Almost three months into marathon training and I have made a few observations. First, naps are my new best friends! I've discovered I'm more tired now than I ever remember being. Sometime even after getting eight hours of sleep I wake up and I'm still feeling a bit tired. At night I'm out like a light. As soon as my head hits the pillow, I'm gone. However, because of increased fluid intake, to stay hydrated, of course, means an occasional evening/very early morning trip to the bathroom. I've gotten very good at navigating in the dark without my glasses!

In order to meet the team for a weekend training run in Manhattan, this Brooklynite needs to awaken sometime between 4:30 am and 5:30 am (depending on the meeting time). On some occasions, since it is dark and very quiet, I feel like I'm the only person around for miles. In a way it is kind of cool. It gives me a chance to test out my Ninja skills as I try to get dressed and have breakfast--all without waking my husband. I've gotten pretty good at it, however I did mess up the other weekend when I forgot to turn off my second alarm. Oh well! Perhaps Scott has always wanted to see what 5:40 looks like on a Sunday! It's a good chance to catch up on the farm report on tv!

After about two pm on the day of the weekend run I'm ready for my nap.It reminds me of nursery school. I'll take my blankie and lie down for about an hour or so. At first I kind of felt bad about needing a nap. In a way I felt like a wasn't a real runner if I need to sleep after the run. I felt like I should just power through and get a bunch of other things done. However, I am now over this feeling and look forward to and embrace my naps. I have even found that after sleeping for an hour to an hour and a half, I feel recharged and can take on the rest of the day. Now I have no trouble imitating a feline!

I have also discovered an increased appetite. Upon occasion I have begun to adopt the Hobbit method of dieting: Breakfast, second breakfast, brunch, lunch and the list goes on and on. However, I must be burning off whatever I eat, because I've become more tone and have lost weight. (You mean there is supposed to be separation between your butt and the back of your thigh?! Who knew!) I try to keep my food choices on the healthy side and not let this be carte blanche (look at me using a French experssion. Of course it is also misspelled, but hey can't have it all!) to just eat whatever I wish. But every now and then that Pasta Carbonara or cheescake just can't be ignored!

Another revelation is I'm sore! A few aches and pains have begun to crop up. For example, one night while doing mile repeats my IT Band decided to say hello. I was not happy about this performance. I have never had trouble with this part of my body before and I wanted to stop it before it got any worse. Coach Ali explained what was going on and she showed me some stretches and whatnot that I can do to strengthen it, so it will hurt less. One of the tings she mentioned was using a foam roller on the area after every run. She also mentioned a procedure she could do on the area, with some implement that sounded like a medieval torture device. No thank you on that one! Gene, a friend and teammate, who overheard this conversation looked at me and said, "For the love of God Mary, just get the foam roller." My roller and I are now very happy together. We have a standing (lying down actually) date after each run.

In 2007, I was diagnosed with plantar fasciitis and after doing the PT, anti-inflammatory, getting inserts, and resting all was fine. I haven't had any problems since. Well, that was the case....until...(insert Law & Order music) recently. a couple of weeks ago I began to feel a slight pulling sensation in my right arch. It was back. I started doing the stretches and massages I learned from the first time around. I also began to roll my bare foot over a frozen water bottle which helped greatly. I even bugged Coach Ali to see if there was anything else I could do and she gave me a suggestion or two which I quickly added.

I also took a really good look at my running shoes and realized that they were at the end of their life cycle. They had a long and adventurous life, but it was definitely time for new ones. I buy two pairs at a time, this way I can rotate back and forth while the cushioning in the other pair pops back. I once read that depending our your weekly milage count you can get them to last 30 months. I think 30 months is pushing it. However, mine lasted 24 months before I started having problems. Not sure if that is a testament to my great running form or a ringing endorsement to Asics?! (I vote me, but I may be biased.)

Before I said good bye to my old pairs, I took a family photo.

My last discovery is the one I'm least happy about. Years ago, I was the poster child for Coke (the dark fizzy liquid, not the snorting kind. Just wanted to clarify!) I think I had more Coke in my system than actual blood. When I began to workout (Pilates at the time) on a regular basis, I realized that Coke would undo all the good I was doing for my body, so I began to faze it out. Instead of a drink I would have multiple times a day, it became a drink I would only have when fighting a migraine or feeling under the weather.

When I was growing up my folks didn't keep soda in the house. We were only allowed to drink water, milk, oj, and in the summer lemonade, ice tea and Kool Aide (which is probably just as bad as soda, but hey it's got a smiley face on the pitcher so it can't be all bad!) The only times we would have soda is when we were sick or when "we sneaked up at night". For a while my dad worked days and my mom worked nights. Her shift would usually end around eleven or midnight. On her way home she would stop at the local deli--George's and grab a sandwich, chips and a coke. Sometimes, if her coming home woke me up I would sneak into the room (make sure to NOT wake up my brother) and hang out with my parents. Since it was late and dark out, it had an air of forbiddenness to it, which made it very cool. I loved those stolen moments with just the two of them.

Mom would sometimes let me have a sip or two of coke on those evenings. I think since my only childhood memories of drinking coke are associated with warmth and comfort, I now look at coke as a comfort food. A bit weird, I know, but hey that's me! Weirdness!

Anyway, lately I have noticed that because I am more tired now, on certain days I need a coke to get through the day. Otherwise I would be sleeping at work, which I don't think would fly with my boss. On one hand, I look at it like if I need a bit of caffeine to get me through the day than so be it. Hasn't Starbucks made a multi-million dollar company off of this? Since I don't drink coffee ever, I'm thinking a bit of soda here and there isn't a big deal. However, I do get nervous that I will revert back to my poster child days--which I definitely don't want. I don't need the dental bills. Right now I am trying to use best judgment and only have a soda if I really need it. For example, if drinking it will keep me from snoring at my desk and disrupting the open floor plan, than I will have a can.