After running 3 half marathons since December 9, 2012, I have decided to tackle training for a full marathon. It is 10 weeks before race week (7 Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga), and my most recent half was 6 weeks ago. My running partner, Chris (female), had been "toying-with" a full marathon training plan already. I asked her to send me the plan and we calculated where we needed to pick up in order to be ready on October 20. Here is the plan:
We started our training at the end of week 7. We had already done both a 3 and 4-mile run during the week, but I had not run any real distance since June 22. Really--- starting with 12 miles?! And to add insult to injury, neither of us could run on Saturday, so we had to do the 12-miler on Sunday. So, for us faithful church-goers, that meant getting up extra early in order to get back home and ready for church. It's just too hot here in East Tennessee in August to run in the afternoon.
So, our plan was to get started running at 5:30 a.m. (I had already been getting up at 5:30 all week in personal effort to spend more time in prayer and Bible study), meet at our usual spot, and run a familiar route.
The thing that I want to really keep track of in this training is what I eat right-before and during a run. In all three of the halves that I have run, my body, i.e. my intestines, goes into "dumping" mode almost as soon as my feet slow to a walk. There is very little research &/or factual information out there for this problem, and I am guessing that each individual case is very different. This only happens to me after races, and rarely after a training run. I suspect that it has something to do with adrenaline??? So, I need any help I can get--- if you have any advice, please share in the comments section.
Here is my food log for my first marathon training run:
5 a.m. Coffee (black) and water
1/2 Cinnamon-raisin bagel with peanut butter
5:20 Advocare (from Chris) Spark energy drink mix
During run:
~15 oz water & 10 oz. Gatorade
1/2 Clif bar (coconut chocolate chip)
In my running belt I had one water and one Gatorade (10 oz. each) along with a Clif bar and Clif gel (I hate gels, but they seem to work well).
I felt fantastic the whole run, despite not getting to "go" before I left my house. We didn't have any strategy for this particular run; we just wanted to finish. We stopped and walked while we shared my Clif bar around mile 8. We stopped soon after so I could (finally!) go to the bathroom. Glad there was one close-by! I never used the Clif gel shot because my energy was still good after the Spark and Clif bar (coconut chocolate chip=amazing!). I drank my whole water and a half (Chris refilled while I was in la latrina) and my gatorade. When we finished, we walked for about 5 minutes (which is new for us; we usually walk only about 30 seconds because we have babies waiting for us at home and husbands that need to leave for work), then stretched and headed home. As soon as I got back in my mini-van (yes, you read correctly!), I started drinking a Gatorade that I had planted purposely for my post-run drink. The post-run sport drink is something I do per the advice of a well-read/fitness-knowledgeable (and beautiful and amazing!!!) friend regarding my stupid "dumping." View her blog here.
I had a few nibbles of the other half of my bagel and a couple bites of banana with lots of water when I got home. I ate several raw almonds on the way to church, and 2 mini candy bars after Sunday school/before service. No tummy problems after this long run! Wahoo!
It's 14 miles this weekend and guess who's joining us? BEN- my husband! I am so excited that when I said that I MIGHT be interested in training for a marathon, he said he would train with me as much as possible. Ben is a great runner and has run one marathon already. I am thrilled that we are working toward this goal together. I plan to journal all the long training runs, so I'll be updating weekly.
I'll leave you with a passage of scripture that Ben and I committed to memory a month or so ago. It reminds me that relying on my strength to do anything, no matter how big or small the task, gets me nowhere. I have asked God to use this training process and marathon to bring glory and honor to Him, not me.
Hi there! New to your blog from Brittany, she said to check out your post. :) I was going to give me 2 cents on nutrition, but it sounds like what you used worked really well for this run. So just keep doing what works - it's very individual and the best way to learn is to practice. :)
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