More Reason To Worry

Okay, I'm breathing a bit easier now than I was when I posted my earlier post (read it if you haven't read it, it'll make more sense!). Thanks as always for the support.

Now as promised, here is the second part of marathon stuff from my pace leader.

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Starting about two weeks before the marathon: no red meat, sweets, fried foods, or alcohol

Starting Friday (two days before the marathon): no dairy, careful of fruits and vegetables, reduce protein, eat more than usual, and hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.

Saturday evening: do not overeat. You don’t want to be full/sluggish for the marathon.

Carbo-loading-the week before the marathon:

* Theory #1-Eat mostly protein Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. Starting Thursday, just eat carbs.
* Theory #2-Eat only carbs the whole week before the marathon.

Food ideas:

Oatmeal (with blueberries)
Waffles, Pancakes, French Toast (no/little syrup)
Eggs
Bagels-whole grain (with peanut butter)
English Muffin/Bread-whole grain
Graham Crackers
Pretzels
Popcorn (light)
Fruit-bananas
Yogurt
Brown Rice with Chicken or Fish
Black Bean and Rice Burrito
Potatoes (baked, sweet, yams)
Whole Wheat Pasta (with marinara)
Sandwiches (with lean meat)
Salads (watch dressing)
Vegetables

Workouts: If you have any injuries, do not do any short runs/walks the week before the marathon. If you are completely injury free, run/walk 3-4 miles only. If you do weights, use less weight week of marathon. Don’t use heavy weights on legs week of marathon.

Get a pedicure one week before the marathon. Do not do it close to the marathon in case skin is accidentally cut or a nail is cut too short.

Get as much sleep as you can Thursday and Friday nights.

Post Marathon: On Tuesday, run/walk 1-2 easy miles. On Thursday, run/walk 3 easy miles. Your pace will be slower for a while. That is normal. Do not be discouraged. Be back every Sunday to rebuild your miles. We do it gradually. Usually increasing by 2 miles a week.

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Okay, that's a lot of information. I suppose it's a good thing to know now, less than two months from the marathon.

I had had some general idea about the whole tapering off and carbo-loading and all that but it seems a bit more in-depth than just eating some extra pasta.

This part of the e-mail, I'll have to pay close attention to the weeks leading up to the marathon. I won't have any problem giving up sweets, fried food and alcohol but red meat, while we don't have it every day, we have it often. Anyway, I'll have to figure out some chicken or pork dishes so that shouldn't be too much of an issue I guess. Extra chorizo for LB! That's not red meat, is it? The best way for me will be to actually plan menus. I don't really do that, but I think I need to.

So the rest of my training will divide up nicely then. There's the time from now until the 20th, when we'll run 20 miles. Then there will be the time from after that run until Jan. 17, when we will run 22 miles (!) which will be our longest training run. Then, we'll run 12 and 10 and then it's the marathon. So after the 22-miler, I'll have to pay close attention to the menu and all the food and stuff.

That will be the point of no return. LB's Death March. Dead LB Walking.

I get knots in my stomach just thinking about that. But I think I'll be okay, and maybe like Jephy's Mom said, I might worry enough from now 'til then to just completely rid myself of the worries, or at least most of them anyway.