Week 17 of 18: 8 miles in 1:30

ohhh emmm geee!! The Philadelphia Marathon is a week from today.  One week from today: I will have left at 4:30am to head to Philly; started, ran and completed 26.2 miles;  celebrated with family and friends; soaked in a bath full of ice; And...joined the 1%.  Yes, I will be a marathoner- and just thinking about next week gets me more excited than a kid on Christmas morn.

My long run this week was 8 miles, which I took nice and slow.  I finished in 1:30 and that was just fine.  Now on to week 18 of 18- :)!!!

This week I am eating, lightly exercising, and resting.  In theory this sounds delightful, it reality it's not going to be fun.  I have to carb load this week, which in terms of a marathon is a bigger beast than any track meet, or soccer game carbo load I would do in high school.

I need to eat 3-5 carbs per pound of body weight for an entire week.  So I need 405-675 grams of carbs per day, if you're calculating I weigh 135.  This is a lot of carbs, and for a girl who loves carbs to death that's saying a lot.  According to my "research" I should gain 1-3 pounds if I properly taper.  I've never willingly become a glutton and gained weight, this should be funny.

Now that I've divulged my weight, let me discuss marathon training and weight gain and loss.  Prior to this adventure I'd read and heard a lot of women gain weight during marathon training, and men typically lose.  I've spoken to a few people who knew someone who lost 4 dress sizes, or went on to train for a triathlon.

My marathon training weight began at 135, and 17 weeks later is still 135.  Everyone always says you'll lose inches.  I started taking my measurements early on to see if this theory was legit.  My neck, chest, biceps, abdomen, and calves are all the exact same as they were on day one.  My hips and thighs decreased slightly between 1/4-1/2 inch in total.  This is just where my body gains and loses, so with or without marathon training this constantly occurs.

So here I am- the beginning of the end..  Week 18 of 18 is upon me.  So i'll eat like a pig, take airborne to prevent any last minute colds, run a total of 6 miles this week, and prep for the most awesome experience next weekend.

My next post will be post-marathon. WOHOOOOOO!!!!!!! :)