How to Fail a Long Run

Saturday I was scheduled for a 9 mile long run during our cut back week. I did not complete that 9 mile run. Not for lack of trying... ish. But I also failed along the way. I was so excited. *ONLY* 9 miles! Cut back week! NBD distance! I love that our training has gotten to this point where a 9 mile run is NBD. But apparently I should've respected the distance a bit....

Things I Did Right:

• Hydrating heavily Friday night and Saturday morning. I drank so much water I had to pee all through my yoga class Saturday night. I thought about leaving them in a lunge for 3 minutes but decided that'd be rude.
• I went to bed early. A friend was in town, but we both planned to go to bed early, so I was in bed by 10pm. I only had a glass of Champagne instead of the six that I would've liked to have.
• I packed all of my running things so I had no excuses to skip the run after yoga class.
• I checked the weather, and it was supposed to be lovely and cool all day, so nbd that I pushed my long urn until after yoga!
• Yoga before running. Ahhhh bliss.
• NOT drinking my beer after yoga at the brewery. I didn't even take one because I knew it would upset my stomach or lower my interest in running.
• Foam rolling Friday night. My quads and IT band have been slightly annoying lately, so I spent some good time foam rolling them, as well as my calves and working on my feet.

Things I Did Very, Very Wrong:

• I went on an impromptu walk with one of my college BFFs, in sandals that maybe weren't the most supportive, resulting in swollen legs/feet and blisters.
• Not eating breakfast. Not bringing a snack for after yoga. Attempting to run 9 miles on one singular luna bar at 1:15pm after teaching a yoga class.
• Not running at 6am as originally planned. If I had gone, I would've been fine with not eating beforehand! My GUs would've gotten me through, and I would've been able to take a glorious post long run nap after yoga.
• I skipped my epsom salt bath Friday night because I wanted to hang out with my friend who was in town. Had we not gone on a walk, it would've been a-ok. But going on the walk and having tired legs, spelled disaster....

So do as I say, not as I do. Drink a lot of water, get good sleep, fuel properly, and don't except your body to be able to perform if you're not setting it up to do so properly. Duh.

Advice for New Runners

I have ran a lot of races. Tons of track races in junior high and high school, loads of road races over the past twelve years including seven marathons and thirty half marathons. I am far from being the fastest, and I'm not the slowest, but I have learned a lot over the years. I love being a student, so I've learned a lot through experience and even more through countless books that I've read. I love connecting with new runners and being a resource for them to answer questions that they have. I have compiled a list of common questions and their answers in this post!

Q: What do I wear?
A: A good pair of running shoes. This is truly the only thing you *need*. I spent years running, racing, and training in cotton shirts and I lived to tell about it. I only trained in giant basketball shorts in high school. And the only way I tracked time and data was to check the clock before I left and when I came home, and driving a route to see how far it was. There is so much other stuff that is fun to have. But nothing else that you truly NEED.

Q: How can I expect to get faster if I don't run every run "fast"?
A: Just by running, you get faster. If you run every run *fast* your body will be so fatigued and run down that you'll actually slow down your progress and speed in the long run. My first three half marathons (and countless 5ks) I did the method of running every run as fast as I could and then couldn't understand why my race times sucked so bad. Now I know! I like the hard-easy-hard-easy plan where every run toggles back and forth from easy to hard. Long run=hard, speedier run=hard, sandwiching easy 2-4 mile runs in between those hard runs help you recover while still building up your mileage.

Q: What do I do on race day?
A: Exactly what you do on long run day. I see long runs as dress rehearsal for race day. Finding out what I can wear without chafing. Finding out what I can eat without an upset stomach. Finding out what I can eat the night before that sits well in my stomach. Finding out my morning bathroom routine. Finding out what fuel I can take on the run that will give me energy without giving me the poops. :)
During every training cycle, I try to have one long run that's as close to a race day dress rehearsal as I can. If I'm doing a half marathon race, I'll do it on a day that I have 13 miles on the training program (or maybe the longest long run in a cycle if you're peaking at 10 or 12 miles). I plan to start my run at the time the race starts. I do everything just like I would for race day. Outfit, breakfast, wake up time, fueling strategy. This gives me another chance to tweak anything before race day.

HALP. Advice please.

It's not my first time around the marathon block.  Madison will be marathon #6 for me.  However, that doesn't mean I have everything figured out.  In fact, I would say the opposite is true.  The marathon is so interesting to me because I can't seem to perform to my potential for 26.2 miles.  Insert the cheesy, "if it was easy, everyone would do it" quote here please.  But seriously.  There are so many stinking variables that go in to a successful marathon to performance, and not all are under your control.

With that being said, I have questions regarding two marathon related things.  First, how many of you do your long runs and marathons wearing compression socks?

I've been a devoted compression sock wearing runner for recovery almost since I started running marathons.  I think that they help significantly with recovery.  When I initially started wearing them, I had read articles proving their effectiveness during recovery, but not WHILE running.  Not that they weren't good, just that there wasn't statistical evidence that they provided any assistance while actually running.

Since switching my running form, I have some tight calves.  I foam roll them and wear my compression socks pretty religiously, but am contemplating wearing my compression socks for race day.  For one, the race is in November so while I'm normally all "WEAR NONE OF THE CLOTHES, IT'S TOO HOT FOR E'ERYTHING!" it might actually be ok to have some extra cloth covering me on race day. Especially because I'm planning to wear shorts and a tank even if it's 32*.  Mama likes it cold.

If I go this route, I'll definitely spend at least half of my long runs running in the compression socks, but I probably need to start that, um... this weekend.  Also, I would need green compression socks STAT for race day.  (Dear Pro compression, please make green and yellow argyle socks immediately.  My race day depends on it.  Thanks, Jerbear)

Next up:  salt.  When I first started training for marathons, an experienced runner, Glenn recommended that I take salt tablets on my run given the amount that I sweat, and the amount of salt I sweat out when I run (see:  every race photo ever).  This information was relayed to me 3+ years ago, so clearly I can't find it, nor do I remember his sage advice.  Le sigh.

For those that take salt, or salt supplements of any kind, what do you use?  What's your strategy for when you take them/how often/etc?  Clearly these are things I need to be figuring out ASAP as well so I can be practicing them on long runs.  Yikes.

Any other suggestions?  I'm super stubborn so I may not take them.  But they may just fester in the back of my brain for the next three years until I finally give in, so that would be helpful eventually then, right?  ;)