Sometimes the best thing I can do is point you to some super info that someone else has posted.
Here’s a great article run by Shape magazine last week. 25 Marathon tips to get you across the finish line.
http://www.shape.com/fitness/training-plans/top-25-marathon-training-tips
Next Saturday at 3:45 am, I will be on a bus to the starting line up Provo Canyon. Let the stomach jitters begin. I’m downing antacids by the case load. And over analyzing every little knee twitch and ankle roll. I don’t even want to jog to the mailbox anymore, for fear of screwing up my legs.
The odd thing? I’m pretty sure that the morning of, I will be as cool as a kumquat. There’s this peace that settles over me, because I know come hell or high water, I will cross the finish line. I might be on my knees, and it might be 3 hours after race closes, but I will still drag my butt across.
After all, I’ve already had the worst happen in a marathon. Last August, in my first one, my hamstring injury resurfaced at mile 8 and was debilitating by mile 13. I was forced to speed walk the rest of it. But I still made it. I required a bottle of advil afterwards, but I survived.
The secret?
Forgetting about the time and putting one foot in front of the other until it’s over. Also, the fierce determination that the 4 months of running training hell were not pointless. I will walk away with my medal dammit. 🙂
Now if only I can survive the next week without injuring myself or giving myself ulcers.
Right now is my favorite part of marathon training, the taper. About three weeks before the marathon, you do your longest run of the training. Then for the next three weeks, you taper down the miles until the week of the marathon, you are only running 2 miles at a time. After last Sunday’s 20 miler, I was thrilled that today was only 12. I know only 12 sounds a little nutty, but after you’ve already hit the much higher and harder numbers, 12 is a godsend.
The idea behind taper is that high intensity long lasting cardio is hell on you muscles and bones. Duh. So after you peak, you need those three weeks to repair the damage you’ve done by working it so hard. Makes me wonder, if this is built in, how crazy are all of us to do this knowing we are causing damage in the first place. Just a thought.
But that’s why I like the taper. It’s a rest, but it’s also actively recovering, healing, licking my wounds.I think I need to introduce the taper in the rest of my life. I think I’ve mentioned that I’m going back to college to finish up my degree in English. I wonder how they would feel about a taper. Amp up in homework until about three weeks before the final, then give little or no homework, allowing your brain to stop frying from all the cramming. I think it’s brilliant.
I need to figure out how to work this in with my family. “I’m sorry, I can’t take anymore together time. I’m maxed out and I need to taper.”
There is a sad part to the taper though. The less calories I burn, the less calories I can consume. I can’t get away with that extra brownie anymore.
Oh well, can’t have it all.
Here’s my current lament. Intense cardio for long periods of time,- ie marathon training- eats muscle. Your heart rate surpasses that fat burning zone and starts eating the carbs and protein, not the fat. So whenever I hit this stage in training, all the hard work I put into my triceps and thighs – totally gone.
So as soon as my training is over (two and a half weeks!) it’s back to the weight room to tone up. Just declaring my intention so you can hold me accountable.
But glean the bit of information from the top, it’s hard to tone up and build muscle if you do regular high intensity (2 hours) cardio a few times a week. By high intensity, I mean your heart rate stays at darn near max the whole time.
This weekend I did my longest run before the marathon in 3 weeks. 20 freaking miles. I ran around my neighborhood, but I’m pretty sure if I’d been smart I could have run to the ice cream shop and back. Anyway, afterwards I had the energy of a slug so the weekend post never happened. So here’s the weekend post with the fitness tip folded in. Like a candy with a gooey center.
I’ve decided that the biggest run before a marathon is just bad juju. Last year it was just after my longest run that I injured my hamstring, making my first marathon a speed walkathon. Two weeks ago I had a great 19 mile run. I wasn’t tired or sore or anything. I could’ve run the marathon that day for sure. This 20 miles kicked my butt. It wasn’t the extra mile that pushed me over, I hit the wall all the way back at mile 5.
It started in the ball of my foot then shot up the shin, through the knee and then up the hamstring finally zapping my lower back. My right leg was stiff and tight and begging to be amputated. So choices. Run through it or go home. I’m too darn stubborn to go home, so I ran through it. Then next 10 miles sucked. Really bad. I wasn’t in extreme pain, maybe a 5 on the pain scale. I had to pull through all my bags of tricks to get through it. Music, singing, visualizing the finish line, self talk… everything. I finally went with “This sucks” over and over to the beat of my feet. Then changed it to “Just one more lap until Chrisy comes”. Yep, I had reinforcements coming.
The last five miles of my long runs, my friend Chrisy Ross joins me. If I could just make it long enough for her to come, then I knew she’d drag my butt those last five miles. Sure enough, rounding the park I saw my salvation. I nearly started crying. My knee by this point felt completely rusted over. She started running in step with me encouraging me, “You’re running strong. Good girl.” I stood a little taller, my stride a little more confident.
For the next fifty minutes or so we kept the pace and she kept my mind off how much I wanted to be home, in bed, with the biggest bag of ice I could find. The last five miles ended up just as easy as the first five. My knee still killed me by the end, but I had made it. And I’m not sure I would have without my friend being my cheerleader.
Everybody needs a cheerleader in life. They don’t need to have pom poms or wear a short skirt, but they do need to push you back onto the field even when your down by five goals. When you have a workout buddy, you seem to stand a little taller, push a little harder, and stay a little longer. I’m not sure if it’s the mechanics of healthy competition, or pride, or the warm fuzzy feeling of encouragement- but I always do better with a friend at my side.
So that’s the fitness tip, get a cheerleader. Somebody that holds you accountable for your progress and pushes you to go even though you feel like giving up.
Ok, I know. I’m late. I meant to post yesterday, but life got away from me. Which kind of inspired this post anyway. So serendipitous.
This morning I had a great run with Chrisy Ross, an author and running bud of mine. It was 19 miles. Unlike the last race, I did take it nice and slow. Averaging about 11:00 minute mile. By the end I wasn’t all that tired. My leg kids hurt, but not too bad.
I learned with my running what I’m having trouble doing in my life. Pace myself.
If only life came with one of those spiffy Garmin watches that I use in running. Then just like I can tell when I am going too fast, I could see when I am doing too much.
I have a lot on my plate right now. And sadly it doesn’t contain enough dessert in my opinion.
I’m training for the Utah Valley marathon. I’m working on becoming a Certified Yoga instructor. I go back to University this semester. I am trying to finish a new book. I am doing editorial revisions for the two books I’ve already sold to the publisher. And those are the big things. There’s also two little kids that like to be fed from time to time and a house that might get buried under laundry if I don’t act fast.
Point is, I am trying to go faster than my feet can carry me- to use a running metaphor. So what to do? RUN SLOWER!
Did every mile still get run today? Yup. Was it a little slower than normal? Yup. Do I feel a lot better than if I’d run it top speed? Big Yup.
So can I get everything on my to-do list done? Yup. Will it take a little longer than I want? Yup. Will I feel better if I’m not running (sorry for the pun) myself ragged everyday with no break? Big Yup.
Now I just need to reread this post everyday as a reminder 🙂
