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Sarah?s First Marathon
I never had a chance to blog about it this weekend, but the Foodbuzz Festival swag bag held a decent amount of goodies.
(photo stolen from Bobbi) There were several fun cooking utensils I can?t wait to try, as well as some fun snacks ? including a sample bag of the 479 Black Truffle & White Cheddar Popcorn.
I know they say to never judge a book by it?s cover, but this packaging totally won me over. As soon as I saw the modern, clean look of the packaging I knew this was going to be good. And you know what? It was! The white cheddar flavor was very light and airy and the popcorn itself wasn?t greasy or processed. It tasted fresh, as if it had just came right out of the popper. You can count me as a fan for this sample. Lunch today was a concoction I dreamt up in a morning meeting.
Kabocha, Almond Butter, & Spinach Wrap
It. Was. Good. If you like carrots with almond butter, then you will dig this combination. The overall sweetness of the wrap reminded me of sweet potato pie on Thanksgiving.
For a little green I had fresh crunchy green beans on the side.
Sarah?s First Marathon hello from the SHU box Hi! I’m Sarah, and I write a running/organization/food/healthy lifestyle blog (with a little fashion thrown in . . .) at the SHU box. I’ll just be blunt: I absolutely love running. When Meghann asked for volunteers to share their first marathon stories, I was excited to participate! An abridged (uhh, I tend to get a little wordy . . .) version of the story of how I got to my first marathon starting line — and the result — is below! If you would like to read more, here’s the rest of my running story — included in that link are thoughts on nutrition, some of my favorite gadgets, apparel, and training plans. Taking it back to spring of 2005 . . . I was still a new runner, and had just finished my second half marathon — also in Charlottesville. It was my second long race ever, and by adding speedwork and hill running to my routine, I had made marked improvement from my first race (I ran a 1:53, which was an 18 minute PR!). This astounded me, and I was hooked. At the same time, my then-boyfriend (now-husband) Josh was really getting back into the running game as well. Unlike me, he is a natural athlete and runner — in the years prior, he had run multiple marathons and he even ran on the track and cross country teams at Duke (for a year, until he decided to focus on academic pursuits). I was pretty psyched about my little PR in that half, but Josh came in 3rd in that race. Overall. At the time, he had been training for the Cleveland marathon, his first since starting medical school. I had been planning to do the half, and then cheer him on at the finish line. But after my big surprise at Charlottesville, the incessant goal-setter deep inside of me was persistent. I could hear a little voice coming from within, saying "Hey! You’re already done halves! Why not run a whole marathon? If he can do it, you can too . . ." I guess I might as well own up to having a bit of a competitive streak — even if it’s mainly with myself! There were 6 weeks between the half I had just finished and the upcoming Cleveland marathon. I remember posting this situation on the Runner’s World forums, asking the experts if they felt that going from a half marathon to a full marathon in 6 weeks was a good idea. The overwhelming consensus answer was "NO!". I read the replies, and then promptly decided to ignored the advice. I suppose that in addition to competitive, I might also be a little stubborn. With Josh’s help, I slapped together a quickie buildup plan. I kept my weekly mileage in the high 30s (I had been training in this mileage zone for my half), but for three weeks I incorporated one longer run each week: a 16, an 18, and then a 20, followed by a taper. The feelings of accomplishment that I had after completing these new distances were amazing! Back then, I really had no pain or injury issues (sadly, that didn’t last) and was having a great time. Before I knew it, Josh and I were headed to Ohio for the race. I was definitely nervous about running a brand new distance (those 6.2 miles were TRULY uncharted territory!), but felt like I would deserve whatever happened to me, even if it was bad. In a way, I think that my marginal training actually took some of the pressure off — ie, if the race went terribly, I could always blame it on my inadequate preparation and try again after completing a "real" 16 week program with more than 3 long runs. Well . . . as you can see from these splits:  I ended up having a great race!! My report (from my vintage retired running blog!) makes it sound . . . not so bad at all, although I still remember my dismay at mile 20 when my iPod conked out. I never hit ‘the wall’ (though I feared it!), and my final time was 4:01:57. I was completely elated with my stats, which included negative splits. So it was official: I was a marathon runner, and I was HOOKED! Visions of hardcore training plans and Boston qualifications danced in my head as we drove home from Cleveland that night. Surely a real marathon training schedule would mean a MUCH faster time, right? flash forward to now . . . well, only to an extent. That Boston goal is still out there for me to conquer someday, and my running journey is still ongoing, 5 years later. I am thankful for a sport that has brought me so much enjoyment, from the thrill of a great race to the fantastic online community. Thank you again, Meghann, for allowing me to share my story!
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