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8 8 February Note

February 8, 2013March 20, 2016

Hello Beginner Runners,
It’s recovery week! Yay! Everyone gets a little mini-break from running next week. It’s important to “clock your vacation time” with running. Giving your body a week to rest and recover has huge pay-offs. Psychologically you’ll be itching to run the following week (hopefully I’m right about that!!!) and your body will thank you for the break. If you are not able to run at all next week- no worries. It will be OK. If you have access to a treadmill, try to get in 2-3 runs of about 30 minutes. Whatever you do keep your longest run to 60 minutes or less. If you are staying in London, come out and run with the group. There are other people who are in town and wanting to run. Ideally, you would do a 45 minute run on Tuesday, a 60 minute run on Thursday and a 30-35 minute run on the weekend. None of those runs should be at a pushed-pace. Route selection up to you, but run somewhere fun! This week your training should be enjoyable - run somewhere different or do one of those mystery runs where you just head out without a plan in mind.
Some of you are on a slightly different schedule for next week due to different school schedules/injury/travel/sickness/etc. I think we’ve sorted out those adjustments. If you are still unsure about next week’s training, send me an email. On Thursday, Betsy or Darcy will be leading Gudny and Luisa on their 110 minute run (they are both unavailable the following week). Syma will run with whoever wants to do a 60 minute run that day. If you will be in town the following week for the 110 minute run, do not be tempted to join in with Gudny and Luisa! Your body needs a break! They will be taking their mini-break from running the following week.
This week there was quite a bit of confusion about gels - when to take them, whether to take them, how to take them, etc. I think that’s my fault. Instead of just saying “Do this”, I was trying to allow each of you to make that decision on your own. You are all incredibly bright women and many of you are doing a bunch of research/reading/studying about running (which is fabulous). Announcing to your friends that you’re running a half-marathon usually results in an onslaught of advice. It’s kind of like having a baby. The unsolicited advice just pours in. So, it’s highly likely that you are getting information that conflicts with my advice/guidance/suggestions. The problem with that is their advice is usually valid but doesn’t always apply to beginner running (or our type of beginner running). Competitive/elite runners have an entirely different fuel requirement than we do. Runners completing races at high intensities fuel differently. Uninformed racers fuel differently than we do. There are beginner groups who’s goal is to do a race in a fast time so they fuel differently. Our group/program is designed to complete a half-marathon (with time being very secondary). So, I think this is how we should proceed.... I’ll give my recommendation and everyone can decide whether they want to take that advice or not. I promise I won’t be offended if you disagree.
What type of fuel?
I recommend gels. Period. There are issues/problems/complications with all other types of fuel when considering what our group is trying to achieve. Again, this would be different if we were not beginner runners who’s aim it is to finish a half-marathon. If you chose to use a different fuel source, I recommend taking in an equivalent amount of carbs at the same time that everyone else is doing their gel. For example, if you are going to use shot-blocks or sport-beans, you need to take in the equivalent of a gel within a few minutes (not just eating a shot-block every now and then). The body responds differently to periodic fuel injections (snacking on sport-beans) than a one-off significant fuel injection (ie., a gel). For what we are trying to achieve, a one-off injection has less of a chance of disturbing the body’s fuel sourcing system. We want the body to fuel primarily with fat for this half-marathon. Once you have one half-marathon under your belt, then you can decide to push the pace (or distance) and you will have different fuel requirements. Remember to drink 50-100ml of water after doing most gels. There are a few gels that don’t require water. The downsides of those types of gels is that they are bulkier and I’ve seen quite a few women throw them up (which is kind of unpleasant but more importantly, you lose the carbs you just took in).
When to fuel?
For our three remaining long runs and the race, I recommend doing a gel between 70-80 minutes (of running time). I’m sure you’ve noticed that some runners are needing a gel earlier and some later. This window will give everyone fuel before you reach meltdown! On race-day, I will recommend that everyone do a second gel at 1:55-2:10. It is a really bad idea to do gels/sport-beans/shot-blocks before the race or before 70 minutes in the race. It is also a bad idea to do gels closer together than 35 minutes (again, these guidelines are for us as beginner runners). These guidelines will keep us safe and best prepared for the distance.
Over the next week I’ll be working on the Bratislava trip. You can expect to receive more information about the trip logistics but also about how we will approach the race. I’ll also be sending some more information about nutrition (in general) and nutrition suggestions pre and post run.
Happy Running,
Paula

8 February Note

Friday, 8 February 2013

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