A Gilligan Island Run
Posted: January 28, 2012 Filed under: Long Run | Tags: bike, Boulder, clif shot, gilligan 7 Comments »
Whenever I go out for three hours or more, I think of it as a Gilligan Island Run. Everyone from my generation immediate starts singing “a three hour tour” in exactly the right key. I challenge you to get that out of your head.
My coach scheduled this for Sunday but I wanted to knock it off today. Amy and I got home late on Friday – I’d been gone for three weeks (mostly Boston, some New York). I knew that the elevation would get me a little and that I was generally wiped out from all the work I’ve been doing, but figured I’d test myself a little and then relax on Sunday.
I used an 8:2 pattern and still averaged 11:28 which was better than I expected (meaning that a bunch of the running segments had to be right around 10 minutes, or even sub 10 minutes.) I drank water and did three Clif Shots every 30 minutes. I ran out of gas around 14 miles and slowed down – I can’t tell whether it was the fuel, fatigue, or elevation. I had a headache for about 10 minutes at 15 miles (it went away) and needed to take a dump at mile 11 (it was very satisfying.)
I ended at a bike shop and picked up a new bike. After getting fitted I hopped on it and went three miles back to my office – mostly downhill. You can go a lot faster on a bike than on foot, even after running for three hours.
A shower followed by an awesome massage and I’m ready – for a nap. But dinner is in a little while so I’ll just power through and sleep late tomorrow morning.
Love the HR Average Brad…Nice Run!
I have found on long runs (marathons) it helps to get behind a Mary Ann or Ginger to keep on going.
Indeed.
WOW! You deserve that nap!
re: running out of gas at 14. careful on the clif shot intake. wasn’t completely clear but if you were doing 3 shots every 30 min for 14 miles, that’s a boatload of clif shots. without proper water intake they’ll actually dehydrate you, as they need water to digest and if it’s not in your stomach they’ll pull water from other areas. in my experience 1 every 45 min per the recommendation is about right, and if you need other nutrition you should look into other options to supplement.
Good suggestion. I’m drinking plenty of water but it seemed like too much. Today I did 2 every 40 minutes and that seemed more manageable. I’m doing “blocks” not “shots” – three blocks is 100 calories. When I do the little package of shots (100 calories) I do one every 45 minutes.
i wondered if it was the ‘blocks’. that makes sense. you’re doing the right thing by tweaking and seeing how it feels. there is just no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to nutrition. unfortunately that’s why a lot of people don’t work on it. yet it is as important if not more important than the training itself when it comes to distance racing/training. if you can get your nutrition figured out, it opens up a whole new world of possibilities in terms of how long and/or fast you can go. and that, for me, is what makes nutrition fun.