Of Mice and Marathons

I never take fuel on my long runs.. Not sure if the science is really conclusive on that but it seems to have worked in the past.

24 miles! It just got real... You weren't just loafing around either, good run.

Agreed, Steve. I used to take maybe one gel, but in the last two buildups I haven't taken any and I don't eat anything before. Last marathon I took 3 gels during the first 18-19 miles just to be safe and let it go from there.

I was hungry at mile 8-10, but it went away. Of course, the gel isn't for hunger but I could have used a PB&J :)

Joe: Last year I did one 24 miler and it boosted my confidence because I could have kept going. It wasn't the only thing that helped me close hard in the final 5k of Sugarloaf but it didn't hurt.

After suffering a bit in my second marathon (going up to 19.5 w/ tempo miles) I believe in going long, up to goal time or maybe 10-15 minutes more, but not much more than that.

24 miles, wow. great run. pushing the pace like that (uphill!) with 23 miles on your legs...i think that's a good sign. bam can verify.

i hope you had a pb&j or two after this one.

Great run.

There's lots of research on fueling for both training and racing. Reasons to fuel up before and during a long workout? You'll have a better workout, run faster, and recover faster. Reasons not to? You might teach your body to better utilize fat stores.

Any recent books by Matt Fitzgerald are good on this subject.

Allie: I decided to make pancakes and throw some jam and maple syrup on there. It was perfect and only slightly indulgent. Back to PBB&J tomorrow though :)

Rob: I learned last marathon that eating a solid pre-race meal does wonders for your performance (I take the Paul school of fueling and go primarily with fruit). So I know that you run better. I have noticed that I seem better recovered after runs because I time my intake better than previously (sure it's hippy plant protein, but it seems to work). I think for my final workout I will do a marathon fuel and give it heck.

Do you have a side you weigh in on for the research? I'll check out Fitzgerald's book.

Awesome trainer for Boston, I love where you placed your hills and how you attacked them. I'll be lookin' for you to cheer me in at the finish line if you can wait around at the finish that long! (-:, (-:, 42 days till show time!

Nice run Jason. This is the perfect ~85% MP run on varied (challenging) terrain.

Empty tank = burn fat instead of glycogen, which is what you have to be able to do to run a great marathon. Learn to do that in training, then top off the system w/ carbs during the marathon itself.

You're doing this right... It seems like you've found the right volume/intensity balance to be getting an adaptation from all the harder efforts.

Huh. Yeah, the pace was Goldilocks then I guess now that you put it that way.

The empty take school of training has been my approach pretty much from the beginning. Heavier on the carbs 3 days before. Race morning is 450-500 calories of fruit and a granola bar. Worked wonderfully last time.

This buildup has been sensible even though I jumped my mileage a bit quickly in January. 80-90 miles is perfect for me. I don't feel beat up and I can get really fit with the right mix of basic workouts. Also, in general there is no "long run day," or "tempo day." Try for 2 recovery days, sometimes 3 just to be sure. Plenty of time to improve. No sense to cram.

Tom: you have no blog profile pic, so how will I know who you are? I'll just call everyone Tom :) They will be in too much pain or too elated to hear anyway.

"I don't feel beat up and I can get really fit with the right mix of basic workouts."

That's what everyone should strive for!

Simplifying the marathon specific training to a midweek workout and quality long run, w/ 2-3 easy days in between is really a great approach. That's what I'm going to do for all marathon buildups in the future. I liked how it led me into CIM, and I know that if I stretched out that approach for 8-10 weeks, it's the ticket.

http://running.competitor.com/2014/03/news/interview-chris-solinsky_96580

"The one thing that Matt [Tegenkamp] and I were talking about is one thing that he wishes he could have changed that I’m going to try is to have some depletion runs in there. Depletion runs are where you don’t really fuel up beforehand and you don’t really fuel up during and you just feel really drained and light headed. You have to put your body through that every once in a while. He [Matt Tegenkamp] says he wishes he had done that more. They are miserable, but I do think it’s going to be something that helps in that last 10K of the race where no matter how prepared you are, it’s going to hit you hard. That’s what I would recommend to someone transitioning to the marathon."