April 22, 2007
20 Miles: In The Bag
After last week's horrible awful unsuccessful attempt at 20 miles, I decided to do some rescheduling - instead of starting my taper then, I'd do one last long run this weekend (in theory: 20 miles) and then have a two week taper before the race, instead of a three week one. I know quite a few people who have done it and liked it, and since I'm not running The Pig for time, I figured it was worth a shot. Mostly because I really wanted to have a good 20-mile run - not because I thought I needed it physically, but because I needed it mentally.So on Saturday, I rested. I ate well. I went to bed insanely early so I could get in 8 hours of sleep before getting up at 4 a.m. for breakfast. Then I went out and kicked that 20-miler's butt. Sure, I was sore and tired and the end... but if I'd had to run another 10K? I could have done it. I'm ready for this race, and I feel pretty good about it.
The one thing I'm finding as I do more and more of these long (18+ mile) runs is that it all boils down to hydration for me. Towards the end, I was feeling pretty crappy and I wasn't sure why - I'd been drinking water like a maniac, but everything still felt hurty and crampy. Then I just knew: I wasn't getting enough electrolytes. I stopped at the next gas station, bought a bottle of Gatorade, and once I chugged that thing down? I felt much, much better. It was amazing. (Clearly, I was also still a little dehydrated, since I chugged the thing down in about 5 minutes and didn't feel sloshy, but it was super-warm out and there's only so much fluid one can get down while running.) So another little thing for me to note in my mental training book: water is good, but if I'm going to be out there for 3+ hours, electrolytes are better.
All in all, though, it was a great run. I knocked the distance out, and because it was so warm (57 degrees when I started, and it went up to 75 degrees by the time I was done) I feel much more confident about my ability to handle those conditions should we end up with them on race day. Right now, I feel ready to go down there and rock and roll (we'll see what two weeks of tapering does to that, which is why I'm writing it down now).
Food:
4:30 a.m. - Wheat toast with peanut butter
7 - 11 a.m. - Water, Gatorade, and Gu during run
11:15 a.m. - Chocolate milk
2:30 p.m. - Huevos rancheros, breakfast potatoes
7:30 p.m. - Chicken, mixed greens, avocado mango tomato salad
Posted by Dawn at April 22, 2007 07:45 PM
Comments
It sounds like you made the right move by changing your schedule. I find long runs challenging mentally but they are excellent practice for the marathon.
I'm way impressed that you got up at 4am. Wheat toast with peanut butter does sound good. It must be close to my lunchtime.
I take gatorade on all of my training runs over 5 miles. It might be advertising and all in my head, but I feel like it helps more than water.
I like the sports beans too, though they are hard to eat while running. While training for my marathon last year, I found that if I eat two at a time--one one each side of my mouth, I can chew & swallow them while running. I imagine that I look a little like a chipmunk.
Posted by: ShoreTurtle at April 23, 2007 09:41 AM
Wish I felt as good about my training as you do about yours - my 20 went well but the long runs before and after have been crappy. Not sure how I found your blog but I've been reading if for a few weeks. I'm from wisconsin and will be running the Flying Pig as well this year! Good Luck!!
Posted by: Laurie at April 24, 2007 03:02 PM