Q&A Time!!!

Before the Q & A, let’s do a quick chat about the workout yesterday! 6-8 mile repeats at the track, starting at marathonish pace and working down. I errored on the side of 6 because the taper is about maintaining, not gaining, and it’s what my body told me to do.

These are my watch splits at its mile, but I would cross the actual mile line 2-3 seconds after it beeped-> My watch times were 6:14, 6:11, 6:05, 6:02, 5:50, 5:47. I put the alphaflys on for the last two and goodness gracious I felt so much faster in them. I found a pair my size (the ones I’m wearing below are a touch too small), and they will be at my house soon! I’ll get to wear them for the marathon. 11 miles total for the day.

Now for a Q&A!

What made you decide to do doubles during this training cycle? Have you found it helpful?

*My coach wanted me to try it. 🙂 I guess I’ll see race day! I think I prefer the doubles, where I double with the bike instead of another run. Biking will probably become a bigger part of my marathon training cycles as I get older. Also, I’ve asked Andrew to do a century or some sort of bike race with me this next year… He will have to ride circles around me the whole time but it should be fun!

How many ounces of water do you drink a day, Janae?

-I have no idea but probably not enough. I would love to know what everyone else does!

Curious as to why you don’t incorporate more strength training.

-Honestly, this new style of training has rocked my world. I don’t know if I am getting older or I’ve done too many marathons in a row or if this training has been way harder than my previous cycles, but I haven’t had an extra ounce of energy to do anything other than my runs each day other than some band work while multitasking. After this marathon, I am highly motivated to get back in the gym!

What do you all do for a living?

*This right here ha, and Andrew is an Organ Donation Coordinator! I’ll never forget my brother sending me a book in 2010 about how to make money blogging… I had no idea it could be a job and here we are now!

What was the hardest part of blending your family?

-Missing the kids will always be the hardest. Next hardest has been figuring out how to all work well together with multiple families in the mix. Also, for about ten years, we flew Brooke back and forth to California 6 times a year. I will FOREVER be grateful I could move back to my people in Utah during my divorce, so I would do whatever was needed to get that opportunity (I would have never met Andrew if I hadn’t been able to move back!)! Now Brooke flies on her own to California, which makes it so much easier!

What does your shoe rotation look like? What shoes for what runs? Race shoe?

-Ready for a novel;). For easy runs, I love my Asics Novablasts. I also wear an older pair of adidas Adizero Pro for many easy runs when my body feels worn down and needs extra love and cushioning. I got the Mount to Coast R1s, and they are so light and comfortable, and they make me want to get back in ultra training. They feel FUN to run in. For trails, I usually wear the Nike Pegasus Trail or Hoka Speedgoats. For speed, I wear the adidas Adizero Pro, and the Nike Vaporfly. I’m planning on the Nike Alphafly 3s for my marathon!

Thoughts on cupless races?

-They aren’t my favorite tbh. For trail races, I like them because I feel like it’s a more laid-back approach, and you can stop and fill up your bottles easier, but road races, I don’t love it. I think it increases the chances of people not hydrating properly or feeling as good during the race!

(Picture from my first trail race ever)

Any tips on morning before a marathon? What/when to eat, what to wear to stay warm, tips!

-My biggest tip is to follow the advice of a sports dietician… a few that post a lot on IG on this topic are @featherstonenutrition, @eatwell.runbetter, @enduura.nutrition. I will try something like this for St. George because I’ll be waking up 4 hours before the race starts to get to the busses in time:

As far as what to wear, old socks make excellent gloves to keep your hands warm and I usually wear something I can donate and leave at the starting line! I’ve also taken a blanket or robe that I could donate to the starting line in the past too!

Are you in your forever home? I definitely am, we are never moving!

-Yes and yes. I hope someday we will be in St. George more often or traveling for more extended periods of time but I wouldn’t leave this house if someone offered me a brand new house somewhere else (our house was built in 1969). When we first walked around this house, my insides knew that it was meant to be ours for good… Andrew wasn’t interested in moving (he had just finished renovating our previous house), so I had to convince him, but now he feels the same way.

How did you ease back into running postpartum? Did you breastfeed?

-For Brooke, I breastfed for 3 months. For Skye, I breastfed for 6 months and for Beck, I did for a year. I never felt like my training and running really clicked until after I was done breastfeeding. I got into running with Brooke WAY too fast after having her and dealt with pelvic pain for a while because of that (I think I only waited ten days or something to run). For Skye and Beck, I waited the proper amount of time (I forget… is that 8 weeks?) and felt much better. Start small, walk whenever you need, and sleep is truly the best thing you can do for your health… If you have a bad night of sleep, choose getting some sleep over heading out to run! Don’t compare your journey back to anyone else’s because we are all so different!

When did you start to feel like yourself again in your pp running journeys?

-Definitely not when I was breastfeeding, and especially not when I wasn’t sleeping well. With Brooke and Skye, I felt like myself much earlier on than I did with Beck! With Beck, it was about 13-14ish months postpartum.

Favorite pre marathon dinner and breakfast?

-I tend to always have spaghetti with grilled chicken and garlic bread the night before and usually rely on bagels the morning of!

I get charlie horses/cramps every marathon. Suggestions for how to prevent?

-Do you get cramps during training? Does anyone have any advice for this? I only have had cramps when I try a new to me form of fuel.

Plantar! Anything and everything. Mine will not go away!

-I tried SO many things (I have a post here about it all) and while many things helped in small ways, the biggest thing that did it for me was wearing the Hoka Clifton 8s or shoes with some sort of drop. I realized when I wore heals, my plantar didn’t hurt… and so I realized that I needed a drop (from heel to toe) in my shoes to feel good. I also think for me, my plantar getting really bad was correlated to being postpartum! <–There is a big correlation!

Any more babies? Your kids are so beautiful!

-Thank you so much. As you know, I change my mind about this topic often but… My current thoughts are no, and that’s because I get so sick and depressed when I am pregnant… I feel like when the kids were younger, I could have the TV on all day as I lay on the couch and try to survive, but now that they are getting older, they need me to be up and going all day with them. My mom swears by a medication she had during pregnancy that helped her morning sickness out tremendously, but they took it off the market, and I never found anything to help. I’m sad that this is my biggest reservation, but I feel like I need to be 100% for them all right now in this current stage of their lives, and during pregnancy, I am about 5% of myself. Anyone else been in a similar situation?

Have you ever dealt with prolapse after babies? Being told may not be able to run.

-Oh, this is so so hard. I have not but I would love if anyone could help out this friend of ours!

How do you handle burnout with marathon training? Do you ever just get sick of it?

-I hate to say it, but I am in this position mentally I feel right now, thank goodness I’m in the taper. I am feeling burned out mentally and so ready to be at the starting line. I don’t remember feeling this way in a very long time! I think my biggest thing to help avoiding burnout normally is having a group to train with. After I ran my first sub-3, I wanted to retire from the marathon but then I met a group of amazing women to train with, and I’ve done another ten marathons since then;) Having people that you are excited to meet up with makes it so much more fun. After this one, I am ready for a long break and some changes in races for 2025, though!

Why don’t you share more about your faith online anymore?

-I guess I just started feeling like I share such a large part of my life online that there are a few things I want to keep a bit more personal, this being one of them!

How did you maintain training as a single parent?

-The treadmill was my best friend. My apartment complex had treadmills with a play room (and massive window so I could watch her the entire time) and I can’t tell you how many miles I ran on there. I know being a single parent is an incredibly difficult situation, but I truly look back at that time of my life as sacred. I wouldn’t change it for the world. The growth I experienced, the bond we built together, and the pride I feel for making it through it… I am so grateful. And running helped me so much. I wish I was your neighbor for your littles to come over for you to go for a run. Just remember, taking care of yourself as a parent is one of the best things you can do for your kids. Don’t feel guilty for needing runs. They need you to do what brings you joy, too!

Any tips for potty training a stubborn hardheaded 3 yr old boy?

-My advice is probably not the best, but I told myself as long as they were potty trained for kindergarten, we were okay. With Brooke, I tried like 20 times before I finally just let her be the one to decide that she was ready and it was seamless once she was ready and wanted to herself. Brooke potty trained Skye (see above answer about me being on the couch and doing nothing when I am pregnant), and with Beck, we went with the flow and didn’t push things until he was ready. Sometimes, I think we feel like our kids need to be doing xyz by a certain age, yet I don’t learn certain lessons or skills at the same time as my peers as an adult and that’s okay! I don’t know… long story short; I think we need to loosen our expectations and let them guide us when they are ready. You are doing amazing and that stubbornness will be a great skill someday for him when it helps him to not quit at something when things get hard:)

We will call it a day here but I have more questions that were geared to both me and Andrew in the next one!

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Do you have any answers to any of these questions? I would love to hear!