Marathon Training Takes A Lot Of Prep, More Than I Realized!

One month till 26.2, I just want it to be here already.

I make this look gooooood! ;)

I’m at the point in training now where training consumes my life. I’m just shocked at how time consuming it has been to train and the planning that goes into it. What do I mean on “planning”? Well, I have to to plan routes, routes with places where I can stop to hydrate/GU/bathroom if needed. I also need to plan proper nutrition prior to the run and for the run, along with proper rest periods before/after my long runs and even on my Tuesday runs as those are now into double digit numbers. Then there is the time, today I spent nearly and hour and half just running. On the weekend when I do my long run that takes 3 hours or longer. I work two jobs; here at the radio station and at the Riverplex teaching group fitness class. Between the training and jobs I’m often finding myself saying no to things and I’m having to say no A LOT! Because if I don’t then I’m losing one of the elements that make these runs, run smoothly. It’s exhausting to say the least.

This past weekend I hit a distance PR (Personal Record) of 18 miles and shockingly it wasn’t very hard. I know you must think I’m nuts, running 18 miles not hard? No really it wasn’t as bad as I expected and it’s because of my planning. I had a great carb load the day prior, I add a nice whole grain carb and protien at each meal; breakfast, lunch, dinner and two small snacks. I got adequate amount of sleep the night prior, choosing to stay in Friday night and going to bed early. Then on the route I planned stops about every 5 miles to hydrate with either water or Gatorade and to also consume a GU. The ONLY challenging part of the run was the last few miles as the hills proved to be a little bit steeper and longer than I had anticipated.

MMMM Salty!

Are you as exhausted reading that as I was typing it? The one good thing about all of this is I am now confident that I can and will run this full marathon with out a problem, I no longer am afraid of my 20 mile run this weekend and instead I’m looking forward to owning it.

Ice Bath Time!!!

How’s your training coming? What has been your ups and downs? Have you gained the confidence on running the race?

Hands Off My Water And Yasso 800′s

Dear Keller Branch Trail Garbage Detail Workers: Please don’t touch my water! I think it’s great that there are people willing to clean up after slobs and for that “thank you” but with warmer temps and obviously lot of people on the trail (like today) there is a very good chance we have strategically placed water bottles so we can stay hydrated. Hydration is extremely important for us in the heat. Usually just a little extra observation and you can tell the difference between trash and treasure. Example: trash – just thrown about and looks dirty, old and used. Treasure would be hidden in the shadow, sitting upright and not even opened or looking shinny and new. I needed that water and you threw it away, shame shame.
Sincerely, all runners.
Obviously that happened on my run today and I really could have used that water where I left it. However, I’ll put part of the blame on myself, I saw them picking up trash and I thought warning them of my water and I didn’t. So my bad, lesson learned for me. Thank God Running Central was along my route so I was able to pop in the store and have a few drinks.
Last week I had a decent week of training with a few bumps. I was experiencing some knee pain and realized it was time for some new kicks. I got a pretty sweet ass pair of Saucony’s, I’m a minimalist shoe kinda gal but like support and cushion and the Sauc’s have always done well for me. And as a bonus I got some inspiration and some trash talk on my shoes (see below pic).

I struggled a bit on my long run this past weekend, the mileage was easy, but I pushed myself at a quicker pace and a challenging course as I ran the first half of the Peoria Heights Half Marathon route. WOW that’s going to be the toughest 1/2 marathon ever, good luck to all my friends running it next weekend.
On tap for week 7 is the beginning of three tough weeks of high mileage, today was 9 miles and I smoked it. Tomorrow is my shorty of 4 miles, Thursday is 5 and Saturday is my long run of 18 miles, that will be the longest distance I have ever run, looking forward to a new PR in distance. Thursday I plan to try some Yasso 800′s at either a 4:15 or 4:30 pace. Although I’m not really concerned with my marathon time, being that it’s my first, but I do want to see what they are all about. The simple rule is if I could run ten 800 meter sprints in 4:15 then that’s is what I will be able to run my marathon in. Now 4:15 is a bit fast for me right now coming off that injury so I’m thinking 4:30 is more realistic but I wont know until I try so that’s what I plan to do. Some say that the Yasso 800′s are spot on and others say it’s a load of crap so naturally I want to know and you don’t know unless you try. (Disclaimer-I know that you’re supposed to do these throughout your training, but oddly I only really heard about them just recently. I want to see how well I can do and if I can even do 10 of them. By no means am I thinking I can do this so close to the race. The next marathon though…well that’s another story.)
How’s your running/training going?

Update On The St. Jude Chicago To Peoria Run 2012

A few weeks ago I officially began my journey into the world of St. Jude and what it means to be a St. Jude runner.

In case you've never herd of the the St. Jude Run here's the history on the run. The St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run, the idea of Co-founders Mike McCoy and Gene Pratt, began with the idea of a way to raise money for their favorite charity, St. Jude. The concept of driving to the St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis and then running back, relay-style, to the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in Peoria, has come to be one of the foremost charity running events in the nation. Each year since 1982, runners have paid for the honor to participate in this unique, 465-mile event that has raised over $12 million for St. Jude kids. Because not everyone can participate in the more rigorous Memphis to Peoria Run, auxiliary runs were started from communities throughout Illinois and Missouri."

I am participating in one of the auxiliary runs, I'll be running on the Peoria Police team from Chicago to Peoria! In the past few weeks I've learned that this little thing I'm doing (running) is so much more than just running to the kids of St. Jude and their families. And it's really hard for me to grasp that. And every-time I've received a donation, I'm moved to pieces. My first donation came for an Xer's who at this very moment is serving in Afghanistan, he saw what I was doing and wanted to help. And all I could think of was that here is this man who is serving our country, for you, me, everyone, yet he opened his heart and wallet and made a donation to the kids. I never cry and THAT almost got me and that was just my first donation! Thank you Deano!

Then there is Christian who just yesterday emailed me about his battle with A.L.L Leukemia and hearing everything he told me just put it all into perspective. It truly made me feel like what I am doing is so small in comparison of what he has been through. Yet here he is,  thanking me. Unbelievable!
I have a fundraising goal of $1250 and the run will be taking place this year on July 20-21st. Please visit my page-www.stjudepeoriaruns.org/akinkade, donate and share, share it everywhere facebook, twitter, google+ and anywhere else you can think of.

I'd also like to thank the following people for their donation: Bry S., Melinda D. and Scott & Amy.

St. Jude Run Chicago To Peoria-The Ultimate Run

I've had a few readers lately say that they miss my blogs! Thanks gals (and guys) I forget that people still read this. See here's the deal, at work part of my job is to post 2 blogs a day. And sometimes this can be a teadious process. Plus, they are alllll about webhits and suprisingly even for the "sex, drug and rock n roll" crowd my run blogs get decent hits and my work encourages them. Tuesday is usually the day I post those blogs so you can watch for them at 1057thexrocks.com. However, I am going to make an effort at copying them here. Starting with this one because its super duper important!

Every year I always say that I’m going to get off my hiney and do something for charity and this year and hopefully for many years to come I will continue to do this; run for those who can’t! I’m officially a St. Jude runner!

In case you’ve never herd of the the St. Jude Run here’s the history on the run. The St. Jude Memphis to Peoria Run, the idea of Co-founders Mike McCoy and Gene Pratt, began with the idea of a way to raise money for their favorite charity, St. Jude. The concept of driving to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis and then running back, relay-style, to the St. Jude Midwest Affiliate in Peoria, has come to be one of the foremost charity running events in the nation. Each year since 1982, runners have paid for the honor to participate in this unique, 465-mile event that has raised over $12 million for St. Jude kids. Because not everyone can participate in the more rigorous Memphis to Peoria Run, auxiliary runs were started from communities throughout Illinois and Missouri.”

I am participating in one of the auxiliary runs, I’ll be running on the Peoria Police team from Chicago to Peoria! Overwhelmed. Excited. Nervous! Those are just some of the emotions I’m feeling at this moment. Of course this is all for kids. I have a fundraising goal of $1250 and made the first donation of $60! The run will be taking place this year on July 21st. Please visit my page-www.stjudepeoriaruns.org/akinkade, donate and share, share it everywhere facebook, twitter, google+ and anywhere else you can think of.