Fresh from my confidence building weekend, I actually ran a hill workout yesterday.
I haven’t run a specific hill workout since the half marathon we ran in February. I have run “improvised” hill runs just during my regular runs.
I guess I have some hope of not only trying to finish but also getting into the 3:30 finish for my marathon. Thus it makes it easier to suffer the pain of a workout rather than just trying to rack up the mileage.
Beet Root Juice
One thing I have been doing that I think really helps is drinking beet root juice. I read about this a month or so ago and so I set out to try some. Publix has it in stock in their juice section. It comes in a 500 ml bottle and so I just drink a whole bottle down at one time. The taste isn’t bad. It tastes sweet, but has a beet aftertaste (I wonder why).
I realize psychology has a lot to do with performance in running, so I have given it some time before I wrote anything. I have some 3 out of 4 weeks (about 2 bottles a week) and here are the results:
- Week 1 – Drank beet juice – Ran a 5K in 22:08 and then the next day ran 17 miles at a 9:15 pace.
- Week 2 – Didn’t drink beet juice – Ran 16 miles in 9:30 – crashed – jogged/walked 2 miles – walked 2 miles.
- Week 3 – Drank beet juice – Ran 10 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday (Sunday’s pace was 8:53).
Of course these are my own observations and correlations, but I do feel a difference with the juice.
Yesterday I was dragging. I didn’t recover properly from my run on Sunday. I came home from that run and eat popcorn and oatmeal cream cookies. I paid for that indiscretion. Mentally and emotionally I was a mess after my run and into yesterday. I was grumpy and in a fog. I decided to go out and get some beet juice as it also has a kick after I first drink it. It did help, but I was still dragging. By the time I got home though, I got out to run in 95 degree real feel temperature and had a great workout. 10 repeats up the hill and 6 miles overall.
The beet juice has nitrates that help with performance. But for me, it seems to stop “The Voice” that tells me to stop. I didn’t hear that voice at all on Sunday and I didn’t hear it yesterday either. I was tired and thirsty after my repeats and my running slowed down, but I could have gone further if I had some gatorade available. As it was, I thought it better not to overdue it and take a chance of getting hurt.
So that is my “unsolicited review” of beet root juice. I write from experience and I have no health degree, so take it for what it is worth. As for me, I’ll be drinking beet juice at least for the next 2.5 weeks. 🙂
278 to Boston 
Haven’t tried this. Does it matter when you drink it? Must it be shortly before your run?
I originally read to drink it 2 days before, 1 day before and 2.5 hours the day of a race. That is a lot to consume. For training, I’ve settled on drinking one bottle Tuesday and 1 on Friday. It seems to help for a couple of days and since I take Mondays off, this schedule helps. I don’t have intestinal issues, but I’ve read it can be hard on the system, so just be careful when you begin using it.
I’m going to continue drinking it. I would like to know if it helps you, so if you try it, let me know what you think.
Also, I would drink it in the morning. It is naturally sugary and would probably keep you up if you drink it at night. I hope this helps.
I do the beet juice thing too — when I remember. Now that I think about it, I didn’t have any this weekend before my long run, but I did have some the long run before that. And there was a big difference in how I felt. Mystery solved?
Yeah. I mainly trust my experience over time to decide if something is helping me or it is a psychological effect. After several weeks on and off, I’ve noticed that I do much better on than off. Plus I have seen several studies showing a performance increase with consumption. I hope I helped with the mystery!
Whatever works – that’s my philosophy! Although I don’t think I could ever drink a bottle of that…. Keep up the strong work! You are almost there!
Thanks! I agree. Whatever works. It isn’t as bad as you would think. I have to hold my nose and drink it down and then eat something right after. 🙂
Goes down sweet, it is the aftertaste that is a bit like soil.
So perhaps I should just go eat soil? 😁
Amazing what we do for the sport. 🙂
I’m a big fan of beetroot, but for some reason I’ve been hesitant about trying beet juice- even though I’ve read about the benefits. You’ve convinced me too give it a try- thanks! 😀
I’ll let you know how I find it!
I read somewhere that the juice is better than the beet itself for helping with endurance. I’m not sure why, but I am interested in your thoughts after you try it. Thanks!
I am going to give it a try, it can’t be any worse than my superfood, green, fresh mowed grass tasting drink I chug down every day right?! 🙂
Oh yes!!! Actually it tastes like soil after you are done. I’m getting used to it though. I drank it before my run today and ran a couple miles near a 7:00 pace. Worth the soil taste!!!
And for some reason I am “anonymous” today, but that is my comment above 😉