Lessons from my first full Marathon:

In regards to training:
- Stay on track.  Having vein surgery mid training and having a 2 week running restriction interrupted training that was already not on track as much as I would like due to nasty winter weather.

- Strength Train!  Find the time, seriously.  I did not work on training my hips as much as I had planned and I think I am lacking in speed because of it.

For the 50k training I opted to have the surgery just before starting, causing me to be a little late to start but I am hoping it will be better than disrupting mid training.

For race day:
-  Take advantage of the bag drop to have a spare change of clothes available mid race.  I didn't and the day had variable temps depending on if the sun was out or if you were passing the lake.  I could easily go from too warm to too cold in a span of miles, and found my wet clothes chaffing in the second loop.  I really wish I had a dry sports bra to change into.

- Make sure I am taking in enough salt when I am sweating a lot.  Lots of calf cramping miles 15 - 18 were alleviated by taking in potatoes  dipped in salt at the next 3 rest stops, however by then I had to do a lot more walking than I had planned on.

-  If your shoe feels loose and ankle unsteady then stop to retie right away, I thought it could wait until the next rest area and I didn't want to lose my rhythm, however having my ankle too wobbly on rough trail started the whole slide into calf cramping.

Good things:
I did slow down when I needed to, and didn't push  into stupid levels of injury.
I didn't stop even when my body was crying for me to and I was certain I was the last one on the trail.
I was able to finish strong, sprinting with a smile after one of the roughest trails in Michigan!
I discovered new levels of endurance..which of course inspires me to see if I can keep pushing farther.

Thoughts On A 50k training

   I am now looking forward to my first 50k, (yah I'm at that level of crazy) not sure I'm ready for the miles though and having some serious doubts as I peruse the few training plans I have been able to find on line.    Just went through another vein ablation surgery and the Dr. insists I need to take it slow working back into training, with a 2 week break.  it's been 4 weeks since the marathon and technicly I should be starting to train for the 50k, this break will set me behind with only 13 weeks to train.  Ouch!  

     I've decided to focus on light stregth training during the time I'm not allowed to run, HR training with fast walking, and trying to finagle 16 weeks of training down to 13.  Really my best hope is that as usual I am not focused on speed as much as I am just hoping to finish.  

Things to focus on strengthening:

- L. glut and hamstring seem noticably weaker than right when performing single leg sit to stands or single leg bridge up. (I'm considering buying the Kinetic Revolution hip training program)

- I had a lot of issues with ankle turning on the trail, closed chain ankle stabilizing exercises. Including some jump rope.  here's an interesting drill: http://www.kinetic-revolution.com/foot-ankle-mobility-drill-for-runners/

- Core!  working on 3 different 15 min routines I can do every morning while waiting for the coffee to brew.  More details later.  One will involve some ballet core work doing side V- ups with kick backs and kick outs.

I don't want to lose sight of how important the strength training is and plan on adding it into the training program.  More on that later as I finish getting it written up.  Well I'm off to take the dog for an evening walk! 

Cheers!

Lesson in adding miles

For new runners....what not to do...really!

I just started running last year, mostly as a way to destress.  I am told by those with more experience not to increase my distance by more than 10% at a time.  I am very bad at following this rule.  The first time I broke it was early on when I was tired of repeating this little 1 mile circle of trail for 4 miles.  The whole trail was 6 and I thought to myself if I can do 4 in an hour I should be able to do 6 in an hour and a half right?  uhhh yeah, took closer to 2 hrs and it was well and truely by the time I finished.  Recovery over the next few days wasn't fun, and I have tried to be nicer to myself since then.
Last weekend I was supposed to run my first 10 mi, got lost and ran 15 instead.  Thinking back, I enjoyed the majority of it.  The weather was nice and crisp, trees just starting to change, a really lovely day for the first 13 mi.  The last two were pretty rough, cramping gastrocs, burning pain in both hips, and a lovely snapping sensation every time I raised my right leg.  Stumbled across the finish, running mostly because it hurt more to walk.  But I did it, and was glad that I reached the half marathon mark in relatively good condition.
The rest of Saturday was a lot of icing down , stretching unfortunately brought on pretty bad cramping.  And though by now I'm no longer sore, I have been feeling punked out and easily tired all week almost like I was fighting off a cold.  
Lesson learned.....don't overdo it, and from now on carry a map!  : )

Nefarious Meatballs

After going mostly vegan for the last two years, I have granted my daughter's birthday wish and made my famous meatballs.   The smell is driving me crazy, it has taken the better part of four hours to make a triple batch.  And I admit to eating two of them to test for flavoring....I am so going to hurt tomorrow!

Jenna's Meatballs

6 slices of white bread
1 1/2 cup of milk
3 lbs lean ground beef
2 lbs ground turkey
1 1/2 cup chopped onion
1 1/2 cup grated parmesean
3/ 4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
4 - 5 garlic cloves chopped
3 Tbs dried Oregano
3Tbs dried Basil
1 Tbs fresh ground pepper
1-2 tsp of salt

1. break up bread and soak in milk for 5 min.  shred soaked bread with for and squeeze out excess milk.  Mix bread and all other ingredients
2.  Roll balls of 2 - 3 Tbs size and place in rows of  4 on jelly roll pan, pour thin layer of beef or veggie broth over pan(approximately 1 cup) and bake at 350 for 20 min.