Marathon training and more lessons learned

Well i am getting VERY close to race day only 34 days to go. WOW i can't believe it's almost here. I don't feel quite ready yet! I have been battling some issues with Achilles tendinitis that started acting up back around Christmas but it wasn't until end of February that i finally got it looked at. I am not sure why it sprung up and hills sure seem to aggravate it more. I am fine to do a few hills during a long run but actually doing a training run with hills tweaks it a bit. It hasn't really been enough to stop me from running and now that i have new sneakers FINALLY it seems to be pretty good. I attempted hills this week for the first time in about a month and a bit. And it was fine during but i could feel it a little after. So i may just avoid hill training for the rest of my marathon training. I did a rolling hill long run today and i have already iced it a bit so i will see how it feels tonight/tomorrow and judge from there whether i will continue with a little hill training before 2 weeks of tapering.


Today's run was great but SLOW omg i haven't had such a slow pace in a long time. I woke up feeling really tired this morning even though i had almost 8 hours of sleep and as soon as i started my run my legs felt so heavy and i just couldn't get my pace up. A few times i was at my race pace 5:30 min/km but not for long. I don't think the hilly-ish run helped pace wise either. I kept looking at my garmin and seeing 6:30. Which seems to have been my pace for these high km runs the last little while. But then i looked down some other times and it was 6:50 - 7:00. I didn't really push much harder to get the speed up either as i didn't feel like my legs could do it. 


We stopped and stretched when we had about 4km or so to go and it seemed that after that i was able to pick my pace up! Weird. I have never really been one to stop and stretch part way through a run before. But perhaps i need to in the future when my legs are feeling that heavy. I also didn't really stretch before i started my run either. I normally don't really since my muscles are cool and i don't believe it's good for them to stretch before they are warmed up. Lot's of differing school's of thought on this one though! I am thinking next time i feel like my legs are heavy like that i will walk and/or jog a bit and then stop and stretch and then really start my run. Perhaps that is all i needed? Despite the run being tough i never really hit a wall probably because i wasn't pushing it as much as i should have been. Not that i want to hit a wall but i almost feel like i wasn't pushing as much as my body could take? Hard to know at this point. At the end of my run i was able to sprint at 3:30 for the last 200m. I have really been enjoying adding this sprint element into my training. It's something i have always done during races as soon as i see that finish line i just give'er and even when i don't think i have anything left in the tank i still manage to be able to do it. But considering how much stronger my finish was then the whole run i seem to think i didn't quite push enough and perhaps i should have stretched sooner. More lessons learned in my marathon training. 


That's the great thing about training for a marathon i have learned so much more about running and training as well as listening more to what my body needs. I will be able to take todays lessons and apply it to a future long run and see if it works and if not perhaps there is something else that will come to mind that will help. However at the same time i always keep in mind that sometimes you just have a junk run and thats ok! It makes you stronger mentally and it's still time and km's on your legs. That's what really matters in the long run. That you stuck to it and committed that truly is the biggest feat of them all. Marathon training is no joke! It is very time consuming, tiring and sometimes even painful, but in the end you come out a changed person and a better stronger runner!


I am excited for post marathon too i plan on working on my speed more and dialing back the mileage! While i love my long distances and especially half marathon's i really want to work on getting faster before i go back up to a half marathon and perhaps even another full marathon:) There truly is nothing like the feeling after finishing a 29km-32km run. You feel amazing for running that far. By far one of the best runner's high's i have ever had. I can only imagine how great it will feel to actually have completed 42.2km. In marathon training it's recommended to only go up to 32-35km. If you do any more you risk burning out before race day! They also recommend for a lot of first timers to only go up to 32km. So that's all i am doing:) The last 10km is purely mental anyways and after the few tough long runs i have had throughout my training i feel more than ready mentally to tackle the full marathon. Physically i feel like i need a bit more to get the time i want. We'll see though. All that matters in the end if that i have completed it!


I will leave you with a quote today that my friend Steph shared with me on facebook the other day. It is a wonderful thing to keep in mind when training for and racing a marathon.


"A marathoner is a marathoner regardless of time. Virtually everyone who tries the marathon has put in training over months, and it is that exercise and that commitment, physical and mental, that gives meaning to the medal, not just the day's effort, be it fast or slow. It's all in conquering the challenge." -Mary R. Wittenberg

Important lessons learned while training for a marathon

As most of you know i am training for my first full marathon, which is in Ottawa May 27th. So it's quickly approaching! I ran my first 29km yesterday and wow it felt great, craziest runner's high i ever have had during and after running! My Achilles tendonitis acted up a little between 10km-17km and would bug me on and off. It's getting rather annoying! I am doing all of my physio exercises but it's still not quite 100% but not enough pain to stop me from running. Don't worry my physio says it's ok to run (i'm not being dumb about an injury, lol). I truly think it's because i let my shoes wear down too much. I underpronate due to my high arches. Meaning when i run my feet land with my heels hitting the ground on the outside first and kind of roll outwards. People who have this gait tend to have issues with Achilles tendonitis, easily sprained anklse and plantar fasciitis. All issues i have suffered from! Anyways since my feet are so narrow i have to special order 2A width shoes. So i am anxiously waiting for them to come in. I feel that they will help a lot with my ankle!

Today my ankle is tender despite me icing and stretching lots yesterday. I think i will need to ice more tonight and i go to physio tomorrow morning. I learned some important lessons yesterday during  and after my 29km run that i want to share with you all in case you are training for or plan on training for a full marathon in the future! It's a lot different than training for a half that's for sure. Yesterday i got to a point where i felt hungry sick. Do any of you know what i mean by that? It's where you get so hungry that you feel sick. I seriously could not eat enough yesterday! I burned 1500 odd calories during my run and i need to eat approximately 2,000 a day for me to maintain my weight. I am not a calorie counter normally but yesterday i was trying to consume as much as i could and i still wasn't successful in eating enough. I ate only one bag of my Honey Stinger electrolyte chews during the run instead of the two i brought with me. Mistake # 1! I should have eaten both and listened to Steph's advice. But i just wasn't hungry during the run.

Mistake # 2 i had a glass of chocolate almond milk when i got home then showered. After the shower i was insanely hungry but had to make my skillet still. So in an effort to avoid the hungry sick i munched on some brown rice crackers to tide me over. I then couldn't finish my skillet! Odd for me. So i threw the rest away and then went to coffee with my friend Ally. I should have brought more carbs with me to have while at the coffee shop. I sadly can't eat anything there as there are no gluten free options. By the time i got home i was starving again! It had been 3 hours since my skillet, so this is another lesson after running 29km or more eat every 2 hours and as much as you can handle. So i ate some more brown rice crackers to tide me over while my berries thawed for my berries, greek yoghurt and Holy crap cereal. I didn't eat too many though as i didnt want to get too full.

Mistake # 3 i didn't nap yesterday or allow myself the time too. When you run 29km you need a nap your body is beat! So i laid down for a bit (my mom was on her way for dinner) and then the hungry sick feeling hit! I quickly got up and ate some more brown rice crackers. I should have had something else carb wise! Like toast or something like that. I felt a little better after but was sooooo tired. I made gluten free pizza for dinner for my mom and i. Very yummy! I had two large pieces and also had two gluten free beer while making supper. I don't know what it is but i crave beer like crazy after a long run. Probably for the carbs. After supper i was beat so i had an epsom salt bath and was in bed by 8:30. I was so tired and yet sleep didn't come:( I also didnt drink enough water yesterday. I had my normal 2 liters but that wasn't enough with my two coffees and the beer. So i had a headache too:( Finally at midnight i got up and drank a bunch of water which made me feel better and then i fell asleep.

Mistake # 4, having coffee at 1:30pm. I know myself well enough to know that i cannot have coffee after noon if i want to sleep. But i pushed it. So i think that contributed to a poor sleep as well. I didn't even want coffee this morning as i think i am still a little dehydrated. I have almost 1 liter down so far today and some Kombucha tea.

Today i am sore, tired and STARVING. I can't eat enough today already it seems. I had protein pancakes for breakfast and normally that will last me until 10 or 10:30. But by 9am i was starving. I waited until 10 am to have my snack though and i had two of the Tone It Up protein bars. I think i will run to the store on lunch and get some more food to last me through my day. I have leftover pizza for lunch, a protein smoothie for dessert and an apple and almonds for meal 4. But i don't think it'll be enough. Seriously i have never been so hungry. Today i plan on taking it easy and doing some really good stretching with the Yoga for runner's video from myyogaonline.com and then a short walk with Laila as well as some foam rolling. I need to do some active rest:) If i don't keep moving i will get even more sore!

Another lesson i learned and have been applying is to keep moving after a long run. Yes you want to be lazy and lay down all day but don't! Keep moving, walking, stretching etc. Still take that nap if you need it. I find i need it if it's 26km plus. Up to that i am usually ok. If you lay down all day and not move you will be even more sore! So move, eat and drink that H20 your body needs it:) For my running friends out there what advice and lessons learned do you have to share? Please comment below and share!

Have a great Monday! Yah for a short week! I have 32km planned for this Saturday so i will only be doing one run during the week on Wednesday. Normally i do two runs during the week but since i did 29km Sunday and back to Saturday long runs this Saturday i am giving my body a bit of a break! I don't want to hurt myself more or in another way and i want enough energy to get me through my long run Saturday!