This post was sponsored by Taspen’s Organics. All opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. I appreciate your support!

It was only a matter of time before I would start scratching that marathon itch. And I am starting to scratch. Hard.

Rob and I often talk about how addictive races are. He ran his first 5k with me when we lived in Arizona because they were giving out single serve Blue Bunny ice cream cups to all race finishers. Since then, he has probably run countless 5ks and a handful of half marathons right along side me (even though I am a touch faster) and has completed a number of triathlons on his own as well.

With my body finally feeling healed after William’s birth, I am ready to take on another distance race. As crazy as it sounds, I have my eyes and heart set on finishing marathon #4 this year.

Since my third marathon went so well, after two previous trials of learning how to train, recover, and fuel properly, I want to apply those same learnings to this next race. Being 32, and having had two children, my body needs much more TLC for distance running than it used to. Gone are the days of just waking up, running 10+ miles, and coming home to immediately shower before heading to work.

Instead, I have four very specific focus points I am doing this time around for both my training and my recovery. With such limited time to run, this is the plan that will have me cross that finish line feeling good. Well, as good as you feel when you stop running 26.2 miles.

Time on my feet. This is a lesson I learned while training for my third marathon when I put less focus on weekday miles and more focus on how much time I was physically standing.

During a marathon, you are potentially standing at the start line for an hour before you actually start running. You could be standing and walking at the finish for the same amount of time before you find your cheering squad or get back to your car. Add those two potential hours on top of a four hour, or longer, race and you have some serious time on your feet to prepare for.

Finding ways to stand throughout the day is vital. The less sitting I can do, the better as I train my body to push past fatigue, and encourage my feet to take the pressure. Little ways I increase my standing time throughout the day include:

• Standing during desk work. I don’t have a fancy standing desk, but I have some tall file cabinets that do just fine for my needs.
• Stand during meetings. There are always a few of us in the back.
• Stand when I am mindlessly checking social media.
• Stand when I am waiting for Zoey to go to bed. She likes to take her dandy old time to crash and it often involves lots of in and out of her room. Instead of sitting to read while I wait, I stand and read.
• Get up and play with the kids a bit more. Being as active as possible with them means lots of time on my feet, and potentially wearing out a two and a half year old (ha!).

Focused and Natural Recovery. My last three marathons were run in my 20s. At 32 (and likely 33 when I run the next one), I have a few more aches and pains that need more focused attention. Most of my time is going to be spent recovering properly from long runs so my muscles feel as relaxed as possible and I can avoid any injuries.

For this recovery, I am using Taspen’s Organics Healing Products exclusively. Even though I am only up to 8 mile long runs so far (with a minor set back from the wisdom teeth extraction), I have already seen how incredible I feel after using Taspen’s Organics to soothe out my sore muscles as I foam roll, ease the crick in my neck, and both prevent and heal the chaffing.

I was first introduced to the Taspen’s Organics line at a farmers market near our house when the representative put some No More Aches Ying Yang roll on my neck. As moms, we know how seriously impaired our necks can get from looking down at babies all day, but within 30 seconds, I had almost full range of motion, no smelly chemicals, and felt like I was not a walking board.

Add in some marathon training runs, when you are looking down at the ground throughout your distances, then looking down at babies, and looking down at your desk. We are talking some serious neck mobility issues. Rolling on the No More Aches Yin Yang is turning into more than just marathon recovery, but also end-of-a-busy-day relaxation technique as well.

For the rest of my muscles focused and natural recovery, I am using the Taspen’s Organics No More Aches Plus cream. With an intensive focus stretching for this marathon training (foam rolling, yoga-like moves, and intentional muscle stretches), I have been getting deeper stretches to help stave off that soreness. I rub it on my muscles after my long run and then ease into the stretch or pull out the foam roller. The cream soothes my muscles and works to take away any tightness or muscle discomfort so I can get into a deep stretch and not have my legs feel like lead weights the next day.

With the way the No More Aches Plus cream works to reduce inflammation, my quads, hamstrings, and upper back are very happy.

Chaffing is real. Distance runners talk about the ways they manage it all the time. As a pretty salty sweater, sweat tends to pool pretty dramatically in the middle of my sports bra. When I was marathon training in Arizona, I regularly had a deep red line, almost a cut, right where my sports bra hits my chest. I also get some solid chafing between my thighs from my running shorts. As my mileage increases during training for marathon four, those lines will inevitably appear again. With Taspen’s Organics Restore and Revive Cream, I know those chafing lines will heal quickly and not sting like some other remedies I have tried in the past.

The Restore and Revive Cream is the same product we have used on Zoey’s eczema and diaper rash for the past year to wonderous results. Her diaper rash clears up within a day and her eczema dissipated much quicker than any other cream we tried in the past. She also loves to put on her “green cream” as she has become super fond of calling it.

Taspen’s Organics is such a down to earth family run business and are based out of Conifer, Colorado. Zoey, William, and I went and visited their Cosmic Kitchen for some gluten free, organic pancakes and loved the whole food menu, rustic vibe and friendly people. If you are a Colorado local, you should definitely add them to your must eats.

Strength Training. I used to be able to run as many times during the week as I wanted and for whatever amount of time and miles I needed to. With both Zoey and William, that time is severely shortened. Instead of focusing on weekly miles (apart from the Saturday long run), I am doubling down on strength and core training twice a week.

When doing strength training for distance running, I focus a ton on balance, core stability, and opposing muscle groups. An example of a strength training workout I do for distance running is this running strength workout.

Get more strength training for distance running ideas in my 10k/Half Marathon Training plan.

Whole Food Nutrition. Like I always tell my clients, your diet is going to have the biggest effect on your fitness, weight loss, and strength building goals. Unless you fuel your body right, it really does not matter what you do in the gym as you cannot out exercise a bad diet.

For distance running, I am focusing on lots of whole foods in the form of healthy carbohydrates (fruits and vegetables) during the day and more quick burning carbs (whole grains) after long runs. In addition, I am moving a lot of my protein sources to be more plant based, as Rob and I have been making that shift for the past year away from lots of meat. Foods like chia seeds, black beans, avocado, quinoa, almonds, cashews, spinach, and broccoli are all excellent sources of plant-based protein and I find that I do not feel as heavy, bloated, or lethargic when I use those types of proteins.

Brooke Selb

I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.