Philadelphia Marathon Recap - PR, babayyyy!

Last Sunday, I raced in the Philadelphia Marathon and I achieved things I didn't think were possible: a sub-3:50 marathon and a marathon race I actually enjoyed! That is getting ahead a bit, so let's start from the beginning. **Warning: there is a section about public urination that goes awry, so if you're not good with that, then this might not be your favorite race report.**

The past 18 weeks, I have trained harder and more consistently than I ever have for a marathon. I followed Pftiz's 18/55 plan (18 weeks, peaking with 55 miles in a week). I actually put in nearly every mile I had planned and I put in quality miles. I raced a the Philadelphia RnR Half Marathon and PRed it by 8 minutes, so I felt good going into this race. Even so, I hadn't had any previous marathons go well, so I was still nervous. 

I woke up Sunday, race day, from stress dreams about work. I kept dreaming I was consistently messing up and being scolded, which meant I woke up a bit distraught and frustrated. I tried to get past that while I got ready. I had laid everything out, so I just had to get into my running clothes, eat breakfast, and head out the door with my mom (in town for my race) and boyfriend. I did, like normal, use the restroom at home, hoping that was all I would need. This comes in to play later. 

We got to the race and it was still dark and I was getting really excited and nervous! I felt the need to go to the bathroom yet again (odd, I felt, but I had just drank a lot of water on the car ride there), so I waited in line and went again. I then met up with my lovely Back on My Feet friends. I was so proud to be rocking BOMF gear and to be racing alongside some amazing friends, especially those running either a half or full marathon for the first time. 

My outfit also included a homemade tutu. I loved running in costume for the Marine Corps Marathon last year, so I knew adding something fun to my race gear was needed. I saw some folks in tutus at the Mind the Ducks 12 Hour race, so I knew I wanted to make one to wear. I adored wearing it and cannot wait to wear it in other races! I think it was my good luck charm!

Holy tutu! Is it big enough?!

After meeting up with some BOMF friends, I headed to my corral to find the 3:50 pace group. I was aiming for that time, so I had planned on running with them as much as I could and hopefully passing them toward the end. I am so happy I chose to run with them because it allowed me to not have to constantly check my pace; I just had to stick with the guy with the balloons and I was fine. I realized around now I had to go to the bathroom yet again. What was up with me? I was hoping it was just nerves. 

The race finally started a bit past 7 am and we were off! I will say I was extremely frustrated the first 5ish miles with a lot of the racers ahead of me. If you don't plan on keeping the pace of the corral you stand in, don't be in it. Don't be in the corral with the 3:30-3:59 racers when you plan on walking within the first two miles of the race. It didn't help that the first few miles are though Center City with more narrow streets. 

By the time we got to my alma mater Drexel University, the crowds weren't nearly as bad. Around then, my need to pee was getting pretty bad. Just past the first major hill on the course is wall of trees that many males use to pee in. I decided this was my chance to go to the bathroom without waiting in a line for a porta-potty. Let's just say I didn't do a great job of it and ended up with wet shorts and underwear (super gross, I know!). What I would have paid to be a male for just 30 seconds! I then had to sprint up and catch the pace group, which was not fun. Lucky for me, my shorts dried out within a few miles, but I did not love those few miles with gross shorts!

Soon enough, we were at the half way point and I was truly happy. The first half didn't feel forced and I felt like I had plenty of energy. Before the race, I put on a temporary tattoo I got from Tatt.ly (awesome site!) that really helped me focus on being happy throughout the race. Anytime I was starting to not enjoy running, I'd look down at my forearm and remember today was a day to be happy and appreciate what I was doing. 

I still have it on my arm and I love looking at it!

Only around mile 17 was when tiredness set in. I knew I had only single digit miles left, but that didn't mean it was going to be easy. I focused on staying with the pacer, even if that meant having to sprint after him after every water break. Soon enough, we were in Manayunk, where the fans were amazing, and we just had to head back to the Art Museum!!

As the miles slowly ticked away, the miles became harder and harder (duh!), but I knew 3:50 was in my reach and I refused to allow the pace group get ahead of me. With just a few miles left, I felt myself slowly pulling away from the pace group and although my stomach was starting to feel nauseous, I kept pushing. The end felt like it took forever to get to, but finally, I was pushing (albiet, not sprinting, because that was out of the question) one step in front of the other to the finish. I crossed the finish by high-fiving Bart Yasso, famous runner, and Philly's Mayor Nutter. My finish time? 3:48:50. I felt like death by the end, but I was so happy to have that time be mine! I worked hard, raced smart (for once!), and because of it, I cut 12 minutes off my previous PR.

Now it's time to rest up since I've got another marathon in 3 days. Ack!! 

Pre-Race Jitters - It's almost Philadelphia Marathon time!

It's about that time for taper madness to be hitting! With the Philadelphia Marathon less than 5 days away, I'm getting quite anxious for the race to happen. While other friends of mine got nervous before their races earlier in the season, I told each of them to relax. Now it's my time to start freaking out. I wouldn't say I'm as nervous as I have been in the past, but I am just really excited and wanting to race this very second.

Never enough cat memes. 

What is one way to ease nerves? Plan everything out so I am not so nervous! This week, I plan on getting plenty of sleep, drinking a lot of water, and eating healthfully. I've fulfilled the first two and struggled a bit with the last one, but I've got plenty of time to fill up on veggies, healthy proteins, and good carbs. I also plan on picking up my bib early on Saturday, then laying out my clothes and items needed for the race so I don't have to find them early on race day.

Another exciting part of my running ensemble (hopefully)? A homemade tutu. I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in a Lady GaGa costume and it was so fun. Whenever I felt down or negative, someone would cheer me on and it really got me back to focusing on racing and being happy. I'm the least crafty person ever, but I envy people like my friend Liz who are so crafty and DIY-friendly. I'm going to tackle this extremely easy project and hope that it brings me the happiness during the race.

Mine will hopefully look less like cotton candy. 

Anyone else racing the Philadelphia Marathon? Have any pre-race rituals that make you less nervous?

Great things of the past two weeks

I meant to post last week, but that didn't happen. I plan out posts and even start to write them in my head, then I come home from work and either am too tired to do a post or forget all together. The past two weeks have had a lot of fun in them, so I'll show that through photos.

Five 20 milers done! Ignore my swollen post-run fingers.

I'm officially in taper-mode for my two fall marathons (Philadelphia and NCR Trail Marathon). As much as I love running, I am really happy to be tapering. In preparation for two marathons within a week, I did five 20 milers in 5 weeks. That picture is me right after my last 20 miler, so happy to be heading into the taper. Now I have just 2 weeks until Philly and 3 until NCR.

MCM Fourmites!

Last weekend was the yearly running of the Marine Corps Marathon. I ran it last year and through Runner's World's MCM Fourms, I've met some amazing people. I couldn't pass up an opportunity to see these folks again this year, even if I wasn't racing. 

What a fancy group! I <3 OBP. 

This past week, the Back on My Feet Bash was held! Everyone gets all fancy and rocks running shoes. The picture above is my team, who I run with each week. It was such a blast to see everyone in non-running gear, eat yummy food, and dance the night away. Can't wait until next year's bash!

Aaaand last, but not least: witch fingers.

Is it 1998 again?

Can't wait for the next two weeks until the Philadelphia Marathon. Hope they are as great as the last two weeks have been!

Confusion: How Should I Eat?

I posted before about my food philosophy, but recently, I've been a bit confused. After hearing about a co-worker who ate close to a paleo diet and after doing some reading on my own, I can't help but be a bit lost. I grew up eating similar to the USDA's food pyramid (now extinct). I ate a lot of carbs, veggies, fruits, seafood, and lean meats. I did partake in a lot of snacking and processed foods as well. Fat was something to avoid, so that meant no fatty cuts of meat, no full-fat cookies and chips, and lots of 100 calorie packs, gummies, and Olestra-laden chips.

Source

I haven't necessarily been happy with my diet recently and especially not happy with how my clothing fits. When I first heard about the "paleo diet," I thought that it sounded like a crazy fad diet. The diet allows for lean meats, a ton of veggies, some nuts and fruits, healthy fats, and lots of water-drinking. Things that aren't allowed? Grains, legumes, dairy, sugars, alcohol, and processed foods.  Um, those are all amazingly delicious things.

Paleo Food Pyramid Source

The thing is, the more I researched it, the more I was interested in it and felt it wasn't a fad. According to those who follow the diet, all of the things they remove from the diet are inefficient and poor sources of nutrients; a lot of those items also adversely affect people's bodies. All of the nutrients and vitamins those products have can be attained from the permissible foods. People who are on it say they feel better, have more energy, lose weight, and are better suited for exercise (which, by the way, this diet discusses. It says one should do short bursts of exercise [CrossFitters are big into Paleo] and long cardio sessions are not needed).

While I haven't officially made the switch, I have been trying to eat less carbs, most of the time to no avail. I have at least been more conscious to my eating and trying to get in more fruits and veggies; instead of snacking on popcorn or chips, I've been eating fruits and veggies instead. The issues is now when I would automatically know what to make for dinner, I feel paralyzed because what I would normally make now seems not okay.

Source

In order to get myself unstuck, I'm just going to do more research. For someone who would not consider herself a lover of doing research, when I find something I am curious about, I research it to death. I also know that some diets and ways of eating work for some while it doesn't work for others. I'm going to keep an open mind and allow that to lead me to what makes me the happiest and feel the healthiest.

Have you ever come upon information that totally left you confused? What did you do about it? Anyone eat similar to the paleo diet?

Foodie Weekend

How was everyone's weekend? Mine was filled with running, football, and most importantly, lots of yummy food!

Saturday morning, I got in my 3rd 20 miler of my marathon cycle. I am doing 5 of them this cycle to prepare for my two back to back marathons (recently registered for the NCR Trail Marathon in Sparks, MD on November 26th as I want to be a Marathon Maniac). With each 20 miler, the distance has become less intimidating and I am eager to get in my last two. After the run, I started my delicious weekend eats with a mango tapioca drink and shrimp bun from Pho Cali in Philly's Chinatown.

I'm salivating looking at this right now. 

Perfect way to relax after a long run!

Sunday, I had some friends over to watch the Eagles vs. Redskins game. Although the game did not go in my favor (of course I invited only Eagles fans and they would not let me hear the end of it), we had some yummy eats, including a delicious homemade 4 layer dip (cream cheese, fat free refried beans, cheese, local Italian long hot peppers, baked in the oven until melty and yummy!). After eating too many chips with dip, I needed a healthy dinner, so I roasted a whole free-range organic chicken over one giant local sweet potato that I had diced up. How delicious do the roasted sweet potatoes look?!

I want to eat you over and over again. 

The chicken will last for lunches for part of the week and so will the sweet potatoes. Very excited about this!

To continue the healthy and fall trend, I had a pumpkin smoothie for breakfast this AM. I've been tweaking it and the recipe is as follows (and totally adaptable!):

I want to be sipping on you yet again. 

Pumpkin Smoothie

6 pumpkin ice cubes (take canned pumpkin puree and put into ice cube tray, freeze, then pop them out into a baggie and keep them in the freezer)
1.5 cups non-dairy milk, unsweetened
1/8 c maple syrup (if your non-dairy milk is sweetened, you will not need as much)
1/2-1 scoop protein powder (optional, but I used Sun Warrior Vanilla)
splash vanilla
sprinkle or two of cinnamon

You just need to blend everything up in your blender and enjoy!

Note: You may not need as much liquid, but my blender is totally lame and cannot blend unless there's oodles of liquid. You can use regular milk, but my tummy isn't a fan. I also am not a fan of nutmeg or allspice, but if you are, add it!

Hope everyone had a great weekend. Anyone eat any yummy things this weekend?!

Worst Long Run in Foreverrrr

Well, they can't all go well, right? Especially with all of the factors that played into my terrible 20 19.25 mile long run. Oh yeah, when I cut a long run short, you know it's for real.

So what was in my way of a successful run? Let's count the things:

1. Hottest day in a long time (84 degrees, which is around 25 degrees hotter than last weekend's long run) and I started my run right when it was the hottest. 
2. It was Yom Kippur yesterday, meaning I spent the day before this run mostly sans food and drink (was able to eat dinner last night). 
3. Decided to eat meat sauce and pasta as my breakfast. Oh yeah, I'm really smart. Let's just say I didn't feel well for like 3 hours before my run as it was too heavy for a pre-run breakfast. 
4. Lower GI issues later on the run; I'm very thankful there are porta-potties along the route!
5. Side stitches on BOTH sides of my body. I've had issue with side stitches in the past (since XC in high school), but I've NEVER had two at the same time. Yeesh.

I wish I had seen this during my run.
Source: http://timeshaft.tumblr.com/

Okay, so it just stunk. I was extremely tired and my legs felt heavy. I also started the run a bit too fast even with all of the reasons stacked up against me not to. After a PR in my half marathon a few weeks ago, I plugged my time into McMillan's calculator. You can plug in a time you have for a previous distance (in a race, ideally) and it will give you a guess as your future race times. It's not 100% on point, of course, but it's a nice way to see an idea how fast you can run. I did so with my half and it said I was on course to run a 3:40:34 marathon. Ummm, excuse me?! That's cutting 21 minutes from my marathon PR. I know that's too fast for me, but it gets me really excited since that's within a minute of my Boston Qualifying time (BQ) and it made me realize it may be possible sometime in the future. 

With all of that info, I was hoping to do the first half of the 20 miler at close to 9 minute miles, then do the second half at around 8:30 min/mile pace (close to the pace I'd need to hit for a BQ time). About 8 miles into the run, I realized this was not going to happen and was probably not smart to try to even do so. The last 6 or so miles were so difficult and I actually didn't finish the 20 miler; got back to my apartment with .75 miles left and knew doing them at the sloth-like pace I was only capable of was silly. 

Not half bad pace, even if I fell apart at the end!

Am I upset? Yes, because I don't like having bad runs, but it's one of the first ones I've had in this marathon training cycle and I'd rather struggle in training than in the actual races. I also averaged still a really decent pace, so it's not a total loss. Can't wait for next week's long run to redeem myself! 

When to say "when"

Last week, a reader (hey, David!) commented asking me if I wanted race in the Sloppy Cuckoo 1/2 Marathon this past weekend in Philly. Two half marathons in a week? Sounded like such a fun challenge, especially since it encouraged to come in costume! There was no way to sign-up online, but I contacted the RD and found out I could register the day of. Fab!

As the week went by, I was getting more excited, but little voices in my head kept popping up with things like, "You're not ready for trails. What if you injure yourself? This isn't your key race and if you get injured before the Philadelphia Marathon, you'll be so SO upset." I just decided to ignore those thoughts until Saturday, the day before the race. John, the loving BF that he is, brought up some good points about the race and why I might not want to do it. I went out for a 5 mile run and the entire time, I created a list of pros and cons for doing the race. Here's what I came up with:

Pros
-Trail experience for my possible trail marathon in the fall after Philly
-Fun experience
-Another excuse to run in costume!

Lady GaGa costume from last year's Marine Corps Marathon

Cons
-Would spend more money participating than I should be spending
-Would need to go to bed really early Saturday, after the music festival I was at with John, my cousin, and friends
-Possibly jeopardize my ability to PR the Philadelphia Marathon due to injury
-Spending another weekend racing, away from friends and the bf

One main thing that I thought about is how much running takes up in my life. I run with Back on My Feet, in general, twice a week before work (doesn't interfere with seeing other people). I then usually run 2-3 times a week on my own, including my long runs. Sundays are usually shot (at least most of it) due to my long runs. Usually one night in the weekend, I have to go to bed early and/or not partake in fun activities in order to be ready for my long runs. I realized that registering for this race was going to be taking up more time away from my family and friends than I needed.

Do I regret it? In the end, 95% of me doesn't. I was able to stay out late with John, my cousin, Jessica (who was visiting from MD), and another friend Matt by going out late after the music festival. I was able to sleep in, watch Sunday Morning (guilty pleasure!), get in a 13.4 mile long run, run by the Puerto Rican Day parade in Philly, have a strawberry tapioca drink from Chinatown (first ever!), watch football games with friends out at bars, grocery shop, make vegetable stew, AND roast a chicken. Hello, did you see that list? That's a lot for one day, which wouldn't have happened if I ran the race. I do wish I could have done the race if it was on a different weekend, but in the end, I was able to balance out everything else in my life, have a blast, and still stay on track for marathon training. Win-win-win!!! Almost as much of a win the below gif is:

Source: Little Pancakes

You are welcome.