First Marathon Lessons

Hey everyone!

I’ve just been recovering from Saturday’s marathon, so not a whole lot going on here.  I went out for my first run today and froze my behind off.  It was *really* windy!

 

I wanted to look at some of the things I did right/wrong on my first marathon so I can be better prepared for my next one (!!!).

-It was so nice doing a marathon in my hometown, so I could just crawl into my own bed when I was finished. Awesome!

-I went for a short swim on Sunday to shake out a little and it helped so much with the soreness. Definitely a good idea

-I did pretty well on pacing myself and pretty much even split the race. I had to try really hard not to race people!

-I brought my own water (in my Camelback) and I’m *so* glad that I did because I was super thirsty towards the end of the race as it started to heat up.  I trained with it, so I felt comfortable wearing it

-I think I did pretty well with food during the race as far as what I brought and when I ate it.  Peanut butter is good, but sure is hard to eat if you don’t have enough water!

-Got plenty of sleep the week before. I really focused on “respecting the taper” and sleeping off the extra time since I wasn’t exercising.  It was kinda nice, actually.

-I need to find something more substantial/filling for breakfast.  I got really hungry around the halfway point, and while I had snacks, they weren’t anything really filling. I’m thinking oatmeal from now on, to keep me full up for longer.

-More hill/speed work! I really did not do much at all during my training, which was fine for my first, but I want to do better, so I need to suck it up and do it, even thought I hate it sometimes.

-Eat better the week before.  My diet last week was…not great. People kept bringing in cake and things to work, and I was hungry, so I ate it. Probably not the best marathon fuel.

-Stretch more.  I’m really bad about stretching, and I sure didn’t stretch/foam roll much the week before or during the past few days.  I need to make a point to do it.

So, I’m looking at my next marathon…thinking sometime late March/April timeframe.  Any suggestions? Any takers to go to Nashville RnR with me?