My First Marathon, Part III: Post Run

July 18, 2013February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 16 Comments

Welcome back! This is the last installment….If you missed the first two installments, you can click Part I and Part II.

Immediately after the race is kind of a blur. I felt in a haze. After I crossed the finish line, I think part of me expected cannons to go off or confetti to be thrown. But as soon as I stepped over the timing sensors and stopped running, I just looked around, smiling to myself.

I did it. I finished a marathon. Me!

I worked really hard for about four months and my training paid off! I trained my butt off in between working full time and school.

I took the medal the volunteer was holding out for me, kept walking out of the shutte. I grabbed a bottle of water and more importantly: chocolate milk (my favorite post race beverage – it’s actually has the perfect about of carbs and protein for recovery, by the way).

I noticed the first aid tent on my right and actually did a mental check of my body. I was doing alright, tight and sore and painful, but doing alright. Since my camera and phone were both in my checked bag, I asked the pro photographer to take my picture under the finishers banner.

Yes, I did end up paying for some of my photos. I just HAD to. It’s was my first marathon afterall!

The next thing I did was went to find my checked bag; I needed to call my mom and my friends.

I obtained my belongings and limped to a tent with benches. It was raining hard again with the wind blowing. I regretted not grabbing one of the space blankets they were handing out at the end.

Before I did one more think, I ~~wanted~~ needed to get those things off my feet! And by things, I mean shoes….I took off those soaked socks and shoes, not caring that my feet were then going to be cold and put on sweats and flip flops. Ahhhh, much better. I don’t like feet, so I will not tell you what they looked like.

I dug out my phone. I already had a message. It was my mom. She had been following me with text message updates that were automatically generated to her when I crossed certain points along the course and the finish line. She tearfully, but cheerfully, left me a message: “YAY! ….. You did it!” came out through her tears. It made me cry a little!

I called her back and we talked about the race.

Next thing: FOOD. I needed food!!! NOW! My stomach had started growling at about mile 23. I ~~trudged~~ limped through the puddled lawn and spotted the runners’ food tent. I handed over my meal ticket and spotted the first thing on my menu: PIZZA.

The most delicious pizza I had every had. I’m sure it was probably pretty shitty pizza, but to me, that was the best pizza in the world. I ate one slice, then bashfully asked the guy if I could have more. His response: “you just ran a marathon, you can have all the pizza you want!”

Look at that hardware!

YES! I definitely took him up on that. I think I also ate some fruit, a bagel and frozen yogurt and who knows what else!

Feeling cold and tired, and knowing I had a plane to catch, I thought it was about time to start looking for my car….yeah about the car….now where was that thing!?

If you grew up in Colorado (the Denver area in particular), like me, there’s one thing about us that others need to understand. If there’s no mountains, there’s no way I know where I am, where to go or which direction is north. Heck, I probably was so discombobulated that I couldn’t tell you which way was up and which way was down!

I found a volunteer (easy to spot due to the bright orange shirts that said, “ask me for help!”) She pointed me in the direction I needed to go and I limped off in search of my car.

It felt like the longest walk I have ever had to do, even though it was probably only half a mile! I hobbled along, being passed by grandmas.

I did eventually make it to my car, distracted from the pain of walking by talking to my special friend, as he wanted an update on my race.

I drove straight from the race to the airport. Finished packing my bags in the rental car parking lot, turned in my car keys and checked into my flight. I changed clothes and washed up in the airport bathroom – classy! I made my way through security in my new Vermont City Marathon shirt! Apparently they had already seen a few racers come through, congratulated me and told me they had met the guy who finished 3rd just a few minutes prior!!! I’m glad it was a super small airport; no way could I have walked all the way through Denver International that close to post race.

A few others wearing either the race shirt of medal were in my gate seating area. I chatted with a tiny asian lady about how she just started running a couple of years ago and now was part of the marathon maniacs group. She was interesting to talk to and we exchanged emails. Who knows, maybe I’ll see her again!

On the flight, I sat next to another gentleman that also ran (he only had a few more states left until he completed all 50!) and was also from Colorado. A past ballerina, turned runner (no joke) who now is a dentist. On our lay over, he offered me a beer to celebrate doing my first marathon. Great conversation! We talked about the best and worst marathons, hiking, and life.

The after: I actually recovered fairly fast. I was super sore immediately after. Having to sit constantly at the airport and in the airplanes left me ridiculously tight every time I had to get up to walk to my next gate, seat, etc. I got in from my travels to Denver really late at night due to a flight delay, and immediately went to sleep when I reached my bed. The next day: Not to shabby! Seriously!!! I don’t even understand. I was sore, sure, but I could walk! My mom even commented that I looked like I was moving a lot better than she thought I would be. The part of me that hurt the worst was my hips. They were really tight.

Then day two post, run: Great! A tiny bit of soreness remained but was easily loosened up by walking around.

The WAY after: I kinda got back to it a little to soon. I had weight training for school and I kinda ran Tough Mudder only three weeks after and then a half marathon on the 4th of July……whoops.

The major issues I have been seeing is hip pain and heel pain. The hips are just tight and during tough mudder, my left hip flexor hurt every time I lifted my leg. I could barely finish the race (don’t worry, I’ll have a whole separate post on that race). As for the heel pain, I’m a little concerned. I have decided is either plantar fascitis or Achilles tendonitis. It’s the bottom of my heel and the “tip” or rounded edge of the heel that hurt. “Hurt” may be the wrong word; when I do run, it’s a dull, irritating pain. And I can still feel it when I run on my toes/forefoot. Hmmm….

And yes, I’m taking it easy now….kinda. 🙂

Things I liked about the event:

-Very organized!!!!!!! So many volunteers to help out and signs to point me in the right directions. Great for the most direction-inept personal like myself.

-LOTS of porta-potty’s; before/after and along the course!

-Well marked course! And the course was beautiful! The run through the city was great and the neighborhoods were lovely. I especially liked when we were running along the lake. I can only imagine how much prettier it would have been if the sun was shining!

-The website is very easy to use and register with and has a TON of information!

-My favorite part: The Crowd! They were fantastic! Always people around cheering and screams and beating drums or cowbells!

-The swag bag: A nice shirt, stickers, soap (yes, Vermont made soap), snacks, honey sticks…and I think that was all. But it was pretty good!

Things I didn’t like …We’ll, I can’t think of anything right now!

Things I did right:

-Body glide!!! No chaffing! Sometimes I chaff on my thighs and arms, but I body glided up pre-race and only experienced a TINY bit of sports bra chaffing. Amazing considering the humidity! Also probably helped to have the rain coat.

apparently I chose the right outfit because I stayed mostly dry and the right temperature the entire race. My shoes and socks were drenched by the end, but I lucked out and didn’t have any blisters. As soon as I found a chair to sit in after the race, I took off the those wet things to dry my feet.

Things I did wrong:

-honestly, not that much! I had proper nutrition before, during and after the race…good cardio efficiency, etc

-I guess, if I have to put something here, I would say that I could have trained a little better. Maybe I would choose NOT to train for my first marathon during school….I didn’t get a good last long run in.

-I might also add to this list: Choosing my first marathon to be away from any family or friends. I would have been nice to have someone I knew waiting for me at the finish line.

Random things I learned:

-Some runners walked around with bags on their feet pre-race to keep them from getting soaked before the race even started. They looked pretty silly but I thought it was genius!

-In addition to the bags, I saw a girl just tape the top of her shoes to prevent a majority of water getting in. I’m sure it didn’t work 100%, but better than squishy socks! (and blisters).

-People do wear ponchos or trash bags when they run! I thought it would get annoying, but this was an even cheaper idea than my good will rain coat.

Conclusion: Ya know, I can tell the true runners and fitness advocates from the ones that are just doing it for attention – The ones who are really passionate for running and fitness asked me “did you reach your goal?” However the ones that are only into fitness for the attention/bragging rights asked me, “how fast did you do it in?!” My reply to them was always, “I finished. That’s all you need to know.”

BUT, in case your curious, here’s my results:

All my stats

There was a lot of cool and unique feature to their interactive results reporting. This was one, you could see where you were on the course when the Female Winner crosses. You could also see where you were when your division finished first and the overall winner. There was ALSO a video of me finishing!!! I have no idea how to share that with you all though

Additional Vermont City Marathon Info:

The Race Website – check it out! Maybe you all can add it to your race wish list!

Some photos from a bystander/local photographer

Another blogger was there! Check out: T-Rex Runner’s Recap

My First Marathon, Part II: The Run

July 17, 2013February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 9 Comments

Continued from yesterday….If you missed the first installment of My First Marathon Series, you can read it HERE.

My First Marathon, Part II: The Run

I don’t think I slept much, I never do before races. I was even up before my alarm went off. If only I could do that for work! Looking out the window, I realized it was STILL raining! What’s a Colorado girl to do!? I had no idea how to dress for a rainy day, let alone a rainy RACE! Ok, that’s a little exaggerated. I wasn’t worried about the cold, I could stand that, and frankly it wasn’t that cold, temperature wise. I was worried about the wetness, my shoes and socks being soaked and getting blisters in addition to regular chaffing from moisture. I ended up in nylon shorts, my omni heat long-sleeved shirt under a race shirt and my normal socks and shoes. I added a cheapo rain coat I had bought at a Good Will earlier in the week thinking I would need it on a boat ride in Maine. I ended up wearing that for a majority of the race and then tossed it in the trash when I was done with it since it was super cheap.

I loaded some bags into my car. On my way back into the hotel to grab the rest of my stuff, I grabbed a cup of the hotel’s coffee. (That’s all they offered us. 80 bucks a night, and we get foldier’s coffee. I’ve stayed in cheaper places that had a full supply of breakfast foods! Can you tell that I did not like my choice of hotel) But, hey, I can’t run a race without my cup of coffee!

Anyhow, I drove to the race start. The start and finish were super close, so I parked in that area. I would have taken the shuttle if my hotel would have let me check out late, but no way was I paying for an extra day! I stayed warm and dry in my car for as long as possible while I put together my bag for the drop filled with what I would want immediately after the race. Finally, I was brave enough to get out of the car to face the cold and the rain as well as the CROWD! I knew it would be overwhelming again. And it was. Everyone seemed so superior to me! I know it’s all in my head, there were plenty of first timers there in addition to me, but still! I was just gawking at people, walking around aimlessly.

Caught on camera! I found this on the facebook page. That’s me in the pink….looking like a little kid!

I huddled under the only covered area to stay as dry as possible before the race and then dropped off my bag and then carefully walked through the wet grass to the starting line. I waited there and chatted with “Paul,” a random local running the first leg of the marathon relay race. We talked about how similar Denver people and Burlington people were, and I was tending to agree: the atmohphere of the two areas were very like-minded. He told me he loved the event and wished my luck on my first marathon!

Then, after a moment of silence for Boston and the national anthem, we were off. My thought was, “well, here we go, there’s no turning around now.”

I tried to remember my friend’s advice: “Mind over matter…mind over matter” and the advise and Good Lucks from my fellow bloggers on twitter!

And….it actually wasn’t that bad! Well, it was hard, and it was painful. But OVERALL, less scary and less hard than I thought it would be.

So, it rained almost the entire race. The sun peaked for literally 5 minutes on two separate occasions. I felt really good for the first half. Minor hip and knee pain that would come and go and switch between joints, but it was stand-able. I tried to just zone out for most of the race and concentrate on anything but the pain and the remaining miles. I watched the runners around me and watched the crowds cheering us on from the side. I sung along to my music and thought about my nutrition…. well, really thought just about ANYTHING other than running.

I couldn’t get a good pic/screen shot of the course map, but only the top is missing. Click HERE for the course map.

The race course was set up as a series of different length loops that all met back in the middle. This made it very easy to track your progress and there was constant crowds to cheer you on. I liked it a lot!

The first loop: miles 1 -3 – I was getting a feel for running in the rain while running through a historic part of town. Nothing too eventful happened during this loop.

The Second Loop: miles 3-9 – A nice down and back along side a river. Just before the turnaround point, a group of drummers to entertain the runners. You could hear them a half a mile in each direction. A great beat to keep pace to and keep your feet moving. Also along this loop, there was a spot where the fence ended and there was a steep drop off down a hill. Well apparently this was the most ideal place to….urinate! Indeed, a whole line of men, backs turned toward the other racers, peeing off the side of the drop off. I shook my head and literally laughed out loud (slightly jealous that I didn’t have that convenience). Realizing that this was the “pee” zone, I thought about my nutirion and hydration. Sure enough, I had to pee too! Running for 26.2 miles sure does entail a lot of other eliments…like bladder functions, that I never really thought about! I, however, waited for the porta-potty row farther down the loop.

ugh, i look exhausted already! Miserable in the rain!

The Third loop: miles 9- 15 – This was the “hilliest” part of the course…maybe for most. The “biggest” hill awaited at the end of this loop. Another out and back; this loop offered a tour of the residential parts of town and view of the lovely Lake Champlaine. Clearly, this was the point where I passed the half way mark. Only having competed in half marathons, passing the 2 person exchange and half marathon finish was an interesting feeling. I still had 13.1 miles left to go. The end of this loop was the trickiest part of the course…leading into the next loop……

The fourth loop: miles 15 – 26.2: The start of this loop was THE hill. The only real hill. The hill that everyone was freaking out about. I heard chatter about it in the staging area, lining up before race start. And I heard talk about it as we came closer to it on the course. I wasn’t worried about it pre-race. I looked at the course profile and didn’t notice any significant hills. But the more I heard people freak out about it in the race, I started to get worried. I came around the bend at mile 15.

There is was, the hill…….REALLY? That’s what you all were worried about….Come with me to Colorado, I’ll show you a hill!

Needless to say, I charged up that hill! I remember looking over to the left side, right before starting the climb. I locked eyes with some random, energetic, crazy redhead. He instantly started cheering me on! “Go get it! You got it! Do it!!!! This is hill is yours!!” in a fake deep, drill sergeant voice. I let out a laugh and with a huge smile I ran up that hill!!! Great crowd!

At least I’m smiling!

The rest of this loop wound through neighbors hoods filled with people supporting the racers from their houses. In addition to the race aid stations, these lovely citizens set up their own water and fruit aid stations. They had music playing for us and crazy men waving giant american flags (this was the day before memorial day).

We passed through an aid station (I have no idea what mile) where the sun decided to peak it’s head out. I even commented on it to a race volunteer and decided, even if it starts raining again, I think it was time to ditch the rain coat. I wouldn’t have much farther and I wanted the lesser weight.

We rounded the corned at mile 22, and followed the shore of the lake again.

Look at that hair!! WOW!

The Last 3 or 4 miles: As we came to mile 24, I was finally passed up by the 4:00 pace group. Can you believe that!? I was ahead of them a majority of the time. But, at last, this is when I really started struggling. Picking up each foot became a chore and planting them down began to hurt with each step. I was really struggling. I was on the verge of tears. I was so painful that I didn’t even want to reach around into my fuel belt and dig out another energy chew, maybe I should have. I was then passed up by the 4:30 pace group. But I wasn’t admitting defeat! No! I kept running, walking on and off.

Sometimes I still think how I, and others, do it. I remember being in so much pain. My hips, both of them, were extremely tight and painful. My knees were throbbing. My ankles hurt and my arches felt like they were going to explode. ALTHOUGH, my energy felt great! For real, my heart, lungs, etc felt fine! If it weren’t for the pain and tightness, I could have ran for forever.

Knowing I didn’t have much farther to go, I just kept talking to myself. “you got this.” “Just keep running.” “You’re almost there.” “For real, we have to get to our car some how, you might as well just finish the race!” (Apparently there’s more than one “me” in my head at times).

In the zone! BAM!

At one point along the course, as the crowd got thicker, and a bystand saw the look in my face, she read my name off my bib and shouted, “You got this WHITNEY! You’re soooo close!” That really did help me make it to the end.

The crowd kept growing thicker and thicker and I knew I was almost there. I ran the remaining mile. Those portable, metal fences started boarding the course…OH…..soooooo close!!

The side walk ended, and grass began. I rounded another corner. I don’t even remember what was on my ipod. I had taken one ear bud out so that I could hear the crowd! I don’t even remember if there was other runners around me. Apparently there was, I found out, after watching the video of me finishing.

The last 0.1 of the race! The end was in sight!!!!

I concentrated on not falling on the rain soaked, muddy grass and my eyes saw the finish line.

I ignored my pains and cranked my legs into full gear. I was going to finish this strong!

I crossed over the line, threw my hands in the air and plastered a huge grin on my face.

I did it!

I ran my first marathon!

26.2 miles!

(Don’t worry. There’s a Part III. It’s scheduled to post tomorrow)

My First Marathon – Part I, Pre Run

July 16, 2013February 6, 2016 / racingthestates / 13 Comments

The post you have all been waiting for.

My First Marathon, Part 1: Pre Race

“Whitney, what is your plan for tomorrow; like what’s your strategy?”

“Uh…run? I plan on running. That’s all.”

And run I did! It’s kind of amazing really. After passing the 20 miler sign, every step was the farthest I had ever run. Every. Single. Step. 6.2 miles more than I have ever run actually.

And now, I’m officially a marathoner. And yes, I put the sticker on my car.

First thing I did the following morning

Let me just start by telling you everything from the beginning…

Saturday morning, I reloaded up my car after letting the bridal party use it to transfer stuff to and from the island (sounds pretty fancy eh? I know it’s been awhile, but remember, I was out in that ares for a friend wedding originally). I took my time getting ready, then set my phone to navigation and hit the road. I drove from Portland, Maine northwest through New Hampshire and into Vermont. It was a beautiful drive even though it was raining the whole time.

Part of the drive was through White Mountain National Park…someday I want to go back there and camp and hike around. Through the fog, it looked gorgeous and I saw signs for waterfall hikes. Maybe when I do my New Hampshire race, I’ll have to make a pit stop back there.

Anyway, I arrived in Burlington, Vermont around 3pm, drove straight to the race expo and pretty much had a panic attack. Ridiculous, I know. I was so overwhelmed by the experience, it was silly. I’ve been in big events like Race for the Cure and the Bolder Boulder, but those aren’t as goal-minded and racing oriented as this event was. This was the biggest, most serious, event I had been too. EVERYONE running around seemed to know what they were doing and where they needed to be. They all looked like they were in excellent shape. They looked like they knew where they were going. They all looked like they had company and knew everyone. Mostly, they looked like they belonged. I felt so out of place. So lonely.

I picked up my packet and my t-shirt. I bought a 26.2 sticker as a motivator to finish the race. I breiefly walked around the booths, gawked at Jeff Galloway as he greeted others and as quickly as I arrived; I quickly left, almost running, to a less crowded place. The expo was at a hotel, not the one I was staying at, and I found my way to a deserted lounge area and plopped myself in a chair. I desperately searched for my phone and texted one of my best friends: “I really wish you were in cell phone range because I’m officially freaking out.” Then I texted another close friend who called me and comforted me. He chilled me out.

The one and only walk/run guy, Jeff Galloway

It wasn’t just the crowd that was freaking me out. It was also the 26.2 miles that awaited me the next morning. My last month of trianing wasn’t what I wanted it to be, and not gonna lie, I spent the previous week drinking and eating myself silly – What!? It’s what you’re supposed to do at wedding events; hello…bridal luncheon, bachelorette party, rehearsal dinner, then the acutal wedding! Plus, every time during that week that I tried to run, it was raining – and I had no running in the rain clothes (minus the little bit I packed for the race – which barely qualified for running in rain). I got in one run that week; around the island that my friends got married on. It was a lovely run, but I was also worried about the minor knee and hip pain that was developing over the past month. I was seriously worried about finishing this race, but I wasn’t going to back out. A) Thats not like me and b) I was already out there and not going to waste my time, my money or my hard work.

I left the comfy chair of the foreign hotel and mapquested my way to my hotel. I checked in to the crappy Motel 6, where I was given nothing as to what I requested, but had no other option, and promptly fell asleep in the smoke smelling room. I took a good long nap, fully clothed, on top of the covers. Once I woke up, I found the closest grocery store, purchased my nutrition for race day morning and devoured lots of pasta at a local italian joint, Juniors; which was all the rage that night. Luckily there was a quick, takeout side in addition to the fancy dining area. I opted to eat in the take out side (same food, just not fancy settings). It was actually quite delicious. Maybe I was desperately hungry.

Got my bib pinned and my Mizuno’s Ready!

After stuffing my face, I went back to the hotel room, keeping to myself, and prepared my outfit and bags for the next day. Always worried about sleeping through my alarm or my phone shutting off, I requested a wake up call for the next morning. I glanced out the window as the trees and rain smacked against it and fell asleep to the noise of the storm.

Stay tuned for Part II: The Run!

Tuesday Newsday is BACK!

January 22, 2013January 22, 2013 / racingthestates / 7 Comments

I know you all missed Tuesday Newsdays….I’m bringing it back to life because….(drum roll please….)….I picked another marathon to train for and have begun training!!!!!!

AND, it’s going to be out of state! Woot woot! I’m also announcing something else that I might do that’s pretty crazy. But first things first:

This May, I will already have to be in Maine to serve as one of my best friend’s Maid of Honor. I’m pretty honored (no pun intended) to be chosen even if I do have a million and a half anti-marriage jokes. However, I’m super happy for this couple because I know they are going last, are perfect for each other, and are the definition of how relationships should be.

Anyway, Since I will already have to take off time from work and school, I figured I might as well take just a couple more days and do a race (…or two 😉 while I’m out there).

So, I decided to just make it a full, and my FIRST, marathon!!! There’s a few reasons I decided to pick a marathon. 1) I’m ready to just go for it! 2) For my Racing the States project, I initially didn’t care about the distance of the race; now, however, I’m really enjoying the half marathon length, and think it would be cool to have a medal from every state. Obviously, if I’m in a state for something and there’s no halfs – or fulls – available, I’ll pick something less, but like I said, I really like the idea of having a medal from each state. And 3) Around the time that I’m out there, there isn’t too many race options. The race I picked has a marathon and an 15k option…strange combo, I think. So, why not go with the full marathon!?

Alright…the crazy part…..I THINK I’m going to do another marathon the following weekend as well………….

I’ll let that sink in for a little bit longer……………………………

Here, you can look at this pretty picture I took on a run last week while you let that info sink in.

Here's a pretty picture taken on one of my runs to look at while to take that info in

This is my regular run lake all frozen over for the winter.

I know, I know! It’s pretty insane in general to do two marathons in a week, especially for it being my first two, but here’s the crazy thought process: I’m going to be in Maine already…and there’s a few other little states nearby, right? I might as well knock of TWO States while I’m on vacation, right!? But there’s no sane combo. I’m out there the weekends of May 18th/19th and the 25th/26th…I’ve tried every combo I could find. I’ve landed on doing a marathon in Maine the weekend before, and one in Vermont the weekend after the wedding. There’s not any good races in New Hampshire that whole week anyway!

If I chose a race in Vermont the weekend before, there wouldn’t be a good race to choose for after and vise versa (unless there’s anyone that lives out there that has more race info than I’m finding on runningintheusa.com, please let me know…half marathon distance preferred).

Here’s my justification of this insanity: 1) I’ve already gone through a majority of a training plan not that long ago. I learned what to do and not to do for the most part. 2) I have new shoes. 3) My goal is just to finish. I’m not trying to kill myself and BQ my first time out; I’m not that awesome. And 4) Call this the jealousy factor, but a friend of mine that I got into running is soon starting a marathon training plan (without taking the step to a half first) and I’m going to be pretty upset if she completes a marathon before me. That’s pretty rude thinking, huh? But I try to be an honest person, and that’s how I feel. Would something like this bother anyone else? Running is my thing out of all my friend/family/people I know, and I absolutely LOVE that I have sparked someone else’s interest in the wonderful sport, but running is the only thing I have, that I’m good at, and that’s all mine…if that makes sense. Although reason #4 is a only a small factor; I was already thinking about this marathon before this friend told me she was running one as well. (Hopefully I didn’t create too much drama with that statement, but like I said, I do like to be honest and not keep things bottled up).

Well….with that said….

Let me have it! What are your opinions??? The race I’m doing in Maine has a 15k race too…should I just shoot for the marathon the weekend after the wedding and do a small race before (and just not have a medal/half or full in that state), just so I don’t, ya know, kill myself or something?? Or just go for it!? (Side note: both races are relatively cheap for marathons..and I already have to fly out there…the only thing I might add is potentially a rental car). (Side note number two: I’m really leaning towards just going for it!)

I’ll be training for a marathon no matter what decision I make – whether it’s one or two. I starting thinking about all of this at just about 18 weeks out, so I took that as a sign to officially start training. There are a few things I’m going to do different this time, especially if I do decided to do both:

1. Count correctly. Remember how I was off by like 3 weeks last time?? Yeah, not happening again. I’ve already counted, and recounted about 500 times.

2. Foam roll more! Literally, like, every day! Especially that damn IT band (aka the Tensor Fascia Latae muscle…..yep, learned that in school!) This should hopefully prevent and knee pain and just help me my recover time in general.

3. Ice more! And stop being a pansy about it. I should start ice bathing after those long runs. We’ll see if I actually can – especially during the winter; after my foot injury a few months ago, I tried to ice bathe it, and I couldn’t even last 5 seconds. No joke. I remember in high school when I sprained my ankle, I was had to hold it in ice water for 5 minutes straight. I must have been tougher back then.

4. Massage the bottom of my feet more. By this I mean, use the ol’ tennis ball or lacrosse ball on the bottom of my feet to prevent any injuries that may arise (again). I just bought some lacrosse balls from work and tried it last night…it felt amazing!!

So, there you have it! You may be thinking I’m crazy (I’m curious what my Mom will say!). After I hear what people say, I’ll announce the races I plan on doing later this week. Let me know what you all think. I THINK two marathons is doable, with the right mind set and training efficiently. After all, I am in Personal Training school…what better training and information can you get!?