Distance runners: How to work past 90 minutes?

DeeVanderbles

Probably a couple of things going on. I assume you are looking to run a half or full marathon? Most people don't look for long runs that far unless they are so I will give you advice based on that assumption.

As you reach longer distances your body needs fuel. Gu, Chomps, any kind of energy that is easily digested in small quantities is important. I can go 90 minutes no problem, longer than that I fuel. I would recommend every 30 minutes or so up to about 3 hours. When I go beyond that I break it down to 75-100 calories every 15 minutes and split it between gels and energy drinks. My goal is about 350 calories an hour since that is about as much as your body can digest while exercising.

Your runs during the week are also a little short. Try looking at some running plans from Hal Higdon or some of the other ones easily found on the internet for free. You will see that as the long runs get up there in distance you also have longer runs during the week. It makes a big difference in helping your body to adapt to distance running.

Last thing is probably mental. Stop looking at your watch and start looking around you. When you get to the wall start picking really short goals (the next tree, street sign, driveway, etc.) and stop looking at your watch. Keep running the same route for long runs for several weeks and this will help you see the progress you are making.

Hope that helps. Best of luck with whatever your ultimate goal is!

This is solid advice. Especially the mental part. It will be easier if you up your midweek mileage, but you may also just be in a mental rut where you have worked 90 minutes up into the ultimate barrier.

And thanks for the lulz.

OP, the great thing about anyone who says "running is bad for you knees" is that you can, without fail, go ahead and ignore everything else they say.

http://www.runnersworld.com/tag/runners-knee

Knee injuries are very common among runners. More knee injuries=more damage over time. It isn't rational to instantly cut off someone because you disagree with what they say, but then, go ahead and be a zealot. There is no room for disagreement here apparently.

also from runnersworld

I would just like to say that I can run for miles and my bad knee feels perfectly fine but if I walk for one mile, it hurts a lot and gets stiff. Definitely thought it would have been the other way around when I started running about a year ago.

FromHereOnOut

Awesome update! What fuel did you choose?

Cliff energy blocks? Would have to dig wrapper out of trash to find the exact name. Easy to eat and tasted good to me.

ETA: Also, is it just me or are these things "in general" kind of expensive. Probably what I get for just finding something at my grocery store (I compared several different options though), but still seemed pretty steep on the price for what essentially seems like hyped up fruit chews....

I know nothing about these special products, but as long as you are experimenting, why not just try some old fashioned gummy bears/worms. I carry some (Haribo gummy berries) and use them occasionally (not because I run far [yet], but because I can only run at a time of day when I've already been walking, carrying a child, doing errands, etc without yet having time for a mid-day meal). The gummies are fine for me, but maybe the special ones have better macros or electrolytes or smthg?? idk.

jofjltncb6

Awesome update! What fuel did you choose?

Cliff energy blocks? Would have to dig wrapper out of trash to find the exact name. Easy to eat and tasted good to me.

ETA: Also, is it just me or are these things "in general" kind of expensive. Probably what I get for just finding something at my grocery store (I compared several different options though), but still seemed pretty steep on the price for what essentially seems like hyped up fruit chews....

I know nothing about these special products, but as long as you are experimenting, why not just try some old fashioned gummy bears/worms. I carry some (Haribo gummy berries) and use them occasionally (not because I run far [yet], but because I can only run at a time of day when I've already been walking, carrying a child, doing errands, etc without yet having time for a mid-day meal). The gummies are fine for me, but maybe the special ones have better macros or electrolytes or smthg?? idk.

Just be very *very* careful that you don't accidentally take the sugar-free Haribo on a run...

...or consume them for any other reason. Ever.



*shudder*

:indifferent:

QueenBishOTUniverse

Just be very *very* careful that you don't accidentally take the sugar-free Haribo on a run...

...or consume them for any other reason. Ever.



*shudder*

:indifferent:

Ok, somebody clue me in, my school's server blocks out all the posts and references to this (also all the best gifs :grumble: ) so I've been assuming something along the lines of an excellent detox/cleanse occurs?

Would be happy to just eat gummy bears though (NOT the sugar free kind), I LOVE gummy bears, so if that'll work I'll totally try it instead of the fancy fueling blocks.

MeanderingMammal

TL;DR Yay! I made it past 90 minutes on my run!

Well done

jofjltncb6

Just be very *very* careful that you don't accidentally take the sugar-free Haribo on a run...

...or consume them for any other reason. Ever.



*shudder*

:indifferent:

Ok, somebody clue me in, my school's server blocks out all the posts and references to this (also all the best gifs :grumble: ) so I've been assuming something along the lines of an excellent detox/cleanse occurs?

Would be happy to just eat gummy bears though (NOT the sugar free kind), I LOVE gummy bears, so if that'll work I'll totally try it instead of the fancy fueling blocks.

Good assumption.

It's worth a read when you're no longer stuck behind a firewall: http://www.amazon.com/Haribo-Gummy-Candy-Sugarless-5-Pound/product-reviews/B000EVQWKC/

ETA: Just one of many LOL reviews:

Oh man...words cannot express what happened to me after eating these. The Gummi Bear "Cleanse". If you are someone that can tolerate the sugar substitute, enjoy. If you are like the dozens of people that tried my order, RUN!

First of all, for taste I would rate these a 5. So good. Soft, true-to-taste fruit flavors like the sugar variety...I was a happy camper.

BUT (or should I say BUTT), not long after eating about 20 of these all hell broke loose. I had a gastrointestinal experience like nothing I've ever imagined. Cramps, sweating, bloating beyond my worst nightmare. I've had food poisoning from some bad shellfish and that was almost like a skip in the park compared to what was going on inside me.

Then came the, uh, flatulence. Heavens to Murgatroyd, the sounds, like trumpets calling the demons back to Hell...the stench, like 1,000 rotten corpses vomited. I couldn't stand to stay in one room for fear of succumbing to my own odors.

But wait; there's more. What came out of me felt like someone tried to funnel Niagara Falls through a coffee straw. I swear my sphincters were screaming. It felt like my delicate starfish was a gaping maw projectile vomiting a torrential flood of toxic waste. 100% liquid. Flammable liquid. NAPALM. It was actually a bit humorous (for a nanosecond)as it was just beyond anything I could imagine possible.

AND IT WENT ON FOR HOURS.

I felt violated when it was over, which I think might have been sometime in the early morning of the next day. There was stuff coming out of me that I ate at my wedding in 2005.

I had FIVE POUNDS of these innocent-looking delicious-tasting HELLBEARS so I told a friend about what happened to me, thinking it HAD to be some type of sensitivity I had to the sugar substitute, and in spite of my warnings and graphic descriptions, she decided to take her chances and take them off my hands.

Silly woman. All of the same for her, and a phone call from her while on the toilet (because you kinda end up living in the bathroom for a spell) telling me she really wished she would have listened. I think she was crying.

Her sister was skeptical and suspected that we were exaggerating. She took them to work, since there was still 99% of a 5 pound bag left. She works for a construction company, where there are builders, roofers, house painters, landscapers, etc. Lots of people who generally have limited access to toilets on a given day. I can't imagine where all of those poor men (and women) pooped that day. I keep envisioning men on roofs, crossing their legs and trying to decide if they can make it down the ladder, or if they should just jump.

If you order these, best of luck to you. And please, don't post a video review during the aftershocks.

PS: When I ordered these, the warnings and disclaimers and legalese were NOT posted. I'm not a moron. Also, not sure why so many people assume I'm a man. I am a woman. We poop too. Of course, our poop sparkles and smells like a walk in a meadow of wildflowers. Thanks for all the great comments. I've been enjoying reading them and so glad that the horror show I experienced from snacking on these has at least made some people smile.

FromHereOnOut

haha, definitely not the Haribo sugar-free! I've read that review before (LOL, and yet totally unnerved by the graphicness of it), plus "sugar-free" is not my thing, nor would sugar-free help restock the glycogen supply.

(Please see customer reviews for Bic Pen "for Her". bahaha!)

QueenBishOTUniverse

Lol... a fellow teacher friend was contemplating putting a bowl of these out on his desk for naughty students who thought it was ok to steal candy from the teacher....(posted on facebook so I could see the discussion, but not the article referenced)

No, he didn't but I can understand the temptation....