MY RUNNING GEAR: Marathon Training Shoes:
Mizuno, Training Bra:
Adidas, Hats:
Nike, Pink Capris:
Nike, Running Skirt:
Nike
It's been 7-weeks since I started training for the City of Trees Marathon in October, and I have 11 weeks left to go. If you'd like to see our 18-week marathon training schedule,
click here. I also
Instagram photos of our long runs, so catch up with me there to stay on track with my training schedule. To be honest, I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. I feel great so far and I'm really enjoying it, and I thought I'd give a little update as to how the training is going.
Since beginning marathon training, my appetite has increased slightly, and I've noticed that I'm much more hungry in the morning and during the day—especially on days that I have early-morning runs. On those days, even after breakfast and a snack, I'm usually famished by 10:00 am and ready for lunch! Daniel and I often split meals in the evenings when we go out, and if we eat at home, we don't cook large portions. Having a husband who used to be a personal trainer is great for me because we both keep each other's diets (as in "what we eat," not actual "diets") in check. However, on the days that we do splurge and split a giant burger or go all-in on a pizza, it's not a big deal.
I have also noticed that my hips do not enjoy this training. Before, when I've trained for half marathons, my knees usually gave me a hard time. This time around, my right hip is very painful after my runs. The pain generates between my hip bone and my glute (butt), right in that little indentation back there, and radiates forward to my hip flexor. It's been so bad that after a couple of the really long runs, I've had to lay down for a couple hours. To remedy this issue, I've started getting physical therapy massages—which sound great—but are actually rather painful. The good news is that after the massages, the kneading of my muscles, and the trigger point annihilation, the pain usually subsides for a couple weeks. At this point, it's something I can handle, though I'm crossing my fingers that it doesn't get any worse over the next 11 weeks.
The biggest change I have seen & felt is that I've lost weight. Back in April, I wrote a post in which I mentioned I was
137 pounds. These days, I'm right at 130 (update: I guess I hadn't weighed myself in a while, because as of 8/4/13, I am now down to 126). Seven pounds might not seem like a big weight drop, but it's not the
weight so much that I've noticed, it's the way my clothes are fitting. I'm able to wear things that I haven't been able to wear in years. In addition to the seven pounds, I've lost over 6% body fat. The last time I took my body fat was when I was about 132 pounds and it ended up being 18%. I should mention that I'm not trying to lose weight
with this training program, but the way my body has responded has not disappointed me. However—as you can assume when females lose weight—the spot I've noticed the most loss is in my chest... and heck, that wasn't big to begin with. So that's a little frustrating, not because I'm getting smaller, but because I keep getting comments (from family only, of course) that I'm looking a little... "flatter." Bummer.
So, 7 weeks down, 11 weeks to go... and lots and lots of miles in between. We're up to 15 miles for our long run this weekend, and since my mom will be out of town, I'll be running solo (and probably jamming out and dancing the whole way... typical me). This whole experience has been great (so far), and I'd be curious to know if any of you have trained for a run—any distance—and if so, what you noticed about your body and how the training went for you.
