A Fool and his Fuel

3 short days until I hit the beach for my first 50k.  I’m feeling good about most every aspect of the race – even the weather:

The one piece where I’m still a little shaky is my fuel/hydration strategy.  Both of my last 2 marathons have been challenging from about mile 18 onwards in terms of gels, sportsdrinks, etc.  Basically, I can’t get anything more ‘down in mah belly’ as I reach the critical point of the race.  It appears to be a function of overfueling.

On race day I tend to drink a little more and take gels a little more frequently than during my training runs, since I’m usually working a bit harder and going a bit farther than I do in training.  I try to do anything I can to avoid cramps once I’m out beyond 20 miles, but apparently I’m overcompensating.

Cramping has never really been an issue for me.  I’ve never had any trouble with cramping in training runs, and my only significant race-day cramping was in the MCM in the fall, which was due in part to my inability to eat or drink anything beyond mile 17.  I created the very problem I was trying to avoid by sucking down too much gel.

This time I’m going to try following the fueling cadence that I follow during training, and hope the slightly warmer temperatures I’ll be facing (compared to training), and the slightly longer distance I’ll be facing (compared to anything I’ve ever done before) don’t slap me down.  Because 29 miles of the race are on the beach, I’ll also be using more calories than my normal road running (per the infallible source of knowledge known as the internet), so hopefully that doesn’t throw everything off.  Going to give it a shot and see what happens.  Cinco de Mayo should be exciting.

I’ve been pondering, and writing about, the possibility of straying a bit from my Asics Gel Nimbus relationship of many, many years and possibly giving Brooks a try.  Assuming my legs don’t fall off and wash out to sea on Saturday, my plan after recovery is to step up my trail running, since it’s something I enjoy more and more every time I try it.  Thus, yesterday I pulled the trigger and ordered a pair of Brooks Cascadia 7 in all their green glory:

No chance I’ll wear them before the weekend and risk making the fasciitis gods angry, but I’m really looking forward to giving them a go in a few weeks (orthopedists be damned).  I thought maybe this was the first step in a new direction in shoes, and then I saw a link to the new Gel Nimbus 14 Limited Edition…

I do likes me some yellow.  I’m such a sucker.  Must resist …. Must resist …. Must resist …

I Love It When a Plan Comes Together

After the disjointed start to training week 6, I felt it only right to dwell in the past and take a look back at last week’s efforts. Week 5 was my best training week so far in terms of sticking to the plan, not discovering any new and exotic ways to inflict pain upon myself, and generally feeling like the training is starting to click.

Highlights from the fifth training week:

*  Strong 16-mile run to start the week. My long runs so far haven’t been pretty, but this one went fully as planned, and I felt like there was still gas in the tank when I turned off the engine. HUGE difference getting underway before the heat got going.

*  Did some proactive research on hydration to try and figure out how to stay better fueled for the remainder of training. Still working on the right combination of beverage containers, but the Fuel Belt alone is not enough. Never bring a knife to a gunfight.

*  Joined the Hard CORE club and got through my first two workouts. Bicycle kicks are definitely the hardest thing for me right now. Would much rather just go in the garage and kick my bicycle.

*  First run with my new Nathan handheld. Not as obtrusive as I thought it would be. After a couple more runs with it I’ll put together a review.

*  Established my new unofficial PR for a mile during Thursday’s tempo run – 6:35. I’ll probably try an all-out mile every couple weeks to keep myself entertained and see if I can lower this. Pretty confident I can get this under 6 minutes if I continue to include speed work. I don’t want to get too fast as the sonic booms tend to make the neighbors mad. I’m thoughtful like that.

*  Quietly turned 39. One more year of the thirties before I become a masters runner. I don’t feel a day over 60. Now you kids get off my lawn.

Hydration Fixation Updation

That’s right … lack of proper hydration leads to Dylanesque rhyming and usage of nonsense words. Let that be a lesson for you kids.

Decided to get a bit more scientific in figuring out not just how I like to get my drink on while running, but also just how much I need to be drinking while training. Time for some sweat-level calculation. I decided to utilize my 8-mile run this morning to figure out how much liquid I lose while running as part of my overall quest for better hydration during the Summer sizzle. I had to make a couple adjustments to the instructions I got off the internet, but I think the results are still fairly accurate. The scales at my house are crazy inaccurate, and I think they have become self-aware and enjoy messing with people depending on their mood. Since my gym is less than a mile from my house, and the scales there go down to the 10th of a pound, I decided to walk there for the start, and end there for the ‘after’ weigh-in. This necessitated the first deviation from the online instructions.

One is supposed to weigh oneself nude before and after the run, since most people’s clothes get fairly soaked and hold on to a lot of the sweat, thus defeating the weight-based determination of water loss. As tempted as I may have been to strip down in the middle of the weight room and hop on the scale, I could sense that most of the patrons did not share my enthusiasm. Apparently they still remember the last time. So I hopped on the scale in full running regalia, for a measurement of 193.6 pounds of fun. The temperature during the run was 78.9 degrees (amazingly cool by recent standards) with 86% humidity (very sticky out there this AM). I felt pretty good during the run, so I decided to push the pace to get the sweat flowing often and early. This actually ended up being the fastest 8-miler I think I’ve ever done:

At the conclusion of the run I dragged my sweet-smelling carcass back to the scales for the ‘after’ measurement – 190.4 pounds. For the purposes of this exercise I’ll go with 3.2 lbs of water loss, although the number is really a bit higher due to the sweat-soaked clothing I still had on. Now I assembled the top-notch team of hydrationologists to work their magic and give me my sweat-rate. Here’s the thrilling conclusion:

There are lots of factors that impact a person’s ability to absorb water, but following my well-tested approach of ignoring things that I don’t fully understand, I’m choosing to say I need roughly 43 ounces of liquid per hour to stay as hydrated as when I start a run. Most all the articles recommend breaking this into 15-minute intervals, so as a rule I need around 11 ounces every 15 minutes. My Fuel Belt holds 32 ounces total, and my new handheld will hold another 22 ounces, so I’ll be able to set out with 54 available ounces on my 18-miler this weekend, and we’ll see how things go. I’ll try to get around 11 ounces every 15 minutes, and see if I drown. Unfortunately there aren’t any fountains where I’m running, so I may also need to carry a divining-rod for refills. Others have mentioned running with a camel on your back, so they can impart wisdom and encouragement about how they manage to go so long without drinking, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned from training so far it’s that a camel can give you one hell of a chafing. And don’t get me started on what it’s like trying to spread Body Glide on them.

Hydration Nation

It seems my comment in a recent post about my hydration demands outrunning my Fuel Belt supply on my longer runs rang true with many of the running bloggers out there. This has been a brutal summer for race training. High temps, high humidity, a preponderance of angsty vampires, lingering worldwide sorrow over Pluto being stripped of its planetary title …. the perfect storm of fitness obstacles. I bought my Fuel Belt back in December, and while running in the ice and snow (uphill … both ways) I never had any issues with not having enough to drink. In fact, I had to remind myself every 6 miles to down one of the 8-ounce bottles. Summertime training has been a much different story.

I break out in a sweat and start feeling thirsty just from the act of strapping on the Fuel Belt. I have a 4-bottle version, and generally go with 1 8 oz. bottle filled with water (for washing down gels), and 3 bottles filled with Accelerade. Lately, by the time I hit 10 miles I’m usually into my last bottle. This has been workable so far, but this weekend I step up to 18 miles, and still have a 20, 21, 23, and several 14-16 mile long runs lurking over the horizon. Time to step up my hydration game.

Tomorrow morning I'm planning to actually measure my sweat-rate by stepping on the scale before and after my 8-mile run and seeing how much water I'm losing.  Based on the fact that I think I've left a wake behind me on a couple of recent runs, I suspect I'm well beyond the rule-of-thumb rates I've found on the internet.  I've considered pulling neighborhood kids behind me on wakeboards as a new cross-training option.

I’ve ordered the Nathan Quick Draw Elite handheld, which should be showing up in the next couple days. I’m not crazy about running with something in my hands, which I haven’t done since I finally got an MP3 player that I could strap to my arm, and was able to retire the old Sports Walkman in all its retina-burning-yellow glory. I considered going with a hydration pack, but want to give the handheld a go before investing the time into researching and choosing a hydration pack, and investing the $ in yet another running gizmo. However, there is a certain hardcore factor in setting off on a run with a bucket of water strapped to your back that I do find appealing.

In the interest of advance research, is there anybody that has a particularly good or particularly bad experience to share with using a hydration pack while training? Any particular models folks would recommend choosing or avoiding. I’d love to hear some real-world experience with these things.

Dancing With the Devil

Completed training week 4 of 17 over the weekend, and overall I’d call it another successful week. Since we were still traveling on vacation I had to cut a couple runs short, but I managed to not miss any runs, and got 33 of the 38 planned miles in the books.

Having come into this training cycle still working against ITBS and Plantar Fasciitis, continuing to increase my mileage has me walking a fine line. It’s a delicate dance between pushing and improving, and pushing and breaking. Yesterday’s 16-mile long run was a pretty big test of just where my knees and feet really are in the healing process. I got a very early start this time, and the weather was cooperative, so I managed to make it through 16.12 miles without any major issues. Ran it at an overall 9:06 pace, which is considerably faster than I intended to run, but I’m finding that as I add speed work mid-week, it’s becoming harder to slow down on my endurance runs.

In terms of injuries, my knees felt good throughout the run, and my right knee is a bit sore today, but it doesn’t feel like it hurts in an injured way. My right heel was making sure I remembered it was there throughout the run, but overall held up pretty well. Some soreness today, but well below the level of pain I felt when the PF was in full effect. My right hamstring was sore before I started the run, thanks to far too much squatting while gardening and pressure-washing on Saturday, and it’s very tender this morning, but I don’t sense this is an ‘injury’ either.

Hydration-wise, I think my 4-bottle Fuel Belt isn’t enough to cover me once my runs get over 12 miles. I’m going to start looking into adding a handheld to the mix on my longer runs. Time to do some research.

16 miles was my longest run so far in the Gel Nimbus 12, and they felt pretty good. Big difference at that distance between my old squishy insoles and my green Superfeet, but I think my soles are getting stronger with the decrease in cushion.