Question for those of you who run longer distances - at what point do you need to take in fuel?
I've always heard the general rule was if you run over 90 minutes you can start thinking about 'fuel'.
I trained with GU/Hammer Gel for my marathon. I started to take gels when I reached the 9/10 mile long runs. I did use it for two half marathons. I took one around the 8 mile mark and it worked fine for me. I have also done a half without any gels.
If you want to try them, I would wait until you reach long runs of about 8 miles. Then just try them out and see how your body likes them.
There are so many flavors out there to try. Some have caffeine, some don't. I tried the blocs once and they were a nice change from the gels. Like fruit snacks--tastier then the gels in my opinion.
I don't think the gels are really necessary for a half, but if you train with them and like them--then it works. But I also eat before running. I usually have oatmeal or a banana or something. I don't like running on an empty stomach.
Another thing to think about is mixing water with sport drinks for long miles, that way you can replenish your electrolytes.
Ncuneo - thanks for the input. The furthest I've run is five miles so I have no experience with longer distances. I figure if I do need anything, it will be something small as I'm so used to running (literally) on empty. I'm going to hit the gun store this weekend and get advice about a pepper spray - although it's mostly for mental security, I've seen loose dogs around our neighborhood a few times and I want to see what the gun guys think about having pepper spray for that purpose as well as a human deterrent.
Cheshirecat - it sounds like experimenting is the way to go. It'll be a few months before I'm up to the longer runs, but then it'll be hotter than **** here and running at 5am means no food sounds good. I'll check out the shot blocs and Gu, though something that tastes like a fruit chew sounds much better than Gu... I don't like Gatorade at all, but I know there are other sports drinks out there - again, I'll just have to experiment and see what tastes bearable!
As for me - I did 40 minutes on the treadmill this morning, 30 of which were 1/1 intervals. I'm running a super speedy 5mph, but just the joy of actually making a running motion is enough to make me happy! I have a tentative 5k on Feb. 19th and if I'm not ready by then, another one on March 19th. I think I may do the February one even if i have to walk two of the three miles - it's all about getting back on track.
Epic run tonight, was out for an hour and eight minutes. Maybe 4-5 of those minutes were walking but I mostly just ran and ran and ran. It felt so good, especially since this week has been such carb-hoovering ****. I spent my entire day at work loading up on Vietnamese coffee (somewhere between regular and espresso in strength), maybe that's where all my energy came from!
Still no means of measuring distance but I'd guess I went about 5-5.5 miles.
Good trudge round for 90 min along the trails for me this morning.
Good fun, and good to be back into it again after a couple of lazy months.
Three lots of kangaroos along the way. Cute.
And no gels etc required - especially after the pizza i ate last night.!!! I do normally use them for runs over 2hr though (approx one every half hour starting after about 100mins works for me. Can't do more than 2 though, or 3 at a push, otherwise i feel spewy - have to start lugging around bananas and stuff instead if it's such a long effort).
krampus you can download google earth for free and measure distance using the path tool.
I did 3, 4, 5 this week and am aiming for 8-10 tomorrow morning. Not much going on with me right now...feeling a little bleh...tired mostly. I think I'm bored...life's been eventful lately but quite this week - I miss the drama Anyway, have a great weekend everyone!
I had a good run yesterday. On the dreadmill, sadly, but nevertheless good. I did 2.5 miles, two of which were 1/1 intervals at 5.3mph (yay, I'm getting faster) with the last two intervals at 6mph, which I'm really NOT qualified to run just yet - that left me breathing a lot heavier than I like! But my knee felt great, no swelling this time, I stretched a ton after I ran and I think that was a big help. Tomorrow I'm hoping to get outside and do three miles, with a mile of walking (warm up, cool down) and two miles of intervals. I just need to be outside as I spend all day indoors and these days are long...
I put together a race calendar for the year, with 5k, 10k and half marathon dates - I get a break from June through September (no races scheduled locally due to the heat) but I may try to find a race in So Cal or somewhere. I'd love to run a race per month, but that may be overly ambitious! I'll do a 5k in February and March and see how things go.
I finished W6D3 today (25min jog). I had been dreading it all week. I was so sore last weekend from the 20 min run. Plus I've been kind of sluggish all week. I dropped my WW points a good bit this week because I'm getting to the end of a 3 month wellness competition with a trip for the top 3 prizes. (I had two goals: run a mile and lose 15 lbs) Next Friday is the deadline and I still have a few more pounds to lose. So I've been feeling that calorie/carb reduction in my workouts all week. Just repeating last Friday's 20 min run sounded like ****; I wasn't sure I could tack on another 5 min. But I ate closer to my normal points today. I don't think I would have finished the run if I'd eaten less.
ETA- oh and tomorrow is the Nashville Zoo 5K. I'm planning to walk the first 2 miles with my co-workers and then run the last 1.1
How far outside of Sydney were you? I never saw kangaroos in metro-Brisbane.
Hi Ashley - i'm about 15km from city centre - so the 'burbs'. But there's plenty of pockets of national park round here and plenty of roos along the trails early in a morning. You're right though, you don't see them much in residential areas.
Not a great week for me. I was extremely busy with work and came down with an awful cold/mild flu. I barely had the energy to go to work yet alone exercise. Yesterday I went to the gym and did 4 miles. The first .75 went great and I was excited but I hit a wall at .75 so I started to walk and run every 2.5 minutes. I got up to 2.5 miles and ran for a mile and half no problem. It was weird that I hit that wall. Glad I was able to run it out at the end. I am planning to get over to the gym today and get a run in too between 4 and 5 miles.
Since I'm now "officially" a runner (just finished W1D1 of C25K), I thought I'd pop in & introduce myself... I'm a 61 year old gal who spent too many years not listening to my body & paid the price by getting too big & out of shape... I've been working on that for the past year or so with diet, kettlebell workouts, & my trusty old NordicTrack ski machine... that routine served me well, I've gone from a size 16W to a size 10 & am pretty satisfied with most of my progress... still need to get rid of my jelly belly, though, so I decided a few days ago I needed something to get me out of a rut & looked into running... WOW, am I glad I did & I'm glad I checked out the Exercise! forum on 3FC... hoping to get to know all of you better...
Another dreadmill run/walk. I mean, as much as I detest gym cardio machines, actually running on it instead of just walking does seem to make the time pass faster. I was contemplating increasing my speed this week but instead I increased my running intervals - after all, no point being speedy in a 5k if I can't actually FINISH said 5k. I did 90/60 second intervals at 5.0/3.0mph. The knee held up until the last interval, which I did at 6mph, when I got a very slight twinge and realized that was enough for today. Then I did 10 minutes on the rower, which I'm growing to like...
I am set for a 5k on February 19 - the goal is to stick to intervals for the entire race, and I'll figure out the length of those intervals the week before the race - all depends on how things are going! I would love to say I'll run the whole thing but that's not realistic considering I haven't run a 5k in seven months and I still have a knee that's being rehabbed and is definitely weaker and not 100% yet. But I want my first race shirt of the year so I'm doing it!
I don't like Gatorade at all, but I know there are other sports drinks out there - again, I'll just have to experiment and see what tastes bearable!
