Thunder Road Marathon 4.0

Hey Y’all! How was your weekend? Mine was well….exhausting! I completed my 5th marathon. It was my 4th time doing Thunder Road and to my surprise, the course had changed a good bit and in my opinion for the better (minus a couple little things). To recap the weekend:

Friday, after work, I headed to the race expo. I always love expo, it is exciting to see the other runners and the energy is always great. It is such a positive environment but you can also feel the nerves of all the other runners.Expo is when the race becomes real.

After expo, I head home to go for my final run, 10minutes and some good stretching and foam rolling. Chase even helped me with the stretching portion. Then, pasta dinner and some family time before heading to bed early.
Saturday starts bright and early…

5:50AM — Wakey Wakey! English muffin and almond butter are a waitin’

6:15AM — Start layering up! It’s a cold one! SO MANY LAYERS!

6:50AM — Leave for the race. I rode with my brother who felt like I wasn’t quite awake enough…he would put the window down every time I stopped dancing to which I’d start yelling “I’m supposed to be staying warm right now” …. it was 28degrees outside! Needless to say, I was bright eyed upon arrival at the race site.

7:30AM — Line up in between the 3:40 and 4:00hr pace groups and let the shivering begin. Shivering is a good “warm-up” right?! I don’t think I have ever been this cold at a start line before.

7:45AM — The gun goes off and its like a wave of sweats and trash-bags that people were wearing go over the railings. It takes me about 30seconds to make it to the start line.

Mile 1 — Feeling a little nervous, all the thoughts of “did I train enough,” “can I really do this” hit me but I soon shake them off and just start to think about how lucky I am to be able to run this race in this beautiful city.

Mile 2 — The first place I see my cheering squad. And just in time, I am ready to shed a few layers.

Mile 3 — The race thins out a bit, fighting for space is no longer a factor.

Mile 4 — I find my stride and am feeling really good. Mile 6 (ish) — My cheering squad is back…y’all they are great!

Mile 7 — First Gu of the day. Got to love those slimy packets.

Mile 8-13 — It’s all a blur. I cannot tell you anything notable that happened in these miles, they all just kind of blend together.

Mile 13– Biggest temptation of all to call it quits. The split for the half and full happen here…in sight of the finish line!! Race directors, this is just rude!!

Mile 13.1-14 — I talk with a couple other runners who also laugh about the cruel joke of getting to see the finish line. One was from Atlanta and the other from the Queen City. They started talking about their goal time and I quickly realized I was running a bit too fast. I dropped off from them at the mile 14 aid station when I take my second Gu of the day.

Mile 15 and 16 — Another blur. Sometimes when I am running these races I feel like Dory from Finding Nemo, “Just Keep Running, Just Keep Running…” No other brain activity.

Mile 17 (ish) — Sorry for the “ish,” like I said, minimal brain activity. I approach “the wall” and the Noda Party. And really, they are having a party in the street. It is so much fun and I bust right through the big wall. There are several of these street parties along the course and each one of them just makes you smile and forget about the pain of running for a minute.

Mile 18-21 — Feeling good. My stride is still feeling strong. Another one of the street parties tries to get me to have a beer but I just couldn’t do it. Instead I opt for another Gu.

Mile 22 — Hello Hills! This is the first place I start to feel my “wall.” The lower part of my right quad starts cramping then when I stopped to stretch it out, my hamstring cramps. So I just had to walk this one out. I walked to the top of that hill before finding my stride again.

Mile 23 — I’m starting to feel better. I see my family which always gives me a little pep in my step. I also take my final Gu at about this point.

Mile 24 — I have really hit my “wall.” I am hurting pretty bad at this point. My hips are so tight I feel like my stride has diminished to nothing.

Mile 25 — Holding on with all that I have left. All I can think of is one foot in front of the other. I am also talking to my legs, “please don’t cramp, please don’t cramp.” I cannot say they are listening at this point. Each step is a bit of a challenge. Also being on the greenway, my least favorite place ever to run, is not helping the cause at all either.

Mile 26 — Or as my watch says, mile 26.22. Super frustrating! I know I do a little weaving on the course but come on…I should be done by now and trust me, my legs are telling that as well.

Mile 26.2 — Which reads 26.48miles on my watch, I’m done!! Thank goodness! Three hours, fifty-eight minutes, and one second.

Hugo, the Charlotte Hornet’s Mascot gives me a high five and some nice volunteer congratulates me and puts a big shiny medal around my neck and a space blanket around my shoulders. I’m then shuffled down the finishers chute where I am loaded up on water and gatorade and attempt to grab a couple things to eat but somehow that didn’t happen. Again, runners brain, I’m not thinking clearly at all. Just outside the chute my family greets me with open arms.

After sitting for a couple minutes and accomplishing the daunting tasks of getting my shoes untied and a dry shirt on, pictures are taken and my dad buys me a super awesome shirt. It says “Don’t think of them as hills, think of them as mounds of opportunity. FLAT IS FOR SISSIES.” If you’ve ever run Charlotte you’d have a great appreciation for it. It is a deceivingly hilly city.

Finally, it’s time to head home. I’m shivering pretty bad but my awesome papa bear keeps me warm all the way back to the car. Sticking with tradition, we stop by California Pizza Kitchen to pick up a couple of my favorites, BBQ Chopped Chicken Salad and BBQ Pizza on the way home. Yumm!

After a beer and a belly full of food, an epsom salt bath and a hot shower, I collapse onto the couch for some college football and a nice long nap! BEST. FEELING. EVER!

Then, sticking with tradition again, mom and I head to the nail salon for a mani pedi and some girl time. I love our girl time but getting my feet rubbed after a long day of running may have topped our girl time today (sorry mom! love you!).

Finally, a good steak and shrimp dinner (and maybe a couple more beers…I deserved them right?!) then back to the couch I go where I fall asleep by 9:30! I’m such a party animal, can’t you tell?!

So now, the off season is here! I will take the next couple weeks pretty easy before hitting the gym for some off season training. I’m sure I’ll fill you in as I create that plan of attack. I do know I will be focusing on a bit more strength training this time around as I am feeling pretty weak at this point. But that talk is for another day.

So do any of y’all have any upcoming races? What about my couch to 5k-ers, how are y’all feeling going into week three of training? Have you picked your race yet?

I hope y’all had a wonderful weekend!

Marathon Training Plan

For those of you that know me pretty well, you know I am a planner. My calendar goes everywhere with me and I have everything that day will hold, including all of my training, written in on every day. Well, this time around as I train for my next marathon, things have been a little different. As I mentioned in my life update post yesterday, I am really just settling into this whole being a working woman thing and needless to say, my training has reflected that. Although my calendar is still plenty full it comes with a bit more flexibility this time around. To avoid getting discouraged as I know I am not going to get a run in everyday (like I would like to plan for), I have created a schedule that has a few less miles but still plenty of activity. A typical week looks something like this….

Monday — nothing, maybe walk the dog and foam roll a bit. I typically work an 10-12hr day on Monday so getting in anything of quality, forget about it!!
Tuesday — short 3-5mi run. Topping out at about 45min. This allows me to get moving a bit after work but doesn’t take a crazy amount of time.
Wednesday — strength and cycle. Usually by Wednesday I’m pretty tired so doing an hour worth of activity where I am constantly mixing things up helps get me through it.
Thursday — another short 3-5mi run. Typically I have to push myself pretty hard to get through this one as Friday is one of my off days so I really just want to chill and take things easy once I get off work. Who else likes to workout on their “Friday” evening?!
Friday — 4-6mi run. I add intervals or something into this run to act as my speed work for the week.
Saturday — ya never know haha ….I told you I was being a bit more flexible this time around. I work a half day on Saturday so it totally depends on my plans for after work. I like to try and get in a good long run after work but the reality is that doesn’t always happen. This year I haven’t decided what my longest run will be yet. I’d imagine it will be somewhere in the range of 18-22mi. but….we will just have to wait and see what happens.
Sunday — if I didn’t end up doing my long run Saturday it gets put in here…. again, here I go with that whole flexibility in my training thing. If I did get it in Saturday then today is a day of rest.

So in a typical week, Monday – Friday I am doing somewhere in the range of 10 to 16miles and on the weekend an additional 13 to 22miles. This is a dramatic cut back from the 6-7days a week I would like to plan on running but it will have to do for this time time around. I’ll be sure to keep you updated as I continue forward with this training plan and into race day.

Happy Thursday! 🙂

Thunder Road Marathon

Although I finished, today didn’t go quite as well as I had hoped. I even finished 12min past the worst case scenario I had played out in my head. To recap today…

6:00 am, the alarm goes off. I quickly head downstairs to make my usual breakfast of an English muffin and almond butter. I had a harder time than normal eating it but I just accounted that for race day nerves.

6:45 we are headed out of the house and into the city.

7:20-7:35 warm up and social time. We ran into one of my best friends (Bre) who was running the half marathon and of course and had to have a few hugs and some last minute race chat.

7:40 national anthem and pre race speech. This year’s speech was given by a Boston survivor. She was great and very inspirational.

7:45 the race car fired up its engine and the green flag was waved. Kimberly and I got off to our usual quick start but shortly settled in at the 3:45:00 pace.

We made it to about the 10k (6.2mils) mark and I realized I was in trouble. Although I am in probably the best shape of my life, I was having a hard time breathing. At about the 9mile mark I got my first cramp in my abdomen. I was hurting pretty bad but made it through this one with out stopping. I then had about 2-3miles of feeling ok before I really started feeling bad.

Kimberly and I ran together to about mile 14-15 before I told her to go ahead. At this point I was starting to have a hard time breathing as my upper abdomen was constantly cramping. I started walking at about mile 16. I would walk a bit, the cramping would release a bit but as soon as I started up again I was cramping again. This was super frustrating.

Mile 18 things turned for the worst, I now not only was cramping but I was starting to get light headed. I significantly slowed down at this point. I was basically doing a walk/jog now. I saw my family at about 20 and they could tell I was in trouble but they were awesome and cheered me on as if I was in first (marathon fans are the best fans on the planet). Mile 22 rolled around and my dad ran over to me to make sure I was ok, he even asked if I felt like I needed to stop. I knew I looked bad but what I didn’t know was I had gone completely white. I also was not even sweating anymore (for those of you who don’t know me super well, I sweat a lot and super easily). I was what you’d call miserable but I told my dad I was going to finish. That was the last place I saw them till the finish line.

The light headedness and stomach cramping didn’t go away but I managed to tough it out to the finish line. My final time was 4:12:??.

I wasn’t happy with the outcome but had I stayed strong and fought till the end. I hope for a better outcome in my next race!

Kimberly and I at packet pick-up and health and wellness expo Friday evening.

Race Packing

As fun as it is to travel, sometimes traveling for a big race is a bit of a nightmare. This is because you have all the “what if” scenarios that you actually have to take into account. For example packing for tomorrows race, I can check the weather 10times but up until the morning of I won’t know exactly what it’s like outside. Plus 50 degrees and humid is totally different than 50 degrees and windy. So here is my list of race essentials then I will go into packing for the weather.

RACE ESSENTIALS:

– Watch ( I love my Garmin 🙂 )
– Race Belt (this is to hold my number on which ever layer is the outer most at the time)
– Road ID (I never hit the roads without it…kinda like my little security blanket)
– Compression Socks
– KT Tape
– Extra Hair Ties (nothing worse than having to run a race with your hair down if it broke at the start line)
– Body Glide (best stuff ever!!!)
– A good fitting sports bra (I may not be big chested but I can certainly still tell if I don’t have a good one on…ouch!!)
– Running Shoes with bungee laces (If your feet swell like mine the bungee laces are a must!!)
– Fuel

**I’ll touch on fuel, KT Taps, and Compression Socks at a later date 🙂

CLOTHING…Packing for the weather:

Scenario 1: HOT HOT HOT
Minimal clothing. One days like this I tend to only wear my short and sports bra then strap that race belt around my waste. Days like this are essential for body glide as their will be friction when you get super sweaty.

Scenario 2: 50-60degree…nice day
This is the perfect running weather, throw on a pair of shorts and your favorite running top and you’re good to go.

Scenario 3: 40-45degrees
This is a range I tend to struggle with cause at the end of the day 40 is cold but running will warm you right up. I tend to go with shorts and 2 layers up top, a tank or tee with a light weight long sleeve over top. On days like this I try and do about a mile run close to where I am started to see what all I really want to have on. Somedays I keep it all and other days I shed that top layer. I will also break out the gloves at this point….I hate cold fingers.

Scenario 4: Below 40degrees
This is when I start to layer up especially up top. It is extremely important to keep your chest warm when you are working out in the cold. You’re already breathing in that cold air thats going to burn in your lungs so lets not put a double whammy on that and have a cold chest too. For my layers I start with a tight fitting long sleeve then add another lighter layer long sleeve and usually a fleece vest on top of all that. For the bottom half I wear my running tights (….this is the only good thing about cold running, I love wearing my running tights). Gloves and a hat or ear warmers are essential at this point.

A few tips for dressing for the weather in a race (or just a run)…
– As a general rule of thumb you want to dress like it is 15ish degrees warmer than what it says. For example if it says 50, pretend its about 65.
– Do a “warm-up” mile close to your starting point is really helpful. This will help you to decide exactly what is essential for your run ahead.
– Wear what is comfortable for you and don’t change it up on race day!! (I had some nice bloody feet after a race where I used new socks…not good!)
– If it’s cold, keep those layers on as long as you can before that gun goes off…I usually only have about 2min worth of feeling chilled at the start line.

I hope this helps a little bit as you are preparing/packing for your next race 🙂

Final Big Race!!

I’ve got a few days left till my final big race of the year and I couldn’t be more excited. This year has been full of training and my body is about ready for a rest after I get through this weekend.

Many people have asked what I do to train for a marathon and the simple answer is I run a lot and learn to enjoy those miles upon miles. Well I at least most of the time enjoy all the miles. A more indepth answer for what I do to train is I run about 5 days per week, one to two short runs (under 5), two middle distance runs (5-10ish) and one long run a week. This long run distance is what really builds every week. This year since I had already trained for a half iron distance race I started my long runs at 15 and built up to 22miles. However, I added an extra twist, I ran the City of Oaks Marathon about 2weeks ago so I guess you could say I trained up to 26.2 miles this year. Since running city of oaks I have dramatically cut back my miles to let my body recover as much as possible before this Saturday when I take on the roads of Charlotte for the 3rd time. The week leading up to a marathon is more about rest than it is about training. So this week I am doing 2 runs and an easy spin and stretch.

My goal for this weekend is to break 3:50:00. That will be about 2min faster than I’ve ever gone before.

Well I’m headed out for my last training run with Kimberly (my only friend dumb enough to tag along for a race like this 😉 )

Be sure to send me some good vibes and extra energy this weekend as I take on Thunder Road! 🙂