Since writing my last blog, I am a month further into marathon training.  The biggest adjustments I have had to make are: patience in the early miles and mastering the art of drinking during long runs and long tempo runs

I am definitely not a patient person.  I like to get things as soon as I can (I usually have my taxes done in the middle of January).  In workouts and races, I sometimes get anxious to run a fast pace and go out too hard.  The last few weeks, I have been trying to improve in this area, but my last race, the US 20k Championships, did not show it.  I ran the first half two minutes faster than the second half.   Coming off a great race at Falmouth three weeks earlier, I expected to contend for the win, but my legs felt flat from the marathon training and not cutting back for the race.  Although I did not have a great finish to the race, I am confident that I will show my full potential in the marathon in four weeks with proper rest and more strength training behind me.

 I never gave hydration enough thought until the last month.  Having water or a sports drink every 25 – 30 minutes during long runs has allowed me to finish stronger and recover better for upcoming workouts.  It is tempting to skip taking a drink at the beginning of the run if I am feeling good, but I’m staring to learn that I will pay for it later.  My boyfriend has been extremely helpful in this regard.  He offered to ride his bike next to me for most of my runs and hand me my water bottle whenever I needed it.  It seemed like a  great idea until we realized that his bike had gotten rusty (it had been stored outside for a long time.)  He borrowed a bike from a friend.  The bike was top of the line, but it was not comfortable for him to ride because his friend is about eight inches shorter.  I was worried that we would crash into each other at some point since we are both pretty accident prone.  (I have fallen off the elliptical machine in the gym and he was in a bike accident at the beginning of his freshman year.)  Luckily nothing like that happened again.  He even started to like biking so much that he got a new bike. 

I am heading back up to Mammoth Lakes tomorrow.  I will be up there until the Chicago Marathon.  After thinking of running a marathon for so many years, I can hardly believe that it is now only four weeks away!