, I can’t even give you a good reason why other than the fact that it’s really catchy. (Side note: I just realized, through catching a glimpse of the music video, that Chris Brown is featured in this song. So let’s kill it with fire. Yes? OK, deal.)

And since it’s SO important to refuel your body after working out, proceeding this unplanned, almost-7-mile run (I swear I totally did not even mean to run that far, it just happened) I came home and made myself a nice, big bowl of whole wheat pasta with tomatoes, chick peas, and tomato-basil sauce topped with Parmesan and feta cheese. YUM!

Do you prefer running with or without music? What type of music is your favorite for working out?

3 New Ways to ‘Map Your Run’ {Giveaway!}

“What’s the app that you use to track your run workouts?”

Oh, if only I had a nickle for every time someone asked me that question.

Not that I’m annoyed that it gets asked so frequently (especially when I post images like the one above on Instagram), because I’m not. I’m not annoyed at all. Just that I’d have a lot more money than I do now if that were the case.

On Instagram, I’ve answered this FAQ dozens of times, but let this be my official, for the record announcement: The iPhone app that I use to keep track of my running workouts is MapMyRun. Oh my gosh, I sound like some sort of celebrity athlete endorsing a sports drink or something. That is totally not the case here, though. (I am neither sponsored nor endorsed by Map My Run.) I just genuinely love this app because it does exactly what its name says, and it does it well.

You turn it on at the start of your outdoor running workout and it uses your phone’s GPS to track your route and distance. When you record a run it will also track your speed and log your average pace when you’re finished and the results are finalized.

When I first started running I downloaded almost every “run tracking” app I could find and one by one, tried them all out. MapMyRun was the one that stuck for me. The interface is simple and self-explanatory and to my knowledge, its GPS tracking is the most accurate. (Yes, I’ve tested it using my car’s speedometer.)

Even though I knew that the app had features beyond simply tracking your distance, speed, and route, up until recently I had only been using the app for those three basic functions. But over the past few weeks I’ve taken the app’s MVP upgrade out for a few test ~~drives~~ runs, and it’s basically turned my phone into my very own, personal running coach. In particular, there are three specific features that have really helped take my workouts to the next level.

3 New Ways to ‘Map Your Run’ (With MapMyRun’s MVP Upgrade)

1. Pace Coaching: Before you start your run, you can set a goal pace. As you go through your workout, the “coach” will chime in to let you know if you are on, ahead of, or behind your pace. You can also choose how often (every 2,3, 4 minutes etc.) you’d like for her to update you. This feature is especially great for speed training outdoors. If you are training for race and have a goal time you are trying to achieve, you can set the pace coach to the appropriate level to ensure you’re working at the correct threshold.

2. Split Data: At the end of each run, along with your distance, route, and speed stats, the MVP package provides you with information regarding how long it took you to complete each mile of your run. This is especially helpful for negative split workouts where the goal is to achieve a faster time with each mile completed.

3. Route Planning: Planning out your route ensures that you get exactly the kind of workout you’re planning on. Too many times have I skimped on a workout because I didn’t plan my route or think about where or how far I wanted to run. Don’t get me wrong, heading out the door and just “winging it” is great for a leisurely weekend workout. But the new advanced mapping feature is almost a necessity for me now while I’m training for races. You can pick a recommended route by entering the area and distance you would like to run or plan and customize your own route.

Those are just my top three, personal favorite features, but some of the other features that come with the upgrade include:

Heart Rate / Power / Cadence Analysis – Improve performance by tracking data and peaks during your workout using your Polar watch, Nike+, Adidas, FitBit, CycleOps, Wahoo, Garmin and other compatible equipment.
Advanced Leader board Filters – Compare your stats with the competition and friends
Training Plans
Live Tracking – Live social media updates about your workout

You can upgrade to the Map My Run MVP Package for $5.99/month or $29.99 for a yearly subscription.

I’m also giving away one MapMyRun MVP Package Upgrade here on hungry-runner.com! Here’s how you can enter to win:

1. Use MapMyRun to track one of your upcoming workouts.

2. Use your phone to take a screenshot of your run results when your workout is done. (Like the example shown below.)

3. Follow HungryRunner on Instagram.

4. Post your MapMyRun workout recap screenshot as a photo on Instagram with the caption, “I want to win an #MapMyRun MVP Upgrade from @hungryrunner and @mapmyfitness” Be sure to include @HungryRunner in your post so I am notified that you’ve posted it.

5. Bonus Points: Feel free to personalize your post (like I often do, example below) using a photo editor app like Picframe!

This giveaway will be open until Midnight on Tuesday March 5th. I will use a randomizer to choose a winner and announce it here (within this post) and on my Instagram profile on Wednesday, March 6th, so be sure to follow me and MapMyFitness on Instagram and to check back here to find out who won. If the chosen winner does not reply within 48 hours of being notified, a new winner will be chosen.

Which MapMyRun MVP feature do you think would be most helpful or would you be most excited to try?

Hungry Running Recap: Even When a Run is Bad, It’s Good

Considering an enormous storm named Nemo dumped a whole a bunch of snow on the state (and surrounding areas) last weekend, we’ve been having abnormally warm weather here in New York this week. (Knock on wood! Lets not jinx it.)

Where as for the past few weeks it had been so cold outside that the Dreadmill almost seemed welcoming compared to braving the frigid temperatures for a good old outdoor run, this week I skipped all my indoor gym workouts because I NEEDED to be outside. The sun has been shining and the temperatures have been hitting the mid 40′s, which is no tropical paradise, but compared to 20 and below it feels like summer! So, how could I NOT run outside, right?

On Tuesday I ran five miles and the entire workout felt great. It flew by and before I knew it I was back in my apartment getting ready to go see Mumford and Sons at the Barclays Center. (Which was an awesome show, by the way!)

But yesterday… Yesterday I made myself a four mile Valentine’s Day Date with Central Park and almost every single step was a struggle. It usually takes me at least two miles to warmup, so I didn’t think anything of having a rough start. But even into the third mile all of my muscles felt like they were fighting a mighty battle against me and my mind.

I’ve been testing out the new MVP upgrade for Map My Run. It lets you set a goal pace and the “coach” chimes in every two minutes (or whatever interval you set it for) to let you know if you’re ahead of, behind, or on pace. On the treadmill I’ve been training at about a 9:13 per mile pace. I set the app for the same and took off. But unfortunately, yesterday, I just couldn’t keep up. My shins were tight, my legs felt heavy, it felt like every single other runner in the park was just speeding right past me. Which, I mean, it feels that way almost all of the time, but yesterday, it was getting to my head, you know?

My point is, though, that even though I felt kind of terrible and a little disappointed in not being able to keep up with my goal pace for all four miles, I still felt energized, relaxed, and revived afterward. No matter what, running always has that effect on me.

I know some of you feel the same about running, I know some of you have this relationship with another sport or pastime, and I know some of you have yet to find that one activity that elicits that “I just can’t get enough” feeling. For those of you who haven’t found “The One” yet, I really, seriously encourage you to keep looking.

[image via Meme Generator]

Laura Dave wrote an inspiring article about finding your Perfect Workout Match in this month’s Fitness magazine. If you feel like you’ve tried so many different exercise classes and workout, but still can’t find “The One” (or you’re just not sure where to start), check out the February 2013 issue and turn to her story on page 66 for some motivation.

You may have noticed that I added a “Start Here” page to the navigation bar at the top of my page. It outlines what I feel have become some of the core values of Hungry Runner. Finding that one exercise or activity that will (almost) always keep you coming back for more is one of them because I believe that it’s such an integral part of creating a healthy lifestyle. It really helps eliminate the “dread” some people feel when they think about having to exercise.

So whether it’s running, swimming, biking, rowing, skiing, hula-hooping, or skateboarding (or all of these things!), just make sure you’re moving and that you’re doing it often. You won’t always want to get up and go, and you won’t always enjoy the “ride,” but you WILL always feel accomplished and proud and better than you had before you started when you’re finished.

P.S. After my run I baked up a batch of Greek Yogurt Blueberry Banana Bread.

The recipe is by Kelly from NoSugarSweetLife.com and is one of my absolute, all-time favorites. If you have a few extra-ripe bananas lying around and 10 extra minutes this weekend (it’s a super easy recipe!), definitely bake yourself a loaf of this. Aside from Banana Raisin Oatmeal, this recipe is the best use of bananas in baking, and that is a fact.

Hungry Running Recap: Representing Greatist at the #ShortyRun with Chris Brisley

Look at all of these amazing runners!

This morning we all woke up at the crack of dawn to run 5 miles through Central Park in support of Chris Brisley (the winner of last year’s Social Fitness Shorty Award) and his organization, Take A Challenge; a global community that inspires people to live healthier, happier lives by sharing inspirational stories and educational resources.

According to his Shorty Award bio, Chris has ran, swam, and biked 6,500 miles, summited Mount Elbrus, is a 100-mile Ultra Run runner, and has completed an Ironman… all while overcoming asthma and a spinal injury. So basically, it was a HUGE honor to run with him.

Here he is posing with his Shorty Award before the sunrise in Columbus Circle this morning. (Photo courtesy of the Shorty Awards Instagram page.)

And here’s a blurry, but still inspiring, shot of all us runners kicking off our early-am run. (Courtesy of Twatan‘s Instagram page.)

I owe an enormous thank you (and a hug) to the Greatist team for inviting me to join the #ShortyRun with them. I had the loveliest time running alongside Greatist’s Meg Costello (who grew up on Long Island, just like me!), and fellow Greatist Ambassador, Tara Fuller, who has a totally kick-ass Tumblr called Life Without Bacon.

To read more about the other featured runners, like comedian Dave Siegel, TV news reporter and blogger Stephanie Tsoflias, and Fitocracy CTO Daniel Roesler, head over to the #ShortyRun Eventbrite page. (You might also see me there, wink wink!) It was such a pleasure to run with all of them!

I’ll have more “Shorty” news to share with you all this spring when it’s time for the Shorty Awards in April, so stay tuned!

And in case you’re wondering what the heck the Shorty Awards are, here’s a quick rundown.

From the Shorty Awards site:

What do Conan O’Brien, Ricky Gervais, Sesame Street’s Grover, Suze Orman, Ted Leo, Neil Patrick Harris and NASA have in common? They’re all Shorty Award winners.

The Shorty Awards honor the best in social media; recognizing the people and organizations producing real-time short content across Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Foursquare and the rest of the social web.

If you enjoy Hungry Runner and feel that I’ve used social media (Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, Twitter) to inspire and motivate you to make healthier choices, you can nominate me for a Shorty Award in #SocialFitness by tweeting the following:

I nominate @hungry_runner for a Shorty Award in #socialfitness because…

But most importantly, I want to thank every single Hungry Reader, for sending me such lovely comments and emails on a daily basis. All of you motivate and inspire me everyday

When your motivation for health and fitness is low or dwindling, where do you look for the inspiration to keep going?

Hungry Running Recap: My first non-half-marathon race

Yesterday I ran my first race of a distance less than 13.1 miles.

Because, you know, while most newbie runners would opt for a more reasonable distance (like the four-mile Gridiron Classic in Central Park yesterday) as their first race, I chose to just dive right in and start out with a half-marathon last May.

And then I ran another one 4 months later. I’m sane, I swear.

That is, if you consider waking up early on a Sunday morning to race four miles in 24-degree, snowy weather “sane.”

It’s actually really no surprise that I started my running journey with two half-marathons though. I’m a distance athlete. I always have been and running has proven that I always will be.

As a swimmer, I would have chosen to race 500 yards over 100 yards any day. So, having only completed two long-distance running races, I was extremely curious to find out how I would perform over a much shorter distance.

I was worried because I sort of hate sprinting.

But it turned out that I really had nothing to be anxious about at all. Despite the tundra-like temperatures, I felt strong and energized through the whole race and held a much faster pace than I even thought I was capable of.

My pace per mile was 8:47 and my official time was 35:07.

That’s completely crazy to me! Here I was thinking my pace would hover around 9:15-9:20 per mile, when really it turns out I’m kind of faster than I thought.

Which means now I have no excuse not to push myself harder during speed training and interval runs. :/

I’m ALL ABOUT running for the enjoyment of it- and I tend to enjoy it most at a nice 10-minute-mile pace- but it’s also a lot of fun to put in some hard work and then see your performance improve later down the road as a result.

My goal is to continue to keep a nice balance between racing (working hard, pushing myself, completing speed workouts) and pacing (relaxed running simply for the love of it).

After the race was over, it all of a sudden felt much too cold to even contemplate being outside. So, we hightailed it out of the park and back to our toasty apartment. But not before grabbing bagels and taking obnoxious, touristy, post-race photos with them.

I might as well make it a tradition to take a photo with my post-race fuel after each event I run from now on.

I mean, the free bagels are my main motivation for running these races in the first place anyway.