sidebar | life and training 10.4 – 10.10

I know in my mind’s eye that Sunday I won’t have time, energy, or desire to write a recap of the marathon, so just know that marathon news will come in next week’s Sidebar.

This week was my final taper cycle, and by far the hardest. Granted, I think I had a better time of things than some, since I have FMG to upkeep and was able to use my extra time to test recipes and work on writeups to schedule while we’re away. Thus, I managed to keep myself busy, which apparently is one of the harder aspects of marathon taper that tends to drive the prospective racing crowd nuts. The running fewer miles was odd, since I’m so used to banging out 6+ per day often before the sun’s up or shortly after, and a lot of those runs were pretty subpar until later in the week. I know the recovery will benefit me on race day, though, so I’m trying to stay even-keeled about the whole deal.

For me, what I’ve found tremendously tiring is carb loading. Literally, since my body is so full of slosh that it feels thick and sluggish yet my stomach often can fit more. I really meticulously plan out my meals and snacks because this is one facet of training I don’t want to screw up, and dudes, finding carb sources that also aren’t high in fat is a Holy Grail-esque trek.

The What and Why of Carb Loading

Keep in mind I’m far from experienced in this and even further from being certified in sports nutrition, but over time I think I’ve gleaned enough knowledge to give a decent overview of what carb loading means and how it helps endurance athletes.

In effect, carb loading is switching to a high-carb, low fat and lower protein intake in order to stock up the body’s glycogen stores for long events. Think half marathon and up, but particularly for the marathon and ultras. Lessened exercise for a period of 3-6 days (usually, more like 3 nowadays) and higher carbs yield more energy stored to help prevent the dreaded bonk late in a race.

Most people aim for 75-90% carbs, with the latter being a fairly extreme proportion and quite hard for people who don’t have very high calorie diets. I am shooting for 75-80%, which still might be tricky since eating carbs without fat flying through the roof is a serious science.

Carb load diets tend to contain foods such as oats, breads, rice, pasta, bananas, potatoes, honey, 100% fruit juices, and variations thereof. Generally, it is recommended to switch to high glycemic sources closer to race day: think white breads, rices, and pastas. These contain less fiber and are not as likely to cause digestive meltdowns than the typically healthier whole wheat counterparts.

A Day of Carb Load

I documented my carb load adventures in my Instagram stories on Thursday, but in case you don’t follow (why the hell not?) here’s a breakdown of what I ate to obtain my carb goal:

…Pre breakfast, post run was a cup of herbal tea and honey (11.5 grams of carbs)

…Breakfast was a pile of blueberry buckwheat pancakes, half a banana, and 2 tablespoons of maple syrup (91.2 grams)

…Midmorning snack, a bowl of Honey Nut Cheerios, plain nonfat Greek yogurt, strawberries, and honey (41 grams)

…Lunch was leftover black beans, lots of rice, salsa, and some spinach (88 grams)

…Afternoon snack I grabbed a homemade bagel and some maple cream cheese (67 grams)

…Dinner was a shrimp and tomato stew, air fried potatoes, and a spontaneous beer bread 97 grams)

…At long last, night snack: pretzels, grapes, and honey almond butter (66 grams)

Total for the day? 466 grams of carb. Not too shabby for the first spin with carb loading!

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Week in Training

Monday, 10.4: 8.04 miles, 10:51 pace + 40 min strength

Oof. Whatever bug latched onto me over the weekend held tight on Monday, and I really didn’t feel stupendous on the run. My legs were heavy and my heartrate high, not to mention the weather was more than just a little shitty. Strength was kept mellow with just a barbell on occasion as added weight, and my trusty resistance band.

Strength:

• 3 x 10 ea. standing clams to leg extension
• 3 x 12 alt. band curtsy lunge with pulse (barbell)
• 3 x 10 pushup SS biceps curl (barbell)
• 3 x 10 ea. band lunge twist (barbell)
• 3 x 16 triceps dip
• 3 x 12 stability ball hamstring curl
• 3 x 12 stir the pot
• 3 x 12 deadbug

Tuesday, 10.5: 6.2 miles, 10:37 pace

This run was a smidge better, more normal heartrate readings. Still hot and gross out.

Wednesday, 10.6: 7.66 miles, 9:47 pace + 40 min strength + 1,250 yard swim (25:34)

20 minute marathon pace tuneup that I ran way too fast. I felt okay at this pace but I know, unless my legs really have a little something something in them of which I’m currently unaware, an 8:29 average probably isn’t realistic. The faster segment felt much better than the clunky warmup, which was encouraging.

Got myself to the pool for probably my only swim of the week, a straight set at 2:03 average and 44 SWOLF.

Strength:

• 3 x 20 alt. side lunge SS SL squat
• 3 x 20 shoot thru
• 3 x 16 ea. tick tock lunge
• 3 x 15 bench leg drops
• 3 x 10 ea band leg extension, side to back
• 3 x 12 ea side plank oblique crunches
• 3 x 10 ea. windmills
• 3 x 10 good mornings SS 5 SLDL (barbell)
• 3 x 12 stability ball hamstring curls
• 50 calf raises

Thursday, 10.7: 5.2 miles, 10:39 pace

Mellow morning run, though my stomach was pretty unhappy with me all morning for some reason. First day of carb load which I feel will prove pretty hard, but I’m trying to get myself into snacking mode and just graze on high-carb munchies all day. No, not cake. Sadly.

Friday, 10.8: 3 mile walk

Even when opportunities to sleep in arise, I have a very hard time deviating from my routine. I drank a glass of water when I got up, then threw on some shoes and went for a long stroll. I did get to enjoy a morning cup of coffee, however, when I returned, since walking requires no pre workout and thus I had caffeine storage to fill. Hooray!

Saturday, 10.9: 3.29 miles, 10:39 pace

35 minute treadmill shakeout in the hotel. I don’t love treadmill running and find it really hard, but the machines had televisions on the console so that helped me zone out a bit. We walked around more than I thought we would the rest of the day, but afterwards settled in the hotel to rest and recuperate before the big day.

Sunday, 10.10: CHICAGO MARATHON! 26.63 miles, 9:19 pace

I’ll save the big recap for later, but my finisher stats for the marathon were 4:08:08, 9:28 pace. Far from what I wanted but better than I expected once I hit my personal hell in mile 16. More to come next week!

Total running mileage: 57.02

Total cycling mileage: 0

Total swimming yardage: 1,250