10 things that have changed in my marathoning + so many liquids.

(shoes, shirt, leggings, headband)

It was a gorgeous morning for trails. I’m trying to get my elevation gain up each week and added 1200 ft of climbing yesterday.

Ten miles @ 9:19 average + 10 minutes of upper body strength on the Peloton app.

Does anybody else drink SO many liquids in the morning? These three things are with me every morning. Core Power (for recovery), Liquid IV (for hydration… HUNGRY-RUNNER-GIRL gets you free shipping and 25% off), and hertime (helps with my PMS symptoms SO much… JanaeB10 gets you 10% off).

I feel much better all day when I drink these things right after my workout.

Beck must be growing like crazy because he slept in until 10:30 yesterday.

PS I cannot believe he is almost two. Time has flown.

Kaydi posted this sweet potato turkey chili the other day, and I had to copy her. She said she adds beans and extra sweet potatoes so I did the same.

And then we finished off the night by decorating Halloween cookies.
Sam’s Club cookie kid for the win.

I came across this picture from my second marathon, which made me think about some things that have changed over the years when it comes to my marathoning, and I thought I would share them here.

Ten things that have changed in my marathoning…

1- I no longer carry my fuel in a ziplock bag that I tuck into my shorts (as you can see in the above picture). The chafing that day was insane, like the chapstick I put in my sports bra during my first marathon. Pretty sure I still have a light scar from that.

2- I don’t race in racing flats anymore (this is a change I made this year), and I could not be more in love with my carbon-plated shoes and what they do for my legs.

3- I am not afraid of the carb-load anymore like I was in the beginning (favorite resource on how to properly carb-load HERE), and it has made a world of difference.

4- I don’t listen to music anymore, although I’m wondering if I will again in the future if I am alone in a race (because I was alone for 19 miles of the St. George Marathon this year).

5- I don’t bring my phone anymore… I figure my race recaps can do with a few less mid-race selfies these days;)

6-I avoid flying and dying now. I can’t say I know how to do this in a half-marathon yet (I’m looking at every half I raced this year;), but I am all about going for negative or even splits for the marathon. I’ve gone out too fast, too many marathons, and then slowly died during the last 10k.

7- For my 2nd and 3rd marathon, I found out I was doing them the WEEK OF the races ha. I don’t think I can pull that off these days anymore.

8- I’m pretty sure I never really stretched or did any recovery work for my first ten marathons. Now at 36.7 years old, I spend so much time doing all of the things to get my body to the starting line ready.

9-  I have Andrew who plans/prepares more for these marathons than I do.  +4 little humans that need to get up and ready for the day ha (I think Boston felt like a breeze for Andrew this year because it was just the two of us).

10-  I fuel every four miles (try it and report back to me) during the marathon and that DEFINITELY didn’t happen until the last little bit…. Before I would take my first gel at mile 15.  I would pass out if I tried that again.

A few things I still do when marathoning….

-Count steps when I’m tired or focus on my arm swing when my legs are dead.  

-Dream kind of crazy goals that usually take me years to get to.

-Overanalyze my splits afterward.  

-Tell myself during the marathon when it really hurts that it is my last one and then sign up for another a few days later;).


What has changed in your racing/marathoning over the years?

Drink a lot of liquids in the morning??  

-I know I won’t do it later in the day, so I try to get them in first thing.

Do you normally sign up for a race way in advance or last minute?

What is your run today?

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14 comments

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Hey Janae! This is kind of random, but wondering if you could/would ever do a post about how you incorporated carbon-plated shoes into training/racing? This is something I haven’t found much information on, and I’m curious what worked for you! Like what made you decide to try a carbon-plated shoe, which ones you use (and why), how you got your body used to them, etc. I know you’ve touched on components of this briefly but not sure if you’ve gone into detail (but maybe you have?). Thank you for all that you share!

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ABSOLUTELY! What a great idea! I’ll give you the short answer now on some of these but peer pressure is what got me to try. All of my friends had such success with them that I had to try them myself. Thank you for this question, I’ll get working on it right away. I hope your Thursday is a beautiful one!

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Yes to all the liquids! I’ve had Athletic Greens, Coffee, Nuun, and Core Power already this morning. I ran on the trails with my husband this morning! First trail run for him ever, and first time for me in in actual trail shoes – Saucony Peregrine 12, wow, what a difference trail shoes make! I sign up for races early for the discounts – “Thanks for racing this year, sign up for next year’s race now and save 10%” okay! lol Have a great day!

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YES to all of the hydration in the mornings. That is awesome and I have really been wanting to try Athletic Greens! Way to get in a trail run together, I love it. Now you have me wanting to make a purchase today to get those trail shoes. Yep, that 10% gets me every time too. Thanks Rachel, you too!

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I just listened to Meghann Featherstun on I’ll Have Another. She said she was taking gels every 30 minutes for Chicago. I take mine about 45 minutes so this got me thinking I should increase the frequency.
Today I have a 3 mile tempo/6 total. Finally tapering!!
Way to go on your elevation!!

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I will have to listen to that episode today! Thank you and I totally agree with the 30-minute thing, you’ll have to try it! Happy tapering and great tempo… Enjoy this time!

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I have a question for you (and your readers!) about the carbon plate shoes — I used the Saucony Pro for my last marathon and halfer, along with every speed session leading up to those. In the marathon, my calves were KILLING ME starting at about mile 18. Have you had that issue with the Nikes? I’m cautious to try a different brand because they are so pricey and I don’t want to feel that pain again. Of note, I’ve done 13 marathons and 8 ultras, and never, ever , ever have had a calf cramp. So, I’m 100% sure it was the shoes.
Thanks, Janae!! I’m looking forward to training “with you” for Boston :)

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OH NO!!! That is a huge bummer. I haven’t gone that far in the Pros so I’m not sure about those for me but I definitely have never had any problems like that in the Vaporflys. I can’t think of a step that I haven’t loved in Vaporflys (besides on the trails… definitely not meant for trail running). I guarantee it was the shoes too, you have so much experience! PS 8 ultras… that is just amazing. I can’t wait to meet you in Boston!

Anyone else have this experience in the Pros???

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Hi Janae! I used to keep a liter of water by my bed and drink it first thing in the morning! I need to go back to drinking more water! I definitely paid attention to that more when I ran more.
I like signing up for races far in advance! The training is the rewarding part.
Have a wonderful day!

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That is such a good idea! I’ll try this now! Thanks friend, you too!

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Hi, can you please do a post on how you keep your house so clean and tidy with 4 littles?? I consider myself a tidy person but can never seem to keep up with the little kiddos!

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Hey Katie! I need to write a post about that but I’ll also leave a long response here ha. You are doing an amazing job! I honestly don’t know if my tidiness is even healthy ha… I am constantly picking up because I go crazy with messes in our main areas. I let the kids kind of do their own thing for their rooms and then they clean it every other week. I also just hired cleaners again because I was going nuts not being able to keep up with housework. I need to show more pictures of the crazy messy parts of my house but the main area, it’s kind of a problem in my head of how I want it to stay clean. Andrew reminds me, ‘our house is not a museum… it’s supposed to look lived in.’ Hope you have a beautiful day!

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for me hydration was a big change, I’m still working on that, but something before then the race…for halfs that’s all I need and all my body can handle…fulls, maybe a sip of something in the 2nd half of a full…..I no longer spend the day before drinking and peeing and drinking and peeing and then peeing all night…also will never ever take a gel…maybe trying Maurten’s without caffeine, my body hates caffeine no matter how many times I dig into a Starbucks…..and I need to run a lot, I’m still working on that life/workout.run balance…I know I need weights, spin, yoga that forces me to stretch, foam rolling….but, I really just wanna run, but I was at my quickest when I did all that stuff a lot, so lists, scheduling…and then, oh yeah, the wife and kids?

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Bad choice…. Chemical sweetners acesulfame potassium and sucralose in your protein shake. Bad stuff. So many other better options.

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