The Importance of Nutrition

Follow me: @titacabrera

What did u eat today? By this I don't mean to ask if you eat a lot, if you are fit, or if you are starving.  Being "on a diet" doesn't mean starve yourself or decline all those delicious burgers or snacks we might be craving for.  Whatever is your activity (even if you decide not to practice any sports), different meals, vegetables, carbs, etc. are better for what you do, including intellectual activity.

Sports wise, there are three factors that combine to give the results we get: training, genetic composition and nutrition.

Training includes an adequate routine for you according to your fitness level, goal, age, time frame, activity and benefit you might be seeking for in your body. Genetic composition means how athletic your body naturally is, how easily you practice sports, ability and resistance wise. Nutrition means feeding yourself according to what your specific needs, your kind of sport, age, gender, etc.

WE GOTTA KEEP THESE THREE PILARS FOR THE PRACTICE OF SPORTS IN BALANCE

Exercise increases the caloric needs of a person, and depending on the kind of sports, the source of those calories. For example, someone practicing body building will need greater amount of proteins to create muscular hypertrophy anaerobic sports require; and someone practicing triathlon or cycling, will need carbs, due to the prolonged physical effort of an aerobic sport.

An adequate sports nutrition has to cover all the cycles in sports and the training program such as recovery days, active phase and proper rest.  

Realize how important is everything we ingest when we work out and when we don't

Wether you decide to start a training program or not, you have to be aware or having the food your body needs according to your physical need and have a proper sleep time.  Having said this, we all have to realize that everyone has different nutritional needs, even if you practice the same sport, everyone has different characteristics and goals.

The right nutrition is not to be followed only in a short term... is changing our habits what really works for the long term... so instead of starving right before summer time, or eating all the proteins because you want to get biceps in one week... if you balance all and combine work out with proper nurture, the benefits will be for the short and long term, and they'll last as long as your habit.

If you plan on making a diet, don't take the "pineapple diet" or "whatever miracle diet"; your health is first, and even if takes longer to notice results, you will notice them for more than what the spring break lasts. You can combine everything, even junk food, just watching frequency and quantity, don't quit your guilty pleasure, well all have one... or two.

I'll be looking forward to read your comments or tweets.

Happy weekend!

Tita.

Follow me: @titacabrera

Sources:

1. Longterm diet is the only secret to lose weight

2. Nutrition

3. Sports Nutrition

3. Sports Nutrition II

Improving your time when running

Follow me: @titacabrera

So well I'm particularly happy today cause I improved my running time yesterday!! 

Not yet till where I wanna get (4min/km), but each second down counts! 5:45min/km; this means I ran 10k in under 60min.

I'm happy because after having been a high performance athlete, starting over is really hard and frustrating, more than if I would've never done any training and have the same average speed; this is cause my mind is set into what my body "USED TO DO" before, not what I can actually "DO NOW", so the former athlete is more likely to quit. (This even has a name, I can't remember now, but i will get to that in a coming entry).

Anyways, I always trained POTENCE and strenght... not really a lot of resistance... (I competed in 100m, 200m, 400m, 4x400m, 800m and hurdles)

I can comfortably finish a 10k, just my best time was 42'. Last Nike 10k race i was over 60 min! Almost cried! But you don't wanna sprint next to me cause i'll kick your ass!

Training for resistance is of course different than speed, the more resistant you are, the slower you become.  In order to improve your time when running, you have to work your muscles towards supporting fatigue, that means "burning" your energy until you feel you can't run anymore, but you keep on running, so they "learn" to recover faster.  Over time you will resist bigger effort (faster runs) for a longer time.

This is earned by including INTERVALS in your training.  If you run same distance and same pace, you will get stuck there.  According to the race you are preparing for (5k, 10k, 21k, marathon, triathlon, etc.) you might adapt duration in different intensity zones, recovery times, reps, series, etc.

There are two main kinds of intervals*:

1) Continuous interval: You don't stop to rest, only make changes on pace. You run at your regular pace and every 4-8 mins, you speed up for 2-5mins and go back to regular pace.  You will be having an ACTIVE recovery, since you have to catch your breath while you are still running!

2) Fractional interval: This is known as "SERIES". Since you get to have pauses between groups of reps,  speed is expected to be higher, this is PASSIVE recovery. According to the race you want to run, these series could be short (sprints of 200 - 800 mts) for potence, or long (2000 - 5000mts) to improve your resistance. 

Remember to ALWAYS keep track of your improvements, this will keep your spirit up and let you see the results of your training, plus if you are to be tired, dirty and sweaty, you better make it worth it!

Also, be consistent, and don't give up!

set your mind in your goal, not your barrier.

*Here are the links I used to get the information about intervals, and some training plans to improve your running speed:

1. Interval Training to Improve running time

2. Intensive Continuous Method

3. How to improve your time in 5k

4. Runners World Mexico: Suggested training plans to improve running time

you might wanna follow on twitter @RunnersWorldMex

Ask experienced professionals, who have the proper knowledge to guide you towards your goals safely and effectively by customizing your training.

I'll be glad to read your comments, suggestions and feedback. ENJOY YOUR RUNNING.

Tita.

Follow me: @titacabrera

Running APPS: Nike vs. Adidas

Follow me: @titacabrera

I wanted to keep track of my distance when i started to run for 10k, so I started using Nike+ and Adidas MiCoach... these are running tools to keep track of the miles you've run, speed, time, calories burned and even offer a plan to train for an specific objective. They both speak to you and tell you when u complete another kilometer, and you have to register in the brands website to use both and get a username.

Nike+ has two versions, one that can be used with no internet and is combined with the sensor in Nike+ running shoes; and another called Nike+ GPS, with this you don't need the sensor, cause each step is measured by the GPS on your smartphone, keeps track of your route, elevation, kind of soil, etc etc. If you run indoors, you might wanna get the first one (free), or the bracelet that comes with the sensor and then sync to your laptop. Of course you gotta have the shoes that hold the sensor, identify them with the Nike+ logo on the sole.

If you got a smartphone, download the Nike app with GPS, is like $2 dlls, but is really nice, it syncs automatically and goes "live" with your facebook, when u start a new race, its posted on facebook asking your friends to cheer you up, so you hear some screaming and clapping while u run, that means someone "liked it" on fcbk or posted something... u can read it afterwards.  When I've been tired and about to stop, I've heard that and really gave me some mental stamina.

Also, the fact that Nike has an online community that u can make challenges with, play "tag", or make a running team with your friends or random people, is great, you are not alone.

So thats nice from Nike app.... BUT at the end is about keeping track and having an idea of your training. With Nike+ u can see the suggested training online, in your laptop, but you can't have it in your phone as in "tomorrow my training is planned to run 14k"... you get that with ADIDAS MiCoach.

I really love this one for that, cause i can see graphs online, but also a calendar, which tells me when i have to run and how long, the kind of training, and this tells you to speed up or go lower, according to the "zones" (or intensity level) that you gotta work according to your training that day. What I love with this is that I can be really objective and see if I missed a training, I see it on my track, so I can't fool myself... it's there...

The online program from Adidas also includes other kinds of workout (not necessarily running), according to your gender and what you might wanna work, call it strength, resistance, flexibility, etc.

Adidas also gives you a grade on your training, according to your timing, speed, consistency; and you can sync it with a heart rate device, to get an even more accurate training.

Another good thing is you don't need a sensor or special shoe gear, its all by GPS.  Great if you have a smartphone, not so great if you don't.

BOTTOM LINE:

I love that both have an online platform, I would add to Adidas the cheering part and sync with fcbk or twitter; I would add to Nike the training program track on the phone, not just the "select kind of training", what if you didn't check the site before, you would be running randomly, not to your program.

I used both at the same time... its kinda lame... I'd pick Adidas, plus i can use a heart rate device (I'll get it next week).

I SOOO wanna try the new Nike Fuel bracelet... and maybe it'll be usefull in a different way that might lead me to use it better.

For now, I'll use ADIDAS MiCoach app to hear and train according to it, but i use the Nike bracelet with the sensor, so when I sync, I still have both platforms updated.  That's cause my best friend gave me the bracelet as a present... else I don't think I would've gotten it... but I really do like it.

WHAT YOU GUYS THINK? YOU USE ANY OF THESE APPS??

Follow me: @titacabrera

42k... why?

Twitter: @titacabrera

I gotta start by introducing myself. I'm Martha Cabrera (but everyone calls me Tita). I'm 28 years old, born and raised in Mexico City and work in marketing.

I've been a "sport billy" since i can remember: track & field, basketball, dancing, cheerleading, flag football, etc. I competed in national and international tournaments and thought that after college my days of competing were pretty much over (since top age in Mexico is 25 years old for varsity sports), and me having a full time job, would leave me with no time to compete and most of my workout would be to try and stay fit, not really competition level.

As time went by (3 years), I became undisciplined and intermittent with my training... call it jogging, ballet, weight lifting, etc... cause I wasn't working for a specific goal more than staying fit or relaxing, so I did it couple months then quit, then again and so on.

For a former athlete, is not about having or not a "love handle", is more about having a goal, train hard with your team, challenge yourself, getting tired, frustrated, back on your feet, and win... compete.

After years and years of training at least 4 hours a day and not having much time for partying; I became a PARTY MONSTER! yayy! and don't get me wrong, i don't regret it... I had a lot of fun... but i was going against all i ever built... being hang over or smoking was just incongruent with me, and weird to people around me who knew how into sports I was.

I realized how much i missed competing, and needed a "new project", starting running 10k with my girlfriends, and really enjoyed it, being with "my team". One day I thought of how hard would it be to run a marathon... all the mind and body preparation... so I decided I wanted to do that, plus is how my all-time addiction started with: Olympic Games. Yes I'm an OG junkie, and love all the history around it. My next thought was "why I took so long on deciding to train for this?".

I didn't know if I could do it... discipline wise, but after some breakthroughs I realized THIS IS ONE OF MY DREAMS. I'm determined to live my dreams, and become a better version of me everyday, by setting goals, really high ones... hard, and remember that there's nothing I can't do.

I got really inspired by Constantina Tomescu... who won gold in marathon during past Olympic Games, in Beijing 2008. She was 38. So... me saying i was done with competing by 25... i was so bullshitting and searching for excuses.

I started this blog to reach others that might feel identified with this... that might be looking for a new passion, challenge, inspiration or a new direction in their lives... and do whatever you'd like. For me is this now: 42k.

For the more experienced, I hope u can share training tips, follow up, cheer me up (and let me cheer for you too)... and create a community of runners who share with others not just the physical effort that this implies, but all the mental preparation, own barriers and how to overcome... this is a reflection of how we live our lives, plus lets be honest, we get enough self conversations during all those kilometers, why not sharing??

I invite you to follow this blog, share your journey with me, and let me know what u think about what I'll be posting. You can also follow me on twitter @titacabrera

Mexico City International Marathon is this coming september 2nd, 2012.

I got 160 days to go!

Constantina Tomescu 2008

Here's Constantina: http://www.topnews.in/sports/constantina-tomescu-2008-olympic-games-track-field-23658