Ali, your dd is precious; they do seem to grow up too quickly.

Anne, I had a bad run last night too! I was going for an easy 2.5miler "fun" run, and what I got was a learning experience.

After my run, my body felt well - no aches or pains; my head was cooperating, so what's the problem? Well, this morning I started looking at my nutrition intake comparing it with Tuesday which was a great run. Well, the cals were basically the same going in, but the percentages were drastically different. Tuesday's run was 14%F/78%C/12%P, while yesterday's was 41%F/30%C/30%P - thanks to a ceasar salad I had for lunch, splurging on reg Ceasar dressing as a treat. So, lesson learned is that I must get my carb intake up above 50%, which is my norm. I guess next time I don't, I'll have to have a backup plan such as an energy type bar etc to help fill in the gap.

I can't wait to be able to keep up with some of you ladies...

Soon, hopefully.

A fairly fast 3 miles this morning, I definitely seem to have more energy in my legs as I was really having to try to hold myself back a bit at times. I've run the route faster, but not recently as I've been slowing down during the marathon training. 8 miles tomorrow, and then just a week of nearly no running to go.

Helen,

One week to go!

Anne

Ali, Congratulations on your darling little one and on getting back into running so quickly! Remember, it took you 9 months to gain the pregnancy weight, so you get at least that long to lose it again.

Helen, good luck on staying sane for the next week. You've done the training and you'll be fine next weekend.

I watched my dh run a race this morning. He ran 45:13 for 10k. Not bad for a guy who runs maybe 2x per week when the weather's ok. I wish I was that fast! Then I went out for 8k myself this afternoon. Tomorrow should be an 18k long run.

8 miles this morning, it felt GOOD! It's a lovely sunny day out there, but not too warm - lovely running weather. I ran it fairly comfortably at pretty close to marathon pace (unintentionally fast, to be honest), and am starting to feel a bit more confident again, which can only be a good thing.

This time next week I'll be running! I really can't believe I'm going to do it. It doesn't matter how fast or slow I do it, the fact that I've got myself from being over 100lb overweight to running a marathon still blows me away when I think about it.

Today I did my anniversary race! It was the first race I ever signed up for back in 2003, when I did the 5K. I've done it every year except last year, when I was about 9 months pregnant. Today I did the 5K with DD in the jogging stroller. My time was 37min20sec, which works out to about 12min/miles--not my best time ever by a long shot, but not too bad pushing that thing! I also ran the whole distance except for about a 200 yd stretch which went through a bunch of gravel and through a couple little washes which was just too hard to run the stroller through. Considering it has been rough lately doing my 4 mile runs with 1 walk break, I'm pretty ecstatic!

DD was an official participant, and she got her first race number and finisher's medal. She loved the medal--so much fun to chew! I'm so happy that I'm able to do this for her as well as for me. It is so important to have a healthy lifestyle and it makes me feel really good that she'll grow up thinking this is normal.

You are going to have an awesome marathon, Helen. Just keep sticking to your plan, try not to do anything silly, and don't eat any suspicious food. I'm looking forward to reading your race report next week. You are on such an amazing journey--you should be proud of yourself, and I know you'll do a great run.

Anne

No run for me today I went for a bike ride 30K...

Helen -- I am so excited for you, I can't wait for pics and descriptions ....

Got in a 3.5miler on Saturday morning. Very good run, which by the end I felt I could do more.. amazing. I'm ramping up my miles by 10% the next weeks to train for a 10k in November.

Helen, you inspire me. Maybe soon I'll be training for longer races. Please let us know how it goes.

Lots of house stuff going on this past weekend so I only managed to run on Saturday - 11 miles...not too bad but my energy was pretty blah too...

Ran 3.25 this morning and again, energy level blah...morning runs on an empty stomach are not really my strong suit I think...wish I had enough time to eat before and then run but I'm already getting up at 4:45 in order to do what I'm doing...

Oh well...I leave for a business trip tomorrow so I will either run 4 more tonight or do another run tomorrow morning...the place I'm staying has a fantastic fitness center so I look forward to taking advantage of that!

Take care,

emily

Did 3.25miler last night in beautiful weather! Ran into a wall during my final mile and had to take a quick walk break so that I could finish the planned run.

Do you guys use energy bars or protein shakes to help get some carbs into your system, especially before a longer run? I can't find any bars where I like their nutrition labels. To me the saturated fats seem to run too high (over 2g).

I've never used protein shakes, but do occasionally have an energy bar. To be honest, if it's purely for a running energy boost I don't bother too much about the label - the point is that it has some substance to it to give me energy.

4 days to go! I've done my last proper run, I've got 2 days of rest and one day with a 2 mile gentle jog to go before race day. I'm starting to get scared, but trying to persuade myself I'll enjoy it really.

Oh well, at least there's the free beer and money at the end to get me through the last bit!

(well, the money isn't actually free, but you get your deposit returned when you give your chip back. The beer on the other hand is apparently provided by the sponsors, it being Germany )

There's a dream: Visit Germany and run a marathon for free beer. That is mojo all in itself .

Best to you Helen - please share your accomplishment next week afterwards!
Enjoy your rest days.

Good luck Helen! You've done the training and you'll do fine. Beer is an interesting post race food. Considering that I felt drunk for a good half hour or so after I finished the marathon, and that was with drinking water, sipping coffee and eating a granola bar and banana. I guess beer would help you forget your sore legs and feet though! Make sure to get some gatorade or similar drink in you too since you'll already be dehydrated and low on electrolytes.

Anne, great job on your anniversary race! And I agree that it's good for kids to grow up thinking being active is just a normal part of life.

softballmom, I don't eat anything for at least an hour before running or I feel sick. For two of my 32km runs and during the marathon I did use gels about every hour. They're pure sugar with some flavouring and are about 100 calories each. Another alternative is drinking gatorade or some other sports drink on longer runs.

I managed a somewhat difficult 19km Sunday, then 10km Tuesday. Wednesday dh got back from work much later than I expected, so no running. This afternoon I got out in the sunshine (and wind) for 11.6km. I want to run another 10k tomorrow and then take Saturday off since we've planned to go to a race on Sunday and my legs definitely feel fresher after a day off.

Good Luck Helen