But back to the point of my post....MY MARATHON..or should I say my SECRET MARATHON. There were several reasons that I somewhat kept it a secret. Over the last few months several people have asked me if I was in fact training for one and my answer was always " I don't know, maybe?".
The fact is that registering for an actual half or full marathon terrified the bejeebies out of me. I mean you pay close to $200 bucks, you are expected to perform your BEST on that one day and then run the course that they have picked. NO WAY JOSE!!!!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the fact that I have learned my body so well and that I know each day what kind of exercise routine I will complete....on days that I am sore I walk, on days that I wake up and all the stars are aligned I kill it with a HILT workout. On days that I have time and have built up some nutritional energy I do my long runs. AN EXPENSIVE CERTAIN DAY, TIME AND COURSE is not my idea of being healthy...don't get me wrong, its very motivational for several people but I break out in pit stains just thinking about it.
So, I told myself that after I had completed at least 3 half marathons...and I have done a 13.6, a 14 mile and a 15.8 mile run that I would consider it. While in Alabama, I had the use of a treadmill at my parents gym, and did several tempo runs using the YASSO method. After doing 3 of those I was confident that I could complete a full 26.2. I decided in my mind that I would complete it on Good Friday so that I had a full weekend to recoop.
But then as I drove back to Alabama on Thursday I started thinking through my plans and decided that if I was ready now, why wait? Why, decide on a date in the future, wasn't that like planning to enter a marathon..despite the moolah? :).
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| 10 hour drive, 3 hour nap, 1...YES ONLY 1 potty break!! |
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| Best $6 ever spent. THEY LOVE SCRATCH art and worked on this for most of the ride. |
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| Sister also had several meltdowns along the way too. She hates leaving her grandparents. Her biggest meltdown happened in our driveway back in TEXAS..she hyperventilated and screamed at Adam....YIKES! |
So yesterday, Friday, I took GREAT care of myself. I even passed up free Chicken Express y'all!! I drank tons of water, tons of electrolytes, upped the carb portion of my nutrition a little and made sure I did nothing but walk and stretch.
I went to a store (that shall remain nameless) to buy two GU packs, some NUUN and maybe some heel supports. In my 15. 8 mile run I had terrible trouble with my calves afterwards so I was desperate to keep that from happening again. As I had two clerks helping me, both of them obvious "experts" (i need a sarcasm font asap) they began to ask me about my running goals. I told them I had plans to run 26.2 miles today, on my own, at my own pace without fancy expensive shoes or a # on my shirt....my Nike Air's are just fine but they were retired after todays run :)......and without ever having run over 15. 8 before. They mocked me, laughed and said that they would be surprised if I didn't kill myself....especially if I didn't buy new shoes from them!! So with their faces in my mind taunting me, I was pushed even more and I came home, laid out my clothes, made sure to set my alarm clock, laid out all of my protein packets, stretched and downloaded all of the Serial podcast.
I woke up this morning at 4:15 and got ready to go. I ate 1/2 of a protein bar and drank some water with Nuun in it. I got to the gym, thats right I run indoors, that is where I have trained and my knees can not take more than 5-7 miles on pavement. My sweet husband helped me measure out this particular track and I knew how many laps I needed to run to equal 26. 2.
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| Clif Shot Bloks, 2 Gus, Quest Coconut cashew-my favorite and 2 waters mixed with Nuun--strawberry lemonade. I never used the shot bloks or peanut butter Gu. The strawberry banana gu was heavenly tasting! |
I stretched a bit longer than I normally do, hit play on my first podcast and went to town. I started out at a slow pace that I knew I could keep the whole time so that I didn't injure myself or wear out too quickly. Goober is my best running buddy..HANDS DOWN. He keeps my pace and time. He loves it because he gets to play basketball and ride his ripstik as I literally run circles around him. He marks my every 10th lap and tells me my time. He refills my water bottles and tells me when the sun is up so we can head outside to finish long runs. He is paid for his time with starbucks :). Today he also brought a new book to read, thanks to CC and Papa and read for at least 1.5 hours.
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| My best running buddy :). |
I WAS SHOCKED when I looked down at my phone for the first time and I had already ran for 2 hours and was a little under my halfway mark. Let me tell you, those Serial podcast are INTERESTING. Its audible readings of a story of a lady who is trying to turn over a conviction for a murder charge from 1999. She interviews all of the people involved, now 15 years later...she revisits all of the sites...she visits the "criminal" in jail and has all of the trial on record. Its done very well and she is very thorough, but never boring. I actually listened to 6 episodes during my run and was sooo intrigued that I came home and listened to 2 more as I cooked dinner and as I put things away in our new pantry ..a later post :).
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| The shoes that I was told weren't good enough for a marathon :). My knee brace also made a huge difference!! |
I stopped every mile for a water break and to take a bite of my protein bar. It was all of a 10 second stop but it worked. I never let myself become thirsty and would stop in between miles if I had to as well. I didn't want to get dehydrated or allow my muscles to become sore from lack of electrolytes. My CALVES never once hurt. I chalk it all up to prayer, my tempo runs, my Nuun drink and my stretching all day yesterday and this morning. My hips were the first thing to begin to hurt around the 3rd hour and I simply straightened up and looked forward more so that I put more weight on my heels. This helped tremendously. The next thing to begin to hurt was the outside of my knees, I again adjusted my stance and powered through it.
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| 45 ticks equals 26. 2 miles. Start time 4:41. End time 9:22. Not a great time but I'll take it over the other option, which was a faster time but maybe getting an injury or burning out and not finishing. |
My two younger kiddos and husband came to cheer me on in the middle of mile 25 which I thought was super sweet! They chanted GO MOMMY, GO MOMMY and asked if they could work out with me! I finished my protein bar with about 4.5 miles left and after that I would take a big gulp of my Gu at each mile marker. THAT STRAWBERRY BANANA GU WAS SOOOO GOOD and whether it was all in my head or not that stuff helped me power through and my last 15 laps I picked up the pace tremendously!!!
After I finished I immediately gulped the rest of my water with Nuun, so total I had 38 oz throughout my 4 hr, 45 min run. I stretched, jumped and did anything I could to keep moving. I almost lost my breath when I stopped and had to grab a wall, I think that was SHEER happiness mixed with a little emotion. I came home and immediately took the hottest shower I could, doing a ton more stretches in there. I also noticed that my entire right foot was covered in blood, which has happened on other runs too.
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| YAY!!! I did it!!! My personal goal was to complete a marathon before turning 31, I told no one though, it was almost too sacred to me. |
I then grabbed my recovery meal...Iced Skinny Cow coffee and Cheerios+protein, my new favorite cereal!!! I also drank 16 oz more water. I iced my knees while eating too. Later on in the day I ate a big plate of mixed fruit, banana pudding and another water mixed with Nuun. I also had brown rice SUSHI, which totally filled me up!!! I made sure that I drank water the entire rest of the day and ate each time my tummy growled...lots of edamame hummus, bananas and raisins.
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| Icing my knees, eating a big bowl of Cheerios and enjoying some rest before the birthday party! |
Total I have heated and iced 3x and got in a 20-30 minute catnap. I made sure to stay up and busy all day (to reduce soreness tomorrow), including 2 hours at the park with the kids at a birthday party, filling up our new pantry and stretching whenever I can. I do plan to take tomorrow off and only walk on Monday. Like I said, listening to your body is what being healthy and exercising is all about.
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| I never swear by myfitnesspal's calculations of how much I burn when exercising but DANG...I kinda believe it when it says that I burned 2802 calories while running for almost 5 hours!! |
I am so happy with myself and how many goals I have set and reached in the past year..and most of the time I have developed my own methods for it, doing what I can, when I can. Waking up at 4:30 every morning to exercise has become my precious time, doing what I need to do to set a good example for my family...I no longer dread it. Cooking healthy has become a challenge that I fully embrace and LOVE.
Right before the birthday party I did go back to that store with the "expert" clerks and bought my
26. 2 sticker from them for my van. They said that I was a conundrum but they were impressed and asked me to come speak to full time working moms at their expo in March. They couldn't believe that I was alive, walking and not drinking tons of chocolate milk..YUCK. They rolled their eyes when I told them I preferred Iced coffee, cheerios and sushi :). There is no one plan that works for everyone!!!
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| SUPER STOKED ABOUT THIS DECAL!! |
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