Marathon Countdown Begins

I came up with all sorts of posts while running yesterday, but when I sat down at the computer yesterday, not one thing popped back into my head!  So,  Happy Belated Father's Day to my hubby and my dad.

Today I officially begin my marathon training for the St. Louis Rock 'n' Roll Marathon!  It is a rest day, ha! But really, 18 week plan starts today.  I posted a new page on the blog so you can see the plan HERE.  It is Hal Higdon's novice plan that I will adjust to work for me.  The first thing I changed is I made a 19 miler a 20.  I want to do at least two 20s.  I will also switch the long runs to Sunday, I can't do long runs after working the night shift Friday nights.  I will continue doing speedwork once a week with Big River Running, as well.  So, I will be tinkering with it a bit.  I like that it is only 4 days of running.  I figure I will use it as a minimum amount of training.

I have lost a few pounds leading up to this point.  I am hoping to lose five more to lighten the load, so to speak.  I am down to 115, but I would like to be closer to 110 when I run the marathon in October.  Before you freak out, I am only 5 feet tall, yeah I mean 5'0".  So that is not underweight.  My weight now is fine for daily life, I just like to be a little lighter when I am running full marathons.  Less pounding on the joints, less energy burned just getting from point a to point b.

I am still struggling with staying hydrated enough to run with the heat indices reaching 100 and breastfeeding.  I need to drink more throughout the day, not just when I am running.  I got chills at 4 miles into my run yesterday.  It was a drop back week so I was only going 5, so I just slowed the pace and drank the water I had with me to finish.   I ran late in the day and we had been doing errands and running around prior to my run.  I had an americano from the coffee stand at the grocery store.  So, I will be working on that piece of the plan.

Oh, and the course was announced last week.  It goes within a couple blocks of my house!  Yay!  It goes by 8-9 parks and all local parks I run in and around.  It will be close to family and friends' houses as well so I am hoping to see lots of people along the route.

Well, for not knowing what I was going to post when I sat down, I sure did come up with a lot.  So much for being productive with the baby's naptime;)

Any suggestions for hydrating?  Do you use a sports drink?