Training Run Preparation...How Important Is It??

It all depend on how serious you are about your training run and what your expectations are for the run.  Really, a training run, especially a long one, will somewhat resemble the race that is in your near future. If you want the race to be a success, you need to prepare for it properly. Training runs should be no different.

The longer the run, the more thought and preparation you should put into it!!  Tomorrow is my 38 km LSD run. This is roughly 60% of the distance that I am planning on racing.

From my limited experience, any run over 20 or 25 kilometers has many factors that can jump out of the bushes, slap you in the face and turn your enjoyable run into a living nightmare!!!  Not packing enough food, a change in the weather, running out of water....the list goes on and on.  But with a little preparation, many of these factors can be eliminated.

My 38 km run tomorrow will take me longer than 4.5 hours to complete, which means it will probably be the longest run I have ever done, even though it is shorter in distance than my longest run.  Ever since I bought my Osprey hydration pack, I have been packing it with all the gear I need for race day.  Yes, it usually weighs about 8 lbs, but the Golden Ultra requires all competitors to carry bear spray, warm hat, gloves, jacket, and space blanket.

But anyone who as been in the woods for 4.5 hrs knows that toilet paper is a luxury when the need arises.  Anyone who has run for any lenght of time knows that when runs get really bad, TP is really what you want the most!! (Yes, there was a pun there).  I have also added matches and salt tabs, and of course there is food.

I have never run much over 4.5 hrs but I do know hunger can really throw a wrench in your training run. I have trained all summer with dates and have it down to a pattern that works for me. Two dates every 15 minutes.

I started that pattern when I was road running. I ran 12/1 intervals and drank water every 12 min, and ate two dates every other interval.  This kept me on a hydration schedule as well as a nutrition plan.  I gradually worked up to this to see how my body would react to so many dates.  Suprisingly, I have never had any problem, but like a wise man (my brother) once told me "Never trust a fart after 30 km...."
(Steve has always wanted a "moment" on my blog...there it was Steve!!)  

I have also started training with boiled potatoes at 2 hr intervals. (See blog from last week.)  Since tomorrows run will be 4 hrs plus, I have two rations of potatoes.

I have also changed the hose on my hydration pack.  This one is roughy 6 feet long and helps me ration my water. I may remove it later once I am better trained, but this allows me to ration my water supply. With the hose on the outside of the pack, the temperature of the water in the hose is usually different from the water in the bladder.  This allows me to take the same amount of water every 12 min.  By doing this, I dont over drink or under drink and I know exactly how long (time) that my water will last.  Obviously, on hotter days, I consume more water, but I just plan for less time before I run out.

The Osprey, Duro 6 pack comes standard with a 1.5 liter water bladder.  Drinking my normal amount at my 12 min intervals it lasts me exactly 2 hrs. If the time between my water drops will be longer than 2 hrs, I pack an extra 500 ml bottle.  Yes, this makes my pack heavier, but this is TRAINING!!!  On race day, if I dont need the extra water (which I probably wont) my pack will be lighter than what I have been training with.

This also bring another element into preparing for your training run. Plan your run around your water drops.  Tomorrow, I will do one leg north of my truck for 2 hrs.  Once back at the truck, I will refill my pack, eat my potatoe ration, then head south for another 2.5 hr loop. Yes, I will be packing an extra 500 ml of water on this whole run, because I sure dont want to run out of water at km 32 at 9:30 tomorrow night.  That will be a mood killer for sure!!!

There is also the preperation that starts the day before the long run.  I have my breakfast and lunch planned and I have already made my chicken and rice that I will eat tomorrow afternoon at work, 1.5 hrs before my run starts.

When all the preperation ends, and I strike out on the run, there is always SOMETHING that I seem to have forgotten, usually it is anti-chafe or my headband...one time it was my watch, but with a little fore-thought and preperation the suprises become less and less. And when race day finally arrives, my gear is all ready and I can just focus on the race!!!