Running • Page 107

Yes, I have absolutely had to phase things out because of this!

 

These things are too expensive to not finish. But man. Can’t buy that flavor again. The only thing that triggers than much visceral revulsion in my body is vodka and orange juice. Suddenly sensing a theme.

 

Oh god, yeah, my days of being able to drink screwdrivers ended before I graduated high school. Total gag reflex. I've never had quite that level of revulsion to gels, but there were a few things from my first marathon that I had to take a break from for a long time. Sometimes, this can happen within a race. I only got through three of the five gels I had on me during my last marathon because I felt like I just could not choke down another one.

 

Yeah, I stopped snacking three hours into my first marathon because I almost threw up around mile 18. Such a glamorous sport we’re in. My second one was much better and I only missed my final nutrition hit because I was panic running to get sub-4. I’ve done while halves without snacking because I woke up that morning and was like “yeah, we’ll be lucky if I can put water in today.”

I’ve been working on getting over my gel aversion and I’ve found a couple Gu I really like (strawberry banana and raspberry lemonade); hoping it helps me balance my in race nutrition a bit more. I need more help with cramping later on than I was giving myself.

 

Fueling is so essential for the full, and I have such an easy time with it for the first three gels (I typically take one every five miles) but I really do struggle getting one down around the 20-mile marker. I think I might just have to alternate flavors more to avoid that nausea feeling I get from the last one.

 

For last fall's marathon and last week's half, I have been doing Maurten gels. I know they are expensive and don't work for everyone, but not having to be meticulous about lining them up with water (I still tend to out of habit) and not having a flavor has been nice for me. They go right down for me and don't really taste like anything.

Outside of Maurten, I tend to use the tried and true Gu brand in the citrus flavors. I don't like sweet flavors when running.

 

I really like the Science in Sport gels. They're refreshing, taste good, come in a bunch of flavors, go down pretty easy, and don't need to be taken with water either. I loved the Honey Stingers for my first few marathons, but those are the ones I've struggled to go back to.

 

I am very fascinated by how people whose paces are so much faster than mine (and I realize I'm faster than many other people at this point, too) because if I only did a gel every 5 miles it would detrimental, haha. I try to do every 30 minutes since my pace floats in that 8-9 minute range on race day/speed running workouts most of the time.

Speaking of elite paces, I just finished this book last weekend and it got me really emotional when it got down to the actual marathon at the end: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B087N91T8K/?tag=absolutepunk-20

I've read 3 or 4 books by him now. There are some really good running books out there (and not just David Goggans, lol).

 

I don't do gels anymore. I've discovered I can get by sucking down on some starbursts. If they get to hard I'll get water at a station to help it go down.

 

Yeah, every 30 minutes is basically what it breaks down to. Every five miles is just a little more automatic given my race pace, because I just reach for the gel when the watch buzzes those five-mile increments.

I like fruit snacks for training or pre/post run, especially the Skratch ones, but I’ve found I really can’t do anything remotely solid when I’m running at race pace.

 

Yeah, the idea of trying to chew at the pace you’re running would be a no-go for me haha. Even my pace, that’s a nope.

Speaking of, what are you shooting for in your next marathon? Based on my half last week, I’m going to train for sub 2:50 with some B and C goals as well.

 

I tried fruit snacks during a goal pace workout heading into this last marathon, and I think I got two of them down before being like "Nope, this is a bad idea" and putting them in my pocket. I did eat a bag of the Skratch chews like 10 minutes before my last race, and that worked pretty well to give me some fuel for the first stage of the race, so I'll probably do that in the future.

I'm still regrouping from my double-marathon spring, which was such a mental and physical test. I probably won't ever run two marathons that close together again. But I will probably run something in the fall. The big goal this year was to break 2:30, but I'd be happy just to beat my PR of 2:34. After these last two, I'm trying to be a little looser with time goals, because so much depends on the conditions and I did not have PR conditions at either of my races.

2:50 sounds like an awesome goal to train for, though. What's your current PR?

 

My Marine Corp Marathon goal levels for this October are 3:30, 3:45, sub-4. If I can get 3:30, I'll transition to trying to BQ in 2025/2026 since I go up an age bracket in December and get five extra minutes. If I can't get to 3:30, that'll be my next goal. I've been having really good workouts this spring post going sub-4, so hoping I can continue some momentum.

 

Damn, 2:34 is a great time regardless. My PR is 2:57, but based on my half last week, that tells me I am in low 2:50 shape. I ran that half based on just carrying over a base from the fall and then doing a few weeks of workouts leading up to the race. I feel like it's reasonable to expect to improve in a true training cycle. Plus, at a minimum, if I train at sub 2:50, it will just make running low 2:50's feel that much easier. I've been playing the long game since coming back from an injury, so I am happy with the progress I've made, but I also know I have more to offer and that my best running is still ahead of me.

 

Cosigning the SiS gels, they're the only fuel I can really handle. The packets are huge though, makes it kind of a pain carrying around 4 or 5 of them.

 

Honestly, the most important part of setting a goal time is training toward that pace. You can't control the conditions or any of the other many intangibles that factor into race day, but you can train at a high level and get value out of dialing into a pace even if keeping said pace for a full marathon ends up being out of reach. I've PRed in so many shorter distances in the middle of marathon training simply because I was training an ambitious pace on the regular and it made other things feel way easier.

Oh yeah, they're massive. Trying to carry 4-5 during a race requires really tightening the drawstring of my shorts so they don't fall down, lol. But they do seem to have a little more hydration content, which I appreciate, since I can never seem to get enough water in me out on the course, no matter how many cups I grab.

 

This is really insightful advice, been planning next steps currently and I think this is the motivation I need to just say screw it and aim for BQ next time

 

Yeah, I think as long as you're not overshooting to the point where you'd hurt yourself, it's really only beneficial to train for an ambitious pace. You can adjust closer to race day or even on race day if the pace doesn't feel doable for 26.2, or if the conditions aren't favorable. I'd recommend dropping a few tune-up races at shorter distances into your training cycle, too. You can basically run them as workouts, but if the training is working, you might score some big PRs that feel great and boost your confidence. I ran a 16:09 5K and a 55:12 10-miler in the month before Boston.

 

How do you guys approach transitioning from one training cycle to the next? I’m thinking about next moves and not sure, for example, whether I should be starting from shorter long runs again versus just going back to 18-20 milers. Intuitively it feels counterproductive to cut back distance when I already have the base, but I’ve never done this before and recognize there may be something I’m missing

 

Listen to your body. I’ve taken 6 weeks off and also gone for a run 2 weeks later.

I definitely overtrained for a couple races, so that’s probably the danger of staying at those 18-20 milers. Especially considering it’s summer now. My five miler in 90 drained me as much as some of my long runs in the winter.

Maybe keep your midweek short runs the same if, like me, you just like the time spent on feet not able to do anything else but then pull back the long runs to a half or less. Keep your base where you’re comfortable but not pushing until the cycle ramps back up? Probably depends on your race date, too. I had a marathon on April 7th and my next is October 27th. I’m holding 25-30 miles a week from May 15th to July 28th then kicking off again.

which is hilarious because when I first got into running 30 was my max mileage week but here we are. You’re also faster than me, though, so you can get more miles in in less time, so your base could be higher.

 

Depends on when your next race is/what you're training for. I had 40 days between my last two marathons, so it was a quick bounce-back. Probably too quick! I got two long runs into that gap (a 20-miler and a 21-miler) but dialed it back a little bit on the workouts. Typically, I've had significantly longer in between marathons, so I've pulled back for 2 months or so and then gotten back into long runs and regular workouts.

 

It’s amazing how often I go from, “the next race I’m signed up for is 8 months away I don’t really have to dial in a training plan until 3-4 months out, max, and even then I have enough of a base that I can just dial it in in the last 7-8 weeks, no biggie” and, “oh my god I need to put together a detailed plan that will control every moment of my life from now until 8 months from now and any deviation will spell disaster”

 

I knew summer running was brutal. I’ve done it for years. But hot damn some days just drive it home. And every single water fountain at the parks on my route were broken.

 

Anything longer than about eight on the hot days should be an automatic "take a water bottle with you" day.

 

I had one with me. Was hoping to refill along the way.