Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #25

Hi all!  I am Stephanie and I blog at Run for Fun!  When Ashley offered me the opportunity to do a guest post on her blog on Marathons and Moderation, I could not pass it up.  First, Ashley has the cutest blog and is super sweet.  Second, I could not in any way pass up an opportunity to write on my favorite topic of all…MARATHONS! I am excited to get to know all of you and I hope this post helps some of you.  Feel free to comment and check out my blog too, I love hearing from readers and getting to know everyone. I am also currently doing a Sweepstakes (usually referred to as a giveaway) for Skin Sake – an anti-chafe, blister healing cream – so be sure to check it out (shameless plug, sorry). Anyway, back to the important stuff – Marathons.

When Ashley mentioned she focuses her guest post series on Marathons and Moderation, I immediately thought of Taper Crazies.  I tried to think of something else to blog about, but honestly I just kept coming back to Taper Crazies so I figured I would just go for it.  Why not? Taper crazies get to the best enough of us, so why not talk about some type of moderation with Taper Crazies. So here we go:

In October of this year, I completed my first marathon, Marine Corps. 

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There I am running a marathon. I am really excited. Yay marathons!

So while I am no expert, by any means, I can tell you what I know.  Originally, I thought Taper Crazies were a myth.  I figured that I would be different.  My general training schedule is different than most runners as I run less miles than others. So I figured that I would not be bothered by the Craziness that is Taper Crazies.  Well, boy was I WRONG.  I should have known better.  Of course, I was going to freak out – I mean I was attempting to run this 26.2 endurance event that I had essentially been training for over the past three years.

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Here is the hubby and I. He already knows I am kind of crazy, notice the shirt? It is his official race shirt, which will be on sale in dri-fit for both men (and women versions too) really soon on my blog!

Crazies came in the form of phantom pains, nightmares, lack of sleep, random worries, over-packing, and obsession about blisters, side cramps, and the like.  My biggest worry was not that I had not gotten in enough miles or run enough, but rather that I had not had enough time to train for all the other things that you need to train for – how much to eat, when & how to get enough fluids, how to deal with side cramps, and what to do about these nagging blisters.

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Here I am acting all calm.

I would like to tell you I was cool, calm and collected about all these things.  But, as my husband can attest, that would be a flat out lie!  So I just worried, and…uh worried some more.  Because when you don’t have miles and miles to run, all your energy has to be put towards something else, right?  So why not worry?

In the end, my worries were for nothing.  My first marathon, in my mind, ranks pretty high up there as one of the best days of my life, you know up there with weddings and fun stuff like that.

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Weddings or marathons? You decide…

The race was amazing and wonderful!  Everything I was worried about seemed to melt away as I entered a strange marathon zone.  While in this zone, I knew exactly what I had to do.  Everything seemed to click from negative splitting to eating granola bars to drinking at all times.  The blister I had worried about did not appear and the side cramps and ankle pain that I stressed over, while they tried to make an appearance, I was not having it.  This was MY day and no one or thing was stealing it from me.

Now, I am not saying that it is always going to turn out perfectly for me or for anyone.  And I can’t promise that next time around (because there will be a next time) I won’t worry myself sick again, but I am going to try and practice what I preach now and that is Moderation in the form of Taper Crazies.

Don’t Let Taper Crazies Get You Down

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Taper Crazies make me a sad runner…

Ultimately, it is normal and a right of passage to go through Taper Crazies.   Runners expect it, they know it is coming and I don’t think you can steer clear of such a process even if you are a seasoned runner. However, you can give yourself a break from these crazies.  And I did try to do just that and I will try my hardest to do it again next time around.  So here are just a few thoughts:

Tips on Taming Taper Crazies

5) Trust Your Training – I know people all say this, but it is totally true. You have put in the time and the effort.  You have practiced, you have worked hard.  It is easy during taper to feel you have not done enough, but you have!! Trust this.  You may worry a bit that you have not but then look back over your training plan and realize you have done a ton and let it go!

4) Watch Motivational Movies & Relax – all week leading up to MCM, I tried to relax and watch fun related marathon movies.  I told everyone that I could not take in any extra projects.  I canceled any extra plans.  I spent my nights on the couch catching up with all the running favorite inspiration movies…Hood to Coast, Glee you know how it is 😉

3)  Support Person – When I took the bar exam in two states, someone told me bring a support person.  Someone who is going to just be there for you!  Same applied to my marathon and I actually cheated and had two wonderful support people.  They kept me calm.  They made me dinner the night before the marathon.  They held all of my stuff the day of the marathon. They were my very own pit crew and I could not do it without them.

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My two favorite guys- thank you!!

2) Rock Your Mantras – When taper crazies got the best of me, I remembered my mantras.  Sounds silly, but I promise they really work.  I think my favorite for MCM was – "I am not talking to you."  Sounds strange, but this worked. Mainly anytime anything bothered me, I just told it (whether it be my ankle, my stomach, whatever) that I was not talking to it, that today was my day and they were not going to ruin it.  No siree.

1)Have a Blast – Ok, this may sound lame but it is really important.  This is YOUR day. You have trained and worked hard. I know it is difficult not to get caught up in Taper Crazies or worry yourself sick but take a step back and take a deep breath and realize you are about to run a marathon.  You will start and you will finish I promise. And even if for some reason you can’t, there is always next time.  So put aside the worries and just rock it. It is your day 🙂

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And after you will enjoy this – Marathon Ice-cream, the best kind there is!

So that is it for now.  My solutions to moderating and meandering around the Taper Crazies.  Thanks for listening and I hope to get to know all of you soon!

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Home for the Holidays Virtual 10K

Editor’s Note:  This just in we are RE-OPENING registration for the Virtual 10K due to a high demand.  After much consideration and requests, we have decided to reopen the 10k.  We thought about those who have not had a chance to register as well as those who took the time to register.  Given the short registration time frame and the fact that people can register for a “normal” race the day of, we have reopened registration.  

For those who have already registered early, we are giving you the opportunity to be the only one’s in the raffle prize for the Brooks shoes. 

Happy Holidays!  2011 has been an amazing year for races, blogging, friends, and fun! Many of us qualified for Boston, ran our first half or full marathon, watched the Hood to Coast teams with awe and slight jealously, and maybe even just started running!

Now that 2011 is about to close and we are rushing home or to friends and families for the holidays, we wanted one last chance to enjoy that Runner’s High before we said our official goodbye to 2011.  I don’t know about you, but in our areas there were not many options for races this weekend.  People are BUSY!  It is Christmas and Hanukkah this week, so we get it.  That is why all the holiday races were previous weeks.  But we wanted MORE!!  Robin & Stephanie looked high and low for a 10k – Robin had a 10K on her training plan for this week and Stephanie wanted to make it 11 races in 2011 (she has 10).  I am heading down South for the holiday weekend, and there are not many options.

Good thing  bloggers are so resourceful!  First I tweeted this …

Then saw this…

And before we knew it Robin, Stephanie, and I were planning the The 1st Annual Home for the Holidays Virtual 10K!

Whether you are planning on going home for the holidays or not, we would love for you to participate in this Virtual Race.  What better way to burn off some holiday stressors and a few of those extra cookies than kicking out a 10K with some of your closest friends and bloggers.

Because what is the holidays without some of these fabulous sugar cookies!

If you have never done a Virtual Race before and have no idea what we are talking about, don’t worry it is simple and easy to catch on!  The idea behind the race is that you register (here) and instead of actually going to a designated area to race you get to do it on your own time (within a certain deadline) and at your own place.  We organize it all and then you just have to run and report back – tell us how it went, send us funny stories, pictures whatever.  You can get friends to do it with you in person or just rock it on your treadmill. Whatever works, anything goes!  Holidays are stressful and crazy.  This is supposed to be fun, healthy, and enjoyable!!!

Plus, if nothing else, we are going to have wonderful, fabulous prizes!!!  Amazing companies came out left and right to offer some great gifts.  Since this is just for fun, we will be doing prizes for Best Holiday Outfit During the Run as well as random sweepstakes (you enter the drawing by registering and running the 10K).

Here are the brands participating thus far:
Attune Foods
Skin Sake
Sparkly Soul Bands
Tommie Copper
Five Bamboo

Chobani 

Fleet Feet Sports

Popchips
Gu
Nuun
Choose Cherries
Road ID
Run for Fun – Run for Fun Bondi Band & the new I <3 My Crazy Bitch Dri-Fit Shirt
Healthy Happier Bear – Lululemon shirt
Westford Mommy – iTunes gift card

Wow!  We are pretty excited about all these prizes which came in so quickly.  Please check out the Terms and Conditions on winning these items here. But now, let’s lets talk logistics!

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS REGISTRATION

Race Date:  Friday December 23, 2011 through Monday December 26, 2011 – run whenever you would like between this time frame

Where:  Wherever you want – that is the beauty of the Virtual Race.  Run at home, outside, with friends wherever.  Stephanie & Robin will be running together if you are in the area, let them know to join in.

Race Distance:  10K – Run 6.2 miles!

Outfit:  As this is a holiday race, feel free to dress up! There will be prizes for the most spirited holiday outfit

Afterwards:  Afterwards submit your times – here (link will be updated with the correct information after registration has ended).  We would love to share your pictures and stories! We will let you know the results and who has won the prizes by 12/31/11.  Send us your pictures and stories so we can report back to everyone.   Please send them to healthyhappierbear@gmail.com)

Activity Waiver & Terms and Conditions:  Please check this page out as well. By registering, you are agreeing to abide by our Activity Waiver as well as the Terms & Conditions for the Sweepstake prizes.   More information can be found on this page.

E-mail:  You will receive a confirmation e-mail with any other need to know details Friday December 23, 2011.

Registration:  Register here!  Registration is open until Thursday December 22 at 11:59 p.m.

We are so excited about the 10K!  Please tweet, blog, Facebook, and share with everyone! We can’t wait.

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