Running Reflections: 05 Aug
This Sunday was my fourth long run - or at least what I would consider to be long - a whopping 24 miles. Still a few miles short of marathon distance, but that will come in time. Things I have learned so far:
- The location of all public potties around town. Thank goodness for summer construction and campgrounds
- My new favorite clothes all have flatlock-stitched seams
- Probars are amazingly satisfying after a run (organic and unprocessed). Franken-food is gross
- Running slower than a 00:09:30/mi pace makes my knees ache
- Clif Shot Bloks are yummy and entertaining to chew on, but are extremely difficult to open in the rain or while sweating profusely
- Currently listening to Greg Niemeyer’s Art23: Foundations of American Cyberculture (fall 2006 - UC Berkley) available for download along with other open courseware podcasts.
There are a few things I’m wondering about right now that I think will make longer distances more comfortable:
- Need to find something that is easily digestible, but with more energy than Cliff Bloks for any runs longer than 20 miles.
- Buy runners’ lube - rain sucks.
- Currently using Superfeet inserts and love them, but would custom orthotics make a world of difference?
I’ve set a goal to run the Equinox Marathon here in Fairbanks this fall and have got to work more elevation in to my runs if I want to avoid dying during this race. This graph below shows about all of the elevation I can handle right now (measurements courtesy of my little Garmin Forerunner):
As you can see, the highest point on this run occurs in mile 9 and is a mere 637ft above sea-level. The image below is a profile of the Equinox Marathon route, which begins climbing around mile 8 and continues considerably higher - peaking well above 2000ft at the top of Ester Dome:
Just looking at the line graph makes me sore. The plan right now is to spend most of August training on Birch Hill located on a smaller ridge line here in town, but much closer to home, and run a few times over some of the actual race course closer to 15 Sep.
A summary of yesterday’s run:
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August 7th, 2007 at 8:06 am
Wow - I’m impressed that you’re doing it! Another good run is Summit Drive off farmers loop. I think the entire loop is 13 miles around and you could deviate up summit and come down mcgrath for extra mileage. One warning though - Summit is narrow and there’s traffic!
I’ve walked it many times - it was the thing to do when I was in high school. I’m looking forward to doing the virtual training with you!
September 26th, 2007 at 8:17 am
To answer your question about custom orthotics - yes, they would make a world of difference, at least they did for me. I went from Superfeet in my shoes on my first marathon to Surefoot custom thotics (spendy) and had less slippage and it felt more like a glove fit for my feet.
Can’t help you on the food as my strategy was eat early and eat often so that by mile 20 I was ok with a gel or even some pringles. Try pieces of ProBar. Speaking of which, thanks for the mention. Ping me with your favorite flavor and I’ll drop a couple in the mail for you.
Good luck on the Equinox. Looks like a quad buster.
September 29th, 2007 at 7:15 am
Kendall,
Thanks for the tip on Surefoot. I’m definitely going to look into them. At 6’ tall I can’t afford to cut corners on my feet, particularly as the miles increase (and my age!).
ProBars rock! Both my sister and I love them.