What's Happening NOW

Now that you have read my history. I will bring you up-to-date on my training for my second marathon. It has been pretty easy. What? Easy....well looking at my racing history, you can see that I was completely over trained for my first marathon. Realize that this was my first year of running in my entire life, so I had a lot to learn. I had a training plan for my first marathon, but I was also building running chops, and let's just say I was running the marathon on borrowed time and legs. Since the marathon, I have read several books and have found a balance in racing and training. I know that the next one will be better.

THIS WEEK

TRAINING WEEK 10- stamina phase (concentrating on longer tempo runs, and longer long runs)

MILEAGE the Week: 38 miles

EATING: Don't forget to eat your daily banana....man, I was getting cocky and thought I had the nutrition down, HA....bananas make all the difference. Oh, and I tried my first Gel on my long run. I am not a big pudding fan, so I told myself before I ingested it that it was going to be like yogurt. It was, but a little thicker. I think it definitely helped. I had been using the Jelly Belly Sport Beans. They are awesome if you are burning a lot of Glucose. Recently, they just were not cutting it and were too sugary with a big let down. I am not running super fast and staying mainly in the fat-burning zone, so I just need calories, carbs, and maybe a little caffeine. 

FIRSTS: Ran 19 miles in the pouring rain (guess, I did not need the sunscreen), did 3 back-to-back days of challenging runs and feel great.

OUCH: Don't forget the body glide. I might have permanent scars from my running bra; forgot twice on long runs.  I have two sticks now so that I do not forget (one in the running bag and one by my sink in the bathroom)

REVELATION: If you asked me a year ago if I would run  without my ipod, I would have said heck no....but, now, I could care less if I have the ipod or not. It does come in handy on the 20 milers though :)

2 B Faster: My new years resolution was simple, 2 B Faster. I am not fast by nature, I have no glutes (although, I am working on them). I have been successful with this goal and have improved my times in one year.

• 5k: 6 minutes faster
• 10k: 11 minutes faster
• Half-Marathon: 6 minutes faster
• Marathon: Yet-to-be determined....hoping for 45 minutes faster (fresher legs and not over stretching should do the trick)