Just to shake things out a bit
Today's run: Recovery run of 4 miles at 9:47 pace.
41 miles this week. Marathon is 15 weeks from today!
The rain let up just as I started my run, so at least it was dry. Despite the flat course (same as Wednesday's), I ran quite slow (at the same heart rate).
I'm guessing it was because this was a big week: the jump up to 5 days instead of four, cresting 40 miles in a week for the first time, my first Lactate Threshold run, and another longest-run-ever. Perhaps that put some tiredness into me and accounts for the 0:50 slower pace I took.
I also have begun to realize that I'm in a bit of a calorie deficit after yesterday's run, as I can't seem to eat enough. I need to modify my diet and find healthy ways to seriously increase my caloric intake. Ideas, anyone?
One scenic note: the overhead connectors I mentioned in a previous post appear to be non-functional, and on their way to being either replaced are removed. I might capture a picture of what I saw today: one of the two connectors is now just a frame, and the entrances from the buildings appear boarded up.
41 miles this week. Marathon is 15 weeks from today!
The rain let up just as I started my run, so at least it was dry. Despite the flat course (same as Wednesday's), I ran quite slow (at the same heart rate).
I'm guessing it was because this was a big week: the jump up to 5 days instead of four, cresting 40 miles in a week for the first time, my first Lactate Threshold run, and another longest-run-ever. Perhaps that put some tiredness into me and accounts for the 0:50 slower pace I took.
I also have begun to realize that I'm in a bit of a calorie deficit after yesterday's run, as I can't seem to eat enough. I need to modify my diet and find healthy ways to seriously increase my caloric intake. Ideas, anyone?
One scenic note: the overhead connectors I mentioned in a previous post appear to be non-functional, and on their way to being either replaced are removed. I might capture a picture of what I saw today: one of the two connectors is now just a frame, and the entrances from the buildings appear boarded up.
posted by Brent at
10:30 AM
3 Comments:
It's important to lose the "three squares a day" mentality when upping the mileage. I eat 5-6 small meals a day when training: breakfast, mid-morning snack, lunch, late-afternoon snack, dinner, and late-evening snack. Wow, that makes me sound like a hobbit -- where's second breakfast and elevensies?
Basically, eat throughout the day and don't eat too much at any one meal or you'll slow your metabolism and feel sluggish on your next run.
Caloric deficit is a big issue for first-time marathoners. You want to lose weight, but you don't want to lose muscle. My usual pattern is to run a deficit on long-run days and then eat like a pig the recovery day after.
At this point in your training, it's better to eat a little too much instead of a little too little. You are building leg muscle and increasing glycogen stores -- tough to do on insufficient fuel. Focus on weight loss from weeks 11-3 (counting down).
As for food suggestions: you want to focus on complex carbs to refuel your glycogen and protein to rebuild muscle. The usual suspects: chicken and fish, rice and pasta, veggies, oatmeal/whole grain cereals, eggs, etc. Good snacks are fruit (bananas/apples), pretzels, tortilla chips & salsa, dry breakfast cereal, and the like.
By
Anonymous, at 12:14 PM
Thanks for these suggestions. Should I want to lose weight for performance reasons? I don't run to lose weight, generally.
By
Brent, at 7:22 PM
Each pound you lose makes you a couple seconds faster per mile. Of course, you want to lose fat, not muscle. You should naturally lose some weight as you hit your peak mileage weeks, so I don't think you need to focus on this if you are happy with your current weight.
By
Anonymous, at 1:57 PM
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