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Up with the Sun: 20 miles in Edisto

 

Last night was the perfect long run preparation: lots of water, delicious food, and plenty of sleep.

Dinner wasn’t my normal pasta festival, but instead hamburger buns and pasta salad filled the carbohydrate requirement.

Our plan for last night’s easy dinner worked out perfectly! Everyone pitched in and within 45 minutes we had a delicious dinner including hamburgers, pasta salad, grilled squash, and the most amazing homemade pumpkin spice cookies ever! Don’t worry, I’ve already told my Rochelle that she has to share the recipe!

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We spent the evening rocking on the front porch enjoying the stars, ocean breeze, and many different conversation topics. When I boded everyone goodnight at 9:45 I figured I’d miss out on hours of chatting and drinking. Instead, I started a trend and within fifteen minutes, everyone else followed.

My alarm went off at 5:45 and instead of being tired or ready to roll over, I was excited. I had a plan, goal, and motivation.

  • Plan: Run 20 miles and break it into separate runs so it seems more feasible. Six miles on my own, pass by the house to pick up my friends, follow them for 9 miles, drop them off at the house, then finish the final five on my own.
  • Goal: Finish 20 miles injury free and keep a pace of under 11 minutes. A year ago, I was running most of my long runs at an 11:30 to 11:45 pace.
  • Motivation: The sooner I finish the run the quicker I can be on the beach and back with my friends.

You know you’re back in the South when your long run breakfast includes banana, peanut butter, and John Derst bread!

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It was still pitch black when I left at 6:05, in fact I could barely see walking down the steps.

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It was quiet, peaceful, and the perfect temperature for a long run, 65 degrees.

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The street lights guided me for the first few miles and the sun rise guided me for the next few as I headed back towards the house to pick up my friends Rochelle and Chrissie. My first six miles flew by and exactly 63 minutes later I was at the door waiting for them to finish getting dressed.

Rochelle is training for her first half marathon and only had 9 miles on her schedule. I knew they were going to be faster than me but I didn’t realize how motivating it’d be to follow their swaying ponytails for 9 miles. With their motivation, I only stopped one time during those 9 miles and it was only to get a GU out of my Camel Bak.

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We ran by a golf course, marina, and the gorgeous Carolina marsh before heading back towards the house. I took a quick bathroom break when we reached the house and was surprised how great I was feeling at the 15 mile point. My pace was right on target, 10:43, and I had gone through one Camel Bak of water and 1 GU by this point.

My final five miles were easier than I expected but just in case, I put on my pump up playlist, took one final Gu and really started to focus on the scenery.

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I dreamed of living in these beautiful marsh front homes, waved to golfers, and enjoyed the sunshine. Running around Edisto Island reminded me of running through the community where Bo grew up in Savannah.

IMG_4717 (640x478) Even though I was feeling good, I was definitely elated to see this site! TWENTY MILES DONE!!

Unfortunately, math wasn’t my forte during today’s run, and I hit the 20 mile point a mile and a half away from the house. I spent the mile and half walk talking on the phone to Bo and my parents before diving into a frigid ice bath back at the house.

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This is exactly the run I needed. My pace is right on target for my marathon goal, the ice bath and Arnica gel left my muscles and joints feeling pretty good, and I enjoyed every moment of the run!

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Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #17

Hi everyone! I’m Kali and I blog over at finishing firsts. I write about running, marathon training and living in Cleveland, Ohio. I am a certified personal trainer and have been a runner for two and a half years and started road racing two years ago. I’m really excited to be a part of Ashley’s Marathons+Moderation series!

I ran my first (and so far only) marathon in Columbus last October. After 18 weeks of training, I crossed the finish line in 4:30:31.

One of the first things I said to my friend and my dad at the finish was, “oh my God, I sucked.” I struggled through miles 15-26 and finished a half hour after my goal.

While I was training for the race, my whole life was about the marathon. I changed around my work availability, never hung out with my friends, didn’t drink a drop of alcohol, watched everything I ate and basically just didn’t have any fun while I was training.

I was completely miserable.

I had no idea what the words moderation and balance meant. My life was all about running and the disappointment in my performance definitely affected other areas of my life, like work and my then-relationship.

I immediately signed up for a second marathon in the spring, in Cleveland. My disappointment and lack of desire to train that I picked up after Columbus plus the crappy winter weather made marathon training the second time around even more miserable than the first. Six weeks before the race, I dropped down and ran the half marathon again.

About a month before the half, I realized something: running is supposed to be fun. It’s not my job, I don’t get paid to do it and my life is about so much more than the time on the clock or the pace on my watch. I’m a runner, but I’m also a personal trainer, friend, girlfriend, daughter, sister, etc. Why was I taking it so seriously?

In the following weeks, I learned to just let it go and start having fun. And it definitely showed. I ran one half marathon in Columbus the weekend before Cleveland in May and though I didn’t PR either race, I did run two of the best and most consistent half marathons of my career.

And when I started training for the upcoming Chicago marathon in July, I kept that same “it’s just running” attitude and so far, it’s definitely paid off. I’ve given myself time to hang out with my friends, not miss out on social events and even enjoyed some fall beers and desserts 🙂 I’ve enjoyed all of my long runs, been extremely consistent and I’m feeling very confident in myself and my abilities going into this race. I’ve even made a great group of running friends.

I’m not sure what October 9 is going to hold for me, but I can guarantee one thing: I’m going to have a good day running 26.2 in Chicago. As long as I’m having fun and doing my thing, I won’t be disappointed. 

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Marathons+Moderation: Guest Post #13

 

Helloooo Healthy Happier readers! My name is Christine and I blog at These Happy Miles. When Ashley e-mailed me about guest posting for this series, I jumped at the chance because I’ve been following the series each week.

Helloooo Healthy Happier readers! My name is Christine and I blog at These Happy Miles. When Ashley e-mailed me about guest posting for this series, I jumped at the chance because I’ve been following the series each week.

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nice to meet you! here i am on a sweaty summer run in central park

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bling bling from a half marathon

I also LOVE to talk about, ponder, and discuss strategies for still having a life while marathon training. Striving to balance out training with a full-time job, a long commute, family obligations, a social life, and other things like blogging, eating well, and sleeping is NOT easy.

But, like running itself, I’ve come to find out that it’s not supposed to be.

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It’s this chase to fit in running and everything else you need to do each day that makes life interesting and fun and keeps you on your toes (no pun intended).

One thing’s for sure: I know I’ll never be bored.

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I’m training for my second and third marathons at the moment (Chicago and Philly this Fall!) and I happily take on the life balance challenge because I just love to run and I’m obsessed with racing.

Here are my 8 tips for trying to make it all work.

  1. Be OK with making sacrifices. I can’t tell you how many things I’ve turned down and invites I’ve declined because I had a long run or a race in the morning. I hate missing anything fun and my family and friends may not completely understand, but sacrificing for the bigger picture (crossing the finish line with a smile after a feel-good race) is WORTH it. Other things that may be sacrificed on any given day: a good night’s sleep, a well-written blog post, a dinner that is not a PB&J sandwich.
  2. Open up to family, friends, bosses, and co-workers. After all, they may wonder why you’re always scooting out the door at 6PM or passing up invitations. Explain to them why you’ve made a commitment to marathon training. Also, keeping people in the know about your training holds you accountable too!
  3. Capitalize on gaps of time. Morning person? Set your alarm a little earlier and get in your run for the day before work. Have a gym nearby work? Do a cross training workout on your lunch hour. Night owl? Jump into your workout clothes and run right after work. Seize each and every day! And warning: don’t let yourself sit on the couch "just for 5 minutes." Just 5 minutes on the couch is never 5 minutes.
  4. Plan out the week. If possible, it helps to figure out which days will be obligation-heavy or late nights at work. Or, realize that’s there’s NO WAY you’ll be able to do a long run on a Saturday when you have tickets to Countryfest and will. not. miss. the pre-concert tailgate (long run successfully completed on Friday instead). Knowing in advance that you can’t run at your regular time on a particular day is key to scheduling a time when you are able to run. Prioritize your life and shift around runs on your training schedule if necessary.
  5. Think about regrets. I have honestly never regretted getting my bum out the door to go for a run. But I have regretted dark times when something plagued me from running (most likely just plain laziness). When you’re on that starting line with 26.2 miles ahead of you, it’s a comforting thought to know that you hit the majority of your runs and gave the training your all. Which brings me to…
  6. Don’t beat yourself up. Sure, there are some days during the 3-4 months of a training cycle when missing a training run is inevitable. And that’s OK. Don’t let it bring you down and just get out there again tomorrow.
  7. See your run time as "me" time. Running is the cheapest therapy. It gives me time to think about the day, make to do lists in my head for the next day, plan what I’ll do with the rest of the day/night, and to chill out to some good music.
  8. Have fun. Whether that means seeking out fellow runnerds in your area to carb load and watch a movie on a Friday night or going out to dance/dance on tables/replace all of the calories you lost during a long run that day through beer consumption on a Saturday night. I RUN for my Saturday nights and swear they are more fun after a nice, long sweat session.

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And… if you’re doing it right… marathon training should be fun too.

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