Healthy Food Chart

Music is motivation–especially when you’ve got 26.2 miles of pavement to pound. I’ve been prepping for the Nashville Marathon for four months now, and I owe major accolades to my beat-up iPod for getting me through many early-morning miles.

Keep up with SELF staffer Jaclyn Emerick as she preps for her first-ever marathon. She’ll share personal stories, training tips and tricks, her favorite running gear and more between now and when the gun goes off on race day.