Interview with Heidi Greenwood, Olympic Marathon Trials Qualifier

This weekend, Saturday February 13th, U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials will take place in Los Angeles, California. Every four years, a super-fast group of competitive runners, whose previous race times meet the U.S. Olympic Trials qualifying standards, race for their spot to represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

Sanford Power athlete Heidi Greenwood qualified for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials at the Columbus Marathon in 2013, with a time of 2:42:08, and has been living and training in Sioux Falls leading up to her 9th Marathon this weekend at the trials. When Heidi isn't logging miles or strength training, she also keeps up an awesome blog and website where she documents her training and recipe experiments in the kitchen. We got the chance to interview Heidi before the big race - check out Heidi's blog and her answers to the interview questions below to get inspired to push your limits and reach a little further to meet your goals!

Q&A with Heidi Greenwood

What got you into distance running in the first place? What was your first marathon and how was
your experience there?

Heidi: I first started running for our high school team in the 7^th grade.  In high school I mostly ran the 400 and 800 meters and by my sophomore year I started to dabble in the 1600 meters.  My first love was volleyball and knew I wanted to play that in college, but decided at the last minute to give college track a try too.  With balancing both volleyball and track in college I stuck to primarily the 800 for first couple years, but by my junior year it started to become obvious that my greater talent was in the 1500meters.  My senior year in college at the University of North Dakota I was fortunate enough to win the 2008 NCAA Div. II title in the 1500 meters. I truly believed that I was done with competitive running at that point.  In the fall of 2008 I decided I wanted to run one marathon to check it off my bucket list.  I ran the Twin Cities Marathon.  I had a pretty good first experience. I actually ran a negative split in that race by 10 minutes and ran a 3:11.  Going into that race I really had no idea what I would be able to run, but wanted to try break 3:30.  Training for my first marathon I ran about 55-60 miles per week, which was about 10 miles per week higher than what I averaged my last year competing in college.  At that point I still really wasn’t sure if I’d run more marathons or not. 

 When did you set your eyes on the Olympic Trials qualifying time?

In 2012 my husband and I moved to Cleveland, Ohio for his residency and I started to become really busy with full time work.  Being new to the region I thought it’d be cool to run the Columbus Marathon and experience a new city.  However, I actually wasn’t even able to follow a structured training program for the Columbus Marathon in 2012 because of working 60+ hours a week.  I did not do one single specialized long run or fast-finish long.  I really was convinced that Columbus 2012 would be my last marathon for a LONG time.  As the race unfolded I floated to a 2:47.  I was completely dumb-founded.  How did I do that?  After that race I felt that God had given me a gift.  It is then, October 2012, when I decided that qualifying for the Olympic trials in the Marathon was something I wanted to do.  The new 2016 OT standard had not even been released yet when I committed myself towards that goal. 

 How did you react when you knew you achieved that time?

I went back to the Columbus Marathon in 2013 to test myself and see what I could do.  After the race I was sort of in a state of shock or disbelief that I actually did that.  Prior to the race my coach thought 2:45 was more of a realistic goal, but I wanted to shake the dice and go for the 2:43. 

Achieving the Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time

My favorite running experience would definitely be the Columbus Marathon 2012 and 2013.  Both races I’d say I was in the state of “FLOW” for most of both races.  No pressure or thoughts of not reaching a certain goal.  Effortless.    

What do you think has contributed the most to your running success?


In my childhood I did a wide variety of things.  This helped me to develop different movement patterns.  I never felt I “had” to do something growing up.  What I chose to do was all internal motivation and desire.  My parents always supported me and helped to provide opportunities, but never suggested I needed to do anything.  My marathon success has come from consistency.  I have had no major injuries, just some small setbacks, nothing requiring more than a couple weeks off of running in my 31 years of life.

Do you have a favorite workout that you do during a marathon buildup?

This is not a typical workout you will see in a training book, but I love it - it is fun and I can get a lot of work done.  The idea is to make yourself run on tired legs.  I’ll do this work out only once per marathon training block and about 6-7 weeks before the race.  This marathon build-up for the trials I got to do this work out on Christmas Day!

Workout: 12 miles easy to moderate, 8-12 x 800 meters at half marathon race pace effort with 60-90” recovery jog between reps, finishing up with another 3-5 miles easy to moderate at the end.  The workout will end up being anywhere from 20-24 miles.

(That is workout inspiration!)

 I know you’re an active strength trainer in addition to your running workouts – What’s your favorite strength exercise?

I really enjoy doing strength work. I like doing box step-ups, lunges, and using my TRX!

Using TRX equipment at the Sanford Fieldhouse

Nutrition talk

What is your go-to pre-race day meal?

I do not feel I purposefully go into a “carb” loading stage before I race a marathon.  I think I will naturally pick up extra carbohydrate stores with decreased volume in training.  I try to keep a pretty similar eating pattern no matter if I’m in heavy training or peaking for a race.  I get the majority of my carbohydrates from potatoes/sweet potatoes and higher carb fruits like bananas.

Pre-race day meal: baked or grilled Chicken, Baked Potato, Dinner salad, (sometimes I’ll have a chunk of crusty bread with butter if I’m at a restaurant that has that).

 How do you handle getting in good nutrition when you’re traveling for a race?

I always travel with apples, bananas, peanut butter, almonds, snack bars (Generation UCAN Snack bars and Juice Plus Complete Bars), rice cakes, and electrolyte tabs (Nuun).  I also suggest looking up restaurant menus before going to make sure they have what you want.

  

  What about pre-race breakfast- what breakfasts foods have you had the most success with?

About 2.5 hours before race I usually have coffee with cream, plain greek yogurt (with Generation UCAN-(Cinnamon Delite) stirred in), piece of toast, peanut butter, and banana.  Then I will be sipping on another serving of Generation UCAN-(Cran-Raz or Tropical Orange) right up to start of the race.    

Do you bring any nutrition on long runs with you? What has worked well for you?

It really depends on the purpose of the long run.  Typically I take no nutrition on long easy runs.  The reason is that my trying to teach my body to be efficient, some argue that the quality of your long runs can diminish, but again, it comes back to what is the purpose of your long run.  Prior to any long run I do take one to two serving of Generation UCAN.  On specialized long runs or fast-finish long runs I may use Generation UCAN or a Gel depending on convenience.  Generation UCAN currently does not make their product in gel form, which can be tricky during training.

  

My go-to post long run snack is a big protein-rich green smoothie. What foods do you think help you recover faster after a long run, workout, or race?

After long runs or workouts it is usually a smoothie with Generation UCAN-Chocolate Protein, frozen dark cherries, and some kind of milk.  It tastes like a dark red tootsie pop sucker.  But, after a race it is usually a celebratory burger and fries or chicken quesadilla with a margarita. 

Are there any foods you try to avoid the week of a big race? What about the rest of the year?

I try to avoid white processed food, basically because there really isn’t any nutritional value in those foods.  Also, on a regular basis I typically do not eat very much gluten.  I have found that I feel a little bloated and lethargic when I consume lots of gluten.  I do NOT follow a gluten free diet, but chose to eat in very moderately.

What is your favorite treat food/meal?

Red Wine and I’m Norwegian and love potato dumplings, soaked in butter.

Heidi is a strong athlete who knows the importance of not only logging the miles, but also strength training and paying attention to her nutrition.

Good luck this weekend, Heidi!

If you're feeling inspired by Heidi's dedication in training, let Sanford POWER and the the Sports Science Institute help you reach your own goals. You don't need to be an Olympic Trials qualifier to set and achieve athletic goals - we work with athletes of all ages and abilities.

Call today at (605)-312-7870

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Marathon Week Nutrition

We're gearing up for the Sioux Falls Marathon next weekend, which means most athletes registered for the races are going to be reducing their mileage (tapering) and eating more carbohydrates (carbohydrate-loading). You've made it!

This is a great time to look back at all those summer training runs and feel confident that you put in all those sweaty miles in the heat to be able to cross that finish line on race day. In honor of the race being ONE WEEK away (no pressure), we're going to be  talking a little bit about race week nutrition for marathon runners.

Most of the information applies to runners for all distances, and the Sioux Falls Marathon website has some great videos on Steps to running your first 5K, which have great tips for runners of all abilities, but especially for those who want to start running, or have signed up for their first race. 

Source: Sioux Falls Marathon

Hitting the Wall

In the world of athletics, we hear a lot of information about protein, but runners need to be making carbohydrates a priority, especially in the days leading up to a big race. 

Carbohydrates are our muscles' preferred fuel source. When you eat carbohydrates, your body stores it as energy in the form of glycogen. When you're a distance runner, your muscles use up this energy. 

Have you ever hear of a marathon runner hitting the wall? "Hitting the wall" is a term to describe the sudden feeling of fatigue, lack of energy and feeling that you can't even take one more step when a runner has used up all of their stored carbohydrates, often around mile 20 of the marathon. This is why you often hear people say, "The race is half over at mile 20" because those last 6 miles can often feel like an eternity if you haven't taken the proper steps to ensure your glycogen/energy stores are filled and ready to push you to mile 26.2. 

Source: Buzzfeed

I'm sure the new runners are panicking at the thought of hitting that 20 mile mark now. Don't worry! There are a couple steps during this week to make sure you're getting in some good nutrition to fuel your muscles on race day. 

Carbs are King

Most runners think of carbohydrate loading as eating a huge bowl of pasta in the days leading up  to a race. We're not here to tell you that that's not a good strategy - if you've been eating pasta for every meal leading up to all your long runs, you probably don't want to change a good thing. 

A good rule to follow is: "Don't try anything new in the days leading up to a race!" For many runners, a big pasta meal, especially the night before the race (the traditional "carb loading meal"), is probably not going to digest fully before you start the race, so you may feel bloated and heavy while you're running. Instead, start thinking about your nutrition plan after your last long run, the week before the race. After you've finished this run, you're in the taper phase, so your runs over the next couple days should be easy - you've already put in the work, so pushing yourself too hard isn't going to help you gain any extra fitness. During the week leading up to your race, many runners feel like they can't back off the running - they may feel bloated or gain a couple pounds during the week, but just know that tapering is helping your body store the energy it is going to need to fuel your muscles during your big race. The extra weight is from your body storing glycogen (energy) and water, so sit back and try to relax. 

• 3 days before your race (mid-week) is a great time to ramp up your carbohydrate intake to about 3-4 grams of carbohydrate per pound of body weight. 

For a better visual, let's think about what our plate might look like on a "normal" day, with 45-65% of our calories coming from carbohydrates: 

United States Olympic Committee Sport Dietitians and the University of Colorado (UCCS) Sport Nutrition Graduate Program.

The normal plate is great for every day and easy training days. Our carbohydrates come from vegetables and fruits, which should fill up half of our plate, and the rest from whole grains and quality starches, such as brown rice, whole grain pasta, potatoes and sweet potatoes, etc. 

In the 3-4 days leading up to a marathon, we're going to want to make carbohydrates the majority of our plate, which we can do by increasing the amount of carbohydrates we are eating at each meal and snack. This doesn't necessarily mean increasing our portions at each meal to add in an extra piece of bread, but making an effort to cut down on the protein and fats and aim to have carbohydrates make up ~70% of our daily intake. 

Compared to the above plate, this is a better visual of what your plate might look like in the several days leading up to race day: 

United States Olympic Committee Sport Dietitians and the University of Colorado (UCCS) Sport Nutrition Graduate Program.

As you can see, we've really increased the amount of grains and starches, so maybe instead of your daily salad for lunch, you choose a sandwich instead, or instead of an egg for breakfast, you have a peanut butter and banana sandwich so you're just making sure to make the majority of your plate carbohydrate-rich.

Keep in mind that this week is not an excuse to eat whatever you want. Carbohydrate loading is the combination of reducing your activity level and increasing your carbohydrate intake - not eating a full pasta or pizza dinner each night. We also can't push protein and healthy fats to the side. Your plate should be balanced with quality carbohydrates, vegetables and fruits and healthy fats, which is what we should be aiming to include in most of our meals every day.

Don't Try Anything New

You want to remember the above rule - to "not try anything new" in the week before the race. If you've eaten the same meal the day before every long run during your training, you probably want to stick with eating that same meal the day before your race. If you haven't really kept track of what you eat, stick with eating foods that you're familiar with or bland foods you know won't upset your stomach the day before the race. 

In contrast to the common carb-loading strategy of eating a huge pasta dinner the night before your race, we recommend eating your last larger meal for lunch the day before your race, and keeping dinner on the light side. Keep carbohydrate intake high on the day before the race, but if you're going to have your pasta dinner, try having it for lunch instead to ensure you have time to digest and feel good on race morning. 

Some examples of this meal include: pasta with red sauce and chicken breast with a side salad, rice and stir-fried vegetables and tofu or chicken, a turkey sandwich with lettuce, tomato and onion and an apple.

Race Morning 

The morning of the race is your chance to top of your glycogen stores with a quality carbohydrate-rich meal. It is recommended to wake up several hours before the race, if possible, to eat ~150 grams of carbohydates. You want to make sure you've tried eating on some of your training runs to know how your body will react to eating before running. Some of the most common go-to breakfasts include carbohydrates and a little bit of protein and fat to hold us over until the race starts: bagel with peanut butter and a banana, granola with milk and fruit, yogurt with fruit, granola bar and an apple. Whatever you choose, make sure it's something you've tried before a long run and you know will agree with your stomach. 

Source: RunnerUnleashed.com

This breakfast should be substantial enough to get you to the starting line without being hungry, but not so large that you feel heavy and stuffed when you start running. 

If you've followed your training plan, tapered, and loaded up your plate with plenty of healthy carbohydrates in the days leading up to the race, you should feel confident that you've done everything in your power to cross that finish line. 

Again, if you're running the half marathon, this information is going to apply to you, too, just on a smaller scale. Marathon runners are going to have a larger intake of total calories, but the percentages of carbohydrates can still apply to those running the half marathon next weekend.

Any race week tips?

Favorite carbohydrate-loading meals?

Stories of hitting the wall? 

Questions for the Registered Dietitian?

Leave your comments below!

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