20 3 / 2013
RUNVAN: Week 8 + Running through *cough, cough*
As an Official Run Van Blogger for 2013, I am documenting my training experience through this blog. With a focus on training and relationships, I hope to guide brides through their worlds of crazy as we work hard, train harder and plan for our big day. Every week I will provide updates on my training experience, including mental and physical challenges that I face along the way. In addition, I will feature a “Topic of the Week” as it relates to fitness training and relationships. Let’s walk down the aisle fit and strong.
Training Schedule:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6KM tempo
Wednesday: Cross-train
Thursday: 4x3 minute hill repeats
Friday: Cross-train
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 16KM
Are you joining me on this 16-week training schedule? Tweet me, leave me a wall post or email me at nicolevanzanten@outlook.com. Let’s talk!
Topic of the Week: Week 8 + Running through *cough, cough*
After a solid long run on the weekend (fist pump!) I ran right into the week feeling on top of the world.
Until Monday.
I started to feel something sneak through as I was working on Monday night. Sore throat, upset stomach. When I woke up on Tuesday morning, I felt as if I had been hit by a train. Zero energy. I succumbed to the sick bug.
Before meeting Richard, I had always been under the impression that sickness needed rest. Couch, tea and a warm blanket. Richard’s mentality, however, is that sickness requires exercise, sweat and breaking your body’s limits.
Needless to say, I’m still stuck in my old routine. I haven’t managed to hit my cross-training day (Tuesday) and I likely won’t muster up the energy for a Wednesday run. For someone who thrives on adrenaline, missing runs and not having the energy to hit the gym plays tricks with my mind and drives me crazy.
How do you train through sickness?
12 3 / 2013
RUNVAN: Week 7 + (Crazy) Schedules and Long Runs
As an Official Run Van Blogger for 2013, I am documenting my training experience through this blog. With a focus on training and relationships, I hope to guide brides through their worlds of crazy as we work hard, train harder and plan for our big day. Every week I will provide updates on my training experience, including mental and physical challenges that I face along the way. In addition, I will feature a “Topic of the Week” as it relates to fitness training and relationships. Let’s walk down the aisle fit and strong.
Training Schedule:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6KM tempo
Wednesday: Cross-train
Thursday: 4x3 minute hill repeats
Friday: Cross-train
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 14KM
Are you joining me on this 16-week training schedule? Tweet me, leave me a wall post or email me at nicolevanzanten@outlook.com. Let’s talk!
Topic of the Week: (Crazy) Schedules and Long Runs
The first five weeks of half-marathon training went off without a hitch. Short runs, cross-training and long runs were on mark and felt great.
Until schedules started getting in the way.
With work, the wedding and one million extracurricular activities, life has been non-stop (I’m currently in the middle of a 14-day week); and training takes time. Long runs take time. My Sunday runs require at least a few hours out of my day (pre-run stretch + nutrition, the run and post-run stretch + nutrition + ice).
With that, I’ve learned three big lessons this week.
- Recite a mantra before falling asleep. “No Excuses. No Excuses. No Excuses” will do the trick. After working a show this past weekend, I crawled into bed at midnight, knowing that I had a 5AM wake-up call the next morning. I could still hear that mantra as the alarm went off.
- Ask your partner/friend for motivation. Whether it’s a text, a nudge or a phone call, tell your partner/friend what your big goal is - and ensure that they help you hit it. No Excuses, remember?
- Get your nutrition packed and ready for that early wake-up call. If I set-up my blender, banana, etc. on the counter before I head to bed, I am 5x more likely to actually head out on that run in the morning. Mentally, I fall asleep with my goal in mind and wake-up feeling prepared.
If you’re preparing for a marathon, how do you fit in those long runs?
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19 2 / 2013
RUNVAN: Week 5 + Motivation
As an Official Run Van Blogger for 2013, I am documenting my training experience through this blog. With a focus on training and relationships, I hope to guide brides through their worlds of crazy as we work hard, train harder and plan for our big day. Every week I will provide updates on my training experience, including mental and physical challenges that I face along the way. In addition, I will feature a “Topic of the Week” as it relates to fitness training and relationships. Let’s walk down the aisle fit and strong.
Training Schedule:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6KM tempo
Wednesday: Cross-train
Thursday: 4x3 minute hill repeats
Friday: Cross-train
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 14KM
Are you joining me on this 16-week training schedule? Tweet me, leave me a wall post or email me at nicolevanzanten@outlook.com. Let’s talk!
Topic of the Week: Motivation
It’s Week 5 of BMO Half-Marathon training and this past week has been tough. Really tough. With long hours at work and a stress-filled week in our relationship, staying on the choo-choo train of training has been difficult.
Five weeks into training - sore muscles, tired bodies, wavering minds. I seem to always hit this wall around this point in my training, and I haven’t quite mastered how to get over the slump.
Finding the perfect balance of motivation in a relationship can be tough. Pushing each other out of bed as the alarm rings can only go so far until it qualifies as nagging (guilty as charged).
I’m throwing this topic out to you. Whether it be running, careers or life goals, how do you push your partner to achieve success? What road blocks have you encountered (if any) and how have you overcome them?
Leave a comment below or tweet me.
12 2 / 2013
RUNVAN: Week 4 + Healthy Training
As an Official Run Van Blogger for 2013, I am documenting my training experience through this blog. With a focus on training and relationships, I hope to guide brides through their worlds of crazy as we work hard, train harder and plan for our big day. Every week I will provide updates on my training experience, including mental and physical challenges that I face along the way. In addition, I will feature a “Topic of the Week” as it relates to fitness training and relationships. Let’s walk down the aisle fit and strong.
Training Schedule:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6KM tempo
Wednesday: Cross-train
Thursday: 4x3 minute hill repeats
Friday: Cross-train
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 12KM
Are you joining me on this 16-week training schedule? Tweet me, leave me a wall post or email me at nicolevanzanten@outlook.com. Let’s talk!
Topic of the Week: Healthy Training
With Bell’s ‘Let’s Talk’ day, I feel that it’s only fitting to discuss mental health and training, or - as I like to call it - Healthy Training.
When I was 20, I battled with an eating disorder. I alluded to it in this introductory post. For two years, I ate lettuce and grapes. For two years, I drank coffee and water. I exercised every day. I woke up, went to work, came home and slept. I was 5’9”, weighed 110LBS, wore a size 00. I thought I could lose more. I lost myself to a battle with my weight.
When I was 22, I met a man who pushed me. I met a man who challenged me when I thought of skipping a meal. I met a man who told me every single day how much he loved me for me.
Fast-forward to 23. I’m strong. I eat well (and too much, sometimes). I can run half-marathons. I can cycle from Vancouver to Whistler (trust me, that hurts). I’m marrying that man I met when I was 22. That man changed me for the better (in more ways than one). If it weren’t for him - I have no doubt I would have fallen back into the dangerous cycle I was in. He pushed me to be a better person, both physically and emotionally.
The Wedding. After the proposal, 60% of brides head straight to the scale and on a diet for their big day. The pressure of a large wedding is high. When 150+ guests come to celebrate (and see) you and your husband, the pressure on a bride to look her best is ever-present. Admittedly, there are days I look in the mirror and tell myself, “I will lose 10LBS before September. Just 10…”
On those days, I consciously snap myself out of it. Richard snaps me out of it. Over the last year, I’ve realized how important the goal of a physical achievement is. For me, it’s not about how much I weigh. It’s not about the size of my waist. It’s about taking that half-marathon and crushing my time. It’s about cycling from Vancouver to Whistler and back. Taking the focus off of the scale and onto the pavement.
There will be days when I look in the mirror and think about those 10LBS. Eating disorders don’t just go away; but I’m putting on a massive white dress in September with a Healthy Mind.
Healthy Training.
PS: I’m the luckiest girl in the world.
PPS: If you are, or have been, in a similar position, please - don’t hesitate reach out. Let’s talk. Check out our contact page for my information. 
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04 2 / 2013
RUNVAN: Week 3 + Gym or Relationship?
As an Official Run Van Blogger for 2013, I am documenting my training experience through this blog. With a focus on training and relationships, I hope to guide brides through their worlds of crazy as we work hard, train harder and plan for our big day. Every week I will provide updates on my training experience, including mental and physical challenges that I face along the way. In addition, I will feature a “Topic of the Week” as it relates to fitness training and relationships. Let’s walk down the aisle fit and strong.
Training Schedule:
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 6KM tempo
Wednesday: Cross-train
Thursday: 4x3 minute hill repeats
Friday: Cross-train
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 12KM
Are you joining me on this 16-week training schedule? Tweet me, leave me a wall post or email me at nicolevanzanten@outlook.com. Let’s talk!
Topic of the Week: Gym or Relationship?
Last night, after a family brunch and hours spent in front of the TV for the Superbowl, Richard embarked on his 10 mile training run at 9:30PM. It was dark and cold, and every bit of him could have very well said “no, not today”; but he stuck with it. He ran those 10 miles and crushed his time.
Time. Training takes time. Lots of time. After long days with both mental and physical exhaustion, the first thing I want to do is crawl up on the couch with my partner - the last thing I want to do is head to the gym. It’s a balance of time. Relationships take time; training takes time.
Since Richard and I started on this crazy journey of races and training, we’ve learned how to balance the relationship in synchrony with training. We’ve learned to push each other at 5:00AM when the alarm goes off, or at 9:30PM when it’s dark and cold outside. A mutual understanding through communication and a gentle (or, sometimes, heavy) push of motivation are just two ingredients that make this balance tick.
Time is so important in a relationship, especially when you’re planning a wedding. Stress levels are higher and the pressure surrounding the lead-up to the big day is ever-present. Finding the perfect balance between our careers, nurturing our relationship and finding time to train for upcoming races is a tough battle, but one that I feel we’re.
How do you balance training time with relationship time? Have you struggled?
