My marathon regrets

While overall I am really happy with my marathon experience, I do have some regrets. Two really.

This first is that I didn’t focus more on core strength. I ignored my own advice on this (http://www.thecrankyblog.com/?p=616) and paid the price. I had an issue over the summer with my glutes and piriformis but I sorted it with stretching and exercises and the help of a physio. I was too complacent on the other core areas ie stomach and back and it came back to bite me on marathon day when my back started acting up. The annoying thing is I was fine all through training, but I think that I lost some conditioning during the taper. I am going to address it with Pilates ahead of next year. Definitely this time.

My second and probably bigger regret is that I didn’t control my weight better. Eating is definitely the best part of marathon training and I took to it enthusiastically. By marathon day itself I had put on 5 lbs,  but since then I have put on several more and don’t know where to start to get them off again. I read that it is common for people to put on weight after a marathon, as it’s hard to get back into a regular eating pattern. You can sing it!

Before starting training proper I was doing a low-carb high-fat diet which was definitely good for controlling my weight but no good for running. I could feel the lack of carbohydrates in my legs. So now I want to keep running and I need carbs but am finding it hard to control them. So I am struggling. I don’t know. Any one have any advice?