Training Tip
Training Tip #2: Long run on low carbs
Monday, November 19th, 2007On my long runs of 25km or more, I used to carry along some carbohydrates in form of gels, bars, snacks or sweet drinks. I felt pretty good on these runs, replenishing the energy that I burned off running.Then I read an article that argued the opposite: Drink water and minerals only, no extra carbs on those long training runs. That made a lot of sense to me; after all, what you want to train on those long runs is your body’s ability to burn fat once the glycogen depots are depleted. If you keep replenishing them, the training effect is gone. So now I train on water only on my Friday runs from the office to my home (>32km). When I do consume sugary things at race time, that gives me an extra performance boost but I know I could race without them.If this makes sense to you, give it a try. But, as with all training tips, consult your doctor first.
No Comments »Training Tip #1: Your ideal training plan
Wednesday, September 26th, 2007Thousands of books, magazines and web sites are devoted to the subject of training. Each one of them is an ideal, perfect match - for some runners. So listen to people’s advice, read some books, subscribe to a magazine and get inspired - then throw it all over board and develop your own ideas that suit your values, your running philosophy, your goals, your life style and your daily chores. Then try something new, change your plan a few times and don’t be shy to run or rest on a given day if you feel like it. Nothing is more demoralizing than heading out for a 25km run “because your training plan says so” while your daughter begs you to take her to the swimming pool.This is what works for me pretty well these days:
- Each Friday evening I run home from my office. That’s about 35km along the Thames, carrying my backback that’s filled with my office stuff and some clothing (great training for the Thames Meander and the Marathon des Sables). So, instead of being packed inside a crowded train for 90 minutes I spend a little more than three hours in fresh air running into the night and by the time I get home I’ve completely forgotten about the worries at work.
- One or two evenings each week I head out for about an hour with our golden retriever dog. That takes care of the “evening walk”, freeing up valuable family time.
- On Saturday or Sunday between 6 and 8 in the morning I go for some 18-20km (the first 5km with our dog), or once in a while I run a marathon or an ultra on Sundays. I am an early bird and by the time I get back from my weekend jog with fresh bread and pasties from the local store my family will be getting up and we still have all of Sunday to do what we please.
Sometimes I run more than that, sometimes less, on average about 70km per week. When I have a longer race coming up I taper off a few days before.That’s it, no secrets to my training. This suits my values (family first), my running philosophy (I run for health, pleasure and to reduce stress, I love distance, not speed), it supports my goals (training longer distances, sometimes with backpack and running into the night), it matches my life style (I am a morning person) and I can combine parts of my training with daily chores (walking the dog, shopping on Sunday morning).Have you found your ideal training plan? Please share it on the forum or leave a comment, I love to be inspired by other people’s ideas!It’s just 143 days to the TM and 44 on top of that for the MdS, so keep running and I’ll share my thoughts on my upcoming 24hour race in my next entry. Andreas
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