The long run

This weeks long run went much better than the one where I experimented with not taking in calories before or during the run. Cool morning with a little bit of wind, around 27 degrees to start and didn't warm up much. I waited until almost 7:30 am to start, after the sun was up enough to warm the day a little. Ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich before I started. Went out slow and took a powergel at 45 minutes and then another caffeinated powergel at 90 minutes. I drank diluted gatorade until about 12 miles when I ran out. Didn't want to stop and refill, because of the headwind going home. Nice to have the energy left to be able to run negative splits.

Trent wrote a great summation of the need for calorie intake during a marathon in this thread on the Striders board. The cliff notes version. 1. Know your ability 2. Start with a full tank. 3. Know your race fueling strategy. 4. Lose weight. 5. Expect the unexpected.

Indeed. Thus the long run every weekend to practice taking in the calories and to find out what works or doesn't. I could start to feel the energy levels dwindling after about 40 minutes, not so much when I was running slow. More so when I picked up the pace. Especially when I didn't take in any water in the last 6 miles.