Marathon Goddess Archives - Marathon Goddess

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How to survive back-to-back marathon marathons!

Just recently, I ran The Bank of America Chicago Marathon and The Rock n Roll Denver Marathon, which were a week apart,  and I guess what? I am exhausted, but I’m alive and filled with a sense of accomplishment of  completing marathons 94, 95 and 1 step closer  to 100.  Now with the New York Marathon less than 1 week a away, the question is, How does one survive back-to-back marathons? Recovery is the name of the game.  It’s important to make sure you are getting enough protein which rebuilds muscle tissue, sleep which replenishes hormones, hydration and minerals which are also very important for recovery. In terms of running midweek between marathons, don’t do it.   Stretching, is good, recovery takes precedent over training when you have a week between marathons. For us non-elite runners,  it’s important to slow down your pace when running frequent marathons.  It helps to take the marathons slower, you utilize less resources, which make recovery quicker and reduce the risk of injury. I pushed it a little in Chicago to a 4:38, even while stopping to take pictures and giving out hugs on the course.  The course was super flat, so that helped. Do you know the joke about the Chicago Marathon? “What’s the biggest hill in the Chicago Marathon? … The Curb 🙂 ”
Photo Op with the Project Purple Flag at mile 3 in the Chicago Marathon.  Fun!!

Photo Op with the Project Purple Flag at mile 3 in the Chicago Marathon. Fun!!

  Then there was the RocknRoll Denver Marathon one week later. I knew it was going to be slow with the altitude and heat and it was just that.I finished in 5 hours and 20 minutes, with a smile on my face and a skip in my step.  Partly because I had my Project Purple Team waiting for me at the finish line, I was thinking about all the amazing pancreatic cancer survivors I was running for.
Awesome to have friends at the finish line!!!

Awesome to have friends at the finish line!!!

The Project Purple Team.  Running to BEAT pancreatic cancer!

The Project Purple Team. Running to BEAT pancreatic cancer!

Now with just a few days left before the New York City Marathon, I am getting excited, not only because it’s one of the top marathons in the world, but also because I just received my brand new kicks, for marathon 96,  my new Purple ASICS! Good thing too because the Santa Clarita Marathon is the follwing weekend.  Marathon 97 with these ASICS will be like running in Heaven!

ASICS

Check out these Awesome Gel- Quantum 360s!!!

We Got This!

Please click here to make a tax deductible donation to Project Purple and help support my efforts to beat pancreatic cancer.  Donate Today

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We Ran the Rock! Kona Marathon 2015

We Ran the Rock!!! It was 95 degrees with nearly 100% humidity, on a record setting day in Kona.  But we ran the Rock or shall I say, we Survived it!!!  Despite the heat, The New Kona Marathon is better than ever! Yeah!! Upon arrival into The Hilton Waikoloa Village Beach Resort, I was excited to see the Queens MarketPlace.  A beautifully landscaped village with shops galore, eateries and more.  Lush trees and gardens lined the streets which made me even more excited to know we would be running through there.

Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 6.22.43 PM

We arrived at The Hilton Waikoloa Village Beach Resort and I can’t say enough nice things about it.  They just placed number 4 on Travel & Leisure’s 2015 World’s Best list for Family Travel.  I can see why, first off, it was BIG, like amusement park big. There were dolphins, a giant lagoon that fed into the ocean, water slides, pools, boats, even a monorail, yes you read that right.   Even with the magnitude of this hotel, everything was centrally located and easy to get to.  Ancient artifacts decorated the hallways within the hotel, it was like walking through a museum. Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 6.48.23 PM The EXPO- This was one of the BEST expos I’ve ever been to (and I’ve been to a lot).  The expo was located at the convention center at the The Hilton Waikoloa Village Beach Resort , it overlooked the waterfall on the lagoon, it was breathtaking. Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 9.03.04 PM Everything was so well organized, the vendors were great, including  UCC Coffee, the best Kona coffee ever. UCC The Big Island Running Company was there and even gave me a purple shirt. Here I am representing in Santa Monica: Run ALoha Also, The Kona Marathon running logo apparel was so hot they sold out within a few hours.  However, you can still get the Kona Marathon Towel with your name on it (if you registered before June 12), click here: Kona Marathon Towel Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 9.34.40 PM You could feel the excitement and Aloha Spirit in the air.  It was an honor to represent Project Purple, the Nations Top Pancreatic Cancer Running Charity, Essence Water ph10,Worlds Best Alkaline Water, and take Goddess Pose photo’s with so many friends in front of the Kona Marathon Start Line Back Drop.

Bioastin:Essence

KONa

Race Day Race morning we could feel it was going to be a hot one, that’s ok by me, it just means HYDRATE, adjust your pace and have FUN!  And that’s exactly what we did. Sunrise The race volunteers were there in abundance, greeting you with their warm Aloha spirit, smiles, water, GU Hydration drink and Ice.  We may have poured more ice and water on our heads, than in our mouth.  I ran with Mark Kramer, Brian Salm and Cheryl Baumann. They are all fellow marathon maniacs and Mark and Cheryl were both finishing their 50th state. We all ran together for a while, making the miles fly by (even if we were baking on the Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway). We knew the ocean was waiting for us we could see it in the distance.  Plus running on part of the World Championship Ironman bike course really made you feel like a Bad Ass 🙂 Baking We finished hand in hand and although it wasn’t our fastest, it was definitely very meaningful, both Mark and I have lost a parent to pancreatic cancer.  We were grateful to be there together on his special day.  We had so much fun, helped each other when we struggled and brought it home smiling from ear to ear. Finish After we finished we celebrated at the Legends of Hawaii Luau at the Hilton Waikoloa Hotel, where David and I did our Honeymoon dance 🙂 Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 9.21.50 PM Dancing I am so happy that I will be returning next year, which will make it my 5th year at the Kona Marathon.  I am beyond blessed and truly love the New Kona Marathon venue.  I hope you will join us in paradise at the 2016 Kona Marathon, June 26. Aloha and until we meet again a hui hoi.. Medal Registration code now available for the 2016 Kona Marathon, use code KMGODDESS and save $10 off early registration prices.  Win Win!!!   Register here Screen Shot 2015-07-10 at 8.50.22 PM This Kona Marathon was dedicated to Beverly, who loved Hawaii and lost her life way to young from pancreatic cancer.  We must find a cure!!!   We Got This! Click here to make a donation to Project Purple to help: DONATE beverly              
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How do I run so many marathons and not get injured?

Screen Shot 2015-05-27 at 10.25.55 PMThis is the question I get all the time?  How do you stay injury free?  I’ll tell you. The key to running multiple marathons back to back is all about recovery.  If you are not recovered from the first, you stand a high risk of being injured on the second.  Being sedentary is not as productive for cellular regeneration as something that will generate greater blood flow in the affected areas.  Running in water, walking, even swimming may generate that greater blood flow.   In addition to recovery, creating less cellular damage in the muscles can be important, as well. This can be done by running slower and even walking during parts of your marathons. When I am running back to back marathons, I slow down my pace by at least an hour of what I am capable of running so that I can recover quicker.
Before your first marathon, building additional strength, to support the joints, during a marathon, can be beneficial to injury prevention.  Stretching can also be beneficial to reduce tightness which could create pulling and imbalance issues. There are many other components like, nutrition, getting enough protein for recovery, like my favorite Vega protein shakes, proper shoes, like my favorite ASICS,  getting enough  sleep and of course marathon training, but you’ll have to buy the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Marathon Training for that, written by David Levine (my husband) and Paula Petrella 🙂
That’s all for now.  Hope to see you out there out there on the course.  Running to beat pancreatic cancer. #wegotthis
Running Day Shoe Giveaway: On June 3rd (National Running Day), for every 100 tweets using the hashtag #GoRunItJune3, ASICS will give away a free pair of running shoes to a random winner.