.jpg)
At the beginning of this year, I committed myself to a small list of goals that I wanted to achieve, which includes completing my first marathon! Running a marathon has been something that I have always wanted to do, and when I was looking at my list of life-long goals earlier this year, I decided to stop putting it off and do it! While I had originally planned on pursuing this goal at the end of May, Covid-19 quickly put a halt to that and took my motivation to run with it.
Nevertheless, a co-worker of mine who happens to love running, invited me to partake in a 100KM challenge during June, which reminded me of the love that I also had for running. Participating in this challenge made me realize that while social gatherings are going to be limited indefinitely (understandably so - safety first!), achieving this goal was still possible, just that I would be doing it solo! Therefore, I’ve planned to run my first half-marathon at the end of August and my first marathon in October while the weather is still on-point.
In preparing for my half-marathon and full marathon, there are several key areas that I am focusing on in my training, which I will detail below.
Nutrition and Calories
More than ever, I need to ensure that I am consuming enough calories to balance my caloric output and to ensure that I am properly fueling my body, as I am burning more calories as compared to before. Even more, I need to ensure that my nutrition is on-point and that I am meeting my RDAs, and if not, consider taking a supplement such as a multi-vitamin to cover any potential shortcomings. In doing so, I am using Cronometer periodically and plugging in my food to see how I am averaging in terms of caloric and nutritional intake to determine areas that I may need to course-correct.
Lastly, I am paying attention to how my body is feeling in terms of hunger. If I start to notice that my appetite is ramping up and am becoming more ravenous over the days, I may need to re-evaluate my caloric intake and potentially bump up how much I am consuming. Overall, my goal is performance-based of running my first marathon and must ensure that I am properly fueled to safely and successfully achieve this goal.
Fueling During Long Runs
I am an early riser and, therefore, run pretty damn early. Because I head out so early in the morning, I usually don’t have an appetite to eat before my long run. So the night before, I prep my water and add some flavourings such as lemon or lime juice, some apple cider vinegar, along with some maple syrup to replenish my glycogen stores. This has drastically improved my running game, but still need to test the waters of bringing some light, carbohydrate-rich snacks as well to fuel my running game, which I am incorporating more into my long runs to see how my body reacts.
Hitting the Washroom before a Long Run
Bet you didn’t see this coming! Honestly, this was not something I had considered until I ran my first 10KM and was left in GI distress after my run and needing to hit the bathroom right away. Since then and doing some reading, I quickly learned this is important if you are planning on going for a long run. Unknown to me at the time, it is common for runners to experience GI distress due to the impact that running has on the body and the sloshing around in your stomach, and going to the bathroom beforehand works wonders (which I can attest to).
Therefore, before I head out before the long run, I brew a small cup of caffeinated tea, which always helps to wake things up and gets things moving.
Type of Terrain
The type of terrain that you’re running on is worth considering, especially for longer runs, and a good idea to change it up. Running alongside a road is much warmer as the concrete radiates the heat from the sun and is harder on the joints, as compared to running on a trail, which typically has more coverage from the sun. For these reasons, I try to incorporate running on a trail for most of the runs, as it is cooler and more comfortable on the joints.
Further to that, I do my best to limit the number of hills when planning my long runs on a given weekend (more than 10KM). While this can be a difficult task, seeing as we live in a crater and is very hilly here, I deliberately take to Google Maps to determine my route and what area has the least number of hills or incline, before heading out. That is because the eccentric motion of running down a hill is incredibly hard on your ligaments and joints, especially your knees. When I ran my first 15KM run a few weeks ago, I made the fatal error of not taking into consideration the number of hills, which taxed my knees. Going down the stairs afterward was an unpleasant task that lasted a few days. Since my first long run and being more considerate of the number of hills, my knees have been much happier since.
Sleep and Rest Days
I am not going to spend this entire section talking about the importance of sleep, as you've probably heard it countless times! However, considering the level of training that I am doing per week and how much energy I am expending, it is incredibly important that I am getting enough rest each night and aim for at least 7 hours of sleep. I cannot emphasize enough the importance of rest and recovery, and quality sleep is paramount as well as taking rest days throughout the week. If adequate rest and recovery are neglected, I would be exposing myself to the risk of injuries such as stress fractures, potentially torn ligaments, and overuse injury, especially as my runs get longer.
Thanks to my Garmin watch, I can easily review the amount of rest I am averaging per night, but also provides averages over the week. By ensuring that I have a relatively consistent waking and night-time schedule, I can guarantee that I am getting adequate rest.
Lastly, I am ensuring that I am enjoying the experience! Not every run is going to be a great run, and that is okay! There are days where running is just hard, and a 5KM run can feel like the absolute worse - your body is tired and heavy and your mind is not in it. Then there are days were you feel phenomenal and you feel as though you can keep running. Every run is a new start, a new adventure, and is always a surprise to see where you end up. At the end of every day, I always look forward to the next run.
Comments