marathon training (week eighteen) race week!

IT'S DONE!!

...and i made it. after eighteen weeks of successful training with just very minor injuries and aches and pains and what was the result? i went and ran 26.2 miles yesterday and now i can't walk normal. i have to walk downstairs backward. if i squat there's a high likelihood that i will not be getting back up. last night my muscles were spasming, so that was freaky to watch. oh, and sometimes when i'm randomly sitting trying to enjoy dinner...i'll get a leg cramp that stands me straight up in .2 seconds. other than that though...i'm doing AWESOME!

the race started great. it was 51, overcast, and the wind was a little gusty. by mile 5 i realized i was doing what i had just done times 5, so i started to think things over. once i came up on miles 8-9 is when the first place half-marathoner passed us (not defeating at all!) btw...awesome job goes out to Emily for crushing her first half-marathon time by almost ten minutes!! she ran the half in 02:19:45! (and no one knows this...but she was struggling with some knee pain for the past couple weeks in her training...she's a machine!)

onto the half-way point...sucked. the realization that i had to do everything i had just done started to sink in. at mile 14 or 15 (memory is a little fuzzy at this point) i had to take a pee break. i'll admit it was a bit awkward hopping into a portapotty and swaying all around trying to go to the bathroom. at mile 16 or 17 i had officially hit the wall. most of you probably know what this is. it's when you say to yourself, "you. are. insane. why are you doing this to yourself? you'll never ever finish and your body is not going to work right ever again! stop running!!"

i was using GU (gel packs) to refuel throughout the race since i trained with them, but i had never had the chocolate flavor. right around mile 18 (i think) i grabbed a chocolate flavor GU from a volunteer by mistake but really needed it so i took it anyway. a half mile later at the next water stop i took water and a little gatorade...it didn't mix well in my stomach. i got a little nauseous and didn't take on any calories the rest of the race. so, the combination of hitting the wall and no fuel for the last 6.2 miles made it a little difficult. i ended up walking through water stops to finish out the race with a finish time of 04:46:52. a little longer than what i had hoped for...but honestly, i ran 26.2 miles so i'm not being too hard on myself. oh, and it was pretty awesome to be negative calories until 7:00 yesterday, too.

thanks to everyone who's been following my training, leaving me comments of encouragement, and letting me know that i can do anything i put my mind to. trust me...those were some of the things that helped me cross the finish line.

one thing i learned/re-learned this week in regards to running: running a full marathon is freakin' hard...but possible. now go try it for yourself!


week eighteen numbers:

starting weight: 184

monday - rest
tuesday - 4 miles / 34:13 (8:34)
wednesday - rest
thursday - 3 miles / 27:30 (9:10)
friday - rest
saturday - 26.2 / 04:46:52 (10:57)
sunday - just a little rest

total mileage for the week: 33.2 miles

ending weight: 182

total weight loss/gain: -2

how do you pronounce this?

this month we wanted to find something a little out there. well...i think we managed to do just that (at least i thought so). walking by this particular food we saw a sign that read "jicama" and immediately we had to start trying to pronounce it. after emily and i both realized we both knew it should be our next new food we try. come to find out it's also known as a Mexican turnip (a little useless fact for ya).

the inside of it is white almost like a potato. speaking of potatoes...the texture of this thing is a lot like a potato combined with a pear (at least when it's uncooked). i think i definitely want to try this again, but maybe cooked in something or for dipping in a hummus maybe?

want to know something cool about jicama? (why yes tony...we do of course) we eat the root like you see in the picture below, but the rest of the plant is actually very poisonous. seriously...who was the lucky one that figured that out?

jicama: 

-would i recommend it? yeah i think so. it'd probably work best cutting into wedges for dips or throwing it in a salad.

-easy to prepare? cut it up. we ate it raw, but you can cook it.

-availability? we found it at hyvee (we've seen them at wal-mart)

-health benefits? low in calories and an excellent source of fiber (six grams per cup!), potassium, iron, calcium, and vitamins C and E

marathon training (week seventeen)

remember when i was training for that marathon and was a week away and freaking out? me too.

let the countdown begin friends. five days to go...

btw...i just want to go on record and say that i am super duper proud of emily lynn gould for training for her second half-marathon and everyone should wish her awesome-good luck!



one thing i learned/re-learned this week in regards to running: there is always a bigger issue in this world for me to worry about than some small little problem i am having. too many times (way too many times) i stress over something or freak out about something in my life and i completely forget about everyone else in this world. trust me...it can probably be a lot worse! i realized this on a run...

week seventeen numbers:

starting weight: 183


monday - rest
tuesday - rest
wednesday - 4 miles / 33:59 (8:30)
thursday - 3 miles / 25:44 (8:35)
friday - rest
saturday - rest
sunday - 6 miles / 55:00 (9:10)

total mileage for the week: 13 miles

ending weight: 184


total weight loss/gain: +1

"running is one of those things that can go straight to your head...and it gets there quick."
-tony freaking robert gould