Friday Feature: My Plan For The Salt Lake City Marathon!

Happy Friday! I hope you have something fun planned for this weekend and if you're racing, GOOD LUCK! I'm on route to SLC as of noon today, but wanted to quickly share with you some of my goals for the marathon tomorrow morning. I've had a solid training cycle, but remaining healthy and recovering smart after the race are my biggest goals. I've put a big goal of trying to break 3:40 in the marathon this year and like to use small stepping stones to get me to bigger goals (like qualifying for the Boston Marathon). So, I'm hoping this race will just be a stepping stone to getting me to that qualifying time one day. 

Here's my goals for race day TOMORROW:

A. Have fun and enjoy every mile!

B. Negative-split

C. PR. This would be breaking anything under 3:55:33

Here are my pace-goals for the race tomorrow:

-Miles 1-10: relax and hold-back my pace. Keep form in-check and take fuel every 5 miles. Keep my pace between 8:45-8:50.

-Miles 10-15: settle into an 8:35 pace and stay strong through the hilly sections

-Miles 15-20: hold onto an 8:35/8:30 pace and keep taking gels every 5 miles

-Miles 20-23: hit goal-pace of 8:20

-Miles 23-finish: If I'm feeling strong, try to go below 8:20. If I'm struggling, hold on to 8:20 pace and finish with a smile.

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone!

One thing you're looking forward to this weekend? --> definitely an Inn and Out burger after 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 !

Giving Tuesday & Race RESULTS!

Happy HUMPDAY! I wanted to share with you all my results from Marathon #5! I finished in 3:55:33 and couldn't be happier! I'll be sure to post a full amazing race and trip recap shortly : )

Also wanted to share with you my DONATE NOW option for MS Run The US Fundraiser on Facebook. November 28th is also the perfect day to donate to my cause! The Gates Foundation has pledged to match everyones donation, but the amount alloted won't last long so be sure to donate RIGHT at 8AM EST. Not ready to donate? You can also SHARE my fundraiser with the donate now button and help increase the donations that I will receive! Don't worry, I'll continue to update and remind you about #givingtuesday almost every week ; )

Until then, happy Wednesday! No running for me this week (trying to go 2 weeks without running, but we'll see I'm really eager to begin training for my next race ; ) ). 

Did anyone else run this weekend!?! How'd it go!?

Next race coming up, what is it?

RACE DAY!

It's RACE DAY! It's HERE! It's FINALLY HERE!

I wanted to write a quick note of encouragement to anyone racing this weekend, whether you're running a 5k, 10k, half, or full marathon it's all the same and sometimes it's pretty scary!

Remember all the hard work that you've put into your training. Sure, you may have missed a few, but look at it overall for percentages. I bet you'd still come out with an A or A- (which is pretty impressive).

Remember those really difficult training runs, the ones where you wanted to quit. The ones where you were so cold/tired/cranky and just wanted it to be done, but you persevered through it. Think of those tough runs when the race gets difficult and don't quit on yourself. Stay positive and focused. You've already done the hard work, now it's time to have FUN.

Remember that no matter the outcome, your training was your time to shine and everything has its purpose in life. Maybe you won't finish in first or meet your A goal, but you're out there and you didn't quit.

You've got this.

Now, go out there and CRUSH your race!

xo,

Stacy