09/24/2022 - 8 Mile Base
An 8 mile easy run. 106 days until race day
Today’s training plan called for an 8 mile run at an easy effort. To help with this, I again set my watch to a heart rate view and focused more on maintain a zone 2 effort. At the end, I completed the distance in an hour and 20 minutes, 147 average BPM, and an average pace of 10:00/mile. The run did start at around 70° and finished at around 79°. At the tail end of the run, I ended up trying to maintain effort, however with the heat and an inclined finish, my I did end up pushing the last mile harder than I should’ve. Overall, the run did feel good and am ready to keep pushing on. More details on this run below
Pre-Race Nutrition
To start off this run, I fueled up in the morning with a single Maureen Solid bar, providing about 225 calories to start off my morning. I paired that with a serving of water to help with hydration, and a can of Zoa pre-workout. Not sure how much that helps with performance, but with the electrolytes, caffeine, and nitric oxide it supposedly offered, I wanted to give it a try.
In-Run Nutrition
For the workout, I packed 2 12oz bottles of water with one bottle containing a Nuun sport tablet for some electrolytes. I consumed a little bit of both at each mile mark to stay hydrated.
For fuel, I took along two Gu Rocktane energy gels. It’s recommended to fuel up every 30-40 minutes, so to avoid burn out, I took the first gel at the 3 mile mark at roughly 30 minutes into the run. I then took the next gel at around the 5 mile mark, about 20 minutes later. I decided to take this second gel a little earlier than scheduled to keep me fueled for the last 3 miles of the run which I did expect to do in 30 minutes.
Cooldown & Recovery
After the run, I did feel really good and was felt I could keep going on. To recover, I rehydrated with water mixed with Protein2o Whey Protein Isolate for some electrolytes and protein. For a cooldown, I took on a nice easy 10 minute walk with some stretching in between. Later today, I plan to do more stretches with Pliability, a new workout service focused on providing stretching and recovery exercises. I’ve been using it for a few days and really am enjoying it.
Training Thoughts
The focus on easy runs is really working out for me. Last week, I was intimidated by the 7 miles, and this week the 8 miles was concerning, However, really focusing on keeping things easy has made these distances very manageable.
Next week’s training plan has a 10 mile long run which again is intimidating today, but hoping that the continued easy effort will make it an effortless distance at the end. More on that next week. Thanks for reading!