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Oct 25, 2012

Things I learned in #4

First day back after the marathon; 3 miles on the schedule today.  Almost all the soreness is gone.  One thing is for sure, your body tells you that you just ran a marathon 4 days ago.

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Some things I've learned from marathon #4:
  1. More miles = more endurance.  I was able to hang on to a faster speed during the marathon and while I still slowed near the end, it was still much faster than I normally run at the end.
  2. Nutrition/hydration matters(actually I already knew this) - I don't think anyone could argue with this.  If you don't get your nutrition down just right, you could crash.  You need food before and throughout the marathon.  The morning of the race, I had a large banana, three granola bars and half a bagel.  During the race, I ate two packages of Shot Bloks and they were gone by mile 18.  I also ate some pretzels the course was giving out, pickle juice and gatorade along with water, of course.
  3. Try something new - Ok, I broke this rule a couple times and got away with it.  I drank the kool-aid pickle juice and never tried it in training.  I also drank Gatorade and never used it in training.  I just got lucky on this.
  4. A positive attitude makes a huge difference - I went into this thinking I could do 3:30.  Even when I couldn't get there, I didn't let it get me down.  It was a big change mentally from my other marathons.
  5. My body needs rest.  I upped the miles for this one but started having hip/foot issues.  I've learned I need to take a break and get back to some cross training.  Not that I won't run but I'm not going to train for a marathon for the spring.  I'll work on speed and see if I can get my half times down.
  6. Up next? Chicago?  I've got time to commit but that's what I'm thinking - A major for #5.

Have a great day and....Keep Running!!!!

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7 comments:

  1. Jennifer CrawfordOctober 25, 2012 at 8:01 AM

    I hope to do Chicago as well! & I too learned a few things with finishing marathon #2! It's always a learning process! and I am sure I will learn something from the next one and next one and next one....

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  2. Mark MatthewsOctober 25, 2012 at 8:49 AM

    Great stuff. The 'positive attitude' and believing and knowing you can make a certain time versus just thinking it is huge. And your high mileage will help you not just for Grand Rapids but for marathons and races to come.

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  3. UnknownOctober 25, 2012 at 11:46 AM

    I want to do Chicago too. My mother in law told my husband about how cool it was to be in Chicago during the marathon, and how it is a "must do" race. Perhaps this will let him allow me to lift my ban on races that require hotels. I can always say, "well, YOUR MOM told me I SHOULD do it". Right :)

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  4. StephanieOctober 25, 2012 at 2:22 PM

    I want to run Chicago next year too! I had a horrible experience there in 2010 so I want a re-do! :-)

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  5. JoseOctober 25, 2012 at 11:44 PM

    Thanks for the info. I will take this to my next marathon this Sunday.

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  6. Jerilee E.October 26, 2012 at 6:54 PM

    I say yes to Chicago- do it! It's right at the top of my race bucket list... someday.
    The things you learned sound very similar to the things I learned during my fall marathons. Mostly that I need to rest and get back to cross-training. It makes a huge difference.

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  7. The Green GirlOctober 28, 2012 at 8:59 PM

    I just discovered the importance of hydration/nutrition. I went to cheer on runners at a marathon and ended up running quite a bit on little to no hydration/nutrition. I cramped up and it took me days to recover. Wow, talk about a lesson learned.

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