Learning From My Twenty-Mile Blunders
I’m going to pivot a bit from the style of my blog posts and take the time to tell you all a story. As you may or may not (but probably don’t) know, the reason I chose the topic of marathon/running nutrition for my website is because I am training for a marathon. It’s in Tulsa, Oklahoma on November 19th—by the time this is officially published on my website, I will have run it already! I’ve been officially training for this marathon since July and have been slowly building up my mileage as the months have gone on. I hit several milestones: ten miles, a half marathon, fifteen miles, and until last week, eighteen miles was the farthest I’d run. If you don’t know, most marathon training plans go up to twenty miles as the longest training day before tapering back down before the marathon.
Sunday, October 28th was my twenty-mile day. It was a day that I’d been anticipating for some time; it always felt so far away that I almost didn’t believe that I would actually run that kind of mileage. But the day came around and it was time to do it. This run will live on in infamy forever in my life and it will be a story that I tell everyone who will listen, because I made several devastating mistakes that cost me my sanity in the last few miles of my run. This post will consist of me retelling the story of my run from hell and sharing the mistakes I made so that you hopefully won’t ever have to go through the same things that I did.
The First Twelve Miles
The first twelve miles of my run were nice: it was chilly outside, but not too cold to be uncomfortable. The leaves were in full autumn color; this part of the run was picturesque and almost peaceful. My mom called me, and I talked to her for about four miles, which was a nice break from having to focus on the pain I was beginning to feel in my legs. Near the end of our call, I noticed that my phone’s battery was at ten percent, so I had to end the call. This is where the story gets interesting.
The Sweet Deception of Candy
Before I continue, it’s worth noting that for this particular run, I decided to bring some candy (namely, Strawberry Sour Patch Kids) with me in addition to my gel packs and energy bloks. I thought it would be a nice treat as I ran the longest run I had ever done. They were magnificent and I did notice a significant improvement in my physical and mental performance (which is equally important for longer runs). However, I ended up relying too much on this candy and ignored the other fuel I brought along with me and had previously trained with. I believe this prevented me from getting the amount of carbs I needed to run efficiently: “It’s recommended to consume 30 to 60 grams of carbs per hour on runs 60 minutes or more” (Shilton, 2017).
I brought maybe twenty pieces of candy along with me, which would equate to approximately 60 grams of carbs—certainly not effective for a run that ended up being five hours long. Additionally, by showing favoritism to the candy—which really only contains sugar and chemicals—I was neglecting the other food I brought, which would have provided me with more beneficial nutrients: “…products such as Clif Shot Blocks or Gu Chomps offer the electrolytes you need, like sodium, potassium, and magnesium, that candy doesn’t” (Shilton, 2017). This was mistake number one: I should have consumed the fuel I was used to, or at least made sure that I ate the fuel in addition to the candy.
The Last Eight Miles
Now, back to the story. Like I said, the first twelve miles were a breeze. After I hung up with my mom, though, I decided to run with no music to save my phone battery until the last couple of miles when I knew I would need music to get me to the end. The lack of music made me realize how cold it was getting. A light mist hung in the air, which slowly seeped through my jacket and gloves and made me cold to my core. I sipped water from my water bladder for about three miles (fifteen miles in) until I ran out. This brings me to mistake number two: I didn’t take the running loop that I normally do. I had decided that I wanted fresh scenery, so I ran down the road for ten miles and then turned around. This means that I wasn’t able to loop back to my house, where I would normally leave my water bottle for refills.
I began to panic, as I could feel my leg muscles cramping and struggling to function. I knew I was lacking electrolytes: “If electrolyte levels are low or out of balance, one of the results can be that muscles can go into cramps or spasms” (2023). Thankfully, I was about to reach my hometown, where a Dollar General waited for me. I knew I’d be able to buy some water and an electrolyte drink with Apple Pay on my phone, so I held onto the hopes of reaching the Dollar General for about a mile. Then, the unthinkable happened: my phone died.
The Last Four Miles
Those last four miles were the hardest I’ve ever run. Because of my dead phone, I was unable to buy water at Dollar General. I slowed down significantly, sometimes walking, sometimes limping. The lack of carbs and water in my body made me feel like I was in one of those dreams where you’re trying to run away from a murderer, but you just can’t seem to move. To quote my own words from my blog post about carbs: “When runners hit ‘the wall,’ especially in the last six miles of a marathon, this is generally because they have depleted their glycogen storage. They are running on ‘empty.’” Those words were a self-fulfilling prophecy. Because of my dead phone, I didn’t even have music in my earbuds to comfort me. It was sheer torture. Finally, with a total time of five hours and one minute, I finished my twenty-mile run.
The Much-Needed Post-Run Recovery
The fatigue I encountered after that run was like nothing I’d ever experienced before. My core refused to get warm, and I laid down on the ground wrapped in a blanket. Even though I was exhausted, I remembered to partake in my normal post-run routines. First and foremost, I ensured that I was drinking enough water to replace what I had lost on the run. I also dissolved an electrolyte tablet in my water to start replacing my electrolytes. I ate some nachos and queso, which undoubtedly provided me with lots of sodium. If you recall from my blog post about electrolytes, sodium is an excellent mineral that provides electrolytes to the body. I was so completely out of it that I can’t exactly remember what kind of protein I had, but I think I may have had some protein powder or chocolate milk. It would have been important to eat or drink protein within an hour after my run to begin allowing the muscles to recover.
Moral of the Story
I write this post not to scare you into never running, but to show you that even though I spent all this time writing blog posts about how to properly fuel your run, I still made mistakes. I didn’t pay attention to my carb intake, and I didn’t give myself a way to refill my water. I felt the ramifications of these mistakes hard, and even though that run was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do, I now fully understand the importance of fueling during a run. I won’t be making these mistakes again, and I hope that after reading this, you’ll be smarter than me and make sure to properly fuel your run.
