Marathon Manifesto

I've come to realize over the past 10 months that running a marathon encompasses so much more than simply putting one foot in front of the other for 26.2 miles. One of the most intimidating things to me about the marathon experience isn't the distance - it is the idea that so many things need to culminate together on one day, on one morning, for one race. This is so intimidating for me! All of my runs and training sessions that have been spread out over roughly 300 days will combine together to carry me through 26.2 miles. So...to put my OCD mind at ease, I've compiled what I call a "marathon manifesto" - a 3 page Word document detailing close to my every move for the marathon weekend. My husband thinks I'm crazy for doing this - but it is so comforting to be able to mentally walk through the race weekend and flesh out all possible circumstances and scenarios. I find myself updating it and tweaking it every day - but I want to post it here so that I can get feedback from my running readers.

Test Run: 13.1 miles, October 6^th, 2007, 8:00am, Nicholasville
Goals
1. To participate in the Phedippidations 2^nd Annual World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
2. To replicate Louisville Marathon race conditions

Pre-Test Run Prep
-Prepare 8oz portions of Gatorade (4)
-Prepare 8oz portions of water (3)
-Prepare 32oz bottle of ½ water, ½ Gatorade
-Prepare gel packs (1)
-Prepare running outfit

Friday dinner:
Pasta at Macaroni Grill at 6:30pm

• Water
• House Caesar salad
• Bread
• Penne with oven roasted chicken
• Dessert: 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

Go to sleep 9:30pm or 10:00pm

Breakfast at 5:45-6:00am:

• Cheerios w/ banana
• Clif bar
• 20 oz bottle of half-water/half-Gatorade

Begin run at 8:00am
Aid Stations:

• Mile 2-water
• Mile 4-Gatorade
• Mile 7-Gatorade
• Mile 9-water and gel
• Mile 11-Gatorade
• Mile 13-Gatorade

Marathon Weekend: October 20^th and 21^st, Louisville

Packing List:

• Camera
• iBook
• iPod
• Cliff bars
• PowerBars
• A few Jolly Ranchers to put in pocket (just in case!)
• Gels (4 chocolate)
• Gatorade (3 32oz bottles fruit punch)
• Water bottles (4 20oz bottles)
• Headband
• Small towels
• Pre-race zippered hooded sweatshirt, gloves (buy cheap throwaways from Wal-Mart)
• Race outfit
• Under Armour socks
• Mizuno shoes
• Shorts (side pockets – 1 Jolly Rancher, key, iPod, 2 gels safety pinned to inside of shorts)
• Under Armour t-shirt
• Post-race outfit
• Advil, Tylenol

Saturday, 1:30pm – Head to Louisville
Saturday, 3:00pm – Pick up packet at race HQ, drive race course
Saturday afternoon – Check into hotel
Saturday evening – Order and pick up dinner from Macaroni Grill

• Water
• House Caesar salad
• Bread
• Penne with oven roasted chicken
• Dessert: 2 Reese’s Peanut Butter cups

Saturday night:
watch TV, charge iPod, finalize playlist, go to bed early (9:00ish)

Sunday:

• 5:15 – wake up, drink water bottle, shower
• 5:45-6:00 – eat breakfast
• Cheerios, banana, Clif bar, 32oz bottle ½ water, ½ Gatorade
• 6:00-6:35 – go back to room, stretch, finalize bags, etc
• 6:40 – check out of hotel, head to race HQ
• 7:00ish – arrive at race, begin stretching and warming up
• 7:45ish – last bathroom stop
• 8:00am – begin marathon!
• 12:30pm - finish marathon!
  

Aid Stations

• Mile 2: Water
• Mile 4: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 7: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 9: Water and Gel (calories = )
• Mile 11: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 13: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 16: Water
• Mile 18: Water and Gel (calories = )
• Mile 20: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)
• Mile 22: Water
• Mile 24: Gatorade (8 oz, calories = 50)

Gatorade Info (per 8oz of fruit punch flavored Gatorade x 6 consumptions)
50 calories
110 mg of sodium, 30 mg of potassium, 14 grams of carbs

PowerBar Chocolate Gel Info (per packet x 2 consumptions…possibly 3)
120 calories
1.5 grams of fat
200 mg of sodium, 40 mg of potassium, 90 mg of chloride

Expected calories burned: 2,600 calories