So many of you may know that for my new racing year of 2013, I had a goal and one goal only going into January and that was to reach my goal of going Sub 4 (under 4 hours) at the PF Chang Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon. Last year I went into this race with the same goal but was not able to meet it. I ended up with 4:07 and had to be okay with that because to be honest, I went into the race not really trained or focused on quality run training but because I had just finished training with all of my Ironman trainees, I thought I could pull it off. Lesson learned, oh yeah, you better believe it, lesson learned…Mile 1 to Mile 26.2 was very, very painful. I promised myself I would never do that again.
So I went on a journey and promised to get all of the long runs in but also I would dedicate my “quality runs” to my own PortaPT workouts. I did ‘So Inclined Hills, Feel the Need for Speed, Heart Rate Games’…ok….you know them all, I did them all. Each week I would have a set workout to do along with my outdoor long runs and I even added some trail runs.
Wanna Know Why
My Butt
Looks So Fast?
www.portaPT.com
Train SMART
Well, I’m happy to say…all of my hard work and quality training paid off. I’m not gonna lie and say it came easy because it didn’t. That Mile 18 is always a killer to the home stretch. Its where my mind starts going to a dark place because my body starts rebelling on the push. The first 15 miles or so are easy and I feel great. Mile 16 starts coming around and I start chanting to myself “come on this is supposed to be hard, if it was easy everyone would be doing it, deep breaths, core upright, wiggle your toes, deep breaths, elbows back and drink your water, do not go to the pain box”. Well of course that can only last so long, about Mile 18, you know the finish is only about an hour and 15 minutes away, but it ends up being the LONGEST STRETCH you go through. My toes start cramping under which then shoots cramps up my calves so bad that you can’t even feel your foot striking the ground anymore. The pain is so unbearable that I have to keep stopping and even take my shoes off to try and straighten my toes out. Fortunately I have the best girl in town supporting me, KM, on my last 12 miles so she is there at my beck and call. I could never have done it, I swear, without her pushing me (literally sometimes) and encouraging me and carrying all of my stuff and letting me drink her water and XM+. She is a Rockstar.
Anyway, all said and done and with anger in me, I pushed to the finish with my new PR of 3:57:00 (it originally said I was 3:56:59 but somehow they took the second from me haha). I will take it and wear it proud. That is 10 minutes off my last PR (personal record…haha you see Cal, I listened…I’m making sure people understand the “lingo”).
I honestly believe that without my PortaPT “quality training runs”, Sunday’s run would have hurt EVEN MORE and may not have had the same outcome. Please be sure to incorporate all of the different profiles into your training. Train SMART, foam roll and drink your water. Thanks for all of your support out there. AM and JC it was great seeing you out there on the course providing me with all of my great photos and bananas. DC thanks for all the “text coaching” 🙂
Never without my Zija XM+.
It gives me wings!
On a side note, I can’t stress enough also how happy I was to run and train with my new found “all natural energy drink”. Not only does it provide me with “clean and naturally based energy”, it also provides me with 18 amino acids, all my vitamins and antioxidants. Love it. Check it out, I promise you, everyone who has tried it LOVES IT. For all over “plant based live nutrition” look at SuperMix, and for the energy, check out XM+ and/or XM3. There is also a great weight management program if you are looking for that. 100% bioavailability, at the cellular level. For just $3.00+ a day you can have the best 90+ nutrient 100% natural vitamin. Click here www.julieannecox.myxmstory.com to hear some more testimonials. Be sure to JOIN ZIJA so you get the Preferred Customer price (15% discount, no obligations, no joining fees, no minimum order…just better because 15% discount)
Okay, well off I go, Marathon #2 for 2013 is just around the corner….literally, in 6 weeks I do this all over again! 🙂 Bring on my Zija!! 🙂
Girl I am so proud of you. This might even motivate me to start running again and maybe even try a full marathon…someday. Good job. Love to see all the hard work paid off.