This year I signed up for my first full marathon! It’s not until November, so I haven’t started training for that just yet. But I have given some thought to how that’s going to go, and I’ve also been consulting some of my distance running friends for some training tips! I’m also running a half in April and a 10-miler in May.
Here is what’s stuck out so far:
- Run your long run of the week and then the next day run half that distance. So if I’m doing an 18 mile training run on a Sunday then that means Monday is 9 miles. This is to get my legs used to volume. And really not just volume, but volume when my legs might be a little tired! When I train with my mom and run on Mondays I’ll do half the distance the day before on Sundays. I’m thinking that might be an even bigger challenge!
- Don’t worry about your time during the long runs. I had a hard time seeing the value in this one because I always look at my long runs as performative. I’m like – can I do all my miles for the run at this pace? But I haven’t really come across training plans that prescribe running all the long runs at race pace. I guess I just worry about my ability to be able to turn on speed on the day. Again, maybe it’s a volume thing!
- Fuel properly. Ahh – something I preach but do not practice! I always told myself that I performed better without having anything in my stomach. You will not see me at an evening exercise class. I think the latest I’ve worked out in the past few years has been 1:00 pm. I think I did a 3:00 pm workout a couple months ago. I never feel good with food in my stomach. However, I realize the importance of available energy especially during running. I’ve started testing different cereals both cold (low fiber, like plain crispy rice cereal) and hot (cream of wheat) and they’ve both done well. No fruit beforehand. Still figuring out the timing!
Training During the Week
I’m running my 10th half marathon ever in April with my mom. My brother is also running, but I don’t count him because he won’t be running at our pace. I’ll be running with my mom at her pace. I might work in some long runs that are time-based instead of interval-based so I can make sure my legs can run at a slightly slower pace for longer. That’s another training tip I got from someone! Make sure you can go the distance.
I’m planning on running Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. I’ve never done more than 4 days a week training so I’ll see how I feel. Leading up to the marathon I might run 5 days a week. I’ll plan to do 2 longer runs per week + 1 speed run + 1 shorter run. Speed run I’ll probably do at Orangetheory because I do enjoy taking class there at least once a week. My 5th workout of the week will definitely be Les Mills BodyCombat. I truly can’t live without it! I’ve been loving BodyPump also, but that’ll have to be worked in sporadically because I don’t want to be sore or even fatigued when I should be prioritizing running!
Fueling for Runs
Mentioned briefly above, but I need to work on my fueling. I think I have my carbs looking good. On an average day (even not running, to be honest), I probably get in around 100 g of carbs before my afternoon snack. My breakfast is carb heavy, usually some sort of oatmeal + yogurt. We haven’t been doing carbs with dinner (not because we don’t like to, for other reasons for another day) so I haven’t felt bad about bulking up on carbs during the day and it’s been working. I love toast or bread for lunch and I’ve been loving dried fruit.
I think the one thing I need to work on is getting enough protein daily. I don’t care too much about fats. I know I get enough because we cook with lots of olive oil, we eat salmon and chicken thighs. I snack on peanut butter every once in a while. But protein will help support my muscle recovery so I need to prioritize that!
OK! It felt good to get some of those thoughts out and onto paper. Looking forward to the next 9 months of training. 🙂