Workout 02/24/2013 – 22 Mile Training Run
I prefer to do my long runs in the morning, and on Sundays I have the opportunity to join the HATRs for some company. I usually get 10 to 12 miles done before 7am, then meet the other runners at 7am in the East Picnic Area of Mercer County Park. But this weekend, I couldn’t be away from home in the morning. So, I had to do an afternoon run, going it alone.
I decided to run from my house in Ewing to the canal path on Lower Ferry Road, then to Lambertville and back. This was about 22 miles.
Now that I’m on the Paleo diet, I shouldn’t be eating things like Gu or Shot Blocks, etc. Also, I didn’t have my normal peanut-butter toast in the morning, or additional carbs the day before. Now, I’m not a crazy carb-loader, but I do typically consume a healthy portion the day before long runs. So, this run was going to be a serious test.
And… I failed. I was properly hydrated, but not properly fueled. I was strong until mile 14, when I started to feel a loss of energy. At the pace I ran, that shouldn’t have happened so soon. At mile 15, I felt completely energy-depleted. The last 7 to 8 miles were completely horrible. I struggled through them as if I was gutting out the last few miles of a marathon race. So, I’ll need to do lots of research on fueling for endurance events while on the paleo diet.
April 3rd, 2013 at 1:52 pm
Ahh, so I guess this is the run you were referring to when we were talking today about trying to do a long run while maintaining a low carb diet. I think the simple answer may be that it just doesn’t work that well and you do really need carbs before something this long. Maybe whil you are doing paleo, if you are not going to do a spring marathon, you keep your long runs to 15 miles or less? Hope you figure it out!
April 8th, 2013 at 9:46 am
Yes, you’re right Dimitri. I’ve since adjusted my eating plan the day before long runs. I make sure to have sufficient carbs from things like sweet potatoes, which are totally Paleo-approved 🙂 THANKS!