Product Review: Asics Gel Cumulus 15 Lite-Show

When choosing a shoe for a marathon, comfort is your number one concern. About two months before my marathon I went by Fit2Run in Estero, FL to get fitted for new shoes. The staff suggested a shoe with good cushion to support your foot for 26 miles! I tried on the Asics Gel Cumulus 15 Lite-Show and instantly understood what they were talking about! I felt like I was walking on clouds! The shoe had good support and felt nice and snug around the toe box (I know some people like a roomier toe box, but that makes me feel less stable, and I'm not exactly graceful to begin with...). Took the shoes for a run around the store and they felt great! Took them home and the first run I did in them was a 6 mile training run. My feet felt amazing at the end of the run. I had no issues and no pain. I trained in them up until my marathon, alternating them with my Asics Gel-Kayano 20. I wore the Kayano's for the 8K the day before my marathon and then the Lite-Shows for the actual marathon. My feet honestly felt really good until about mile 23. I started to have some issues with my toes at that point and had a little bit of pain. Overall, after 26.2 miles I ended up with two black big toenails and a very small blister on my left foot. That's way less than I was expecting for a marathon! I would definitely recommend these to anyone looking to do distance running! Only suggestion I have, would be to put moleskin on the inside of the shoe at the toes. This would cover up the seam and keep it from rubbing on your toes for 26 miles. That's a very small complaint for that long of a distance!!

 Asics Gel Cumulus 15 Lite-Show

Mile 10 of the Shamrock Marathon in the Lite-Shows

First Marathon!

Well, this has taken me a month to actually sit down and write because I really wanted to make sure I had my thoughts in order. Running my first marathon was very overwhelming, but honestly, one of the best experiences in my life. When we started, the weather was pretty good. My best friend Christina and I were running the marathon together and the first 10 miles honestly flew by. 

 Mile 10 of Shamrock Marathon

That was when things went downhill...we rounded the corner onto the Virginia Beach boardwalk. From that point until mile 14, we had a 35 mph headwind. My energy level went from about 85% to 40% in just those 3.5 miles. That really slowed down our pace and I was starting to get worried about finishing on time. My mom met us at mile 12 and gave us each a Clif Builder Bar to eat. I really wasn't hungry, but knew I needed to eat. I got about half of it down and gave up. When we got to the half way point, we were told that we had just barely made the time cut off and that we had until 1:00 p.m. to make it to the gate at Fort Story, (mile 19) or they would close the gate and we would be transported back to the finish line and not be allowed to finish. This made my stress level go through the roof. Around mile 15 I started to feel really gross. I was feeling light headed and nauseous. I really wasn't sure if I was going to be able to finish the race. I told Christina to go on without me and slowed down. And then I got sick...

About 10 minutes later I had basically decided to give up. That was when Paula joined me. She was in her 40's and this was her second marathon. I really don't know if I would have finished without her. She grabbed my arm and said "we are finishing this. let's go." She stayed with me until about mile 18 when I finally started feeling better. At that point I knew I just had to get to the gate and I would be able to finish. I met a mother and daughter duo and told them about the time requirement and we all made it to the gate just in time. We all stuck together until we got out of the base about mile 21. The final stretch I did alone. I think because I got sick early in the race, I honestly never hit "The Wall" that people talk about at Mile 20. Miles 21-25 were just a straight shot down Pacific. About Mile the weather finally changed and it started sleeting. At that point I knew I just had to finish. About half way through Mile 25 I met two ladies who were still there watching the race. They asked if they could run with me the last mile. I told them "Sure!" And they talked to me and kept me distracted while the weather got worse and worse. I finally hit Mile 26 and only .2 was left to go.   

Running through the sleet at Mile 26

The last .2 was glorious. I could see the finish line and finally knew I was going to finish. My mom was on the sidewalk beside me and yelling for me and my two new friends that were running with me said "You got this! Congratulations!!" and stepped over to the sidewalk to let me finish alone. I always thought that I would break down and cry when I finally crossed the finish line. Quite frankly, I think I was too tired to do that! The volunteers handed me my medals (I got an extra one for completing the 8K the day before) and that was when I saw Christina. I had finished just 30 seconds after she did. We were officially Marathoners. 

Post Race Bash on the Virginia Beach Oceanfront

Challenges

So, I have decided to make 2014 my year of Challenges! As I've gone through my training for the Shamrock Marathon, I started to realize how easy the shorter runs have become for me. So, I decided to add the Anthem 8K and do what J&A Racing calls the "Whale Challenge." With the Challenge, you do the Anthem 8K on Saturday and the Shamrock Marathon on Sunday. You get a medal for each individual race and a separate medal for completing the Whale Challenge.

So, in the spirit of challenging myself, I have decided to do as many of the race challenges as I can. I am currently signed up for three! The first will be the Whale Challenge. My next Challenge will be the Patriots Challenge as part of the Run for the Dream in Williamsburg, VA. This challenge includes an 8K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. The third challenge will be the Shell Yeah Challenge as part of the Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon. For this challenge, you run a 5K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. What challenges will you be doing this year? Sound off in the comments! 

Shamrock Spotlight

So thankful to Beachy Runner and Breath of Sunshine for featuring me as today's Shamrock Spotlight!! Make sure to click on the links and head over to both of their blogs and check it out!!

Temptation

Ok, so I'm going to be honest here. I have a huge sweet tooth!! I rarely crave salty foods, but pretty much crave sweet things 100% of the time. It doesn't help that, especially in America, we have sweet foods sitting out there everywhere!! It's really hard for me to resist sometimes, but I have found that mt Team BeachBody Challenge Group has really helped me! It's a Facebook group and we are all trying to become healthier people. We have to check in everyday and let everybody know what we ate and what workout we did. With my new job it makes it way too easy to eat out everyday. That was getting really expensive and quite frankly, I've put on 15 pounds since I started! 

I follow a couple other runners on Instagram who had all been raving about Shakeology. I have tried weight watchers and slim fast in the past and I've had luck, but even with the WW meetings, I never really felt any connection to the people there or any support. Finally decided to try Shakeology and was very surprised with all that it came with. I ordered one bag to try it and got an email telling me that I now had a free membership to Team BeachBody and that my Coach would be contacting me. No monthly dues or anything, you just buy the product. She contacted me and added me to the challenge group where I have met some of the nicest people! They comment on everything that is post and have really been encouraging. It's really nice to know that I can post a pic of something I really wanted to eat, but resisted temptation and they will all cheer me on and give advice on healthy alternatives! I'm so thankful to all of them! 

This morning I went to 7-11 to get a coffee...walked right past the doughnuts and grabbed a banana. Still sweet, but not nearly as bad! What is your biggest temptation? What do you do to avoid it or eat in place of it? Sound off!

The Return!

Well guys, it has been a crazy year. I'm going to be totally honest and tell you that I really didn't know what route I wanted to take with the blog, so I just sort of stopped. I think I have finally figured everything out, so I'm going to give it another go....

A Year in Review:
When we last spoke, I was training for my first half marathon. Proud to say I completed it and two others!!

Shamrock Half Marathon, Virginia Beach, Virginia

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon, Virginia Beach, Virginia

I've also finished a bunch of 5Ks, 10Ks, and a 10 Miler:

Surf-n-Santa 10 Miler, Virginia Beach, Virginia

And I am proud to say that I am officially training for my first full marathon! I will be doing the Shamrock Marathon on March 16, 2014 in Virginia Beach. While I am really nervous, I'm also ridiculously excited! I am sooo looking forward to being able to say that I am a "Marathon Runner". 

Also, over the past year I have become an Independent Coach for Team BeachBody and a running Ambassador for Fit2Run in Estero, Florida. I am so happy to be taking on these two awesome rolls to help other people with their fitness goals! I'll be doing frequent updates to the blog to let you know how my weight loss and marathon training goes! Can't wait for you to start on this journey with me!