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Today was my longest training run to date: 16 miles in 2:37 = 104 laps around the Pleasant Grove Recreation Center indoor track. Ugh, I’m feeling a little dizzy. Previous to this my longest run had been the 14 miler I ran last Saturday.

I wanted to run outside, but the air was a bit cold and I wasn’t prepared with the right gear. I’m determined to get some good outdoor training in soon though!

This entry will give a basic break-down of the pre-run meal, the run itself, post run meal + some bonus tips & tricks I’ve used in my training so far.

With the Salt Lake City Marathon a month and a half away (Apr. 17) I still have a lot of intense training ahead. I’m trying to be careful about not pushing too hard so that I can prevent any onset of injury.

Pre-run meal

I had one Eggo Waffle and 1 slice of bread, both with peanut butter and Miller’s Creamy Honey on it. I also had a 1.5 oz. shot of Activ Healthy Chocolate, a handful of grapes and half a banana. I intended to start my run one hour after eating, but didn’t end up getting out the door until two hours later. I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t have the fuel needed for the long run. My thanks go out to Runner’s World nutrition information: http://www.runnersworld.com/channel/0,,s6-242-0-0-0,00.html

Miles 1-4

One mile is 6.5 laps around the track. Since I ran 4 miles on Tuesday and Thursday this week I felt ready to roll for the first quarter of my training today. In fact, on these shorter training runs I had increased my pace considerably just to push myself and see if it would help me on my longer runs with both endurance and speed. It definitely did. My pace last week Saturday was about 1 min. 30 sec. per lap while today I was around 1 min. 20 sec. per lap, essentially taking one minute off my mile time.

No mP3 player today (I need to get a smaller one) so I was left to my thoughts, the sound of the basketball buzzers going off for all the games on the floor below and of course the sound of my breathing. Speaking of which, I’m big into breathing in sync with my steps or pace. It helps a lot to get into a rhythm by focusing on aligning breathing pattern with the pace that you are comfortable with. Doing so really helps to keep the pace extremely consistent, too. For me, I prefer a four step breathing pattern, meaning I inhale for four steps and exhale on the next four steps. I find if I try running faster than my comfortable pace then my body gets worked, oxygen deprived and requires me to move it up to a 3-step breathing pace, which I want to avoid since I’m training for distance and endurance right now, not necessarily on top speed. On my shorter runs this week I was pushing my limits a bit so I knew my breathing rate would have to be faster to compensate for the extra effort I was exerting.

The first 4 miles cruised by comfortably and on lap 26 [mile 4] I walked for 1 lap and drank some water.

Miles 5-8

The transition from walking back to running was smooth and my legs were still feeling good and fairly fresh at this point.

On lap 52 [mile 8] I walked for 2 laps and drank more water. So far so good…or so I thought.

Miles 9-12

The transition from walking to running was really pretty brutal at this halfway point. For some reason I’ve been having some impact pain on the right side of my right knee. It isn’t swollen or anything, but may be the result of needing a chiropractic adjustment on my hips. Do you ever feel like one of your legs is slightly longer then the other? Well, when your hips are out of alignment then your legs really are uneven and you certainly feel it when you run. I’ll be getting to my favorite “chiro” soon, Dr. Erick Bingham, in Lindon, to take care of this issue.

Anyway, my knee was really sore after the walking and with each stride it shot pain throughout my leg. I wanted to stop. I wanted to walk. I had every good reason to take a break, stretch it out or even call it a day. I didn’t want to do that though. I made a commitment to stick with my training schedule as best as I can and I know that these long runs are the critical component of successful marathon training.

I started thinking about the blog article written about my good friend, Wade Erickson, and the 50-miler that he trained for and completed. In the article the writer described Wade’s initial training weeks as being painful due to problems with his knees and legs. However, as he consulted with his ultra-marathon mentor, he was advised to just push through the pain and to stick with the training schedule that they had put together. He did and after a couple of weeks the pain went away. So, as I’m running along, feeling the pain and wanting to stop, I thought of Wade, training long distances for weeks while being in pain. That is NOT easy to do. Thinking of this inspired me to push through the pain + I realized that I was starting my 4-step breathing cycle with every 4th impact of my RIGHT foot. I felt that this psychological focus on that leg and foot may be a contributing factor to the pain so I switched my breathing pattern to align with every 4th impact of my LEFT foot. These things, combined with the continued running, worked! My pace picked up considerably and I no longer felt any noticeable pain in my knee (though I’m pretty sure I’ll be feeling it tomorrow!).

On lap 78 [mile 12] I walked for 4 laps, drank some water and a snack while walking.

Miles 12-16

By this point my legs and feet were pretty sore and in pain but I felt renewed a bit after my snack and knew that I just needed to push on to the end. I was encouraged by the thought that I would run until lap 100 and then walk the last 4 laps of the run as part of my cool-down.

Thanks to the training I’ve put in so far my body has been strengthened and I was able to mentally push past the pain and just run, focusing my thoughts on anything I could to distract me from the constant pain and soreness in my legs.

During these final miles I was thinking about how accustomed we’ve become in our culture to avoid pain and seek pleasure. We are conditioned to associate pain as being bad and to do whatever it takes, whatever the cost, to alleviate the pain. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for a good pain reliever when it is really needed, but I’m afraid too many people seek to avoid pain and as a result end up as diseased overweight slobs! Now, no offense intended for any diseased overweight slobs that might be reading this post. Perhaps my censure will help you have a greater desire to “seek some productive pain” in your life!

Much of the pain associated with physical exertion, exercise and pushing our physiological limits IS productive pain and we should learn to embrace it, not avoid it. When the pain sets in it tests not only our physical stamina, but more importantly, our mental toughness and emotional stability to follow through with our commitments when the going gets tough. Sure, there are times when it is better to cut the run short or to make adjustments to the workout and each of us needs to be in tune with our own bodies enough to know whether we are about to create an injury or are simply in a state of pain because we are pushing the envelope.

It felt so rewarding to run through lap 100, finish strong and to walk it off for those final 4 laps at the end. My legs were trashed but my spirits were high and I felt like I had truly accomplished something great for myself! I’ve dreamed of running a marathon for many many years and THIS year my dream will be realized.

Post-run meal

A bowl of cottage cheese with mandarin oranges on top…one of my favorite snacks. I also had two slices of whole wheat toast with a little butter and raspberry jam. I had a 1 oz. shot of Activ Healthy Chocolate, had a few grapes and drank a lot of water to re-hydrate.

Closing thoughts and random tips

As I run I think about race day and what I will need and what it might be like. I need to go to the local running stores to checkout some running socks, hats and possible sunglasses for race day. I know that I need to simulate race day as much as possible by running outdoors, wearing the gear that I will most likely wear on race day. I’m a firm believer in the saying “Nothing new on race day”. That includes everything from the shoes and clothing we wear, to the food we eat, to the warm ups we do, to the hydration points throughout the run. From this point on I’m going to plan my hydration ONLY at those mile markers where I know the marathon organizers will have setup aid stations. Since these stations are spaced about every 1.7-1.9 miles apart I will most likely go for every other one in the initial miles while possibly hitting all of them in towards the second half of the race. We’ll see how that strategy feels when I implement it in my training.

The other thing I need to get is a smaller and lighter mP3 player. I have a clunky video iPod that is WAY to big for what I need. The new teeny-tiny Nanos or whatever they are would be perfect. I’m weird in that I like listening to audio books and personal development programs when I run. I’ll probably put some training playlists together that have a mix of music with the audiobooks and see how that goes.

Lastly, if any of you runners out there have any suggestions, ideas, feedback, etc. related to running, diet, training, great websites or races of interest, please leave a comment below and join in on the discussion. You can also click on any of the Social Media icons below to share this entry with your friends and contacts!

Happy running to you all,

Munro

This entry was posted on Saturday, February 27th, 2010 at 4:48 pm and is filed under Fitness Training, Running, energy, goals, inspiration, mindset, personal development, visualization. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.