Hello everyone,
This is my first post alone (for those of who you might not already know – Michelle, my twin sister, is away at 105 Degrees Raw cooking school for the whole month) which means we will being writing post separately. That sounds so silly and weird saying!
Typically, we tend to write our post together. Ok that’s not right. It is usually one of us who writes majority of the post and the other comes to do the editing part. What great team work! What can I say we have 26 years of experience!
Before Michelle left we briefly went over what we would like to get out of our workouts for the month of September. Our full marathon 2010 in Disney is coming up fast! This is our second marathon at Disney (our first one was in 2008). Now we are no marathon running experts though we love the challenge of them. Our older sister is the reason why we got back into running because she wanted running buddies for races.
Now, I can be a competitive person when I need to be though running is more “fun” for me. I know what you are thinking running is “fun”. What I mean is that I don’t run races to win them I run them because I enjoy the whole experience of them. And that I get to do them with my sisters!
Here we go...1st marathon
I must admit that I did not train the proper way for my first marathon. Though I am a very active person all year round and workout almost everyday! I just did my own thing for training. I only walked/run for 2 ½ hours twice while I was training (and that was about a month or so before the date). And most people try to run at least 20 miles or so during their training. I never did that! Opps! Though I did survive my first marathon! At the marathon I did the Jeff Galloway approach. My sisters’ and I decided to do a 2:1; run for 2 minutes and walk of 1 minute. We did pretty well at this though since it being Michelle and I’s first marathon we started to feel the burn around the 18 mile marker. Luckily our older sister Jen had ran in a marathon before and helped keep us to finish the race. I must say towards the end of the race it really comes down to more of a mental race than a physical one. At least for me that is what it felt like. Hopefully my 2nd marathon will be different.
All ready to go... the race is about to start.
I have learned a lot from my experience with my first one and come a VERY LONG way since than.
Me drinking coffee before the marathon. Now that probably is not the best thing to have before my marathon. Hey it was my first one I didn't know any better. Now I drink smoothies or juices for energy!
I have completely changed how I eat to fuel my body. Nowadays I eat a mostly high raw foods (and vegan). And I couldn’t feel better! I have noticed that my body does not get as sore or as tired like it used to when I was not eating the right foods. This is great news for athletes because you get to train more often and harder when you eat for energy!
Now green smoothies are my choice for energy, nourishment, and nutrients for my workouts
My style of workouts have been about the same (mostly walk/run, spinning, and yoga). Though, it took me awhile to get back into running after my first marathon. I remember crossing the finish line and saying to my sister that I will never run in a marathon again! One was enough for me well I guess I was wrong about that.
Michelle and I decided that for the month of September we will be running more sprint workouts (running a good 3 miles faster than normal). As well as if there is time to do a few long runs during both our crazy schedules we will. We plan to do just a little bit of weight training and doing yoga when we can!
When Michelle returns from her raw cooking school in October we will begin our real training. I will go into more detail of what we plan to do then at a later date as well as our tips for running.
At castle, half way through the marathon. Got about 14 miles to go!
Here are some basic tips for first time marathoners:
- join a running group or do it with friends
- start out about 16-18 weeks for training
- take time to really plan for training
- run at least 30 minutes without stopping regularly, and then slowly increase your mileage
- get good running shoes that fit your type of foot (high/low arch)
- try to get a least a few long runs in your training (increase your long runs gradually – beginning 6-8 miles to end with 20 miles)
- find the best running pattern for you (we do 3 min run/1 min walk)
- do not over train, especially the closer it gets to the race
- have fun
Here are some resources to check out :
www.runnersworld.com (also a great magazine)
Book – Marathon by Hal Higdon,
Twins question: Have you ever ran in marathon before or do you want to? If you did, what did you like or dislike about it? Have you done more than one?
Till next time, from my running shoes to yours
Lori
The Raw Twins
L&M
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi there,
Interesting, I`ll quote it on my site later.
Eremeeff
Hey, I just recently found your blog, I love it! Its very interesting and informative, thanks for sharing it!
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