Second Rehoboth Matathon

Nothing is more exciting than Rehoboth, Rehoboth during marathon day! First, Rehoboth is a fun, magical place. Perhaps it's because I have memories of partying here as a young 20 something, or perhaps it's just that in fact, it is just a magical place, period. 


The marathon here is small, small enough you can park and run. race starts at 7am and is super relaxed. I got a ride there an hour early, picked up my race packet and walked to Dunkin Donuts to buy a coffee and warm up. It was not that cold but I tend to be cold. In line at Dunkin Donuts I met another runner who had driven from Pittsburg and was there to run her second full. We had so much in common and it reminded me how runners always click no matter how little they know about each other. She was a lovely person. 

I felt very fortunate to be here....

      My time was 13 minutes faster than my last marathon and I was super happy with the results. My goal for this marathon was to try my best to run the whole thing and I did just that with the exception of 2 quick bathroom breaks. To know that you just ran for 6 and a half hours straight without stopping is quite something. I use to be embarrassed about my long times but for someone like myself, who is already carrying lots of extra weight, it's quite a good time. I dare any 150 lbs. woman to carry maybe 50 extra pounds in a backpack and not do similar times as me....it's a physics. I know this, because despite my time, I know I gave my all there Saturday and in the end, that is all that matters. 

     This is the only marathon my family participates in with me. Most of them are logistically impossible and I personally feel better not having the extra hassle of planning when and where. But since the race has a great after party with THREE free beers per runner (and paid adult guest) the family comes every year. This year we stayed at the AmericInn Lodge & Suites Rehoboth Beach at 36012 Airport Road, Rehoboth Beach, DE  and I think this will be out go to hotel for the race from now on. It was an awesome hotel to stay at. First, the place is like a storybook lodge, the personnel is super friendly, lots of runners everyewhere. The decor is cozy and very much dressed for the holidays, the free breakfast is yummy, and......and.....(drum roll) it has a hot tub and pool opened from 9am-10pm, with an 11am check out. Last, they accept dogs at $25/day. So bring your family, your dog, your bathing suit....and make sure you stay an extra night so you can explore the local restaurants and the shopping. 

The best feeling in the world is laying down in bed, after a marathon and having showered and changed........nothing in the world like this feeling, nothing. I call it, "being on the other end of the marathon."...

20 miler while on Vacation

           I was in Long Island, New York with my family, staying at my mom's for Thanksgiving. It was also my weekend for a 20-miler. in preparation for the Rehoboth Beach Marathon next week (and no, I no longer taper two weeks anymore, but that is another whole post). Now, after having done several marathons the 20-miler takes on a much less scary feel, yet, I was a little bit stressed about going to the Planet Fitness by my mom's, they inconveniently have their bathrooms downstairs, a whole flight away from the treadmills and time is always an issue if you are a mom runner, every minute counts. 

           I set the alarm for 3:30am Saturday morning and got up, made coffee, and just out of curiosity decided to make sure that the Planet Fitness I belong to was indeed a 24 hr gym, as it is near my home. Turns out it's NOT!!!!! So, I not only got up, lubes up, tapes myself up, got all dressed, etc but also my poor mom got up with me and was chatting with me, keeping me company, so I felt extra guilty having woken her up and now the gym is not open until, what....7am!? I entertained for a split second going back to bed, in the end, that IS what my body really wanted after all, but before that thought took root, I quickly asked Siri on my iPhone for a list of all the 24 hr. gyms in my area and this place Synergy in Baldwin, NY pops up. I called them and blurt out if I could possibly come in and just try out the gym. I was too tired to make up some story and frankly I always get better results being totally honest. The male voice on the other end of the line said, "sure, just come in now." I drive up and it does not have the feel of a big gym, I start to drive away but again, no, I realized this might just work. I park, go in, and a young friendly man neither asks questions or for an ID and lets me come in. I was happy surprised to see that the treadmills were not only RIGHT NEXT to the bathrooms bu they were facing outwards towards the people and my ass would be facing the wall.....just a thing I believe most woman think about....the Feng Shui was right. I ran for 5 hours, took a few bathroom breaks, took 1 salt pill every hour and had 1 tablespoon total of the peanut butter I brought to replace GU. I am sitting here writing a day later and I am so glad I got this done. At any moment that day I could have convinced myself that I'd do it later and easily quit and gone to bed. 

               My legs felt strong and fresh, my lungs breathed smoothly and easy and my heart felt just fine. I felt I could have easily run another 6  miles that day (had I had to that is). I know I am ready for this marathon next weekend. The run was so easy, in fact, that I think to prepare for my 50-miler in march I will run a 20 every Saturday and in addition,  one Sundays maybe begin running a few extra miles (very slowly), then of course my usual few small runs during the work week. Whatever this training plan will be, I know it's going to fit my body....I just need to work on the miles numbers a bit more. In the meantime, after my marathon next week I plan to run a 20 the next weekend as well. By then, I should already have my 3 month plan figured out. No matter what it's going to be the plan will include less running than most plans dictate. As an older runner, I know for a fact that I personally do a lot better on less miles than on excessive amounts in one week.

me after the 20!!! yes!!! did it.

Just getting it done, period

              This past weekend was a holiday weekend and I had 16 miles planned for yesterday, Sunday but my body said, "NO way". Now being 3 weeks away from marathon #9 I could not just NOT run! So I slept in, had a nice morning making myself new earrings, sipping coffee with my hubby and listening to him respond to every cool article he came across in the paper. The morning was glorious. After my kids sent off to bed I left the house and drove 5 minutes to the 24-hour gym I am a member of and ran for 4 hours until 1am. While running, I watched 3 or 4 episodes of Project Runway season 9 and then the newest episode of Walking Dead, which was heartbreaking and thank God it was hreathbreaking, cause it kept me awake and kept me from thinking how tired I was. I ran out of Gu  at home except for one yucky flavor and lost all my salt pills for some odd reason but had enough salt pills in a pill box I used for the last marathon, so I used those. So yes, I ran 4 hours and had 3 bottles of water, 4 salt pills total and only 1 yucky Gu. The gym has unlimited 10-minute hydro massage which I took full advantage of right after finishing and boy was it pure heaven....one can adjust the settings so I basically got a 10 minute bum massage, heaven!! 

                 I got home at 1:30am and made myself a quick and COLD burrito roll with cheese, chicken, and cream cheese, I know, disgusting. But it hit the spot. I took a hot, hot shower and was happy to learn that I had minimal chafing thanks to the KT take I had my 10-year old apply earlier in the night, she's a pro at applying this stuff, you'd think she's a PT. I put on a huge sweatshirt and placed a towel over my pillow and went to bed and slept with a huge smile on my face. I did it. By not making it such a huge thing in my head I managed to do something that if thought over too much would certainly seem crazy. By the end of the night I had burned 1,240 calories and I did not quite know how to put that into my MyFitnessPal app, a calorie/nutrition app I use to monitor what I eat. I chose to just give Sunday 3 hours and Monday 1 hour. The way MyFitnessPal works is that it gives back to you the calories you burned as allowance for more food. I felt this was a good solution for it only gave me 310 calories extra for the next day and the allowance for the Sunday I could not really use up seeing as all I wanted to do was go to bed.