what i learned training for my first marathon.

1. It doesn't get better unless you make it better. When my bra started chafing, it did that till I had open sores that bled until I got my act together and got a better bra. The foot was bad but just got worse until I got to a doctor. Fix things when they happen.
2. Dress like a runner. I cover everything that blisters or chafes in Body Glide - feet, under your bra, under a HRM strap, even where I clip my ipod on. Cotton sucks, even if it's just a small percentage of the fabric content. It gets wet, then chafes. Purge all cotton from your running wardrobe.
3. Lose weight first, then up the mileage. I think one of my big mistakes was getting into this thing before I'd gotten down to a reasonable weight for me, and it made the stress on my body all the worse. I've read that 1/2 marathons are a better way to lose weight, which makes sense: long runs burn fat, but too long and you're hurting yourself carrying extra weight.
4. Have a support network. I was lucky to have Ben, Molly, blog readers, and folks on RW and V-Team forums. When I got injured, or when I missed a long run, or when I was worried about pacing, it was nice to have people to chatter with.
5. Make it public. When it's 15 below zero and 6am, knowing my coworkers will ask whether I ran that morning (since they think it's insane) sorta helped peel me out of bed. It works.
6. Know the course. I was really happy that I chose a flat race, since I had no way to train for hills. I tried to keep the course map in my head while I trained and at miles say to myself "on race day I'll be crossing a bridge soon" or "on race day I'll be getting to the turn-around point soon." I didn't know the map real well, though, and got a little turned around at miles 18-20 on race day, and, while there was zero chance of getting lost or off course, it was a mental challenge.
7. Practice your nutrition. I trained using the products they gave out on race day, but I used vanilla clif shots and they only had raspberry or espresso ones on the course. Not used to it, the espresso one made me gag and both of those flavors upset my stomach. Try all the flavors, and if the stuff they're serving isn't working for ya, carry your own.
8. Carry your own water. When Holly told me holding a water bottle for 26.2 was what she liked best, i thought she was crazy... until I did it too. It's really nice to drink when you need it and not have that nagging "I really need a water station now" feeling. And having it in my hand meant no chafey belt pushing my shorts down.
9. Train at a pace that will get you to your race goal. It was just dumb of me to not care about training pace when I had a time goal in mind for race day. If "just get to the finish line" is enough for you, that's one thing. But for me, I wanted more... and I could have gotten in so much faster if I had just prepared for it.
10. Keep smiling. Race day, this was my mantra, and it totally worked. It makes other folks smile back, and it keeps you focused on the good stuff. You're out there going farther than you ever thought you could- who cares if it hurts? Keep the achievement in your mind and it makes all else seem small.
11. Reward yourself. I kept motivated by giving myself little gifts- an ipod after finishing my first 10, new shoes once I finished 200 miles, a massage after the 20 miler, and a garmin after finishing the marathon. It's cool to earn stuff... and it makes the little milestones in the middle seem important.

Last night, I bought that Garmin Forerunner (not the 405, since I couldn't justify $100 more... REI has the 305 on sale for $169!) and registered for the Chicago Distance Classic, a 1/2 marathon. Two weeks of recovery before I start training for that.