I have to apologize for being a terrible blogger and not posting my meal plan last week! After my AMAZING marathon last Sunday, it has taken me a little while to get back into my normal routines. But the marathon – O.M.G. I think I’m not obsessed. Seriously, if you had asked me 6 months ago I would have said that I’m doing just this one to check it off my bucket list. But this was such a transformational event for me – physically and mentally. Having run several half marathons before, I was familiar with the race day set up and knew what to expect for the first 13.1 miles. However, I was not expecting the wave of emotion that came over me when I took the right fork in the road to continue down the marathon course instead of turning into the half marathon finish line. It really hit me in that moment that I was doing it, I was really going to run a marathon. The number of people running around me dropped by an easy 80% and I truly felt like I was in a special group of people.
My training paid off and, while it was difficult and my muscles were sore, I was able to run the whole course except for the seconds of walking to rehydrate. I had a hard time running and drinking at the same time! But the piece that helped me finish strong and not give up at the end was my wonderful husband meeting me at mile 21 and running the last 5 miles with me. He stayed by my side, encouraging me the whole way and chatting with me to take my mind off the pain in my legs. This was all AFTER he ran the 13.1 miles of the half marathon! He is truly my rock, keeping me accountable to my goals and motivating me to keep moving. I was able to reach my goal and finish the full marathon in 4 hours and 52 minutes! I felt great at the end, sprinting into the finish line, telling me that it was time to choose my next race so I can set a new PR!
My training paid off and, while it was difficult and my muscles were sore, I was able to run the whole course except for the seconds of walking to rehydrate. I had a hard time running and drinking at the same time! But the piece that helped me finish strong and not give up at the end was my wonderful husband meeting me at mile 21 and running the last 5 miles with me. He stayed by my side, encouraging me the whole way and chatting with me to take my mind off the pain in my legs. This was all AFTER he ran the 13.1 miles of the half marathon! He is truly my rock, keeping me accountable to my goals and motivating me to keep moving. I was able to reach my goal and finish the full marathon in 4 hours and 52 minutes! I felt great at the end, sprinting into the finish line, telling me that it was time to choose my next race so I can set a new PR!
Taking part in the training helped me see that my commitment and consistency can pay off in a huge way. And I’m here to tell you, if I can do it, so can YOU! You may not be looking to train for a marathon, but whatever your big, unbelievable dream is, you can achieve it.
This week has been a week of recovery for me and I have some exciting news: I haven’t gained a single pound – even with ZERO workouts this week! I knew that it was important for my body to recover from the 26.2 miles correctly to avoid injury and excessive fatigue, but I really was worried that I would feel like a fat piece of lard. However, this week has truly shown me that my nutrition is 80% of my success. Sticking to my balanced, clean nutrition plan this week has kept me feeling great.
This by no means that I am done with working out – far from it! Even though I haven’t gained any weight, I still have noticed a slight drop in my energy levels in the evenings and I’m certainly not making gains to achieve my abs. That means I am back to my running and I am SO pumped to be starting Insanity Max: 30 with a vengeance. With marathon training behind me, I’ll be sticking to the 5 day, 30 minute workouts each week for the next 2 months and can’t wait to see my results. But I can’t give up my running – I have big goals this year! In order to keep working towards our 2,015 miles in 2015, I’m going to be sticking to a running plan that will help me achieve at least 14 miles a week. You can check out my plan for this week in the meal plan below.
This week has been a week of recovery for me and I have some exciting news: I haven’t gained a single pound – even with ZERO workouts this week! I knew that it was important for my body to recover from the 26.2 miles correctly to avoid injury and excessive fatigue, but I really was worried that I would feel like a fat piece of lard. However, this week has truly shown me that my nutrition is 80% of my success. Sticking to my balanced, clean nutrition plan this week has kept me feeling great.
This by no means that I am done with working out – far from it! Even though I haven’t gained any weight, I still have noticed a slight drop in my energy levels in the evenings and I’m certainly not making gains to achieve my abs. That means I am back to my running and I am SO pumped to be starting Insanity Max: 30 with a vengeance. With marathon training behind me, I’ll be sticking to the 5 day, 30 minute workouts each week for the next 2 months and can’t wait to see my results. But I can’t give up my running – I have big goals this year! In order to keep working towards our 2,015 miles in 2015, I’m going to be sticking to a running plan that will help me achieve at least 14 miles a week. You can check out my plan for this week in the meal plan below.
This week is also exciting because I will be starting my 10 Days to a More Effective You challenge group! I am so excited to be sharing what I’ve learned about using Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits with a group of motivated ladies! There is still time to apply for this group if you are interested in learning how you can help identify your most important roles & goals and live in a way that helps you reach them effectively. Fill in the application in the post below if you are interested!