Lessons Learned: Fourth Marathon

September 07, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in marathon training, Training Tuesday, Running Tips

2017 was a crazy year for me. I ran THREE marathons after going from a marathon a year. I guess you could definitely say that I caught the marathon bug after Disney. When I look back, 1. it’s crazy to me that this was just two years ago?!? 2. this was a really pivotal year for me on so many levels. I got a new job, I tested out two different training plans for my races (or three if you also count Disney), we moved out to a more residential neighborhood where I could run hills!, re-vamped my diet and found a real love for cooking whole foods, and began this BLOG! So, here are some lessons I learned from my fourth marathon:

Never underestimate the power of good wholesome foods and cooking your own meals. I started doing a bunch of meal-prep, re-introduced carbs, and found that beets and molasses really don’t taste so terrible.

Adding in speed-work and pilates is a MUST when marathon training. I began working with the local Pilates studio and learned so much body-awareness. I miss those gals so much. They were the best.

I learned the power of stepping-back from training so crazily and learned the power of resting. Between Disney and Revel Rockies, I was hospitalized with a Kidney Infection (where I first truly discovered the power of having a great nurse!) and also found out that I was severely anemic! I think this helped with my 10+ minute PR as well.

The treadmill and speedwork became my best friend.

Having a time-goal is GREAT, but having fun should be your “A” goal (always)! I went into this race with the big goal of a sub 4 hour marathon and when I didn’t achieve that, I came across that finish line really disappointed. It didn’t matter that I had a big PR- to me, I had failed.

Wearing shorts when you race should ALWAYS happen. To me, they make me feel powerful and strong.

Don’t be so hard on yourself. It took me 26.2 miles to learn this, but it was the best lesson that came out of this race!

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Anyone else struggle with being too ‘stuck’ on a time goal?

How did you feel when you made a big jump from PR times on a race? Happy? Elated? Disappointed?

Lessons Learned: Second Marathon

September 05, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in marathon training, Running Tips

I wish I could say that I learned a lot from my first marathon, but I still had a lot more to learn (and still do!). It took me two years after my first to gain the courage to sign up for my second 26.2. To be honest, I really missed the training aspect of the marathon (and it’s still one of my favorite parts of the race)! I loved going out for Saturday or Sunday morning long runs and mid-week miles and having a ‘training plan’. I also dealt with an Achilles injury between my first and second marathons, which is why my approach to my second one wasn’t too different from my first (because I didn’t want to risk being injured again)!

I learned, once again, do not go out too fast! *Sigh* I won’t have actually learned this lesson for many marathons to come! Yeah, remember that time I come through the halfway point in 1:50 something? Not too smart…

Downhill races are great, but they can also completely trash your legs. I, once again, hit the wall early- this time at mile 18ish.

Fuel is real important. That means you probably shouldn’t skip a few fueling points along the race.

Sometimes having no expectations is the best. I shaved over 30 minutes off my first marathon time, trained less, focused on my nutrition during training a bit more, and honestly went into the race with no time goals other than to finish feeling better than I did after my first one.

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What important lessons did you learn from your first to second marathon?

Anyone else come away with a big PR between your first and second race distances?

Lessons Learned: First Marathon

September 04, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in marathon training

I thought it would be fun to look back on my past 7 marathons as I’m prepping for my 8th one next month! I don’t always love when others compare their lives to their ‘past lives’ because changing, maturing, moving, growing is a part of life, but I love to reflect on the lessons that we have learned along our journey!

When I look back on my first marathon the first thing that comes to mind is hard. It was so unbelievably challenging covering that distance. I was totally unprepared for how much it was actually going to hurt those later miles of the race. I remember getting to mile 14 and honestly wondering how am I going to cover 12 more miles when my legs already feel completely spent?!? In all honesty- I also went out way too fast the first half. We’re talking sub 10 minute miles (it was downhill!), when I should have been going more like 11 minute miles. No wonder my legs felt like lead.

I also remember thinking how beautiful the course was. I signed up for this race because I needed a goal to work towards when I first moved to Steamboat. I had no friends there at the time and wanted motivation to get out the door. I saw the ad in the paper for the local marathon (and a discount code) in December and just signed up on a whim. I had no idea what I was doing or how I would train through the winter, but that didn’t stop me!

TBT to my first hike when I arrived in Colorado in November! Yes, there was already snow…

I also remember how challenging it was training through the winter months. I had never run longer than 14 miles, so having to get in 16,18, 20 mile runs with the insane amount of snow we got that winter was pretty challenging. I remember walking A LOT during my training runs and wondering how people got in this training when working full-time, having families, having any sort of life. My life basically revolved around marathon training and working part-time at the ice arena.

Carbo-loading become the center of my life. I ate way too many carbs and thought that before every long run, I needed to have a lavish (very heavy) pasta meal. Ha. Oh, how far we’ve come!

The biggest takeaway that I took from my first marathon was how surprised I was when I crossed that finish line. I really did not think I would get there come mile 14, so to cross that finish line in 4 hours and 45 minutes was really special. I also was really surprised with how much it hurt walking down stairs post-race. Living in a three-story condo= I really planned out my trips to go upstairs to use the kitchen or laundry because I did NOT want to go back down those stairs more than once.

There’s nothing like your first marathon.

What lessons did you learn from your first race?

Anyone else consume way too many carbs during training/ before your race?

Do you remember what you had as a post-race meal? I’m pretty sure I had macaroni and cheese because I was way too exhausted to do anything besides lie on the couch and watch TV. Ha.

Training Tuesday: What I Ate The Day Before A Marathon

May 21, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in nutrition, marathon training, Training Tuesday

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!

Eugene/50 Miler Training RUNdown Week 18: 4/22-4/28

May 01, 2019 by Stacy McAllister in Hansons Marathon Method, 50 miler training, marathon training

I’m having so much fun adventuring along the Oregon coast! It is SO beautiful here.

BUT I’m equally missing these two cuties and can’t wait to give them a good squeeze tomorrow.

I will have my race recap up for you tomorrow and can’t wait to share it all with you (with no details left out ; ) ….). BUT for now, here is last weeks’ RUNdown of what I did leading UP to the marathon. I kept everything the same, except I did one less strength training session and all of my miles did not go above 6 and were all at a very easy pace. I did notice that I had a really challenging time keeping my legs at a slower speed because they were just so excited to RACE! I also felt oddly calm towards the marathon and never really had any sort of pre-race anxiety or nervousness like I usually do.

Monday, 4/22: 6.11 mi EZ 9:53 113’ up , 10 min on the stairclimber (37 floors climbed), & 20 min strength