Menu
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
      • Subscribe
      • Close
    • Close
  • In Season
    • Basketball
    • MMA
    • Running
    • Soccer
    • Close
  • Pro
  • Olympics
  • College
  • High School
  • Youth
  • Coaching
  • Business
  • Title IX
  • Entertainment
  • Inspiration

Women Talk Sports

News, Commentary, Features about Women in Sports

You are here: Home / Sports / Running / Smart ways to prepare for long runs

August 16, 2010 By Run Girl Run Leave a Comment

Smart ways to prepare for long runs

Long runs are important to training, there’s no doubt about that. But to get the most out of a long run, you need to start preparing the day before.

This weekend, I didn’t do that and my eleven mile run was not one of my strongest. It ended with me majorly hitting the wall in mile 10, pretty much physically being unable to put one foot in front of the other.

Let’s take a look at what is smart in preparing for a long run and what I actually did.

Smart:
Nutrition the day before a long run is extremely important. You want to fuel up with a good mix of carbs and protein to make sure your muscles have access to a full supply of glycogen.

What I did:
Noshed my way through piles of office treats leftover from a party in the middle of the week. Didn’t eat a real dinner and instead chowed down on nachos at the bowling alley. Epic food failure.

Smart:
Sleep is also a pretty crucial factor in ensuring a strong long run. You want to hit the hay early to make sure you get your eight hours.

What I did:
Stayed out late with friends, collapsed into bed at 1 a.m. and had to pry my eyeballs open at 6 to go for my run. I was beat.

Smart:
Before you leave for a long run, you want to eat something fairly substantial, like PB on toast or a Clif bar or something.

What I did:
Grabbed a few handfuls of some cereal because that’s all that was in the house.

Smart:
During your run you want to make sure you have plenty of fuel, whether that be in the form of Gatorade or Gu or whatever system works for you, so that you can replenish as you go.

What I did:
I didn’t have any Gatorade and I only had one Gu. So I filled my water bottle with water, took the Gu about half way through and was dying in miles nine and 10.

In the end I finished the run in an OK time: 1:44:41, but I know I could have done better if I had been more prepared.

So my advice: Do as I say, not as I do, and hopefully all your long runs will be better than mine.

Share this:

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Google
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr

Related

Filed Under: Running, Sports, SportsPLUS, Training

Speak up! Leave a Comment: Cancel reply

Social

  • View WomenTalkSports’s profile on Facebook
  • View @womentalksports’s profile on Twitter

Women’s Sports News

Women disguised as men sneak into Iranian football match

April 30, 2018 3:00 am

The Future Of The National Pro Fastpitch League Looks Difficult — And That Is Not Surprising

February 7, 2018 10:43 pm

Three-time Olympian Erin Hamlin to retire after PyeongChang

February 6, 2018 5:38 pm

Smithsonian: A Brief History of Womens Figure Skating

February 6, 2018 5:34 pm

Pat Lamb, coach and champion of women’s sports at Carleton, dies at 83

February 5, 2018 9:48 pm

What’s Popular:

  • Things are (finals)-ally beginning to slow down
    Things are (finals)-ally beginning to slow down

Recent Posts

  • Things are (finals)-ally beginning to slow down
  • Jessica Mendoza’s new book “No Base Like Home” Makes a Great Holiday Gift
  • Women’s Empowerment: How to Invest in Your Career Development
  • As We Begin Week Five of WBB NCAA season………….
  • Scramble at the top of the NEC standings, but defending champs Saint Francis U and preseason favorite Robert Morris are struggling
Pretty Tough
TwitterFacebookLinkedinYoutubegoogleplus

Home · Legal · Contact · Copyright Women Talk Sports, LLC© 2019 · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.