Training Tuesday: What I Ate The Day Before A Marathon

Happy Tuesday! It’s funny how when you go back to school, you’re immediately thinking (or well… at least I am) ‘ HOW did I ever find the time to do all this and somehow have a social life?!?’ Ha. My classes this summer are shortened, so they are REALLY intense (for the most part), so it seems normal to be a bit well - shocked - , but then I just remind myself that I only have 6 more weeks to go of them ; ) It’s all about perspective right?!

I’ve been wanting to do this post for A WHILE now, but honestly just haven’t had the time ((or internet!)). Eugene feels like a million years ago, but in reality - it was only 3 weeks ago? Crazy how fast time flies ( especially when you move!). So, here we go:

-Went out for a shakeout run

Came back to have a mini bagel, honey, and a banana (I knew it would be at least another hour or more before we were able to get breakfast).

We went to Panera for breakfast (it’s always so hard to know what works for your stomach before a race & I think that Panera is still an OK thing ((even though I had some major GI distress during the second half of the race)).

I grabbed a cinnamon sugar bagel with butter from there as well to have as a snack on the drive to Eugene from Portland

Snacked on pretzels throughout the day!

Chipotle for lunch after visiting the expo. I think this is where my GI distress may have come from. I didn’t get anything with cheese, but it was just heavy. I also think that -generally- I had too many carbs (I don’t normally eat THIS much carb-centered foods), but honestly nutrition is still such a foreign thing to me!

Some pasta with butter for dinner (we ate relatively early - before 6pm - to hopefully let our food settle. Spoiler: mine did not ha. ).

Still got through the marathon and managed even splits and a 1 minute PR. You can find my full race recap here!

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-Anyone else go back to school to get a degree. Tips?!?

-Favorite things to eat before a marathon?! I”M SO CONFUSED ON CARBO-LOADING still. HELP!

The Race That Was The Most Fun

OK. So when I was looking back at my races for the year, this one really stood out to me. It wasn’t so much that I PR’d or how well trained I was, but everything about it was just FUN. I would absolutely have called myself crazy a few years ago just imaging that a marathon could be considered anything other than pure torture, but here we are. Don’t get me wrong, the race course was challenging (crazy hills in the second half of the course), but I raced so much smarter than I had in any other race (I actually really held back on the crazy downhill that the first portion of the race has)- which is why I think the outcome was so enjoyable.

I mean, honestly- who else would be smiling this big at mile 25 of a marathon?!? Plus this photo makes me look like a total Bada$$ with the motorcycle behind me ; ) It probably doesn’t at all, but I like to think of myself as a Des Linden leading the pack in this picture.

I trained so well for it and honestly was in the best shape of my life. I worked really hard in training on hills, so when they came in the later miles they didn’t feel too bad. This was also the first race where I wasn’t dependent on music. I actually didn’t even pop in music until mile 22 or 23! I remember starting to feel a bit tired, but got really excited when I remembered I could turn on my favorite playlist and just zone out for those last few miles.

PLUS the race gave you FREE PHOTOS! I mean, come on- that just makes it all more fun. The weather was hot, but not unbearable and I just had so much to look forward to post-race (I think that helps us mentally as well).

I remember completing the race feeling tired, but not disappointed or exhausted. I actually easily felt like I could have kept running and never once really pushed my pace (which gives me even more confidence going into Eugene this coming Spring- if I can run a 3:52 and not really push the pace, getting that sub 3:40 with more training and a flatter course should definitely be do-able).

This race was absolutely a party for 26.2 miles- plus, passing A LOT of people in the later miles of a marathon was super fun (ha).

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Also a few other things happening right now to catch you up on.

Hot Cocoa & mini marshmallows are still amazing.

Resupplied on my Nuun and hoping it takes me through my Eugene training, but I’m not confident. I LOVE rehydrating with Nuun!

What was your ‘most fun’ race of 2018? WHY?!?

What’s the three best things a race can offer (in your opinion)? —> free race photos, ample opportunity for crowd support, signs/ encouragement when crowds are thin in certain areas of the race.

Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Marathon Review & What I Did During The Day b4 The Race!

HAPPY HAPPY TURKEY DAY! I hope you will be celebrating with lots of tasty food, family/friends, and a GREAT RUN! I'm doing the 5k Turkey Trot this morning and then skiing and a small dinner with friends! I am thankful for all my family and friends near and far, as well as thankful for my legs that are strong enough to endear long runs and let me travel to beautiful places!

Make sure to head over to Race Recaps for the full recap of the Las Vegas Rock 'n Roll Marathon!

I wanted to share with you a few things that I did during the day before the 4:30pm start because it definitely is difficult to fill your day if you want to save your legs for race time. 

Things I typically will save until the day of the race:

• Race playlists- I actually LOVE doing this a few hours before the race. It gets me excited for the race and does not require anything physical. 
• Eat small meals throughout the day (up until 1 hour before the race start)- I stick with plain bagels with butter/ granola oat bars/ Honey Stinger chews/ Bananas/ Pop Tarts. Anything that I have previously eaten before a training run I eat the hours before race. 
• Legs up the wall at least twice- I do this constantly when traveling for a race. It's amazing how refreshed you feel afterwards. 
• Read a chapter of an inspiring book- I saved a chapter in Matt Fitzgerald's How Bad Do You Want it to read before my race and I honestly thought about it/ channeled it my entire race. 
• Lay by the pool (but don't get too much sun)
• Foam Roll
• Do a fun hairstyle- Having a late race start means more time to do a fun braid or hairstyle that you wouldn't normally do for those 3AM wake-ups. 

Things I don't do before a race:

• Eat insane amounts of food. Just don't. do. it.
• Walk a lot
• Get extra sleep the night before (I DO get extra sleep the week leading up to a race, but not the night before a race- I feel sluggish if I get too much sleep). Stick with your normal sleep times to prevent a "sleep hangover"
• Not do anything at all. It's good to still have things to do to keep your mind off of the race/ build up anticipation
• Sight-see- save it for after the race!

Don't forget to go check out my RACE REVIEW !

Hanson's Marathon Method- Week 13 Rundown

32 DAYS UNTIL VEGAS!! ONE MONTH! This is seriously SO crazy to me. I cannot believe how fast time has gone and now I only have one more peak mileage week left (above 60 miles) and have run 620.05 miles during this training cycle. I'm still feeling really strong and not burned out/ injured, which is amazing! I'm still really loving this training plan and definitely think I will try it out again for my next race (regardless of how this one goes). It's getting harder to fit in these longer runs in the mornings before work, but I knew that October would be rough to fit in the mileage so I'm just taking it one day at a time and know that after-work runs is always another option. I'm thinking I may try my tempo run after work this week since the cooler weather really seems to be putting a damper on my paces (my legs just cannot seem to warm up for some reason even with lined tights)- unless it is expected to be warmer, then I'll re-assess. But I think it's always good to switch-up whenyou run (especially since the race starts at 4:30pm anyways! 62 miles for the week and 620.05 miles in the bank for marathon training!

Monday: 10 miles total with 1.5 warm-up, 3 x 2 mile repeats @ 8:26-8:36 (800 R), 1.5 cool-down. I did this run back in Maine and the weather was PERFECT for it. I felt amazing. Splits were: 17:06 ; 16:49; 16:47 . Negative split them and hit my paces. I had to cut my cool-down 1 mile short (due to time constraints), but that was fine because I wanted my long run to be a mile longer anyways.

Tuesday: 8 miles easy on the treadmill after work since I got in at 11pm the night before. Pace @ 10:01. 

Wednesday: 1.5 warm-up; 9 miles @ GMP (8:45-8:55) actual: 8:54; 1.5 cool-down. This run felt better than the week before, but my legs still felt frozen and just not able to ever warm-up fully. Did a 60 minute Barre class at lunch

Thursday: 8 miles easy on the treadmill Pace @ 10:20

Friday: 17 miles (planned was 16 miles @ 9:27-9:35) @ 9:33 with a few hills to concur. This run was AWESOME and I definitely could've kept going for the remaining 9 miles. I really wasn't too sore afterwards, which was also a huge bonus

Saturday: 7 miles easy on the trails by the lake @ 10:08. I was really realllly tired on this run and could feel it. It was warmer out than I expected and my legs felt like lead.

Sunday: REST DAY! This was my first complete rest day in 13 days and was SO needed. I tried to limit my activities (we stacked wood and went kayaking), but I iced twice and took an epsom salt bath. 

Sunshine Goods:

• Strength work-out went really well
• Long run felt awesome
• Kept my easy runs at a slow recovery pace
• Nutrition was strong this week
• Sleep was a priority
• Did a 60 minute Barre Class

Gloomy Goods:

• Tempo run didn't go so well (but is improving...)
• Only fit in one strength session this week
• Foam rolling was limited

Revel Rockies Recap & How Many Days do you Take Off After a Marathon?

Happy HUMP DAY! It's finally Wednesday- we made it! I think one of the best decisions that I made when planning post-marathon was scheduling a vacation 10 days afterwards! It's just the right amount of time to recover, rest, and pack. Alex, Stella, and I will be driving back to Maine (yes all 33 hours) to visit family, play in the ocean/mountains, and go to my dad's wedding (he's getting remarried). It's pretty convenient to have grown up so close to each other- we can spend a few days with each others family and then spend some time just relaxing too. I've begun packing and cleaning up the house a bit and will continue to do so until we leave ONE WEEK FROM TODAY!!

Another really great thing that I planned post-marathon was treating myself to a manicure/pedicure. I have it scheduled for this weekend and I cannot wait to be pampered! 

PS you can find my Revel Rockies Recap here! They've just started to post some of the free race photos (they're all free and able to download directly from online) and I've got some pretty good ones so far!

Also does anyone else ever block out the few days after a marathon where the pain going downstairs is ROUGH and your body just hurts everywhere? I always seem to forget just how painful it really is...

After seriously indulging the past few days, I am planning on heading back to the gym tomorrow (took 3 total days off) and do some light biking/ellipticaling then getting back into some yoga and strength training on Friday. I want to utilize this time between training cycles to rest (no running for a week after my race), recover, and begin building an even STRONGER body! 

Here's to hella strong glutes when I toe the next start line! 

How many days do you take off (of running) after a marathon?

Any special treats that you like after finishing 26.2 or vacations you schedule?

Any tricks to avoiding downhill stairs until 5 days post-marathon?