Metaphorically Speaking

I've heard people say that running a marathon is a metaphor for life, or that completing a marathon let's you know you can accomplish anything. Really?!?! I don't get it. Granted I never thought I'd complete a marathon. Here I am, less than 2 months out, having run 20 miles, and confident that I'll be able to complete a marathon. But let's be honest here. I can say with confidence that I'll never climb Mt. Everest.... or will I? Hmmmm. 

I ran a sprint triathlon last Fall with the other women in my family and even though I completed it, I don't consider myself a triathlete. My training consisted of biking a few miles to the train station a couple times a week, running 4 or 5 times total, and swimming a couple laps in a farm pond about a month prior to the race. It took me 2 hours to finish. I pretty much walked the entire run portion and didn't feel in any better shape after the race, than I did 6 months prior. Because I know myself, I was concerned that I would apply the same (in)diligent training technique to the marathon and would find myself completing 26.2 miles and still not feeling like a marathoner. I am no longer concerned about this. 

I can complete a dozen 5Ks in a summer and never consider myself a runner. Or a half dozen sprint tris and never consider myself a triathlete. But I can complete one marathon and consider myself a marathoner. It seems to be all about the training. 

Up until last Thursday I was dreading the thought of running 20 miles. Then I read an article about how much of a difference a positive vs. negative mental attitude can have on running performance. Because I couldn't quite figure out how to be positive about 20 miles, I chose instead to block out the negative thoughts and just focus on preparation. I ate well throughout the week, I carb loaded Thursday night, stayed away from too much booze and drank a lot of water. Saturday morning I continued to go through the motions. While everyone else was talking about their 20 mile jitters, I was feeling calm and slightly removed from the situation. 

View the 20 mile route we ran here.   

http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=312344

The run itself was long, but the change of scenery kept my interest. For training purposes, and to avoid injury, they also had us slow our pace by 2 min per mile and change our run:walk intervals to 2:2. So we ran 20 miles at a 15:30 mile pace. Although it was difficult to keep such a slow pace at the beginning, walking more and running less helped us stay slower. I think the run:walk ratio was key to our success. Around the 15 mile mark my left knee began to ache, but it was relieved by the walking. However, for the last couple miles the walking started to hurt my joints more than the running. I read a little bit today about shuffling instead, so I might try that too. 

Finally, we made it to the end. I still had enough energy left over that I was able to sprint in the last 10th of a mile. It was actually a relief to let my legs stretch and it felt great. 

This is getting pretty long, so I want to sum it up with some quick notes:

• Running with new shoes helped tremendously
• I felt better after 20 than I did after 17!
• I have switched exclusively to the Luna Moon shaped energy chews and try to eat an entire package every hour (I split half every 30 min)
• I watched Spirit of the Marathon last night and am inspired to run multiple marathons and hope to someday run the Chicago Marathon
• I need to book my flight to Hawaii soon!
• A week ago I wasn't so sure I could complete 26.2 miles, but after completing 20 miles, I'm sure that all I have to do is keep running and walking and running and walking. 

Less than 2 months to go - please donate if you haven't already!!!!

Recovery and Preparation

I noticed a lot of pain in my left knee after the 17 miler. Besides running for a ridiculously long time, the only other reason seemed to be connected to my running shoes. The treads were really getting thin in areas. So I took them to the running store last week. The salesperson checked the treads to make sure they were wearing evenly, then had me try on a few other pairs to make sure I had the right shoe. In the end I bought a new pair of the same running shoes. 

The new shoes are part of my recovery and preparation leading into the upcoming 20 mile run. I'll be honest, after running 17 miles I don't want to run 20 miles! Just the thought of it makes my legs ache and scream in pain. However, in order to prepare our bodies to make it 26.2 we need to get some of these longer distances in there. Ugh!

In the meantime, the last 2 weekends we only had 8 mile runs scheduled. My body feels fully rested and ready to take on 20 miles. I'm also trying to make sure that I'm eating well and drinking enough water so that my body has enough fuel to get it through the entire run. Of course I'll also need to stock up on the energy chews (Luna is my preference.) I think I'll need at least 6 or 7 packets for the 5 hour run.

5 hours! Let's pray for cool weather!

Feed Me!

I know I've mentioned this before, but it's still true. I need to eat properly! Not paying attention to my nutrition while training is definitely starting to affect my ability to run longer distances and recover. 

Ideally, I will wake up early enough on the morning of the long runs to eat a bowl of cereal, a couple of hard-boiled eggs and drink a glass of OJ before getting dressed. On the way to the run site, I can then eat a banana. I've been good about... getting up in the morning. 

Before our 10 mile run, I only had a banana. Before our 12 mile run, I undercooked the eggs. This past week, we only ran 6 miles. The eggs were perfect, I didn't have any OJ and I forgot to grab a granola bar on the way out the door. All of this adds up to me not having enough fuel for my muscles and I completely run out of energy EARLY. 

So the past 3 weeks I've been completely relying on energy supplements (chewables) to get me through. And, I'm learning a few things about them along the way. First of all, ShotBlocks are so big that I have a hard time eating one, let alone the recommended three per 45 minutes. Also, when it's pouring rain, the last thing I want to do is fumble around and try to find a ShotBlock to eat. 

I've found the moon shaped blocks to be a tad bit smaller and therefore easier to consume. Although I really enjoy the Jelly Belly Sports Beans, they recommend you eat an entire package every 45 minutes. That's a lot. So, I'll head to the running store again today and sort through the options. The one thing I haven't tried is the gels, and I'm not sure I'm ready to make that leap quite yet. 

As I write this, my stomach is grumbling in competition with the thunder outside because it's well past lunchtime. But, I swear I am trying to eat better during the week as well.

14 miles, here I come! 

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Crackle... Fizzle...

A couple nights ago, I was laying down and my knee was a little achey. Sometimes when it feels like this, I grab the kneecap and bend my leg back and forth until my knee pops. But this time when I tried that technique, my knee didn't pop. Instead, I felt and heard an awful crackling noise. Yuck! So I did what any prudent athlete would do... I popped a Tylenol and went to bed. 

Speaking of sleep. I've been sleeping great lately. But not late. For some reason, since I started this garden center job, my internal clock has been set to wake me up around 6:30 every morning. There's absolutely no need for this since the earliest I have to be at work is 9:30. So these early wake-ups, combined with all of this physical activity, has left me exhausted. I'm starting to fizzle. Today I took a day off and I'm hoping this helps. 

Before our long-run this past weekend, the coaches talked to us about using energy gels. From what I've read, you are supposed to slurp/eat one every 45 minutes. Of course nobody in our pace group had energy gels and after about an hour of running, we simultaneously began to run out of energy. It was the first run that became challenging to finish. However, we did finish. 6 miles and 1 hr 24 minutes. This week I'll be trying a PowerBar gel packet. I'll let you know how it goes.