09/17/2022 - 7 Miles Base
A 7 mile easy run. 113 days until race day
With 113 days until my next race, the 2023 Walt Disney World Marathon, today’s training plan called for a 7 mile easy run. To help hit this goal and maintain the proper pace, I kept my watch in a heart rate view so I can focus more on my body’s effort and not get too distracted by my actual pace.
At the end, I completed the training distance, averaging at a 147bpm heart rate and a 10:07 minute per mile pace
Pre-Run Nutrition
Typically, I do my morning runs on an empty stomach and fuel up either during the run or immediately after. However, since it’s been a while since I’ve done this kind of distance, I decided to get some calories in. At 8:00am, I started off with a Maurten Solid 225, and prior to starting my run at 8:45am, I consumed a Gu Rocktane Gel (in blueberry pomegranate). I complimented all of that with some water to maximize my hydration for the run.
In-Run Nutrition
For this longer run, I packed 12oz of water with me with a Nuun Sport Tablet for some electrolytes and generally sipped some water at every mile marker. By the end of the 7 miles, my bottle was empty.
For fuel and nutrition, I packed two Gu Rocktane Gels with me, thinking I may need at least one. I brought a spare one in case I needed it at some point. I ended up consuming one of the gels at about 35 minutes into the race, which was roughly the half way point at 3.5 miles. This kept me going to hit my distance goals and did not need that second gel. I’m saving it for next time.
Cool Down & Recovery
After completing the 7 miles, I ended up taking a nice 10 minute walk to cool down with some small stretches in the middle to help with recovery. For rehydration, I drank a bottle of Body Armor LYTE, a sports drink I enjoy after a run for its electrolytes and low sugar content. Gatorade and Powerade is very popular, but find it has too much sugar in it so I opt for Body Armor instead.
For food, I came home and had some pancakes and eggs. This doesn’t seem like the best post-run mean, but I’m not a nutritionist so I go with what’s in kitchen 😬.
Training Thoughts
It’s been a while since I’ve done a 7 mile run. On weekends, I’ve been averaging a 5 mile runs, but as I build up to marathon fitness, it was a matter of time before I started stepping out of the comfort zone to build up my endurance.
For this training session, it was important to me to maintain a solid easy effort, so to help with that, I utilized the heart rate training zones on my watch and tried to keep my heart rate under 150bpm, a level which is generally my “easy” zone and something I feel I can sustain for a very long time.
By keeping my watch in a “heart rate" view, it allowed me to stay focused on this goal. I knew it was going to be a slower pace, but I knew if I consistently saw my pace, I would feel demotivated. Since this isn’t a speed session, the motivation factor for me was being able to stick to my primary goal of staying easy, so I took my eyes off on any details on time that would distract me.
All in all, I felt VERY good in this run, never feeing breathless. While I did break the 150bpm a few times in the run (mainly because of a few hills), I’m happy that I was able to focus on this goal and stick with it through the run. I finished feeing good and was ready to take on another mile. However, since this plan called for 7 miles, I stopped my watch and will save my energy for next week’s training, which consists of:
5 miles on Tuesday
4 miles on Thursday
4 miles on Friday
8 miles on Saturday
That’s all folks! For those of you also in a training journey, hope your runs are going well! Happy running my friends!