Goal of Sub-3 Hour Marathon (Read 15845 times)

Well, I had originally hoped to break three this weekend but I ended up with 3:02 at Lake Wobegon Trail Marathon. Still this was better than I expected as I really don't feel I am in shape right now and I had to take the last two weeks of April off due to the flu. I think my next best shot will be a Grandmas in June but I will be running Med City in two weeks. My intention now is to run that one fairly easy but if I feel good the first half maybe I will see if I can pick up the pace the second half and give three another shot. After all the second half of that race is pretty boring going out and back along that bike trail to nowhere and by speeding up I will have to spend less time on it.

#976 http://www.cellcomgreenbaymarathon.com/ In case someone is curious before I post a RR

Dopple - good luck; I'm going to track you by phone!!

Good racing to flovesparko as well!

Jim... pull my name from Buffalo 5.24.09 ... my knee pain has escalated and I can't run for the next couple of weeks. I am dissapointed because of the mileage I put in the last several weeks. Bummed out about the non-refundable airplane ticket but what can you do... Re-schedule me for the 7.26.09 San Francisco... Good luck everyone this weekend!!

Good luck in your races this weekend Dopple Bock and flovesparko I also signed up to track DB.

Jim... pull my name from Buffalo 5.24.09 ... my knee pain has escalated and I can't run for the next couple of weeks. I am dissapointed because of the mileage I put in the last several weeks. Bummed out about the non-refundable airplane ticket but what can you do... Re-schedule me for the 7.26.09 San Francisco... Good luck everyone this weekend!!

That really sucks - But sometime intelligence has to rule. Thanks for the well wishes. I use a depletion / loading strategy for week or marathon - I try and keep cabs to 100-150 grams (400-600 calories) for 4 days - Total calories < 2,000 and then load with excess carbs. in the past in the loading phase i have used it as a license to be a pig. i end up 6-8 pounds over normal weight at the start line. now i have never "hit the wall" - so this has always delivered plenty of glycogen. this time i am trying a lighter loading phase - eating around 500 grams of carbs for three days and a total of @ 3,000 calories compared to the 4000-5000. i am hoping this brings me in @ 200 instead of 205 for the marathon. i am still really relaxed and doing well - 2,000="" and="" then="" load="" with="" excess="" carbs.="" in="" the="" past="" in="" the="" loading="" phase="" i="" have="" used="" it="" as="" a="" license="" to="" be="" a="" pig.="" i="" end="" up="" 6-8="" pounds="" over="" normal="" weight="" at="" the="" start="" line.="" now="" i="" have="" never="" "hit="" the="" wall"="" -="" so="" this="" has="" always="" delivered="" plenty="" of="" glycogen.="" this="" time="" i="" am="" trying="" a="" lighter="" loading="" phase="" -="" eating="" around="" 500="" grams="" of="" carbs="" for="" three="" days="" and="" a="" total="" of="" @="" 3,000="" calories="" compared="" to="" the="" 4000-5000.="" i="" am="" hoping="" this="" brings="" me="" in="" @="" 200="" instead="" of="" 205="" for="" the="" marathon.="" i="" am="" still="" really="" relaxed="" and="" doing="" well=""></ 2,000 and then load with excess carbs. in the past in the loading phase i have used it as a license to be a pig. i end up 6-8 pounds over normal weight at the start line. now i have never "hit the wall" - so this has always delivered plenty of glycogen. this time i am trying a lighter loading phase - eating around 500 grams of carbs for three days and a total of @ 3,000 calories compared to the 4000-5000. i am hoping this brings me in @ 200 instead of 205 for the marathon. i am still really relaxed and doing well ->

I use a depletion / loading strategy for week or marathon - I try and keep cabs to 100-150 grams (400-600 calories) for 4 days - Total calories < 2,000="" and="" then="" load="" with="" excess="" carbs.="" in="" the="" past="" in="" the="" loading="" phase="" i="" have="" used="" it="" as="" a="" license="" to="" be="" a="" pig.="" i="" end="" up="" 6-8="" pounds="" over="" normal="" weight="" at="" the="" start="" line.="" now="" i="" have="" never="" "hit="" the="" wall"="" -="" so="" this="" has="" always="" delivered="" plenty="" of="" glycogen.="" this="" time="" i="" am="" trying="" a="" lighter="" loading="" phase="" -="" eating="" around="" 500="" grams="" of="" carbs="" for="" three="" days="" and="" a="" total="" of="" @="" 3,000="" calories="" compared="" to="" the="" 4000-5000.="" i="" am="" hoping="" this="" brings="" me="" in="" @="" 200="" instead="" of="" 205="" for="" the="" />

Yeah. I used to have a bad problem with weight gain when carb loading, and it would stick with me after the marathon. When doing lots of marathons this is a problem. Even doing a 3-day carb load is problematic when you are running 1 / week... you spend half your time pigging out! For the past year I've been using the "Western Australia" carb-loading protocol:

The newest and perhaps the best of all the carbo-loading strategies was devised in 2002 by scientists at the University of Western Australia. It combines depletion and loading and condenses them into a one-day time frame. ... In an experiment, the researchers asked athletes to perform a short-duration, high-intensity workout consisting of two and a half minutes at 130 percent of VO2max (about one-mile race pace) followed by a 30-second sprint. During the next 24 hours, the athletes consumed 12 grams of carbohydrate per kilogram of lean muscle mass. This resulted in a 90-percent increase in muscle glycogen storage. Runners have cause to be very pleased by these findings. Doing just a few minutes of high-intensity exercise the day before a competition will not sabotage tomorrow's performance, yet it will suffice to stimulate the desirable carbohydrate "sponging" effect that was sought in the original Ahlborg protocol. This allows the athlete to maintain a normal diet right up until the day before competition and then load in the final 24 hours.

This works out to about 750g of carbs for me, which I get mostly with pasta and Boost or other carb drink. I've run more than a dozen marathons like this (including my sub-3 at Boston), and never run out of energy. Oddly, this article conclude with

Having said all of this, I would like to note finally that carbo-loading in general has been shown to enhance race performance only when athletes consume little or no carbohydrate during the race itself. If you do use a sports drink or sports gels to fuel your race effort -- as you should -- prior carbo-loading probably will have no effect. But it doesn't hurt to do it anyway, as insurance.

which really makes no sense to me. You can't take in carbs as fast as you are burning them in a marathon. If you don't start loaded, actually even if you do, your muscles are going to want more glycogen than they have by the end of the race. If you could really adequately fuel yourself on course, then carb loading would be very bad, because of the 4-5 pounds of extra glygocen + water weight! I do sometimes wonder whether I'm "too loaded", and am incurring a weight penalty that I don't need. But I've got to think that every extra ounce of glycogen helps. Good luck this weekend, DB and flovesparko! ChakaKahn, sorry to hear about the setback. BTW I'll be running Capital City in Olympia, my 6th in 5 weeks (starting with Boston). Not looking to set any speed records, probably somewhere in the 3:10-3:20 range. But this is a smallish race, a few hundred people, and that should likely be good enough for an AG award.