40 Miles and Prepping for the Zumbro 50
Current Weight: 183 lbs.
Long Run This Past Weekend: 40 miles
Total Distance Logged Last Week: 55 miles
This past weekend we hit another big milestone - a 40 mile training run! This was a first for both of us. It was my first ever run beyond 31 miles, and it was Tony's first time surpassing 31 miles in a single training run (he has completed up to 89 miles in a single bout during competition) The best part of this is that it represents a total recovery from my foot injury the week prior.
As you may remember, a week ago I was dealing with a pretty bad injury - extensor tendinitis that had progressed to the point where walking was very painful. At the beginning of last week, I stayed off of my feet in training as much as possible, opting for the bike and resistance training to keep active. I was also diligent about icing my foot, resting and elevating it when possible, and taking dietary measures to reduce the inflammation so it would heal faster (i.e. lots of fruits and vegetables and lower carbohydrates overall). The hard work paid off, and by Wednesday, one week after I discontinued running altogether, I felt good enough about it to get back outside for a run. It was slow going at first and my gait felt a little unnatural, but I had no sign of the tendinitis that has disabled me the week prior. By Saturday I felt back to normal and fully recovered.
Sunday was quite a journey and a lot of fun. We were out for 8 hours, a full work days worth of time on our feet. We knew to hit the entire distance and finish feeling good, we needed to pace ourselves and fuel appropriately. Up until now, we have been very conservative as far as fueling for our training runs. I have stuck to little more than a serving of chocolate covered espresso beans and the occasional "gluten free bar" from the local coffee shop on all of our distances, including our 50k training run a few weeks back. It is getting down to crunch time though, and the Zumbo 50 mile is just weeks away. We decided we better start understanding how to best fuel our bodies for the challenges ahead. We opted to try "Tailwind Endurance Fuel" with our water packs, which is a simple combination of electrolytes and glucose. I also opted to pack a few Cliff Bars to have some real food along.
Here is the basics of my fueling for the 40 miler. I was extremely happy with my energy level along the run, and I finished feeling great. I will be using Tailwind during my upcoming events for sure.
Every 25 minutes - Sip on the Tailwind and water in my pack
At 2, 4, and 6 hours in - Caffeine tab - 200mg
At 3 and 6 hours in - Cliff Bar
At 7 hours in - GU Energy Gel
Our pacing strategy was the tried and tested formula of 5 minutes of walking for every 25 minutes of running. This pacing strategy is classic among ultra-runners because it allows your body to recover on the fly. By taking 5 minute walk breaks, your muscles get a chance to clear the nasty by-products that build up as a result of constant muscle contraction. This amounts to an ability to not only run further, but also a bit faster. Not to mention you feel a whole lot better throughout the course of the run. I actually finished feeling like we could have kept going without much trouble. It was a great feeling considering it was my longest distance ever by 9 miles. Poor Tony on the other hand was feeling the effects of doing 10 miles with his daughter the night prior and not properly fueling afterwards (he got a scolding from me..haha). He hit the wall hard at about mile 20 and had about 10 painful miles before he "Un-Bonked" and started feeling better. This may have slowed our pace a bit, but he kept pushing through it and I commend him for the effort! It amazing the highs and lows that you can experience throughout the course of an 8 hour run.
I'm looking forward to a great weekend ahead. This week I've kept the miles fairly low, saving the majority of my energy for another 40 mile weekend. This weekend we will be doing a half marathon distance on Saturday followed by a 27 miler on Sunday. Tony is running his half marathon with his daughter, Emily Villano, on Saturday at the "Get Lucky Half Marathon" in downtown Mpls. - very cool! I'll be hitting my 13.1 on the good ol' Luce Line Trail.
Total Distance Logged Last Week: 55 miles
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| Our 40-mile journey. The route was great and we got to see some of the coolest parts of the cities on a beautiful day. It's amazing just how much ground you cover and how much you can see on a 40 mile run. |
As you may remember, a week ago I was dealing with a pretty bad injury - extensor tendinitis that had progressed to the point where walking was very painful. At the beginning of last week, I stayed off of my feet in training as much as possible, opting for the bike and resistance training to keep active. I was also diligent about icing my foot, resting and elevating it when possible, and taking dietary measures to reduce the inflammation so it would heal faster (i.e. lots of fruits and vegetables and lower carbohydrates overall). The hard work paid off, and by Wednesday, one week after I discontinued running altogether, I felt good enough about it to get back outside for a run. It was slow going at first and my gait felt a little unnatural, but I had no sign of the tendinitis that has disabled me the week prior. By Saturday I felt back to normal and fully recovered.
Sunday was quite a journey and a lot of fun. We were out for 8 hours, a full work days worth of time on our feet. We knew to hit the entire distance and finish feeling good, we needed to pace ourselves and fuel appropriately. Up until now, we have been very conservative as far as fueling for our training runs. I have stuck to little more than a serving of chocolate covered espresso beans and the occasional "gluten free bar" from the local coffee shop on all of our distances, including our 50k training run a few weeks back. It is getting down to crunch time though, and the Zumbo 50 mile is just weeks away. We decided we better start understanding how to best fuel our bodies for the challenges ahead. We opted to try "Tailwind Endurance Fuel" with our water packs, which is a simple combination of electrolytes and glucose. I also opted to pack a few Cliff Bars to have some real food along.
Here is the basics of my fueling for the 40 miler. I was extremely happy with my energy level along the run, and I finished feeling great. I will be using Tailwind during my upcoming events for sure.
Every 25 minutes - Sip on the Tailwind and water in my pack
At 2, 4, and 6 hours in - Caffeine tab - 200mg
At 3 and 6 hours in - Cliff Bar
At 7 hours in - GU Energy Gel
Our pacing strategy was the tried and tested formula of 5 minutes of walking for every 25 minutes of running. This pacing strategy is classic among ultra-runners because it allows your body to recover on the fly. By taking 5 minute walk breaks, your muscles get a chance to clear the nasty by-products that build up as a result of constant muscle contraction. This amounts to an ability to not only run further, but also a bit faster. Not to mention you feel a whole lot better throughout the course of the run. I actually finished feeling like we could have kept going without much trouble. It was a great feeling considering it was my longest distance ever by 9 miles. Poor Tony on the other hand was feeling the effects of doing 10 miles with his daughter the night prior and not properly fueling afterwards (he got a scolding from me..haha). He hit the wall hard at about mile 20 and had about 10 painful miles before he "Un-Bonked" and started feeling better. This may have slowed our pace a bit, but he kept pushing through it and I commend him for the effort! It amazing the highs and lows that you can experience throughout the course of an 8 hour run.
I'm looking forward to a great weekend ahead. This week I've kept the miles fairly low, saving the majority of my energy for another 40 mile weekend. This weekend we will be doing a half marathon distance on Saturday followed by a 27 miler on Sunday. Tony is running his half marathon with his daughter, Emily Villano, on Saturday at the "Get Lucky Half Marathon" in downtown Mpls. - very cool! I'll be hitting my 13.1 on the good ol' Luce Line Trail.
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