Don't Sugar Coat It

The other day I said I had wished I took a picture of the football field I ran around as I envisioned myself being Rudy.  Here it is from my run today.  Now just imagine overcast, rainy and more leaves.

Thursday! More importantly, almost Friday!! I can't tell you how much I need the weekend to catch up on some sleep. Very lacking this week.

Anyways, it has been unusually warm the past couple of days. We're talking 78-80 degrees! I've been trying to get my runs in during the day so I can enjoy the sun and warmth. Yesterday's Couch to 10k run was a repeat of the previous run. The one I had been dreading, remember? 50 minutes of intervals. Well I did it again yesterday and it still was hard but I have to admit, a teensy bit easier so that's something to be proud of. I might as well just suck it up and put the worries to the side because from here on out, the runs are getting significantly longer and more difficult.

Post run.Nothing to brag about here.  Didn't even want to post a full body pic but hopefully this can be considered my "before" and eventually there will be a foxy "after" months from now.

Super Super Delicious.  150 calories.  YUM

Snack Time.  Beef Jerky.  Jury is still out on this one.  I like it.   120 calories for the Jumbo (anywhere from 60-80 calories per serving)  High Protein.  Low Fat.  High Sodium though...

Last night I met up with my friend Amy for coffee after work. I haven't seen Amy in probably 10 years! We went to high school together and played softball together and I reached out to her recently because I saw on Facebook (shocker) that she was getting ready to run the Chicago Marathon. She's obviously not the only person I know that was running it or had run it, but I particularly wanted to talk to Amy about it because I don't exactly remember Amy being a "runner". Sorry, Amy. :) We joked last night as we reminisced that we used to bitch the whole time when we had to run one lap around the school during softball practice. Now...she's a marathon runner!

After we "caught up" on the last 10 years,  I had a million questions to ask her about the marathon. I literally considered writing down her answers but was trying to play it cool. Here are some of the million things I wanted to know:

Was she running before she decided to run the marathon? If so, how much and how often? She said up to 6 miles 5 days a week when she got serious about it.

When did she start training? May or June

Did she alter what she was eating at all or just eat normally? She ate pretty normally but obviously if she had a long run the next day she tried not to eat anything to greasy or heavy the night before but she didn't really make an extra effort to eat more protein or more/less calories, etc.

What did she wear? Shorts.  She usually runs in running pants but her friend told her to wear shorts because even though its so cold you will get too warm.  She said she felt like she was constantly pulling at her shorts. (I already know I'd have to wear spandex running pants.  Sexy.) She also wore a tank top with a track jacket that she ended up handing off to her parents in the crowd around mile 9 or so.  

Did she piss or shit herself? I heard that could happen. No but she had to pee a bunch of times.  Even stopped at mile 25 to pee! And she said to take Imodium before the race because that will help with the urge to deuce. Take advil or tylenol too.  She said you become so dehydrated the next couple of days that you don't shit at all.  (Good to know.)

Was she shitting her pants before the race? She said she could barely sleep the night before and was so scared.  Mile 8 she said she panicked and was on the verge of an anxiety attack because all she kept thinking about was how much more she had to go.  She said take it one mile at a time and don't think "ok now I have 16 miles left....13 miles left..." One mile at a time.  She also said that the friend that she ran with had run it two other times and she was still nervous her third time.  She said "I don't know what's worse.  Not knowing what to expect like the first time, or knowing what to expect!"  Uh oh.

What would she do differently? She said she knows that she could do better.  She said their goal was to run it in 4 hours and 45 min and they ended up finishing at 5 hours and 45 min.  (That means that they hoped to keep an 11 min mile pace and ended up averaging around 13 minutes per mile.) Also told me that she wasn't prepared for what happened to her body.  She said she gained so much muscle in her legs and her thighs especially got super big and her upper body lost weight but not muscle so she just felt disproportionate.  She would look into some upper body strength training in the future. Please, God, please don't let that happen to me.  I'm really doing this to lose weight so I'd hate to end up looking like a freak.  Not lying, even if I had completed 75% of the training I would probably scale back A LOT if my body ended up looking weird.  Don't get me wrong, I want to run a marathon but I'd rather have the body than the medal at the finish line.

Did she use body glide or something for chaffing? YES! Put it all over.  Your thighs, under the bands of your sports bra, the waistline or your pants/shorts and don't forget between your toes! Didn't think about that one! They have a guy along the race that holds up this giant pole covered with vaseline that runners can run past and just scoop off a handful of it to use where they need it. Ummm...you sure that was vaseline Amy?!?!

How many pairs of shoes did she go through during her training? Two.  Her shoes were completely shot 2-3 weeks before the marathon and she had to get new ones.  Next time she'd get them at least a month or 2 before the race.  They ended up being ok but not as broken in as they could have been.

What did she do after the race? Die?  Had a beer.  Goose Island is there handing out beers to the runners and then found their families and went to lunch.  Picked at turkey sandwiches/turkey burgers because you really don't want to eat much.

Would she do it again?????  "Ummmm....  Yea, probably?  Because I know I could do better.  I don't know if I'll do it again this year but we'll see.  Talk to me again in a few months."

So there you have it.  An honest account of the marathon.  And yes I'm STILL considering doing it.  One day at a time. One mile at a time.