This is tough
I’ve done 2 weekends worth of back-to-back long runs so far and they are rough! It takes forever for my legs to warm up and work out the kinks on the Sunday run, which is generally a 10-miler. Last weekend, I ran 20 on Saturday and 10 on Sunday – just shy of 5 hours worth of running!
It’s hard to describe how my legs feel. They don’t ache like they would after speed work or a fast finish long run, it’s more of a general fatigue that’s hardly noticeable but doesn’t really go away. Does that make any sense?
The good thing is that I’m spending lots of time on my feet, which is much needed for this 50K.
I know I said this before but people that walk half marathons and marathons are simply amazing. That must be exhausting.
Food, fuel, repeat
Last weekend my stomach started to growl during my 20-miler despite my usual scarfing down of Shot Bloks every 4 miles. I’m going to need to eat some real food on the run – maybe a PB sandwich (or a Speculoos sandwich)?! Luckily, my long run route is a loop so I can stash stuff in my car. Yes, I’m already preparing for loop insanity by running multiple loops on my long run.
Barre on the backburner
Due to my hardly-noticeable-but-doesn’t-go-away leg fatigue, any barre classes will be on the backburner until after the 50K. Barre is about 70% leg work and I’m done with feeling guilty for not going. So the pressure to go is off until August. I’m may need to pick up a 6th day of running anyway…
Last week’s training
MON: rest
TUE: 8 mi – 9:22 pace
WED: 6 mi – Garmin free
THU: 6 mi – Garmin free
FRI: rest
SAT: 20 mi – 9:33 pace
SUN: 10 mi – 10:00 pace
50 miles total. I’m stepping back a bit this week to rest my legs. Only 4 more weeks until I taper!
Anyone have long run (real) food suggestions? Maybe I can be like Dean Karnazes and order a pizza to be delivered?
Do you back off on strength training when your mileage is high? The way I see it, running is my priority right now and barre will only add insult to my already fatigued legs.
Ahh the fatigue 🙂 I think I forgot was like to run on fresh legs earlier this year. Totally normal! And day 2 it would always take a good 8-10 miles to warm up.
Food! I eat a lot of stuff on those long runs… PB sandwhiches are great, zbars, chips, gold fish – yum! Trail races usually have boiled potatoes too (that you dip in salt) which are amazingggg. Try out a bunch of stuff to see what your stomach can take!
Wow, very impressive! Congrats on getting an awesome start to your training and a 50 mile week!!! Yes, I think you’re going to have to start bringing sandwiches or energy bars…..or pizza 🙂
If you have a cooler in your car, fill it with cold coke and try oreos and plain potato chips (not BBQ or something crazy). You have to experiment to find out what works for you (salt/sweet/fat/etc) mid run. I like peanut M&Ms and coke personally.
i did 20miles+10 miles the past two weeks and its hard. this week is a major stepback week for me! need to let me poor legs recover!
if i ever did an ultra i think id want to try baked potatoes. it just sounds really appealing
Ooh, that 50K is coming up fast!!! Exciting!!
My husband has done a 50 miler and he found a good combination (for him) of boiled potato, egg white, and chicken broth. At the aid stations, he threw down pumpkin pie.
I’ll have to start experimenting soon with food in the next few weeks as well! Bring it on 🙂
Sounds like you are enjoying the ultra training! I can relate to the tired legs feeling – in the training cycles where I did higher mileage (70) I felt like that.
All this food talk is making me hungry!
I remember being generally more fatigued during ultra training–went to bed earlier during the week and always took a nap on the weekends!
I was never able to eat “real food” during runs, though. I guess during my training runs I felt fine with my Hammer Sustained Energy. I did bring peanut M&M’s to the ultra (plus there was all kinds of food/candy there) but I didn’t need them. Of course a couple hours after the race was over I scarfed them down!
whoa, how do you have only 4 weeks until taper?? Time freaking flies. Good decision on nixing the barre classes until the race is over – I’m sure your legs will thank you!! I recently read Eat & Run by Scott Jurek and he talked about making these burritos to eat on the run. They have beans and stuff, so clearly he must have intestines of steal. I think PB&J sounds like a perfect idea!
You could pick up Scott Jurek’s books and read some of his tasty vegan options. :^)
Seriously, though….wow, I have no idea what I’d eat on a weekend like that, with my touchy stomach. I think PB on white bread might work, plus maybe some of those tasty Lance Armstrong Honey Stinger waffles. Good luck with that! And I’m very interested to hear if/how long it takes your legs to get used to that kind of weekend.
YOU are my HERO. I read this post on the toilet (TMI? I was just peeing…) the other morning and wanted to reply. I am so looking forward to finally meeting you in August. You are going to rock this ultra.
Running in heat is SO hard. It also takes a toll on your confidence. 🙂 Great job on the long runs though! I planned for a 9 miler this past weekend but started running at 11:30am. FAIL. MCM training officially starts next weekend! Eeek!
Dude, you are a machine! And, my version of long running on a weekend would be a 7 & an 11 miler back to back (Saturday & Sunday), so I’m pretty sure I’m not the right person to give advice. That said, what about having: mixed nuts, a protein bar, peanut butter sandwich, dried fruit (too risky for GI reasons?) in your car & stop on each loop for five minutes to eat/digest?
We eat almost exclusively “real food” during adventure races (I put that on quotes because most of the food is serious junk – trying to get in dense calories and eat a variety of things so that your stomach doesn’t turn 18 hours into a 24-hour race). In my experience, PB&J is great, as is dried fruit, pb crackers, and honey nut cheerios during long foot sections in the middle of the night. 🙂