Week Eight - Halfway

Mileage (miles per workout): 4 - 6 - 4 - 12

This week seemed to take forever.  That might have been because this week was actually two.  I injured my left knee the first Week 8 on Thursday and I wasn’t able to run again until the next Tuesday.  The pain wasn’t completely gone when I started running again but it was manageable and I was able to run the long run on the second Week 8.

Hi, my name is Liz and I’m addicted to Gatorade.  But only red and the occasional dark blue.  In my world, Gatorade only comes in colors.  I’ve learned that nutrition and hydration is important.  My body runs better on full than empty.

Carbohydrates, protein and fat are the big things I’m concerned with.  A good trick to eating without counting calories is to use the “divided plate” strategy.  Take any plate and divide it in half.  Then take one of those halves and divide it in half.  You get one of those divided plates you see at a picnic so your cole slaw doesn’t touch your baked beans.  That would be gross.  Fill the large half with vegetables and fruits.  Fill one small section with a protein and the other with a carbohydrate.  Enjoy!  Now it’s not the food pyramid but it’s a good start.

Before my long runs I eat loads of carbohydrates.  Carbo-loading as some would call it.  I also carbo-load after the long runs to help my muscles recover more quickly.  That’s also where the Gatorade comes in handy.  My stomach is more tolerant of liquids than of solids for a couple of hours after running.  But there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.  I learned that one the hard way.

I was really proud of running a race two weekends ago but it made this week seem weird.  It felt like all the training I was doing was for that race and that training should be over.  I had to force myself to run.  Combine that with my intense dislike for being overheated and you’ve got a recipe for disaster.  But I just reminded myself I am now halfway through training.  It would be shorter for me to finish the training and run the marathon.  I couldn’t go more than halfway and quit.  It would certainly be easier to quit but I didn’t start this because I thought it would be easy.

Along with this halfway point came another milestone.  I passed 150 cumulative miles of training!  Only eight more weeks to go and I’m sure another 150 miles.

Things I learned this week:

First: New shoes definitely make a difference.  As well as looking pretty, they can make hard runs seem a tiny bit easier.

Next: Running in cold weather after training in hot weather is definitely more preferable to running in hot weather after training in the cold.

Last: Eat when you're hungry.  Stop when you're full.

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Continue reading - Week Nine