Hey, how’s life? Did you miss my post last Friday? I had every intention of keeping you updated on my second to last week of marathon training, but a whole lot of tennis got in the way. Playing at the USTA National Championships was so much more time consuming and exhausting than I had imagined. My team and I arrived in Mobile, Alabama late Wednesday night and had a practice scheduled at 10:00 am the next morning. After practice we went to Whole Foods and ate a healthy lunch, went back to the hotel to rinse off in the shower and change into fresh tennis clothes, met back at the courts for a second practice, went back to the hotel and got dressed for dinner, and after we ate we were so dang tired that we went to bed.

Friday morning we had to be ready to go to the courts at 6:30 am for our 7:30 am match. We played Utah first and won, then we went back to the hotel to freshen up and put dry clothes on, had lunch, went back to the courts, and beat Seattle. After that we went back to the hotel, showered and got dressed for dinner, ate, and fell into bed. It was an exhausting, hot, and awesome day!

Saturday morning we were able to sleep a little later because our first match was at 12:30 pm. We got to the courts at 10:45 am, posed for our team picture, warmed up, and played a tough match against Texas. They beat us. We didn’t have time to change clothes or eat a big lunch as we only had an hour to rest before our match against Washington DC. We needed to win all five of our courts to go to the semi-finals. We won that round, but unfortunately we only won four courts, so Seattle (the team that we beat) won our flight and moved on and took first place. Our team took fifth place, and we couldn’t be prouder to be one of the top women’s 3.5 teams in the country. It was an amazing experience and I feel so honored and blessed to have been part of such an incredible group of women.

As you can see, I didn’t have much free time to do anything but sleep, which I desperately needed, hence the missing post last week. Forgive me?

I also didn’t have a minute to run, so I had to pick up where I left off on Monday after a long day of traveling. I ran ten miles on Monday afternoon and my legs were so heavy from the four intense singles matches that I played in a twenty-four hour period on Friday and Saturday, not to forget the two practices on Thursday. I’d say that all of that movement added up to several miles of running. My running coach, Suzie, (click the link and check out her blog, she’s fantastic) told me to rest on Tuesday, run five on Wednesday, rest on Thursday, do a three mile shakeout run on Friday, and rock the marathon on Saturday. I was so happy to have those two rest days, I really needed them. However, I have to say, that the lack of exercise that I’ve experienced this week, compared to what I’m used to, has made me a little lot irritable. Apparently that’s very common in runners when they’re tapering before the race. I’m not going to lie, I really don’t like this feeling and I can’t wait to get back to a more intense workout schedule.

So yes, tomorrow is the day that I’ve been training for over the past five and a half months. I may not have been able to run the Chicago Marathon because of the USTA National Championships, but I do get to run a marathon, on a beautiful, scenic wooded trail (easier on my body, yay!), and my husband, daughter, son and his girlfriend (via Snapchat), friends, and teammates/friends will be there to cheer me on. I’m going to need them, especially at the end.

Here’s my plan. I’ve already completed a 20 miler, so I know that I can do that. So…….once I’ve run 6.2 miles, I’ll tell myself that I only need to run a 20 miler. No. Big. Deal. Right?

This week I’ve really focused on hydration, nutrition, and sleep. I’ve been drinking a lot of water, eating a lot of complex carbohydrates and vegetables/fiber, and sleeping later than usual. I feel strong and rested and I’m so excited to run my first marathon. Wish me luck!

What a Vegan Athlete Eats for Protein, Complex Carbohydrates, and Fiber

Here’s a peak at what I ate on a non workout day. You’ll notice that I skipped my usual post workout smoothie because I wasn’t hungry enough to drink one after eating my overnight oats. Every meal that I ate this week was carefully planned to provide me with a good balance of complex carbs, protein, fiber, and nutrients that will get me through the race, such as potassium and iron.

Breakfast

As always, I started the day with a glass of lemon water, a cup of coffee with almond milk, and a cup of pumpkin pie overnight oats.

One cup of oats will provide you with 26 grams of protein (52% of the daily recommended allowance) and 17 grams of fiber (68% of the daily recommended allowance). It also contains 41 % of iron and 69% of magnesium. Oatmeal is your friend! Pumpkin puree also gives you a boost in fiber and vitamin A. The pecans provide you with more fiber and protein, as well as magnesium, iron, and vitamin B-6

Mid-morning snack

I had a banana, an orange, and a small handful of almonds.

The banana provided me with 12 % potassium, 12% fiber, 2 % protein, 20% vitamin B-6, and 17% vitamin C.

The orange gave me 9% fiber, 1% protein, 4 % potassium, and 3% calcium.

The almonds gave me 14% fiber, 12% protein, 19% magnesium, 7% calcium, and 5% potassium.

Lunch

I made a sweet potato noodle salad with sriracha lime peanut sauce. It’s one of my favorites and so easy to make. Get the recipe here.

The sweet potato provided me with 12% potassium, 15% fiber, 4% protein, 15% vitamin B-6, 3% calcium, and a whopping 368% vitamin-A!

The 1 cup of chickpeas provided me with 50% fiber, 15 grams of protein, 26% iron, and 8% calcium.

Mid-afternoon Snack

I collected of bowl of tomatoes from my garden. They are better than candy.

Approximately one and a half cups of cherry tomatoes provided me with 10% fiber, 1.5 grams of protein, 40% vitamin C, 3% iron, and 35% vitamin A.

Dinner

I didn’t do much on this day but I was too tired to cook so we ordered veggie tacos and guacamole from our favorite little Mexican place.

The beans provided me with 18% fiber, 30% protein, 34% folate, 5% calcium, 17% potassium, and a lot of other important nutrients.

Each corn tortilla (I ate two) provided me with 6% fiber, 2% protein, 5% vitamin B-6, and 4% magnesium.

The lettuce was mostly iceberg, so that was a wash, and there weren’t enough tomatoes to really count the nutrients.

The one cup of cooked white rice provided me with 2% fiber, 8% protein, 5% vitamin B-6, and 4% magnesium.

The guacamole (I ate about a cup) gave me 913 milligrams of potassium, 46% fiber, 35% fat (you need healthy fats in your diet), 4 grams of protein, 50% vitamin C, 6% iron, 3% calcium, and 14% vitamin A.

I drank so many glasses of water that I lost track. Hydration is key this week.

Activity for the Week

Friday – 5 hours of singles tennis

Saturday – 5 hours of singles tennis

Sunday – Travel day

Monday – 10 mile run and a 2 mile walk

Tuesday – rest day

Wednesday – 5 mile run and a 1 mile walk

Thursday – 2 mile walk

Friday – 3 mile run and a 2 mile walk

Total miles run – 18 miles

Total miles walked – 5 miles

Total hours of tennis played – 10 hours

Tomorrow is the marathon and I can’t wait for next Friday so I can tell you how it went. Stay tuned!

Have a great weekend!

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