And it was a bit of a let down! The hubby and I started out really well. It's crowded in the beginning so I was running with him even though he is a much faster runner. I did struggle a little to keep up and around mile 4 I told him that he should go on and run his own race (and let me relax and rest a bit!)
Being the sweetheart that he is, he wanted to run with me a little longer even though I was running painfully slow for him. About the time I really thought I wasn't going to be able to keep up, disaster struck! Only at first it didn't seem too much like disaster.
The hubby was running along through the Heights and it was still quite crowded. Between that and the fact that there is so much to pay attention to, he didn't happen to notice the road humps that we were running over. He didn't even notice the first one at all... however the second one was not missed so easily. Unfortunately for him rather than running over the road hump, he slammed his foot straight into it.
This caught him off guard and pushed him backwards a little. He mentioned to me at the time (this was before mile 6) that he had hit that road hump wrong but then didn't mention it much after that. The hubby was still punishing me a bit with his pace. But then he started noticing some discomfort I believe before the halfway point.
Being the stubborn boy that he is, he kept running on through the discomfort until he hit about 16 miles. At this point, the hubby realizes that there is a problem and he still has 10 miles to go. Everyone will agree that this is quite a mountain to overcome but he is still a stubborn boy!
We continued on with him walking more and myself doing a sad little jog since it seemed a little less painful than walking did. We stayed together through to the end. About 4 miles from the end (22 miles) he pretty much gave up on running at all but I was still doing my sad jogging thing.
Pretty soon after that downtown loomed. I've run the Houston marathon twice before this and everytime I get to this point I'm pretty much overjoyed. Well as overjoyed as you can be when every muscle from your neck to your toes hurts. I think Mark was feeling the same.
At the point of entering downtown, there is about 1.5 miles or less to go. The hubby is now struggling to even walk on this leg that has been injured but still he perseveres. He limps his way to the end and at the last tenth of a mile, he runs again and crosses the finish line running.
We finished in about 5 hours and 45 minutes. This is over an hour slower than my fastest marathon. While I never dreamed I would even come close to my fastest time, I figured I would finish just over the 5 hour mark and that the hubby would completely blow my best time out of the water. What a surprise it was that I was not the one slowing us down!
Despite the time, I am really proud of the hubby. I'm pretty sure no one else I know would have finished after hurting themselves so early. He is a fighter and that is part of what I love about him!
He informed me that he was definitely going to run another marathon (to prove a point I'm sure!) And then he stated that we were running SunMart again 'cause that was way more fun. I knew he was trying to kill me!
Showing posts with label Marathon craziness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marathon craziness. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Running 31 miles hurts...
in case you have ever questioned that fact.
My husband and I are training for the marathon (for anyone who hasn't kept up with me lately). Normally when you do the training for a marathon, there is one long run that occurs approximately 4 weeks before marathon day. Unfortunately I told my brother to come into town from San Francisco that weekend not even thinking about what we would do to make up for that run.
We decided to run the Sunmart 50k/50mile trail run this past weekend instead. For the non-runners in the house, 50k = 31 miles (give or take a tenth).
I had been told in the past that Sunmart was WAAAAAAY easier than the marathon. "You see it's soft ground the whole way rather than the concrete that the marathon is run on. Oh and they have these really awesome rest stops where there is all kinds of good food to eat. You get lots of cool stuff just from signing up and a neat jacket or afghan for finishing!! Besides, no one really runs it that hard anyway so go ahead and give it a try", they said! My husband got the same pitch from everyone so we signed up.
Stupidly, I believed all these so called friends who gave me those many lines of BS. I really think that they had suffered so much that they felt everyone should suffer this evil run with them.
There were some good things about the run. I like to start on a positive note so here is goes. There were a lot of really cool things that you get for signing up. My favorites were the long sleeve running shirt (probably worth about $40) and the running hat (another $20 or so). We only paid $90 to enter and there were other goodies too so I figured we pretty much broke even on the cost. Then there was the fact that this is run up in the piney woods in Huntsville, Texas around a lovely little lake. And I DID get a medal and the neat afghan at the end. This is where the good things end!
I mentioned the lovely scenery? Well... couldn't really pay attention to any of it because I was too busy watching for roots to trip over. I observed 31 miles of dirt and tree roots. All the good food? I have found that I really don't tolerate M&M's and PB&J sandwiches too well when running. Apparently the food wants to try to make a reappearance. Fortunately I managed to avoid that situation. Then there are the hills... I was told not to really run the hills. OK... that's great but it seemed to me like the course was one freaking big hill that never stopped. So not running them made the day oh so much longer than expected. Did I mention that it took 7.5 hours to finish. 7.5 hours of torture! No one should have to suffer through that. At the point that I hit about 26/27 miles I didn't want to run anymore so I started walking. Walking hurt too but I was in the middle of nowhere in the woods with almost no one near me so I had to get back somehow. Yay! What fun!
This is what pain looks like. This is akin to childbirth in that people do it more than once because they forget the pain. I am posting the picture so I can gaze on my pain anytime I forget!
In the end, everything from my neck down hurt. I cried at the finish partially because I was in so much pain and partially because my husband was nowhere to be found. (In his defense, he thought he had time to go to the truck to get a camera and take a picture of me finishing... he didn't have that much time). We drove home and I immediately went to bed only about an hour later around 6:30. I tried to stay awake but my body was having none of that. It was better to sleep too because I didn't feel the pain so much while I was sleeping.
It's hard to say whether I'm glad I did it. I swore after it was done I would never, ever do that again. I have a sort of twisted sense of accomplishment so I suppose that is good. I can tell people that I "run" 31 miles. The quotes are due to the fact that there was a lot of walking involved almost to the point of feeling like I was on some evil hiking expedition.
The husband told me last night that he wanted to do it again. I'm pretty sure he has gone completely insane and I am certain he means to drag me with him on his trip through insanity. Wish me luck!
My husband and I are training for the marathon (for anyone who hasn't kept up with me lately). Normally when you do the training for a marathon, there is one long run that occurs approximately 4 weeks before marathon day. Unfortunately I told my brother to come into town from San Francisco that weekend not even thinking about what we would do to make up for that run.
We decided to run the Sunmart 50k/50mile trail run this past weekend instead. For the non-runners in the house, 50k = 31 miles (give or take a tenth).
I had been told in the past that Sunmart was WAAAAAAY easier than the marathon. "You see it's soft ground the whole way rather than the concrete that the marathon is run on. Oh and they have these really awesome rest stops where there is all kinds of good food to eat. You get lots of cool stuff just from signing up and a neat jacket or afghan for finishing!! Besides, no one really runs it that hard anyway so go ahead and give it a try", they said! My husband got the same pitch from everyone so we signed up.
Stupidly, I believed all these so called friends who gave me those many lines of BS. I really think that they had suffered so much that they felt everyone should suffer this evil run with them.
There were some good things about the run. I like to start on a positive note so here is goes. There were a lot of really cool things that you get for signing up. My favorites were the long sleeve running shirt (probably worth about $40) and the running hat (another $20 or so). We only paid $90 to enter and there were other goodies too so I figured we pretty much broke even on the cost. Then there was the fact that this is run up in the piney woods in Huntsville, Texas around a lovely little lake. And I DID get a medal and the neat afghan at the end. This is where the good things end!
I mentioned the lovely scenery? Well... couldn't really pay attention to any of it because I was too busy watching for roots to trip over. I observed 31 miles of dirt and tree roots. All the good food? I have found that I really don't tolerate M&M's and PB&J sandwiches too well when running. Apparently the food wants to try to make a reappearance. Fortunately I managed to avoid that situation. Then there are the hills... I was told not to really run the hills. OK... that's great but it seemed to me like the course was one freaking big hill that never stopped. So not running them made the day oh so much longer than expected. Did I mention that it took 7.5 hours to finish. 7.5 hours of torture! No one should have to suffer through that. At the point that I hit about 26/27 miles I didn't want to run anymore so I started walking. Walking hurt too but I was in the middle of nowhere in the woods with almost no one near me so I had to get back somehow. Yay! What fun!
This is what pain looks like. This is akin to childbirth in that people do it more than once because they forget the pain. I am posting the picture so I can gaze on my pain anytime I forget!
In the end, everything from my neck down hurt. I cried at the finish partially because I was in so much pain and partially because my husband was nowhere to be found. (In his defense, he thought he had time to go to the truck to get a camera and take a picture of me finishing... he didn't have that much time). We drove home and I immediately went to bed only about an hour later around 6:30. I tried to stay awake but my body was having none of that. It was better to sleep too because I didn't feel the pain so much while I was sleeping.
It's hard to say whether I'm glad I did it. I swore after it was done I would never, ever do that again. I have a sort of twisted sense of accomplishment so I suppose that is good. I can tell people that I "run" 31 miles. The quotes are due to the fact that there was a lot of walking involved almost to the point of feeling like I was on some evil hiking expedition.
The husband told me last night that he wanted to do it again. I'm pretty sure he has gone completely insane and I am certain he means to drag me with him on his trip through insanity. Wish me luck!
Monday, November 12, 2007
Marathon Chronicles - The training series
If I cared about winning, this picture would be titled "The agony of defeat!" Fortunately I don't care.
This is my least favorite part of marathon training... the training series. I know that running in organized races is necessary to the training. Running in a race is different in the fact that you tend to get caught up in the excitement and run too fast. So these are necessary to get you used to running your own race and not run everyone else's.
I still hate them. At least the ones that we have in Houston. You would think that a city the size of Houston could find a better course to run. It's hard enough to run 13 or 15.5 miles without having to run loops on concrete.
Two weeks ago was the half marathon (13.1 miles) that is part of the training series. It was perfect weather and I did really well. I didn't feel good at all at the end but I ran faster than expected and ended up finishing in 2 hours and 12 minutes. This isn't a time to impress your friends with but it was respectable for me and I was quite happy with it.
That was right after I finished. Six hours later I was not so happy. I hurt so bad that I couldn't get comfortable. I took some ibuprofin and was able to sleep. I was really sore for days.
Yesterday was the 25K race. The conditions sucked! I think it was 70 degrees in Houston at 7am when the race started and I'm pretty sure it was around 80 degrees when I finished. I felt bad from about 5 miles to the end of the 15.5 miles that I ran. This course is three laps of the most boring running you could imagine.
I started out running 9 minutes and walking 1 minute. On my way in from the last loop, I started running 4 minutes and walking 1 minute. Let me tell you that this was the longest 4 minutes of my life every time I had to start running again. I really didn't know if I was going to finish. I did finish because you see, there was a jacket at the end. I paid about $40 so that I could run 15.5 miles for a jacket that I am pretty sure I could have bought for $40. I'm not sure I understand my own logic! Oh and the stupid thing doesn't fit. My husband will be enjoying it though.
I am happy that this part of the training is done. I dread these races but I run them. There is also a 30K race that happens 3 weeks from now but Houston Fit training program doesn't run it. I'm told it's worse than the 25K and even more boring. They run their own unofficial 30K which is a lovely course that takes us through parks and around the Rice campus.
My hubby and I may skip this one and do a trail run up in Huntsville, TX north of Houston. This race (Sunmart) is a 50K and 50 miler. We will not be doing the 50 miler. I think 31 miles of a 50K is plenty of abuse. I'm told that this will be much easier than the marathon because of the softer surfaces. I've wanted to do this one for years now and I think we will be signing up for it soon. Wish us luck and hope that we survive another day so I can add it to the marathon chronicles.
I still hate them. At least the ones that we have in Houston. You would think that a city the size of Houston could find a better course to run. It's hard enough to run 13 or 15.5 miles without having to run loops on concrete.
Two weeks ago was the half marathon (13.1 miles) that is part of the training series. It was perfect weather and I did really well. I didn't feel good at all at the end but I ran faster than expected and ended up finishing in 2 hours and 12 minutes. This isn't a time to impress your friends with but it was respectable for me and I was quite happy with it.
That was right after I finished. Six hours later I was not so happy. I hurt so bad that I couldn't get comfortable. I took some ibuprofin and was able to sleep. I was really sore for days.
Yesterday was the 25K race. The conditions sucked! I think it was 70 degrees in Houston at 7am when the race started and I'm pretty sure it was around 80 degrees when I finished. I felt bad from about 5 miles to the end of the 15.5 miles that I ran. This course is three laps of the most boring running you could imagine.
I started out running 9 minutes and walking 1 minute. On my way in from the last loop, I started running 4 minutes and walking 1 minute. Let me tell you that this was the longest 4 minutes of my life every time I had to start running again. I really didn't know if I was going to finish. I did finish because you see, there was a jacket at the end. I paid about $40 so that I could run 15.5 miles for a jacket that I am pretty sure I could have bought for $40. I'm not sure I understand my own logic! Oh and the stupid thing doesn't fit. My husband will be enjoying it though.
I am happy that this part of the training is done. I dread these races but I run them. There is also a 30K race that happens 3 weeks from now but Houston Fit training program doesn't run it. I'm told it's worse than the 25K and even more boring. They run their own unofficial 30K which is a lovely course that takes us through parks and around the Rice campus.
My hubby and I may skip this one and do a trail run up in Huntsville, TX north of Houston. This race (Sunmart) is a 50K and 50 miler. We will not be doing the 50 miler. I think 31 miles of a 50K is plenty of abuse. I'm told that this will be much easier than the marathon because of the softer surfaces. I've wanted to do this one for years now and I think we will be signing up for it soon. Wish us luck and hope that we survive another day so I can add it to the marathon chronicles.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Marathon Chronicles - week 6/7
For Elastic, I was going to try to talk about something else here so that she won't get tired every time she comes here to read but apparently this is my whole life... However I will do this one and my next entry out of order so that maybe she can be not so tired.
Week 6 didn't really go well for me. I am in physical therapy and suddenly on Friday before the 7 mile run, they decided to do a strength test. Essentially they tested my calves and shins until they were fatigued. Apparently this was not a good idea because within 1 mile of starting the run, my shins were fatigued. I made it through about 4 miles before I started walking a good bit.
Week 7 was our 8 mile run. The hubby decided to be "manly" the night before by picking up a wine fridge to move it and threw his back out. I was on my own for this run. Not that this is a problem... he is usually a good half a mile to a mile ahead of me anyway. The run went pretty well even though it's not my favorite route. I was a little tired on the way out but I felt decent on the way back. I am starting to walk a little to get through the runs now. It's all good though. I will do that during the marathon too so may as well start walking some now! :)
Next Saturday we get a break!! Only 6 miles that day! YAY!!
Week 6 didn't really go well for me. I am in physical therapy and suddenly on Friday before the 7 mile run, they decided to do a strength test. Essentially they tested my calves and shins until they were fatigued. Apparently this was not a good idea because within 1 mile of starting the run, my shins were fatigued. I made it through about 4 miles before I started walking a good bit.
Week 7 was our 8 mile run. The hubby decided to be "manly" the night before by picking up a wine fridge to move it and threw his back out. I was on my own for this run. Not that this is a problem... he is usually a good half a mile to a mile ahead of me anyway. The run went pretty well even though it's not my favorite route. I was a little tired on the way out but I felt decent on the way back. I am starting to walk a little to get through the runs now. It's all good though. I will do that during the marathon too so may as well start walking some now! :)
Next Saturday we get a break!! Only 6 miles that day! YAY!!
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
The Marathon Chronicles - week 4/5
Ok! The hubby and I are in week 5 of training for the marathon (26 weeks total for anyone who is curious about exactly how nuts we are). Last weekend we ran 6.4 miles. For me it was a great run. I felt good the whole way and sped up for the last mile. I can't say that I was running all that fast but I was happy that I was not the last person to come in for my group by far.
My husband claims he had a bad run. Blames the chicken fried steak from the night before (likely story!) Yet he finished the run about 3 minutes or so ahead of me. Have I mentioned that I hate him and his natural ability to run??
All I have to say is hill training in Houston just stinks. Only 3 more weeks of this to go! I think my coach has become evil since I last trained with him. I recall it all being difficult when I did this before but I don't remember feeling like I might die on the middle of a stupid hill. Couldn't be that I am way more out of shape and carrying about 10 extra pounds this year... NAW!!!
My husband claims he had a bad run. Blames the chicken fried steak from the night before (likely story!) Yet he finished the run about 3 minutes or so ahead of me. Have I mentioned that I hate him and his natural ability to run??
All I have to say is hill training in Houston just stinks. Only 3 more weeks of this to go! I think my coach has become evil since I last trained with him. I recall it all being difficult when I did this before but I don't remember feeling like I might die on the middle of a stupid hill. Couldn't be that I am way more out of shape and carrying about 10 extra pounds this year... NAW!!!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
So much to talk about...
Birthday:
We are now in August and it's my birthday month. Usually I'm not even close to thinking about my birthday but there are two things different about this one. It's the big 4-O and I feel like I should celebrate it right. Then there is also the fact that the hubby is making an extra special effort this year since we were in an unexpected financial bind last August (ex-families suck!) The hubby has ordered many gifts this year and he ordered them early. There are two good sized boxes sitting in my house taunting me. So I can't seem to forget my birthday this year no matter how hard I try!
Marathon chronicles:
The hubby and I did our first hill training last night (Yes, you can do hill training in Houston.) I've done it before but this is a first for him. I don't think he really grasped how hard it was going to be. I did tried to warn him. Being generally a natural runner, he did better than I did. On our last 5 minutes up and down the hill I did a bit of walking. He stuck with it and ran but much more slowly than his first few hills. It was a really hard workout and HUMID! By the end I was pretty much hoping I could just die right there. But no, we had to run half a mile or so back to the area where we parked. I really need someone to remind me why I'm doing this. Oh yeah! I'm nuts!
Physical Therapy:
Because I want to run, I have to get my calf issues fixed. Nothing major really... it only hurts when I run because the calves are super-tight. If I would just stretch better I could have avoided this whole thing. All I can say about this experience is OUCH!! I think I will start stretching now.
New Job:
The hubby has a new job that will keep him in town. I'm mostly happy about that but I'll admit that there are times when I will miss having the house to myself. Oh and I may miss having my job to myself. Did I mention that his first consulting gig is at MY company? Mental note: send him out with his friends occasionally.
We are now in August and it's my birthday month. Usually I'm not even close to thinking about my birthday but there are two things different about this one. It's the big 4-O and I feel like I should celebrate it right. Then there is also the fact that the hubby is making an extra special effort this year since we were in an unexpected financial bind last August (ex-families suck!) The hubby has ordered many gifts this year and he ordered them early. There are two good sized boxes sitting in my house taunting me. So I can't seem to forget my birthday this year no matter how hard I try!
Marathon chronicles:
The hubby and I did our first hill training last night (Yes, you can do hill training in Houston.) I've done it before but this is a first for him. I don't think he really grasped how hard it was going to be. I did tried to warn him. Being generally a natural runner, he did better than I did. On our last 5 minutes up and down the hill I did a bit of walking. He stuck with it and ran but much more slowly than his first few hills. It was a really hard workout and HUMID! By the end I was pretty much hoping I could just die right there. But no, we had to run half a mile or so back to the area where we parked. I really need someone to remind me why I'm doing this. Oh yeah! I'm nuts!
Physical Therapy:
Because I want to run, I have to get my calf issues fixed. Nothing major really... it only hurts when I run because the calves are super-tight. If I would just stretch better I could have avoided this whole thing. All I can say about this experience is OUCH!! I think I will start stretching now.
New Job:
The hubby has a new job that will keep him in town. I'm mostly happy about that but I'll admit that there are times when I will miss having the house to myself. Oh and I may miss having my job to myself. Did I mention that his first consulting gig is at MY company? Mental note: send him out with his friends occasionally.
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Further proof that I am insane
I'm going to run the Houston Marathon in January. I'm probably insane. And it's not that I'm attempting this goal that makes me insane. Many people want to mark this particular accomplishment off their list of things to do before they die.
No... what makes me insane is that I have already marked that one off the list - not once but three times. Two Houston marathons and one Austin marathon are currently under my belt. I would like to say that I want to improve my previous times or that I have some lofty goal of qualifying for Boston. But no, that's not it either.
The really crazy part is that I don't know why I want to do this again. There is seemingly nothing fun about the whole experience. Training starts in the middle of July... in Houston. Yippee!!! Running in 90% humidity in the sweltering Houston summer is all kinds of fun! Maybe if you have gills.
Training lasts for 6 months and consists of at least 3 runs during the week and a long run on Saturday. The long runs start at an innocent 3 miles but they add a mile a week for 5 weeks before you get a tiny break. Then they add more mileage.
These "every Saturday for the next 6 months" long runs are scheduled to be completed before 8am in the morning. Why? See above comment about Houston summers. It starts out innocently enough. You have to start by 7:15am to finish your run before 8am. But eventually you have to start running 10+ miles. This means starting earlier and earlier each week. Not too many people I know think this is fun either.
Then there is the effect on your social life. Not that I have as much of one lately since I got married and suddenly help care for a very social teenager whose schedule is cutting into my fun. However the few times I do want to go out is often thwarted by this crazy training we have to do.
This is how my week usually goes: Run on Monday and Tuesday, off on Wednesday, run on Thursday, off on Friday, long run on Saturday, then off on Sunday. What this means in reality for me is little or no alcohol on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday because I have to run the next day. Running with a hangover in heat and humidity = Carol doubled over and puking at about mile 1. OK, that leaves the possibility of going out and/or drinking on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Of those three days, Tuesday is pretty much out. I hate going to do anything that early in the week because I get up early to get to work. And I have to go after my evening run... not likely to happen. Thursday is a possibility because it's the end of the week and I have every other Friday off. Saturday is also a possibility except for the fact that after you abuse your body with a 10 mile run, it retaliates by making you want to sleep at 6pm. So I will become a hermit for the most part. Yep that's fun.
You would think that the massive weight loss I will experience would excite me. However, I got a rude awakening to the problems of marathon training in the past. Training for 10+ miles on a Saturday makes you hungry... no ravenous might be a better word. And since you have burned approximately 1000 calories on this 10+ mile run, you feel quite justified in replenishing. All of this is good until you get to Sunday when you don't run and you are still hungry, or Monday when you run a short run and you are STILL hungry, or Tuesday... well you get the picture. Many people actually gain fat when they train for a marathon for this very reason. This has been my problem in the past.
I was a tiny little 128 pounds when I started training for my first marathon. I finished that marathon at 133 (no it was not 5 pounds of muscle gain... the ole pants were tighter!) I started my second one at 135 (you don't stop eating just because you stop training apparently) and finished that one around 138. I'm starting this one around 143 pounds as of today. This time I am diligently watching what I eat especially during the week. I allow myself a little more nourishment on Saturday but not a lot. I have now taken the only seemingly positive part of training for a marathon away from myself!
So why do I do this to myself? I must be crazy! That is the only valid conclusion.
(oh and so is my husband... I'm dragging him into all this craziness as well)
No... what makes me insane is that I have already marked that one off the list - not once but three times. Two Houston marathons and one Austin marathon are currently under my belt. I would like to say that I want to improve my previous times or that I have some lofty goal of qualifying for Boston. But no, that's not it either.
The really crazy part is that I don't know why I want to do this again. There is seemingly nothing fun about the whole experience. Training starts in the middle of July... in Houston. Yippee!!! Running in 90% humidity in the sweltering Houston summer is all kinds of fun! Maybe if you have gills.
Training lasts for 6 months and consists of at least 3 runs during the week and a long run on Saturday. The long runs start at an innocent 3 miles but they add a mile a week for 5 weeks before you get a tiny break. Then they add more mileage.
These "every Saturday for the next 6 months" long runs are scheduled to be completed before 8am in the morning. Why? See above comment about Houston summers. It starts out innocently enough. You have to start by 7:15am to finish your run before 8am. But eventually you have to start running 10+ miles. This means starting earlier and earlier each week. Not too many people I know think this is fun either.
Then there is the effect on your social life. Not that I have as much of one lately since I got married and suddenly help care for a very social teenager whose schedule is cutting into my fun. However the few times I do want to go out is often thwarted by this crazy training we have to do.
This is how my week usually goes: Run on Monday and Tuesday, off on Wednesday, run on Thursday, off on Friday, long run on Saturday, then off on Sunday. What this means in reality for me is little or no alcohol on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday because I have to run the next day. Running with a hangover in heat and humidity = Carol doubled over and puking at about mile 1. OK, that leaves the possibility of going out and/or drinking on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Of those three days, Tuesday is pretty much out. I hate going to do anything that early in the week because I get up early to get to work. And I have to go after my evening run... not likely to happen. Thursday is a possibility because it's the end of the week and I have every other Friday off. Saturday is also a possibility except for the fact that after you abuse your body with a 10 mile run, it retaliates by making you want to sleep at 6pm. So I will become a hermit for the most part. Yep that's fun.
You would think that the massive weight loss I will experience would excite me. However, I got a rude awakening to the problems of marathon training in the past. Training for 10+ miles on a Saturday makes you hungry... no ravenous might be a better word. And since you have burned approximately 1000 calories on this 10+ mile run, you feel quite justified in replenishing. All of this is good until you get to Sunday when you don't run and you are still hungry, or Monday when you run a short run and you are STILL hungry, or Tuesday... well you get the picture. Many people actually gain fat when they train for a marathon for this very reason. This has been my problem in the past.
I was a tiny little 128 pounds when I started training for my first marathon. I finished that marathon at 133 (no it was not 5 pounds of muscle gain... the ole pants were tighter!) I started my second one at 135 (you don't stop eating just because you stop training apparently) and finished that one around 138. I'm starting this one around 143 pounds as of today. This time I am diligently watching what I eat especially during the week. I allow myself a little more nourishment on Saturday but not a lot. I have now taken the only seemingly positive part of training for a marathon away from myself!
So why do I do this to myself? I must be crazy! That is the only valid conclusion.
(oh and so is my husband... I'm dragging him into all this craziness as well)
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