Marathon Weekend Recap
Happy Friday! I hope you are ending the week off on a positive note! I know this post is LONG overdue (because of the computer trouble), but I wanted to make sure to share the race weekend fun with you since so many people asked! I am going to make it shorter than I had originally intended since I was going to break it down into 2 posts. I don’t want to overload you with too many pictures! haha
Thursday
Thursday I arrived into phoenix around 4:oopm, grabbed the rental car and made my way to our hotel. Once I unpacked (a MUST as soon as I arrive) I quickly rushed over to Super Walmart to grab some shower essentials and food for the night. I went back to the hotel, showered, ate and crashed since I was still on east coast time!
Friday
Of course, I woke up super early on Friday because I hadn’t adjusted to the time change, so I got a few easy running miles in and did a total body (light) lift in the gym. Then I showered, ate and headed up to the Marathon Expo in Phoenix! I got there at 12:10pm (It started at 12:00pm) and there were sooo many people already! Of course every vendor under the sun was there and I just had to make a few purchases! I got a couple Brooke’s Rock N Roll Marathon Shirts, an amazing moving comfort head band to wear on race day and some other goodies! Plus, of course I scored amazing free samples of things like protein powder, bars, drinks and more!
After the expo, I met up with my sister (she got out of work early) and of course we went shopping…..FOOD shopping!! hahaha We went to Sprouts and the local grocery store. And guess what I found for her at sprouts?!! KABOCHA squash! Yup, that’s right! She picked up a few of those babies and now she is a kabocha lover! 
After our grocery excursion, I went up to the airport to pick up the boyfriend. Then we headed back to the hotel, dropped off his things and ran over to the mall to pick him up a swim suit. Who forgets to bring a swimsuit to AZ is beyond me?! 
The rest of the night we relaxed in the hot tub, watched some movies and had dinner.
Saturday
Of course, I was up early again. I did a few easy miles walking on the treadmill while the boyfriend ran. Then we showered, ate and met up with my sister at the mall. We had planned on going to the movies at 1:10pm and we got to the mall around 11:20am, which was plenty of time to shop. However, we didn’t end up doing much shopping and didn’t want to return to the hotel or my sister’s house, so the two of them took me on an excursion across the mall parking lot to Best Buy (not super close) to get a DVD for that night. By this time I was getting soooo tired from walking around that I told them we needed to sit! So we relaxed in those super comfy chairs in the big tv room!! Amazing idea btw! We definitely need those for our house! Then we headed over to the movie. After the movies I was starving despite snacking, so we headed home so I could eat. Then, we went back out to Whole Foods! (You didn’t think I would go away and NOT hit it up, did you?) We only did a quick run through because that is like torture for the boyfriend to stand there while I look at every product AND show my sister new stuff!!
After the excursion we went back to the hotel and SAT (FINALLY)! We relaxed, I ate, ate and ate some more, watched the DVD we bought and went to bed early! I also made sure to have all my race gear out and ready for the next day!
Sunday (race day!!)
Well, this was the big day! I didn’t have to get up until 5:20am, but of course I was awake at 4:40am. I was super anxious, nervous and excited! I think a little part of me kept thinking about my injury, so I was concerned. Anyway, we had premium parking this year, which made things nice! We also found a garage that had hot air blowing so everyone was hovering around the warm air since it was about 46 degrees out! These are some pics from the before the race:
(Yup, I am in a zone in this bottom picture, just waiting for the horn to go off!)
This year there was a new course. The race started out super cold. I couldn’t feel my hands, feet or any limbs for the first 6-7 miles. Then I finally began to warm up a bit. I started out slow and then picked up a great race from the 10k put until the 13.1 mile marker…..then I got even quicker (the down hill slopes helped too)! I felt amazing!! I was cruising along with no issues – no pain from my injury, no heavy legs, energy was up! I was in a great frame of mind!! Then it started to get hot…..and I mean hot! I had my water bottle and was rehydrating frequently. But it dawned on me that I hadn’t needed to use the rest room at all (I usually have to go by the halfway point), so I knew I was getting dehydrated. I tried to drink more water but it wasn’t helping. As soon as I hit the 20 mile marker I hit the wall. Full dehydration kicked in! It was awful! I was chugging 6-8 cups of water at every water station…and I still didn’t have to use the rest room! From there until the end it was a run/walk (the last 5 miles of hills didn’t help either). I saw so many people at the aid stops, sitting on the sides of the road, just totally depleted. No one expected it to be 80 degrees that day!! Yup, 80!! The race normally finishes with a temperature of around 68 degrees. I crossed the finish line about 25 minutes slower than I had been pacing up until mile 20. I was so torn apart. I collapsed into the boyfriend (after chugging about 4 waters) and barely had enough energy to make it back to our car. I was VERY nauseous. It was awful. I spent the next 2 hours lying in bed barely able to move because I felt so sick. I finally managed to get up enough energy to shower around 3pm. And I mean barely. I was sitting in the shower. I made a turkey sandwich and just fell back asleep.
Post Race:
My sister came back over around 5:00pm and we did some stretching together.
Then we ordered dinner from Pita Jungle. We each had a huge container of 2 different flavored hummus (mine was roasted red pepper and plain and hers was cilantro and plain) topped with grilled chicken and fresh pitas on the side. The boyfriend had a wrap sandwich. Let me tell you, it was AMAZING!! So fresh and delicious! I ate my entire container!! (Despite the fact that it had 3 servings in it -haha) It filled me up and hit the spot! Then we all hung out, watched a movie and I drove the boyfriend to the airport at 9:15pm (since I was staying in AZ). Then it was back home to finish off the night with a big bowl of my greek yogurt and pb casein ice cream topped with more PB!!
OMG….this was AMAZING!!!
(Yes, I did eat wheat today and YES, I did pay for it big time……big time! But it was worth every bit after that race!)
Monday
Well, today was the day I was supposed to leave, but I stayed to enjoy a few extra days with my sister! It was so nice to stay and spend some time with her! We went out and did some errands she needed to do (of course went back to sprouts) and then we headed to your house so I could help her with some food prep!! That’s right….my sister totally transformed her diet in a matter of 3 days (and even today, she has still stuck with it!) I am so proud of her!! The rest of the night we just relaxed on her couch, talked, watched movies and hung out with Scoobie (my non human nephew!)
Tuesday
Tuesday my sister had to work until 5pm, so I got up, did a few light miles walking, TONS of stretching and foam rolling (I pack a foam roller no matter where I go) and then took an amazing yoga class in Chandler! The name of the studio was Inner Vision! If you live in the Pheonix area I HIGHLY recommend you check this place out! The class I took was a yin/meditative class! AMAZING!! There aren’t words to express how much I liked it and I am not a very “chi” type person!
Then I went back home and relaxed by the pool for a few hours, showered and headed over to my sister’s house to take Scoobie out and cook up some food for the plane ride home the next day! When Katie got home, we did the same as Monday, relaxed, talked and watched some movies! It was perfect! Then we said good-bye and I headed back to the hotel.
Wednesday
I left Wednesday and arrived back in Newark at 9:00pm while it was a very frigid 13 degrees! Culture shock! It had been so cold my pipes froze in the bathroom!!! Luckily by 9am the next morning they were fixed!
Welcome back New Jersey….Ugh!
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THANK YOU, if you are still with me at this point! I know that was a LONG post!! It was truly an amazing weekend! I feel blessed to have been able to even run after my injury and even luckier to have such a supportive boyfriend and amazing sister! I was truly lucky to have also been given the chance to spend some extra time with her! It was such a blast!
I had told my whole family that this marathon traumatized me and I wouldn’t ever run another, but of course, you know how runners are….we are addicted and I am already thinking of doing another one! However, I can guarantee you the next one won’t be for at least 3-4 months! This body is taking a break and hitting the weights more!!
I hope you have an amazing weekend and enjoy the Super Bowl!!
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*Do you have any plans for Super Bowl Sunday?
*What is your favorite Super Bowl food? Drink?
*What is the hardest race you have run? Or hardest fitness challenge?
