5 Stages of Marathon Training

I was helping to stuff bags for the Hamptons Marathon last night, and overheard a few marathoners discussing their grave injuries, and how they’re worried they might not finish, yadda yadda. And I can sympathize. I wrote about this last week. This is the point in marathon training, just before the race, when you think there’s no way you could possibly finish. You’re convinced that every ache and pain is a stress fracture, or worse. This got me thinking. You know how they say there a 5 stages of grief? I think there are 5 stages of marathon training too. You go through a whole array of emotions during your training season, sometimes all the in the course of one training run. I've chronicled them for you here.

Stage 1- HOLY CRAP! I signed up for a marathon!

This stage is a mix of excitement and fear, and maybe a little bit of insanity. I question my sanity every day of my training. At this point, you don’t really know what you’re getting yourself into, but you think it could be some amazing and life changing journey.

Stage 2- Why the HELL did I sign up for a marathon?

Now comes the running. You realize there’s more to this marathon thing than running. There’s hydration and nutrition. Energy-saving techniques. Chaffing. There’s also a lot of questioning your sanity in this stage too.

Stage 3- I signed up for a marathon. I think I can do this!

At some point, you start feeling stronger on your runs. You’ve done a couple 10 mile plus runs, and you didn’t die! YOU CAN DO THIS! This stage in training (at least for me) is usually accompanied by delusions of grandeur. I start thinking I’m faster or stronger than I really am. That goal time I set when I signed up for the race? I can totally blow that out of the water. You set yourself some new, totally unrealistic goal for race day, because you’re just that sure of your awesomeness.

Stage 4- PARANOIA!!!!

Remember how you were feeling awesome in stage 3? Forget about that. Now, everything hurts. Body parts that you didn’t know could hurt are hurting ALL THE TIME. Chaffing is rampant. Your blisters have blisters. You walk like an old person. You think every ache and pain is serious and could possibly stop you from running your marathon that you spent months training for. You bring your stick and some Icy Hot with you everywhere. You start having dreams about things like not having enough energy gels on race day. You’re a full on crazy person.

Stage 5- Hey! I’m running a marathon!

This is a nice place to be. Stage 4 usually lasts a looooong time so I don’t actually reach the acceptance of stage 5 until I’m at that start line. But, ready or not, it’s time to run! Don’t forget that once the race starts, you’re likely to go through all the stages again during the run.

I’d also like to add a 6th stage to this. This is what I call the badass stage. This is where you get to strut your stuff and say, “Hey. I just ran a marathon. What of it?” This stage is my favorite. Hard day at work? Stuck on a subway train with a crazy person? So what? Nothing can kill your buzz. You just ran a marathon! It’s what makes all the pain and the insanity worth it.

So for any first time marathoners out there, this is what you have to look forward to. Enjoy!

Only 2 more weeks!

Today's run was interesting. The first 4 miles were probably some of the toughest miles ever. I seriously thought about quitting right there and walking back. I just felt so tight and my legs felt like lead weights. But I stuck with it and all of a sudden, it went away. I felt amazing. I started moving a little faster. I was enjoying my run and taking in my surroundings. There were some little kids playing soccer. Seriously there's nothing cuter than really little kids playing soccer. I started feeling really confident about Chicago. Maybe this marathon wouldn't be so bad. Then I got to mile 10. New things started hurting. I really slowed down and barely crawled the last mile. UGH. Krista told me not to worry about having a bad run, but you know me. I'm going to worry. I think the best thing I can take from this run is I'm not at my peak right now. Who knows what's going to happen on marathon day, but things might hurt. (Well I'm running a marathon so I know things will hurt, but they may hurt a little extra too.) I might not make my goal time, and I'm going to try to be ok with that.

The good news is I still got my post run pastry.



This is the last one until the marathon. Only 2 weeks now!

Ok. Time for a nap.

Best Run EVER

I was so happy to get up and run this morning I didn’t even care that it was 6am and pitch black outside. After icing my feet and rolling them with this little ball most of the day yesterday, everything was miraculously feeling better. I was so excited I couldn’t fall asleep last night. I know. That’s seriously dorky, but I was starting to get really worried. I was starting to think maybe something was really wrong and I was going to have to cancel the whole thing, which would suck SO MUCH. But no. I got up this morning, I went for a run, and I survived. It was kind of a slow ungraceful run, and I wasn’t totally without pain, but I figure I’m training for a marathon. Things are going to hurt. The good news is before the pain was at about an 8, now it was down to a 3. I can live with a 3. I was so happy with my run that I didn’t even care that I looked like a total dork.

Hot, huh? And I'm not actually a Redskins fan. That was just the only hat I could find.

I guess that I should always suspect my feet when something hurts as the source of the hurt. I have wonky feet. The same thing happened before the last marathon. But I know how to deal with feet, so now I’m officially getting excited. Then I got some bad news. They don’t seem to make my Strawberry Honey Stingers any more. If you’re a runner, you know how bad this is. I’m used to those. I can’t switch it up now! I bought a super jumbo variety pack because there should be a few packets of the strawberry flavor in there. So if anyone wants more honey stingers, I’m your girl. I just literally bought 50 of them.

Next up on the pre marathon prepping list (17 days and counting!) is to watch Spirit of the Marathon. Seriously. It gets me pumped and makes me cry every time. Who wants to come over and watch it with me?

More Elliptical. YAY

My top secret plans to stick the elliptical were not actually so top secret. Krista, one of the coaches and a PT, told me I should probably not take a week off at this time. She’s a smart one. It also makes me feel like I’m not terribly broken if she’s telling me I’m probably ok to run. I’m trying SO HARD not to be overly paranoid just weeks before the marathon, but that’s not easy for me. I’m a poker. I can never leave something alone. Like when you have a scab, you’re supposed to leave it alone and let it heal. I usually poke at it and lament, “WHY ISN’T THIS HEALING?” I think that’s what I’ve probably done here too. So now I’m trying my best just to let things take its course. I can do all the typical things like resting and icing, but other than that, I’m trying not to obsess over it…too much.

Well, Krista, if you’re reading this. I was bad. I did not run yesterday, and I’ll tell you why. The weather was nasty. Not just nasty, but scary nasty, so I was going to have to go to the gym anyways and I did not want to run on the treadmill. Not only is it SO BORING, but I always feel like I’m on the verge of falling off the treadmill, so I feel like I run all wonky and unnaturally. I thought if I was already feeling wonky, adding more wonkiness would not be a good idea, right? So I stuck to the elliptical. Krista did convince me to not try to go fast on the elliptical, so keep myself from being SO BORED, I watched TMZ. I never watch TMZ. Josh always wants to watch the real news instead. So this was a treat.

I will say that walking home from the gym, it started raining so hard I thought I was going to get washed away, so I ran a couple blocks home. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. I think I can give this running thing a try again tomorrow.

So. Much. FUN.

Now is the point in my training where I question whether is every ache in my body is just a normal ache, or a stress fracture. I’m convinced my body is riddled with stress fractures and I won’t ever be able to run ever again. While I’m pretty sure that’s not the case, I decided to take it easy this weekend. Instead of running a fast 15 to 16 miles (which I was actually really excited to do) I “ran” a miserable 2 hours on the elliptical. Let me back up a little bit here.

Thursday night I met with the group for an informal run. I also invited Jaclyn, so we could catch up. My shins were hurting after pushing hard on the hills last week, so we didn’t actually run. We walked and chatted. Saturday I volunteered to watch bags, which was…interesting. The team was doing the George Washington bridge run, and I was literally sitting under the bridge watching bags. There were some interesting characters around there. “Nuff said. But I talked to Krista about my still achey shins and very tight calves. She said to take it easy since it’s so close to the race.

Cut to me Sunday morning, “running” on the elliptical. Nothing hurt, which is good, but it was so darn boring, and I didn’t even feel like I went for a run. But this did not stop me from a post-run indulgence. After my somewhat disappointing Shake Shack burger last week, I wanted a REAL burger. So we went to brunch and got this.

Yes. That's a burger with an egg on it. Gotta say, it pretty much hit the spot. And if I’m recovering from an injury, protein is good for you, right? I’m just going to choose to believe that it is.

So the game plan this week is NO RUNNING. I’m going to stick to the elliptical all week. I’m going to attempt tomorrow’s mile test on the elliptical, to try to make it a little more interesting. If things feel better for Saturday, I’m going to try doing 10 to 13. If not, it’s more elliptical fun for me!

Adios Hills

Last night was the last hill workout of the season. Honestly, after last week, I was a little nervous. Even just reading the workout made my breath quicken. But I tried not to think about it. I tried to remember it's just a hill and it's just running. Nothing life or death here. I have to say, it went better than expected. The first time up the hill I got yelled at by Ramon for not pushing hard enough. Fine. You want me to push. I'll push. Next time up I really pushed it and for once, I didn't get yelled at. I got high fives. High fives from Ramon is basically the highest praise you'll get.

I'm feeling a little conflicted about tapering soon. I feel like I'm just starting to work hard in the workouts. I feel like maybe I wasted some time and could have been trying just a teensy bit harder for most of the year. But then again, if I keep pushing it, I think my shins are seriously going to give out on me. They're ready for the taper. Stupid shin splints. You ruin everything.

In other news, I've been researching Chicago for my upcoming trip. Mostly researching what to eat. I wish I could stay there longer. I really want to eat EVERYTHING everyone has been recommending, but there just isn't enough time. Unless I eat pizza and hot dogs for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This wouldn't be a bad thing if it weren't for the fact that I have to run a marathon. I can't eat all this stuff before the marathon. Who knows what it would do to my tummy. But after the marathon, all bets are off. Monday Oct 8th shall be a glorious feast!

27 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE CHICAGO MARATHON. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!

That is all. Carry on.

A Soggy 20 Miles

Aaaaaaaaaaand I’m done. Today was my longest run this year until marathon day, and you know what? It wasn’t too bad. Sure I ran a little slower than I’d like. And sure it POURED on and off for 5 miles of my run. (Literally POURED, like movie rain. I had a swimming pool in my shoes.) And sure I have GIANT blisters on my feet, but I feel pretty damn good. I remember my 20 miler last time, and I remember not being a functioning human being after that run was over. This time, other than my legs being a little sore, I feel pretty good. I’m not too exhausted. I can walk and talk and everything!

I even managed to walk over to Shake Shack to reward myself with a bacon cheeseburger and a strawberry shake. (We smelled something bacon-y on our run, so I had to go with the bacon burger.) I tried to take a picture for you, but because of said rain, my phone was a little wet and there was some condensation in the lens. It looks like I was eating a burger in heaven.

The bacon was SUPER good, and it had some sort of vegetable topping that was great, but still not as good as In N Out. And no one will ever convince me otherwise. I was a HUGE fan of the milkshake though. It was perfect. I just wish it was a little bit bigger.

So now that my 20 miler is done, I officially get to start the taper, which means I get to start taking it easier. It’s still kind of early, so I can’t take it too easy. The coach said next week to run shorter, but run faster. We shall see if that’s possible. I’m not known for my speed, but I’ll certainly try. Either way, yay taper!

Roll it out

I know I’ve said this before, but I’m going to say this again- body rolling classes are the most amazing things EVER. Seriously. EVER. It’s like self acupuncture/ massage and it feels amazing. I have brand new legs. I’m serious. Any runners out there that are having real tightness, please check out Yamuna body rolling. Best $20 ever spent.

I also got to watch all the fashionistas roaming the streets for Fashion’s Night Out. I like to think of FNO as Halloween for the fashionable. Everyone gets dressed up in silly outfits (ie fashion) and roams around the village, with drink in hand. Not my scene at all.

Anywhoo, this weekend is my BIG run. I’m going for 20 miles tomorrow. It will be humid and NASTY, so wish me luck. This picture has been making it’s way around the internets.



If I see you running faster than me on Saturday, I’m just going to assume this. Works for me :)

Up with the sun?

I just wanted to start by saying thanks to people that sent me nice things after my last post. I want to make it clear that I love having the coaches there and they were NOT the problem. I’m glad they try to push me, or else I might never know what I can really do. I think I’m really good at hiding any anxiety, even from myself, and it all showed up at once at a very inconvenient time. And a special thanks to Nina who acted like someone having an anxiety attack in the middle of practice was a totally normal thing. Happens everyday!

Well I wanted to tell you that today’s run went much better, but I can’t really. First off, it was dark when I woke up. I guess summer is officially over. I refuse to get up and run if the sun won’t get up with me. Not cool, sun. Not cool. So I finally got up and got out the door just as the sun decided to wake up, and I was all set to have an awesome run so I could forget all about Tuesday’s hill workout. It started ok. I was a little stiff, but usually as I warm up, it goes away. It did not go away. I struggled through my whole run. I was trying to do a speed workout, but couldn’t seem to find any speed. All I gotta say is this stiffness better go away before Saturday morning. I have to run 20 miles on Saturday and I’m not doing it all gimpy.

Now I’m off to a body rolling class. Let’s hope that helps!

Well that was...interesting...

Did everyone have a super fantastic weekend? I did. But the cat didn’t.



He didn’t get to eat any of this. Poor hungry kitty.

My run this weekend went well, but hill training last night was not as good. The best way to describe it was…interesting. I was doing the workout, moving along, when Coach Cider said she was going to run with me to push me a little bit. As soon as she said that, I started getting nervous, and my breathing got heavier. I ended up running with the other coach, Nina, but as soon as we got to the part where I was supposed to push up the hill, I started having a full on anxiety attack. I couldn’t breathe. I was nauseous. I was dizzy. Why? I have no idea. But I was standing off to the side trying my hardest not to cry in front of everyone. Mostly, I was a little bit embarrassed. Nina got me to run again, but every time I started thinking about it, my chest started tightening up again. She ran with me for a couple of repeats and by the end it was getting better. I would only start to panic at the very very end. I did find one thing that sort of helped- Finding Nemo. There’s the part at the end where Dory says “Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming.” So I repeated that to myself on the last pass or two at the hill.

The whole thing was weird (and embarrassing) and I want to know why it happened. I know I don’t like to feel like I’m losing control of my breathe, but would that cause a full on anxiety attack? Do I not like the coaches watching me? What was it. Even thinking about it now makes my breathing quicken. And when the run was over, I was physically and emotionally exhausted. Who knew running was so emotional? Hopefully running Lisa doesn't become crazy Lisa.

Super Cool Running Lisa

It's official. I'm now a super cool runner. I'm the official owner of a SpiBelt. But instead of super cool gadgets or bullets, I'm packing gels.

I have to admit, I was a little nervous about my run this weekend. Remember I said that my lower body hurt? Well on Thursday everything started to REALLY hurt. I did something in yoga that I've always been able to do, except this time, I couldn't. In fact it really hurt. And that same thing kept hurting for the rest of class and all day Friday. But once I set out for my run on Saturday, it warmed up and didn't bother me. That doesn't mean there's not a problem, it's just not a super serious problem if it doesn't affect the way I run. Good news! Also take a look at my awesome team on our run this week. You can see my back when we all start to run. I'm totally going to be famous :)



I gotta say, I had a pretty decent run this week. My SpiBelt was nifty and I was moving along at a pretty good pace. The only thing that wasn't great was after my run. I was crazy this week and somehow thought that I could do a 15 mile run, THEN go work at the yoga studio. I forgot that the coach talks A LOT, plus we had to film stuff for the news, so I was in a bit of a hurry when I finished. I pretty much wanted to lay down the entire time I was at yoga, but I actually had work to do. I was a barely functioning human being, but I did it. At least I still got my post run pastry.