Monday Matters + The First Day Ever + No Joke!

Not sure if you have ever listened to the Marathon Training Academy podcasts but they absolutely swear by UCAN (and if you don’t listen to their podcasts you should, they are awesome!)

No run today for me I don’t think, hopefully some cross training :) I’m coming back to running after having my 2nd kiddo and i’m still completely sore after my 1st postpartum run on Saturday haha!

I bought ucann at the San Francisco marathon expo. It’s amazing. Like magic.

That first pic of you guys in your hats has me SO EXCITED for cooler weather! Bring on the fall colors, jackets, and boots!

I have a random scar on my forearm because I didn’t have the cap on our clothing steamer and it leaked out and burned a little streak on my arm.

My husband swears by UCAN. He has tried numerous other drinks/gels/gummies, but he always goes back to UCAN! Definitely give it a try!

Love the s’mores photos! So cute. Ucan worked fine for me, but I could only use it before the race because I didn’t want my family to have to rush around to different parts of the course (especially at a world major marathon) and stress about getting me a bottle. That said, I’d rather eat real food pre-race over drinking something. Bagels > liquid

Hahaha I’m dying at “can I see a pic of your dog” oops must’ve crossed the line it’s over

Sadly as most of us know some guys COULD be turned off by this. Glad Andrew is not a game player!!

Love Skye’s red nose in your camping picture. You and I may not agree on olives, but I am totally with you on gooey marshmallows for S’mores! Les likes to set his marshmallows on fire.

I’ve never used UCAN, but I think Meb uses it so it must be great!

Last barbecue of the summer today and I’m putting my Fall decorations out, which means it will probably go back into the 90s in the next few days.

No run today, I rode 20 miles on my bike. I ran 8 miles on Saturday – the last time I went that distance was the day I sprained my ankle. I’m so slow but I know you’re only suppose to add distance OR speed, not both at once. It just feels good to be active again!

PS – Les, his brother and 6 other guys are headed to Utah on Saturday. They will be riding their bikes starting in St. George. I’m not exactly sure of their route, but they are riding for a week with a few hikes thrown in. If Les decides to blog about I’ll share the link with you.

Skye in that little winter hat = adorable! Glad you could get out for a quick family camp trip. And your niece is a rockstar! How fun that they will be close next year. She’s going to love running in the Utah fall temps!

I LOVE Ucan. Used it for my last training cycle and marathon. It is amazing. It is a slow release carb so keeps you fairly steady for a good while. Never upsets my stomach. It is not super delicious and has a bit of a chalky taste but it works. My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes a year ago so I have learned a massive amount about slow release and quick release carbs. This stuff was actually developed by a father for his type 1 diabetic child so that’s why I tried it in the first place. I drink this before the marathon and then use fast acting gels during and it works great :)

I bought UCAN thinking it would be a miracle, then I sort backed down and chickened out because it just sounded so starchy and I don’t love Stevia. So, this summer as my 50k approached I had a huge dilemma on what to train with for long runs (it really shouldn’t have stressed me out so much but it did) I ended up using Tailwind + water (remember, tailwind is fuel, not hydration). I knew that during our event I’d be eating solids so didn’t worry too much about it, just during training and practicing to have additional fuel. I am appreciating all the positive feedback on UCAN so perhaps I CAN (ahahhaha) try it now. I’m such a chicken to try stuff.

Today was a rest day so went to the chiropractor, ran a few errands.

Skye’s nose is so cute camping!

I still have a burn on my head from a hair highlighting incident 25+ years ago!!!

My weekend long run happened this morning. The weather prevented it from happening sooner. And having the day off today helped me fit it in. It was a 5 mile run (which sounds like nothing when I think of your 20 miles this weekend). I’m now jealous of those who get to run in the morning. The weather was so much cooler. It was the longest run of my training so far (I’m only on week 4) and it was the best run of my training. It’s amazing how the weather can dictate how you feel out there.

And your 20 miles this weekend was amazing! You rocked it and it is so fun following along with your training! As a amateur I like getting all your tips and recommendations!

I have no burn scars BUT I do have a few scars on my forehead from when my head met the head of my brother’s golf club when I was about 4. I am now 28 and that scar is going NO WHERE! I guess I have learned that I need to step a few hundred feet back when he is swinging his golf clubs! lol

NO running today. I ran a bit too much over the weekend so I took it to the spin bike. I will probably spin for the rest of the week! I need to lay off the knee so I can run again this coming weekend!!

I used UCAN for my two best marathons to date :) Here is a snippet of what I wrote about using it (also just to clarify, I don’t count calories or macros ever, but pre-race and during the race I wanted to know exactly what I was getting in):

Pre-race I took in between 300 and 400 calories, which is what my coach recommended. I had some yogurt, a banana, one packet of UCAN (vanilla protein) with 20 oz. of water, a small (probably 4 oz.) cup of coffee and a cup of water with an electrolyte tablet. By my calculations, this was about 375 calories, 7g of fat, 53g of carbs and 19g of protein. This was more than I typically take in before my long runs, but we also didn’t start running until close to 10 a.m. and I usually run at 6 a.m., so I knew that I needed to eat more beforehand than I do on a typical long run day.

During the race I alternated with water and Gatorade Endurance Formula at the aid stations. Basically I tried to take a few sips of something every 20 to 30 minutes. I took water at mile three, Gatorade at mile seven, water at mile 11 and Gatorade at mile 15. I mixed more UCAN with about 12 oz. of water that morning (not the protein blend). I drank half of the bottle at mile 18 and finished the rest of it around mile 22. This was about 200 calories and all carbs (approximlatey 50g) during the race itself.

Hopefully this helps!