Empire State Marathon 2012 Results

Sending a Kiss to my Lord & Savior
Blessed to Run 26.2 Miles No matter My Pace!
I can Do Everything Through You which Strengthens Me

WOW.....The last personal post I made was an update about my CPT and before that My Last Marathon which was WineGlass September 30th.

What happened in my personal life sent me into a whirlwhind of Life Chaos, heart ache and intense feelings.

On the week to my recovery from WineGlass Marathon I did some light recovery running- I was hurting in the legs so I was not too eager to get back into running....then by the time I was ready my family was overcome with deep grief because we tragically lost my brother in law. In a nutshell he passed from ulcers that he never knew he had. He was vomiting blood badly, he blood sugar was sky high and they found on an endoscopy that he had a hole in his stomach and small intestine that caused him to have severe internal bleeding where he had four blood transfusion. He had surgery to repair the holes but he never recovered. While incubated his body began to shut down, his kidneys and before we could start dialysis he coded; the first time they brought him back the second time we lost him. There was so much praying and heart ache for me. David was my brother in law but he was my brother. I have spent 17 1/2 years with him in my life. We spent a lot time together and he loved my children immensely. We will miss him most when we go trick or treating this week (he always loved to go with us or at the least see the kids as we went to his hometown to go trick or treating) Christmas time he always went with us to Lights on the Lake and well....he was my husbands brother and they were always close. He was like His father and he always was there for him and us. We lived with him a couple of months as we transitioned from one home to another. We worked on his house and he worked on ours. Just lots of memories and a life cut way too short, 47 years young.

The One thing that has pulled us through has been our New Faith. The Idea that he is in Heaven (which he so deeply believed he was going) and we are actually excited for him; he loved the idea of heaven and re-uniting with all of our loved one past. We take huge comfort in knowing that we will see him again some day.

Doused in lots of family dramatics on both our sides; it's been a difficult few weeks emotionally.

With ease to my surprise my Running & Personal Fitness took a Back seat to more pressing issues with dealing with Family issues. Maybe last year I would of freaked out and ran all the time to seek comfort. This year I can rest and take care of my heart and emotions on a different level; a spiritual one. For that I've grown as a Christian.

I ran a much needed 7 miler with my husband just 2 days before the funeral and then the next week I ran a 7 miler and then a double run day with a 3 miler with my husband and 3 miler with a friend to help her train for a 8k.

I thought a couple weeks ago that I would run Empire State HALF Marathon. Despite an achey left foot from the last Marathon I signed up for the FULL.

Why? Every time I settled on the Half in my heart; it nagged at me. There was nothing about that decision that sat right with me. I yearned for 26.2. It was not even to set a PR either cause I'm content with a 4:13 a few weeks ago. It was redemption? This course caused me severe knee tendinitis last year. To the point where my running didn't return to any sort of normal for at least 6 weeks. I wanted to run this course and I wanted to run "free" I would aim to come in around 2:01 for the first Half and then let the course do what it may to me at the end.

Empire State Marathon October 21st 2012
Temps: Sunshine- Windy up to 10-15mph coming out of the north/west
about 40's at the start
Ending about 50 at the finish

Mile 1-9  I felt Great- My garmin going kept my pace at a steady comfy 9:10-9:15 where moments I was at an 8:30 and had to slow up ....just felt that Great!

Mile 9- Garmin died- On comes the first of many long enduring hills. Feeling Great and did my first GU tossed last years marathon shirt as my throw away!

Mile 11- Ipod Shuffle Dies (just bought the dang thing too!) Still feel good!

Mile 13.1 - Split 2:03 ....I'm feeling "hungry" at that point,lol ...emotionally I'm feeling like "ah shit...let the fun begin" because I would need to eat another 6 miles of daunting inclining hill territory before I can take reprieve in a flat last 6.

 

Mile 16- I thought I had to go potty so I hit up the porty real quick- noticed  first bleeding on my thighs- must of chaffed - had no idea! I was not hurting- but I was bloody so in order to not look like a runnerchick on her rag that was leaking- I took toilet paper and spit and cleaned up my legs (OMG!) and instead of having to Poop I did a Huge long Fart, bwahhaha- glad my guts weren't shutting down!

Chaffed on both legs. I never had this happen but I did wear my shorter compressions on this Marathon- Vain...I like the way my legs look in them (well BEFORE the chaffe)

Mile 16-20 legs are tired from hills but I'm back to flat .........(Tried my Ipod Shuffle and Miraculously it worked!!!) Yay for music- this is a lonely 6 miles for this marathon- in a park not much crowd support.

Mile 22- 26.2 My legs did what happened last year at the exact same point- QUAD SPASMS. From spasm number one I threw my time right out the window! I stopped ....I stretched....I massaged. Sometimes the spasm would last 1min other times just 30 seconds. But I had to stop a LOT.  So Why Stop? Last Year I ran through them. I walked through them. This is exactly what I think caused my severe knee damage last year. This Year there would be No way I would let that happen (if I could try something different and pray) It was tough only because for miles I played cat and mouse with these runnergirls that were likely running a steady 10:30-11min mile. I would stop ....let the spasm stop and then I'd run my normal pace and then pass them and then stop......they would catch up and pass me and they would look at me like "WTF" and even said a couple times "are you ok?" .....that was thoughtful of them if they only understood I could run normal without spasms yet stopped when they bounced in my legs like an ocean of waves. Just like last year- both quads around the knees .....

Second Half Split time 2:27

Total Marathon Time 4:30
No where close to even this course time last year at 4:23 and a far cry from a couple weeks ago where I ran 26.2 with complete ease at 4:13



I'm smiling though cause I Ran another Marathon! No matter what I ran 26.2 miles!!! Running a Marathon or any long distance run especially when I'm likely  2-5 years from a potential Boston Qualifying time is that I enjoy myself!

 

Recovery: TOUGH- Just as soon as I passed the finish line  I ate a mini bagel....and took off for home. My husband was there and the kids at home with a sitter. I was eager to warm up ....I wore summer like running gear (throw away shirt for the first 9 miles)
However but because I suffer from Cold Urticaria (where I swell and hive from colder temperatures) my lips and mouth started swell up on the drive home. During the last couple of miles I started to itch while running. I didnt' think anything of it but I was itching my neck, back, waist and armpits while running.
On the drive home- I was going NUTS- my head,ears, back,stomach legs...all red and itchy. I was going frantic in panic. My mouth swelled huge and my lips looked like I had botox. I thought I  was going to have to go to the Emergency Room .........Not connecting still it was sensitivity to the cold I was not sure if was from too much sodium or some problem from hydration (too much or too little?)  When I finally got home and got in the warm shower did all my symptoms go away. Very Scary for me though. In winter I get all the other symptoms just never had my mouth swell before. Thankfully it was not worse as sometimes the swelling can go into airways and then I'd be in a heap of trouble.

Last Year Crossing in Agony and Pain

Passing the finish line this year with a SMILE-
Still in Pain

My Greatest Pleasure on Race Days is my Friends. I Missed Fellow CCRG Lauren :( She ran the half hit a PR (Congrats Girly ♥)

I met with Cathy - a follower here and she Lost Weight & Ran her First Marathon! She did so Great and it was my pleasure to Meet her, wish her a Great Run and tell her to Stay Strong and that she did! I watched her finish it was a great pleasure!

I know lots of friends that ran the course and Everyone had a Great Time!

Met up with Kelly and she Ran a FAST Half! Second Place Boom in her Age Group! 1:36 !! Always inspires to move my ass a little bit more when I run!

 WHAT'S NEXT?

Started a RunStreak! I'm Blessed to be Able to Run! Let the Fun Continue!

 

Start My Study to Become a Certified Personal Trainer!

It was amazing to me to be on my journey toward health and fitness for just ME. To re-create and tranform myself. The efforts were for me alone and my drive and perseverance to make a major life change was never faltered. So greatly so that others saw the passion even before I wanted to admit it myself.

Friend after friend would suggest that I spend my life helping others transform. That for some reason they saw my story so inspirational that they told me to inspire others (maybe cause I was already sharing so much with my friends and family they shouted "SHARE WITH THOSE THAT WANT TO LISTEN"  .....tehehehehe!

I would share. Photos of what I ate. Document race stories through facebook (before I had the blog) and I would share what cross training I did. Gave random updates about how much I lost and what new awesome physical goals I had met.

I really did NOT want to have to be one of those people that got so obsessed that they had to make it their life. There is no rule that says that in order to lose and maintain that you have to become this passionate about it. I value ones' ability to do it because it feels good and needs to be done!
I really did NOT want to make others out there think that that in order to Maintain a Major weight loss that they had to take these directions in life in order to just keep the weight off.

Once I worked through what everyone would think of me, I began to dream. I began to hear my purpose. I searched for it. I prayed for it. I took time away from blogging  for a week or two or three and took random days away from my facebook to just seek clarity for the purpose behind all my help to others.

Was I giving so much for ME? Was I giving so Much for You?

Can't I have it both ways? What if I love helping you that it does help me! That it makes me feel good and wanted. That I sincerely smile when one of my girls loses weight and hits major milestones in running and general fitness!  I began to think larger and I'd have moments of mental chaos but it was only excitement for all the ways I could help re-shape woman's lives. And then I had pure moments of deep frustration for not being in a point in my life where I could give more. When I felt that way so much I had two thoughts, draw back or forge forward. I did both at different times to keep finding my path.

 I had come to realize I must stop fighting my dreams. I had no Idea I was till this past week. After my Marathon my vision of my future was so crystal clear. I began to dream in my day about all the Great adventures that could take place in the coming months and years. That I could truly make this a part of who I am (Being a coach, trainer, counseler etc for life) not just for now (as it's something for me to do while I'm busying raising my family and going to school) but it's something I could make my rest of my life out of and really LOVE IT!

I see the vision of where I want to be in a year and two and ultimately the prize ....which the shorten version will be I will obtain my Masters in Counseling and keep working to transform the mind to help in transforming the body. I will develop both online and community based weight loss programs where I will provide my counseling and personal training & running coaching. I'll have an amazing support network for my clients and I'll work out this beautiful location in my city that' is run down and dilapidated in many ways but the vision of it's real beauty and what that location would do for me & others is amazing!  I'll apprentice in learning even more in sports nutrition, woman's health, overall wellness and senior citizen help for females. Yes I'm a feminist at heart and always have been so it's so natural to aim all my work toward woman with open arms toward families and husband/wife teams. So as of right now I begin to study for my CPT and start my Bachelors degree in a few weeks and I keep coaching online for free and offering some running coaching for free & fun.

Now that is a Beautiful Dream, I'm not afraid to put it out there either because I know that I'm going to work hard at keep shaping who I am, keep working hard at maintaining my active lifestyle and most importantly beyond my husband full support (and wallet ~thanks Babe for dishing out thousands of dollars every year to purse my education and personal goals with Certifications) but GOD is with me. My Heart is open and I have him to thank for that. He is the driving force in my heart now and life has that much more purpose!


God Bless & Thank You as Always for Letting me Share and for Sharing in My Journey! ♥

Managing Sugar to Lose Weight

 This is ME simply talking and letting my brain flow with what I've learned in my Journey,  ideas that I've experimented with, what others have taught me (especially as I suffer from Insulin Resistance)educational books I have read and what I've learned in college as part of my continuing education. Actually I've talked in random about Sugar on Facebook and this is my First Real Blog Entry to keep it Simple for my Followers with holistic ways of thinking toward greater health, healthier body wellness management and weight loss.

Quantity & Quality 

All people need carbohydrates. It's the source of fuel for our muscles and referred to as "Glycogen".  It's the Go to source of energy for all body functions. (did you know our brain fuels from sugar only!! ) It's a Myth for any "Diet" or "lifestyle" to exist without it. No matter if you are paleo or atkins there is NO escaping carbohydrates in food and the real need for people to need it for energy. Those that exist on extremely low or no carbohydrates often are at risk for coronary heart disease ( I say often because scientific data shows that many that cut carbs eat more protein and fat from animal by products and the saturated fat, increases cholesterol) It takes several weeks if not months to train a body to learn to metabolize fat and protein as it's main fuel source. There are by product affects that take place when your body has to metabolize protein (and can cause un wanted bad breath and ammonia like smell to your sweat). Grains offer proteins and necessary vitamins and minerals into our diet. Grains can be a good source of fiber and help reduce cholesterol.

So if we all need sugar to survive with the most energy then what is the real problem? 

There is Quality & Quantity of Carbohydrates that impacts our health and weight.
 Our body responds to carbohydrates by providing insulin into the blood stream to manage the sugar to keep our blood sugar stable. If you eat too much sugar at once your body responds as it's built to do and it takes away the sugar (when it doesn't then you are resistant or you have diabetes).  I'm trying to keep this really simply put for you. So Quantity is important and refined sugars offers a large quantity of excess glucose which moves into cells lining the arteries causing inflammation which thickens and stiffens them (Surprise even THIN People have heart disease, even Runners get heart disease and this could be a factor why some do!)

Refined sugars enter the blood stream immediately with no process of breaking down the chains for energy much like complex carbohydrates. Excess glucose makes free radicals causing cell death.  (Refined short sugar chain, Complex long sugar chain) That's what a lot of processed foods have is refined sugar; high fructose corn syrups, sugar alcohols. High insulin raises blood pressure and blood fasts and lowers good cholesterol. Refined sugars are high on the Glycemic Index.

Reduce Your Blood Sugar Spikes! How Connie!!! Learn the Glycemic Index! Ok you don't have to study them or anything and actually next week I'll take some extra time to go over this information in regards to RUNNING & FITNESS! For Now I'll just share that all foods have a Glycemic index and depending on how much you have will have a Glycemic Load and learning and managing your blood sugar even if you don't have diabetes or insulin resistance can improve your insulin sensitivity, improve your cholesterol, allow you to feel more full after eating, reduce your hunger in between meals, increase your rate of weight loss and reduce your waist fat.
Low glycemic index foods help manage hunger, low glycemic foods spend more time in your guts and takes longer time traveling to lower intestines and triggers natural appetite suppressants.



I Beg anyone that has Diabetes to take this seriously. I ask that you use your insurance and seek out professional diabetes instructor or dietitian to help  give you great pointers in managing your disease. For many of you; reversing the disease is possible! You can control your blood sugar, lose weight become more sensitive to sugar and get off of medications! Don't lose that hope you can do this! To all those that are suffering with poly cystic ovarian syndrome it's possible to regain control over the insulin resistance and lose weight!

Here is the Glycemic Index

http://www.glycemicindex.com/

To Keep it simple for you these are some easy lifestyle changes I made with Sugar

• Choose Whole Grains (unrefined is best that way your body has to work to break it down)
• Avoid Refined Sugars
• Go with portion sizes that fit in the palm of your hand (or 4-6 oz of any carbohydrates at any given time)
• Avoid more than 1-2 carbohydrates in each meal. For example 1/4 cup of wild rice and 1/4 cup of cooked carrots
• Count Carbohydrates and avoid going more than 30 g of carbohydrates at each meal
• Don't fear fruit- it bears great antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber and water
• Eat around 40% of your intake as carbohydrates and this MAY CHANGE for all sorts of people you may fall and feel best at 50 % your daily intake from carbohydrates, you may be best at 35% or 65% and this is where Calorie Counting on Apps is great tool because they will offer you daily percentages so you can learn what your body likes for weight loss and what it likes for energy!

My ONLY Real Strong Suggestion from all this talk is that about Ketosis. It's real friends and no matter if you on Paleo or Atkins right now at this very moment I'm here to share that reducing your intake of carbs to as low as 50-60grams of carbohydrates per day can lead to ketosis. A person generally needs about 100grams of carbs per day to prevent this. Simply put when our brain and nervous system needs energy and it does not have sugar it will use fat and it's by-product of fat breakdown for fuel. . Ketones are strong acids and you will know if your body is doing this if you have fruit smelling breath, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting fast/deep breathing and excessive urination. This can lead to coma or death. Cold Hard FACTS! Be Careful!

As a runner I can't express my growing concern that others are out there advocating these tough diets (extremist lifestyles) there is NO reason to fear sugar. It's about managing your sugar. I won't argue that your body won't adapt, I won't argue that there are some really amazing athletes and endurance runners out there that blog and facebook all about paleo and atkins diets but they are a small minority trying to infiltrate society into thinking this is and should be more mainstream. I honor the notion that these diets are needed for those that suffer intestinal distress and found ways to adapt to what works for them. There are celiacs and those that have gluten intolerance's that have found that way of eating good for them! (although I will say that I also experimented and went Gluten Free for two weeks and still managed to keep my intake of carbs around 50% my daily intake!) The choice to eat that way should not be one of competitive nature, to imagine that you'll get some sort of edge of over competition. I went ketonic for a few weeks over this past summer in my attempts to play around with Paleo diet. All I found was extreme fatigue, poops that looked like fatty liquid toothpaste, my running went into the toilet as after week 3 anything past 4 miles felt worse than a Marathon. No matter how much vegetables and fiber I ate, no matter how clean and lowfat I ate, no matter how clean I was I just could not feel any good from that way of eating. Let me share that it took only a week back to normal balanced eating that I felt MY Best!

Here's my Tips to Balanced Eating Lifestyle

• Choose nutritious options for your carbohydrates
• Limit your alcohol
• Limit your salt intake (I aim for 1500mg daily) & more if I did a longer run
• Eat lots of mono and poly saturated fats (such as olive oil)
• Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables every day
• Eat Fish at least once weekly
• Eat lean proteins daily (I aim for .75-1g per my body weight each day- but when I was cutting calories it was more about .5- 7.5 g per body weight)
• Get in plenty of fiber

Just trust that our body's are marvelous machines and it's built to do exactly what it supposed to ensure stability for all core body functions for organ safety. If you are finding you are gaining weight and it's not been identified as a health factor (such as diabetes, insulin resistance, thyroid, sleep apnea) there are other factors such as lack of sleep, extreme stress etc. That if it comes down to foods that taking an active role in monitoring your carbohydrate quantity and quality be a step in that healthy direction.

How to Recover From a Half or Full Marathon

 

No matter if this is your first or hundredth Marathon the body needs recovery. Your body needs recovery even from half marathon distances as well. Each has their own level of adaptation to the training regimen they just got done with.


Take some down time. Let your body rest and repair. How does one do this?

Mind:

•Time to take up something you were putting off during training. Reading a good book? More time with family or friends? A House project or maybe more time walking your dog or doing much needed yard work. You get my point! Extra Time is your best friend right now!

•Celebrate all that you accomplished. Take time to journal it. Explore your thoughts and emotions. Discover if the journey changed you in some way. Print pictures, hang your medal, make a scrapbook.

•Remind Yourself that if you don't recovery properly you will only tarnish your ability to grow stronger as a runner. That if you run too much too soon or too hard you run the risk for great injury.
If there was ever a time when your body was going to break down it was during that last long run and perhaps it did break a little and anything too much too soon could make that potential injury very real. I honor and value the enthusiasm behind ones choices to resume normal running or to get training again but give yourself some time.

Time?

How Much time to Recover Fully? This is difficult to give you straight answer but I'll try my best.

Novice & New Half Marathoners & Marathoners give yourself at least 3-4 days before you try to run out the stiffness in your legs. This will have given your body time to properly react with Delayed onset muscle soreness and for that swelling of the tissues to come back down. Your First run back will probably ache and perhaps hurt. As long as you don't experience pain that feels like you are being stabbed or if it throbs and makes you physically groan then you are just likely tight and still sore. Pain of worry would be inflammation, hurts to touch (not to rub or deep massage- that's normal right now) If you experience pain while standing or hopping. This indicates potential injury and best case is to rest a few more days with ice and ibuprofen (if you are allowed) and then try again in 3 days.

 

There are "un set" running standard rules that state one day for every mile and I say "hogwash" :) If I can run then I'm going to run! LOL- I often wonder if a Runner really made up that unspoken rule?

 

 

If you are very conditioned, race often then you could very well do recovery miles the same day as the Marathon or half marathon and or the next day.

 

Key is to Listen to Your Body! 

Body:

Ice Bath- Immediately after your run if you can but ultimately if you dare it can never hurt you only help! It brings down the inflammation.
Hydration- time to concentrate on restoring all the fluids you lost during the Marathon.
Foam Roll- Again much like Running, wait but definitely make sure you do it and doing around the same time as DOMS is best to help move the fluid around.
Stretch- WARM though please if that means walk and get blood flow into the quads/calves then Great- do it cold and you risk injury.
Range of Motion this is simply put. You move your legs in each direction that is natural. Knee up toward chest from standing position and then back down. Stand with leg down and with straight leg extend upward and backward in sweeping motion. Again standing sweep from side to side. Be Gentle, don't pull.
Go for a Walk
Keep moving- not moving makes it all worse. Keep yourself moving around!
Get in the Pool and Swim/Stretch
Get Some Extra Sleep

All these things will only aid in restoring a depressed immune system from endurance training.

Nutrition

Restore full hydration
Restore your Electrolytes
Eat nutrient rich foods with plenty of fiber
Eat lots of Anti-oxidants. They aid in cell repair. I can tell you this and keep it simple aim for as much fruit/veggies as you can! Yes I love Simple :)
Immediately following a Marathon eat a complex carbohydrate for Glycogen Restore and some quick sugars to bring back up your energy and blood sugars.
Focus on lots of protein for muscle repair

Make New ADVENTURES!

 



Lastly I want you to start planning New Goals. The Greatest Stifle for many New Runners is they lack motivation and feel depleted and burned out after Endurance Races. It can and does happen. Best thing to combat that is to quickly create new targets for yourself. Make a run for charity, take up a new time goal, go into triathlons, Try out a new Fun race you been wanting to do. There are ways to keep you going you just got to make a plan and execute much like you are doing now as you prepare to run your next Half or Full Marathon!


When you do Start Running back up I want you to be careful of 3 things

Downhill, Distance & Intensity. - Keep your Running Breaks on, don't over do yourself and risk injury. Reduce your down hill running, cut your distance back and don't run so intense for "about" two weeks.

What you risk beyond injury my friends is a shutdown and overload of your immune system, too much body inflammation and your body begins to feel tired, sluggish and you risk injury to blood vessel's and increase your risk for heart disease. Fact! Don't let me scare you, let me inform you!

WineGlass Marathon 2012 Details

All Glass Finishers Medal

Some Walk with God & Today I ran with him :)

Many don't know because I kept it hush but I planned on this last minute Marathon to be a SPECIAL one and not because of the distance! Just so other that don't know I was training for Empire State Marathon October 21st. Was going to peak the last two weeks and taper. Having only run 18 miles peaking at 20 2x back to back was going to give me a great endurance boost. However when my husband decided his legs could not go the distance with last minute training I took over his Bib for Wineglass. So I cut back the 20 to an easy 15 last week and then Ran Wineglass this past Sunday!

Most of you know I was Born-Again on July 31st, 2012. I'm a new Christian and my excitement over the feeling of the Holy Spirit that fills me is transcending. I feel changed. I feel loved and accepted. I feel unconditional everythings. God has been calling to me my whole life and I needed to let Jesus enter my heart. I needed to take Faith and grasp a sort of understanding of who he was and why I needed to know him. Well I asked him into my heart 8 weeks ago and since LIFE is different!

I was going to take this Marathon with God to my Right and Jesus to my left. I would run without Music and without my Watch. Considering a bit of inconsistent training because of my intense family obligations and "life" and my LR being 18 etc etc I knew this was not going to be a Marathon where I was going to try to make some remarkable Run Goal with time standards.

I craved comfortable miles. I craved a spiritual run. I craved a desire to just soak in the amazing Earth with the abounds of beauty that embarks this gorgeous wine region. The fall foliage would take your breath away with beauty. The morning fog settled among the mountains along each side of the road we ran down. It was a straight course from Bath NY to Corning NY. Traveling North to South. Great Decline portions and only a few slight hills or inclines. So Perfect course for those looking to Boston Qualify! The Wind was coming out of the North so there only a couple of occasions when the slight wind was not at my back. Overcast Sky's we started at about 45' F and the Sun came out for about 4 miles where it started to feel a bit warmer and maybe got up to around 60 degrees that day.

I started off around the 4:10 Pacer dude. Just because 9:33 is a great easy going conversation pace. I could hold this easily for the whole marathon. That's my plan.

Amused by others conversations while on the course. I found moments of deep pleasure not just in the beauty of the trees but in the horses and roosters. Ponds with reflections as well. The beauty all around me (us!)

I had surges of energy and had to tame them. My legs wanted to open up badly but I told myself to relax a lot. Reminding myself it's been a YEAR since I've gone 26.2 miles!

Mile 9-13 I had this huge desire to go to the potty. Not urgent but not comfortable running with anything in the bladder. So after the half way mark which I cam across in 2:05 I went potty (only to find it was but a trickle? lol) I'm calling this my Divine Pee Interruption. Had not been for this pee I might of had pretty even splits! LOL but divine because what that pee break gave me was ultimately my finish time that SPEAKS VOLUMES!  After the half point I stopped quickly at all the water tables and drank Gatorade and took Gu.

 I felt my BEST Miles 18-22 which was actually EUPHORIC for me. I became transcendent. Overcome with extreme emotion. I held back tears of ......Joy? ..... Love? .....Contentment?.......I'm promise you all that my thoughts were with God & Jesus. I felt them with me, through me. I can never explain the utter explosion of Emotion I felt. Many times I tucked my head down and just swallowed deeply to control my emotions. I felt this whisper from God that said "just let it all go" and yet I couldn't. I can now and have since. Rejoicing in all that Miraculous in his making of this World and of Me and all things in Life!  I knew It's totally not typical to feel this GOOD toward the end of any Marathon- but I most certainly Did :)

Miles 23-24 went by with ease. Yes my were legs were starting to simply 'stiffen'  and felt impending calf cramping if I pushed myself at the end. But I was feeling good. Mile 25 I said special prayers for some friends and gave one last Big Thanks God for the Gift. The Gift of Life. The Gift to Run. I am honored to let him use me as his vessel toward his message. That he Loves You. He is Waiting for you. He Wants you to Love Yourself so you Can Love him. It's my Gift to you. I know my message and purpose even more clearly now; it's to help you find yourself so you can find him! Find yourself through fitness. Let me help you fix your mind so you can fix your body. Fixing your Mind toward your body can aid in fixing your mind so you can be filled with the Holy Spirit. The Mind is all powerful. If we Believe!

Fall Foliage ♥

I said to many this week and even on my Facebook page and with Friends Two Very Important sentiments that carried me and will always carry.

Jesus Said if you believe you can Move Mountains. So I was sure to tell myself mile after mile. I CAN Move Mountains!

and lastly-

Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through him who gives me Strength"

 

 

My Marathon Finish time.......4:13

This was God's Sign for me. This was all meant to be. This was exactly what he had planned for me ♥

 

 

848 out of 1584 Finishers

58/128 in my Age Group (30-34)

Splits 2:05 & 2:08

 

So this is a PR from Last years  Marathon #2 in 4:23 with splits at 2:01 & 2:22 (having experienced intense quad spasms after mile 21/22 last year that left me 6 plus weeks with severe knee tendinitis)

 

So There you Have My Amazing Spiritual Run and for those don't Believe in God & Jesus just trust me when I say that I'm a strong woman, I have amazing internal belief that I can do anything. If you believe in yourself the same you can transform your life and your Running as well. I share this with you all that our Mind (our thoughts, our behaviors and habits) if they are positive and strong then you have the power to Go any distance in life. You have the power to transform your body! I want to inspire you that way too!

Blowing Whitney Birthday Kisses at the finish line ♥ She Turned 7 today!

Other Randoms!
I hung out with Kelly & Jared and Kelly Boston Qualified and she trained so hard and deserved it! 3:32!  Jared ran a Great First Marathon ....will he back? We don't know! haha! But I'm proud of him too!

Race Support - incredible! Get a chance to come to NY and Run this is GREAT! Water Stations support like I've never seen!  Lots of porty's and Gu's and Gatorade, Great Medals, Asics Dry Tech long sleeve, food at the end- YUMMY! Soup, pizza, cookies, chocolate milk, bagels, fruit etc. We got a wine glass and a small bottle of wine! Fitting :)

It was Whitney's Birthday (Weekend- three days of Celebrations, lol) Lots of dining out- indulgent eating- packed in over 110oz of fluids/electrolytes on Saturday. Few salt packets, some soup and extra carbs! 

We Went to Corning Museum of Glass.

We Gave Whitney a small surprise Birthday cake/gifts in the hotel room the night before the Race and it was a special wind down time for me! I love my children and they are my life and my everything. We played Silly Games and ate Birthday Cupcakes!

SO NOW WHAT???

The Day after Marathon I did small upper body weight session and then spent 30minutes in the Pool - water walking, swam a few laps and then did a load of stretches once my muscles were warm and loose. I worked a wide array of range of motion exercises and it really helps! I strongly encourage you to find water after your long runs- get in the pool and work it out!

Nutrition: Focus on Clean food. My guts are shot. I ate out 3 days in a row, dirty- sodium rich foods. Hidden toxins from dining out! All be it mostly nutritious foods still "dirty" to me and I've not gone to the bathroom normally in about 4 days. which is NOT normal for me at all. I'm up about 4lbs which is still on the low side so I'm drinking more water- need to flush out toxins, fat, etc. Been eating salads, lots of antioxidant rich foods. normall at this stage I could be up as much as 7-8lbs in fluids and waste.

Today is Tuesday- I actually feel pretty great. Thought Doms would be setting in but maybe that was more last night cause today I feel good, lol- tight in the quads but enough where I may be crazy enough to want to run an easy twenty to shake it out. I'm nervous secretly. I didn't find out about my knee problems till I was trying to do a recovery run last year after Marathon- it was my only sign I was broken- when I tried to run :( I remain optimistic as this run I did not experience the intense quad spasms and difficulties as in last years Marathon

October plans! Recovery and Run Empire Half Marathon and then Rock out some 5k's before the end of the year!

OMG- THANKS FOR READING IF YOU MADE THIS FAR! ♥