[peanut4]

Hi, I'm very new around here - probably a couple of minutes - but have come here for some advice.

At the moment, I'm in training for the Amsterdam Marathon in October. Last Sunday I had a 14-mile run. It was my longest run up to that point and it was at the pace I wanted and went quite well. In fact I felt I had two or three miles left in my legs when I finished.

This weekend's long run had to be postponed one day due to work commitments and was a 15 miler. However as I was going round, I could feel myself slowing losing energy and having to ration my lucozade sport because otherwise I knew I would run out. The pace was about the same as last week's but on 12 miles, I just hit the wall. It was just after a very small climb when it happened, but it didn't surprise me it happened. The final three miles were done with a combination of two brief stops and three maybe four short periods of walking.

Has anyone any advice, what I can do, to try and avoid a repeat of this?

 

[JBBury]

I don't think you hit an official wall. I think you just had a bad run day. It happens. You just have to get back out there.

 

[Steve]

I think I agree with JBB...was it hotter than normal? If so it really probably was an off day....do a shorter run this weekend..say 10 miles and then go back up to a longer one the following weekend.

 

[peanut4]

Thanks for the speedy responses.

It felt cooler, but it was still warm, and it was a sticky warm and I was sweating an awful lot more than last weekend.

Secondly my schedule has 12 miles this weekend and 17 the weekend after, so I'll see how that goes.

 

[Granty]

Agree with both the above, we all get them, bad days that is, just make sure you're well hydrated and carb loaded up for the next long 'un

Good luck.

 

[richardsimkiss]

Plenty of carbs should help... though as others have said, it was probably just a bad day - we all have them!

 

[Rob]

Peanut,
Sunday before last I ran just short of 10 miles, no probs. did three shorter runs in the week, no probs. I set of last sunday on a 10 miler and ran an absolute shocker with no rhyme or reason. I felt fine before I set off and then after 3 miles I was struggling, heavy legged even after resting two days and I curtailed my run and headed back home and finished up only doing 6 miles and that was a real battle. No idea why, I was running a minute and a half slower than my usual pace at one point. My little bit of personal experience has taught me that it was a bad day and nothing else. went out again yesterday two days later and knocked off five miles with no problems! I had a funny turn last year too where I just stopped a mile from home and sat down on a rock on the beach defeated and usually I NEVER stop, no matter how tired I am, but those bad days are in a league of their own. Thankfully, they're quite rare

 

[twinkle toes]

Hi Peanut

keep us posted on how you get on, on your next run, like the others have said I am sure it was just a bad run

Bet you have a good one next

TT

 

[peanut4]

So far, so good since. Had a 3.5 mile run on Wednesday which went fine, and an 8 mile earlier tonight. Despite my iPod deciding to change to km for some reason, and thinking I was aiming for 3km, so I was busy trying to convert my pace, everything went fine. My aim is for a 1hr 40 half marathon, and tonight's run was just three seconds per mile pace outside that. My last three miles were also the quickest, and I did it without carrying fluids during the run. I'm just going to put down the 15 miler as a bad day at the moment, but see how the next two long ones go.

 

[Trinity]

Hi peanut... I'm training for Amsterdam too

What kind of schedule are you on though... to go from 14, then 12 and then jump up to 17 sounds a bit unusual to me

 

[peanut4]

I started training back in January but I broke two toes in my right foot which set back my training and so I'm trying to follow a schedule on Ultra-Fitmagazine. I cannot post a link but it's the third result on google for the search "marathon training schedule".

 

[terminator]

Hi Peanut.. hitting the wall is when you run out of stored energy in the form of glycogen in your muscles. This is a very ready source of energy for respiration and when it's gone your body turns to it's fat reserves and that is a much slower process.

You could have run out of glycogen but normally you would have enough to run over 20 miles so it's more likely that you had a bad day for whatever reason. I agree with all the above on that front, today i did 20 miles and was 25 mins slower than the 19 i did last week. that's the difference between a good and a bad run!

so chin up, next time out make sure you're careful in the run up to your long run and you'll be back to normal