Why 18 miles was easier than 16

 The long runs are getting seriously long, folks! This week, things were really ramping up with my training. The mid-week runs are now 6-milers, and I was able to throw in a spin class and some light weight lifting too. I was a bit nervous about the run after my 16 miler was less-than-fun, but I've been there, and know better than anyone that sometimes, it's not just your week. It happens. It's ok.

 Leading up to my Sunday morning run, I knew something had to change to make this week better than last. As faithful blog-readers know, I've been trying to drop some weight for the NYC marathon, and to do this, I've been tracking my food intake with the "Lose it" app. This has worked great for my beach body, but thinking about the 16 mile run last week - I felt I wasn't taking in enough calories.


On Friday and Saturday - I still tried to eat right, but I essentially threw out my calorie budget. I made a point to eat more, and drink more water. When you're prepping for a 3+ hour run - salads go out the window. You need calories. To put this in perspective, according to my Garmin watch, I burned 2700 calories this morning.

2700.

No one eats like Gaston. But you should try

That's more than a full day of eating for me, so to have the fuel to complete my run, I had to load up a bit. This doesn't mean eat crap to get the calories though. I snacked on pretzel chips last night, some whole grains, peanut butter, etc. If I'm being honest though, I also had a swiss roll. And it was good. #realtalk.

Anyhow, I definitely felt the difference in my legs this morning. I had a lot more energy and was able to keep a decent pace for the whole run. I skipped the music today and I actually enjoyed it. Running without music for over 3 hours sounds horrible, but I found it relaxing. I was able to focus on my pace and enjoy the surroundings on a very pleasant morning.

Time for a taper week now, and then in two weeks - the first of two 20 mile runs.

Drive Slow