Category Archives: Boston Marathon

Who Wants to Run a Marathon? {Race Entry Giveaway}

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Right before I left for Boston, I was contacted by a Gatorade representative with an opportunity to have a sports nutrition consultation with a GSSI Scientist at the Boston Marathon Expo. Of course I agreed and on Saturday amidst all of the craziness at the expo, I met with Matt and we talked about fueling and hydrating properly before, during, and after intense exercise. It was really helpful so I figured I’d share some of the information with you guys. Enjoy :)

  • Eating before an event tops off the body’s carbohydrate stores and the pre-event meal should be eaten 1-4 hours before exercise, contain 1-4 g/kg body weight of carb and be low in protein, fat, and fiber to minimize GI upset.
  • Athletes should drink 5-7 mL/kg body weight of fluids with sodium approximately 4 hours prior to a workout.
  • Body weight is a useful tool to measure dehydration- a 2% or more decrease in body weight may negatively affect an athletes performance.
  • The amount an athlete sweats is a good indication of how much fluid needs to be replenished- if you sweat a lot, drink a lot. However, athletes who over drink may be at risk of hyponatremia (low blood sodium concentration). This can be delayed by drinking products with sodium like Gatorade.

  • Gatorade is formulated so that it will not upset your stomach; however, if you are a heavy sweater it is ideal to drink a sports beverage first (to replenish carbs) and then drink water for sweat replacement. That way you won’t consume too many carbs too fast and have a GI upset.
  • As the time athletes work out increases, consuming carbohydrates becomes increasingly necessary (think gus, chomps, chews). It is ideal to consume carb blends that include both glucose and fructose.

  • It is crucial to restore carbs and protein post-exercise. If you have < 8 hours between workout sessions, you should aim for 1-1.2 g/kg of carb every hour post-workout session for four hours. If you have > 8 hours between sessions strive for 6-10 g/kg/day.
  • Protein intake post-workout helps the recovery process and athletes should choose a complete protein such as yogurt, milk, whey, egg, or meat. You should aim to consume about 20g of protein after training.

And now I have an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING opportunity for all of you. Gatorade has allowed me to offer up one race bib to the Rock & Roll Marathon or half marathon of the winner’s choosing (Note: this giveaway only includes the bib and does not cover travel/hotel expenses)! What a great opportunity to put all of the sports nutrition information you just learned to good use ;) .

Also, no worries if you have never run a long distance race before, many of the races are later in 2012 or early 2013 so if you were thinking of maybe maybe running one in the near future, this could be your shot :) .

TO ENTER: visit this site and take a look at the list of races (remember, this giveaway is for a bib only and YOU will be responsible for travel charges) and leave an entry on this post sharing a “win from within moment” you have had with running (for example running a race in not ideal conditions but PRing). Your moment can be anything that you believe shows your perserverence and dedication, just finishing a tough race counts!

I’ll leave this giveaway open until Friday at 11:30 p.m. CST and I will randomly pick a winner Saturday morning. Good luck!

Final Thoughts on Deferring

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I wanted to write one last post on this topic because while I’ve written to some of you in comments, e-mails, etc. I haven’t publicly addressed how I felt after I made my decision and during the marathon.

Like I’ve mentioned before, making the decision was incredibly difficult and part of me wanted to pretend that I’d never heard about the deferral option. Then I could just run the race as planned, no decision making would keep things easy! I had qualified for Boston in April of 2011 so I had been looking forward to the race for quite a while.

If I had trained the 6 weeks prior to the race I would have run the marathon, regardless of the heat, but what it ultimately came down to was what I thought my body was capable of and if I wanted to take time off after the race to recover from injuries that I surely would have aggravated. Obviously the answer to that last question was no. Given the circumstances, I tried to look at the deferral option as a gift, I have another shot at a great first Boston.

Am I happy with my decision? No. Would I be happy if I had run the race? Probably not. I don’t think I will ever be 100% content with the fact that I took a deferral at my first Boston Marathon. That being said, do I regret my decision? No. I was in a lose-lose situation and I know I made the smartest and safest choice for me. The disappointment of running injuries is something that I will have to live with and learn from.

I thought it would be incredibly difficult to spectate on Monday but it wasn’t at all. I enjoyed cheering on all of the amazing athletes and was impressed by their determination and will power. Some of the men and women were incredible athletes and I am inspired to train hard this fall and winter and come back to Boston even stronger than I would have been without injuries.

My only twinges of jealousy were post-race when I saw runners walking around with their medals on. Then I started to feel the “that could have been me”‘s.

I was really worried about what to tell people when I got home. I didn’t talk too much about my heel fracture and hamstring with anyone but family and close friends (I was too upset) and I was nervous that my decision to defer would come across as taking the easy way out. I quickly realized that thinking this way was really silly. I shouldn’t care what other people think and anyone who is important enough to me would completely understand and respect the decision I made.

I also didn’t know what to do with all of the gear I bought at the expo before I knew I wouldn’t be running. Would I be an imposter if I wore the gear? What do I say if someone asks me about the race? Again, more silly thoughts! I QUALIFIED for the 2012 Boston Marathon and was fast enough to earn a spot in the field. I earned my right to wear my gear whether or not I ran the race. In addition, I actually requalified for Boston 2013 in Chicago last October (although I was on the bubble and it may not be fast enough to register- again another reason to take the deferral). Making a smart decision not to run a race does not mean that I am not a good, fast, or determined athlete and I shouldn’t act like it does. Even though I did not run, I deserve to be proud of the fact that I qualified two years in a row. Qualifying is an accomplishment in itself!

So while I’m extremely disappointed that I was unable to run Boston this year, it was a decision in the making from way back in March when I injured my heel. I’ve learned just how difficult it is to make decisions based on what your body needs and not what your mind wants and overall I hope this whole experience makes me a better runner and a better person.

Marathon Monday Recap

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Instead of waking up at the planned 4:30 a.m. to run the marathon on Monday morning, I slept in until 7:30 and headed out for a 3 mile run around the hotel. I had no hamstring or heel pain (yay!) but was surprised by the already warm temperature. I don’t tend to sweat all that much but 3 miles left me a sweaty mess. I can’t even imagine how hot it was for the marathoners!

Breakfast was the hotel buffet and I had my usual oatmeal, granola, and muffin combo. I skipped on the yogurt because my allergies were acting up and dairy just seemed like a bad choice.

After breakfast, we took the T downtown and plopped ourselves about 100 feet from the finish line. I’ve never spectated at a marathon before and was really excited to see the elites finish.

I also couldn’t believe how hot it was just standing still. We actually saw two spectators faint before the marathoners even approached the finish line. At least there were tons of medical personnel near us!

We only could take so much of the heat so after about an hour of cheering on runners, we headed out to the Sam Adams Brewery.

The brew tour was okay, I mean it was free, but the best part was the tasting. We got to sample three brews- the lager, the summer ale, and the 26.2 special brew (my favorite!).

We were having so much fun tasting beers and chatting that we decided to take the free trolley over to Doyles, the first bar ever to serve Sam Adams beer.

We were told that if we ordered a Sam Adams beer we could keep the glass (umm ok!) so we all indulged in another beer (26.2 for me) and ordered some appetizers to share.

As this was our lunch, I insisted we order a veggie plate, and we also split beer battered onion rings and garlic fries. The onion rings were fantastic and I’m not usually a fan so that says something.

Ian and my mom wanted to see Fenway, so we decided to head over in that direction and watch some of the last marathoners finishing up.

We also got to see a lot of drunk fans stumbling out of the ballpark ;)

We were all pretty tired after being in the sun all day but we had been told not to leave Boston without eating at Neptune Oyster House so to another meal we went!

Ian and I tried our first oysters. I enjoyed the sweet one the most, maybe my palette isn’t quite ready for oysters?

We also split a bowl of their clam chowder. It was really good and surprisingly light!

For dinner, I ordered the lobster roll (I’d never had one before!). It was incredibly rich but really tasty. I will admit that after our lunch, I was sick of fries and avoided these like the plague :P .

Bellies full we took the T back to the hotel, finished up the Mike’s Pastry’s in our hotel room, and crashed.

On Tuesday, I woke up and headed out for another 3 mile run. My hamstring and heel have been feeling okay so I think I’m ready to base train again. I can’t wait to start increasing my miles (but all in due time!).

I had a very similar looking breakfast at the hotel and then we headed off toward the airport.

We had a lot of time to kill so we got off the T at South Station and found a deli to grab lunch.

I had a greek salad and a piece of pita bread. I pushed about half of the feta off the salad and only ate about half of the piece of pita. I just wasn’t feeling anything too heavy.

Everything went fine at the airport and on our flight. I watched Friends (love JetBlue), munched on some Terrablue chips, and worked on my thesis. Unfortunately, while Ian and I arrived in Chicago in one piece, our bag did not. We ended up spending almost half an hour filing a lost bag claim before leaving O’Hare.

Fortunately, JetBlue allotted us $30 to spend on toiletries, so a quick trip to CVS later, we had toothbrushes, shampoo, and contact solution in hand. We also stopped at Trader Joe’s to do our weekly grocery shopping and to pick up a quick dinner.

Not wanting another salad or sandwich, I tried this sushi. Verdict? It was pretty good- although by 9 p.m. anything would have tasted amazing!

Desert was an unpictured corn tortilla with white chocolate wonderful, banana slices, walnuts, and chocolate chips microwaved for about 15 seconds. Delish!

And then after a crazy weekend of travelling and sightseeing, I crawled into bed and crashed hard!

WIAW: A Sunday in Boston

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Most of you know that I was in Boston this past weekend. I was supposed to run the Boston Marathon but due to injury and the heat, I deferred until next year. Anyway, I was in Boston over the weekend and here are my eats (and sights!) from the trip- enjoy :)

And thanks again to Jenn for hosting!

We started our morning with breakfast at the hotel like we did on Saturday.

I had a packet of instant oatmeal with banana, granola, and blueberry yogurt. I mixed about half of the yogurt container into the oats to make yoatgurt and had the other half on the side with granola. I also had some coffee.

After breakfast we took the T downtown and checked out the marathon finish line. At this point I was still planning on racing and wanted to time how long it would take to get to the shuttle buses (to the start line) from the hotel. The finish line area was crazy busy so we quickly made our way over to Newbury street to do a little window shopping and avoid the crowds.

We also looped back over to Beacon Street and finally checked out the original Cheers!

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous in Boston so we spent a lot of time just sitting and relaxing in the Commons. Let me tell you, if I lived in Boston, I’d spend so much time just reading and unwinding in the Boston Commons. I LOVED it!

Eventually we started to get hungry for lunch and walked over to North End looking for Il Panino Express. Unfortunately our directions misled us and after searching for the restaurant we decided to give up and check out Hot Tomatoes instead.

Honestly, I’m not too upset. I ordered the green monster sandwich and fell in love with the amount of veggies and high quality cheese in the sandwich. It was AH-mazing!

We also wandered into a little gelato shop looking for something sweet. I had a small cup of pistachio and hazlenut. It was really good and fresh and I figured the splurge was fine because I was running a marathon in the morning!

We wandered around the city some more while making our way to the Museum of Science to catch our scheduled duck tour.

I have to say that as cheesy as the duck tour was, I absolutely loved the experience. It was great to have a tour of the city and we could all sit down and rest our legs. Plus, we got to go out on the Charles River, how cool is that?

At the end of the duck tour I checked my phone and saw the marathon deferment option. I totally missed it at the expo (no surprise due to the crowds) and I became obsessed with calling and texting friends/family trying to figure out what I should do. It was a really confusing couple of hours!

We had planned on checking out Harvard Square and grabbing a pre-race dinner there so even though I was debating not running the race at all, we headed over to the campus to check it out.

The campus was pretty but I hardly noticed, I was way too obsessed with making my decision about the marathon.

We ended up wandering into Cafe Sushi for a late dinner (yelp recommendation) and I started my dinner with a green salad with ginger dressing.

And then Ian and I split 3 rolls (can’t remember now what was in them). My mom’s in the back with her veggie roll, she’s not the biggest fan of raw fish.

On our walk back to the T, we stumbled across J.P. Licks, an ice cream shop that I’ve read about many times in blogland. Not wanting to miss out on an opportunity for good ice cream, we decided to check it out.

I was way too bummed at this point to take my camera out but I enjoyed a small scoop of peanut lace ice cream made with hemp milk. It was really good (and only slightly green) and not too sweet. It literally tasted like natural peanut butter. Yum!

When we got back to the hotel, I made the final call on the race (not running) and we all crashed into bed after a long day.

How do you handle indulgences on vacation? Do you let yourself indulge a little bit?

A Saturday in Boston

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I managed to get myself way behind on posts, so as I’m super busy this week catching up on things and won’t have too much going on, I figured I’d post my trip updates instead.

On Saturday morning I woke up and went for a 2.5 mile run. Our hotel was located right next to a small lake (or “pond” as the Bostonians call it) and I wanted to shake my legs out a bit before the race on Monday (pre-deferment decision). I put on my new compression shorts and headed out for a run. Within a mile and a half my hamstring started acting up. I’m not sure if it was the shorts (hasn’t hurt on runs since then without them) or if my legs were tired from all of the walking on Friday but this was a key sign that perhaps the marathon wasn’t ideal for my body.

Our hotel also offered a free breakfast buffet and as it was pretty decent, we ate there every morning to save some money.

I attempted to make yoatgurt but the hot water wasn’t hot enough to fully cook the instant oats. Even still, I ate the oats with granola and muffin crumbles (to soak up the extra water) and then had some yogurt and a banana on the side.

After breakfast we headed downtown to go to the expo which of course was a MOB. I picked up my packet, bought some gear (my thoughts on this in a different post), and did one lap of the expo and then I was ready to get out of there!

I also had an opportunity to speak with a GSSI Gatorade scientist about optimal fueling and hydration during a marathon. I’ll post about that in a few days as well.

By the time we left the expo, it was nearly 2 p.m. and we were hungry so we walked to a nearby bar that had outside seating and enjoyed lunch.

After a Friday full of carbs, I was ready for something green and ordered a salmon salad with lemon vinaigrette. It was really good but I have no idea why it was served with guacomole.

The restaurant claimed to have award winning clam chowder, so we all decided to split a cup as well.

Next we made our way over to the Boston Commons and walked around admiring all of the green space.

Boston has so much more green than Chicago!

We also walked down Beacon Street and over to the gardens where we sat for awhile and rested our legs.

It was such a beautiful day, not too hot and sunny!

We were all pretty tired at this point but didn’t want to miss out on anything so we rallied and headed over to Chinatown for a quick walk-through.

It was so strange to see how starkly different this Chinatown was from the one in Chicago. Nothing was centralized and there were fewer people on the streets.

We then decided to walk back to Washington Street and then head over to Faneuil Hall.

Even though we weren’t starving, we decided to grab dinner before heading back to the hotel. A quick yelp search led us to Battery Park Bar & Lounge.

I started with a Harpoon white ale.

And then had a grilled vegetable sandwich with a side salad. Hello veggies, nice to see you again!

Ian’s love for cupcakes led us to the nearby bakery, Sweet.

We picked up two to take back to the hotel. I loved the little box they came in!

In our room we enjoyed one banana split and one cherry cheesecake

The cake was incredibly moist and fresh, they weren’t quite as dense as Chicago cupcakes!

And then we promptly passed out in bed. It was a long (but really fun day) filled with lots of walking, sightseeing, and good food. What more can you ask for on vacation?