Meal Breaks

A certain degree of flexibility is required when dealing with my weekly plan. Many things get in the way of a quality workout. The key is too work out what is a valid reason for modifying training and what is just an excuse to back off a bit. Not always an easy thing to do.

Yesterday I had my long run planned. The original idea was to run at a steady, but very comfortable aerobic pace for 2 hours and 40 minutes. The run was meant to start straight after waking, and therefore, performed after an overnight fast. The idea being to enhance lipolysis (the body's ability to burn fats as a fuel source) and hopefully complete the run without consuming any carbohydrate. Recently this has been working well for 2 and 1/2 hour runs. But not for this run.

The plan had to be changed because of the previous shift at work. It was a busy day, in which we didn't get our meal breaks. Yes I did take emergency supplies, but if you miss out on proper meals for a 12 hour day, then there is something missing from the tank. If there is one way to make me grumpy, it is not to give me my meal breaks. I wasn't feeling too crash hot at the end by 9pm, and while I had a good size dinner when I returned home. There are only so many calories the body can absorb. When I woke up, I wasn't ready for the run.

Simple change, because I had the luxury of now being a day off. I ran in the afternoon instead of the morning, which kind of solved the problem, but not fully. As I reached the 2 hour mark, I was struggling, showing the typical signs of low blood sugar: light-headed, inability to concentrate, an overwhelming urge just to stop or walk. Simply fixed, with 10g of my carbohydrate gel and I was just able to maintain a reasonable effort to the end.

While I am very happy with my effort, the run felt more like a chore, rather than some good recreation like they normally do. I guess these are the days I draw on when the race gets tough.




"A lot of people don't realize that about 98 percent of the running I put in is anything but glamorous: 2 percent joyful participation, 98 percent dedication! It's a tough formula. Getting out in the forest in the biting cold and the flattening heat, and putting in kilometer after kilometer." - Rob de Castella

Comments

  1. Craig11 June 2007 at 17:32

    great effort mate

    im trying to put some serious running in but the work commute is draining me somedays

    ReplyDelete

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