Ran my 2nd 12 miler today
 

Last week was my first, or rather it was a ten miler with a two mile trudge at the end. It was a seriously brutal, hellish nightmare. My legs just gave out, I was worried I wouldn't even make it home.

This week was much better because I got serious about my run-day nutrition. Where as last week I ate a couple of hours before and downed a quart of water during, this week I got smart about refueling my muscles.

I ate two bagels and two bananas an hour beforehand, half a Clif Bar 15 minutes before running and during the run I downed the rest of the bar a few bites here and there, and adding Gatorade to my hydration plan.

It went soooo much better. My lungs felt great and my legs probably had another 4 miles left in them. Not bad for a guy who started running a little over three months ago without having run at all in two years and having never run more than two miles.

However...

The St. George Marathon is six weeks away and I should've had a couple of 15 milers under my belt by now but I missed three weeks of training due to knee problems and a nasty summer cold. My schedule as it was left little margin for error so I'm slightly nervous about the whole thing.

The knees are feeling good now and the plan is to run a 15, 18, and a 21 miler the next three weeks for my long runs before I taper off. If the 21 miler doesn't kill me, I figure I should be able to complete the marathon. After last week's "run" I gave myself Lloyd Christmas style odds, now I'd say I'm over 50/50.

I gotta step up the nutritional aspects now. Heavy on the pastas and whole grains, completely eliminate soda and sugary snacks as well as my twice weekly Taco Bell stop.

Even if I don't make my goal this year, I'm guaranteed a spot next year and since I've found I actually enjoy running, my marathon goal will be reached.

Any advice you veteran runners can give me is appreciated.

Are you just running out of energy?

Eat carbs before you run and protein after running. It's mostly a mind thing. You can do 12 , you can do 26.

congrats! When I have run 12 or more, I have brought a couple of powerbar gels and taken them at around the 4 and 8 mile marks and it has helped a ton. On the half marathon I did, I also had a pack of the Jelly Belly sport beans that I ate at 11 miles that really helped me at the end. Good luck with the St George Marathon, I'm gonna do the SLC Marathon next year and try to get a spot in St George too, but it all depends how lucky I am in the lottery :)

Yeah. My legs just basically stopped working. I just sorta shuffled home the last couple of miles. This week was alot better.


So do you think I should try to get some longer 18-20 mile runs in, or should I just focus on improving my 12-13 mile runs?

I should try those gels. I like the Clif Bars, but it's a pain to carry around more than one.

Jelly Belly sport beans? I assume those are different than the regular jelly beans? Where do you get those?

I don't want to speak for Archaea, but I don't think he meant to only work on the 12-13 mile runs. What he's saying is that a lot of being able to complete a marathon is being at peace with running that far. Most people simply can't wrap their mind around it. Once you realize that you can do it and it won't kill you, half the battle is won.

I think you're pretty close to on target with your training, though I would feel a little more comfortable with you having done two 20 milers instead of one when the marathon rolls around. I just don't know if you have enough time for that and still have time for tapering. At this point, with your longest run being 12 miles, I would say stay with your plan.

Good luck! :)

By the way, from what you've described as your training so far, I see no reason why you can't reach your goal this year. It's not like you've been sitting on the couch instead of training. As long as you have a realistic time goal, and don't start the race too fast, you will be just fine. In fact, if I were you, my only goal would be to finish, and the race clock be damned. You can set your PR next time.

yeah, they are pretty cool, they are made by jelly belly, but have a bunch of carbs and stuff in them. I just buy them at walmart actually, they are in the area with all the powerbars,slim fasts, etc. I first got some at a running sotre, but they were $1.29 there and are $.97 at walmart.
http://www.sportbeans.com/

You should up your mileage. I did my first marathon off a twenty-two miler, but I would not have wanted to do one after only a twelve.

If you want to run at five, you should rise at two, eat some carbs, and then get ready to run. Practice with electrolyte drink and then bring shot blocks, better than gel as they are not messy like gel.

26 is really not that long. It sounds long but a person could train to run 30 or 40 easily.

A good friend of mine (bulletproof on CB) ran the hobble creek 1/2 marathon today. I actually just talked to him, he is about 6'2 210lbs but pretty muscular, hardly a runners body, and he trained his ass off. Everytime i called him he was to busy. He had never ran close to this distance before and he completed it in 1:54. I thought that was pretty impressive.