Kate Dugan

Plant-Powered Endurance

How to Manage The Off-Season

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kate-marathonFull definition of off–season:

a time of suspended or reduced activity; especially the time during which an athlete is not training or competing.

… we have arrived!!

The NYC marathon, 2+ weeks ago, was officially my last endurance event of 2016. Phew! As you may know, it was a less than stellar experience. This photo of me on Central Park South, about a half of a mile from the finish, sums it up pretty accurately. That, my friends, is the look of defeat.

But, on the plus side, I learned quite a bit this year and this season.

Immediately after the marathon, I ordered By Chloe for the whole family to refuel and refresh my spirits. Vegan burgers, fries and mac + cheese. It hit the spot.

And that, my friends, may have been the healthiest meal I ate until about a week ago…

These last few weeks have been interesting. Election day was just two days after the NYC marathon. I usually enjoy reading and watching election coverage, but I have to admit that I was tiring of the campaigns dominating the news. Not only was I eagerly awaiting the news of our next president, but I was also excited for it all to be over.

Until almost midnight on election day, I was completely unaware of how badly I’d take Hilary’s loss. I mean, I actually don’t agree with a lot of her ideas for policy. Rationally, I knew that Donald Trump had a chance at the presidency (against all odds, he made it this far, I figured), but had mostly written it off due to predictions from polls. As swing states started reporting, my heart sunk. Turns out, I’m a big fan of respecting humans and treating them decently regardless of their gender, sexuality, race, religion or age. For that reason and also because I thought we were on the brink of our first female president, I took the Trump victory pretty hard.

Wednesday morning I woke up, still stunned. The mood in New York City was somber. It was a grey, rainy day. The volume was low, almost as if someone had kicked us hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of us for a full 24 hours. I sat in my bosses office and tried to hold back tears as we watched Hilary’s concession speech.

“And to all of the little girls who are watching this, never doubt that you are valuable and powerful and deserving of every chance and opportunity in the world to pursue and achieve your own dreams.”

That part really got me. More than ever, I felt the presence of a seemingly impenetrable, thick glass ceiling. Still fully intact.

Then the protesting and gloating started. People who had been perfectly friendly before the election were all of a sudden bickering intensely on social media. The ugly campaigns that I was looking forward to sun setting had morphed into angry rants, hate crimes, and an air of fear and uncertainty.

For about a week, I went to bed as soon as the kids did and slept as long as I possibly could. Exercise was the last thing on my mind. And some pretty poor eating habits crept back in. And then, sort of unexpectedly, I was slammed at work and Michael was out-of-town. My hands were full and there wasn’t much time for sleeping. It was a welcome distraction.

Now, the distractions have subsided. Some of the raw emotion from the election seems more processed. Things are still uncertain, but there is less panic.

And I’m realizing that the “off-season” is for the birds! Certainly, ironman training is not sustainable year round, but in years past this has translated into a 1-2 month complete hiatus from exercise. Typically during these periods, I don’t feel good about myself, my energy is lower, and I’m not as happy.

This is why I’d never advocate for a true “off-season” from a training perspective.  Instead, I think it makes sense to periodize our training, change things up, and focus on shorter workouts.

For me, since I have my sights set on a fall marathon (sub-4 hours), I’m planning the following fitness routine:

  1. December to April: strength – I’m planning to take advantage of the chilly temperatures and bring my workouts indoors during this period. Starting when I was a young teenager lifting weights in the basement with my dad, I loved it. I felt so powerful. And, I think my body would benefit from building some lean muscle mass. I also plan to swim once a week because it is a great full body exercise, and also one that I miss post-ironman.
  2. April to July: speed – During this period, I plan to add running back into my routine. I’ll likely start by running three times a week and still doing some lifting. My runs will be a speed workout, a tempo run, and a longer easy-paced run, and they will be shorter than most runs in the next phase.
  3. July to October: endurance – In summer, I’ll drop strength training except for core and weekly hill / speed workouts. It will be more like traditional marathon training, and I’ll aim to run 5x per week.

So far, the only race on the calendar is the Chicago marathon, however, I have been doing some research and think it would be fun to do a couple of destination half marathons. 13.1 really is such a fun distance.

I would love to hear about how you approach the off-season. Do you take any time completely off? How do you change up your training? And do you love it or loathe it?

P.S. Yesterday I did my first CrossFit workout in years, which called for 150 burpees (I only made it through 135). I’m feeling sore already… I might be nearly catatonic later today.

2016 NYC Marathon and What’s Next

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The marathon is always a great day in NYC. I love the nervous energy at the start, followed by excitement, and finally, glory. It is beyond compare. But this year, despite all of that, I had a rough race. I ran my slowest marathon ever, including my first, aka “the porta-potty hop of 2012” in Philly, where I stopped at every toilet there was after mile 12.  Yeah, it was not fun, but this NYC was 2 minutes faster than my slog to the finish in 2016. Luckily, it wasn’t that way for everyone. I have many friends who did killed it yesterday! (Congrats, Guys!!)

Here’s my story:

As you may know, it took me several years to finally run the NYC marathon. I first registered in 2009 and failed to make it to the start that year and the following year due to nagging injuries. In 2011, I just started a stressful job that took over my life and left no time for training. I was ready to race in 2012, but the race was cancelled due to a hurricane. So I thought 2013 would be my year. Nope, a twin pregnancy kept me sidelined that year. Finally, in 2014 (with 7 month old twins), I made it to the start and ultimately the finish line of the NYC marathon. It was a great day and a challenging one. I fell in love with NYC and I finally got to experience the marathon.

nyc-marathon-map

This year, I plain, straight did not train enough. I ran 2-3 times a week, often missing my long runs. I got in one 20 milers and two 18 milers. All of my runs felt miserable by the end. I also got a slow start to training after Ironman. It took me several weeks, into October, to wrap my head around running for 3 hours and finally do it. You could say I was burnt out.

Of course, due to all of that, I expected a slow time for this year’s NYC marathon. I thought I could hold 10 minute miles and manage a slight fade, finishing around 4:25. Unfortunately for me, around mile 10 I knew that 10 minute miles were probably too fast. I started to feel tired and achy. By mile 16, which is demarcated by the Queensboro bridge connecting Queens to Manhattan, I was struggling. This is when, according to NYC marathon veterans (including the guy I shack up with), “the race begins” …

There was a chance that C+E would be waiting for me at mile 18, which is near our apartment. I kept it together until then, but when I didn’t see them, I got a little upset. My breathing quickened and then I got a cramp in my ribs. For the first time, I stopped to walk. You know when you start to walk, it is very hard to get back into the mode of running. My stomach had been feeling a little iffy for the last few miles and the relief of walking was immense. No more jostling. But still, it was probably a bad idea. My pace per mile dropped immensely after that point. I was dry heaving due to whatever was happening with my stomach. I switched from gels + endurolytes for fuel to Gatorade and water and wished hard for coke and ice. Ironman has ruined me!

The Bronx was a blur. When I entered Manhattan again, the sun was so bright, I couldn’t see a thing. Never was I so happy not to be wearing my name on my shirt. I tried to interact as little as possible with the crowd. And for the most part, they left me alone. I was walking now with an occasional run, which was more like a shuffle, thrown in until I felt like I might puke. I almost stopped once to try to throw up, but thought better of it. What if I didn’t get started again?

I saw Michael on 5th Avenue and made it into Central Park. Finally, the finish line was in sight, but there was no joy in it. A little bit of relief, but overall… meh. My time? 4:40 something. I didn’t even check my watch. Instead, I joined the walking dead and shuffled my way out of the park. I even thought about skipping the finisher’s medal because I didn’t feel I really earned it.

Processing it all

Rationally, I understand why this happened, but I still needed to work through it emotionally. I fell into a deep sleep abruptly last night and then had a dream that I was running and people were yelling negative things at me from the sidelines. Then I tripped over a hose that was in my path, which resulted in me kicking my feet and waking up. I started to cry. Why is this %&*%# sport so difficult for me?

This is what happens when you don’t respect the marathon. As much as it sucked, and it did suck, I learned a valuable lesson out there yesterday. For me, the marathon has to be the main thing. Never again will I run a marathon as a “B” or “C” race. It will either be the main thing or I’ll sit it out and cheer on my friends. And I don’t plan to run one again until I feel I can commit the energy to it to run it in less than 4 hours. And for goodness sake, I need to figure out this nausea thing!!

It wasn’t all terrible, of course. I met a guy from Chicago who was making a comeback to the marathon after 10 years. It was his first NYC. We chatted away in our corral. I saw so many friends on the course and received such support from them. And Michael ran quite well, all things considered. I’m really proud of him. My OBGYN qualified for Boston in her first marathon since college. My tri coach ran his first marathon in a respectable time. An American woman, Molly Huddle, made the podium for the first time in 2010 in her marathon debut. Gwen Jorgenson, US Olympic champ in Rio, ran the race in a speedy 2:41. And so many other people I know had great times and made themselves proud.

Next Steps

Very tactically, I have some plans (of course!) 🙂

  1. Make an appointment with a sports nutritionist to see if we can get to the bottom of my digestive issues. I’m going to come up with a plan so that I can try a few new things in training next time and see what “sticks” because this is not fun!
  2. Take some time off. I’m going to take a week to recover from my long slog to 26.2 – woohooo!
  3. Focus on strength training in the off-season. I think we can all agree that I’m not a natural marathoner. I didn’t hit the genetic lotto for this sport, but I do love making progress against myself. And there’s something about endurance sports that is appealing. There are so many lessons I’ve learned through the adversity I’ve created for myself in running. To make better progress and fall in love with endurance sports again, I plan to build some strength in my core, hips and butt. Lifting will also be a nice change of pace for me. I always feel so strong and powerful when I incorporate weight training into my routine. I’m really looking forward to it.
  4. I’m giving myself the freedom to explore other forms of exercise this winter, too. I think that yoga could be really restorative. I might dabble in Pilates for core strength or get back to the pool.
  5. In the spring, I may add in some running and slowly build my base for a fall marathon. It will depend on how I’m feeling and what inspires me.

Thanks for reading. I’d love to hear about your NYC marathon experience. I hope you were one of the runners who had a great day out there. Either way, congratulations on your finish!

Happy running.

The Anatomy of the Weekend when both Parents are Marathon Training

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With or without kids, marathon training is not for the faint of heart. In contrast with Ironman training, of course, it seems sort of like a blip, mainly because I’m not working out for a full day on the weekends. But Ironman training is pretty extreme. So, I want to share what marathon training looks like around our household (with two kids) when two parents are giving it a go at the same time.

Sidenote: We are in the process of goal setting for next year. M will run the Boston Marathon in April and I have plans to go long (marathon) again in the fall. I’m guessing he will too, though he hasn’t fessed up to it yet. But the good news is that we’ll get a little break from dual endurance training sessions in the spring before it picks up again in the fall.

This is because I’ve decided to take some time to regain my speed and get stronger after the NYC marathon. More on that later, but I’m pretty jazzed about changing it up.

Here’s what our weekends typically look like when training for a Fall Marathon.

In July, August and September, in the North East. temperatures are still pretty high so unless you’re a glutton for punishment (I am not), getting runs in as early as possible is recommended. Unfortunately, that’s hard to do when you’re a sleep-deprived parent, which means it doesn’t always work out that way for us.

But let’s start with our ideal weekend of training and go from there.

  1. Our preference has been staggered long runs. I take Saturday morning. Michael takes Sunday morning. I do my recovery run on Sunday and he does his on Monday. The downside is that it leaves us without a date night (haha, that’s sort of a joke – we average one date night every quarter), but seriously, sometimes it’s nice to just stay up late and order take-out. That’s hard to do when you’re alternating long runs and someone is up early for a big workout.
  2. The other option is to hire a sitter. To be honest, I’m such a cheap skate, DIYer that this option never really appealed to me, but we’ll do it in a pinch. It probably happened once or twice this season. If we lived near family, I’d absolutely recruit them for babysitting so Michael and I could run together. He’s faster than I am, but we could at least get in a few early miles together.
  3. The final option, which I’m advocating more for lately, is doing long runs on weekdays. If the weekends are packed with family activities or we predict not having the energy to fit in our long runs (often the case for me), we’ll push it to a weekday. Michael will sneak in 3 hours from 5am to 8am on a Friday. I’ve done a few Monday evening runs, either from 6 to 9pm or 7 to 10pm. At first, the idea didn’t really appeal to me, but so long as I’m mentally prepared, these runs have been some of my best.

When temperatures cool, usually in October, we’ll take turns running long on the same weekend day. This is also a good option if you’re not someone who needs to get your run out of the way first thing in the morning.

We’ve also managed to go away for a few weekends this fall without the kids (usually for weddings). When that happens, I basically feel like I’m 16 years old again and I just got my license. In between acting a fool on the dance floor and sleeping 10 hours a night, we’ll often run together. This past weekend, we went to Charleston for a wedding. It was so fun (photos below) and also pretty warm. The wedding was Friday night. By the time we woke up on Saturday, the temperature was already in the high 70s so we opted for a short run. We staggered our long runs on Sunday since we arrived back in NYC around noon and our runs are short this weekend (8-10 miles).

img_2868 img_2851 img_2845

As much as long runs are the staple for marathon training and they anchor my week, it is really important to me to spend time with my family and just live life. This is why as much as I wish I could just schedule my run for 7am every single Saturday, it always seems to shift around.

If you’re a runner mama balancing all sorts of schedules, I’d love to hear how you manage it all because what we do is constantly evolving. And we always want to find a better way!

Happy running,

Kate

Keeping your body healthy during marathon season

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We are in the throes of marathon season. In the North East, the weather has shifted and it feels like autumn! Runners are either 1) feeling really good, 2) stressed that their mileage is not high enough and they are behind in their training, or 3) starting to feel a little beat up.

Often #2, stress about low mileage, leads to #3, over-training and injury. Runners worry that they’re behind and jump from running 25 miles a week to 40 and then “overuse” injuries pop up.

marathon-photoMy Story

This has certainly happened to me in the past. My first few years of running, I was plagued by overuse injuries. In speaking with runners regularly, I found that this is pretty common, especially if you’re coming into running without an athletic base.

I went from a relatively sedentary lifestyle, sitting at a desk for the bulk of 10 hours per day to marathon training in just over a year. My body seemed able to handle the training load for a half distance without any cross-training or strength training.  I just ran. At the time, I had no idea how to incorporate strength training into my running routine and I had no appreciation for the benefits of a strong core for running. I ran 5 days a week, usually at the exact same pace every time, only varying the distance on a given day.

Once my training plan started calling for longer runs (more than 12 or 13 miles), the wheels fell off. Ok, my legs didn’t literally fall off, but little injuries started popping up. For me, it was mostly hip and IT band related. The more I ran, the worse they got.

I still remember the first time I ran in Central Park. I was living in Baltimore at the time and I registered for Grete’s Gallop, a half marathon that went 2x around the hilly ~6.1 mile loop, with my boyfriend.  About half way through, my left hip started bothering me and I began walk-running. Afterwards, I told Michael (my new(ish) boyfriend, at the time) how much I hated Central Park. Haha, thank goodness my feelings changed.

I was eager to get to the bottom of this hip issue so I went to see a sports medicine doctor, who ordered a bunch of tests. They are all inconclusive. I had no broken bones. And then I went to a active release therapist. Finally, a hip doctor who detected a labral tear and suggested we either operate or I get a cortisone shot. This was a long hunt for the root cause, which spanned the better part of 2 years. Even after a diagnosis from the hip guy, my gut told me that small labral tears were not causing my issue.

After all of that, I was talking to another athlete who decisively said, “I bet your ass is weak.”

“Excuse me?”

Yeah, he explained. These injuries are pretty common in new runners and can usually be alleviated by cross-training or lifting to strengthen the glutes and hamstrings. In some cases, I see runners who have strength in these muscles, but they don’t know how to engage them when they run. Activation is the issue. Either way, cross-training can help solve the problem.

And sure enough, when I started my first tri season soon after, I could feel the back of my legs and my core developing. Swimming, biking, and running several times in one week left my legs feeling heavy, but the soreness I felt slowly became less intense as my body adjusted. And my hip issue was soon a distant memory.

What you can do

If you’re in this boat, you may have upped your mileage too quickly, which exacerbated a muscular imbalance that you have. If you think your pain is from an overuse injury, I have a few tips for you:

  1. Skip the doctor and go right to a Physical Therapist (PT). If you don’t already have someone you know and trust, choose one who works with endurance athletes. The PT can give you a number of exercises to do and sessions are sometimes covered by insurance! The thing is, you have to actually DO the exercises the PT prescribes so I always recommend going to the PT at least a few times to build the habit. Plus, you’ll often receive short massages so office visits can be worth the time and investment.
  2. Incorporate regular cross-training. For me, cycling has been a really great way to engage the back of my legs and butt. If you’re having trouble activating your posterior chain while doing these activities, imagine you’re squeezing a quarter in between your cheeks. Swimming is great for your core. If your injury is not preventing you from running, hill work is a great way to build muscle and activate your rear. cross-training can replace a couple of your easy-paced runs per week.
  3. Create your own strength regimen & incorporate it a few times a week. There are so many useful tools for this online. I like to see demos of new exercises to ensure I’m doing the correctly so I frequently use Runner’s World videos and other free online resources. Examples of moves that can help with common overuse injuries include, clam shells, monster walk, squats (double & single leg), lunges, plank & push-ups.

If you’re feeling a little worse for the wear, don’t wait, head straight into see your Physical Therapist. Remember, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

Fasting #ForTheAnimals

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Two weeks ago, I fasted to honor and remember the 10 billion land animals who are slaughtered in the US each year. I posted on Facebook about it, which is the first time I’ve really put my feelings about animal rights out there broadly to my Facebook friends. Putting my views out there for the masses to consume with no control over how it is received has always scared me, however, this time, I did not feel as anxious as I would have predicted. I fundamentally do not believe in killing animals for our consumption, and I certainly cannot condone raising animals in the terrible conditions that we see on factory farms. So the message felt natural. And it was met with lots of support, for which I am incredibly appreciative.

Why stick up for farmed animals?

cow-in-fieldArguably, they represent the largest source of suffering in the world. When we raise land animals for food, they suffer their whole lives on factory farms where they are crowded, stressed, attacked (and worse). Their lives are short and miserable. As soon as they are large enough to slaughter, they are deprived of food and water for 24-72 hours and transported to a facility where they are (often brutally) killed. Heavy stuff, right? During the fast, I had a lot of time to reflect on the plight of these animals.

10 billion lives per year in the US alone…

So even if you don’t consider the environmental or the health consequences of consuming meat, the ethical case for avoiding animal products is quite strong.

But there’s good news!

pigletsEach one of us, every single day, 3x a day, makes choices that can end this suffering. This variety of suffering is actually quite easy to alleviate. It does require large-scale behavior change, but we don’t have to overthrow the government or influence policy makers. Each one of us has the power to change the situation.

Sometimes when I have a terrible day, I will reflect on it and think about how I was not responsible for any being’s suffering and immediately, I feel better. Sadly, I could not say that for the first 30 years of my life.

If you’re not a vegan, when you meet one, what’s the first thing you think of? Here are a few of my hypotheses:

  • Ugh, am I about to get lectured?
  • Is this person into hippie dippy voodoo magic?
  • Hmmm, I wonder if she wears deodorant…
  • I really shouldn’t eat animals. ugh, but meat tastes SO good. I don’t think I could ever eliminate it from my diet. What would I eat?

What did I miss? lol.

Truthfully, I had a lot of anxiety about going vegan. I thought about it for several years before actually eliminating eggs and dairy. I assumed it would be difficult. Certainly, I couldn’t live without cheese. What would I put in my coffee? And I would certainly miss eating eggs at brunch.

There is a steep learning curve, but as the movement grows, it is becoming easier to transition to a vegan lifestyle. There are tons of wonderful resources online. Plus, the vegan food of 20 years ago is not the vegan food of today. Come to NYC and I’ll take you on a vegan restaurant tour of the city if you’re skeptical! After the first month or so, I didn’t miss cheese. Soy, cashew and other non-dairy milks taste great in coffee. And, really, who has time for brunch?

But the main thing is that I feel really good about being vegan. I am leading a lifestyle that is deeply tied to my values. And that’s a pretty big deal.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so what does this mean for me?

If you’re also not feeling good about causing pain and suffering to animals (and really, deep down, who is?), there are so many things that you can do to reduce or eliminate animal products from your diet. For example, if the whole world adopted Meatless Monday, avoiding animal products on Mondays, there would, in essence, be 1 billion more vegans on the planet than there are today.

In addition to Meatless Monday, there is a vegan 4 lunch movement and a vegan until dinner movement. There’s also folks who are adopting a “plant forward” diet, which simply means they are reducing their consumption of animal products. The beauty of all of these options is that you can have a positive impact without flipping your diet on its head.

Of course, if you’re feeling bold (and amazing), you can cut straight to a vegetarian or vegan diet. I’ll be posting soon about some resources that can help you with that transition. You are awesome! Please share your journey with me & ask any questions that I might be able to help answer.

Fasting #ForTheAnimals

Back to my fast. I’ve never fasted before, ever. So this was new territory. By 3pm my energy level was low. Preparing lunch and dinner for the kids seemed a bit cruel. But aside from that, it wasn’t so bad. When I broke my fast (with vegan ice cream, of course), I thought a lot about how the animals I was fasting for would be getting slaughtered at this point in the process. I really didn’t enjoy my dessert much.

As I mentioned before, the support from my Facebook friends was overwhelming. It is worth reiterating because I think that despite our eating habits, the majority of us do really love and care for animals. We’ve just been conditioned to ignore and overlook the reality of the situation.

A friend has decided to try vegetarianism. Another went vegan for the day in support of my fast. And one of my good friends, who is pregnant right now, has decided to reduce her consumption of animal products after she has her baby. It’s really inspiring! Thank you, thank you, thank you.

lambP.S. If you’re in NYC, join our weekly Tuesday runs for Team Humane League. We are training to raise funds for The Humane League, an organization whose mission is to reduce animal suffering by inspiring change at all levels. Find out more from our Facebook page. #ForTheAnimals

Disclaimer

I am not a licensed medical professional. All views expressed on this website are based on my own personal research and experiences. Please consult your doctor with any medical issues, or before beginning a training program.

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