As I’ve mentioned with the start of June and the New York City Marathon less than 5 months away I’ve put together a plan for myself and am getting back on track with “training mode”.
Over the past couple of months I noticed that there are few things I don’t keep up on (aside from running mileage!) when I’m not training for anything in particular that I really need to start being more diligent about again!
1. Hydration
I am TERRIBLE about drinking enough water on a regular basis!
I find that I am more conscious of it when I am training for something and have long runs and races coming up. With my mileage (and the temperature!) picking up I’m going to make it a point to drink plenty of water and to start using my electrolyte drink mix again.
2. Foam Rolling
During marathon training I had a timer set on my phone to go off every night to remind me to STOP. DROP. AND ROLL!
I not only took the time to roll out my legs daily, but I always had a golf ball on me that I could use to roll around under my foot to help my tight planter fascia.
Guess how many times I’ve foam rolled since Dopey??
I’ll be re-setting that timer to make rolling a regular habit again!
3. The Details
You know, like remembering to charge my Garmin. Or bother taping my foot. Or use body glide. Or fuel properly.
Honestly, when I’m not training for something it’s like my brain just shuts off when it comes to running. I can’t tell you how many times recently I’ve realized my Garmin is dead when I’m ready to head out or halfway through a run I think, “maybe I should have taken a minute to tape my foot…” or “maybe I shouldn’t have run immediately after eating 2 bagels…”
When I’m actually training for something I’m diligent about stuff like plugging in my Garmin, planning my runs and having all my running gear ready to go.
All my running “accessories” organized and ready to go!
(Check out this post on Organizing Race Day Essentials!)
Now that training is under way I’m hoping to get back in the habit of hydrating properly, foam rolling and remembering my “running accessories”!
Is there anything you find you do or don’t do when not training?
Any tips for remembering to drink enough water??
Live, Run, Grow 
I am terrible with hydration even when I am training for an event so if you get any good tips send them my way! I literally carry a bottle of water to work, and back home BEFORE opening it on most days! why? lol
Haha, I do the same thing! I’ll fill a water bottle and at the end of the day it’s still sitting there full!
If I get some good suggestions I’ll be sure to share them in a post!
I keep a little post-it on the back of my phone and tally each bottle of water I drink so there’s no guesswork at the end of the day about how much I’ve hydrated!
Oooh, I like that idea! I’ve tried to keep track in the notes app on my phone, but it doesn’t actually remind me since it’s gone once I close the app! The post it on my phone would actually remind me when I see it all the time!
Exactly! 🙂 I had the same problem too!
Great list. I think all of us fall into that rut. I have a timer and I chug a full bottle of water every couple of hours. Try to get 8 of them down by the end of the day.
Yeah, I think I may set a timer for every hour to at least remind me to pick up my water bottle and take a drink!
I love the timer idea! A daily reminder like that is great. When I’m not training I completely forget to stretch–and I need a lot of help in that department. As for water, it’s the one thing I consistently do. I keep a glass of water on my desk at all times, a glass on my coffee table, a glass by the bed. I’m like that little girl in “Signs” with glasses of water everywhere. Plus, I pretty much only drink water at home/work. No soda, no juice, no coffee, so that helps too. The only exception is my daily glass of chocolate milk!
I really only drink water too, with the occasional orange juice. I think I need to do what you said and just make sure to always have a water visible to remind me! Otherwise I’ll go all day without even thinking to take a drink!
Great timing since I’m posting about foam rolling tomorrow. I stopped foam rolling for a little bit and that was a bad idea.
I’m running without my Garmin and I couldn’t be happier. Given that I know my running route mileage pretty well now, too, I might continue to run that way even when I start training for nyc. I feel like such a rebel.
I’ve actually really enjoyed my watch free runs too! Since I know the distances of my of my routes too I may try to keep doing at least 1 run a week without my watch.
I love how organized all of your stuff is! I need to put together something like this. Right now my running gear is all over my closet and dresser, so I have to run around like a fool every time I want to get out the door!
Haha, thanks! I actually finally put that little bag together because I go back and forth to Cape Cod so much over the summer and gathering all my running stuff each time was such a pain and I was always forgetting something! Now I just grab that little bag and I’m all set (as long as I put my stuff back in it!).
Oh I’m with you! I was foam rolling on my Trigger Point every single day during Dopey training! Now I have fallen off the wagon. I need to make it a habit again. As of right now it’s kind of sporadic when I do it.
I always drink a lot of water but I totally neglect foam rolling when I’m not training (and sometimes when I am training…:))
Since I’m stuck at a desk all day, I have to set a timer to remind to oh…get UP and MOVE around! Otherwise, I just get so darn tight. NOT the way to be going into race time…
It’s funny because at my old job I would always have a water bottle on my desk and would drink regularly and my “get up and move around time” would be going to re-fill my water bottle! Now that I’m not at a desk job full time I always forget to have my water bottle with me!
Timer = brilliant!
Reading this post reminded me of why I’ve always liked you. You don’t take running too seriously and take time for the important things when you’re not training…like taking a break and not putting too much pressure on yourself!
Haha, sometimes I worry that I don’t take it seriously enough! At the same time though I feel like running should be something I enjoy doing so why take it too seriously, I just wan to go out there and have fun with it!
I’m horrible about water too. I have no tips but am glad I’m not alone.
No, you definitely aren’t! Best tips I’ve gotten so far are to set a timer to remind you, I’m going to try that!
I love the idea of a timer for foam rolling! That’s a great way to remember. I used to be much better at drinking water – I would bring gallons of water to work and refill my water bottle throughout the day. But at my new job it isn’t as convenient and so now I have to remember to get up to go fill my water bottle.
I’m right there with you on most of these things, staying hydrated being my biggest downfall. Honestly, I’m even bad with that sometimes during race training. I’ve been working really hard on fixing that, and even downloaded an app that you can set reminders to drink and how much you should have had by certain times of the day. It seems a bit pathetic to need such an app, but hey, whatever works! I bought an M80 roller, but have yet to use it! It’s horrible. I really need to study the videos and start using it daily.
I used to have an app to remind me to drink water too! I should probably download it again and start using it!