I hope its raining on race day
This morning I had 15 miles on the schedule and my legs were feeling happy again. A little twingy yesterday but not so bad. It was a cool 65 outside when I started and about 1 mile into it, the rain came down. I had a good hard rain for the next 5 miles! There was lots of thunder but no lightning. There were little waterfalls on the sides of the road, with rocks and hickory nuts rolling down them. My shoes got filled with water and my feet made a squishy sound as I ran.
I was worried that I would get blisters from running with wet feet but no problem. I think I am set if there’s rain on race day. I’ve had enough rain training now this summer to say that I know exactly how I will do.
The miles seemed to just fly by for this run too. It felt 1000 times better than that crappy 13 miler in Chicago. I felt better at mile 15 today than I did at mile 3 in Chicago!
And good things that happened with this run:
1. Broke my mileage distance record! 15 miles! Whoohoo!
2. Kept my pace within the target range (9:40-10:40) almost dead center at 9:56! Whooohoo!
3. Broke my monthly mileage record at 93 miles (and climbing)! Whoohoo!
And I was just half a mile shy of hitting the weekly mileage record of 29 miles. I guess that kind of explains why my legs have been a little achy lately. They haven’t seen this much mileage in a while. But if next week feels like today, I think I’ll be ok in New Haven.
A couple things did happen that I need to think about dealing with. First, I lost 3.5 pounds on this run and drank all the fluid I brought with me. I’m not sure what to do from here. I think I may buy the 6 or 8 bottle fuel belt. I have a few more longer runs and I’m not sure how I will deal with having enough to drink.
Second, I started getting hunger pangs at about mile 13. It makes me think I didn’t fuel up enough the night before even though I had several large bowls of spaghetti. I haven’t been using gel so far on the long runs because I heard or read somewhere that you want to train your body to store what it needs. Maybe that’s not a good idea. I guess the 18 and 20 mile runs will be telling me if I’ve made a good choice or not. Maybe I should start gels at that point regardless. How bad would it be to start bonking on the long runs? I’m thinking very bad.
How was your long run this weekend?
August 27th, 2005 17:39
I was under the impression that training your body to ’store what it needs’ takes quite a long time, more time than you might have in training for a single race. I experimented with eating food (gummi bears for me!) during my runs, and during my marathon I ate a handful at mile 9, and then every three to four miles after that. It worked pretty well. And I thinking losing some water weight is okay, you can’t expect to keep your water balance equactly equal (and they’ve shown some scary things about overhydrating yourself), so I would just try to get what you find your body needs to run efficiently, but not try to replace all of that water deficit while you’re actually running.
August 27th, 2005 17:41
Oooh. Gels are my friend. At 45 minutes I suck one down and it picks me right up as if the race just started. Very helpful bonk insurance, but you should train with it before just doing it in a race.
Hungry? I’ve never been hungry until I smell the steak cooking at the finish line party. Maybe you didn’t eat enough protein with that pasta.
Good for you for closing in on weekly and monthly records. We’re in the same boat, except you seem to do it with fewer minutes on the road.
August 27th, 2005 19:36
Congrats on the new records and an awesome run today.
My name is Ali and I am a gel user … they do work especially when you are getting into really high mileage. Maybe try one and see if it makes any difference. You could also try hiding fuel along the route so you don’t have to carry it with you. It’s something to look forward to during all those miles.
August 27th, 2005 19:47
Sounds like an amazing run. Congratulations on all the breakthroughs! The fuel thing is something I haven’t figured out yet. I’ll be checking back to see what others have to say. I think the suggestion to experiment with the gels might be a good one. Let me know what happens.
August 27th, 2005 22:58
Way to go Jon!!! No long runs for me until Sept.
August 27th, 2005 23:36
Talk about dedication…
Just curious, but would you have headed out if it was already raining?
August 28th, 2005 07:22
Gels are your friend. Well, I wouldn’t exactly know since I used to eat Luna Bars on long runs. (I like them a lot so I figured I might as well enjoy what I am eating rather than slurping down some goop). But the effect is the same.
And I don’t think you want your body trained to store ALL of what you need. What happens you aren’t marathon training any more. Won’t your body still be storing? I don’t really know the biochemistry of it all (as is probably obvious by the this post) but off the top of my head that’s what I would be worried about…
And good times about the 15 miles. Very very good times.
August 28th, 2005 09:44
Excellent Jon. What a good run for you. I was having some of the same thought this morning, as I never take water or food on runs. On the 8 miles today, I wondered if I shouldn’t have. Can’t wait to see you next weekend!
August 28th, 2005 13:08
I have never run a step really, don’t know how, never learned. But I love the rain. I hope it rains for you to. And here where I live to we need to so badly.
August 28th, 2005 13:12
I’m not a big gel fan. I prefer strawberry fig newtons and pretzels around 20 miles. Good for you on the 15 miles in the rain!
August 28th, 2005 23:41
Hunger Pangs? That must be different from a Hunger Pain :)
PS: I have a Canadian girlfriend now :)
August 30th, 2005 14:34
I have had success with both power bars and gels on long runs. I heard that gels are better for people who get upset tummys when they run. (I can eat nonstop pretty much all day long) Give it a try now during your training and see how you feel.
September 1st, 2005 10:06
On long runs I do a gel at mile six, and then every four miles after that. As for the water, you can do loop courses where you refuel at your car, or get with some friends and leave water jugs along the course. Even have someone meet you halfway if you like, carrying the rest.
BTW, since when is 9:56 halfway between 9:40 and 10:40?