Less than 24 hours to go...

Heading out in a few minutes to pick up our race day packets! ! ! It's been raining in Richmond since Tuesday (about 6-9 inches total) and its finally starting to slow down a bit. Word is there may be a detour down by the river due to flooding- should be interesting. I think the only other way to get from the Huegenot bridge to Forest Hill without going down by the river is by running a whole lot of hills. I don't know which would be better, our feet getting wet or running 3-4 straight miles of hills 10 miles into the race. Anyways- we're very excited that the marathon has finally arrived and can't wait to get started tomorrow morning. Here's to hoping our training paid off! We'll blog about the race after we're done- assuming we have the energy!

Less than 2 weeks away!

Well- last weekend Nathan and I completed our last "long" run before the big day. It is amazing how much our perception of "long" has changed throughout this process. We ran a comfortable 20miles 10.25.09 and finished in just over 3hrs. Overall the run was fairly painless - I think Nathan seemed to enjoy it more than I did. Because he is our "hill expert" he decided we should run part of our normal route backwards and end with a few (keyword) hills. Needless to say, the end was not as painless for me - I did feel like my legs would just stop working at any minute, but Nathan kept us going and we charged up the last hills before heading home.

We are now in the home stretch to race day! We have (both) now suffered knee issues, cortisone shots, blisters, and many aches, but I think it will be worth it! This past week we kinda slacked off on our running schedule and now will be running every day this upcoming week; however they will be much shorter runs, (only 1 12miler, 4mi, & 3mi) :)!

We are starting to prepare for race day with food considerations, planning party stops etc. I have signed text messaging alerts/emails up for family. You will be able to track us as we're running throughout the course!

Keep checking our blog for race day pics, etc!

18 & Counting!

We really are back in the game now! We have had two solid long runs for the past 2 weekends! My knee seems to be in great shape and other than Nathan killing his feet in new running shoes, we seem to be feeling pretty good!

This past weekend, we ran 18mi - a beautiful run alongside the James which even included a stop fill up water bottles around mile 10. Last weekend we ran our 16miles - the run was similar to the run this past weekend (packed with a fair amount of hills!). Nathan's wonderful navigation skills have been perfect for our training so far - I am attaching some of his map my runs for us to to refer back to as a reminder of our training!

I cannot believe we have made it this far - we only have 1 REALLY long run left before the big day! This upcoming weekend we drop back down to 12mi and then finalize our last long run with 20mi the next weekend! Thanks for reading about our exciting training - I look forward to continuing to post!

18mi run along the James River



16mi run along river and through the fan

And...we're back in the game

So, this is my first time "blogging" (Anna's been trying to get me to do it for a while)...so I figured I'd finally give it a shot. Last week was an interesting week for a variety of reasons. Anna's left knee has been bothering her for quite a while and last Saturday (9/19) was the first time since we started training for the marathon she had to stop running. We were supposed to run 10 miles and after 8 or so, her knee was hurting enough for us to call it quits. Doing my best MD impression, I astutely observed her gait, palpated her knee and did all the knee tests I could possibly remember from class and decided she had an inflammation of her ITB. We went and bought a ITB strap from a local medical supply store and rested until Tuesday. Tuesday we ran four miles and unfortunately her knee continued to bother her. She scheduled an appointment with a sports medicine doctor in Richmond and was told that she...take a guess...she had an inflamed ITB. So- Wednesday Anna got 2 cortisone shots and some medication for the inflammation and was told not to run until Sunday (9/26). As far as your wife getting injured goes- this couldn't have come at a better time for me (did i just write that?) Last week I had my last microbiology test on Thursday and then a shelf exam (test written by the group that write our board exam) on Friday. I had secretly been hoping for a way to skip a few runs during the week without feeling guilty- and Anna's injury was the perfect excuse. So, with my tests complete and Anna's knee well rested we ventured out again on Sunday and ran 7.5 miles pain free! It's hard to believe we are only about 6 weeks away from the marathon! We'll keep posting updates as they are warranted. I'll attach a map of our 15 miles run a few weeks ago...

Let the Countdown Begin!

Half-Marathon & 10mi 12mi

Now that school is back in session, it is a little difficult to keep up to date! However, Nathan and I have continued to stick to our schedule for our marathon training. We ran our first Half-Marathon in Winston-Salem a few weeks ago. Nathan mapped out a great run for us that I am attaching below. The run went well - it was slightly drizzling, which made for perfect road-running weather.

Since then, we have had 10 and 12 mi runs on sat morning. The longer runs are now taking more time requiring us to think (and plan) our schedules better to accommodate our work and runs! Below are a few of our favorite runs.

The marathon also sent me today a race widget which will help us keep the countdown for race day!

Below is the Half we ran in W-S


Here is our favorite 10mi run in Richmond...


Our 12mi run in Richmond...

Yes, we wear hydration belts!

I swore I would never be one of "those" people wearing the hydration belts, but how else do you run for over 1.5 hrs and NOT drink water???? Nathan and I thought/fought long and hard about the fashion statement we would be making while running...he won! So- the moral of the story is that I was forced into buying and wearing a hydration belt while running.

Well I guess this is not exactly all true -- I did realize the importance in hydrating while running, I was just really against the idea of having to deal with anything while running. Although I cannot say I LOVE the fashion statement we're making while running (and yes, we do have matching belts!), I am now a big-time converted fan of the hydration belt. We now have a routine "get-out-the-gel" and "hydrate" break every 45mins! Nathan and I look forward to this part of our run so much, we might be pushing it up to every 30mins!

We tried on a lot of belts and bottles you can hold. Our favorite is the NathanSports mutation trail mix series. We like the clip/buckle instead of the other belts that have only velcro to hold them together. There are 2 10oz bottles (we could use more water while running, but I don't think I would like carrying the extra weight!). We also like how the bottles are contoured to sit at the base of your back - the bottles are easy to pull out and put back in place while on the go! There is also a fairly good-sized pocket for gels, etc. We usually pack an extra "zippie" to put all the empty gel wrappers (this fits well in the front mesh pocket). Here is a pic of the nathan belt we use, it can be purchased at Dicks Sporting Goods. Alot of belts on the market are sized, this one is "one size fits most". We will continue to add tips products we like along the way!

Update on Marathon Training

Throughout the summer, Nathan and I have been training for the Richmond marathon. The marathon takes place in November and we are working on our 24 week training program. We decided to start this blog as a way to document our training throughout this process.

This past weekend, Nathan, the official router for all our runs, navigated us from our house, through downtown Richmond and back home. Our 12 mile run took a little under 2hrs. To see more about our runs, I am going to link to Nathan's mapmyrun.com page. He has saved all the various routes.

Now that we are getting into the longer runs, we have started to use the dreaded "gels & gus"! Personally, I like the way the powerbar gels taste; however Nathan has become a gu fan! Gu has caffeine- powerbar does not. (don't be mistaken though for the Omg Caffeine on the label of powerbar gel...it really means 0 milligrams of caffeine - NOT OMG caffeine!).

While we have really enjoyed our time together running, getting in shape, and pushing each other's limits/buttons; we have encountered the not so glamorous side of our training -- BLISTERS! I think we both would love to hear any advice or feedback on the subject! Oddly enough, we have both been encountering the little suckers in the same spots on our big toes. I have pics below for proof!



Nathan attempting to instill the fear of the spray bottle to stop Libbie & Winston from barking right after getting back from our 12 miler!

Nathan and I will be continuing to update our blog on our training and other tips, along with anything exciting in the Givens Fam!