Training is a Four Letter Word

When I signed up for this marathon, I am not sure what I expected. I just kept hearing about what an adrenaline rush it is to finish running after such a long period of time. It seemed like a great idea and has been on my "Bucket List" for awhile. Here's the thing. The training, getting ready to run for approximately 4.5 hours is hard. It is not fun. In fact, there is nothing fun about it. I know, I can't complain because I signed up for it, but my gosh!

Sunday I was supposed to run 14 miles. I looked up a "beginner's marathon training schedule" awhile ago and have been following that. The problem is, I haven't exactly been following it perfectly. I went out of town a few weekends, and sometimes I just didn't want to get up at 6:30 in the morning. It is true, getting out of the bed is the hardest part, but it is super hard! Especially when I don't have anything to do the rest of the day! That is just adding more hours to my day for me to fill!

So, my longest run thus far has been 11 miles. I felt good about that one, but it has been almost a month since I completed that. When I woke up Sunday, I tried to mentally prepare myself that I would be running for a long time and just to enjoy it. The self talk did not work. Before I tell you about the run, I have to tell you about all the gadgets that you should have (and I have bought into) in order to run a marathon. They have this stuff called Gu, that is the consistency of pudding and comes in a variety of flavors. You are supposed to squeeze this packet into your mouth after you have been running for about an hour. The Gu has sugar and carbs that are supposed to help replenish what your body has burned.

I also bought a belt (stop laughing) that has four 8 oz bottles attached to it. You fill them with water and are able to whip then out and pour them into your mouth without breaking your stride.I kind of feel like I am in the Wild West when I pull out one of my bottles. So Sunday morning, I took off with my IPOD, belt and Gu (nicely tucked into the pocket in the belt.) After about 45 minutes I realized this was going to be a bad run. My legs were already hurting and I still had about 10 miles to go. At that point, I decided I would lower my expectations to 12 miles that week. After running about an hour, I whipped out my vanilla bean flavored Gu. I don't know what I was expecting, but it tasted horrible. Plus, I also expected to suddenly get a boost of energy, kind of like a cartoon character. I felt nothing. A poor side effect of the Gu is that it can upset some people's stomachs. The powers that be of running suggest taking half the pack if you have a weak tummy. Even though I do, I went ahead and took the whole thing. I needed the energy!! Bad idea. Now my leg were feeling like puddy while my stomach was feeling like I was going to vomit.

Moral of the story, I walked a lot of the way. I was gone for two hours and five minutes, but don't know how far I actually got. I need to map it out, but haven't gotten around to it. I talked to my dad afterward and asked him if it was normal for my entire body to be aching and my feet to be killing me. He informed me that my legs were not strong enough yet and I needed to increase my mileage during the week. Awesome. Additionally his wise words, "Jenny, this is not going to be fun" were somewhat disappointing. He has run 3 marathons and I remember looking at his bloody toes during one while he changed socks. Yet people continue this crazy behavior. My alarm is set for 7 am and I am going to jump back on track. (Ha - no pun intended!) Wish me luck!!