runners

Two days until the marathon! I’m feeling…nervous. Mostly because I’m so sore today! I figured working out Monday and Wednesday at CrossFit would be okay but somehow the workouts made me more sore than I’ve been in forever! It’s my quads and my upper back muscles. I’m going to try and get into a massage place today for a bit — something’s got to give!

In other news, the weather is looking fantastic. Does it get any better than this? I don’t think so:

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Luckily, I’ve been reading the nutrition chapter in my NASM personal training studies this week and they talked a lot about what to eat for endurance workouts. Of course I’ve done this a lot but it’s nice to get a reminder of how to stock up on carbs so race day is as good as it can be.

Today and tomorrow it’s all about drinking as much water as possible to prepare. I kind of hate chugging but its totally worth it.

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*Running MCM in 2012 (orange shirt!)

The truth is — I have no idea how this race is going to go. It could go wonderful or awful and I feel like it totally depends on how I’m feeling on race morning. It’s true I didn’t train like normal but I am hoping my focus on strong legs and core will pay off. If nothing else, this is an experiment. I just hope I don’t totally hate myself at mile 20!

Fueling Up Right

Two weeks ago, I got the opportunity to try Alive Juices — a DC-based juice company. I realized that I had actually tried them once before after I saw their label. I was glad to be able to try a variety of juices this time, though!

Screen Shot 2014-10-24 at 5.21.45 AMThey sent over 8 (I think) juices that make up one of their cleanses. I wasn’t prepared to do a cleanse at the time but I was happy to be stocked up on juice for the week and use it as a meal replacement for lunch a couple of days. I also let some of my co-workers get in on the action.

Long story short — I really like them. I only wish they were located a block from work cause I’d be there all the time. They have free delivery in the DC-area and several different cleanses to choose from. Plus, there’s a cool story behind the company 🙂

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Just as I was writing this post, my Dad sent me a video about ultra-runner Anton Krupicka and it actually just really inspired me for Sunday. The truth is, even if it gets REALLY hard — that’s a good thing. You truly learn life in the really hard moments that you keep on going. I’ve had those really hard marathon moments and they’ve always built me up as a person.

Here’s the video from Outside Magazine if you are interested:

So today and tomorrow I’m pretty excited about eating some bagels — my fav 🙂 I’ll be up early on Sunday to experience yet another Marine Corps Marathon morning — and I’m so thankful I have the ability to do that. Wish me luck guys! Check me out on Instagram & Twitter on race day as I’ll be active!

If you are racing this weekend, what are you most anxious — or most excited — about? Any more questions on the marathon itself? Have you run MCM before even if you are not running this year?

RACE Opportunity: In other racing news, there’s a race coming up on November 16th in Alexandria VA — the U.S. National 12k. I wish I could do it because it sounds awesome (I’ll be out of town.) I’ve never done a 12k before, which is just one reason I’d love to participate. Anyway, details here if you are up for it!

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