Chocolate will NOT be my life.....for the next month

Kari has challenged me to join her in her "no sweets until after the marathon" decree. Good thing she works in marketing, because her skills of persuasion are remarkable. I've heard a lot of people claim they love chocolate or sweets as much as I do, but I haven't noticed them writing an entire blog named "Chocolate is MY LIFE".

Chocolate cake milkshakes in Chicago

 

Nevertheless, it's possible that a huge bowl of veggies followed by half a carton of ice cream is not exactly the optimum fuel for distance running. I don't really see anything wrong with desserts, but I do take it to the extreme, and maybe eating more healthy foods will help my running. Or maybe it won't. But either way, if I can actually make it, I'll have the satisfaction of doing something no one thought was possible, and putting chocolate in my checked bag for after the marathon will be a serious carrot dangling in front of me the entire time. Plus the Baltimore Marathon's famous gummy bears on the course will taste extra good.

Whoever wins gets a baked good made for them by the other person. Hopefully, both of us will win, and since we both love to bake, it's a win win win (win the contest, bake a good, eat a baked good from Kari).

I told my friend Jill on the track last night. She immediately yelled "That's crazy!!! You need that stuff to run a marathon!" But before we had finished that 400 (so within two minutes) she casually said "I think I'll do it with you". My friend Mike asked if he could join us when I told him about it this morning. I was tempted to tell him no, and that if he tried, I'd come to his house and stuff brownies in his mouth, but I agreed I'd allow him to give up desserts as well. 

All four of us are running the big 26.2 on October 15th, so we have just under four weeks to go. I've already announced it on twitter, I'm putting it on the blog now, so the only way to make it more official would be to put it on Facebook.  Which I may do. Last night, I just brushed my teeth after dinner like a normal person and went about my business (aka, went directly to bed).  

Last night was my track workout. The schedule said we were supposed to do ten partner 800s (half mile fast intervals). It doesn't sound like a lot, but we'd done eight previously and I thought someone was going to have to carry me to the car. I was really impressed with how good I felt last night though. Maybe it was the change in weather (aka, not 100 degrees with 98 % humidity). I went a similar speed, maybe even a tad faster, than the other times, but I felt great, and actually felt like I could be going faster. The intervals I ran with Jill we talked the whole time, and I know talking was out of the question in the past. All of my intervals were between 3:50-4:00 (and they were actually all slightly longer than a half mile, .52 makes a difference compared to .50 in this interval training, at least to me!). 

This morning, Mike and Lily showed up at my house right at 5am for a nine mile run. As per my  new plan from last week, this run was nice and easy. Except, it didn't really feel easy. It didn't feel hard, but last week I felt like I was deliberately holding back. It was the exact same time, route, almost the same pace, and today we only did one mile more than I did on my own last week. It's so weird how runs can feel so different depending on the day. Maybe I was wasting too much energy with my constant talking?

I want to try out my new compression sleeves for about a week before reviewing them, as Vanessa suggested. I sat down to eat dinner and was too lazy to get back up forgot to put them on last night, so I'm rocking them this morning.

 I'll probably take them off before work. Definitely before the kids get there. I'm pretty sure.

Do you think I can make it to October 15th without dessert? Eric's expression was one of pure terror when I told him last night.