A couple of Fridays ago, I laced up the shoes, packed a bunch of PowerGel, filled the water bottle and headed out for the final long run in preparation for the Ogden Marathon.
Feeling good after my last one, a 19-miler, and looking forward to the sweet goodness of tapering my mileage that would be the next three weeks before the marathon, I set out.
The course I plotted was a very familiar but hilly 23 miles. No problem. I had done this route many times before and was looking forward to putting my feet up some three-plus hours later.
The first 11.5 miles were uneventful. It snowed and blew a little, and the hills were nothing I wasn’t expecting.
Then at mile 15, things began to change, slowly at first, then at an accelerated pace. I started to notice I was losing steam, and my legs were not their normally perky selves.
At mile 18, I stopped quickly at a Chevron station for a water refill and felt almost as if I had finished a full marathon. At 19, I began taking more frequent walk breaks. These breaks became even more frequent and longer in duration as I struggled to reach the next mile marker.
With two miles left, I was hoping a nice police officer would happen by whom I could flag down for some assistance. That never happened. As if the running gods were saying, “You made this bed, now sleep in it” (which actually sounded like a good idea), I was forced to continue on.
Alas, it was all I could do to hobble home and crash on the couch to evaluate what had caused such a sudden “brick wall” during this run.
The worst came to mind first, that I possibly had some weird terminal illness and was destined to a life of medication. No, it probably wasn’t that.
Once reason took hold, I started to realize what I had eaten, and everything made sense.
That day, I had a fruit/vegetable smoothie for breakfast, nothing for lunch and at 2 p.m., right before my run, a bowl of granola.
The day before held my gross error. I had eaten a fruit/vegetable smoothie for breakfast, a frozen bean burrito for lunch and no more than 10 chips with guacamole for dinner. To top off the day, I had two smores with my Cub Scout son at his meeting that evening.
I’m sure you’re wondering what on earth my editors are doing, letting a guy with so little knowledge on running nutrition contribute to a running blog. Well, I’m here to tell you what NOT to do.
Running a 23-miler after two days eating fewer calories than you need is NOT smart.
There’s a reason they tell you to load up on carbs the week before a race, and I would recommend doing so on Wednesday or Thursday before your Saturday run. The same is true for your long runs.
Eating fewer calories is a great way to lose weight, but a month before a marathon is no time to be skipping nutrition. Eat up! Because, take it from me, you need it.
Brian Nicholson has completed marathons from Boston to Beijing, has hosted Ragnar relays, and has developed a keen taste for all things GU.