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Running & Racing around the globe

Finding the right combination

8/12/2014

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Training for a marathon involves a lot of experimentation. You have to find the right shoes, the right pace, the right fuel and recovery that works for you.

I'm currently half way through my training plan for the Detroit Marathon. I'm still struggling to find the right fueling strategy. I normally bring two gels (island boost - not really a gel but more of a liquid). For my 15 miler I thought maybe I would need 3 gels.  I tried them at mile 6, 9 and 12. By the time I got to 12 it just didn't go down and I felt like it wasn't necessary.  What do you do? I used to use sport beans during races, but now I have braces so that is probably not a good idea!

I also tried eating ahead of time. I find that I have no appetite at 4:30 am when I'm rushing out the door.  I forced myself to eat a few bites of bagel and peanut butter on my drive there. I can't say that I noticed any additional amount of energy having eaten something ahead of time.
I'm going to try oatmeal and see if that does anything. I'm thinking of bringing fig newtons for the 18 and 20 mile long runs too.  What snacks do you use for training?

So far, I've been running out of gas around 10 miles or so. Granted, it is close to 90 degrees in sunny Arizona when I'm out there running, and obviously the weather on race day in Detroit won't be anything like that!

One thing that I experimented with that has worked well is using compression socks afterwards. I didn't use them after my 14 mile run and I was sore for days. I used them after my 15 mile run and my legs felt fabulous, pretty much immediately!


Any suggestions for fueling would be appreciated!
In the meantime, I'll keep experimenting!
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It takes a village

8/4/2014

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Once I decided to train for a full marathon in the fall (what was I thinking?), I started struggling to get my long runs in, since it was summertime in Arizona. I am a morning person, but I just couldn't get myself out the door early enough to beat the heat. So I spent the first few weeks of my training plan getting in runs that were much shorter than what I had planned.  I started to panic.

My very first full marathon back in 2000 (Maui) was with Team in Training. I had a sense of accountability, knowing that my team was meeting at a certain time/place and all I had to do was show up and get my run in.  So it occurred to me that I was missing that accountability to get me out the door in time.  I started to search for running groups.

I found a group in my town that was women - only and they meet at 5am on Tues & Thurs.  It was just the thing to get me out of the house (even though I hate getting up at 4:30). 
The ladies are very positive and even though they aren't looking to get in much distance, I stay afterwards and get in more miles when we're done. So that solved my weekday problem. Yay! And I'm seeing a lot more sunrises these days, too.

Then I still had to tackle the long run on Sunday.  A former Marathon Bar teammate of mine runs a running group on Sundays and was posting about their weekly long runs. I decided that was the answer to my problem.  Several people meet up at 5am and go a variety of distances. It turns out that there is a guy who is also training for the Detroit Marathon who is in the group, so I totally lucked out there.   The group gets me out on the canal and from there it's just a matter of getting it done.

Don't be afraid to reach out to other people to help you accomplish your goals. Sometimes you just have to be resourceful. Luckily, I was open to meeting other runners and can live with getting up at the crack of dawn (for now, anyway). I'm so glad I turned to the internet to connect me to other runners suffering through an Arizona summer!


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    Hi, I'm Emily! I'm an avid runner in Arizona with a passion for travel and racing around the country!

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