san diego rock n roll marathon

5 Days Until My First 26.2!

May 31, 2011 by Asia

The San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is only 5 days away! I am so excited, nervous, and ready for it to be here. This will be my first full marathon, and I can’t wait to experience crossing that finish line 26.2 miles later.

What am I doing to prepare for the race? Tapering, carbo-loading, and resting (mentally and physically). Some of these items are easier said than done. Resting, for example, is not a normal state for me. I am very Type A and always on the go or doing something. On top of that, I am a very anxious person in general, so getting my mind to turn off for a bit can be challenging. Still, it’s important to get rest leading up to race day because most of us won’t get much sleep the night before. (I’m pretty sure we need to leave by 430am!) Carbo-loading might sound easy, and trust me, I love carbs as much as the next girl, but our running coach just told us that 75% of our calories should be from carbs! I eat roughly 1,800 calories/day, and generally 600 of those calories (1/3) are carbs…I guess I need to find ways to more than double my normal carb intake this week! I’m already eating them 3 meals/day, but I guess I need to get a little more creative. In other words, it’s time to prepare myself for weight gain, which is apparently a good thing leading up to a marathon.

: Unnecessary Carbo-Loading

A little more on tapering, courtesy of my running coach, Blake, from Vavi Running club.

. Decrease mileage & intensity to rest & repair the body.

. Rest your mind to prepare for the long haul.

. Keep frequency of workouts the same.

. Increase carbohydrate intake to load fuel stores.

I feel like the tapering plan for my most recent half marathon went really well, so for the full, I’m going to continue to follow my running coach’s advice and taper, rest, and carbo-load!

Running buddies after we all PR'd at La Jolla half marathon

43 Miles of Running

May 23, 2011 by Asia

Marathon Outfit

Last week was my peak of marathon training. I had my longest run of the season (21 miles) and clocked the most mileage in one week (43 miles)! By the time recovery week rolled around, my legs were begging for mercy. While I’ve learned to incorporate marathon training into my busy schedule, I’m definitely ready for the race to just be here already. It’s definitely a lot to keep up with, no matter how much I love running. My highest mileage week looked like this:

Monday: 6 miles
Tuesday: 1.5 mile warmup + 1.5 mile lactate threshold + 3 miles of Yasso 800s
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 10 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: 21 miles
Sunday: rest

The next week we began to taper, and my first run back was the most painful run I’ve had all season. I was afraid I was injured! Our first taper week looked like this:

Monday: 6 miles (I only ran 5 because it really hurt.)
Tuesday: 6 miles lactate threshold + 1 mile of 400 sprints
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: 9 miles
Friday: rest
Saturday: 13 miles + 4 miles lactate threshold
Sunday: rest

I’m honestly surprised with how well marathon training has been going. San Diego Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon is only 2 weeks away! Getting injured was the one thing I was most afraid of when I started marathon training. I’ve heard way too many stories of Achilles nightmares, IT band injuries, and everything in between. So far I’ve been lucky. Yes, I’ve had some aches and pains but nothing that ibuprofen and willpower couldn’t cure.

What have I taken away from all this? Here are my top 5 tips for marathon training.

1. Be persistent with your training, and follow your training program as closely as possible.
2. Listen to your body. Pay attention to warming up and stretching, and don’t run with an injury!
3. Hydrate. I stop at every aid station and have at least 1 cup of water and 1 cup of sports drink.
4. Pay attention to your nutrition 7 days/week. Don’t skimp on calories and carbs, but don’t fill up on empty calories either.
5. Try strength training. I worked out 8x/week which is excessive if you’re not already doing a strength training program, but for me, 4 days of P90X + 4 days of running = increased speed and stamina.

P90X Day 90

Countdown to Rock n Roll Marathon

May 2, 2011 by Asia

San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon Start

I’m a mere 5 weeks away from running my first marathon!! Saturday I ran 16 miles, my longest run to date, and I’m happy to report that I wasn’t completely miserable! It was tough, and I definitely felt like I was running for a VERY long time, but with the help of my running buddies, I made it. Jeremy ran 18 miles and said it was an entirely different ballgame. He had a tough time cranking out the last two miles, and I’ve heard that from other people as well…Is this “the wall” people talk about? I’ll definitely report back on that next weekend when I run 18 miles. I’m nervous for that one.

What am I doing the next 5 weeks? Today I finished P90X for a second time, and now I’m a Double Grad! (Jeremy has suggested that we’re P90X “Masters,” but I’m afraid to go as far as to say that. I’m not sure if anyone but Tony Horton himself could ever truly master that program!) I’m going to post my P90X results very soon, so stay tuned!

May is time to decrease my P90X workouts and continue my 4 days/week of running. It has been tough to keep up with P90X and marathon training thus far, so I’m ready to modify things from now until the marathon. This means no more double workout days if I can help it! The next 5 weeks I’ll focus on my running and sprinkle in 2-3 P90X workouts per week as I enter the home stretch of marathon training. Here is what I anticipate…

Monday: Run
Tuesday: Speed work run
Wednesday: Plyometrics or Legs & Back (or rest)
Thursday: Medium Long run
Friday: P90X upper body workout (Chest & Back or Back & Biceps)
Saturday: Long run
Sunday: Yoga (or rest)

Let the new workout schedule begin!

P.S. What am I doing after the marathon? I have a couple of ideas that I’ll fill you in on soon!