pre-run fun

Saturdays are the longest running days of my week.  That means that Friday is a complete carb-loading, calorie consuming day for me.  Since my family is not running the marathon with me, they don't want to have to eat like they are, so this can cause problems for us at dinner.  This past week, my running buddies decided it would be fun to get together and have dinner together on Friday night, so we all make sure we are getting what we need to have a great run the next day. 

Jayme had us all over for grilled Alaskan salmon.  Yummy.  I made a pasta dish that had grape tomatoes, red onion, basil, EVOO, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper. Karen brought a spinach and almond salad.  It was so yummy!  It is sad, but usually the only time we see each other is during our runs, and then it is different.  Friday, we all had our kiddos with us, and, even though the husbands got the night off (they have to watch the kids during our long runs, so we figured it was only fair), it felt really great to get together socially.  I even took a bottle of wine (which is kind of a no-no, but we had only a little bit and lots of water), and it was a nice switch to guzzling down water in the middle of nowhere!

We ate, had a great time, and went home early to rest up for our big run, which was fun.  The wind was not a huge factor, which is amazing in South Dakota, and it was sunny and warm.  One thing that we had been struggling with during our Saturday runs was hydration, so we all decided to get a hydration belt for Saturdays.  I chose the Nathan Speed 2 hydration belt, and am glad I did, because it was a great belt.  I was worried that the water would feel heavy and bouncy, but this belt fit very snugly, and so it hardly bounced and did not rub whatsoever.  Plus, I drank more water than I normally had been drinking, which helped me recover during the particulary rough patches. 

I have to say that there is a real art to drinking and running, and I am afraid I am not very good at it yet.  How do you get enough water on a really long run?

One thing that I noticed this week was that I got a rub spot on the bottom of one of my feet. This is the first time it has happened, and I can see from this weekend how it would have been a real issue by mile 26.  I am going to try to find some sort of possible remedies for this.  I read a post on fitbottomedgirls.com that said Aquaphor is great for this, so I might try it this week to see how it feels.  I am not sure about running with greasy feet, but running with the rub spot was no picnic.

This week is a taper week, but then we are running the big 20. It will be the longest run before the race, and my longest run to date. I am both excited and scared, but know that with my buddies, I can make it through.