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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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ashleyd /

Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #24

Hello, Healthy Happier Bear readers! I’m Ali and I blog at Ali Runs. My blog follows my journey of finding a balance between grad school and my love for running. Since starting my blog last October, I have run 2 full marathons, four half marathons, and numerous other races at various distances.

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My first full was the Atlantic City Marathon on October 17, 2010. I was lucky enough to train for and complete this race with my sister, Megan, by my side. Training with her was an amazing experience and she served as a constant motivator for me. We crossed the finish line of our first marathon hand in hand.

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As soon as I crossed the finish line, I was hooked. I knew I wanted to run another marathon in the near future. I continued running all winter and completed my 1st and 2nd half marathons in the spring.

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Shortly after, I began researching fall marathons and finally decided on the Niagara Falls International Marathon.

I quickly found out that training for a marathon on my own was much different than training with my sister. I worked hard to fit my training plan around grad school responsibilities and maintaining a social life.

It wasn’t easy, but here are some tips I learned about training for a marathon solo.

1.) Use Twitter for motivation (My twitter name: @runner_ali)

This summer and fall, my twitter feed was filled with people training for marathons. Both Saturday and Sunday mornings, most of the people I follow were tweeting about their long runs. They were all so encouraging and motivating. I never felt like I was alone in marathon training, because there were so many other people I could relate with.

2.) Use races as part of training runs

One of my favorite aspects of running is races! You get to really push yourself and see what your body can handle. This past fall I ran two half marathons, one of which I ran as part of a 16 mile long run. While this is not recommended for all long runs, it is fun to incorporate this into training every now and then.

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3.) Establish a realistic plan

Don’t set yourself up for failure. My training plan worked for me because I was realistic. I based the plan on the amount of work I had for grad school and attempting to maintain my social life. My plan for this training cycle took this into consideration which helped me stay positive and motivated.

4.) Meet up with running buddies

While I didn’t have someone to train with consistently for my long runs, my sister did join me for a few miles during some of my long runs. This helped break the mileage up and the time went by much faster than if I was running the entire long run solo.

5.) Read race recaps

This is my go to trick when I am feeling really unmotivated for a long run. One of the good things about having a blog is that I have written a race recap for most of the races I’ve completed. Reading back through some of the posts really inspires me.

Before I had my own blog, I would often turn to other blogger’s race recaps for motivation. This almost always motivates me into getting out there and run.

6.) Discuss with parents, friends, families, etc.

At first, some of my friends didn’t quite understand why I was missing some of the social outings. When I told them I was training for a marathon, they were excited for me and often asked how training was going.

My family and boyfriend also supported me a great deal during marathon training and during the race. This was very important to me and I’m not sure I could have done it without them.

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My last tip is to have fun!! Training for a marathon is an amazing experience whether your train with a friend or solo!

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Marathons+Moderation Guest Post #23

Good morning readers! I’m Victoria from The District Chocoholic, where I write about everything related to chocolate – chocolate shops around the country, reviews of truffles and chocolate bars, and of course, delicious chocolate recipes that I put together.

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Ashley has kindly offered to let me write in her “Marathons and Moderation” series, and I am thrilled to do it because I was in awe of her dedication to training for the New York City Marathon (did you read about the time she woke up at 4:45 am to run twelve miles in San Francisco while there for business travel?) I can relate to how much discipline this requires, because my job in the nuclear energy sector requires extensive travel, and I’ve had to find places to run all over the country, sometimes long before dawn. It was worth it, though, when I ran a very evenly-paced and fun race at the Richmond Marathon on November 12 this year.

So how did I manage to do it without burning out or (totally) losing my mind? I get asked that often, since in addition to a fairly demanding full time job with travel and long hours, I am the head coach for a local synchronized swimming team, which requires more travel and time dedication. I made it possible, and here are a few tips that you can use yourself if you are wondering how on earth you could fit marathon training into your own hectic life.

Tip 1: Pick a race that works well with your life

In March and April, I spend a lot of time traveling to coach the awesome synchronized swimmers on our team at meets that run 12-14 hours a day.

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Fun, yes? Conducive to sticking with a solid marathon training program? Not so much. This is why I picked a November marathon – seven weeks of my training cycle was during the synchronized swimming off season, and the remainder was prior to the competitive season getting underway.

Tip 2: Cross train

Running 5-6 days a week for a 16-20 week training cycle can make you hate running and pine away for days off. Solution? Cross train!

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I personally love swimming for my days off running, since I swam four years in college. I even did a few open water race during marathon training to keep myself mindful of the fact that there IS a life outside of running. As an added bonus, this can help prevent injury in and running burnout. You don’t have to swim, just find another aerobic activity that you enjoy.

Tip 3: Have a cabinet filled with chocolate at your disposal

This tip needs no explanation.

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