Friday, December 4, 2015

Time for fuel

This week has been a change. I decided to cross train for my first run this week. Now do not think I am stopping this running journey. I did 10.5 hard miles on the bike at the gym. Yesterday I had a commitment for lunch so I had to run after work. I did four miles. I stopped at Starbucks again for a pit stop and they were almost out of TP!! I mean really? I have learned my lesson and am now carrying my own wipes with me on runs.

I have begun to think about fueling during runs. I have done some research and it is recommended to ingest 60 grams of carbs/hour of running. This equates to 2 GU gels and 3 oz of gatorade. Up to 9 miles I haven't been fueling. By not fueling I have been running on a deficit and training my body to run this way. I am quickly approaching longer runs where I need to be able to recover in a reasonable amount of time to be ready for my long run the next week. I have decided to go to Walmart and get GU gel and start by taking 1/hour. I will be taking 2 for my 10 miler this weekend and I will post a recap here. I will slowly work my way up to 2 GU's per hour as the marathon approaches.

I have also debated on changing my long run once I ready a half marathon run. The prospect of running 14 miles one week and then 15 miles the next seems daunting right now. By adding 1 mile a week currently I am not getting overwhelmed by the distance. I do foresee a time when this could be a problem. There is only so much repair work the body can make in a week. I have considered altering my training plan to the following. I will work my way up to 13 miles adding 1 mile/week. I only have 4 more weekends (including this weekend) to get to this goal. The next week I will run 13 miles again. The week after that I will run 15 miles. The week after that I will run 13 miles, then 17 miles then 13, then 19, then 13, then 21, then 13, then 23, then 13, then 25, then 13, then 27.  I am hoping by keeping the off week at 13 miles I am able to give my body time to recover from the long run from the previous week. I am not sure if I am more likely to injure myself with the old training plan of increasing 1 mile/week, or if the new training plan of 2 miles every 2 weeks with a half in between will be better.

Thoughts??