Since I was in college (maybe even in high school, who knows), I've always wanted to run a marathon. Not quite sure where the idea came from, but specifically, I wanted to run the NYC Marathon, which is held in early November. Unfortunately, I never seriously acted on it. My 'long runs' always ended around 3-4 miles.
Fast forward about 10 years and my long runs have moved into the double digits. This marathon training is now getting serious! A few months ago I ran my first half marathon. I remember training for it, and freaking out that I would have to run 7, 8, or 9 miles.
The half marathon came and went with a smile on my face and a general high that I remember clearly every morning when I wake and see the medal hanging on the dresser mirror.
My friend has since signed me up for a full marathon. And I've since begun freaking out about running 14, 16, and 18 miles. Now it's time to freak out about running 20 miles (next week!).
On my last two long runs (16 & 18), I've hit a wall at mile 15. I started to walk, and even had to sit before finding the energy at mile 16 to start moving in a way that resembled jogging. It wasn't pretty. (plus I was 3 miles from home. and I just wanted to get home).
I wear a fuel belt and I gu. First gu is usually an hour into the run. After that it's about every 45 minutes. The day i attempted 16 I only had water in my belt. This past week I used watered down gatorade (and that left me feeling like a I had a bloated belly full of sugar).
A few suggestions were given to me at the running store, but I'm looking for more. How do I avoid the wall at 15? I don't want mile 15 to be some sort of a mental block after all this training!
1 comment:
I totally know the pain of the wall. You should maybe eat more gus sooner? I usually on a 20 miler take a gu every four miles. (when I was taking gu) but now i eat a pb and j every 4 miles instead. Hopefully that might help you? :( I'm sorry that you hit the wall. Also maybe try salt tabs or nuun? I really like nuun!
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