I have been in a runner's rut, lately! I am not sure what is causing it. I think it may be the fact that I have had a lingering cold for going on two months, or the fact that the trail half marathon I did in December was really hard on my mental game. I set a goal of running 10 miles every week this year, and while I am completing that I think I have had 1 run where I get that runner's high and feel really good throughout the run. I have also been working on my strength training and that takes it out of your legs, I notice such a difference in my runs after a hard leg day.
After the new year I was looking for a reset of some kind, to get back into my healthy eating and recharge my body. It is going on 2 years now that I have lived a healthy lifestyle, lost all my baby weight and have made working out a daily goal of mine. I was ready for something to revitalize me. Enter, The Runner's Reset.
Laura is a running coach, a mom and a nutrition expert! Her website name, MommyRunFast, came about because of her daughter saying that phrase to her while running with her in the jogger. Now you know my love for throwing Luke into the jogger and hitting the pavement, so I knew I would love her approach.
The 21 Day Runner Reset focused on nutrition, strength training and trying different methods of running. I am relatively new to this running game, so I learned so much! For instance the Maffetone method of running, which focuses on keeping your heart rate low while running, I liked this a lot and I found it was nice to take things a bit slower and look at the world around me. I also really enjoyed the fasted runs, also known as Glycogen depleted runs.
I would wake up in the morning and just run, without anything to eat or drink. It made my runs quite a bit faster, since I was running quickly to get back to the house for breakfast!
Nutrition wise it was very similar to other resets, cut out sugar and processed food and focus on a 40/30/30 diet (carbs to protein to fat). My family is pretty good about not eating processed foods, so that was not a change for me. I did try to cut out sugars most days, and 100% cut out my love for wine throughout the time, but if I must be honest there were still days I had some sugar. Laura included a bunch of recipes that were easy and within the guidelines of the reset. My favorites were the pumpkin spice smoothie (of course) and the Crock Pot Greek Peppers!
I loved the weight training throughout the 21 days! Like I said up top, I have been working on strength training and it was so nice to see some new workouts and try them out. The workouts ranged from HIIT workouts, to ab workouts to even some tricep work. They were all easy to include in my daily workout and I loved how quick most of them were. I incorporated running as much I could throughout the 21 days, though running with a stuffy nose is a nightmare. I would have liked to run a bit more, but was happy with what I was able to do.
All in all, I learned so much throughout the time. Mainly, I learned that having group support is huge and cutting sugar does in fact make you feel stronger and more energized. Laura is extremely easy to work with, and she communicated to us throughout the entire time. It was nice to wake up and have an email waiting for me, with motivation and encouragement to get it done.
Laura offers private nutrition coaching, specifically for runners and don't forget to follow Laura on Instagram! Stay connected and be on the lookout for her next reset, I highly recommend it!
Happy running,
