Hello hello! Happy Wednesday! (FINALLY).
Is it just me or does this week seem seriously long to anyone else?
Adding to the long-week feeling, I got approximately 5.5 hours of sleep the last couple of nights. If you know me, you know I require at least 8 otherwise I risk falling asleep on the couch, in the car, on the bus on a stranger’s shoulder, etc.
Tired or not, I’m determined to complete all the runs on my longest mileage week (44!) yet. Even if that means 8 miles on the treadmill while reading my newest TBD Kindle book so I don’t get bored running outside before my 18-miler this weekend.
And sidebar – but for those of you that are watching Gossip Girl (I finally caught up on the past 2 weeks last night) – who else thinks there is no way that B’s bun in the oven belongs to Louis? It’s so clearly Chuck! I’m also not as opposed to Charlie as I would have thought, although I have a feeling her little charade is about to get blown wide open by Nate and the cougarific Elizabeth Hurley.
I’m also more than a little bit coveting every single thing Blair wore in this week’s episode.
Since I’m a little more than half-way through this thing we call First-Time Marathon Training, I thought I would share my thoughts on the training (and all that comes with it) thus far:
- Holy time commitment. Training for a marathon is no joke. If you’re going to do it, commit to it. Rather than working out based on feel and what I’m in the mood for, I now have a set number of miles to run or workout to complete. The 5-8 miles, I can handle time-wise. Waking up at 7 and setting aside 2-3+ hours to do long runs on the weekends? Not something I’m used to. But I’ll suck it up, get it out-of-the-way, then enjoy the rest of the weekend run-free!
- I drink a beer or 2 the night before my long runs. I do my long runs on weekends. I like to enjoy myself on my weekends. Ergo, a couple of beers, or a glass of wine, or a cocktail will happen the night before a long run takes place. We’re not talking shots to the face here, but a drink or 2 (followed by water).. I’m not trying to go all Kara Goucher on the marathon, but I’m also not going all Chelsea Handler on the vodka the night before a run either. Besides, Beer = Carbs = Pre/Post Run Fuel/Recovery.
- I drink a LOT more water. I actually didn’t think it was possible since I typically fill up my Camelbak Mule water bottle about 7 times a day at work. Double that since I started running 5x/week. I have about 4 of these, but this one filters the water and makes it fun to drink.
- I eat even more. I’m hungry pretty much 24/7 (not complaining, this is like a dream for me). There’s really not much that can be done about it. Apparently running 30-40 miles a week does this to a person. But even though I’m always hungry, it’s not like my stomach is getting bigger, so it still fits the same amount of food it did before I started all this training nonsense. You can imagine my problem here.
- Dark Chocolate tastes even better during training. I’m pretty sure it helps with sore muscles too. I should up my intake.
- I never thought I would love a large plastic watch so much. My Garmin pretty much changed my (running) life. I can rock out to old school Nsync, Britney and Beyonce while Garmin does all the heavy lifting. In return, I charge him to within an inch of his life afterwards.
- I have a pre-long run ritual. I have a couple of pieces of toast with Peanut Butter, banana slices, cinnamon, honey and a cup of black coffee. That’s about as far as long-run planning goes.
- But I cannot and will not take pictures on a run. Not only do I not have the coordination necessary to take pictures while running, but when I’m running, I’m running for me. I like to listen to my music, take in the scenery, and get lost in thought. (Which lasts about 5 miles. My thoughts can only get me so far. Then it’s up to the boybands of 1998 to do the rest.)
