Warning: There are multiple mentions of almost throwing up in this post. It wasn’t on purpose, it just worked out that way…
What kind of vitamins do you take? Do they make you nauseous? Is that normal?
I ask because I finally finished my Costco-size bottle of prenatal vitamins I had left over from when I had T Junior. Now, I have a Costco-size bottle of Women’s One-A-Days. I definitely like taking them because I think they keep me healthier and give me energy. Plus, we don’t always eat the most nutritious food (ahem, Costco frozen food section).
The only problem is that I get nauseous when I take these vitamins. I take them with food and water. But sometimes I have to really concentrate on not puking them back up.
DAY 255
Let’s just call this one cross-training day FAIL. I was not feeling well after only getting four hours of sleep Tuesday night and only 5 hours of sleep the night before. I barely got to work on time.
I didn’t plan well and did not have my gym bag ready for the Secret Gym. I told myself I’d walk outside instead. But I didn’t.
I just wanted to sit at my desk and write, so I called it a rest day.
But I did have an interesting conversation with my office mate (aka former college track athlete). I was telling her about how tight my muscles felt on Tuesday night’s 7-miler, and then we began talking about stretching. She told me about dynamic stretches and then showed me how to do them right there next to our cubicles. In a coincidence, RunnerDude just wrote a post about dynamic stretching (here). Check it out.
Then I asked my co-worker about tempo runs. “What are they?”
She let her dad (a former cross country coach) descibe them to me in an e-mail. Here’s what he said:
… A speedwork drill where the runner will begin the workout with approximately one mile of warm up time at or near an easy run pace, then accelerate to approximately half a minute faster for a set number of miles or minutes. The runner follows this with a cool down of miles to balance out the total workout length. As an example, a 6 mile tempo run will begin with a mile of warm up followed by 3 miles at tempo and finished with 2 miles at easy pace to make a total of 6 miles. Some runners will say, “Your tempo pace is one that you can hold, but you would really like to not hold it.” …
I learned so much on Wednesday!
DAY 256
I had another crappy night of sleep (or should I say NOT sleep): six hours. But I made it through the day. And I was actually excited for my 4-mile night run.
Why? Because I wanted to try out what I learned on Wednesday.
Okay, so I felt a little silly skipping down the sidewalk in front of my house in the dark. Only one neighbor drove by, but I know who it was and she knows I’m a runner (she likes to run, too) so she probably didn’t think I was too strange.
I just did three quick stretches: skipping, walking high knee lifts and a hip stretch where you starts with a high knee lift and the swing your knee out to the side.
Just with those three, I felt more warmed up than I ever have and it was easy to get running once AJ II found a satellite. I tried really hard to take it easy on my first mile even though my legs were warm and wanted to go fast. I kept slowing myself down. I needed to save it for miles 2 and 3 of my first tempo run.
AJ II rang off the first mile and I took off, sometimes looking down and seeing my times in the 8s. Dude! It felt good to run hard and know that I just had to keep it up for a mile before I could slow down again. (I had decided to just do one mile of my fast pace before I began running so I could ease into tempo running.)
But after one mile, I couldn’t slow down. I didn’t push myself as hard on Mile 3, but I was still going pretty quick for me. I felt good, though. Well, except for almost throwing up a couple times, but that’s what I get for eating dinner before my run. I guess an hour is not enough time to let spinach ravioli digest.
On Mile 4, I really had to slow myself down. I wasn’t sure I could hold sub-10s for another mile and I kept burping up dinner and the Tri-Berry GU I had before my run (not a good flavor, by the way, I will stick to chocolate mint and vanilla, thanks).
4/1/10 – 4 Miles – 39:33
Average Pace: 9:52
Mile 1: 10:12
Mile 2: 9:12
Mile 3: 9:51
Mile 4: 10:14
DAY 257
Today is a rest day. I am sooooo glad I ran last night because it is pouring rain right now and there are severe wind gusts out my window. Hopefully, we won’t lose power. I need my Interwebs!
This morning was my weekly weigh-in. DOWN 2 POUNDS! I’ve lost 4.2 in the last two weeks. Woohoo! Watching your calorie intake really works. (Here’s what I’ve been using: How Many Calories Do I Need? by RunnerDude.) I have to say, I defiintely felt lighter on last night’s run. I even think I need to tighten my iFitness belt. And I noticed my size medium running capris weren’t as hard to get on!
Also, I am wearing blue today, are you? (See why here.)
11 comments
Great run Kerrie! We are all rocking the blue in our house!
Tempo runs are cool. They can be as difficult as you want them to be. I used to think that a tempo run was, like if you're on the 'mill to go from a 5.5 to a 6.5 or 7.0 at the push of a button but guru Hal Higdon said to gradually increase your pace, so I did. Much better that way. You slowly work yourself up to pace and it's easier on the heart. I don't do enough tempo runs but I try and do one once every other week.Great weight loss!!
Dynamic stretching huh? I need to try that. I usually only stretch after I run but I will try some dynamic stretches before and see how it works.Nice job on the tempo run!
I'm new to your blog, and wanted to say nice tempo run, and those vitamins make me nauseous too! I don't know what it is about them, but I quit taking them for that reason.
I have the same exact problem with those vitamins (and don't even get me started about Fish Oil). Let's just say I had a three-day freak-out a few months ago where I thought it might be morning sickness. Ugh! I've discovered that the only vitamins I can stomach are the One A Day chewy ones. Maybe those will work for you!
Thanks for the tip!
How funny that last night at running group, someone showed us how to do dynamic stretching before a run 🙂 I look forward to trying it tomorrow!
Nice run and down 2lbs!! Awesome!
I have the same problem with vitamins. I had to experiment for a while before I found the right combination of vitamins that seemed to give me a little charge without upsetting my stomach. These days I take some tablets from a local health food store along with fish oil.Way to go on the weightloss! Keep it up, but just be careful as you run more miles in your quest for the marathon.
In my opinion the tempo runs are very important, they are a challenge to ourselves. I don't take vitamins I prefer vegetables, fruits etc. Have a good Easter.
I found you through Lisa in her mention about dynamic stretching. I'll definitely have to give that a try since my first mile usually feels sluggish! Thanks for the info! 🙂