Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Good luck, trail marathons are stunning. Leave the MP3 player at home for that one, you will have so much to take in and music would take away all of the special moments during the marathon I'm sure you will experience.

Let me know if you want any help/advice with anything, I've ran a few ultras and 10 full marathons so I have a little experience. Good luck and enjoy the training ~ it's too tough to do if you aren't enjoying it !! MF

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1st Place Raw Champs 2011, 2012 (3 raw records)
Training for my first 100 mile running race

WEB: http://jimsty.wix.com/strength-vs-size
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Forklift/161273440616736?ref=hl
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/kiwilifter?feature=mhee

Thanks Mini Forklift! I NEVER run with headphones, I much prefer the sounds of my footfalls, my breathing, the wind blowing through the trees, my dogs trotting along beside me, etc. I'm a nature girl!

WEDNESDAY 1/25
CrossFit

WOD
"Cindy"
5 pull ups
10 pushups
15 squats

Results: 15 rounds + 5 pull ups + a little belly burn from the band I used to assist my pull ups (ouch)

It's the first time I've done this classic WOD, and a great benchmark to use before beginning my base strength program next week. It's one I can easily repeat to see how far I can progress with 3 months of basic strength work. During the squats I found I was quite a bit lazy with my left glutes and focused on keeping it tight. Things to work on are glute strength, triceps strength (I can only do wide, wide pushups), and more glute strength.

Book Giveaway!!!

A good friend of mine, Jason Hicks, recently wrote a book in collaboration with his father, J. Morris Hicks, extolling the benefits of a plant-based diet. I recently reviewed the book on my blog, Motion Is Life, and will be giving away one free autographed copy to one lucky reader! Be sure to check out the review and enter to win!

http://www.motion-is-life.org/?m=1

Thursday 1/26
RUN
30 min HR zone 2, with form drills
2.56 miles

Friday 1/27
YOGA
60 min Power Yoga

Hip is sore and quads are so very tight. I would love nothing more than to go out tomorrow morning for my weekly pre-dawn long run on the trails (I like to channel my inner Dean Karnazes), but believe it's in my interest to back off for the weekend and be ready to start fresh with my coach's new plan come Monday. We'll see if I can actually hold out!

Saturday 1/28
REST DAY

Spent the day instead hiking with the dogs, watching "Running the Sahara" and "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead" with my newly-vegan husband, and putting my coach's new plan into my calendar. Can't wait to get it started!!

Great to hear that your husband is now vegan! My wife is almost there, still eats honey and non-vegan pastries, that's about it.

What is this coaching plan exactly? Are you going to be training for a specific event?

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Bonebreaker Barbell Crew! - ALIEN BABY!
Twitter @IronCladBen | My Blog

Sunday 1/29
REST DAY ... Sort of. One hour hike with the dogs (and while my older lab put himself to bed hours ago, the puppy still isn't tired!) and a home "spa day" comprised of a hot Epsom salt soak, foam roller, legs self-massage with arnica oil, and yin yoga-type stretching. So relaxing!

Tomorrow kicks off Coach B's new plan. Goal = Michigan's North Country Trail Marathon on August 25!

Week 1
Monday: Easy endurance run
Tuesday: AM Strength, PM active recovery
Wednesday: Easy endurance run
Thursday: AM Strength, PM active recovery
Friday: Off
Saturday: Extensive endurance run
Sunday: Off

*plus PT exercises on as many days as I can fit it in

Monday 1/30
Day 1 towards the North Country Trail Marathon
Easy endurance RUN 40 min, 3.5 miles

Felt GREAT today! Best my hip has felt in weeks. In addition, my new running-partner-in-training (my new pup Merlin) accompanied me on his very first run today (only the last 10 minutes) and he did great! Most importantly, he didn't knock me over or drag me down the street.

PT and foam roller planned for this evening. Tomorrow is a strength day with all sorts of fun stuff on the agenda (thinking pushups, deadlifts, bent over rows, shoulder press/push press, and cleans).

Where did January go? First strength workout of the new plan. It sucks watching my husband take off for CrossFit in the early mornings while I work out at home, but on the bright side I save 40 min of commuting time and get to shower and eat breakfast at home instead of at the hospital! I'm sure all you smoothie drinkers would agree that a super fresh smoothie is so much better than one blended several hours before drinking! Suddenly I'm craving a big slushy fruit smoothie!!

Tuesday 1/31
STRENGTH
Dynamic warm-up with PT exercises
Deadlift - 2 x 12 reps, 95 lbs
Bench Press - 2 x 15 reps, 45 lbs
Bent over row - 2 x 12 reps, 55 lbs
Shoulder press - 2 x 12 reps, 45 lbs
Hang Cleans - 15 reps, 45 lbs

Looong way to go, but you have to start somewhere. Happy February everyone!

Good to hear the hip is good right now, can't believe how fast February has came around.

Smoothies are awesome, I have to have at least one a day haha. How have you planned your weekly mileage progressions/increases leading up to the marathon, how many weeks are you giving yourself? I usually ended up having to cut down the gym just to fit in the miles !!

_________________
1st Place Raw Champs 2011, 2012 (3 raw records)
Training for my first 100 mile running race

WEB: http://jimsty.wix.com/strength-vs-size
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Forklift/161273440616736?ref=hl
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/kiwilifter?feature=mhee

Congratulations on completing the challenge!! You have done such an amazing job pursuing your goals and being patient with your body and adapting as needed. I am truly impressed. You have admirable discipline and tenacity. Even though the challenge is officially over, keep going with your progress. I have no doubt you will. You are truly dedicated and will certainly reap big rewards. Congratulations!

Hey Charlotte! Great job with your journaling! I'm one of the VB&F team members, and we got your email request to have your journal reviewed for eligiblity. We'll be shipping out prize packages beginning mid-month! Great job! Hope you'll stick around the forum and continue to post and be a valuable member of this online community!

All the best,
Karen

Thanks for the support! February's been a busy month and while I haven't had much time to journal, I've been able to get in all of my planned workouts except one (date night with my husband!)

Here's a brief summary of the past 3 weeks:

Strength:
Basic strength work 2-4 days/week. Each session consists of one exercise each for legs, back, chest, and shoulders +/- one total body move (cleans, thrusters, snatch). I've been conservative this cycle (as recommended by Coach B), and could probably increase weight across the board (especially for the overload week - week 3).

Running:
I've been sticking to running for time, staying with my HR zone 2, and not getting caught up on speed/distance. It's frustratingly slow at times, but I understand the logic behind it. Long run is now up to 1 hour 23 minutes.
Week 1: 3 runs, 2.33 hours, 12.7 miles
Week 2: 3 runs, 2.52 hours, 13.08 miles
Week 3: 2 runs, 2.13 hours, 10.65 miles

My hip has been feeling okay. It's by no means perfect, and most of my pain during/after running is in my upper left quad as opposed to the joint. My MT gave it a good beating Saturday afternoon and it's feeling much better today.

This week is a rest week for me. My mind wants to go, but my body could use the rest. In addition to some light training, I have 2 complete rest days (yuck) and plan to do lots of foam rolling and mobility work.

Happy training!!

Just checking in to say hi, all okay with you? How's the running going, are you still doing the August marathon you were training for?

Hope all is good anyway, just noticed that you haven't posted in here for a long time. All the best MF.

_________________
1st Place Raw Champs 2011, 2012 (3 raw records)
Training for my first 100 mile running race

WEB: http://jimsty.wix.com/strength-vs-size
FB: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Mini-Forklift/161273440616736?ref=hl
VIDEO: http://www.youtube.com/user/kiwilifter?feature=mhee