Olympic Survey From Carrots’N’Cake

Hello again everyone! Are you over the hump yet where you’re at?

Zach and I have a fun date planned for the evening, so I thought I’d have a survey set up for you all that I found on Tina’s page (carrotsncake.com).  She’s basically the mother of healthy living blogging, so I’m sure you are familiar with her.  But if you aren’t, be sure to check her out!

What do you do regularly to feel good about your body?

 

RUN!

 

 

 

 

Running is my wonder drug.   For me, it can make a bad day magically turn around, and only improves the already good days.  That doesn’t necessarily mean that running is always easy — heck no.  It’s tough!  But that’s just one of the many reasons I love it.

Have you ever taken part in a fad diet or workout?

I have all kinds of history with food — but fad diets hasn’t ever really played a huge part in my life.  For a couple days when I was in high school, I tried the Atkin’s diet with my Mom, but that did NOT last.  Yes, just a couple days.  I couldn’t stand one more jello cup!

With that said, I was a chubby little kiddo and that crept into my adolescent years.  It definitely affected the way I felt about my body and I went through long periods of time with very unhealthy relationships with food and my body.

It has taken a lot of time, focused effort, and support to get to where I am today.  But I am thankful for the body I have, and everything it can accomplish.  It has gotten me through 3 tough half marathons, running streaks, years of doing hot yoga, and still stands strong.  That’s pretty amazing.

Do you use fitness apps?

I use DailyMile regularly to keep track of the miles I run, but that’s really the only application I use (and I don’t even use it on my phone).  I did recently add MapMyRun to my iPhone, but Zach wouldn’t let me run with it outdoors without a case so I haven’t gotten to use it yet!

What’s a go-to race-day meal?

I have gone in and out of phases.

When I first started running, I would eat Trader Joe’s peanut butter granola bars before my long runs.  They were tasty and something I didn’t necessarily mind chomping down when I wasn’t hungry.

Before my first half, I ate half of a bagel with light peanut butter.  But for my last 2 races, I have had Larabars.   They have also been my go-to prelong run fuel for awhile and have never upset my stomach.  With that said, I have been known to bonk pretty regularly in long runs, so maybe it isn’t enough?

Do you listen to music to get pumped up before races?

I absolutely do.  I’m normally a ball of nerves before a big race, so I not only use the music to pump me up, I use the music to keep me in the zone.   Before Steamboat (A very small race), all of us runners kind of huddles together and had music playing over the loud speaker.  That was probably my favorite pre-race music experience.  Very different than the huge RnR’s, for whatever reason.

Any good luck charms or pre-race rituals?

Not that I can think of.  I don’t have any lucky clothes or something I NEED to keep on my body come race day.

With that said, I hardly do ANY runs anymore with out my ProCompression Socks…does that count?

When do you feel sexiest?

After a run, for sure.  There is something about the endorphin high mixed with the fact that my body feels incredibly strong that is pretty friggin awesome :).
Read more at http://carrotsncake.com/2014/01/olympic-athlete-survey.html#kfYvtT2BbqRBLtDU.99