The Marine Corps Marathon is exactly 30 days away! I decided to go on a long run this morning. At about mile 10, I decided to make my long run into a 20-miler. My personal distance record, and the peak mileage that I am planning on doing. I hit the 20 mile mark mainly for the confidence boost. From here on out, it's all going to be downhill with my training. Until the actual marathon, of course :)
.JPG)
So today, I learned what my fueling plan is NOT going to be. I'm NOT going to only drink 8oz of water and I'm NOT only going to eat a 110 calorie gel at mile 10. Yea... I was smart enough to do both those things today. Since I wasn't planning on going 20 miles, I only brought along a small Amphipod 8oz water bottle and a Clif Shot gel (Double Expresso). Such a bad idea and I was hurting starting at mile 15, going up a hill. The dreaded WALL was looming in front of me, and I felt a deep gnawing hunger in my stomach. I also felt generally fatigued, and I slowed down a lot to conserve energy. I made it through, though, and didn't actually hit the wall, even though I was so close I could brush up against it.
So, next time. Bring more fuel.
I hope that my legs won't feel so fatigued with proper fueling. I don't think I had 6 more miles left in me, and my glycogen stores were nearly empty.
Except for the lack of fuel, I am very satisfied with my run. I was averaging a 8:39 pace, which is comfortably under my goal marathon pace of 9:00 min/mile. Even though I don't want to have a time goal for my first marathon, based on my performance today, I think I have a 4 hour marathon in the bag.
.JPG)
A long ass list of my splits:
1- 8:26
2- 8:26
3- 9:04
4- 8:27
5- 8:24
6- 8:39
7- 8:36
8- 9:01
9- 8:47
10- 8:25
11- 8:43
12- 8:56
13- 8:21
14- 8:18 (mostly downhill)
15- 8:34
16- 8:58
17- 8:46
18- 8:35
19- 8:53
20- 8:49
