One of many long runs...

 I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser. #MyMarianos #CollectiveBias

When you sign on to run a marathon, you have given all your Saturdays between May and October to the. long. run.

I beat the sun on my way down to Mariano's Lakeshore East to meet CARA for my 13 mile run. That is early folks!

Strangely enough, I don't mind it. No matter how many times I've been to the park in front of Mariano's Lakeshore East, I always look up, and wonder what it would be like to live in this little pocket of perfection in the heart of Chicago.

As you can see, I was not the only runner up with the sun. CARA gets a HUGE turn out. If you can see the guy holding up the sign, he's one of the pacers for the long run. They have fast folks running 8:00 - 8:30 min miles all the way to around 12:00 min miles. I stuck with this guy at the 10:00 min pace. Although, I think we were doing closer to 9:45's. The dude was cooking!

I am stubborn as a mule, so once we started out, I honed in on the pacer and would. not. let. go. It was a tough run. There was a nice breeze so it wasn't too hot, but it was thick, and I was sweating a lot. This always makes me nauseous as I get deep into the distance, and it's a problem for me. I'm hoping at the seminar after the run, they will address this.

I chugged along, and finished my 13 miles. It wasn't pretty, I bruised my big toe, and got a HUGE blister on my foot. (No one ever said marathoning was pretty.) The bigger picture, I got my distance in. Yay me!

Now, I get to check out the recovery protein Mariano's has in store for us! There is nothing better than a cool strawberry smoothie after a long run. (I had three!)

I have every intention of trying these recipes out at home, even when I'm not training, because they are REALLY good. The banana bread made me very happy. You can find these recipes, along with helpful tips, on Mariano's Facebook page. If you attend the next running seminar (Sep. 7 at 10:00 a.m.), they have them in print as well.

I got my grub, after stretching out of course, and sat down to hear what Andrea Rudser-Rusin had to teach us. She is a sports dietitian, and a certified trainer with SportsWise Nutrition and Consulting LLC. Bottom line, she knows her stuff.

She told us about electrolytes, and the importance of replenishing them throughout your training. I've never been so good with Gatorade, which is what is on The Chicago Marathon course (always find out what is available on the course). Andrea mentioned electrolyte capsules, which I'm going to check out.

Training your "gut" is important, and that's what I'm doing now. I have a plate of angel hair pasta with light tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and some Parmesan cheese and a large glass of water the night before the long runs. This is doing me right, so I'm going to stick with it. I've been doing one piece of toast for breakfast and a cup of tea, and I have to beef that up. This weekend, I'm testing out a peanut butter bagel before my 15 miler, and we'll see how that goes.

Mariano's is a sponsor of The Chicago Marathon. If you want to keep up with all things Mariano's and the marathon, you can follow them on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out my Google+ gallery for more pictures from my 13 miler, and seminar!

If you want to keep up with all things Mariano's and the Marathon, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out my Google+ gallery for more pictures of the event. - See more at: http://www.napwarden.com/#sthash.R6NlSbUp.dpuf

If you want to keep up with all things Mariano's and the Marathon, be sure to follow them on Facebook and Twitter. You can also check out my Google+ gallery for more pictures of the event. - See more at: http://www.napwarden.com/#sthash.R6NlSbUp.dpuf

Mariano's is a sponsor of The Chicago Marathon. That means they will be providing food for the 45,000-ish runners at the finish line - See more at: http://www.napwarden.com/#sthash.R6NlSbUp.dpuf

Mariano's is a sponsor of The Chicago Marathon. That means they will be providing food for the 45,000-ish runners at the finish line - See more at: http://www.napwarden.com/#sthash.R6NlSbUp.dpuf