It's over.

Just kidding, it has really only just begun. All these months of training have involved a lot of excitement and disappointment, joy and pain, confidence and doubt. Really, it has been quite the roller coaster getting ready for marathon number one. And now that it's over, I don't really want it to be. I miss the roller coaster, I guess? No, it's not that. I just love races. I want more, I need more... I'm totally addicted.
I didn't expect this. I kept thinking, "Just gotta make it through the marathon and then I'm not gonna run for MONTHS!"
No way, Jose. As it turns out, I can't wait to get running again. What have I been doing all week? Looking up races. There's a 5k this weekend down the street. Too early? Probably. But I really want to do it, despite all my aches and pains. There's a half marathon that looks really tough next month. Want to do that, too. Want to run the St. George marathon if I can buy someone's spot... yup, I've got race fever.
So anyway- I started this blog to document my marathon training. And it's all there. But I want to keep on blogging about my running experiences. So I will keep updates of my races here, and maybe anything interesting I stumble across with running. So yeah, off I go...

Park City Marathon

Okay I did it! See here.

I will post some more thoughts here soon, but as for now, I need a nap. :)

This is it

Tomorrow is the last day in my existence that I'll be able to say, "I've never run a marathon."

I'm starting to get nervous. I keep worrying about my injury- how it will hold up, how much it will slow me down. And the speed thing is definitely bothering me. I know my speed is nowhere near what it used to be, and although I know your first marathon is all about finishing, I'm still gonna be disappointed if my pace is ridiculously slow. If I see old, fat people beating me, I might just cry. And really, it will probably happen. I'm also really worried about my nutrition. I'm trying to carb load but I don't really know what I'm doing. I don't want to eat too much differently than usual to avoid digestive issues, so I'm just hoping what I'm eating will work out.

On a positive note, I'm also getting really excited. I go pick up my packet and bib in a couple of hours and I know being around all the runners is gonna get me pumped. It will get me ready for race morning. Seriously, there are very few things that are more exciting than the morning of a big race. AND Tiffany is flying in tomorrow and I'm just so excited we get to run this together. I know we can do it, we've each had our setbacks (injuries), but we practically ran a marathon together 3 weeks ago for our longest run. We may have had 11 minute miles, but we did it. Okay Park City Marathon... here we come!

One week til the Marathon!

So today was my FINAL long run before the big day. I only had to run 8 miles which was nice. My shin is doing so much better (I'm not hobbling anymore!!), but it still felt irritated throughout the course of the run. I'm babying it though and hope it won't be a problem next Saturday.

Today I ran at about a 10 minute pace. I'm so much slower than I was before the injury, but it's okay. I can run fast again after the marathon, but I'm not risking anything at this point.

I'm assuming my race pace will be 11 minute miles or so. Hopefully not 12 minute milers, but you never know. Park City Marathon tells you right from the start that you won't be setting a pr on this course. My sis-in-law's dad (who has run many, many marathons) said you can pretty much add 30 minutes to your regular marathon time for Park City so I'm taking his word for it.

At any rate, I'm really excited. I don't care about time (and I'm not just saying that, this is marathon #1 so I'm okay with setting the bar low!). I am just really stoked that I'm gonna run 26.2 in one week!!

Did 10

I woke up late yesterday (since when is 6:30 in the morning late?) so I didn't have time to do the 12 miles because Justin & Makenzie were in the Midvale parade (Justin for the h.s. float since and Makenzie for our stake primary's float).
I did manage to squeeze in 10 miles. I was frustrated that I couldn't go faster and just get 12 in. One thing about not running mid-week is that you definitely lose your speed/conditioning. I was faster than last week (9:50 miles this time), but it doesn't feel good when you're really pushing and look down and see your pace is only 9:00. Good thing to remember for next time- you can't just cut out your weekday runs- you will suffer for it!
Also, the combination of pushing harder and having to run on asphalt for nearly half the time didn't make my shin very happy. I am definitely more sore today than I was last time after the 20 miles. So next Saturday and during the marathon, I'm just going to take it super slow.

The ole taper down

Tomorrow is my first taper-down Saturday. I never thought I would consider 12 miles a short run, but that is definitely what it feels like after 20. I am actually really excited to run after having such good results last Saturday.
I haven't been able to do any mid-week runs this week. I wish I could have, but to be honest, I haven't run mid-week in over a month because I didn't want to aggravate my injury and now I'm kind of used to just running on Saturdays and trying to squeeze in a home workout or gym visit (or 2) in the middle of the week.
So yeah, I'm not going to be as well-prepared as I wanted to be for this marathon. I wouldn't consider myself the eye of fitness right now. But the bottom line is, I'm going to be able to finish it and that's all that really matters right now.
So I'm crossing my fingers that I can just stay injury free for two more weeks!

The Big Twenty

Things are definitely looking up. I honestly thought for a while I wasn't going to do this marathon. The shin pain in my right leg was so intense I thought for sure I had a stress fracture. But after a lot of babying, icing, ibuprofen, stretches, exercises, cross-training, better shoes and my now beloved Kinesio tape, my shin splint pain is actually going away, even after running TWENTY miles yesterday! Yayy!

Tiffany and I went over to Wheeler Farm and found some dirt roads behind it (for the tractor rides). It was really pretty and the longer we ran, the more paths we found. We ran by these little donkeys that we called unicorns, by horses, geese, cows, goats (freaky little things), chickens and roosters... all kinds of fun stuff to look at. We talked the whole time and the time really flew by. We stopped every 2-3 miles and alternated gatorade and water/gels. I stretched out that right leg every time and sure enough, it was fine. It will hurt if I stop taking ibuprofen, but at least it's manageable. 

Tiffany only had to run 18 for her training schedule, so I ran the last 2 miles by myself. I was pushing an 11 minute pace, and kept remembering Tiffany's advice from her training book: "just when you think you need to go faster, you need to go slower." It was true. Everything was aching and I just wanted to hurry and finish. But I knew if I pushed it, I was gonna get hurt. So I just went nice and easy and honestly I'm not even that sore today. It took me 3 hours and 37 minutes to finish.. about a 10:50 pace I think. My ipod said I burned 2200 calories!

After the run, Tiffany and I drove all the way to Moab (about 3.5 hours away) for my grandma's 90th birthday. We had to get back home so we were only there for 2 hours and had to drive straight back. I was really nervous about being in the car for 7+ hours the same day as that long run (talk about getting stiff!) but it was fine. I feel really blessed that this is all working out.

So the marathon is in three weeks. I'm so excited and relieved that it's really going to happen! Woo hoo!