By Inspired by Refinery29’s Money Diaries and The Cut’s Sex Diaries, welcome to The Runner Diaries, where we’re sharing a behind-the-scenes look into a week of training with runners of varying ages, paces and GPS coordinates. Get The Runner Diaries delivered to your inbox, here.
This week, we have Sabrina Wieser of New York City. The 31-year-old run coach and competitive runner balances a rigorous schedule of healthy eating, a digital marketing job, managing her own coaching clients, and training for the New York City Marathon — her first attempt at the 26.2-mile footrace!
Name: Runningbrina (Sabrina Wieser)
Location: New York City
Age: 31
Goal race? The New York City Marathon (it’s my first)
Following a training plan? As I running coach I have created my own based on tips and advices from local running coaches who ran the race before.
How long you’ve been ‘a runner: I started running 4 years ago
Goal weekly mileage: Increasing the mileage right now. I’m at 40 miles per week
Runner’s Statement:
I started running right before I got married to lose weight. I wasn’t athletic growing up, so physical activity was totally new to me. I fell in love with running and today I can’t picture myself without it anymore. I love running in New York City, breathing in the good vibes in Central Park surrounded by so many inspiring athletes. I do both bodybuilding and running which makes it even harder for me sometimes. Waking up at 4:30am to run and going to the gym at night is what makes me feel alive. We all need things in our lives that we enjoy and make us feel good — working out is exactly that for me.
I work in Digital Marketing, which is why writing and Social Media is my daily business. I write for my own blog runningbrina.com about running, fitness and how I’m able to combine both bodybuilding and running. On my Instagram (@runningbrina) I share more insights about my healthy, active and hopefully motivating lifestyle.
As a running coach I train my clients with all my love and passion for running. Running has shown me that I can do more than I ever thought possible. I want to share that experience and emotions that come along with it with my clients, my followers and everybody else who is reading my articles on my blog. My next goal is my first marathon in November. A hell of a goal, right?
Monday | Day One
5 a.m. — Wake up. Coffee. Banana. Here I am: another Monday – week 3 of marathon training! I’m ready to hustle for the new goal of crossing the finish line in November.
5:30 a.m. Hit the streets for my 5-mile run — that’s the distance in my plan for today, so that’s what I do!
9:15 a.m. Starting the work day from the tallest building in the city feels amazing. We have to film a Facebook Live video for Loving New York (the travel magazine I’m working for). Like always, I bring my food prepared with me. Breakfast is Overnight Oats with Berries.
12 p.m Lunch (Salad with lean ground turkey)
3 p.m Lunch 2 (Brown Rice with Chicken and spinach)
5:45 p.m. Back home. Coffee again. Time to hit the gym. I do an upper body workout. I try to change my workout every two weeks to avoid allowing my body to get too comfortable.
10 p.m. Tired as hell I’m finally ready for bed. Dinner is egg whites, brown rice and greens. I prepare my meals for the next day every night, so I don’t have to eat out. I want to make sure that I meet my macros and also I know 100% what I’m eating. I follow more of a bodybuilding diet right now, which is pretty much focused on fueling the right nutrients when needed. For example, on my long run days, I also train my legs at night. On days like that my carbs are super high. Rest days are low carb days for me.
Daily mileage: 5 miles
Tuesday | Day Two
4:30 a.m. Good Morning again. 30 minutes less sleep for me today, because I’m heading to a photo shoot a in SoHo.
6:30 a.m. Photo shoot time! I love to post high quality pictures on my Instagram (@runningbrina) which is why I work with a couple of awesome photographers to make that happen.
10 a.m. After a short breakfast with the photographer, I arrive in my office in SoHo West. Today I won’t run or go to the gym. Proper rest is important — this is how we become stronger and faster. My breakfast (it never changes) is overnight oats.
12-3 p.m. Today is also a low carb day. When I’m not training, I’m trying to keep the carbs low. Only greens and chicken for me today for Lunch 1 and 2.
10 p.m. The rest of the day goes by smoothly — nothing noteworthy to report! I slip into bed at 10 p.m.
Daily Mileage: 0 miles. And if you’re wondering… no, I don’t feel bad! I work so hard 5-6 days a week. I enjoy my rest days so much.
Wednesday | Day Three
6 a.m. Time for a run. Today’s training calls for fartleks! ‘Fartlek’ is a swedish word for speed play and I’m going to focus on the latter word (play). Changing pace is fun, and interspersing speedplay into a continuous run is highly effective at stimulating aerobic benefits. I run 6 miles total, incorporating fartleks along the way.
7:30 a.m. Post run shake (with glutamine, whey protein and sugar free almond milk) on my way to work.
10 a.m. Breakfast (yes, of course: Overnight Oats)
1 p.m. I can’t resist my urge for Chipotle. I’m eating clean 95% of the week … I guess I will be fine.
1 p.m. I use my lunch break to get a good shot in front of a graffiti in SoHo, even though it’s pouring rain. No rain is visible on the image — which is incredible for how hard it was raining!
4 p.m. Head to the gym to work on my glutes.My gym schedule goes hand in hand with my running plan. Usually, I train my hamstrings on Sundays, my glutes on Wednesday and my quads on Fridays. Monday and Thursdays are upper body days. BUT if work or anything else messes up my plan, I have to adjust of course.
5 p.m. Post workout meal: Lean ground turkey, 1 cup of brown rice and cucumbers. I’m so ready for my glutes workout at the gym!
6 p.m. Head to the gym, and get to my glutes routine.
10 p.m. Food prep? Done! I watched my favorite show Suites and now I’m so ready for bed. Tomorrow will be another busy day. Good night.
Daily Mileage: 6 miles
Thursday | Day Four
6 a.m. No running for me today. Instead I will head to the gym for another upper body workout. I will be on my feet a lot today and I’m sore from last night at the gym. Hallelujah.
8 a.m. Breakfast at home. This is rare. Normally I eat at my desk at the office. On the menu today: Egg whites, protein shake and (who would have thought!) oatmeal.
8:30 a.m. Heading to the city for work. I will be outside all day walking around taking pictures and filming. I will finish my day at the Bronx Zoo. This is the next article on my list for lovingnewyork.de
Lunch 1 and 2 Like always — just on the go.
7 p.m. Upper body workout at the gym. I use both machines and free weights. As I mentioned earlier, my workout does change every two weeks. Sometimes it’s hard to motivate myself, but only because I’m exhausted. I’m my own motivation and super dedicated — it’s pretty rare that I become lazy and stay home instead of going to the gym.
8:30 p.m. Food prep for tomorrow. Wow, is it Friday tomorrow already? I’m always surprised how time flies.
10 p.m. Sweet dreams.
Daily Mileage: 0 miles
Friday | Day Five
7 a.m. I wake up SO ready for my 6 miles run this morning. But then, out of the blue it starts raining. A pretty heavy thunderstorm comes out of nowhere. Welcome to New York City weather! Well, I guess the treadmill has to be there for me now. I’m lucky that I have a treadmill in my building, so I watch a pretty shitty movie just to kill the time, but I’m able to finish my run while it pours outside. Another benefit of having a gym at your house.
I decide to stay home all day and work from there (I can basically work from everywhere, but I do prefer to usually go into the office. Working from home is rare, but it can make things easier on particular days). Sometimes it’s super relaxing and needed. Today is one of these days. Also I’m planning on training my quads later today. Having 3 legs days a week means scheduling them perfectly on days when I’m running, followed by a full day of rest to recover.
4 p.m. Bye desk. Hello gym! I get my quad workout in, and then I’m done for the day. The weather is beautiful now. Happy Friday!
5 p.m. My plan for the rest of the day is doing nothing. Maybe I will watch a movie and enjoy a glass of wine. (I do enjoy a glass of wine once in awhile, but I barely drink — and never strong liquor or anything like that. It slows me down during trainer, so it’s counterproductive.)
10 p.m. My Friday nights most of the time consist of going to sleep early. I’m not a party girl to be honest. Especially on a Friday night my body is asking for rest after a exhausting week of work and training.
Daily Mileage: 6 miles
Saturday | Day Six
9a.m. REST DAY! 95% of my Saturdays are rest days (and also cheat days!). So today I won’t run, nor will I spend a second even thinking about the gym. Instead I will treat myself for the hard work I’m doing the rest of the week.
Saturdays usually look like this:
- Sleeping as long as I can (which is like 8 a.m. 🙂 )
- Breakfast and coffee
- Cleaning my apartment
- Thinking about today’s cheat meal
- Having my cheat meal (with wine if I feel like it)
- Watching a movie or meeting up with friends
- Relaxing
Highlight of the day:
4 p.m. Thin crust pizza with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and tiramisu as a dessert
11 p.m. Tomorrow is long run day, which means I will have to be well rested. I will head to Central Park this time and practice the hills.
3 a.m. I’m such a dreamer. Just woke up from a dream, that I was running in Central Park and ran into so many friends from school who don’t even live in NYC. Oh well…
Daily mileage: 0 miles
Today’s workouts: Thinking if I should have a burger or pizza for my cheat meal 😉
Sunday | Day Seven
6 a.m. Good Morning. Yes it is Sunday and I’m awake. Some people call it crazy – I call it dedication. I have a banana and a coffee, and then I’m ready to run.
7: 30 a.m. Running in Central Park is a blessing for me as runner. Come early and all you find is peace. No tourists, no horses – just other athletes who love to run early on a Sunday Morning.
9 a.m. 1.5 loops in Central Park are under the belt! I feel energized. Happy. Grateful. Running has something so empowering.
10 a.m. I spend the rest of the morning and afternoon writing for my blog, answering emails, and working on technical stuff for my website — and I take a nap. It was much needed, because Sunday also means leg day again.
5 p.m. I’m feeling a little sore from the run, but since I will be enjoying another rest day tomorrow I don’t mind going all in with the weights. After an hour (and a few squats, lunges and leg presses later!) all I want is pancakes.
7 p.m. Food prep for the next day and finishing up some articles.
10 p.m. I’m so tired right now. Can’t believe it’s Monday tomorrow. Talking about how time flies, right?
Daily Mileage: 10 miles
A Look Back — Thoughts On The Week
Looking back I realized how busy my week was. I love what I’m doing though and I’m proud of what I’m capable of. I know that it’s pretty intense and for a lot of people hard to understand why I’m so into it. Running and fitness has become a part of my life, my routine and also a good habit. I don’t want to miss it.
About Sabrina Wieser
Sabrina is a competitive runner, Runtastic Ambassador, and run coach based in New York City.
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