Third marathon training (Full training program)


Busy days, gettin gready to our European trip.

Nevertheless, we did have nice runs.

Friday: 6 miles easy (8:50- 9:00 pace) afternoon run - rain in the morning:-(

Saturday: 12 miles along the W Bay
Wonderful weather, easy muscles. 9:10, 9:00, 10x8:40 miles.

Not much other training activities because there are so many things to do before leaving.

Leaving this evening. Back in two weeks. (I hope I can get on-line during my trip.)

Hi,

I just wanted to say I read this every once in a while, and think you have a very cool story. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

I had a wonderful, long trip to Hungary.

This being a gym log, I try to concentrate only on the "physical challenge" of this trip. (Though I would be more than happy to share the geographycal, cultural wonders of this small country.)

Real balanced :D journey: many short/long walks, hikes, runs, swims all around the country as well as the joy of Hungarian culinary art. (Definitely not for the light hearted. High fat, protein, cholesterol.)

As always the biggest challenge was to survive the two times 2+11 hours flights, confined into the "World Traveller Class". :(

Will edit/update this post later.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

After our Mondays back-killing 2+11 hours flight back from Europe on Tuesday morning we were back on the track. Literally.

12 miles sunrise (actually we started before sunrise) run along the bay.
I expected some backlash from the trip, but we were full of energy.
Mile splits: 9:10, 8:55, 4x8:40, 8:25, 3x8:40, 2x8:45.

It seems we lost a little from our "perfect" pacing - for two weeks we did not run measured course. Hungary is full of nice running courses, but no km signs on the trails.

The temperature was comfortable, but the humidity very high. Nevertheless we really enjoyed our run.

Nutrition:

Breakfast: scrambled eggs (from 4 eggs), cherry tomatoes, green tea, green drinks (we did not have V8 at home).
Lunch: Indian buffet (it was a nice change after two weeks Hungarian food), glass of white wine.
Green drinks from wheat grass powder and 1 lb fresh organic greens.

No snack or dinner - as always I was suffering from the jet-lag. Did not have any appetite, was sleepy, but could not sleep.....

Boulder Backroads countdown: 193 days.

Hello Eva,
Welcome back! Jet lag is the worst, hope you're over it soon!

I just wanted to invite you to check out my running log, I posted a bit about Mittleman's principles for eating and since you have been eating his way for awhile now, I thought you might be able to add to my list.

Cheers!
sandy

Hi Eva!

I'm so happy to hear you had a wonderful trip. I have been perusing your gym log for ages now and wante to say hello. I am slowing beginning to see that Slow Burn might be the way to go for me as I am an avid runner as well. My biggest worry has been having enough energy to complete a marathon with a lower carb plan. But you have demonstrated that not only is it possible but it can be enjoyable!!

A few questions for you...

Are you limiting your amount of cheese on a daily basis?

How/where do you recommend the 2-3 cups of green drink? How are you making yours? I have not found anything at our Trader Joe's here that I can see would work.

Do you think it is an issue if I eat meat regularly? For example, daily alongside fish?

Thank you for all of your wonderful entries in your gym log! I have truly learned a tremendous amount!

Jennifer

Hi Jen,

I am very happy to see a new Mittleman follower. (As well as I am sure Golddfish/Sandy is very happy too.)

Let see your questions. Usually I have 3-4 oz Feta or 3-4 oz goat cheese - with tomatoes, bell peppers for either breakfast or dinner. This portion seems to be enough for me.

3-4 green drinks either from powder or from fresh vegetables are the most important part of my daily menu. I do not eat fruits, so this is a nice/easy way to have all the necessary vitamins, minerals etc. (Beside the alkalizing effect - see the Slow Burn book.) My way to make these drinks is very simple: throwing 2 handful of greens into my mixer, adding 2-3 cup ice water. (Depends on the vegetables I use.)

Mittleman prefers fish over meat, but it is up to you. I do love fish, my husband prefers it only once a week (he takes fish oil capsules) - we see the same result.

I chose Mittleman's plan exactly because there are no strict rules (other than no sugar). You can do it so many ways. For me the real important rules: no milk, no fruit. (I have never had sweet tooth, so to skip sweets is not an issue.)

I read your question in Sandy's gym log, regarding induction vs Slow Burn. My recommendation: skip the Atkins induction, do a clean Slow Burn "induction" instead - skip the sweets.... (Furit, milk, artificial sweeteners too.)

Regarding the long distance training. I think that the real hard part is not the nutrition, but to train your LEGS... Both Mittleman's and Galloway's "slow approaches" seem to work very well for our family. (My husband, my two runner sons and I have very different bodies, but we all use their methods.)

Eva

Hello,
Just wanted to say thanks!
happy training!
sandy

Hi Eva,

Thank you so much for your advice!

My only concern about this plan is breakfast...I'm not sure what good options would be that would allow a little bit of sweetness in my day. Do you think pumpkin would be alright? I have tried pumpkin with cream cheese and splenda warmed in the microwave. It's so tasty!

Do you use cream often?

Thank you again Eva! I will be in touch and plan to start a journey as well.

Jen

One more thought
 

Hi Eva,

I thought of one more thing to ask which I just posed in Sandy's journal.

What are your thoughts on your energy level when running while low carbing? When I was training for a half marathon, I noticed a tremendous difference in energy levels when I did/did not incoporate more complex carbs in to my diet. My running felt stronger the week before my race when I ate more carbs on a daily basis.

I wonder if this is simply a calorie issue, not necessarily a lack/surplus of carbs. I realize that your body uses carbs for glycogen use but have you had a problem eating lower carb when you run longer distances (i.e. 10 miles or more). Is it really complex carbs that your body needs or is it just the calories (energy)? You have been successful in completing a marathon while low carbing and would love your thoughts on this. It seems so many debate the issue in the exercise threads. I just worry about my energy levels. I have gone through so many years of cutting back on calories and feeling dreadful from low blood sugar...I want to avoid feeling that way so I can too be successful in completing the Chicago marathon this fall.

Sorry to ramble Eva.

Thanks again,
Jen

I use cream very often to make wonderful dishes. About sweetness. For me last June the big turning point was to give up any kind of sweet favors - following Mittleman's recommendation That is how I got back my high school shape/weight. It is individual. Many people lose weight while having sweets. With fruits, occasional Splenda I lost easily 35 lbs, but then I stucked. To loose those last 15 lbs I needed this "sweet deprivation" cure :D .



About my nutrition during long runs, you can read here, under my detailed schedule.

Regarding the previous days, I prefer to keep around 80 carbs, mainly from greens.

I think this is very individual. For me this green way seems to be very succesful (my last marathon finish time was only mininutes from a Boston qualifier time). I do not want to change. Even if more carbs pre-race or during race would give more speed.

I think that the most imporant thing both during training and race is: keeping heart rate down, around 80%, (in the MEP zone). It means high efficiency - speed AND gylcogen sparing. There is no way anybody can run 26.2 mile on 90%+ heart rate without added carbs.

About calories. I have never ever cut back calories. BUT. It is important, not to go overboard. 1 mile running does not burn 100 calories. Trained, experienced runners' bodies are much more effective. According my experience, for me it is better to use a 70-80 cals/mile estimate.

Btw Chicago marathon is very ideal one: flat course, and nice cool weather. I can run 10-20% faster if the temperature under 60F. (Very rare in South CA.)

I am looking forward to read/visit your gym log.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Wednesday:
No run, cross training - swimming.
Back maintenance programme by Fielding

Thursday:
6 miles sunrise MEP run.
Gilad's Arms of Steel
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - beginner programme.

Friday:
speeding up - 6 miles sunrise tempo run: 8:45, 8:45, 8:30, 8:20, 8:20, 8:20
terrible high humidity
Gilad's abs programme
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - intermediate programme.


Saturday:
90 min sunrise MAP run - again terrible high humidity
Special runners lower body exercises.
Anderson's stretching programme for runners.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Sunday: preparation for the Monday 18 miler

Some basic rules we always follow on the day before long (18 or more miles) runs:

To secure enough glycogen:

- Rest, only low intensity activities - to spare glycogen.
- Strict 80 carbs. No less - to have enough glycogen; no more - to avoid bloating.

To have sufficient hydration: (our far biggest problem here, in South CA)

- No high sodium food (skipping my favorite smoked salmon, sardines etc.)
- No alcohol - not even my regular one glass of wine.
- No coffeine - not even my regular green tea.
- Glass of water in every two hours from sunrise to bed time.

To ease digestion: no high fiber food - replacing fresh green with green powder.

Sunday: the big 18 miler

We started our run very early (at 5 M) - still we did suffer from the heat from 7:30. What a surprise! During the last 3-4 days every morning was cool and cloudy. Today was bright... Oh well, this is the story of our marathon taraining. (See our heat trainings during our first marathon training. Somehow always the days of our long runs were the hottest ones.)

Nevertheless, we did very well. 2 hours 40 min - 8:52 min/mile average pace. (Restroom break included.)

Mile splits:

9:10; 9:10; 9:00; 9:00. 8:50; 8:30; 8:20; 8:40; 8:30; 8:40; 8:50; 8:40; 8:50; 9:00; 9:00; 9:10; 9:10

Followed by a 20 min walk - to help recovery, and to prevent the terrible after run cramps.

Still had some problem with the pacing (as I mentioned we did not have measured courses during our 2-weeks vacation), but nothing serious.

We hardly met anybody else - I assume most of the runners had their long runs on Saturday, Sunday.

Nutrition: green drinks before run and at 15 miles, GU at 9 miles, water at 3, 6, 12 miles. After run: protein drink, scrambled eggs with bacon

Race day countdown: 121 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Tuesday:

Well deserved leg rest day after Monday's 18 miler.
Back maintenance programme by Fielding

Wednesday:

90 min easy MAP run. The weather was again ideal: cool, cloudy. It is our bad luck. Every day seems to be ideal but our long run day. :(

Gilad's Arms of Steel
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advanced programme.

Weight-in day: (every month on the first day after my TOM) 125.5 lbs. It seems the two weeks immersion in Europian culinary pleasure did not do any damage.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Thursday:
Light rain in the morning so we postponed our run to the afternoon. It meant 75F - start of our heat trainings? We chose an easy pace, left at home my watch, not to be forced for a higher speed by it. 6 miles easy run - around 9 min/mile pace.
Gilad's abs programme
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - intermediate programme.

Friday:
Cross training - swimming.
Lower body workout - with special runners exercises.
Anderson's stretching programme for runners.

Saturday:
Cloudy, light drizzle - but this time we did not postpone our 7 miles hill sunrise run. (Still remembering the heat on Thursday.) Though we have not run this course for a long time, it seemed easy.
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advance programme.

Tomorrow is the anniversary of our first marathon. Will check the San Diego weather, and be with the runners in my heart/mind. I wish them cool, cloudy weather....

As of foods. We had a very strict disciplined week after our two weeks European trip. Though we did not gain weight, but definitely had much more than necessary calories and wine... (Though no carb feasts, but very high fat counts.)

Race day countdown: 112 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Sunday: 12 miles combo (MAP, MEP, SAP) sunrise run. Started at 5 AM - 59F, 85% humidity (!), at finish 63F, 75% humidity. Cloudy during the whole course, but the high humidity made breathing harder. Nevertheless, it was a nice easy run. Similar way I hope my fellow marathoners had similar great time at the San Diego Rock&Roll Marathon.

Mile splits: 9:20; 9:00; 8:30; 8:30; 8:30; 8:15; 8:15; 8:30; 8:30; 8:50; 8:50; 8:50.
Nutrition: as always - green drinks before run, water during run
(We did not sweat during this early hours, so no green drinks needed.)

Plan for the afternoon: Anderson's stretches.

As a background movie: One of Louis de Funes Gandarme movies. (We bought those in Europe.) Yesterday we watched the first from the series: Le Gandarme de St.Tropez
For today we plan the second one: Le Gandarme A New York

Running Bibles
 

Yesterday I found a wonderful new running book - very insipirational.

So here is the expanded list of my favorite running books:

Galloway: Book of Running (for starters up to half-Marathon)
Galloway: Marathon - You Can Do It (detailed training plans from beginners to the under 3 hours crowd)

Galloway is the father of the walk/jog/run method - the best way to train for long distance without frustration, bonking, injury.

John "The Penguin" Bingham: The Courage to Start: A Guide to Running for Your Life
John "The Penguin" Bingham: No Need for Speed: A Beginner's Guide to the Joy of Running
John "The Penguin" Bingham: Marathon for Mortals

Penguin was a smoker/drinker/obese guy who started running at age of 42. He finished his first marathon 18 months later, and one of the most celebrated participant/speaker of Rock&Roll marathons since.
His "Penguin Marathon Strategy": Finish the same day that I start - should be posted in every first marathoner's room.

Mittleman: Slow Burn
One of the top ultramarthoner of the world is sharing his training/eating method for long distance. Following his method I saw remarkable results. (Both in losing the last pounds and imrpving my speed.)

Two more books for inspiration (not as training books :D ):

Kirk Johnson: To the Edge: A Man, Death Valley and the mystery of Endurance
A NYTimes writer's inside report from the Badwater ultramarathon. (135 miles of desert, from 282 feet below sea level to Mount Whitney 8360 feet; 0-120 F, under 10% humidity)
The "What Would Ulrich Do" mantra helped me so many times...

My newest one:
Dean Karnazes: Ultramarathon Man (Check the reviews and the pictures of the guy. He has definitely not the typical marathoner body.)

We were very surprised to see our motto (our #1 reason for the long distance running : we run long distance because we can) in his book. Yes, I started to run to fight insomnia. Yes, I do know all the advantage of running. But to wake up every weekend at 4:30, to sweat 2-4 hours - you need some better reason than health. Because I can. :D

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Monday:
Easy 90 min MAP sunrise run - it was really needed after Saturday's/Sunday's hard(er) runs.
Back maintenance programme by Fielding

Tuesday:
Cross training - swimming.
Gilad's Arms of Steel
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advanced programme.

Wednesday:
6 miles SEP sunrise run - speeding up with fresh legs and - what a surprise - fresh air. No more drizzle/high humidity. These better conditions were mirrored in our performance. Mile splits: 8:40; 8:40; 8:15; 8:00; 8:15; 8:10
Plans for the afternoon:

Gilad's abs programme, Anderson's stretching programme.

Race day countdown: 108 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

Hi Eva,

I listened to a short interview with Dean Karnazes about a month ago. My husband downloaded it from NPR, national public radio I think. I had never heard of him before. I will definitely pick up the book! At the time of the interview he had a full-time job and kids and what amazed me the most was that he said he sometimes runs all night. Wow! I was really surprised at his body type on the book cover, not what you'd expect of a long distance runner!!

I have a question for you if you don't mind. I have found a half marathon at the end of October that I want to train for. I'm a really slow runner, but I always train using Mittleman's heart rate zones. At my present speed it would take me 3 hours to finish a half. I figure in 5 months of slow burn eating/training I'll lose 20-30 pounds and surely that will help me speed up. But my question is, do you think I can speed up enough in 5 months to finish before they close up the course?
have a nice week-end and happy running!
sandy

Third marathon training (Full training program)

I had a wonderful trip to Chicago between June 9th-14th (visiting my wonderful daughter). My only problem was the exceptional heat : 85-90F, with exceptional high humidity. Definitely not a preferred running weather. Nevertheless I managed to go out for nice easy strolls along Lake Shore.

After coming back, I really enjoyed the "cool" California :D . We had an easy 90 min MAP as well as an 6 miler MEP on Wednesday-Thursday. Friday was rest day, preparation to our Saturday's 18 miler.

Saturday:

A very nice dinamic 18 milers. Total time (bathroom break included): 2 h 39 min = 8:50 average pace.
At start 58F, at finish 73F. Clear sky - not even a minute cloud. BUT it meant non high humidity either.

We started at 5 AM, to finish before the unavoidable 75F heat at 8 AM. (This IS California after all.)
Mile splits: 9:10; 9:05; 8:50; 8:50; 8:45; 7x8:40; 8:45; 8:45; 8:50; 8:55; 9:05; 9:00

Nutrition: Cup of green drinks (wheat grass) + cup of water before run. GU with water at 9 miles. Green drinks+waters at 3, 6, 12, 15 miles.
Immediately after run: (low fat, low carb) protein shake + glass of water. One our later: scrambled eggs (from 4 eggs) with onion and bacon.

Then we went to see the Batman Begins movie. It was surprisingly good.
After the movie a nice Yard House lunch. Variety of sea food appetizers (no, I did not counted "hidden" carbs), onion soup (without the bread) and steak with roasted tomato and mushroom accompained with a guilt free pint of Kroenesburg beer. (30 carbs) We deserved it. :D

Eva,
You must be so excited being mother of the bride! When is the wedding?
Thanks for the reply! I like the quote by Penquin! I'll definitely finish the same day and I'll consider it a success!! I haven't read Galloway's book, but I'm going to Canada in about 3 weeks, and I'm really looking forward to picking up some reading material. Have you visited Galloway's website Jeff Galloway that's where I got his half marathon training plan.
take care!
sandy

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Monday:

90 min nice MAP run. Clear sky, no more humidity, but still cool enough around sunrise.
Back maintenance programme by Fielding

Background movie: Batman (1989) - felt a need to revisit this movie after the Batman Begins.

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Prosciutto, Feta cheese, red bell pepper, tomatoes, V8, green tea
Lunch: Soated pork tenderloin piperade (Julia Child's recipe), glass of red wine
Dinner: variety of smoked fish (I know, I know it is high sodium but I LOVE smoked fish) with green salad
Snack: Almond and green tea

Green drinks from 1 lb fresh organic greens

Race day countdown: 95 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

P.S.: As I mentioned earlier the #1 reason for the Boulder Marathon is my younger son, who is living (training) there. We wanted to run a race with him. He has been a passionate hiker for years, but started to run only last year. Nevertheless, he aims for this marathon too. He prefers an LC approach too. Yesterday he finished a 18 miler training run with 7:56 (!!!) average pace. His nutrition: one banana before run, and only water during the run. Nothing else.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Tuesday:
6 miles sunrise MEP run. Nice weather: no more drizzle, but still relatively cool (under 70F) temperature. (I mean till 7 AM, then the hell starts:-)

First try of my new shoes. The same model as my previous ones: Aesics Gel-Landreth (TN 464) - royal blue. I bougth two pairs of the same models last July. I have high faith in Aesics shoes. My first running shoes two years ago were Aesics too - though different models - because of my overweight I was over-pronator, needed support. (See the "Sturctured Cushoning Models" of Aesics.Then after losing 35 lbs, my feet became "neutral" - could change to lighter Aesics shoes. Yes, I know that the difference only 2 oz between the wieght of sturctured or not structured shoes, but believe me, you CAN feel the difference. :)

As I see this TN 464 already has an updated version: Aesics Gel-Landreth II (TN 584) . After the September marathon I plan to buy two pairs of these new models. But I can not see it in blue. Damn....I should have bought three pairs from the previous ones.

Gilad's Arms of Steel
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advanced programme.

Background movie: Batman 1966 Actually it was as good (if not bether) than the 1989 version :) .

Nutrition:

Breakfast: Canadian bacon (the fattier vesrion), scallion, V8, green tea
Lunch: Roasted mushroom, Jasmine rice, tartar sauce, glass of white wine
Dinner: Boiled eggs, Feta, green salad
Snack: Almond, green tea

Green drinks from 1 lb fresh, organic greens

Race day countdown: 94 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon - but we already feel the heat :D

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Wednesday:
6 miles energetic sunrise SEP run: 8:40; 8:25; 8:13; 8:05; 8:20; 8:10.

Clear sky, low humidity around 65F.

Gilad's abs; Anderson's stretching programme.

Nutrition:
Breakfast: Feta, Prosciutto, radish, scallion, V8, green tea
Lunch: "Beef Paprikas" with stuffed bell peppers
Green drinks, no snack.
Dinner: in Scott's Seafood Restaurant

Oysters Rockefeller (Fresh spinach, Anisette, Grana and smoked bacon)

Grilled jumbo lump crab cake

Seafood cioppino (Maine lobster, stone crab, fresh Pacific fish, clams and mussels in a house made Roma tomato sauce with fresh herbs, roasted garlic)


Glass of white wine.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Thursday:

What an ideal running weather we had. 60F, cloudy, low humidity....
6 miles sunrise MEP run.

With this 6 miler our weekdays' milage has reached 24 - means 43 for this week after our 7 miles Saturday hills and 12 miles Sunday long run. It is our goal, to keep this 43-48 for this period till our pre-marathon taper. (Otherwise we prefer 36-39.)

Gilad's Arms of Steel
Lynn Robinson's Pilates Manual - advanced programme.

Background movie: Dick Tracy - after yesterday's Batman I was still in comics mood. I consider this Dick Tracy as the best comics based movie of all time.

Nutrition:

"Rest day" - (I do not like the detox day, fast day etc. words.)
Means: Greens (tons of) and and eggs only. No coffein, no alcohol, no high sodium meats.
The goal is NOT weight loss (I deliberately did not check before/after my weight.) Simply my body desires this occasionally. (Even as a child I had green/fruit days during the summer - always voluntarily.)

Have a wonderful weekend for all of you.

Race day countdown: 92 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Friday:

Cross training day - LBWO: traditional and special runners exercises
Followed by Anderson's stretches.
Swimming.

Nutrition:
Breakfast:
Scrambled eggs with mushroom, V8, green tea
Lunch: Wiener Schnitzel with boston lettuce, olive oil, lemon, herb dressing, glass of white wine
Dinner : Wiener Schnitzel with scallion
Green drinks from fresh organic greens

Saturday:

7 miles sunrise hills - nice, cool, dry, cloudy morning
Anderson's stretches.
Swimming.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

12 miles sunrise MAP/MEP/SEP combo.

Mile splits: 9:30; 9:00; 8:30; 8:30; 8:25; 8:15; 8:25; 8:30; 8:30; 8:55; 8:55; 8:55

Start at 5 AM, 57F, low humidity, cloudy sly. It was still cool and cloudy when we finished.

Nutrtition: green drink before run and at 6 miles. Water at 3 and 9 miles.

We definitely felt our legs after the run. There are many reasons. First of all: the higher weekly milage. From 36-39 we increased it to 43. Second: this Saturday hill run followed by Sunday long run combo is hard on the legs. Hard, but necessary challenge. Our marathon will be on a hilly course. There is no way to reschedule our hills: we live in a flat city, have time to find hills only on the weekends, as well as have time for long run only on the weekends.

Nevertheless we had a great run.

Plan for the afternoon: swimming and Anderson's stretches.

Race day countdown: 90 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

I hope everybody is enjoying his/her weekend.

Third marathon training (Full training program)

90 min sunrise MAP - really easy - run. Ideal weather: 58F, low humidity, cloudy.
Back maintenance programme by Fielding

Background movie: Bourne Identitiy

My husband is leaving to India this weekend, so we have to move back our 21 miles long run from Sunday to Friday. (Fortunately he has got his Friday off.)

The weather forecast indicate the doomsday scenario for Friday. Clear sky, high morning temperature. We plan to start at 4:30 AM, so we can finish before 8 AM.

Nevertheless we have already started our prepartaion for the proper hydration: cutting back all high sodium foods. (Means skipping our favorite spicy salamis, sausages as well as smoked fish, sardine etc. I even cut half my Feta/goat cheese protion - replacing with boiled eggs.)

Race day countdown: 89 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

The Big Preparation
 

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Because of my husband's trip to India, we had to change our weekend plan. Move our Sunday 21 miler to Friday. It meant changing our weekday schedule too. After Sat 7 miles hill, Sun 12 miles combo, Mon 90 min MAP we had a rest/cross training day on Tuesday. Wednesday: 6 miles MEP, but no speed - to give enough rest to our legs. Thursday: full rest day - as preparation for our Friday 21 miler.

Great success on hydration front. Simply from cutting back my sodium intake to normal level - and not changing my cal, carb, fat, protein, potassium, magnesium etc. intake - I lost 4, four lbs excess water in 4 days. It means 4 lbs less weight on my legs tomorrow, as well as much easier hydration before, during run.

No, it does not mean that I will give up forever my favorite smoked salmon, spicy Gyulai, salami etc. It simply means that 2-3 days before my 20+ miles long runs I had to be very careful with these.

Btw this experience show that my "real" weight is somewhere around 122-123 lbs.

As of preparing for the heat. The forecast has slightly changed. There is some chance that it will be (partly) cloudy till 7:30-8 AM. So maybe we can avoid the doomsday scenerio we were afraid of - bright sun from sunrise.

Nevertheless we are careful: starting at 4:30, and taking with us caps, as well as enough bottles if we need more water on the way home. Usually we drink at every 3 miles, but we can change it to every 2 miles during the last "hot" 90 minutes.

Race day countdown: 86 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon

Third marathon training (Full training program)

Friday: 21 miles run along the bay (3h 11' - 9:10 min/mile av. pace)

We were so much prepared for doomsday scenario #1 (clear, sunny sky, heat), that we accepted doomsday scenario #2 with relief. We had 90% humidity, dense fog, drizzle - but NO SUN. :D

Started at 4:30 AM, as we planned. Our time goal - based on the sunny forecast - was something around 3h 15' - 3h 20' (9:15-9:30 min/mile average pace). We started with two easy 9:30 miles, then increased our speed very carefully: 9:20, 9:15, 9:10 miles. Then from mile 5 we lost ourselve in the pleasure of cloudy morning. Who cared if the humidity was over 90%? We had 10x 8:45-8:50 min miles. Actually it was foolish. We should have kept the over 9 min miles. Oh well....

At mile 15 we slowed down to 9:05, kept it till mile 18. That was the point when we felt our foolishness. 3 hours in 90% humidity IS hard. The last three miles of our course is rolling - adding more burden... So our last 3 miles was "only" 3x9:40 min.

"Only"? Hm.... Considering the disadvantages of the Boulder course (high altitude, dry, thin air, hilly, big temperature difference between start and finish, etc.) we would be more than happy with ANY finish time under 4h 22' - means 10 min/mile pace.

Then the real calamity started... We always walk 10-20 min after long runs. During walk - as very often - I felt light pain and light cramps - very common even for the much more seasoned runners. There are twelve steps leading up to our home. I could manage the first two steps, but on the third one I stucked: in my right leg I felt terrible cramp. I could not move. The situation was both funny :) and embarrassing :o .

My husband tried to massage my leg - without any success. He is a short thin man - even with no after run fatigue he could not have picked me up. So I sent him to fetch me some water. After 2 minutes (fortunately nobody came) I could go up. :o

Moral of story: if it is hot, if it is humid - SLOW DOWN.....

Nevertheless we DID it :D .

Race day countdown: 83 days till the Boulder Backroads Marathon