Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Sittin' On Ready

I'm ready. The marathon is Sunday, but if it had been yesterday, when I went out on my lunch break for a 6 miler, I know for sure I would have been ready. I intended on running 6 miles - 4 easy and 2 at marathon pace, but I couldn't hold myself back. Sub-9 was feeling easy. I felt like was just floating along out there, even against some fierce headwinds. My legs haven't felt like this in a long time. I finished the 6 miles at an average pace of 9:09. I've only been running about 3 times a week for the past 2 weeks, and I haven't done any of the VO2 max runs that Pfitz calls for. I am running 4 miles in the morning and then resting for 2 days before the marathon. If nothing else, I'm gonna find out how my body reacts to rest!

The day before Rocket City, the Pfitz plan called for a 4 mile run. I went out for the run and was horrified at how my legs really felt. They felt awfully heavy to be the day before the marathon. I remember thinking the same thing before the Vegas marathon in '06, too. So...I'm thinking, perhaps my legs might just require a little more rest than these tapering plans are suggesting. Sunday will tell.

In addition to rest, I have also been trying to eat more nutritiously. Hoooge body parts call for desperate measures. Dr. Oz measures, to be exact. I decided to try The Green Drink on Jan 1st. I liked it. It is like 'a glass of fresh,' as Oprah described. And it makes a more nutritious breakfast than Burger King's $.99 cinnaminis.

Here's what's in it:

4 stalks of celery
1 medium cucumber
handful of spinach
handful of parsely
thumbnails size of ginger root(peeled ofcourse)
1 apple
1 banana
juice of a lemon
juice of a lime
handful of ice cubes
some water, enough to make it smooth

The ingredients above make enough for just over 2 servings. The original recipe didn't call for a banana, but I put it in there anyways. I can taste the banana through the swamp water, and that's why I keep drinking it. It's really not that bad. It's actually pretty good, especially if you consider how good it makes you feel.

I am also testing out the MonaVie drink that my mother-in-law introduced to me. It's a blend of the acai berry from the amazon, along with a lot of other fruits, and glucosamine. My mother-in-law swears by it, and I think it actually tastes pretty good, so I've been drinking the required the 2 ounces twice a day. It's supposed to have all kinds of health benefits, including the joint and cartlidge repair properties of glucosamine. The drawback is that it's expensive. I doubt I can afford to continue drinking it for the long term, but for now it's keeping me in a "eat healthy" kind of mode. Staying in the healthy frame of mind is key here. My mother-in-law is interested to see if I suffer from the same degree of post-marathon soreness as I have in the past. We shall see.

7 comments:

Brooke said...

A good friend of mine has been drinking that juice. (not the green stuff) for a while now and she swears by it.

kmholt7 said...

The only way I could stomach that green drink was if it tasted like a margarita. More power to you!

momo said...

i think that stuff would be in and OUT too quickly. that many veggies and me do not get along! :-)

Anonymous said...

You are going to do great this weekend. I will be following you all the way!

Anonymous said...

I think that listening to your body, moreso than strictly observing a generic training plan, is the key to individual success. Good on you for doing so, and best of luck on Sunday - I just know that a sub-4 is in you!

- John.

My Life said...

Ohhh wow, that is some drink.

So you're in for the full on Sunday? Have a great race & hope to meet you!

Darrell said...

The Green Drink looks pretty good sitting in that glass. Even the list of ingredients didn't seem so bad until I read the words "swamp water". Not sure sure I like the sound of that.

About RNR AZ, I say take a few days off before hand, especially the day before. Fresher legs seem like a really good idea to me. 9:09 was a pretty interesting pace for that last run. mmmmmmmm.....