Featured blogger, Jen from Marathon Mom

Good Sunday Morning

Today I am featuring another Sweat Pink Sister, Jen at Marathon Mom. She is a mom and fellow distance runner. And I would say a fast runner, she has a 3:31 marathon PR. Yes, I am jealous, lol! Here is Jen on the reality of the world of marathon training...

 

Marathon Training

 I believe marathon training is the most accurate comparisonto life, it can be described in many ways: time consuming, strengthening, tough,wonderful, fulfilling, the list could go on and on. The emotions and thoughtsare ever changing from day to day and minute to minute. There are many timeswhere I still (even after 20 marathons) wonder what I have gotten myself into,but then I remember the great times I have running and how much it gives me andI stick with it. The feeling of crossing the finish line and knowing that youwere able to accomplish something many people will never even attempt isinvigorating and shows such strength.

PROs	CONs
Reaching new levels: proving that you can push farther, run faster, feel better than before	Injuries: Result of overtraining or improper training
Discovering new areas and meeting new running friends who understand what you are doing and support you	Nasty toenails or losing toenails
The crazy looks you get when you tell people you are running 20 miles (for fun) on Saturday	No longer sleeping in on weekends, instead running 20 miles at 5am to avoid the heat
The cute running clothes you get to buy	Tapering is enough to make anyone go crazy! But does wonders for free time
You get to try out all sorts of fun flavors of sports beans, chomps, chews and gels	Time commitment to fully train and successfully do long runs
The feeling of accomplishment when you cross the finish line	Gaining strange eating habits on long run mornings
Running can be done just about anywhere and is rather easy: only need shoes and you are off	Race entry fees can be high and the cost of new shoes and frequency of needing to buy them gets tough

In all seriousness marathon training takes work andcommitment but the end result of health, fitness and achievement are well worthit in the end. If it wasn’t I would have quit after my first (or even sooner).This is a true instance where you get out what you put in, if you do thetraining you will have success at many points through the training and at thefinish line. Stick with it and enjoy the process. There is nothing quite likethe start line of a marathon, the only thing that beats that excitement is thefinish line J

Here is a delicious gluten free/vegan recipe from Jen. I cant wait to try it.

Finally my favorite pre-workout breakfast (gluten free andvegan): This morning I made it with pumpkin puree and some nutmeg in place ofthe banana and it was wonderful!

Banana Almond Breakfast Cake
1 ripe banana mashed
2 tbsp almond milk (any milk will work)
2 tbsp almond or coconut flour
1 tsp flax meal
1 scoop protein powder
1/4- 1/2 cup oats (depends on size of banana)
sprinkle cinnamon

Mix banana and milk in bowl, add in dry ingredients and mix. Microwave 2 1/2 -3 minutes. Top with fruit, yogurt, nuts, etc or eat plain. 

I blog at MarathonMom about life as a mom, college faculty, run coach and distance runner. Ilove passing on my love of running to others and sharing my gluten free andvegetarian cooking experiments.

 

I hope all of you guys go check out Jen at Marathon Mom, she has great race reviews and tips on running, Thanks Jen.

If you would like to be featured on 0to26point2, send me an email at [email protected]

Also don't forget, all of you guys that are wanting to try a Flex Line Hydration Product, they are offering all my readers a 15% off discount. Call Jeff at 888-726-1109 to take advantage of this offer.

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QOTD: Do you have a race coming up? If so, what race is it?