Freakin Out

veswystun

posted: 9/3/2008 at 7:35 PM

I am training for my very first marathon here in Detroit on October 19th....it seems as if my running is getting worse instead of better. My body seems to be falling apart, I'm quickly losing interest in my "long" runs (which the longest so far has only been 15 miles!). Is it necessary to run a 26 mile long run before the marathon, or can one pull off the distance by only running 20 miles at a time? I run every morning before work (5K), then try to increase my long runs by a mile or 2 on the weekend. Anybody have a better plan? Also, what should I eat the day before my long run to give me more energy? I've heard of "carbo loading" but I feel like crap after gorging on pasta. I began using Jelly Belly sport beans as opposed to GU because of obvious reasons, GU tastes horrible to me. I'M STARTING TO PANIC AND I'M LOSING CONFIDENCE IN MYSELF AND MY RUNNING....HELP!!!! Shocked

dgb2n

Dave

posted: 9/3/2008 at 8:05 PM

Many marathon training plans, including the one I'm on doesn't go beyond 20 miles on the long run. From the sounds of things (of course it would help to post a mileage log), your midweek runs aren't really long enough to support the long runs that you're doing on the weekends. Even assuming you do 5 x 5K during the week, that's only 15 miles to support a 15 mile (or longer) long run. It really may not be enough. You should be shooting for at least one mid-week run up in the 8-10 mile range and the other runs should be pushing up to 5 or 6 by now. As far as eating, I don't think you have "carbo load" to have enough energy for these long runs. Eat a normal dinner, just make sure its not too heavy/fatty. A morning constitutional is helpful as well. For me at least, the key is to have something in my stomach the morning of my long run (usually a banana and a raisin bagel) and then take some form of energy during the run. Gatorade might be enough for you. And make sure you're drinking water along the way. If you've gotten to 15, you may be able to pull this out but you might have to slow down quite a bit and rethink your pace goal if you have one.

I ran a mile and I liked it, liked it, liked it.

dgb2n@yahoo.com

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/3/2008 at 8:14 PM

Valerie, right...? I'm the friend that is running the marathon in Milwaukee with Eryn/backroadrunner. Nice to "meet" you. Smile

Milwaukee is 2 weeks prior to Detroit, so I'm in week 14 of an 18 week plan. I am doing Hal Higdon's Intermediate 1 plan. Given what you've described for your mileage I would think you could perhaps pick up with his Novice 1 plan, but it will still be a challenge, I think. You'd be in week 12, which would have you running a 12 mile long run, with next week's long run at 18. But if you've already done 15 and you are very careful to keep it slow you should be able to tackle 18. Then you scale back to 14 for your long run the following week, then 20 the week after that...and then 3 weeks of tapering.

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

midwest runner

Giants Fan

posted: 9/4/2008 at 9:55 AM

My longest run will have been 22 miles, so I'm definitely not doing the 26. I want to save that distance for race day. However, my mid-week runs I have had one at least at 10 most of the plan. I finally start to downsize next week my mid week is 9, then 8, then 7 race week. My weekly mileage is anywhere from 45-60. Good luck!

"I think I've discovered the secret of life- you just hang around until you get used to it."

Charles Schulz

Ennay

A Saucy Wench

posted: 9/4/2008 at 11:27 AM

Most plans dont go beyond 20, some go to 22, some stop at 16 (which would NOT work for me) But yes on upping those midweek runs. My plan actually has 2 midweek runs that are at least 1/2 the distance of the longest run to date including the current week's long run. So if this week I was doing a 16 mile long run for the first time my wednesday and saturday runs would be 8 miles and if I had a cutback week next week my W & S runs would STILL be 8. On a novice plan I would still try to have at least 1 midweek run = 1/2 the long run Given where you are with your base I would plan on ramping only to 20 and try to ramp up the midweek runs slightly. Never ever GORGE to carboload. All you are doing is weighing down your system. If your diet is 60-70% carbs and you are not losing weight there is no need to change your diet before a long run. If your diet is lower in carbs and/or you are (intentionally) losing weight then just try to eat a little extra carbs the day before your long run. As in an extra piece of bread with lunch and then maybe 200 cals more at dinner. A normal serving of pasta. A couple pieces of bread. Not gorging, just a slightly larger meal, or if you have a small appetite some people find that eating a normal dinner and then having a 2-300 calorie bedtime snack of healthy carbs tops them off. Some find it a nice opportunity to have a small serving of a food they dont normally eat much of.

I have become Death, the destroyer of electronic gadgets

"When I got too tired to run anymore I just pretended I wasnt tired and kept running anyway" - dd, age 7

veswystun

posted: 9/4/2008 at 12:19 PM

THANK YOU for all the great advice! I really need to get my butt in gear from the sounds of it. As we all know, balancing a career, children, a spouse and everything else, sometimes those long runs are cut short and it's just beyond our control! I do only run 5K every morning, BUT...some weeks I do get to throw in a nice race along with my long run. For instance, last week, my long run was 15 miles, then Saturday I had a 15k race. Sometimes, my morning run is stretched to 5 miles, just not very often. I also have a 20 mile run scheduled for Sept 27th, that'll give me a pretty good idea where I stand, even if at that time it is too late to do anything about it if I'm not where I need to be. I wish I would have followed a marathon training program from the very start, however, I think I will hop on the Novice 1 plan (thanks Zoom!) and see what happens. You live and learn! I have no goal time in mind for the marathon, my only goal at this point is to finish the race in an upright position! And even that's negotiable, I'll crawl if I have to, but DAMMIT, I'LL CROSS THAT LINE! You guys are awesome, and an inspiration to me, thanks again!

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/4/2008 at 12:32 PM
modified: 9/4/2008 at 12:33 PM

Quote from veswystun on 9/4/2008 at 12:19 PM:

my only goal at this point is to finish the race in an upright position! And even that's negotiable, I'll crawl if I have to, but DAMMIT, I'LL CROSS THAT LINE!

Ha, somewhere on RA I recently said something to the effect of crossing the finish line even if it means dragging myself by my elbows! Big grin

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

veswystun

posted: 9/4/2008 at 12:45 PM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 9/4/2008 at 12:32 PM:

Ha, somewhere on RA I recently said something to the effect of crossing the finish line even if it means dragging myself by my elbows!

Hey...a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?! Smile

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/4/2008 at 12:46 PM

Quote from veswystun on 9/4/2008 at 12:45 PM:

Hey...a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do right?!

By any means necessary... Big grin

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

veswystun

posted: 9/4/2008 at 12:48 PM

Does Eryn know I'm out here yet? She's the one who told me about this site, and my boss thanks her very much, my productivity has been cut in half! Ha ha ha! Big grin

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/4/2008 at 1:22 PM

Quote from veswystun on 9/4/2008 at 12:48 PM:

Does Eryn know I'm out here yet? She's the one who told me about this site, and my boss thanks her very much, my productivity has been cut in half! Ha ha ha!

*snort* I'm not sure she has seen you...have you popped-in on the MI board at all? You know...if she doesn't know you're here we can talk about her and she'll never be the wiser... Evil grin

BTW, love your avatar and profile pic. Does your DD hope to run with you someday? My DS is 7.5 and has ZERO interest in running, which is a shame. The kid is all lanky and has boundless energy and speed when he does run. He loves to bike, just like his dad. He'll bike along with me as I run for 5-6 miles, no problem. It works out pretty well, since he's still too young to be home alone while I get my workouts in.

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

veswystun

posted: 9/5/2008 at 6:42 AM

Hi Kirsten, My daughter (who just turned 3 yesterday!) loves to run with me, of course, she can make it about a half a block! She loves wearing the bib and even sports my garmin from time to time! I'm really trying to help her learn at an early age the importance of a healthy lifestyle and the benefits from it. I'm also a certified cardio kickboxing instructor and she does that with me too! I don't force anything on her, she seems to be really interested, I hope it sticks! As far as my running goes, I'm going to attempt a 15 miler tomorrow and then try to hop on the novice program. I might have to switch up some days, but I'm going to try to stick to it. It's going to be rough, as I can only really do my running in the morning. This presents two different problems for me....1) I already get up at 5am to run 3 miles, I'm assuming I'm going to have to be out of bed and hitting the streets by 4am to get the longer runs in. 2) My stomach is not exactly up to par first thing in the morning if you know what I mean! By the time I hit the 3 mile mark most mornings, it's a mad dash to the bathroom! I can't seem to get off that schedule and I don't even drink coffee before I run! Any advice on what I can do? Something I can do the night before perhaps? Such as maybe don't eat after a certain hour? Maybe run 3 miles, make a pit stop at home then go back out for the rest of the run? I know it's gross to talk about, but it's a fact of life and all runners at one time or another have dealt with "emergency situations!"

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/5/2008 at 7:56 AM

Quote from veswystun on 9/5/2008 at 6:42 AM:

2) My stomach is not exactly up to par first thing in the morning if you know what I mean! By the time I hit the 3 mile mark most mornings, it's a mad dash to the bathroom! I can't seem to get off that schedule and I don't even drink coffee before I run!

Yeah, that's a tough situation (there are a TON of threads around RA about this dilemma). The main reason I drink coffee is to "clean house," but that also means that I can't hop out of bed and run. Any way you can move some of your runs to the afternoon or evening?

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

veswystun

posted: 9/5/2008 at 8:40 AM

Quote from zoom-zoom on 9/5/2008 at 7:56 AM:

Yeah, that's a tough situation (there are a TON of threads around RA about this dilemma). The main reason I drink coffee is to "clean house," but that also means that I can't hop out of bed and run. Any way you can move some of your runs to the afternoon or evening?

Not really, unfortunately, what do you think about splitting up the runs?

zoom-zoom

Fanatic #3965

posted: 9/5/2008 at 8:45 AM

Quote from veswystun on 9/5/2008 at 8:40 AM:

Not really, unfortunately, what do you think about splitting up the runs?

I think it's a good plan. Even maybe plan your runs to be near public toilets whenever possible. My bladder often kicks-in about a mile from home, so it works well for me to run in the direction of one of the public park toilets. Unfortunately they will be closing in another month or so. I hate that. People still use the rail trail, so why close the toilets?

Kirsten

'07: 1324.5 | '08: 1561 | '09: 1810.9 run ~ 208.7 bike | '10: 1,000.3 run ~ 3513.5 bike | '11: 710.3 run ~ 4157.9 bike '12: 659.9 run ~ 3365.6 bike (100% benched by ortho last 4.5 weeks while in long-arm cast)

'13 Goals:

• DON'T BREAK ANYTHING!!!

• get within 5#s of 130#s (and stay there, gotdammit!)

• 1st olympic distance duathlon

• 1st Iceman Cometh mtn bike race

• Half Fanatic

• punch Type 1 in the junk

Marathon Training and Discussions

Freakin Out (Read 433 times)

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