Charleston Marathon.....The Rest of the Story.

So, after giving myself a few days to reflect and remember my first marathon, I have decided to give my full review of the entire process.
My friend Nikki and I left for Charleston, SC around 2p.m. on Friday and made the drive down.  It is only about an hour and half from home.  We arrived in Charleston and went straight to the expo (after a short pit stop at Dick's so I could get a "fanny pack" to store my race fuel).  The expo was sort of a cluster to say the least.  We walked in and there was a line wrapping all the way around the inside of the gym with nobody readily on hand pointing us in the direction we needed to be.  Finally, we figured it out and were in the line to get our bibs, then on to another line to purchase shuttle tickets, then on to another line to collect the race bag, then on to another line to get the race shirt.
The race shirt.....COULD HAVE BEEN MUCH BETTER.  Seriously, it looks like they took a picture of some random people running and ironed it on a shirt.  The shirt is really nice itself and I like the fact there was a ladies cut instead of the unisex sloppy looking ones that most races offer.
After leaving the expo we headed over to the La Quinta and checked in quickly and unloaded our bags. After that it was a quick trip to King St. for a taste of retail therapy before dinner.  We had 8:00 reservations at Bocci's which is an Italian restaurant that was recommended to me by a friend.  It was nice and authentic.  I had spaghetti and meatballs and Nikki and I split a side of sauteed spinach and roasted potatoes.  We were back at our hotel shortly after 9 and got all supplies ready for the next morning.  Nice little thunderstorm with hail came through so, we were glad we were already in for the night.  We both slept great.  I logged more sound hours of sleep that night than I have in what seems to be forever and Nikki said she slept great too.  I think we didn't know how to act not having to sleep with one eye and both ears open listening out for toddlers all night.
So, we woke up race morning around 5:45 ran down to the lobby for some pre-race fuel.  We headed over to the start line around 7:10 and was in our parking spot at 7:15.  We stayed in the car until 7:25 then headed over to make a quick bathroom stop before lining up.  The bathroom line was ridiculous but moved along until we were at the door leading into the actual bathroom.  It came to a halt.  At 7:57 I was 2nd in line.  At this point I didn't feel the need to panic.  My chip wasn't going to start until I crossed the start line and I wanted to start with an empty bladder.  We got out of the bathrooms and over to the start line in plenty of time to get in the pack around the pacer groups we needed to be near.  I think it was 8:05 when I his start on my Garmin.
The first few miles were beautiful but, freezing.  We ran along the battery for a few miles and then made a left onto King St and ran all the way down it.  Nikki was doing the half marathon, so we split off between mile 9 and 10.  I felt great at 13.1 and continued to feel great despite the 18 mph head wind that was blowing me backwards at times.  I felt great on through mile 22.  I would say around mile 23 I felt things start to tighten and my pace slow down.  I kept a pace that I felt comfortable in and a pace that I knew I could maintain and not risk a no finish.  This was my first so I had nothing to beat myself against.  I finished in 4:45.  I had in my head I want to do closer to 4:30 but, with the wind it just wasn't possible.  No matter what my time was, I am happy and can now call myself a marathoner!
Now, looking back, I have decided that running a marathon is comparable to child birth.  You forget anything negative about the process and you do it all over again.  I have now registered for my 2nd marathon.  Rock N Roll Raleigh........HERE I COME!!!!

T Minus 12 Days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ready or not, here I come.  I am 12 days out from my first marathon.  I have in some sort of way been preparing my mind and/or body for this for over a year.  Charleston Marathon I am on my way!
I am not going to lie and say that I am as ready as I will ever be, because I am not.  I could have trained more but, I am a wife and mother first.  Life happens and logging all of the runs that my plan called for just didn't happen.  I do not think I will finish in near the time that I initially set out to do but, I am confident that I WILL FINISH and I WILL HAVE FUN.  At this point I will say that I believe this will not be my first and last marathon.  I have enjoyed my training for the most part.  The training I did was a plan that I downloaded from Marathon Nation .  I felt like the plan was totally doable and didn't take me away from my family for hours on end.  I will say that I have had to tweak the plan the last month or so due to life =) .
In the last month, I have teamed up with a long time friend for runs.  She is doing the half marathon of this race.  She has really done a great job!  I am not sure if we have enjoyed our running together in itself, or 2 + hours of adult conversation the most.  Now, we are looking forward to a little retail therapy along with our marathon weekend.

Any advice for my final 12 days?

Anyone else running the Charleston Marathon?

Great Deal On Runners World Magazine!!!!

If anyone is reading, there is an awesome deal on Runners World Magazine right now.  It is from Southern Savers  Click here Runners World Magazine and you enter coupon code SOUTHERNSAVE to get a full year for $5.99.  The offer expires at midnight tonight.

I Stay So Hungry....

I can't believe I am up this late on a week night. I better get use to it though. I have accepted a new position where I will be working some nights. I have worked nights in the past so, I know I will manage. I  really excited about my job opportunity but, a little nervous about starting somewhere new and learning the ins and outs of the position.  It will be fine and I will manage.

On a running note, I had to get my run in on the #dreadmill. I just wasn't in the mood to do anything except get my boys and come home when I got off work. Supper ended up taking way longer to prepare than I expected and next thing I knew it was 8:00 and the boys still needed to have a bath.  Got that done and pulled out the treadmill and got my tempo running on. I did 2 sets of 6 minutes at marathon pace 6 minutes at half pace and 2 minutes long run pace. At least I got to watch some duck dynasty. 

My burning question for this post is about #runner nutrition. Do you follow some sort of written plan?  Have a nutritionist? Don't care cause you can eat what you want and not gain weight?  I have been so hungry lately and I almost consider myself bing eating. I cant even but Nutella anymore for my kids because I end up eating it befor they get any. So, what do you suggest to get my appetite under control?

Accountability

Well, the weather pattern is doing its typical thing here in the south. Perfect day 2 days ago and then yesterday and today have been hot. 

Here are my stats from yesterday's mid week long run. I couldn't fit my splits on the screen. They weren't exactly where they should have been anyway (I am putting blame on the heat). 

Today should be a fairly easy interval of 2 x's 1 mile at threshold pace. I read in someone else's blog (now I can't remember who it was to give them credit) where they post there training schedule on there blog and it helps hold them accountable. I thought that was a great idea. I wouldn't want to disappoint somebody who may accidentally trip over my blog by not running the distance I was supposed to run for that particular day/week. 😃. 

So what holds you accountable to your workouts?

Shoe Transition

I had a great 4 mile tempo run yesterday afternoon.  Conditions were perfect!  Today is my midweek long run.  I will be doing 8 miles with a mix of long run pace and tempo pace.
Today will also be my longest run to date wearing my Newton Energy's.  I feel like I have been transitioning into them rather well.  I do seem to notice the lugs more on the left foot than the right and I am not sure if that means anything or not.  I would like to hear opinions on this shoe if anyone has anything to offer up.  I am coming into these from the Mizuno Wave Precision 13.  I have loved the Precision 13!!!!
 I seem to not get more than 300 miles out of any running shoe. For the woman in me this is a good thing because I get to get new shoes more often.  For my bank account this is not such a good thing!!  My clue to needing new shoes is when I start noticing IT Band issues.  I am really hoping the Newton's will help train me to be a midfoot striker and hopefully this will decrease the ITBS flare ups.  In the mean time it is me and the foam roller.  

Takes on Newton Energy?

Takes on Mizuno Precision 13?

ITBS remedies?

The Weather is Here...

Finally, it is my favorite time of year to run.  The southern humidity is finally tolerable.  To me there is nothing worse than running when it is humid.  I have heard some people say that it is harder for them to run in the cold but, for me it is humidity.  I am hoping that I will start seeing an improvement on my vDOT with the weather cool down.
This week is week 14 of my 24 week marathon training plan.  When I was trying to decide on a training plan, I went with one from Marathon Nation.  The plan determines your paces by periodically testing your vDOT.  Most of the training runs consist of you running at different paces (long run pace, marathon pace, 1/2 pace, threshold) and builds up your endurance of running on tired muscles.  According to my current vDOT I am looking at about a 4:25-4:30 marathon finish.
Now, the hard part is learning to better manage my time.  I will always welcome any tips from you veteran mother runner's.

How do you manage your time between your career, being a wife, mother, and runner?

Has anyone done the Marathon Nation training?  If so, what did you think?