Après Marathon: Lithia Loop

After 7 miles of sustained uphill running: still smiling

Lessons learned from the marathon:

1. Always wear two watches. Phil (Garmin 405) refused to function after 2.7 miles. I was thankful I had a backup watch strapped to my other wrist.

2. Handheld water bottles are THE best. But they are only useful if you remember to drink regularly. Don’t forget the salt/electroltye tablets too. I recommend Hammer’s Electrolyte tabs. They made a gigantic difference for me.

3. The only thing better than hand-held water bottles are arm warmers. They rule. I love the practicality of arm warmers. They provide coverage, but you can pull them down if you get too hot. You can stuff them in a pocket. They are also handy for stashing GUs.

4. This is embarassing, but I chaffed in my armpits – gross! I think my arm warmers were to blame. Or maybe my furious arm swinging caused the rub. Either way, I’ll be bodygliding those areas in the future. I guess I keep relearning the same sacred lesson: You can never have too much BodyGlide.

5. Socks. Socks. Socks! I ran this race in DryMax socks and they rocked my trail running world. My feet were shot coming down the technical downhill section. Having a good pair of socks that weren’t miserable and wet made life in those last 4 miles much more bearable.

6. Trail runners are SO friendly. I spent a couple of hours after the race kicking it, eating some veggie soup and chatting up the volunteers and other race participants. It was SO much fun. We all had so much to say.

7. Need I say it again!? I ran a 3:36 on a very difficult course. I PR’d, had a great time and met some truly inspirational runners. What a great way to spend the weekend.