I won't give in till I reach the end... and then I'll start again (comments welcome)

[Naomeri]

Great job!!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Congrats!!!

 

[Cabius]

Congrats!!!!

 

[azrivest]

Marathon recap

It's hard for me to recap the race in detail. It went by so fast and at the same time it took over 5 hours to run. So I'll just write down some random thoughts.

The weather
Too perfect. Sunny. Near freezing at the start, and around 12C/53F at the finish line.

The shoes:
I wore my pair of NB RC Elite v2. They are really great shoes: lightweight, carbon-plated, cushioned. Only problem was, I have always needed stability shoes and those aren't it. I took the risk of wearing them for 26 miles and I paid the price. After 15 miles, I knew I was in trouble and that my legs were going to hurt. My husband was waiting at the 17.5 mile mark to help me fill up my bladder and other things I might need. I tried switching to my Adrenaline 21s but the difference in cushioning made it feel too weird. So I decided to tough it out and finish with the RC Elite. It really affected my gait in the last 10 km. I'll be nursing a sore inside shin split for a few weeks.

The course:
Beautiful. Just so pretty, with the fall colors. And it was a relatively "easy" course for a marathon. The first 15 km had a net descent of ~100m



My splits:

SPLIT 1	9.8 km	01:08:23	6:58/km	9.8 km	01:08:23
SPLIT 2	11.3 km	01:14:53	6:37/km	21.1 km	02:23:16
SPLIT 3	8.9 km	01:09:09	7:46/km	30 km	03:32:25
SPLIT 4	12.2 km	01:38:17	8:03/km	42.2 km	05:10:42

The first half of the course as I mentioned was fast... and I felt fast. Especially in split 2, where my average pace was 30 seconds faster than planned. Split 3 seems slower, but that's because I took a 4 minute pause when I met up with my husband. Otherwise I would have stayed on planned pace.

My only objective pace-wise was to reach KM32 before the cutoff of 4 hours. I didn't arrive with that much loose time, as I crossed KM32 at 3:45:31. I had been feeling great up until that point, but reaching the cutoff got me super emotional. And to not help matters, Show Yourself was playing in my earphones at the precise moment. I got teary eyed when I realized that, after reaching the cutoff, I was going to finish, no matter what.

The last 10k was a mix of running and walking and my pace really took a hit, but I didn't care in the least. My goal was only to finish. So I took my time and did what I felt I needed to reach the end. I didn't want to risk injuring myself anymore.

Nutrition
I didn't take as many gels as I had planned and that was okay. I would take a gel before or at every water station (so every 20-30 minutes) and I was fine. I never felt like I hit a wall or was glycogen-depleted.
- Took my 500ml Maurten 320 20 minutes before the race. Still tastes as weird as it did the first time.
- Alternated between GUs and Maurten 100. Thank goodness for Maurten 100. So much easier to ingest than GU which sticks in my mouth.
- Used a 1L bladder with two scoops of Skratch Labs Strawberry Limeade. Perfect.
- Supplemented with water from the water stations.

Finish Line
I can't even begin to describe the feeling. Proud and emotional and excited and sore. The most amazing thing was seeing @flav wait for me at the finish line, even when she had finished more than an hour before me (as Billy said, you crushed it!)

A few ppl from my running group were also there to celebrate with those that had run the marathon. We cheered around plastic glasses filled with champagne.

Bottom Line
I have never been so proud to be a runner. My placement wasn't "good", in the sense that I finished 615th of 655 women. But it was a super fast course with a super fast field, so I'm not ashamed in the least. I have absolutely no regrets.

This was the second hardest thing I've ever done in my life, second only to the 32-hour labor I went through with J. I kept thinking the whole time "This is hard, but childbirth is harder,"

Coming Up
My next races are the W&D Challenge in November. I'm going to run them as fun runs. I'm still sore and my shin will be painful for a few days, so I'll take it easy for awhile, and then stick to maintenance runs until Wine&Dine.

Will I run a marathon again? I'm not sure. I loved the feeling, but the training load is a bit too much for my life right now. I'm really lucky I have such a supportive husband who allows me to go out 5-7 hours a week to run while he stays at home alone with the kids. I'm looking forward to being at home a bit more in the next few weeks. I was potentially aiming for Goofy or Dopey 2024, but now I'm not so sure. I don't think I'd have the courage of attacking Goofy alone. Maybe if I convince my big brother to come with me?

Thanks for reading all this way.

And thanks again to all of you who have supported me in the past weeks: Billy and flav especially, but the others that I met in person at Princess: B****, M******, C****, J****, K**, and all the others on the board. We really are a great community.

 

[DopeyBadger]

I don't think I'd have the courage of attacking Goofy alone.

And you wouldn't necessarily have to. I'm sure there's some DIS'ers out there that would be by your side if you so chose to do it.

 

[Herding_Cats]

Marathon recap

It's hard for me to recap the race in detail. It went by so fast and at the same time it took over 5 hours to run. So I'll just write down some random thoughts.

Bottom Line
I have never been so proud to be a runner. My placement wasn't "good", in the sense that I finished 615th of 655 women. But it was a super fast course with a super fast field, so I'm not ashamed in the least. I have absolutely no regrets.

This was the second hardest thing I've ever done in my life, second only to the 32-hour labor I went through with J. I kept thinking the whole time "This is hard, but childbirth is harder,"

Coming Up
My next races are the W&D Challenge in November. I'm going to run them as fun runs. I'm still sore and my shin will be painful for a few days, so I'll take it easy for awhile, and then stick to maintenance runs until Wine&Dine.

Will I run a marathon again? I'm not sure. I loved the feeling, but the training load is a bit too much for my life right now. I'm really lucky I have such a supportive husband who allows me to go out 5-7 hours a week to run while he stays at home alone with the kids. I'm looking forward to being at home a bit more in the next few weeks. I was potentially aiming for Goofy or Dopey 2024, but now I'm not so sure. I don't think I'd have the courage of attacking Goofy alone. Maybe if I convince my big brother to come with me?

Thanks for reading all this way.

And thanks again to all of you who have supported me in the past weeks: Billy and flav especially, but the others that I met in person at Princess: B****, M******, C****, J****, K**, and all the others on the board. We really are a great community.

Few things are harder than childbirth. And now that you’ve done that AND run a marathon, you KNOW you can do ANYTHING you set your mind to.

View attachment 707932



And you wouldn't necessarily have to. I'm sure there's some DIS'ers out there that would be by your side if you so chose to do it.

I agree that there’s probably at least one person in here that would run with you. Speaking from experience as someone who was set on doing it (Goofy) solo, finding someone with similar pacing/race day goals can make things soooooooo much more enjoyable. But it’s definitely doable on your own because the Disney races have so many distractions to offer.

 

[GollyGadget]

Great job! Running and training for a marathon is no joke!

Make sure you take plenty of time to soak in the accomplishment!

 

[flav]

You did run an amazing race, marathoner @azrivest ! Congratulations

 

[striker1064]

That is so cool - great job! Love the pictures too.

 

[WillRunForPizza]

Congratulations! Amazing job!

 

[HangWithMerida]

Yay!! You are a marathoner! I’m so happy for you and so proud of you!

 

[lookingforsunshine]

Way to go!!!

 

[azrivest]

Is this the post-marathon blues? I'm in a funk right now. Again, any advice and/or comments welcome. I love me a good GIF

I've started running again. I took one of 80/20's free maintenance running plans off of TrainingPeaks. For the next few weeks, it's basically 5 runs of ~30 minutes each with some sprinkled speed into them. Perfect for me atm.

Now that I'm in maintenance mode, I'm looking into losing a bit of weight. I have been injured or hurting at multiple times during the last year, and I really think that by losing 5-10 pounds I'll feel better. It won't put as much pressure on my joints and legs.

So I went to see my nutritionist again last night. So far, I am far from impressed. I basically built my marathon nutrition plan going more with Billy and striker's advice and not really taking any of hers. Now, she's recommending I try to maintain my calorie intake to ~1500 kCal per day (a bit more on days I run), which makes me worried I will feel famished half the time. Her key to that is eating as many carbs, more protein, and less fat. I'm going to try it for a month and see. If I feel that I don't have enough energy to run, I'll go back to my more regular food routine.

Only 22 days till I fly out for W&D!

 

[DopeyBadger]

Is this the post-marathon blues? I'm in a funk right now. Again, any advice and/or comments welcome. I love me a good GIF

Totally normal. You just spent hours and hours tirelessly working towards a goal. It came and went, and now you have a void. It'll pass after a bit.

So I went to see my nutritionist again last night. So far, I am far from impressed. I basically built my marathon nutrition plan going more with Billy and striker's advice and not really taking any of hers. Now, she's recommending I try to maintain my calorie intake to ~1500 kCal per day (a bit more on days I run), which makes me worried I will feel famished half the time. Her key to that is eating as many carbs, more protein, and less fat. I'm going to try it for a month and see. If I feel that I don't have enough energy to run, I'll go back to my more regular food routine.

Did she explain how she came up with that value? What's your Basal Metabolic Rate (or estimate of it)? How fast do you want to lose 5-10 pounds?

 

[azrivest]

Totally normal. You just spent hours and hours tirelessly working towards a goal. It came and went, and now you have a void. It'll pass after a bit.



Did she explain how she came up with that value? What's your Basal Metabolic Rate (or estimate of it)? How fast do you want to lose 5-10 pounds?

Based on my age, current weight, and height, she calculated that my minimum calorie intake is about 1300 calories, + the amount of calories for day-to-day living (I don't have the exact terms).

Breathing = ~1300 calories
Regular day = ~1800 calories
Run day = ~2100 calories

I want to go as slow as I can to lose those pounds (about 0.5 lbs a week) since there's no way I can cut down on my calorie intake anymore than the ~300 calorie/day deficit she suggested.

 

[DopeyBadger]

Based on my age, current weight, and height, she calculated that my minimum calorie intake is about 1300 calories, + the amount of calories for day-to-day living (I don't have the exact terms).

Breathing = ~1300 calories
Regular day = ~1800 calories
Run day = ~2100 calories

I want to go as slow as I can to lose those pounds (about 0.5 lbs a week) since there's no way I can cut down on my calorie intake anymore than the ~300 calorie/day deficit she suggested.

Yea, I mean the numbers make sense to me. About 1500-1550 calories would be the estimate for trying to lose about 0.5 pound per week.

 

[HangWithMerida]

Based on my age, current weight, and height, she calculated that my minimum calorie intake is about 1300 calories, + the amount of calories for day-to-day living (I don't have the exact terms).

Breathing = ~1300 calories
Regular day = ~1800 calories
Run day = ~2100 calories

I want to go as slow as I can to lose those pounds (about 0.5 lbs a week) since there's no way I can cut down on my calorie intake anymore than the ~300 calorie/day deficit she suggested.

This is the range I live in when I’m in maintenance (I weigh 130-135 lbs). I add in 100 cal/day in increments as my mileage goes up. Currently I am at a base of 1700/day 6 days a week. That doesn’t count my prerun snack or the half and half in my coffee, so add another 75-200 to that depending on running. If I find myself needing an extra snack more days than not during a week, I add another 100 in the following week.
At 1500 cals, depending on how you use those calories, it can feel like nothing or almost too much food. If you feel hungry a lot try finding some volume with veggies and protein. Aim for protein in 1 form or another at every meal. Yogurt, chicken, and fish are my go-to’s. I highly recommend meal prepping but I know it doesn’t appeal to everyone. If you decide to try it, you could always prep just lunch, snacks or add in breakfast then deal with dinner as a separate thing if your family likes to eat together. Mine all eats different stuff so it works for me just to prep it all. For me, having the food planned out in advance takes several decisions a day away, sort of automates the day, and lets me make decisions at a time where I don’t feel hungry, rushed, or tired.
Good luck to you. 0.5lbs a week is a good goal, manageable while running, and should keep you from feeling like you are running on too big of a deficit.

 

[GollyGadget]

 

[flav]

Yes, the race is over, Thanksgiving is done and the days are shorter! Time to self care and eat well! Good luck

ETA: and I am terrible with these Gif that don’t load. Sorry

 

[NYC_MW]

I love me a good GIF

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