Well this was a great surprise! the LA Marathon has decided to do a Flash sale for the race next year! Yes, even though I am finally getting over my soreness, I have just signed up to run this race again! 

This race will be HUGE as the Olympic Trials are the day before on Saturday, Feb 13th and the full marathon on February 14th! 

and even better? MY BOYFRIEND IS RUNNING IT AS WELL! His first marathon! So we will be celebrating his 1st marathon (my 5th! so crazy), our 4 year anniversary, and valentine's day by doing my favorite activity on earth: running! We are even debating making a weekend of it and staying down in Santa Monica the whole time. 

I promise I will get my recap of the race up soon. There is a lot that should be looked at or changed so only time will tell if it does. But even though I did not get the race I wanted, I had the race I had and there is a lot to be learned from it. I had debated not doing it again in 2016 but that had always been the plan. I can't give up. I can't let this course beat me. I can't let this course get me down. I WILL conquer this course the way I want! Third time is the charm right? 

Are you interested in running the LA Marathon in 2016? Click through on the picture to sign up! 

Anyone else lose their mind and sign up for the race already? 

Hi all! Linkup Friday!! Thanks to our amazing hostesses: the DC Trifecta Bloggers (Courtney from Eat Pray Run DC, Mar from Mar on the Run, and Cynthia from You Signed Up For What?!).  This week's theme is 5 Races in 2015!

As you know, I am currently shooting for close to 30 races in 2015 so I have a lot on my calendar. I have decided to highlight the races I am looking forward to the most and why! 

1. LA Marathon
It is coming up soon and I am looking for redemption. After my results from last year with it being insanley hot (80 at the finish line by the beach, NO THANK YOU) and them running out of Gatorade at mile 2 and only getting about 4 cups of gatorade the whole time, I am ready to redeem myself. 

2. Sunset Strip Half
My boyfriend convinced ME to sign up for this-how crazy is that? It looks like it is going to be really hilly (I know the area and part of the course goes up into the Hollywood Hills). I am looking forward to this so I can get better at hills and get over my fear of them. I doubt I will PR and that is okay-it is more about the experience. 

3. Dumbo Double Dare-mainly the Disneyland Half
My brother is flying out from Texas for his first half marathon and my boyfriend is in after missing the great fun of the Star Wars 10k and half. I have a few other friends running so it will be a big grand party. and not to mention, it is the 10th anniversary of the race and the 5th anniversary of my first race!! 

4. Fall marathon (city TBD). 
I have applied to the NYC marathon and we will see what happens.  I am looking forward to my first Fall marathon and my first major race in another city. I do not plan on going for time but I plan on training and running hard. 

5. Wine and Dine Half marathon
This is on the top of my list. After being very injured by the 2014 race and the pouring rain, I want a real wine and dine experience. I have a few friends in it to run with me so I am looking forward to a fun race especially if it ends up being the week after the NYCM. 

What are some of the races you are planning on running this year? 

Another Tuesday on the Run hosted by: April from Run the Great Wide Somewhere, Erika from MCM Mama Runs, and Patty from No-Guilt Life. This week's topic is Reviewing the Year in Pictures. 

It's that time of year again, to review the greatness of the year! Instead of having a very long post like last year, I will put the slideshows on the bottom of here and divide them into 4 slideshows-2-3 months long each so one will not be too long. 

Top things:

• Traveled to WDW 3 times
  
• ran my first full marathon!
  
• ran 7 rundisney races for 11 medals
  
• got a sub-3 5k, sub 1:00 10k and sub 2:15 half marathon
  
• traveled twice for work (Fort Worth and Denver)
  
• got my appendix out
  
• started a new job
• started a doctoral program 

3 posts in 1 day!?!? woo-hoo

Anyways-1 week from today I will be registering for the LA Marathon once again. You can read my recap here but overall it was INSANELY hot and humid and I did not meet my time goal but I did train well for it and felt I kept the energy up as I went along. However, I am out for redemption and want to rock this race and try again!It was crazy warm for March so hopefully it will be much better this year!

Why do I bring this up? Well I just got an email about registering!

Registration for the 2015 ASICS LA Marathon opens on Wednesday, October 1 at 9 a.m. PDT. 

To show our appreciation for past participants, we will extend a discount code for $10 off registration, delivered via email on October 1. The discount code is only valid on October 1 from 9 a.m. until 11:59 p.m. PDT.

In celebration of our 30th Edition, ASICS will provide all runners who register in October with a discount code for 25% off your total purchase onasicsamerica.com*. Additionally, the 30th, 300th and 3,000th person to register on October 1st will receive a FREE pair of ASICS running shoes.

Eventbeginning Oct 1*  
ASICS LA Marathon - U.S. Residents$160
ASICS LA Marathon - non U.S. Residents   $205
LA Big 5K$40
*Terms and Conditions apply: 25% off discount code is a one-time use code to be applied during checkout at www.ASICSAmerica.com. Total cart value may not exceed $1,000.00 for this code to be applied. The codes will be e-mailed to all registrants who opt-in at time of registration, starting October 1st, 2014. Discount code expires at 11:59 PST on October 31st, 2014. Must Opt-In to receive ASICS email newsletter to be sent discount code.

I will definitely be looking for that discount code-10 bucks is not a lot but it is something. and I love free discounts so I will definitely look at the 25% off coupon on Asics. Maybe buy a new pair of training shoes?

And notice free pairs of shoes if you are the 30th, 300th or 3000th person registered. I am hoping to register first thing on Weds morning so maybe I will be one of them.

One more thing---The 2015 USATF Marathon Championships will be held in Los Angeles on March 15, 2015 in conjunction with the ASICS LA Marathon.  A total prize purse of $150,000 will be awarded to Americans vying for national titles in the marathon, in addition to a guaranteed prize purse of $110,000 for the overall field. Yay for running with some crazy fasts runners!

Anyone else planning on running the 30th anniversary of the LA Marathon?? 

I realized I never posted my marathon CARBLOADING. I feel like this is something I did right. I had issues during training so I turned it up like crazy for the real deal.



Carb loading is epic proportions for a marathon, like it should be.



As I have stated before, carb loading is something I have been working on this year by focusing on how to correctly carbload. In  the olden days, I would just eat a lot of pasta the night before, which caused me to feel a bit sluggish the next morning.


After consulting Mark's Daily Apple and Runner's World, I realized I need to carb load earlier than 2 days before because it can take 12-24 hours for the carbs to be "ready to use". All you need for carb loading is an extra serving or two of carbs at each meals for 4-5 days before the event. I also learned in the Tinkerbell Race Guide that carbs eaten need to be consumed about 12 hours before race start time. I also read an article that you need to aim for 600 carbs the day before the race! eek! so many! I do not think I can reach that high but I will try my best! 

Carb loading can take any form: vegetables, root vegetables, potatoes, rice, quinoa, couscous, bread, pasta, tortillas, etc. 

Main points I focused on:

• Drink a lot of tea and water all week to stay hydrated
  
• Eat a clean diet all week-no fast food, no processed food.
  
• Sleep! Getting at least 8 hours of sleep is a good way to make sure you are rested heading Into the point
  
• Bananas! It turns my leg cramps were probably caused by a lack of potassium so I decided to test it out but consuming a lot of bananas.
  
• For me, try and avoid as much gluten as possible. I'm still having issues with gluten so I need to continue to carb load naturally. Ever since I have done this, I feel that my running has gotten better!
  

WEDNESDAY

Added a banana, orange, and a cookie to regular food.



THURSDAY

I was at a women's conference so I had an amazing lunch (salad, chicken, quinoa, sautéed veggies) but also cookies and desserts and wine! Such a good day!

Pasta for dinner



FRIDAY

I had grad student interviews this day so I had 2 breakfast pastries and coffee for breakfast.

Lunch was wrap (great BBQ chicken wrap) and potato salad, cookie, apple and tea.

Added 2 bananas,and chips as a snack as well as everything at the expo.

For dinner, baked potato (with chili-amazing!) with homemade Gatorade.



SATURDAY

Had a bagel and latte for breakfast

Cheesesteaks and fries for lunch

Pasta for dinner

I also had 3 total bananas for the day (i definitely think that's a record for me)

I also had 3 glasses of homemade Gatorade and lots of water.



SUNDAY

Breakfast-a piece and a half of bread with peanut butter and 2 bananas.

Lunch and dinner-a lot of Indian food! So good



MONDAY

Disneyland! Gumbo and then fries and beignets and also a tostada salad



Overall, my loading was sufficient. I felt prepared but not too full. And including the insane amount of bananas I ate, I never experienced leg cramping. Potassium for the win!



Something I want to try is using oatmeal as a carb load before races. I'm going to test it out with long runs over the summer and see how it does. Even though I'm eating organic and all natural bread I would still like to move away from it (and traveling with oatmeal is easier!)





What are your favorite carb loading strategies before a race?

Incase you missed it-
Expo Review
Part 1
Part 2




I still can't believe it sometimes. I feel like it was all a dream (cue Notorious BIG because that song will be stuck in my head all day now!).

Driving away from the race, I kept saying that. Did that happen? Are you sure? Yes. Yes it did!

The running journey started back in school. I hated running and could never do faster than a 10 minute mile so I just assumed I wasn't a runner. I was many things: a dancer and a band nerd and a brainiac but not a runner.

We always watched the olympics growing up but the first time I remember watching distance running was in Athens. It was the original marathon and that just blew my mind as a history freak. I remember watching Deena Kastor (yes I told her this!) win a bronze medal and being so happy and thinking-maybe one day I could do that. I decided Athens would be my first and only marathon and there was a chance it could kill me! 

I remember hearing about the WDW marathon online and also hearing people at Penn talked about how they ran it. I figured it would probably happen at some point.

I also have been obsessed with the biggest loser and one season they ran a full marathon (they always did halfs before that) and I decided if they could do it, one day I could too.

My friend Mari posted on Facebook in April 2010 that she had signed up to do the Disneyland half and asked if I wanted to do it. I had time to think about it and talked to my parents. I remember my stepdad and mom telling me-the biggest loser can do a full, you can do a half. That was it! I was signed up! However this was pre run disney name. No training plans: nothing.

I worked that summer at Yale and went to the gym almost every day and built up my endurance. I even did a simulated 13 miles on the treadmill and elliptical. I also worked out hard at USC as well. My bday-a week before the race-I did another simulation and felt ready. Or not-turns out that last run was too much for my IT band and I could barely walk. I did the race and finished decently but was in so much pain and exhausted I thought I would never run again. And I knew nothing. I had no idea about fuel (I was just doing it-no wonder I was so tired). Or tapering or intervals. Pretty much I was lost and floundering. It's a miracle I didn't Injury myself worse. (I had IT bands for years. They are finally better now)

Fast forward to the creation of rundisney and the announcement of the Tinkerbell Half. I was still not sure a full was ever in the cards but I figured why not train. With Jeff Galloway and intervals, Mallory really turned me on to them, I felt much better training and finally bought the gym boss timer at the tink expo. After tink-which went great-I signed up for the 2012 Disneyland half.

2012 Disneyland half was a struggle as I needed new shoes and didn't know. Shin splints took over for most the summer so I didn't train as much as I would have liked. New shoes as an amazing Christmas present from my boyfriend) and i was back in business!

After Tinkerbell 2012, I learned more about coast to coast and wanted one. I remember researching princess and it was t sold out yet! I almost bought but couldn't find a flight under 350 (it was about 3 weeks out at this point) so I had to pass. Mallory and I decided 2013 would be our coast to coast year.

2013 came and I got that coast to coast but I wasn't sure if I could ever run a full. Then the dopey announcement came. And that was it-I wanted it! I knew I couldn't swing it the first year so I signed up for dumbo dare as a test for me to see if my body would handle it. 

Dumbo was hot but I felt great and knew dopey would be my race for 2015. I told my mom of my plans and she okay but highly suggested, and said she would feel much better, I run a full. So I picked the LA marathon. I signed up October 1, 2013 and couldn't have been more excited. I was plagued by a few more injuries (too much, too fast) but I recovered by Tinkerbell 2013.

One of my best races was Tinkerbell 2013! such a good time! I also had a great race for Glass Slipper Challenge 2013. I was ready for the LA marathon. 

Yes, it wasn't the race I was hoping for but it's the race I got.  I have come so far and I couldn't be prouder of myself! 

So yes. Yes it did happen. I did it! I did something I never thought was possible and not only that-I want to do it again!

So do I plan on running the LA marathon next year? HELL YEAH! (Cue usher and now that song will be in my head all day!)

It'll be Mallory's 26th birthday so we will be celebrating "26.2 for 26" and plan on dressing up (sparkle skirts here we come!!!) and make shirts and everything.

And I will most likely run it again in 2016 because it's the Olympic trial year. Who doesn't want to watch the trials and then run it the next day? I DO! And it'll also be on valentines day! maybe the boyfriend will run with me...

But seriously, this may become a standard race for me! How insane is that? I would love to try a new marathon every 12-18 months (starting with the WDW marathon).


What has been your running story? Do you feel like you have come a long way? Are you planning on running the 2015 LA Marathon? 

Incase you missed it-
Expo Review
Part 1

Warning: this post is LONG! but it is a good one :) I promise!
All pictures of the course are at the bottom. It's a lot to have to insert them and they are kinda blurry (sorry!)

We are off!

Luckily it wasn't too hot and I was just trying to settle into my intervals. The funniest thing I saw-after my first interval, I noticed guys running across to a bush. Yup-a line of 50 guys peeing. HILARIOUS. For real.

I started much slower than I thought. My body is so used to running half marathons that I knew if I didn't want to hit a wall, I need to be slow.

The first mile marker had a tiny sign (like seriously maybe 12x 16) so I almost missed it. However I was looking for it as my nike app told me about .1 before I had gone a mile (I was already weaving into between). I was worried the next one would be small as well but then the big mile markers started. They were my favorite. 

A bit about the course incase you don't know. It's the Stadium to the Sea course and pretty new. The marathon was started after the 1984 Olympics when a Joan Benoit, a US Woman, won the first women's marathon (fun fact: she is the voice on the nike plus app! The one that encourages me everytime I run!). I love that event started the LA marathon! It has gone through many courses but this is the newest one and plans on staying for awhile.

The course takes you from dodger stadium downtown to Santa Monica. You go from dodger stadium to Chinatown to little Tokyo to downtown proper past city hall and Walt Disney concert hall to echo park to silver lake to Hollywood to west Hollywood to Beverly Hills to the VA to Brentwood to Santa Monica. It's a great course and it's amazing after almost 6 years living here there were still areas I had not spent much time in.


So we head into Chinatown and I'm feeling good. There is a cloud cover and it's feeling okay. I keep seeing the kids from Students Run LA pass me in long sleeves and pants and know they will be in trouble later. People are passing me more than I was used to and I'm not letting it upset me. I want to conserve my energy-I can always step it up later.

This is where I catch up with the 5:30 pacer which makes NO sense! I was averaging around 12 minute miles and the 5:30 group was supposed to be 12:30 (obsessed with the clif timing bracelets! Wearing the 5:00 and 5:30 were great for figuring out my finish time). I knew they were going to finish fast so always just kept an eye on them (I passed them many times actually).

We get to Little Tokyo and it's the only place I got Gatorade. I remember thinking they were mixing it super strong but thought it was on purpose as people need the electrolytes.

I continued on and there was a big hill at the Walt Disney concert hall. Not thinking much of it, I attacked it. Yeah and I made it up but was exhausted. Oops-it was much steeper than I was thinking and had to take more walk breaks than I wanted.

We continued onto echo park which is very pretty. This is where we started seeing random strangers handing out food which was great! I didn't need much but Gatorade.

It all started the day before. I woke up at 6am so that I would be tired enough to fall asleep. I originally wanted to get up at 5 but I couldn't fall asleep the night before so decided an extra hour would be the way to go.

I Got up and got dressed and went to get breakfast and then went home and relaxed.

I went on a date afternoon with the boyfriend to get Philly cheesesteaks and compression socks! We spent about two hours searching everywhere at the outlet and finally found compression socks at reebok, the last store we went too! He also got a pair and is now obsessed with them like me. (See I'm rubbing off on him...)

We went home where Ralph tried on all of his purchases-new running gear and shoes to train for the Avengers half! I made pasta and he left to go to a bday party around 7. We made a plan to meet at the finishers party because we assumed that cell service would be crappy. I texted him location so he couldn't forget. He wished me luck and off I went.

I tried to relax even though I was pretty anxious and finally got into bed at 8. I was so nervous and put on teen beach movie to fall asleep (for some reason this movie calms me down A LOT).

I woke up at 1am because I needed to pee and was thristy. Since I was about to lose an hour, I decided to chug two glasses of water which would give me about 2 hours until I needed to wake up again. And I knew dehydration would not suit me well for the race. Hopefully I wouldn't have to wake up again.

Only problem was I so worried about oversleeping that I barely slept! It was so nerve wrecking. However when my alarm went off at 4am (yay my alarm clocks works again!) I hopped up out of bed and was off to get ready.

The hour time change sucked. I only got 6 hours of sleep when I could have gotten 7 which would have helped immensely as while I was running, I could tell I was tired. This won't be a problem for future races because what are the chances it'll happen again (watch it totally happen for an LA rock n roll one year but at least that's the other way-gain an hour!)

I got dressed and was sad not to be in any costume. :( marathons, especially hot ones, are not the place for that. It was just sad after my great costumes from Princess Half weekend. However I did pack my Olympics Roots lucky jacket to wear and check before the race. I also had my rundisney Mylar blanket to wear after gear check and it was chilly-around 50 in the morning.

I pre packed everything the night before and was making tea while checking email and was so excited to read an email from my co workers wishing me good luck. It made me so happy! I really love my coworkers!

Left my house at 425 which allowed me plenty of time to catch the 443 train (the first of the morning!). I ate my banana while I walked. It was so quiet and empty. Peaceful yet also scary like the zombie apocalypse (obvi I watch too much walking dead).

Now why did I catch such an early bus when I was scheduled for 615? Well- the info booth scared me! They said 615 was way too late with security and since we were being double checked I need to allow an hour at least. The shuttles were scheduled for 515, 545, 615. I had to ensure i made the 545 and the trains only ran every 30 minutes and I was worried security would be TSA crowds. Well I had way too much time which I will get to later.

I called my mom as they were in Branson and she was already awake. It kept me company while I waited.

I got on the train and it was pretty crowded with runners. It's the train I take to work so I knew I would get bored (it was only 18 minutes but still). I packed two magazines-us weekly and entertainment weekly which kept me occupied and the nervous energy away.

I got off the train at 508 (a few minutes behind schedule) and wanted to use the real restrooms. Well they were closed! :(

I went to get in line for the shuttle (oh the irony-it was my exact bus stop for work!) and got on a bus at 520.

The security-one dude looking in my bag just like at Disneyland. And they did it as you boarded the bus so it didn't slow anyway down (which was great btw!).

It turns out the buses were continuous and not every 30 minutes! So now I know for next time, take the train 30 min later and I'll be fine. I got to dodger stadium at 535 (yup that fast, all we could see on the freeway was cars as far back as possible) and made my way to the actual stadium to meet up with mari and pee in a real bathroom.

We just hung out-sadly I haven't seen her in awhile- and waited for Mallory. She arrived and off we went to get free breakfast (I had already grabbed another pack of clif shots and a banana) and find bag check and pee one more time.

The one thing I found difficult was the signs to know where to go. It was very dark at dodger stadium and the signs were on the ground so until you got right up on it, it was hard to see which direction to go in. We finally found bag check,which had pretty long lines but I was through in less than 5 minutes, and chatted with the guy behind me. It was his first marathon like me and I was telling him about the rundisney races and he was intrigued. I told him to sign up for the Avengers half.

I met up with Mallory and thought we could pee at the port a potties (there were 100s) in 10 minutes. Nope we picked the WRONG line-people were not aggressive enough in our line with heading into port a potties so everyone around us was moving at literally double speed-and it took us about 25 minutes. At least we got to see the pretty sunrise below!

We heard the national anthem, the elite runners leave and headed

To the corrals. Since neither one of us had a time, we were In the open corral and trying to line up between 11 and 12 minute miles and the 5:00 pacer. Well the corrals were only large enough to fit a few hundred people so it was a madhouse. Next time: do bag check and potty break EARLY and go get in the mile markers.

Finally it was time to head off-there's no staggered start. Everyone at once! It took us 8 minutes to get to the start line-we weren't that far back I promise so it felt like so long- and there was stuff everywhere. I think they need to have the open corral next to the time corrals with more space so people can enter and move! Also, a stagger start would be nice too even if it was just a 2-3 minutes.

OFF WE GO! Of course the song playing was "I Love LA".

MY HEADSPACE AT THE START:

Insane is the best way to describe it. Nervous and excited and humbled and honored. I couldn't believe this dream I have had for so long was about to come true and a lot of emotions were going through my head but I needed to focus and get ready for the journey. Because it was going to be a doozy.

I decided to do a 2 minute run:30 second walk as long as I could and then half the intervals until I felt better.

I rarely talk about time because as I have always said-"it's not about the time, it's about the finish line". This is so true at rundisney events because I will never run one for time.

My goals going into this race were a sub 5 hour marathon or as Mari has said- 4:59:59. But when the weather-which is normally an average of 60 in Santa Monica in march- was released and supposed to be 60 at the start and 82 at the finish, I knew that was not going to happen. So I switched my goal to below 5:30.

I know Jeff Galloway suggests going 45-60 seconds slower for every 10 degrees over 65, I had trained so hard and wanted to try my best.

I knew hydration would be the key and knew Gatorade would be the key as well. So off I went with 25,000 other people to achieve my goal of becoming a marathoner.


Want to hear more? Look for part 2 tomorrow where I talk about the race, the aftermath and heat and part 3 will I will wrap up (these recaps always end up being so long!)

Hello all!
I can't believe less than 24 hours until I will be running my first marathon!! I will have more posts throughout the week about my prep and everything but for now, let's do a quick review of the Expo. 

Well the greatest thing ever happened at the Expo, I met Deena Kastor WITH NO LINE! I'm surprised I didn't fall at her feet. Incase you don't know who she is, here is her biography and pretty much she is amazing. I remember when she won the Bronze in Athens and I freaked! Americans rarely medal in longer distances in track. She is just such an inspiration. 

Up until this point, I had been so nervous! I felt like throwing up walking into the Expo, however meeting Deena it put me at ease. I feel so ready to run!

And im back! I meant to post this before I left but with all of the drama of our cancelled flights-there were more stressful matters to deal with!

I'm in taper town!!! no more hard runs until GSG in less than 2 weeks!

Overall, it went well and I'm so happy I did a full 26 while standard programs don't get above 20. Would I do it again? For dopey-yes because that extra 6 miles is a lot. For regular marathons, I don't think I would go over 22 as after that was when the pain set in and it took a full week for me to feel better. But as always-never say never!

Now a full recap of how my run went and what I learned

6:30 AM-fitbit went off and I wanted to cry. I was exhausted from the day before (woke up at 6, worked from 7-3, drove and tutored from 4-6, Devin's bday party celebration from 630-930 and then olympic watching until 1130). Not to mention me working until 730 2 nights in a row and then getting back from traveling. just busy busy busy but I knew this would be a good way to learn what my body can handle. And I did learn as long as I sleep 7 hours, I can function. I need 8 to function well.

Got up and got dressed and started making my food- ezkiel bread with peanut butter, half a banana, coffee with a splash of milk (I thought coconut oil and/or butter would be a bit much on my stomach). a bit of water and gatorade.

I watched the beginning of the olympics that I missed before and read the paper. I wanted to make sure I had time to digest so I wouldn't get cramps.

7:55 AM- out to the car to drive to the Rose Bowl.
it was the flea market so I knew i needed a good head start on the crowd. it was a nice and easy drive over there and I parked in a new spot and it was only about 20 cars from the course. I organized myself and my trunk and loaded up my car fob and

some shot bloks to take with me on the course.

MY PLAN
:

run around the Rose Bowl 8 times (knowing i would only need the final lap for half way so I could just walk it back to my car)

I planned on stopping at the car once every lap to grab a sip of Gatorade so I could start early and not get cramps like I did on the 20 miler. I also planned at stopping at both water fountains on the course so I wouldn't have to carry a bottle with me. I also had on a long sleeve shirt and wanted to keep it on at least 6 miles as it was chilly in the beginning (I couldn't feel my fingers for the first few miles-it was in the 50s and windy).

8:15ish-OFF I GO!

slow and steady was the plan.

MILE 3

: oh no! My iPod reset! :/ luckily I knew I was at mile 3 but I learned my lesson because when I skip through songs more than 1-2 every few, it just restarts. As much as I wanted to listen to frozen I had to just deal with a regular playlist so I wouldn't risk losing my time and distance. I knew I had gone about 36 min so I added that to my final total.

MILE 4: took my first clif shot blok and tried a new flavor-tropical punch. It was different and good-I liked it and plan on using it again.

MILE 6: stopped at the car to take off my long sleeve shirt and people were staring as everyone else was bundled up. The flea market is great because there are less people using the track but bad because there's a lot of starting and stopping with card trying to park.

MILE 7.5: took a margarita shot blok and try and beat cramps in my legs

MILE 9: yeah that didn't work much so I pulled to the side and stretched my calves since they were tight. The same thing happened with half and just simple stretching helped a lot. Took another margarita shot blok just incase. After a few minutes, cramps were gone :)

MILE 10: pee break and it took less than 2 minutes but I want to learn to go faster!

MILE 13: half done! I think my split was around 2:36 which is pretty good for all of my breaks. I'm feeling pretty Good. However this is where my Math starts to get wonky. I wasn't stopping the clock and timer when I got water, used the bathroom or went to the car for more than 2 minutes (eating took too long so I stopped). Because of this, my distance was going faster than I expected. Also the rosé bowl online is posted as both being 3.1 and 3.3 so I'm off. I decided to stick with about 3.2 or 3.3 because I was adding at least .1 by going on these breaks.

Also this is where some weird guys tried to talk to me and I just ignored them. They thought they were funny and I thought they were really rude!

MILE 16: since my iPod was set to 23 miles instead of 26 the math got me messed plus adding what was above. Anyways, here is where I realized I thought I had less miles than I did. Hard to explain but this is why I need to know how far I've gone! Also the math made my taking shot bloks more wonky. I learned to follow it more closely in a race.

MILE 16.5: turbo clif shot. I wanted the espresso but the running store didn't sell them so I bought this one with double caffeine. Sadly it tasted like burnt coffee :/ I don't plan on using it again and I hope I can find espresso soon!

MILE 17- bathroom break and it was much faster.

MILE 18-cramps are back! :/ exactly 9 miles later so I did some stretching and took another margarita shot blok. I made sure to down some powerade and eat more of my banana.

A note about food: it was hard for me to eat while running. I didn't want it and I was worried about cramps. I'm thinking when I'm offered food, I should eat part of it and then see how it goes. I feel like my fuel is enough calories but then, as I will mention later, the bloks got to me and I felt very nauseous. I will need to some research on food and what to use.

MILE 20-no mans land! The margarita sb and powerade helped with cramps. A 10k left-let's do this!

MILE 21-major mind games here. It was starting to really hurt and even Though I kept my same interval of 2 min:37 sec, I felt like I was moving in slow motion and my legs were heavy. I was beginning to doubt myself and the lack of math skills wasn't helping either! I took another margarita sb to see if it would help with the heavy legs (something I've never experience before!)

MILE 23- last pee break which was about 45 seconds and much needed. I also had major leg issues here as the traffic patterns were crazy. I stopped for a full 1.5 min and my legs were starting to give out and had to start walking in circles so my legs wouldn't shut down. The guy noticed I wasn't doing so well so he let a group of us go.

This is also where-on my last lap I was taking crazy stop breaks. My legs were heavy and I couldn't go for more than 60-80 secs of running. I was about to cry-I felt horrible, heavy legs, nauseous from all of the sugar but wanted to power through. Running the same course was becoming very boring as well :/

MILE 25- the best decision occurred here. It dawned on me that I should try and switch to a smaller interval to allow my legs to recover. I decided to try it for 5 tries and I did 1 min running: 20 sec walking. And IT WORKED! Heavy legs were gone! Energy was up! Yes!!! I'm gonna finish this!

MILE 26: I FINISHED! Time according to my iPod was 5:11 but I knew I needed to at least finish the lap and finished in 5:20 which averages out to about 12 min miles with stops and breaks and everything else. I finished 8 complete laps around the rosé bowl.

Overall I am very pleased with my time since it included all water breaks that were standing still so I feel I can reach my goal of 5:15. Honestly as long as I am under 5:30, I will be good! :)

WHAT I LEARNED:

1. how to fuel

I need to do shot bloks every 4 miles and then a margaita shot blok ever 6-7 miles. They margarita is to much sure I have enough sodium going into my body and they need to be separate from regular fueling.

2. i don't need as much liquid as I think I do.

I was only drinking every 1.5 miles ad I never really felt thirsty which is great to know. i feel like at disney races, i may drink a bit too much because the amount you get in your cup varies from volunteer to volunteer.
I need to monitor that especially if it isn't a humid or hot race day.

3. intervals

I loved my 2 min:37 sec interval. Why the weird numbers? I was doing a 40 sec walk and decided I want to get it down to 30 seconds soon but i knew jumping from 40 to 30 would not end well so I choose 37 and plan on working it done over the next few months. however around mile 22, my legs were not in it even though i was keeping up the same speed. i switched to a 1 min: 20 sec for the last mile and a half and my time improved greatly. I need to remember to switch to a smaller interval later in the run to allow for my legs to recover a bit better and not have to waste too much time walking

4. pee breaks

I think i am going to need 3 pee breaks with the amount of liquid I consume. I need to keep this in mind as I ran almost a full lap needing to pee and it definitely effected my performance
. I will be studying the map to determine where my pee breaks will be

5. New music

I definitely need new music or bring back old music as a motivation for a long run like this. The same music I've been listening to for years (it is a long playlist) can
make it seem even more boring. I added an old playlist and it really helped to elevate my mood

6. Boredness

Even though it was a long time, running the same course over and over was mentally boring. I tried to keep myself occupied. I think a race course would be entertaining enough to keep me from getting bored

7. clif gels and running

I need to be careful how many I am taking and which ones have caffeine and how much. I think I took too many with caffeine which caused my nausea. I also think the double turbo shot was a bit much.

8. food after

I forced myself to eat a banana and drink water and powerade. I wasn't hungry until after I got home and showered and then ate steadily throughout the day. I mostly was craving carbs.

9. Cramping

No fun! I need to be careful with my leg cramps and stomach cramps. I think drinking less liquid than I think (1 cup is plenty!) I will hopefully avoid that. Also my calf stretches are quick and easy and work. I need to go back and review chi running as my calves shouldn't be hurting.

10. have fun!

Yes-this is most important! Yes a lot of research and work goes into this but it's also important to remember its all about the fun! Finishing a marathon is going to be one of the biggest accomplishments of my life and I need to enjoy the ride!

That's it for my recap. Overall I was happy with it! So glad to be in TAPERTOWN and can't wait to run GSG this weekend!