Tackling a Marathon with Sweat Nation's Flip Aguilera

Tackling a Marathon with Sweat Nation's Flip Aguilera

“This year I’ll finish a marathon,” “In 2019, I’ll commit to a healthier lifestyle,” “next year will be my year, I’ll get in shape.” Right? These are all things we start thinking and planning for around this time of year. We begin to visualize the 2019 version of ourselves--and we start making plans to make that happen. How does becoming a runner and tackling a full--or half--marathon sounds for a new year’s resolution? If you are still looking for a badass kind of new year’s resolution, look no further. Only a few can claim having finished a marathon; it will require discipline, commitment, and lot’s of inner strength--all qualities every New Year’s Resolution should have. Besides, you’ll get in shape, lose some weight, and become happier: running half a marathon seems take care of all your resolutions in your list, if you think about it. At Powerful, we’ve already started working towards our new year’s resolution of crossing Miami’s Half Marathon finish line running. We’ve turned to Sweat Nation’s coach and trainer Flip Aguilera for some (much needed) advice and training tips. Read along to find out how he trains, and his greatest secrets to be a successful athlete.   Get To Know the Person: Flip’s personal interests and passions Who is Flip Aguilera & what does he enjoy most of being a runner? Flip Aguilera is a person that comes from this beautiful Universe! One of the mottos that I try to hold myself accountable for in life is ‘Keep the dream alive. Make the dream a reality. Live the dream.’ I think this is actually a reason of why I choose to run. [Running] gives you a certain freedom; it puts you in tune with your body and forces you to be mindful about how you feel so you can last on a run. Running can be hard for your body so it makes you pay more attention and care for yourself, which it another reason as to why I enjoy running so much.”   Get to Know the Athlete: Flip’s training tips and greatest secrets as a runner Any training secrets as a runner? How do you prepare for a marathon/half marathon?   For this marathon I have been doing a few things:  
  1. Every workout session I have--I try to train three days a week--I do unilateral training, which means that I am training one leg and then the other; one arm and then the other. Picture yourself running. How does it happens? Easy: one leg at a time.  It's usually the opposite arm and the opposite leg. With that thought in mind, when I go into the gym, I try to work this opposite combination and alternation between both.
  2. Another thing that I like to do is adding 10 degree incline sprints twice a week with 20 second intervals going between 8 to 9 mph.
  3. On the days that I do not run, I like to do some yoga. Running compounds your joints a lot, but yoga allows for the opposite to happen. It’s the Ying to my Yang.
  4. Finally, once a week I go for a long run--hoping to the to thirteen miles before January 27th [the day we are planning on crossing that finish line running!].”
  Get to know the nutrition guru: Flip’s nutrition guide to fuel your trainings What are some nutrition tips that you have for such preparation? “You DEFINITELY want to have enough energy; now:  In the nutrition world today, there is a lot of discussion and debate on what is the right type of energy; There is some people that like to eat a lot of good fats--and these is good because it is what your body burns the most of, anyways. There's also people who like to load on carbs (and that works too). But, something to add on to your nutrition protocol as a runner is to get enough calcium: eat some bone broth [who knew?], some of that Powerful Yogurt [yes, please!].  [Eat] things with a lot of calcium and Vitamin D to help build up the muscle and strengthen the bone.”   If you are still wondering about the bone broth, Flip continues to explain: “That's why the bone broth is good, because it is bone juice. So, as long as you pair that up with some good fats and moderate carbs, you should have good energy levels to get you through this goal.”   Get to Know What it Takes: Flip’s advice to all (potential) runners Finally, what defines you as an athlete or any athlete? Their mindset. What defines any athlete is the mindset with which they face any challenge. If you tackle any endeavour believing that you are going to succeed--even if life throws whatever at you to derail you--you will. And this applies to any challenge you take: Miami’s (Half) Marathon, biking, swimming… [Whatever you are passionate about!]. I believe that a strong, positive mindset is a great foundation for how far, and how well, you will perform as an athlete, and as an individual facing any obstacle in life.   By now all you need to do is sign up for Miami Marathon. No excuses from the 2019 you: we’ve got you covered with pretty great training tips. Plus, you’ll get to see us at the finish fest, and join us in celebrating an awesome personal achievement! Train hard, eat right (lot’s of calcium!), treat your body well, and be Powerful!

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