|
Photo by Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette
By TOMMY MANNING
Editor’s note: Manning is a math teacher and cross country coach at Fountain Valley School who's part of the U.S. Mountain Running Team and finished runner-up in the 2011 Pikes Peak Ascent. He provides periodic tips — all of which can be found here on OutThereColorado.com.
Many of us have gone out and had a really bad day on a long run. This could happen during a race like a half-marathon or marathon, or it could happen during a long weekend training run.
We feel like crud, feel like we do not have any energy and might even have a hard time continuing to run or walk. This is commonly referred to as bonking or hitting the wall.
By scientific definition, bonking is when your body runs out of fuel (carbohydrates) and you do not have any energy left for physical activity. Most of us never have been in a dire situation such as this, so for this article I am going to call a long run where you feel bad, feel exhausted and out of energy as bonking. I am going to discuss avoiding bonking during long training runs -- not races -- but a lot of the tactics can be used to avoid bonking in races as well.
As always, you need to realize that we are all different and you need to know your body and your limits. A strategy that works for someone else might not work for you and vice versa. The most important factor in my opinion is fuel (food and water). You cannot run and keep exercising if your body does not have fuel to burn.
To guarantee you have fuel, you need to eat something and make sure you are hydrated before you go for your run and preferably not eat a big meal right before heading out the door. You need to eat something though and a small snack is better than nothing.
Nutritionist types will say to replenish fuel by eating and drinking while running. They will tell you how many calories to eat before and during a run and how often to drink a sports beverage. That might be ideal, but it is not practical and I go by what I have learned from experience, trial and error and knowing the limits of my body. It is up to you to practice and see what is right for you.
If you feel out of energy at the end of your long run or if you want to add 5 miles to that run, then you should try eating a PowerBar or drinking a sports drink while you run. The point is for you to know your limits and not pass your limits. And you can build up the distance of your long runs without water. If you can run 8 or 12 miles without water and your body is used to running without water, then you can probably add 4 miles and not have to worry about anything. Elite marathoners easily can run 20 miles without water. As always, you need to use common sense and hydrate more on hot days.
Your running pace needs to change on long runs too. As a general rule, the longer you run, the slower you need to go. This is especially true on your first really long run (or first long run of the season). Whether you are used to running 7-minute miles or 10-minute miles, you need to slow down on a long run. You simply cannot maintain your regular pace for a longer-than-normal run without fading. You run out of energy quickly and will bonk before you know it.
Your running distance is the last key element to avoiding the bonk. It does not matter if you normally run 4 miles or 8 miles, you should not double that to 8 or 16 miles for your first long run. You need to build up to your long run distance gradually or you might have trouble. Additionally, if most of your runs are 5 miles and your long run is 9 miles, you probably should not attempt a long run longer than something like 15 miles without gradually increasing the distance. However, if you’re used to training 9 miles for your long run but you have not gone more than 5 miles for several weeks, you can probably safely go back up to 9 miles. The main thing is to listen to your body and know your limits.
This might all seem like common sense, but way too many people do not listen to their bodies and over-do it on long runs. Too many people end up in a bad situation that could have been avoided. The only good news is people who have truly bonked and have not had enough energy to even walk learn their lesson and do not ever do it again.
|
