Marathon Tips from Chef Ricardo, RDN and Coach Stephen

Whether you’re training for the New York City Marathon this November or inspired to get out and run because of it, we’ve got some tips to supercharge your running. 

Are you looking for a way to both eat a rainbow and boost your marathon prep? Beets provide our bodies with a source of dietary nitrate, which has been found to reduce blood pressure and increase glucose uptake by helping to expand blood vessels. A 2013 study that followed athletes who consumed half a liter of beetroot juice per day for 4 to 6 days found that the time to exhaustion during high-intensity exercise was extended by 16%. But don’t “beet” yourself down if you’re not a fan of beets: dark green vegetables such as spinach and arugula will provide our bodies with even higher amounts of nitrate!
– Chef Ricardo, RDN

A 5-10 minute dynamic warm-up is all you need to enhance performance and reduce injury. Try this dynamic warm-up sequence consisting of: high knee walks, walking heels to butt, forward lunges, lateral squats, butt kicks, high-knee runs, straight-leg skips, side shuffles, and backwards running. The sequence starts slow then progressively gets faster. Start where you can and do what feels comfortable and you will be on your way to better runs.
– Coach Steven, Sunset Park Prep & Charles O. Dewey Middle School, Personal Trainer