The Wall (Read 939 times)

I went to NU as well...

I know, that was the joke. Too inside, maybe...

Am I buying you a beer next week?

Is this a trick question? I am still planning on doing Grandma's, despite a complete lack of training for it. I really need to get a long run in this week, but at 96° it's not easy. We're doing a hit-and-run there in Duluth, I emailed our plans to you at the monkey address, we won't be there long but hopefully can get together long enough for you to buy some beer . But seriously, hope to see you there!

Well, everyone knows about the wall. Where you just honestly feel like you couldn't take another step. How do you guys push through the wall? (or do you?) Personally, i just keep chugging along and try to make the remainder of the run/race seem like not alot. "Just 4 more miles and im half way done, then just 8 to go!!"

(Trent's long post is a pretty good summary...) You have the right idea... mostly you just have to keep going however you can, and you can usually do that if you have the experience to know the wall is coming. If you don't and have TOTALLY run out of glycogen, you are in a world of hurt because then you can't even metabolize fat well (or at all...) If you're working harder to run slower, that's a clue. The main way to avoid the wall is training. Progressively longer long runs over time will train your fat metabolism so you don't have to run only on stored glycogen. Of course you have to hydrate and replace electrolytes lost in sweat. Folks are right when they say you can hit the wall if either or both of the distance and pace are too much for how you have trained. Been there... done that (both ways.) FWIW, not everybody "refuels" with calories on long training runs. If you have a good endurance base and are running at a pace which allows you to burn a good percentage of calories from fat you can avoid hitting the wall in longer races. Of course, races are where most folks push the pace... and then you need to have that Lactate Threshold pushed up by your training. Jake, I love your profile. When you mentioned 7 miles at 6:30 pace all I could think of was "running 26.2 miles at 6:45 pace at age 40 isn't fun until it's over." (if you're as slow as I am) As long as you continue to love running, you're doing great.