The last time we tried to start a Whole 30, it all just fell apart rather quickly – twice. However, this time, we have a much better plan for getting it kicked off. My wife started by creating a list of Reasons For Doing a Whole 30. She hopes that this will keep her focused on why she wants to stop reaching for the slice of cake, the can of Diet Code, or the bag of potato chips; she wants to be in the healthiest position possible when we start trying for another child; and she wants to have better productivity at work that the tiger blood brings on for her. For me, this is Marathon Training: Day -83.

Chicago Marathon 2018

For the second year in a row, I set a personal best for the front half of the race. However, I did not last as long as I did last year at that grueling pace, and I fell short of my marathon personal best by 13 seconds. Truly, if I had known I was that close to setting a PR, I would have pushed harder the last two miles to make it happen. Lessons learned from this marathon include:

1. If you don't start with the target pace group, DON'T TRY TO PLAY CATCH-UP!!! I was a little later getting into Corral B than I wanted. Unfortunately, the 03:05:00 pace group was at the front of my corral, and then came 03:10:00, and then the 03:15:00 group. I spent the first 10 km of the race just catching up to the 03:05:00 pace group - which was already an ambitious pace. I managed to hold onto my Boston Qualifying pace through the first half of the race, but by the 25 km mark, I was hurting badly and fading quickly. I was already slogging along when I rounded 35th street and the Michigan Ave. stretch was as brutal as ever.
2. Don't run a half-marathon in the winter with an injury. The week before the F^3 half marathon in January, I felt a flair-up of my plantar fasciitis. Instead of being smart and skipping the race, I ran it anyway. I thus had to pull out of the rest of winter marathon training, skip my spring marathon in Kalamazoo, and battled the injury all through summer training. I could feel it starting from when I first woke up on Marathon Morning, and it continued all through the race.
3. Don't skimp on speed training. Just before marathon season started, we bought a new home, moved, and had a baby. Thus, throughout the training season, I was having to unpack, settle in, tend to a newborn and post-partum wife, and somehow find time to get all of the speed training in that I needed. My training is where I ended up cutting back, which led to the inevitable underperformance on race day. It was an informed decision, but one made nonetheless.

Marathon Training: Day Negative 83

Winter Marathon training, targeting a yet-to-be-determined marathon in the spring, starts January 1st of 2018. That means I have 83 days to heal and rehab my plantar fasciitis, clean up my diet, improve my weakest muscle groups, and get caught up on all things related to the home. Thus, as part of the Whole 30, I am also starting my daily exercise goals. I hope to continue doing these every day, preferably in the morning.

• 30 stair calf raises, each side
• 2:00 Planks — 0:30 elbow plank, 0:30 each side, 0:30 elbow plank
• 30 bench dips
• 30 squats
• 30 pushups

Day 1 Food

• Breakfast
  • 3 Eggs, fried in ghee
  • Half of a sliced russet, cooked in olive oil
  • Brussels sprouts, cut in half, cooked in olive oil
  • Spinach, sauteéd in leftover ghee from eggs
• Lunch
  • Gala apple, raw
  • Banana, raw
• Dinner
  • Chicken thighs, seared in cast-iron skillet
  • Carrots, raw
  • Diced russet potatoes, sauteéd in olive oil