Down to less than a week until I run my first 26.2 miles...ever! I have ran 20 miles in training but have never ran the last 6.2. I took the week off work, having got in my monthly hours for April last week (and not wanting to start May just yet). Now I am wondering if that was a good idea.
I just want to run the dang thing and get it over with!
I am thinking and rethinking.
I usually run with a water bottle. But, now I don't want to. I mean, they will have water stations, I am assuming. I can just swing by and get water, right? But, if I don't take my bottle, where will I put my food? I have cliff chews I cut up into pieces so I can easily chew them. They make me really thirsty though. I almost need the chews with water right afterwards. That is how I practiced. But, the water bottle is like running with a 5 pound weight. Do I really want to run with that? Um, no.
So, tomorrow I will try a couple more places for a fuel belt before I just pin the gels into a ziplock onto my shorts and call it good. Really, who cares anyway, right? I just want my gels and my food. Yes, I pack food, too. I don't get hungry, but my blood sugar drops and then I get sick. If I don't time when I eat something just right and wait too long, I start vomiting and it is all over.
So, what am I worried about? One, I will wear out. Two, my right knee will act up (I take my share of Motrin before running and this seems to help) and Three, my blood sugar will plummet and I won't be able to finish.
My goal. TO FINISH THE MARATHON! I would love to finish in under 4 hours. But, I know this may not be possible. Sh*t Happens. I am no longer going in with the big goal to qualify for the Boston Marathon (yes, you have to qualify to run the Boston). Afterall, I am not even sure I want to run it! I may run another one, but it will be in Hawaii or Florida or somewhere I can take a nice little mini vacation afterwards. Really, Boston doesn't come to mind just yet. Again, I just want to finish ONE MARATHON! I have ran my whole life. My time is getting slower and slower. I am now pushing 8:30 average for the 20 mile runs! That is horrible for me. With that said, I am still in the 7 range when only running 6 miles...so it is like my head knows that I am running farther so slow down. I am starting in the 7-8 minute mile for the marathon. I want to be pacing with the group for as long as I can. Hopefully I can stick close to the 8 minute mile range for most of the race. I am questioning that from mile 18 on. I tend to start to die as I push towards 20 miles. My time slips to 9 minute miles. And you know what, I am okay with that...as I just WANT TO FINISH.
So, if you are a praying person, and I hope you are, say an extra prayer for me, my body and my soul as I run this Sunday. Chris will be there as my support crew while the kids will be at home electing not to go (to my dismay). I look forward to saying I finished come next week!
Showing posts with label first marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label first marathon. Show all posts
Monday, April 28, 2014
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Marathon Training Take 1
I started training for the Lincoln Full Marathon on Monday, December 29, Following Hal Higdon's Intermediate I Training.
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program
Under the recommendation of my friend Jill (who has run her fair share of Half and Full Marathons), I ordered myself the Garmin 10 in pink and I LOVE IT!! It uses a GPS to track my running, pace, miles. LOVE! I found out that I am a lot slower than I was 5 years ago when I ran my half in Lincoln. I ran my half marathon in 1 hr and 40 minutes for an average of 7:38. I am running now about 8:15-8:20 minute miles. With that said, I come to a complete stop a lot to take off my hoodie, redo my head wrap, fix my scarf, etc, as I run in this crazy wind, cold stuff they call Nebraska winter. But still, I AM MUCH SLOWER. That does not thrill me much considering I was hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My goal now is to finish the full marathon in under 4 hours, 3 hr 40 minutes would be great, but I just don't know that I can make that happen.
In December, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was put on a medication for it and it helped wonderfully. HOWEVER, it caused muscle weakness/rigidity, lethargy and I was tired all the time. Let's just say, I was a total mess. Today I got them to change the medication. HOWEVER, this medication is less effective at treating my IBS. Great. All of this is not helping with my strength and energy while running. Sometimes it seems like my legs are moving faster than my mind, so I stop to get them back together. My legs are so stiff. I am not sure if it was from the medication or the cold or a combination. I have never had that happen before. I felt like I was a running board. I lost a few pounds on it, too, which did not help with the lack of strength I was feeling, either. I have been off the medication 2 days and am to start the new one tonight. THANK GOODNESS because my IBS is back FULL FORCE. Seriously, I am a total mess. I am hoping the medication works so I do not have to have a colonoscopy (I was supposed to have one earlier this month but I cancelled it because 1. They scare the hell out of me and 2. I felt better on the medication.). And, I need to get running like my normal crazy self! So anyway...
I found this blog...
http://www.mile-posts.com/
It is a wonderful blog for any runner, but especially marathon runner types. She gives great advise about what to eat from Picky bars to Cliff Bloks during the run, to what water bottle to carry, to if you should or should not carry a water bottle. I have a whole shopping list full of things to buy. I have started using the Cliff Bloks (strawberry flavored which were a whopping $1.97 each at Target!). They taste pretty good but I have to take with water as they made me really thirsy (so thirsty in fact that I started to question if the near by snow was okay to eat!). Obviously, I have not bought my water bottle yet! You can check out my Pins on my Pinterest board titled 26.2 or my running style on pinterest.
So far, my training has been a little rough obviously. I have stuck with it for the most part. I usually run 6 days in a row, though, taking Sunday off. I do that because I have more time to run on Fridays because the kids are in school. So why would I take that day off? And, I usually work Sunday nights. I don't really want to run for over an hour and then stay up all night. COME ON. That is just insane. ;) With that said, my body is probably more tired for those long runs because I did not take that break. One of these weeks, I will try to follow the plan correctly. It is just SO HARD.
Also, I found this great place to get updated music on mile posts called runhundred.com. It has great workout music emailed to you that have great beats per minute to work out too. It has songs that I have not heard of or would not have thought to run to.
The marathon is May 4 in Lincoln. I have my hotel already booked (booked it the first of December just in case!). Now, I just got to get my mind and body ready to go! Anyone care to join me?
http://www.halhigdon.com/training/51139/Marathon-Intermediate-1-Training-Program
Under the recommendation of my friend Jill (who has run her fair share of Half and Full Marathons), I ordered myself the Garmin 10 in pink and I LOVE IT!! It uses a GPS to track my running, pace, miles. LOVE! I found out that I am a lot slower than I was 5 years ago when I ran my half in Lincoln. I ran my half marathon in 1 hr and 40 minutes for an average of 7:38. I am running now about 8:15-8:20 minute miles. With that said, I come to a complete stop a lot to take off my hoodie, redo my head wrap, fix my scarf, etc, as I run in this crazy wind, cold stuff they call Nebraska winter. But still, I AM MUCH SLOWER. That does not thrill me much considering I was hoping to qualify for the Boston Marathon. My goal now is to finish the full marathon in under 4 hours, 3 hr 40 minutes would be great, but I just don't know that I can make that happen.
In December, I was diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was put on a medication for it and it helped wonderfully. HOWEVER, it caused muscle weakness/rigidity, lethargy and I was tired all the time. Let's just say, I was a total mess. Today I got them to change the medication. HOWEVER, this medication is less effective at treating my IBS. Great. All of this is not helping with my strength and energy while running. Sometimes it seems like my legs are moving faster than my mind, so I stop to get them back together. My legs are so stiff. I am not sure if it was from the medication or the cold or a combination. I have never had that happen before. I felt like I was a running board. I lost a few pounds on it, too, which did not help with the lack of strength I was feeling, either. I have been off the medication 2 days and am to start the new one tonight. THANK GOODNESS because my IBS is back FULL FORCE. Seriously, I am a total mess. I am hoping the medication works so I do not have to have a colonoscopy (I was supposed to have one earlier this month but I cancelled it because 1. They scare the hell out of me and 2. I felt better on the medication.). And, I need to get running like my normal crazy self! So anyway...
I found this blog...
http://www.mile-posts.com/
It is a wonderful blog for any runner, but especially marathon runner types. She gives great advise about what to eat from Picky bars to Cliff Bloks during the run, to what water bottle to carry, to if you should or should not carry a water bottle. I have a whole shopping list full of things to buy. I have started using the Cliff Bloks (strawberry flavored which were a whopping $1.97 each at Target!). They taste pretty good but I have to take with water as they made me really thirsy (so thirsty in fact that I started to question if the near by snow was okay to eat!). Obviously, I have not bought my water bottle yet! You can check out my Pins on my Pinterest board titled 26.2 or my running style on pinterest.
So far, my training has been a little rough obviously. I have stuck with it for the most part. I usually run 6 days in a row, though, taking Sunday off. I do that because I have more time to run on Fridays because the kids are in school. So why would I take that day off? And, I usually work Sunday nights. I don't really want to run for over an hour and then stay up all night. COME ON. That is just insane. ;) With that said, my body is probably more tired for those long runs because I did not take that break. One of these weeks, I will try to follow the plan correctly. It is just SO HARD.
Also, I found this great place to get updated music on mile posts called runhundred.com. It has great workout music emailed to you that have great beats per minute to work out too. It has songs that I have not heard of or would not have thought to run to.
The marathon is May 4 in Lincoln. I have my hotel already booked (booked it the first of December just in case!). Now, I just got to get my mind and body ready to go! Anyone care to join me?
"Marathon Training Schedule: Intermediate 1
| Week | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cross | 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 5 m pace | 8 |
| 2 | Cross | 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 5 m run | 9 |
| 3 | Cross | 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 5 m pace | 6 |
| 4 | Cross | 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 6 m pace | 11 |
| 5 | Cross | 3 m run | 6 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 6 m run | 12 |
| 6 | Cross | 3 m run | 5 m run | 3 m run | Rest | 6 m pace | 9 |
| 7 | Cross | 4 m run | 7 m run | 4 m run | Rest | 7 m pace | 14 |
| 8 | Cross | 4 m run | 7 m run | 4 m run | Rest | 7 m run | 15 |
| 9 | Cross | 4 m run | 5 m run | 4 m run | Rest | Rest | Half Marathon |
| 10 | Cross | 4 m run | 8 m run | 4 m run | Rest | 8 m pace | 17 |
| 11 | Cross | 5 m run | 8 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 8 m run | 18 |
| 12 | Cross | 5 m run | 5 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 8 m pace | 13 |
| 13 | Cross | 5 m run | 8 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 5 m pace | 20 |
| 14 | Cross | 5 m run | 5 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 8 m run | 12 |
| 15 | Cross | 5 m run | 8 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 5 m pace | 20 |
| 16 | Cross | 5 m run | 6 m run | 5 m run | Rest | 4 m pace | 12 |
| 17 | Cross | 4 m run | 5 m run | 4 m run | Rest | 3 m run | 8 |
| 18 | Cross | 3 m run | 4 m run | Rest | Rest | 2 m run | Marathon" |
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