Sharing Paleo Info with Friends! PLUS PALEO CHALLENGE WINNER!

Hi all! :) I've been emailing back and forth with Laura B from Crossfit Garage in Woodstock, GA. She decided to go Paleo! Woohooo Laura! I'm always excited to see people's progress! Anyway, Laura has a marathon coming up on Sunday. I've talked about pre-race fuel before when Jackie was doing her half marathon, and the same situation has come up with Laura. Her marathon is roughly 10 days from her Paleo start. Because I have lived and learned (I ran a half 10 days after starting Paleo and bonked big time!), I sent Laura a big ol' email advising her of some pre-race fueling. A friend from CF Garage wanted to see the email too (Jennifer P!)....so I'm posting it here. It's a long one, so forgive me. If anyone else has any pre-race fueling tips, please post them to comments. I'm running a 10 mile race on Saturday, so I'd love some more advice. However what I've listed below is what has worked for me on my 10k's and long runs on the weekends.

Dear Laura,
Go girl with your marathon bad self! Have you trained for it!? I definitely suggest going slower than you think you can sustain. The last 6.2 is the whole entire race. Just know that is how it is going to be and be prepared for it. Also, something starts happening in your brain where you think it is a sick joke and it is never going to end. Know that the finish line WILL appear. A good mantra towards
the end is "My mind is not tired."

Ok....marathon eating. This is gonna be a tough one. you'll be, what, about 10 days into paleo? i started paleo and ran a half marathon 10 days later and it wasn't pretty, however i tweaked my pre-race eating after i read paleo for athletes so i'll pass my info along to you. I need you to start increasing your carbs NOW. within 30 minutes post-wod, eat a handful of almonds and raisins (1/4 cup of
both). even if you aren't hungry. then within 1 hour of that, eat your dinner with plenty of protein. increase your fruits throughout the day.

2 days before the marathon, i want you to eat in the evenings a banana with almond butter before bed the first day, the next morning eat the same, the next evening eat the same, and the morning of the race eat the same IF your stomach agrees with this that morning. increase your fruits throughout the day as well. this is where you are storing up the glycogen in your muscles. Also increase your salt intake 2 days
before the marathon. salt your food with celtic sea salt. also increase your water intake. this will help you retain much needed water for race day. do NOT eat salt the morning of...i speak from experience.

now during the race fuel: you will need to tweak this over the next couple of days. do NOT use gu or power gels or gatorade or whatever. this will throw your whole paleo thing off and you'll have to start over at day 1. (but decide now that it is OK to do this if you have to during the race. if you feel like you cannot go on unless you drink gatorade or take a gu, it is ok!!! you can begin again the next
day.) a friend of mine that was in her 10th day of paleo ran a half marathon, and we came up with a carb plan for her race. she packed raisins and honey sticks. you can get the honey sticks at whole foods or trader joes. also, during a marathon, they usually have oranges and bananas somewhere along the last 10 miles. EAT THEM! even if you have to stop for 5 minutes to eat a banana b/c you can't run and eat,
that will be the smartest thing. they don't have these things during a half....so you're at an advantage. email the race director or race contact to ask about where these might be along the course. it will help you prepare mentally also.

how does all of this sound to you? sound do-able? it's your first marathon, so have NO expectations. this is the best thing! i'm so excited for you! it's quite an accomplishment! i'm super duper jealous!
:)

As a side note, I wanted to CONGRATULATE Robyn, winner of the Crossfit Rebellion Paleo Challenge!!!!!!!!! She has made HUGE strides in her wods AND she lost mega inches! She's working HARD on her LBN! (Look Better Naked!) I am going to try to talk Robyn into letting me post her before and after pics, and I will post mine as well...and maybe Jackie's too (Jackie was an honorable mention in the Paleo Challeng). But I gotta talk 'em into it first! It's probably not going to happen, but hopefully they'll take one for the team so we can spread some Paleo LOVE!

Until next time!