- 7:30am start - BE ON TIME!
- Meet in the parking lot at Randalls' on Lake Austin Blvd.
- eight mile run for those who have been doing long runs
- shorter routes available
- go here for map
Don't be scared of this run. It is hilly, but you should be running this at an easy pace. Long runs are not about speed - more on this below.
IMPORTANT NOTES:
HYDRATE! If you're exercising in this increasing heat, you need to be doing this on a daily basis, anyway, but by Thursday, make sure you're getting at least a couple of liters of water a day. I will have water on the course for us.
ELECTROLYTES! People focus so much on dehydration that they neglect their body's other needs. No, not those needs, I'm talking about nutrition. Hyponatremia, a salt deficiency, drops a lot of runners, some of them permanently. I suggest that you go to Whole Foods or Central Market and get some ElectroMix or a similar product - they're powders you add to your water that provide additional electrolytes. In the couple of days before a long run, I'll add them to the water I'm pounding back, so that I've got a good level of them in me before the run even starts.
There are also some ways to get electrolytes in you during the run - check out the NYT article I posted a couple of days ago.
EAT! I don't care how big or small you are, or if you're trying to lose weight - if you're asking your body to carry you eight miles or more, your fuel needs go to a different level. Everyone's different about what they like to eat the morning of a run, but carbs are the constant: bagels with cream cheese or peanut butter; oatmeal; toast; CLIF bars. Whatever works for you. Unless you know you're cool with it, I'd stay away from cereal, lest you end up like Ron Burgundy... "So... hot... milk was a bad choice..."
DON'T EAT! I don't think there's a need at eight miles for energy gels. If you were going farther, you'd want to start taking them as early as eight miles, but unless you're my 6'10", 310 pound friend Tom, eating well the night before and that morning should hold you for eight miles. If you really want to, bring a very small snack - fruit rollups, gummi bears, a clif bar, whatever.
POOP! Finally, I recommend eating early the night before, and getting up an hour before you have to leave your home Saturday morning, and eating immediately. There are some porta-potties along the way, but that's a horrible way to spend any part of your run.
OK, I may think of some other stuff, but that's it for now. This is going to be a great run, and one you'll be proud of. Don't wuss out.
6 comments:
7:30 is f@*king early!
wah wah wah.
any other running program, we'd be starting this run at 6am.
i'll be happy to run it later, but i don't think most people are going to like running mile seven at 10am.
ya wanna know why so early? check out this link.
just this morning, an eight degree increase between 7am and 10am. saturday is supposed to be hotter. there's some trade-off in humidity when the sun comes up, but trust me, that temperature difference is huge.
I know why we are running that early. Saturday's used to be the only day I get to sleep in, thats all.
Dude, I don't know what you have been smokin' but the map and the instructions don't jive. Last time I checked Randall's was on Lake Austin Blvd, but I could be wrong.
the map was correct, and i've corrected the instructions. sorry. look, i'm doing this while working, and i don't exactly have a support staff...
"and i don't exactly have a support staff... "
Oh the responses that jump into my head from that one....
Okay, so I was a proofreader/editor in a former life. Now, I'm just a lowly bean counter.
CHILL
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