Getting in the Miles: Obsessing about Routine

 

The Final Push Before the Big Race

Fall is almost here in Oklahoma. I don’t mean the actual calendar date, although that too, the weather is what I’m most interested in. Last Saturday was a wonderfully cool morning. My group ran 14 miles through the city. I felt great. Strong legs come from attacking hills at every chance. I run a lot of hills, both outdoors and on the treadmill.

 My marathon is at the end of October which gives me roughly 6 weeks to prepare. I decided to do the Justice Run again in Fort Worth. It’s a simple jog through a well-lit city park. We follow the pedestrian trail along the river. For marathoners it’s down and back, down and back. I hope to shave 15 minutes off my time. I wrote about my experience last year. Dehydration got the best of me. I ended the night at the hospital with an IV in my arm replacing lost fluids. My mom and brother waited for me at the hospital as we tried in vain to catch an Uber ride.

The nurse on duty informed us that Uber had trouble picking up the exact outpatient address. Others had tried to hail a ride from the same spot and had to walk a few blocks until the GPS could give an accurate location. Since it was very late, he asked one of the security people at the desk to take us over to that magical place where the GPS actually worked. We caught our Uber from there. To say we were all exhausted is an understatement. This year the race is in the morning. Most races are early and that’s when I train, so I was pumped about that. I never know if I’m ready. I guess that’s the conflict runners go though. You think about the days you missed when you should’ve run. Either you were sick or tired. Often, it’s because you’ve planned too many other activities to put in the work.

This will be my 3^rd marathon.

Naturally I want to improve my time, but I also want to figure out how to run the race. Those aren’t necessarily the same thing. There is a rhythm to the race. Your body responds differently at mile 2 than it does at mile 22. Understanding how to save energy for a final push is critical to finishing strong. Everyone is exhausted at the end. But losing time because of a slow pace is frustrating. I want to learn how to conserve energy until the end. Not so I can sprint to the finish, but so that I don’t collapse when the clock stops. I’ve talked to a lot of people who have experience with running marathons. There doesn’t seem to be any magic formula for eating, drinking and preparation. I don’t eat before I run, others do. I like to eat Gu gels during the race and avoid solid food. Others don’t like gels and only eat solid food.

All of this can change based on how I’m feeling on a particular day. I was having an allergic reaction to something last Saturday so I downed a cup of Dayquil. I didn’t want a runny nose halfway through my run. I also ate a half of a banana to settle the harsh syrup sloshing around in my stomach. Normally I wouldn’t eat anything, but I had to something about my allergies. I never noticed a thing once I started running. My legs felt great and I finished the distance easily. But can I draw any conclusions about eating before I run? Was the weather a bigger factor in my performance or the food I ate before I left? Could it be that I was just properly hydrated from the night before?

I’m probably thinking too much about it. I don’t want to change up any routine that might be working either. It’s easy to obsess over the inputs, much tougher to hit your running goals when your life gets busy. If there is anything the experts agree on it’s this, get in the miles. Do the work. It’s less important how you feel while doing it. Running schedules exist for a reason and although it’s tough to make every day, you should get as close as you can. I’ve never compared notes with the other runners to see if they’re getting their miles in. But each person runs their own race anyway. Mine is just around the corner now that Fall is here.