Blog

Having Confidence and Patience

I grew up a soccer player and ran just to sort of stay in shape.  I ran mainly 3-5 miles and that was sporadic because I got a lot of my conditioning just playing soccer.  I didn’t start actually really running any sort of mileage until junior year of college in 2007.  And, even then it was 5-6 days a week with between 6-9 miles just running without any knowledge of what I was doing.  It wasn’t until after I graduated college that I started learning and getting somewhat serious about marathon running and that was when I saw my times start to drop.  I never really had any speed work like so many great marathoners have when they ran track in high school or college or cross country or whatever.   My fastest mile with what I knew was a 4:59 I had run freshman year in high school. I know exactly…slow compared to most people.  My 2 mile time was a 10:46 freshman year…not very impressive by most standards at all.  I ran track freshman year to stay in shape for soccer and then never ran it again – I know STUPID decision…imagine where I could be – you never know.

But, I started with a 3:40 something marathon and have worked it down in about 4 years with only a couple of those having any sort of basis of what I should be doing and I am still learning and now I have a 2:33 PR in the marathon.  I only want to get faster and hopefully qualify for the next olympic trials.  The drive inside of me to achieve this is something that is just all consuming.  I am so determined.  But, I have to be patient and work it down and not get carried away.  I have a quiet confidence in myself that I feel like this is something I can do and be truly good at.  I would not only love it for myself but also to show others and inspire others with what I came from to what I hopefully achieve all while in medical school and working.  Not easy and I haven’t achieved it, yet…but I am very determined.  I may not have the huge history of running track or cross country or the fast leg speed already that many from college come out with already but I am working on it.

A lot of people coming out of college than ran could run 4:40-5:00 mile repeats quite easily (relatively speaking) and then its just a matter of carrying that ability over a longer period of time.  I not only can’t do that but also don’t have the base that many have built up over their running career in high school and college.  But, I have faith, confidence, and working on patience that I can work my way down faster and faster to be even more competitive and qualify for the Olympic Trials.

Confidence, as my wife will tell you, is something I preach about all the time.  The mental aspect of many things I feel is more important than the physical aspect.  Being mentally strong and tough is extremely important especially in a race like a marathon.  The road to the marathon is filled with many ups and downs.  Whether it be setting new PRs or being injured and depressed.  It is how you respond to those injuries that makes you the runner that you are.  I have been injured only once seriously and it was the darkest time of my life, I am not afraid to admit that.  Injuries are part of the game when you are pushing your body to the limits but there are so many things I did wrong and hopefully now I am a bit smarter of a runner.  I am always learning, researching, and trying to learn about what others do that makes them successful…you have to be open to other’s ideas.

I don’t have a team to train with, I don’t have a running partner – it has always just been me.  Countless long run hours by myself, hard tempos, lonely speed work on tracks, countless hours on the treadmill zoning out to music, and the list goes on.  I have developed a quite confidence in myself that I feel that I can overcome anything.  For every person on LetsRun.com that tells somebody they aren’t cut out for running marathons or whatever – that sort of stuff just motivates me to inspire others to say “yes I can”.  Hopefully, one day I will achieve a level that can truly, INSPIRE.

23rd January 2012
running
READ MORE

Powerchews Glutamine Review

Powerchews was kind enough to send me a sample of their Powerchews product(s).  They make several products and I was honestly impressed with all of them.  I will be reviewing the Powerchews Glutamine today as I think it is one of those revolutionary products that is one of a kind in my opinion.  The power chews come in a nice round container with different flavors in them and about 180 tablets in each container.  4 tablets of these amazing tasting chews are equal to 5g of Glutamine plus it has a few carbs in them (~6g of carbs per 4 tablets).  Now, a lot of people know that Glutamine is one of the amino acids that is important in recovery especially if taken right after a workout.  That is what makes these so convenient in my mind and why I have been using them so much post-run.  They are super portable and a convenient way to get glutamine without having to make a shake and put glutamine powder in it.  It is one of the few products out there that I know of like this.  Here is a photo of the container below:

They are each about the size of a nickel and they come in different flavors and they actually taste good.  You honestly will probably enjoy eating them as sometimes I find myself studying and will grab a few and eat them.  But, I have been religiously taking the PowerChews Glutamine after most every run and it has SIGNIFICANTLY helped in my recovery for the next run.  I have to run at the gym a lot of times for harder workouts since it is very snowy around here and I need to do hard pace work so being able to carry these around so easily has been a very nice feature.  I don’t have to make some huge shake and take the time to do that in order to get glutamine RIGHT AFTER a workout.  These I can literally consume within a few minutes after I’m done and I know I am getting the glutamine quickly to my muscles for recovery.

I use other nutritional products for recovery but this is now an ESSENTIAL recovery product I use on a daily basis because of its portability and easy use.  It doesn’t come with a bunch of fluff in it – just glutamine and little bit of carbs.  Simple and effective in my opinion.  In my on the go world of medical school, running, and trying to have somewhat of a life outside of that – PowerChews Glutamine has significantly helped morph my recovery into a more efficient one by the portability and simplicity of the product.  I HIGHLY recommend this product if you are looking for an additional recovery tool in your arsenal.

Learn More: PowerChews Glutamine

20th January 2012
product review
READ MORE

Medical School Finals and Running

My lack of posting has been due to the fact that I have medical school finals and studying has been out of control.  Between running and studying and trying to spend time with my wife as well – I have been fairly busy.  Nothing to new going on with me – will have a few more reviews in the coming days on same great products that I have tried.  I have been trying to increase my mileage a slight bit by adding easy doubles in…just started this week.  It should put between 80-90 miles for the week if all goes right.  I plan to do doubles 1-2x a week for 2-3 weeks to see how my body responds and so the mileage increase is slow to allow my body to adjust properly.  Then, hopefully if all goes well and no injuries then I will hopefully try 3-4x a week which should hopefully put my between 90-105 miles a week if I can manage.

I will have my medical board studying ramp up in my next semester of med school so that will keep me fairly busy.  But, I hopefully plan to organize my life a little bit better with a bit more structure so I can have ample time to get in board studying each day + running.  I am registered for the Boston Marathon on April 16th but recently got my med school schedule for the Spring and wouldn’t you know it – I have a shelf exam on that day.  I am PRAYING that my school lets me adjust the schedule so I can take it early or later so I can attend the marathon as it is fairly important to me.  Plus, some of my running friends are going so it would be cool to share in the experience with them as well.  Knowing my school though they will probably not be lenient but I am hoping they will work with me on it and allow my schedule to adjust.  Otherwise, I will end up having to skip the boston marathon again this year as I cannot take a failing grade on a shelf exam.

I am off to study for our public health final and geriatrics final then hopefully get in an easy run followed by stretching/steam room/whirlpool.  It is getting cold and snowy here now so definitely breaking out the winter running gear lately.  Pounding the Vitamin D as well because it gets really depressing here with the lack of sun in the winter months it seems like.

9th December 2011
medical school, running
READ MORE

NutritionForSports24 Hydrate Review

NutritionForSports24 was kind enough to send me another awesome product that I have now had a thorough chance of testing out before reviewing it.  I like to test the products that I receive thoroughly before reviewing them prematurely so I can get an accurate assessment of how they work for me, personally.  The second product I am reviewing by NutritionForSports24 is NutritionForSports24 Hydrate.  Basically, I like to look at NutritionForSports24 Hydrate as enhancing my water because essentially that is what it does.  It has a bunch of electrolytes in it with B-vitamins and antioxidants.  It is low-calorie if you are just looking to stick with purely water then Hydrate is perfect because it does not have much sugar in it at all and purely is for giving water a little taste with some helpful vitamins and electrolytes in it to help sustain your workout.

I used it a lot during my mid to long runs ranging from 11-16 miles.  I am one of the believers in training and practicing without consuming carb sources on certain long runs because I feel it trains your body to better deal with adverse conditions of low carbohydrates so you can handle it better when you are running low on carbs.  So, NutritionForSports24 Hydrate proved perfect for that because it has low calories and basically no carbs in it.  So, I could still stay hydrated but still get that “carb-deficient” effect that I practice sometimes on semi-long runs.  Plus, I like the taste – it is light enough that its refreshing and it doesn’t taste syrupy either.  I never experienced any intestinal discomfort or bloating with it so that was important.  I have had issues with similar things in the past but most of them had a carb-source in it.

There aren’t too many products like this on the market and I think Herbalife has a great niche product for those people that want to add a little enhancement to their water to help keep them going with antioxidants and B-Vitamins but also adding a little taste to the water to break up the monotony sometimes of just drinking plain water.  I have sort of become dependent on it now – it is my goto drink enhancement on my long runs because during long runs in training I try to practice staying hydrated but also practice “carb-starvation” which Ryan Hall actually talked about with his nutritionist on a certain level.  Obviously, I am not running on empty but just not gorging myself with carbs.  So, this niche product by Herbalife definitely fits the bill perfect for me when I want a little enhancer in my water for my long runs.

NutrionForSports24 Hydrate: Get it Here

2nd December 2011
product review
READ MORE

Keeping Pace

My ultimate long term goal is to qualify for the US Olympic Marathon Trials in 2016 and I feel if I can stay healthy and keep focused that goal is very attainable for me.  My next immediate goal even though it is about 6 months away is the Boston Marathon.  I just want to stay healthy for that race and hopefully (fingers crossed) set a PR.  I do have a time goal for it which is hopefully being able to run a 2:27 or better.  I feel that with 6 months, staying healthy, focused training, good race conditions and running a smart race that I can improve my previous PR by ~5 minutes even on Boston’s tough course.  Maybe, I will even have great conditions like last years race had – a tailwind for much of the race.

So, right now in order to achieve my goal I am sprinkling in the pace I need to be running to achieve that time goal into many of my runs.  For example, yesterday I ran for time which was an 1 hour and 25 minutes at a cruise pace of ~6:45-6:50 and at the 1 hour and 19 minute mark I basically turned it up to a 5:36/mile pace.  It was nice because it was nice to finish the run at pace after running that long and feel OK.  It definitely helps the confidence aspect of it as well.  So, overall it was a really nice and relaxing run and while it was on a treadmill which can become monotonous sometimes – I have come to tell myself to appreciate every single run because the alternative of being injured is a million times worse.  So, when I find myself criticizing the monotony of a workout or having a hard time getting going – I remind myself of the alternative and I quickly am appreciative of just having the ability to run and not be injured.

Well, on that note I am off to study some renal material for my upcoming final then get my daily run and then study the night away since I am not doing too hot in renal right now – did I ever mention I am not a big fan of the medical school I attend…that post can be saved for another day.

15th November 2011
running
READ MORE

Herbalife Rebuild Endurance and My Recovery

Ever since Marine Corps Marathon I have been in recovery mode mixed with trying to slowly work my legs back into running.  Herbalife was awesome enough to send me several of their products to help me in my recovery.  I wanted to do a review for each one with separate posts because they each are very unique and I have had great results in my recovery from using them.  The first one I am reviewing is the Herbalife Rebuild Endurance shake.  Here is a picture of the canister:

I had the vanilla flavor which in the past I have never been a Vanilla fan and have always used chocolate because of a bad first experience with a vanilla flavored protein shake.  This was honestly the first time in over 6 years that I have tried  Vanilla protein/recovery shake and it was A LOT better.  The powder itself mixed very well and did not clump…clumping makes me gag when I try to down recovery shakes so I was happy about that.  How I used the Herbalife Rebuild Endurance was right after my workouts in the past couple weeks.  What makes this product unique is that it is NOT just a protein shake but it is considered a RECOVERY shake because it contains 10g of protein per serving and also about 27g of carbs per serving.  One serving is 2 scoops and is equal to about 160 calories.  So, technically if you did not want that full load of calories and just had a smaller workout you could only do one scoop and still get 5g of protein and ~13g of carbs which is what I did a few times plus I wanted to make the product last longer.  It would probably be best to use 2 scoops if you went longer.  But, I found that consuming Herbalife Rebuild Endurance within 15 minutes of my workout SIGNIFICANTLY reduced DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) in the next couple days which I appreciated because it enabled me to complete the next days workout without feeling blasted.

One of the other big things about Herbalife Rebuild Endurance is that it comes stocked with antioxidants and electrolytes which are all extremely important in overall health and recovery.  Electrolytes are really important for me because I naturally sweat A LOT! So, I lose a lot of electrolytes in the sweat so to encompass replenishment of those electrolytes along with getting good protein and carb sources was a huge plus to me.  And, finally another BIG plus about this product that sets it apart is that it contains a good proportion of amino acids and Glutamine being one of them.  Glutamine is extremely important in muscle recovery and has been shown in countless studies to help improve muscle recovery.

What you get with this product is not just a protein shake or carb source but an ALL IN ONE recovery shake that accounts for nearly all the facets in recovery – protein, carbs, electrolytes, amino acids, and a tiny amount of fat.  This all in one recovery shake has done well for me thus far as I am a little less than 2 weeks out from the Marine Corps Marathon and my legs are feeling pretty good even after throwing in a few moderately hard workouts since then (nothing too crazy though).  I highly recommend giving this recovery product a try if you are looking for something to encompass all of your recovery needs after a run/workout and not just protein or carbs.

You can get your own Herbalife Rebuild Endurance here –> Herbalife Rebuild Endurance

10th November 2011
product review
READ MORE

Marine Corps Marathon 2011 Recap

This years Marine Corps Marathon was overall a great experience and learning tool as well.  I finished 16th overall out of roughly ~21,000 finishers with a time of 2:35 which I was definitely happy with coming off Chicago Marathon just 3 weeks ago and considering the conditions.  Sorry, this post is so delayed and my lack of posting the last few days – my medical school schedule got really busy this week and it was just not a normal week.  But, overall I was very happy with my performance at the MCM.

The plan was to run a smarter race and try to make my half splits closer together than in Chicago and hope to pull out a PR if possible.  Unfortunately, conditions and my lack of training for hills showed when the first 7-8 miles incorporated some nice size hills that I just was not prepared for because I did not train for hills because I trained mainly for Chicago – aka “the pancake marathon” because the course is flat as a pancake which makes it great for going quick.  But, anyways the hills in the beginning took their toll on me because I was trying to stay on pace but hills were slowing my mile times down so I was trying to make up time on the down hills and flats – so I was working harder and didn’t really settle into a steady pace until it truly flattened out around 9 miles or so.  Plus, there was about a 10-15 mph headwind and not to mention it was 32 degrees at start – I was literally shaking with my 7 layers on – didn’t expect to be that cold but hey, you learn.  Next time I will wear 3 pairs of gloves and thicker socks before the marathon…my toes got numb.  I ran with someone for about the whole time and ended up talking to real cool runner from California and ran with him for about 23 miles…nice guy!  Unfortunately, he dropped off with cramps at about 23-24 miles and I never found him again…wanted to thank him for running with me through most of the race.  It definitely helps keep you going! Anyways, I didn’t truly hit any sort of wall until about 24 miles and my pace slowed from a ~5:55 to about a 6:05-6:10 give or take.  Definitely, didn’t hit the wall hard but legs were not moving as quick.

Overall, no excuses and I didn’t feel that tired from 3 weeks ago from Chicago – but could definitely tell the “pop” in the legs were not fully there but overall I was very happy to be only a minute and half off from Chicago considering the conditions and being only 3 weeks out.  I had my wife drive back from D.C. while I studied for my Hem/Onc Final Exam in the car…but not before stopping at P.F. Changs in Tyson’s Corner to enjoy some good Thai food…something we don’t have in Erie, PA!  It was a great trip and I always love doing the Marine Corps Marathon – the fans are great and the scenery is awesome too.  Plus, marines know what they are doing!  Anyways, I’m off to study for another exam…Renal…good times!  Those reviews are coming – just trying to get my life organized again after a busy 4 weeks of racing and tests…things are slowing down now so posts should get a bit more regular.

4th November 2011
marathon races
READ MORE

Last Run Before Marine Corps Marathon

Today will be my last official run before the upcoming Marine Corps Marathon.  I will basically just do 4 miles easy with strides at pace thrown in – nothing too crazy.  Then, I plan on going to the local gym/wellness center and stretching in the steam room, sauna, and whirlpool.  It is definitely an advantage to have those things at my disposal and the wellness center is part of the “package” of going to the medical school which is one of the big perks they harbor on when you interview here.  While it is cool – the price is just built into your tuition so you really are paying for it but it is still one of the nicest gyms/wellness centers I have been too.  It has an indoor track (~9 laps = 1 mile) and a lot of the latest treadmills and fitness machines.  The one thing I wish they would add is an ice bath in the locker rooms where the whirlpools are.  It would be a unique addition I think because nobody has those around here and I think if they educated people on the benefits of getting in there even for a few minutes you would see an improvement in people’s recovery after their workouts.  I know myself and my running buddies would appreciate it.

The plan for the Marine Corps Marathon is simple for me – stay uninjured “knock on wood” and run a smarter race.  I ran amazing in Chicago and never would have predicted that quick of a time but my half splits were a fair amount apart – so I am hoping to run a smarter race pace wise and that with a combination of race conditions and nutrition, I can hopefully have a good race.  I love the Marine Corps Marathon – a lot of good memories.  The fan support is awesome and I can’t tell people that come out to cheer for all the marathoners how much it means to us.  It really does help the runners along when things get tough and even in the beginning.

Anyways, I have some reviews coming up on some great products that I have received that I have been using in my recovery phase between marathons that I will be posting soon.  Just been busy with medical school and recovery…so been slowly working on doing a proper review of the products.  So, look forward to that.  Until then, I’m off to study about leukemia and lymphomas for my upcoming Hem/Onc exam the day after the marathon…good times.

27th October 2011
marathon training
READ MORE