Little known fact about me, (just kidding, I bring this up at least three times a day) I’m currently training for a marathon. I’ve never run a marathon before; I’ve never raced a half-marathon either. But this summer a goal of mine is to successfully train for my first 26.2 miles.
I’ve been running since I was 12 when I joined the Cross Country team at my middle school. Since then I’ve had an interesting “on again-off again” relationship with running. But now that I’m out of high school and my days of running on a team are behind me, I’ve fallen deeply in love with long distance running.
Granted, training is not without its struggles. The loose framework of my training plan is to go for one long run every week, increasing the mileage until I get to the lower 20s. (Race day should generally be the farthest distance you run when it comes to longer events like these.) This week I’m supposed to be running 10 miles. Most unfortunately, when I woke up this morning to go for my run, I had neglected that an endeavor such as 10 miles requires intentional and sufficient fuel. As my breakfast was a cup of black coffee and some fruit, it is probably needless to say I was not successful in completing the 10 miles.
It wasn’t something I was really prepared for in saying I wanted to train for a marathon, the nutritional aspect of it all. My initial fears were more about the physical shape I was going to have to be in– the endurance training and the state of my body. But a whole half of that is how I’m fueling the body that’s meant to run all the miles.
I know this seems like a matter of common sense, but the feeling of complete and total exhaustion I experienced in the heat of the summer at 8:30 this morning was… comparable to that of hitting a brick wall face first. To be more precise: my arms and legs became weak as a pins-and-needles sensation spread through them. My eyesight got blurry and grainy as my head swam with dehydration. My breathing, usually rhythmic and steady became shallow and shaky. It was clear as my pace slowed to a crawl that I was not ready to take on my long run this morning.
So how do I intend to avoid this issue in the future? Here is a list of things I know I should be doing differently to help avoid improper preparation for a long cardio session.
- Consistently take my multivitamin.
- Eat three full meals a day.
- Drink a full bottle of water before attempting any cardio.
- Plan in advance so I eat an energizing dinner the night before a long run.
- Do not shy away from carbohydrates.
- Run with water so I don’t dehydrate beyond repair while running in the summer heat.
Anyway, this concludes episode one of the Woes of Marathon Training. Happy running! (Or not running… whatever your beat is.)
