carbo load |

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 30 min rolling/myofascial releases & mobility exercises for hips/glutes.

Saturday I arrived for packet pickup at the Garrett-Tubman park in Wilmington, DE around 2pm. It was easy to find and easy to pickup since it was a smaller race.

Next, I checked in at the Westin Hotel about a mile from the start line. The hotel staff were all super nice & they even had a gift bag for the runners staying at their hotel. The bag included a door hang that says, “Quiet please, marathon runner sleeping” (which is now hanging on my bedroom door), a Hammer Gel, a race day map and instructions & suggestions for restaurants and things to do while in Wilmington. Loved this! It made me feel extra special and I needed those last minute instructions!

Also when I turned the TV on it had my name on it. Kinda weird, but kinda cool…

Before dinner shot. It’s what happens when the hotel has a full length mirror, you’re a blogger and super excited about wearing sandals.

Then headed off to Iron Hill Brewery and it was incredible! Talk about carboloading. I had pizza, sweet potato fries, pretzels & beer. Needless to say, I never hit a wall during the half.

Sitting outside on the rooftop, right along the river was gorgeous.

The night before the race, I always lay every single thing I need in plain sight. That way at 5’o’clock I’m not trying to do anything that requires thinking. It felt very strange laying out my clothes and leaving my Garmin & Ipod in my purse. But I knew this was the race to leave the electronics home.

Recap coming soon!

Last Week

Monday: 15 min Jacobs Ladder, 45 min Lateral Elliptical, 1 mile 9:33/pace (in that order), 25 min glutes/hips, 20 min lats/back

Tuesday: 15 min core

Wednesday: 5m easy 8:30/pace, 20 min back/triceps, 15 min hips/glutes

Thursday: 5000m row

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Rest

Sunday: 13.1 Delaware 1/2 marathon, 2+ walking miles

Total Miles: 21.1

Do you have to lay out your clothes?

Any pre-race rituals you MUST do the night before?

Monday: Rest

Tuesday: 5m easy recovery 9:25/pace

Once I pull my thoughts together from Sunday’s half i’ll do a recap. Right now i’m still wrapping my head around doing a half in the middle of training for a marathon, what that really means and how tough it was not to go all out during a race.

For now we can focus on the fun! Traveling for a race is soooo much fun when you do it right. I.E. pack all the things you need, compress and roll the hell out of your legs after sitting in a car and of course carbo load properly.

Pack all necessary items–> I have a half checklist I use, but what I need to add to it in the future is “bring extra running clothes for when it’s warmer or colder than expected.” Especially during fall races where it can be cool one day and blazing hot the next. In my case it was humid and warm. I wasn’t expecting that at all and ended up a tad overdressed and warm.

I was too warm with a tank top on and compression socks–although i love the socks, they’re not very comfortable in 80 degree weather. I’m hoping the Chicago Marathon will be cooler so I don’t need to worry about wearing Pro Compressions.

Compress, stretch and roll your legs!* I always place an asterisk on this one because it’s not something you want to do days or the night before the race if it’s not normally in your routine. Light stretching and foam rolling is a great way to keep your legs loose, but be careful of stretching until it hurts or leaves you sore! Once I overheard a girl at a finish line say, “i can’t believe how sore i was the whole race, guess I shouldn’t have foam rolled for the first time last night.” No, she shouldn’t have done something entirely new the night before a race. Sometimes common sense falls asleep during the days before a race and you think trying something different will give you a secret edge on race day. Unfortunately it doesn’t.

Now the fun stuff. Carbo loading. I generally start adding carbs (the white delicious kind) into dinners the week of a race. Because this half marathon was in the middle of a training cycle i didn’t start a week out, i started Friday night with a pizza…even though i forgot to take a picture of it haha.

store bought dough, mushrooms, spinach, vodka sauce, sausage & mozzarella

Saturday morning (day before race), I had blueberry pancakes and in the evening before the race I had pasta, bread and a beer (don’t worry just one! and it was accompanied by water).

Definitely went into this race well fueled, legs felt as good as they could have and I did my best with Chicago Marathon at the forefront of my mind 🙂

Workout recap!

Monday: 20min shoulders

Tuesday: 5m easy 9:15/pace, 20min chest/biceps

Wednesday: 6.3m tempo 7:45/pace, 20min back/triceps

Thursday: Rest

Friday: 5m easy 9:10/pace

Saturday: Rest (walked around Philly)

Sunday: 13.1 Race 7:35/pace 1:39:25!

Total Miles: 29.5

Have you ever used a half marathon as a tune up for a marathon?

Ever go into a race completely un-tapered?

Tag Archives: carbo load

Delaware 1/2 Part 1!

Philly Part 1