Zone Marketing Intern, Kelly Fitzsimmons, recently ran her first half marathon. She explains the importance of Proper nutrition before and after long runs.
Kelly Fitzsimmons is a business major at Roger Williams University slated to be the next Marketing Intern at Zone Labs this summer. She recently ran her first half marathon in New Bedford, MA in support of the Friendly Sons of St. Patrick Foundation, supporting multiple charities in the local area. She ran the 13.25 miles like a champ and sprinted through the finish line with a huge smile on her face. First thing she asked for at the finish line was water and a Zone bar.
As a soon to be intern at Zone Labs Inc., I have started using Zone products more and more. While I have always taken the Zone Omega3 Fish Oil capsules, I recently have been starting to eat Zone Bars more since I have been training for a half marathon. I have always enjoyed them as a snack or meal replacement to hold me over, but I never realized how beneficial they really were until I started needing them for recovery after runs.
Proper nutrition is essential before and after long runs, or even just intensive workouts. Trust me, I have run on only pizza in my stomach before and it wasn’t fun. You need to fuel your body properly, and afterwards make sure you replenish your body with carbohydrates and protein to repair and synthesis new muscle.
My biggest issue is sometimes not being hungry after I run, but my body needs the nutrients despite my lack of appetite. This makes Zone Bars perfect since they help me restore my body without having to eat a huge meal. They are also really tasty in my opinion! The chocolate fudge reminds me of a delicious chocolate milk drink, so it satisfies the senses and my body at the same time.
While training and running with my friend in this half marathon, I realized that I wasn’t as sore the next day and I was retaining more muscle than her because I was using the Zone Diet and she wasn’t. When it came time for our big race, I felt more prepared than her because I had been training my diet along with my body to increase my athletic performance.
After the race, they had water and oranges for the runners, but I knew I needed something more. I had a light breakfast of oatmeal long before, so after finishing the race it was safe to say I was famished and needed to replenish my body with more than just oranges.
Knowing my mom always has some Zone Bars on her, I asked for one as soon as she stopped hugging me. Almost immediately I started to feel better and fuller. Unlike most protein or health bars, it actually tastes good and doesn’t have that weird protein flavor.
Running the half marathon, I burned 1400 calories, afterwards all I ate was the bar and it satisfied my hunger so much that I was barely hungry for lunch later. I also noticed it helped me gain muscle; a lot of times runners don’t gain too much muscle because of how they exercise and their diet, but eating the Zone Bars with all the protein in them and eating in the Zone helped me gain new muscles.
I recommend eating in the Zone and utilizing the great products like the protein bars, whether for a snack, meal replacement, or post workout, they are delicious and very beneficial to your body.
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