Hi! We are Anna and Jess! Two Nurse Practitioners working in critical care trying to navigate training at our best while working some pretty insane schedules. We hope you find our training strategies beneficial to survive those long shifts and still train at your best!
We both got the dreaded stomach virus during our training! Being sidelined to the couch for anyone can be tough. Just being sick in general is tough. For a nurse practitioner who is training for a marathon it can feel like your world is closing in on you! We rely on our runs for that mental break, our free therapy, our way to hear silence for an hour, and our way to meet up once a week and talk/laugh our way to the finish of whatever tough workout we have planned. Let’s first discuss how awful this virus was… FOOD & DRINK had no place in our bodies for 3 days!!! Day 4 sips of water and rice could slightly be tolerated. Remember our last post and how much fuel our bodies are requiring? Well, let’s just say neither of us needed to lose 5lbs and become completely dehydrated. Obviously no running was done that week. Our training plans did not have big check marks off of the workouts we crushed. They got a big line through them and a whole lot of anxiety that we have now missed a whole week of training. The week I (Anna) got the stomach bug I was supposed to run 20 miles. I pushed it back to the next week after a stomach bug I thought: “well of course I can crush this”. Kristin Armstrong has a good quote that pretty much summed up that run “Running is always a good exercise in humility”. I clearly couldn’t run 20 miles, only 4 days after recovering from the stomach virus from hell. Our bodies don’t bounce back that quick! Working in healthcare and being competitive individuals, it is always tough for us to realize when we need to take a step back. In our professional lives and our personal lives it’s so important to remember we are only human and we can only do so much.
Okay, so how did we bounce back?! We bounced back with the encouragement of our friends, our loved ones, and the most encouraging group of co-workers! Nursing and working in critical care is like being on a sports team. Every single day someone is asking us about our runs since we started this blog! Everyday we are told how we have inspired someone to start running or think about getting back into running. The encouragement and the positive energy we receive from our co-workers is what got us mentally back out on the pavement. These workouts are HARD!!! As we have mentioned in a previous post, training for a spring marathon is TOUGH! It’s cold, these workouts are hard and besides your other crazy bestie, not many other people want to run with you in single digit weather. It’s easy to get down on yourself and feel like you are stuck, especially after an illness.
Right after we signed up for the Brooklyn Marathon we both signed up for the PHILLY LOVE RUN with another Nurse Practitioner, Sam, who also works with us. This was the best decision we made! The energy that surrounds any race is contagious! Of course it was a cold, dark, windy Philadelphia morning BUT 11,000 people showed up to run and 1,500 amazing volunteers showed up to make the day happen. Jess PR’d and hit every mile exactly the way she planned! Brooklyn can’t come soon enough. Anna ran on tired work legs from a hard 14 hour shift the day before but hit every mile at what she had planned and helped Sam cross the finish line of her 1st half marathon. Crossing any finish line is amazing but having Jess waiting for me (Anna) and Sam at the finish was something special. We have all been putting in a lot of hard work whenever we can get the miles in. The post run embrace felt a little more special this time. When we looked at our phones they were filled with text messages from loved ones & co-workers words of encouragement! Our next shifts at the hospital were met with words of praise at how amazing we did and inquiries of when we can be joined on our runs!
So again you may ask what was the secret to the bounce back?! We don’t have one! We didn’t eat any crazy diets or do any crazy juicing. The community that surrounds us is what keeps us going when our own inner light is slightly dimmed. This post and the Philly Love Run reminded us why we love being Nurse Practitioners so much and how lucky we are to be a part of such a supportive community!
This week’s workouts: 0-3 easy miles, 4-6 easy miles, 6 miles with hill intervals:(1 mile easy, 2min uphill, easy run back downhill X10, finish with 1 mile easy), 0-3 easy miles, rest, 18-20 LSD.
Acceptance is a pivotal part of allowing your body to recover. Accepting that some days you feel awful and going for a run just isn’t in the cards. Accepting that your work schedule is not ideal this week and you have 3 days to get all your hard workouts in. Once you get it in your mind that the training plan is a plan, not something written in blood I think things get a little less stressful, at least they did for me.
Week 6’s workouts: 3 easy miles, 3-4 easy miles, 8-9 miles with 6 x 8000’s @ 3:40 pace ( 3:30 for Jess), 0-3 easy miles, 4 miles hills, and 10 miles with 2 miles at tempo.
Tuesday: I worked late last night so I wasn’t sure how my run was going to go. I was feeling pretty good once I got outside and moving and ended up doing a 6 mile run at a 9-minute pace. I am aiming for a 9-minute pace for the marathon and so far it hasn’t felt too bad, I actually find myself running too fast on most runs and will have to consciously slow myself down (thank god for my Garmin watch). Post-run I rolled out my legs and did a 20-minute yoga workout that was focused on hip-opening stretches.
Wednesday: Track workout Day!!! : THE SUN WAS OUT! Recovery isn’t just resting, fueling, and stretching for me. Recovery is remembering why you love being outside with the sun on your face, recovery is killing 6 800’s with your friend and feeling good when you finish, recovery is reigniting a fire that the gloomy winter months have been trying to dim. My 800’s needed to be run in 3:40, for someone who hasn’t run on a track in years that’s fast! I was able to keep pace for each of my 800’s and didn’t feel completely dead at the end of them. We started and ended our workout with an easy 2 miles filled with lots of chatting, venting, and laughing! After our workout, we went back to Jess’s house and she made me a delicious meal filled with all the goodies needed to build back up our muscles (Jess breaks down the meal below).
When I got home I rolled out my legs with a foam roller and did a little more stretching. Once my muscles cool down is when I feel my tightness so I try and do a stretching session immediately post-run and one before bed or a few hours after my workout. One of my favorite recovery tools is my foam roller. Foam rolling is a love-hate relationship, it hurts so good is how I describe it to people. The pain gets better over time as you loosen up! Fascia and underlying muscle tissue within the body can become stuck together. This is normally what somebody will call a knot. These adhesions “knots” result in restricted muscle movement. With this comes a reduction in flexibility, and muscle efficiency, and if untreated can lead to pain and injury. Long and short of all of that if you stick with it I promise it gets better. This is the foam roller I used from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/TriggerPoint-Roller-Instructional-Original-13-inch/dp/B0040EGNIU/ref=sr_1_6?crid=14C1REN8SU193&keywords=runners%2Bfoam%2Broller&qid=1644531524&sprefix=runners%2Bfoam%2Bro%2Caps%2C626&sr=8-6&th=1)
One thing I do recommend when purchasing a foam roller is to get one with a plastic core. They are a little bit more expensive but they last forever because they won’t bend from the weight of your body over time like the ones that are all foam do.
Thursday: This week I have 3 days to get the big workouts in so, today was my long run. It’s not recommended to do your hard workouts back to back because you don’t give your muscles enough time to recover. I made a deal with myself last night that If I woke up feeling fatigued I wouldn’t do my long run today. To my surprise, I woke up feeling great! Today was a 10-mile run with two miles at tempo pace. I was able to run my first 5 at 9-minute mile pace, my 2 tempo miles at 8-minute miles pace, and my last 3 at 9-minute mile pace. Today’s run is a testament to following a running plan and fueling my body properly. Post-run I did a 10-minute lower body yoga flow and made some avocado toast seasoned with Trader Joe’s everything but the bagel seasoning!
In preparation for my next three days of work, the rest of my day was spent meal prepping.
My weekend meal prep includes:
Coffee pot prepped and timer set (this is probably the most important!)
3 mason jars of overnight oats: raisins, oats, cinnamon, oat milk, & water to right above the dry ingredients.
If you don’t have the cookbook “THUG Kitchen, Eat like you give a f*ck” you need to get it! I made their mango curry over whole-grain rice…. wow is it good. I separated this up into 3 containers and will eat this every day for lunch.
This week rounding snacks will be grapes and sumo oranges.
As I sit here and write this week’s entry I am wearing my RE Athlete Air Pro compression boots. If you have never tried compression boots I highly recommend them. The benefits of compression boots are improved circulation, they boost lymphatic fluid movement (which reduces swollen feet/legs), removal of lactic acid which reduces muscle fatigue, boost oxygen distribution, and to be totally honest they feel AMAZING. There are so many recovery methods available to athletes today. The ones I mentioned are just a few that I consistently use and find very helpful.
Jess:
Week 6’s Workouts: 0-3 easy miles, 4-6 easy miles, 8-9 mile workout, 0-3 easy miles, 5-6 miles of hills, 10 mile tempo run
This week was a good one, I think because I got a day with Anna!! I also have some other recovery secrets I’ll share!
Monday: rest day (except I was on my feet for 13 hours…). Needed this day after this weekend of hills!!
Tuesday: Opened up my hips with a pre-run warm-up on Peloton (still tight from the weekend) and slip-slided through my neighborhood during my easy hill miles (I did 4). The sidewalk was frozen solid and I was lucky I didn’t fall. THE WINTER KILLS ME. Strength/stretch came after. Then I had a wonderful afternoon at a recovery studio in Philly called “Konect.” I have gone here in prior training cycles. It is amazing. They provide compression boot sessions if you don’t own them (the ones Anna described), IV hydration, massage, cryotherapy, sauna, etc. I typically do cryo→sauna back to back. I did a 3 minute cryotherapy session followed by a 25-minute sauna and WOW. Cryotherapy (cold tanks) are incredible. So are ice baths. Once I’m getting close to 40 miles/wk, I have to do some sort of cryo or ice bathing. When you are pounding your legs against the ground, you are causing some trauma to your muscles, ligaments, and tendons. Ice and cold will help it heal quicker (Just like when you ice a swollen muscle/joint but it’s your whole body!). Then you follow it up with a 25 minute sauna and wow. You just take this wonderful exhale and your entire body just relaxes. I got Anna to sign up and I’m so excited for her to try it!
Wednesday: THE BEST DAY!!! Anna and I got a killer workout in. The sun was out and we felt so comfortable easing into our paces for those 6x800s. I am getting so excited for track workouts now which is weird. Anna is so motivating and having a friend with you just makes it so much easier. She came back to my house and I treated her with an awesome breakfast bowl I tried out a few days before. I got it from the Running on Veggies cookbook which I highly recommend: https://www.runonveg.com/book/
We hung out and brainstormed for a bit. It’s so hard being a nurse practitioner and having conflicting schedules but it makes the time we have to run/plan all the better.
Thursday: I nailed this post-work treadmill run. I don’t even know how. I had literally one of the worst days I have had in a while at work. Overwhelmed with patients, I walked into 3 different shitshows, and at the end of the day, my admission looked terrible. I think I just took all of that negative energy and repurposed it. Got on the tread and finished 4 miles after work which is UNHEARD OF for me. Training with a partner is truly working!!
Friday: Rest day – I wasn’t feeling it. I was ready to get home, eat and get to sleep. I was super nervous about my tempo run the next day so I leaned into my headspace and took a breather.
Saturday: 10 mile tempo – 5 mile warm up, 2 miles at ~ 7:00 pace, 3 miles warm down.
I was determined today. I have not been running on flats and the weather for my long runs have just sucked. I took this one to a flat river run and wow the weather was perfect. My “easy” was one minute faster than I usually run and my heart rate still stayed down. I got to the 2 mile tempo and I just took off. 6:50 and 7:05 for the two miles!!!!! I am getting so motivated and excited for the races coming up. I thought I could get away without fuel but that was the wrong thing to do. I felt a bit woozy at the end so slammed a bar I brought with me. Standardly, if I am running any more than 45 minutes I bring fuel. Either way, I felt like a total badass.
My recovery after this was spending the entire evening with my immediate family. I haven’t seen them since the holidays and we had the best weekend. We had so much food and just laughed all day. It was the best emotional recovery. I turned my brain off and just hugged my nieces until they were blue in the face 🙂
Sunday: 50 degrees yesterday and 3 inches of snow today. This weather shows no mercy. Training in the winter is unreal. I feel prepared for any weather that comes my way in April. I did a backwoods run in my hometown in New Jersey. I’ve talked about Strava before but I’ll bring it up again. It is so useful if you are traveling and can’t find a running route. If you go to the “Maps” and then “Routes” option you can put in your location and find running routes people have saved. I did some nice easy 5 miles in the light snow and it was wonderful. Awesome week!
I can’t believe we are 5 weeks in! Having the training to look forward to has been an amazing stress reliever for me. Physically I am pushing myself more than I have in a long time! I’ve never been someone who isn’t working out – however, this training plan requires a lot of dedication to planning when the workouts will get done, what I am going to eat, and how I am going to allow my body to recover so I can keep training this hard. Due to the ever-changing work schedule of a Nurse Practitioner working in an ICU, my “rest” days end up being days that I work. I wouldn’t really call 13/14 hour days “rest” days but hey I’m not running…. too much.
These next two weeks Jess and I share what we do to help our bodies recover while keeping up with training and our busy work schedules.
Week 5’s workouts: 0-3 easy miles, 3-4 easy miles, 8-9 miles with intervals, 0-3 easy miles, 4 miles easy, 14 miles LSD (long slow distance)
Wednesday: As mentioned in last week’s post, it will be tough to get my workouts in. Today was my only day off during the week. I decided this would be my track workout day (8-9 miles with intervals). Well, mother nature had other things in store for me. I showed up to a track that could have doubled as an ice skating rink. After having a minor freak out in my car I pulled myself together, drove to Wawa, got a coffee and headed home to figure out what today’s workout was going to look like. The sun was coming out so I waited it out and later in the afternoon went for a 4-mile run. After my run, I did a 20-minute Peloton strength workout with Becs Gentry and a 10-minute yoga workout. As frustrating as the morning started out, my workout ended up being amazing and it felt good to do some mobility work with my strength and yoga workouts.
A big part of recovery for any athlete is getting the right fuel. When schedules get busy it is so easy to slip into the habit of not eating enough – more importantly, not eating enough of the right foods. I have been doing lots of reading on this marathon journey about what and when I should be eating. In general (from my own research), you should be getting fuel back into your body within 30 minutes of your workout to help your muscles recover and to replace their glycogen stores. Fuel is a mix of carbohydrates and protein.
Thursday: I teach a class at the hospital once a month so today was that day. When I am teaching it’s amazing how exhausted I am. When I got done teaching I wanted to get a workout in but the weather was gloomy and rainy. I didn’t have the strength to run in the rain so I opted for a Peloton 30-minute ride. Once I start moving my motivation is always renewed! I wrapped up the workout day with a 20-minute upper body strength workout.
Friday: Today I work 11- midnight and (of course) I couldn’t sleep in so I took Beau for a 3-mile walk then did a 30-minute yoga flow.
Saturday: I didn’t hydrate or eat enough at work so I just felt off all day. I made myself go for a slow 3 miles then did a really good stretch in preparation for my long run on Sunday. Saturday night was a very relaxing night at home with Steve and Beau. We made fish tacos (as in we…. meaning Steve) and watched a Netflix series. In preparation for Sunday’s long run, I drank lots of water and went to bed nice and early. Sleep is KEY to recovery! In our deep sleep cycles, we release growth hormones. Getting enough sleep when working is hard! I get home around 9 pm most nights and I am back up again at 4 am! Definitely not getting the recommended 8 hours – I get it in when I can.
Sunday: 14 miles!!! I have never run 14 miles before and it didn’t feel awful – it actually felt pretty good! I went out around 7:30 am. It was chilly and the wind was whipping but once I warmed up I felt good. I attempted to hydrate and eat some of a gel pack every 45 minutes. The first time I went to eat my gel pack it was frozen so I just drank some of my water that had a nuun tablet in it. My second attempt at trying the gel pack now that it wasn’t frozen I realized it was awful tasting. I choked some of it down with my water and continued on my run. I brought two gel packs with me. The second one I tried was one Jess had recommended and I liked it a lot better than the first one I tried – they’re still not my favorite. Post-run I refueled with leftover fish tacos and a nice long stretch.
Jess:
“Things falling apart is a kind of testing and also a kind of healing. We think the point is to pass the test or to overcome the problem, but the truth is things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together and fall apart again. It’s just like that. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen: room for grief, room for relief, for misery, for joy.” (excerpt from “When Things Fall Apart” by Pema Chodron)
The quote above is one of my favorites. I have a tattoo on my ribs that kind of summarizes that eloquent passage and it reminds me of the importance of struggle as well as healing:
“In life we split the difference between grief and relief”
So this week we are talking about recovery. Both quotes above are basically telling us to create room for healing – space and time. As nurses/health care providers, we live through the scariest conflicts every day, almost minute to minute. We are so well equipped to deal with the struggles – we constantly work through chaos. So why not allow ourselves to recover in an equal fashion? We struggle with that (I STRUGGLE WITH THAT). But I’m slowly learning (especially in this training cycle) how to let my body heal when it’s been broken down and marathon training will do that to you physically as well as mentally. So here we go:
This is a tough week for me – tapping on the door of 40 miles/week (woof)
Monday: I got stuck in Florida for an extra day which was actually lovely. I did 4.5 easy miles along the water. Saw a pelican. Stopped and took pics. It was so relaxing and honestly the trip really helped me mentally recover from the last few weeks of freezing cold.
Tuesday: REALITY CHECK. Planned to do my track workout. Just like Anna I got iced out (literally). The track was almost fully covered in snow. I did a 2 mile warm up that felt like shit. My goal workout was [1×1600, 1×800, 1×400] times two. Yeah right. Got through it once and by the 800 my shoes were soaked with snow and I was slipping everywhere. I went home and stretched. Honestly my legs hurt worse than they have this whole training cycle so it must have been a tough one.
Wednesday: Bad one. This week sucks (me and Anna are on the same wavelength). Shift was long and my brain was off. Got out of work late and got on the treadmill and totally shut down. I was so unmotivated and I couldn’t get my legs or brain to work. Stopped after 2 miles. Got home, ate some dinner, drank tea, and laid in the dark for 15 minutes. I know it sounds weird but the sensory deprivation worked! I got my head right and got some decent sleep.
Thursday: Rest day
Friday: Since my track workout really was not successful, I signed up for a HIIT class with some friends and got an awesome treadmill workout in. I love sneaking in a little workout class here and there during training. The strength was super tough and I felt challenged! When I got home I did a 3.5 easy mile run to finish up the 5-6 miles I was supposed to do. FREEZING. Rain turned to ice and I turned into a mud covered icicle. My boyfriend Alex and I celebrated the week with pizza and beer and I hydrated well in preparation for the long run in the AM.
Saturday: 16 miles! I don’t know if I was just anxious about the long run but I slept poorly. Super chilly and hilly. My friend Samantha joined me and this was one of the most challenging long runs I have had in a while. I brought a water pack with me but the bladder spout froze!! Out of water, Samantha met me with two bottles of water and was my life saver. She ran 8 with me and then I ran home and let’s just say it was a challenge. I live on the top of a hill so no matter where I go, hills are everywhere. Brooklyn Marathon is pretty flat so I know this will be helpful but I had to stop a few times on the final 2 mile climb uphill home. I walked into the house and the first thing I wanted to do was sit down. This is a bad idea if you want to be recovered and rested the next day. Your legs will cramp if you don’t eat and refuel right away. Women need way more protein than men and need to replenish stores quicker than men after a run. It is actually proven in the lab. I highly recommend this nutrition book that a friend of mine recently gave to me: https://www.amazon.com/ROAR-Fitness-Physiology-Optimum-Performance/dp/1623366860/ref=asc_df_1623366860/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=312089933244&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=7878494236598817757&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007243&hvtargid=pla-417622043463&psc=1
This is a book geared toward fueling the female body and it is INCREDIBLE. This is my “to do” recovery list after my long runs:
Take off any clothing that’s wet or, if you are cold, find a quick way to get warm
Shower/Stretch – SO IMPORTANT. DO NOT SKIP. I skip the stretch all of the time (I am a nurse – I often do not practice what I preach!!). Build it into your run just like you build in time before you go out for your run.
Hit of caffeine (a small one). This keeps me going for the day. I need it to not be super fatigued after some of the tough ones. I recommend green tea or a quarter/half cup of coffee. Sometimes I use NUUN tabs with caffeine in them or jelly beans with caffeine.
I also foam rolled and stretched for another 20 minutes later in the day after the long run. Foam rolling is essential. Think about foam rolling as breaking up the uneven parts to make your body smooth. Just like stretching elongates your muscles when they’re tight. The smoother and more mobile your muscles are, the more they’ll perform and the less pain you’ll be in later. (Anna talks about foam rolling at length next week).
Sunday: Recovery 4 miles with Alex. Beautiful day and a nice flat run to shake out the miles
