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!