Gen wrote:
(caveat: my long runs are only close to 2 hr and don't even
have a marathon planned, but I do read and experiment a lot
and have longer distance goals, 26.2 mi just isn't one of
them. IOW, take this with grain of salt.)
Quoted message said:I am running Wahington DC marathon on October 31st, 5
months from now.
Isn't this actually the Marine Corps Marathon, which tends
to be well organized and supported - vs the Washington, DC
marathon which tends to be scheduled in the spring and
cancelled (and I think the year it was held there were
problems).
This is an important distinction for your training. Look at
MCM's web page for aid station distribution and what will be
supplied as well as course topography (there's a couple
"hills", which may be mountains to flatlanders and not
noticed by people who train on hills, as I understand it).
If you intend to depend on their fluids, be sure to find out
what is being served and what flavor. Train with that, but
you might want to back off it in the month (guesstimate)
before so you're not sick of it on race day. I've also
noticed in some race reports, that fluids may be different
flavor than advertised or mixed at incorrect strength, etc.,
so having a little bit of flexibility would be good also. If
you can't handle their drink, you could take powder of your
own and mix in your water bottle. I don't know what type of
time you're looking at, but many advocate just aiming to
finish 1st marathon, although it's generally a good idea to
have a general idea of duration to judge training and fluids
/ electrolytes / energy needs.
In your training, you can figure out whether you need
fluids more frequently than the aid stations or if you
have problems drinking from those cups. Some prefer to sip
from a water bottle or camelbak every 15 min, for example,
than to gulp at aid stations. Your choice. Just be sure to
train that way.
Be sure to keep your electrolytes (primarily sodium)
balanced with fluid to avoid hyponatremia. Most sports
drinks do not have enough sodium for people who are going to
be out awhile (say 4 hrs, but may depend on the level of
your training, heat adaptation, sweating, electrolyte
content of sweat). (If not familiar with this, google the
group for many discussions. Dissertations have been written
on this in some running groups.)
Quoted message said:My first!
Enjoy!
Quoted message said:----------
#1# I have started carrying water for runs longer than 4
#miles. This
was easy to figure out as I felt thirsty. What's the
distance (a very rough estimate of course) beyond which I
should carry something to eat? The problem is that I dont
feel hungry until after 2 hours or so of running. So going
by my instincts may not be enough.
You might find a lot of day-to-day variation with this, esp.
in conjunction with temperatures (I'm always hungry in
winter, seldom hungry while running in hot summer). This is
something you will learn during training - whether you can
run 26.2 miles on whatever you've eaten in the last few
days, or for breakfast, or what you need to take in during
the run. This is a major thing to learn on your long runs.
Your long runs are not just to log time/miles: they are to
learn hydration and fuelling techniques as well - frequency,
type, etc. Know what's in the sports drink you use - carbs
(complex vs simple) and amount of electrolytes. For carbs,
some people use gels (I can't stand them), others use energy
bars or food that doesn't come from chem lab (oranges,
bananas, M&M's, wheat thins, etc) but these may be more
difficult to digest.
Quoted message said:----------
#2# How useful it is to wear a heart rate monitor while
#running?
I always wear mine - both training and racing, primarily
because it's the only watch I own with numbers large enough
to read while running 😉 I pretty much ignore it during the
race, though (as I do in training also). Mine tends to read
about 20 bpm higher on race day than training day. But
during training, I've used the hrm to recognize body signs,
esp. breathing, associated with various efforts, so I'm not
dependent on it. (admittedly, changes in temperature in
spring mess me up for awhile) So yes, I wear it, but I don't
really use it other than to have a hr trace of race (downloadable)-
same as I do in training.
Basic rule: do nothing new on race day (other than running
the distance at race effort 😉. Train as you expect to race,
if possible - time of day, clothes, shoes, fluids, energy,
rain, sun, temperatures, etc.
Good luck!
Dot
--
"Success is different things to different people" -Bernd
Heinrich in Racing the Antelope
