jennifermaria running advice

[janie1234]

Hey Jennifer thanks for the advice on the fuel belt. I'm going to have to order one of those. I'm trying to graduate to longer distance running which I never thought I could do. The farthest I run is 8 miles but I always feel great afterwards. Don't ask me how I feel when I hit the 7th mile because I definitely have to dig down deep and give it my all. I'm not a marathoner, never will be to chicken of injury and I just love outdoor and trail running because I love being outdoors. With that said I'm hoping you could give me some advice on increasing my milage. What sports gel do you take? Have you heard of a carb tablet? Do you run on consecutive days? How many miles do you run a week? Thanks Jennifer!

 

[farmgirl]

Hi there! I'm not Jennifer...but thought I'd throw out my fave gel. I only use them if I'm going longer than 10-12 miles, and even then I sometimes stick with half Gatorade/half water. My fave gel though is carboom...fruity flavors that haven't ever upset my tummy in the middle of a long run...some others just seem too sweet!
as far as increasing your mileage...I increase my weekly mileage by 10% every week or two, but drop back in mileage every 3 weeks or so to give my body a break. I basically follow the beginner New York Marathon 18 week training plan (you wouldn't have to do the whole thing, just use it as a guide) or good old Hal Higdon has some great plans and these are free
happy running!
julie

 

[jennifermaria]

I've used Hammer Gel, GU, and PowerBar Gel, and I have favorite flavors in all of 'em . For Hammer Gel, I like the chocolate (that's my overall favorite--tastes like icing, yum!!). For GU and PowerBar Gel, I like their vanilla flavors.

I've tried other flavors and sometimes texture can vary even within the same brand! You just have to experiment, and these were the three I ended up liking best...

Happy tasting .

 

[jennifermaria]

Oh and I second farmgirl's advice on increasing mileage. Typically what we do on our training plans is go up by two miles every other week (and when I say go up by two miles, I mean for your long run--your other 2-3 runs in that week should be shorter distances, run for either time or speed). In the interim weeks, we run half the distance of the previous week.

Here's an example:

Week 1 long run: run 6 miles
Week 2 long run: run 3 miles
Week 3 long run: run 8 miles
Week 4 long run: run 4 miles

And so on... We train up to 20 miles, but I know Jeff Galloway advocates running up to 27 miles!! I get his point that it'll help you push past the 26-mile wall, but it would also increase your risk of injury, so I don't think it's worth it . Studies have shown that once you've run 18 miles, you have the stamina you need to do 26--it's all a mental game for the rest of the mileage.

 

[janie1234]

Jennifer, Julie, thank you so much for the advice. I'll be taking both your advice and putting it to use. If you have any other tips I'd be happy to hear them. Happy New Year!