The pressure is on....any advice for a newbie?

Duane,

I love your advice! It reminds me of the Miley song- Climb. Love it! Best wishes to you. Thanks again!

 

 My first half marathon is on Nov. 7th.  Until recently I'd never ran more than 6 miles at any one time and that was back in highschool in 1983.  I really didn't start running again until mid August.  I've now done 10 miles and during that 10 miles I ran and walked.  Don't pressure yourself into thinking that you have to run the 13.1 miles.  It's ok to walk if you need to.  The rules for my half is that we have 1 hr. 45min. to complete the first 7 miles.  If we make the cut off then we have 4hrs. 30min. to finish the other 6.1 miles.   My only concern is to make the cut off.  I've already done it in training with no problem so I'm really not too worried.  I just want it to be a great experience.  Good luck with your training and your half marathon.  You'll do just fine.

Duane

I feel better and better about my time with each workout. My focus now is really staying injury free. Best wishes to you! I'm sure you will blow your expecations out of the water!

Hi Jenny,

While my first half is still several months away (next Spring), I wanted to let you know that almost all of my running right now is done on the treadmill.  I have only just recently taken my runs outside to gear up for my 10K in a couple of weeks.  As long as you do the road every so often, the rest of the training is just fine on the tread IMO.  It's a matter of building up your endurance and lungs mostly.

I don't do a lot of carbs either and wasn't really planning on carbing up prior to my 10K.  The half may be a little different, since you need energy for a much longer period of time.  Would some type of oatmeal (you can make it a little thinner) work before your runs or before the race?

Best of luck!

Your stats are similar to mine. 

I've did a protien shake with pb an hour before my long run. I did really well with that. The morning food is always tricky. I think I will probably continue with the shake and do a carb and protien the night before.

Thanks for the advice and suggestions. Best wishes to you on your 10K. I'm sure you will do awesome!!!

Jenny

Food too soon to workout can actually have a negative effect on the energy you have for an endurance event.  Think anything that lasts over an hour.

Here is an example:  I have read a lot of these articles recently trying to find what works best for me and my pouch and my energy levels:

Success in endurance activity is a result of a multitude of genetic and physiological factors. While many of these factors are out of our control, one major player in the success of the endurance athlete is fluid and nutrient intake in and around training and competition. Therefore in this article I'll describe a few strategies for eating and drinking for a big race.

Fuel Utilization

During endurance activity the body uses muscle glycogen, blood glucose, muscle triglycerides, and free fatty acids from adipose tissue to provide the ATP to fuel performance. The relative ratio of these substrates utilized is dependent on exercise intensity and exercise duration as well as availability of each substrate. As exercise intensity increases during an endurance bout, more carbohydrates are used. However, since carbohydrates are limited in supply, as the exercise continues (and the body's carbohydrate stores diminish) more stored fats are used. Unfortunately the metabolism of fat is less metabolically efficient; therefore when carbohydrates become limited, exercise intensity must diminish. Since the body typically contains enough stored fat to fuel several marathons, the focus of eating for endurance activity should be on the carbohydrate content of the diet.

Before The Event

Eating a relatively calorie dense meal 2-4 hours before a race or several smaller meals between 2-5 hours before a race is absolutely essential for topping off muscle glycogen levels as well providing blood glucose for the intense activity ahead. By eating this meal, the activity will be fueled by the nutrients provided during the meal and will therefore be able to exercise for quite some time before the body is forced to use stored energy. This can end up delaying fatigue and improving performance. On the other hand, if you fail to eat or eat far too long before a race, your body will have used up all the nutrients from the last meal and even have dipped into stored energy well before you ever step foot on the racecourse. This can lead to premature fatigue and poor race performance.

While it's important not to wait too long between meals before an event, it's equally important not to eat too close to the event. Eating this big meal within 1.5 - 0.5 hours before a race can lead to one of two problems. The first is gastrointestinal distress. You'll simply feel too full or even sick as a result of eating too close to the event. The second is something known as "rebound hypoglycemia". Immediately after eating carbohydrates the hormone insulin is released. Insulin's function is to clear the blood of the ingested carbohydrates and to deliver them to storage sites such as the muscle, the liver, and the adipose tissue. Therefore eating causes hyperglycemia and in response to this, insulin comes along to cause hypoglycemia. Since insulin is the storage hormone, it opposes nutrient mobilization, locking those carbohydrates in the cells for as long as it's hanging around the body.

Now, when eating well before a race, the body is able to clear the blood of carbohydrates, store the nutrients, and get rid of insulin well before it's time to compete. However, if you eat too soon before the race, insulin will still be clearing the blood so that when you start to race, the body will have very few blood carbohydrates (this causes a lethargic feeling) and it will have a hard time mobilizing the stored fuel (this causes early fatigue). Therefore, by eating a big meal 2-4 hours before the race or eating several smaller meals between 2-5 hours before the race, you'll be able to fuel the body's energy needs without causing premature fatigue and hypoglycemia. If you couple this eating strategy with a sound carbohydrate loading strategy (see sidebar), you can be sure that you'll enter your race full of high octane carbohydrate fuel.

Here is an example of what the pre-race meal should contain:

• Adequate water (1L)
• 4-5g of carbohydrate (300g for a 70kg individual)
• A small amount of protein (20-40g)
• A small amount of fat (10-20g)

While this may seem like a lot of calories, keep in mind that you don't need to eat it all at one sitting. Spreading this meal out over the course of 2 or 3 hours may make it more palatable for you.

• 2 whole eggs
• 3 slices of whole wheat bread
• 2 cups of fresh orange juice
• 2 bananas
• 3 cups of raisin bran
• 1 cup of low-fat milk

Thank you Scott! I'm learning something valuable and new all the time. I truly appreciate it.