Getting myself marathon ready

So to get myself mentally pumped for marathon training, I've been getting some new gear!

Now this is really exciting for me, because I am quite possibly the MOST frugal person I know besides my mother, and I hate spending money on anything. And I mean anything. For example, the walls in my room are completely BARE. I have a picture frame and a nice mirror to hang up, but could not justify paying for hooks, so they have been sitting on my floor for a year. A year. Ridiculous I know. So buying new gear for this runnig hobby of mine is quite a big stinking deal.

• Let's see, first of all, I got some CW-X Stabilyx pants. I'll write more about these pants later, But man oh man do I love these pants! You can see a picture of them in my first post about the Half Marathon. I want my entire running wardrobe to consist of CW-X pants. That's how much I love them. Go check it out, you won't regret it.
• And then I got a hear rate monitor. Or maybe I got them first. Whatever the case, I use Polar F4, because I can track calories burned. For me, it's such a great motivator to see how many calories I'm burning. Haha.
• Investing in a good pair of runnig shoes was probably the smartest thing I've done for my running. I went to our local running store, Santa Barbara Runnig Company, and got a pair of Saucony Hurricane shoes. My physical therapist told me my left foot overpronates a little bit, so I need a good pair of stability shoes. The guys at SB Running Company were awesome. They took a video tape of me running on thier treadmill to make sure that the shoes were supporting me correctly. It was great to know I was spending gooe $$ to get the best shoes for my feet!
• I also bought Tom Holland's "The Marathon Method" to help me train. I think I am going to use a combo of this book and Hal Higdon's Marathon Novice 2 plan to train.
• I am using Monique Ryan's book "Sports Nutrition for Endurance Athletes" to make sure I fuel myself properly. Eating well is a BIG struggle for me, as I have a devlish sweet tooth. If left to my own devices, I would eat chocolate and only chocolate all week. ....Oh wait....I've already done that before..... (not even kidding)
• New iPod arm band!
• New sweat wicking socks and running shirts! What a difference this makes! Sooooooo much better and more comfortable than cotton.
• A bathing suit, a bike and a helmet to cross train.

Obviously, I did not get all these things all at once. I would NOT be able to afford this! Just little by little, I've been building a collection. Next on my wish list is a Garmin Forerunner 305, so I can track my miles and pace.

So now that I am sufficiently geared up, I am stoked to start training! However, I have been cutting down my miles a lot since the Half Marathon, so before I can start officially training, I need to spend a few weeks builing my base up again, to avoid injuries. But I really AM excited to starat training!

What is YOUR favorite training gear? What one item would you not be able to live without? Is there anything else I should get to prepare myself?

I would greatly appreciate your feedback!

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