Happy Labor Day! Hopefully you are outside soaking in the last day of summer and not stuck inside because of the rain. It’s pretty miserable in Philly today.
I recently read 2 interesting articles backing up 2 of my non-traditional training habits: (1) not eating before long runs and (2) running long runs at or near marathon pace. I blogged about this awhile ago so I’ll spare you the details on why I do what I do.
The first article was mentioned on Miss Zippy’s blog and it advocates fasting 3 hours or more for runs lasting more than 60-90 minutes. For many of us AM runners, that means getting up around 4AM to fuel (or earlier). The author says don’t sacrifice sleep in order to get your pre-run meal in, as long as you begin fueling shortly after you begin running AND you adequately refueled for recovery after your last run.
I have done training runs up to 26 miles without eating before. I don’t get hungry, my stomach is happy, and my performance is better. I always begin fueling with Shot Bloks after 4 miles and drink chocolate milk afterwards for recovery. It’s the whole cycle of not eating before, fueling soon after, and fueling for recovery that makes it work. When I do eat on race day, it’s always 3 hours before start time.
The second article was in the September issue of Running Times. Renato Canova, coach to the elites, advocates high-volume goal-paced training. While this obviously isn’t a ground breaking idea, Canova maintains that traditional tempo runs are too short (and, thus, have no connection to the marathon) and the long run for the marathon is too slow.
While I agree and certainly do my long runs near marathon pace, I also think there is a place for LSD runs, especially for beginners. I would say 25% of my marathon training runs are done at LSD pace.
Other highlights from the article…
- Canova has his runners do 17- to 24-mile runs at roughly 95 percent of MP. These closely stimulate the demands of the marathon in terms of speed, distance, and psychology. I could not agree more, as long as you are recovering adequately.
- The author dubs Canova’s Golden Rule as follows: to fulfill your potential as a marathoner, you need to progressively extend the distance you can run at your goal pace, over a period of months and years. Wow. Yes and yes! This doesn’t happen overnight, not even for elites. When I was trying to BQ, I aimed to knock 15 seconds off my goal MP with each training cycle. Baby steps.
Enough science talk. This weekend I ran 13 miles – my first long run since the 50K and I was pretty beat up afterwards. I was thinking of running a 5K on Sunday but, between the humidity and my tired legs, I scrapped it. I did manage to return to barre today after a 5-month hiatus!
And I’ll leave you with 2 random pictures from this weekend…
The lighting was better in the parking garage…
Yes, so random but Bruce Jenner doesn’t even resemble himself anymore. For a second I didn’t even know who this was until I saw “Bruce Jenner”.
Did you race this weekend? Do you eat before long runs? Do you think Bruce Jenner resembles a cat?
Love hearing about new running research! I’m usually a morning runner and unless I’m running over 10 miles, I rarely fuel with anything besides coffee. I eat my dinners pretty late (9pm) and I try to refuel soon after I finish running, so it seems to work pretty well. I haven’t done a long run completely at MP (7:35, gulp), but I’m going to try and extend my tempos to at least 10-12 miles. Hopefully I’ll see ya at RnR Philly. 🙂
This winter I was a big fan of ending long runs at mp and doing a lot of my long runs faster than the traditional lsd. This summer was just too hot and I couldn’t. Every long run was a disaster pretty much and I did one with the last miles resembling something close to mp. I went to SF to get a decent long run in and then just ended up PRing so I am not sure about my current stance is on long runs. I guess I need to see how I feel when the temperature cools as I think it might be a temperature thing for me…
haha oohh, Bruce Jenner.I think he resembles a claymation character of some sort, actually. I usually just eat a banana before my runs in the a.m. and am fine with that. For long runs I’ll have a Gu and some Nuun. Too much in my stomach would not end well. For races that start later I’ll have toast with PB and a banana as long as there is plenty of time to digest! Thanks for the articles! Love that stuff
I find that I can avoid a lot of GI issues if I don’t eat before a long run. I have a system of going out on an empty stomach if I’m running from my house, but if I’m driving somewhere I eat before because then I have time to “go” before the run starts.
I also eat before trail runs because I have this twisted theory that I could get lost and be out there for days, so I should have a full tank to start. Plus, on the trail, the whole world is my portapotty.
Like you, I rarely eat before runs because that would mean getting up super-early so I’d have 3 hours to adequately digest. And I also start fueling early (around 4 miles).
If I do happen to be up 3 hours before a long run or race, I usually just have a cup of tea and 2 scoops of Hammer Perpetuum mixed in water. It’s about 200-250 calories and no fiber so easily digestible. This has been my standard method for the past couple of years and it works out well.
Bruce Jenner is totally creepy! He should have stepped away from the plastic surgeons office a long time ago.
I usually eat before long runs, although it sort of depends on what time I’m starting/how late I ate dinner the night before. Unless I’m driving somewhere and have a lot of time it’s usually just a few bites of granola bar while I’m getting dressed. I feel so much better if I have coffee before but then I just end up peeing like every 2 miles. I really need to do some long runs at MP, but it really intimidates me. I feel like I am struggling just with LSD!
That guy’s hair is really creeping me out.
So THAT is what Bruce Jenner looked like before he had “aging intervention,” as I call it. He does look like a cat now that you point that out…
Love hearing about running research. I need to get better about not totally slogging it on long runs (guilty…). I usually eat maybe a bar or something really easy to digest about an hr or hr and a half before running as it doesn’t bother my stomach and usually NOT eating does, for some reason (not sure why)
Very, very interesting. Thank you so much for posting. I do usually eat something before a LR. I usually have my first GU after an hour. I’ll have to read more into this information. 🙂 Workouts/Runs during the week, I never eat beforehand. NEVER!!!!
I have a question for you. I have two friends that have heavy feet when they run. They run kind of loud. Do you think that’s a bad thing? Both have run marathons before. Would love your thoughts on it. I read some things online — but some of them were random people answering.
I did run the color run and it was fun. Oh, that rhymed. It was definitely a nice experience. I did hear that the one in Philly was much better than the NJ once though. Did you run that one?
I just read an article about not eating before running and was going to write a post about it soon….not sure if it’s the same one you’re referring to, but here it is: http://www.active.com/running/Articles/The-Benefits-Of-Running-On-Empty.htm
I agree, I don’t need much, if anything before running…and I find that I don’t need to fuel as much as what some guidelines suggest. If I have too much in my stomach, I get GI issues.
Very interesting about running long runs at or near MP – that’s a new thought, but interesting!
And I never would’ve known that was Bruce Jenner if you didn’t say it 🙂 Hope you had a good weekend!
1. I want to steal your dog.
2. We shall not discuss why I refuse to eat before long runs. “Runs” there being the operative word.
Oh, see…..I went there anyway.
Bruce Jenner looks way weird now. I had a hard time doing long runs as slow as I was supposed to and I totally agree with getting your body used to the demands of the marathon. Great post. I usually eat something before a long run, but usually not very much. I get hungry!