General Discussion Triathlon Talk » I am stuck at 6 miles... Rss Feed  
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2007-09-21 7:32 PM

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Subject: I am stuck at 6 miles...
Ok, been running three times a week to prepare for a 20km late October. I have been following the Jeff Galloway program. It's got me running 45 mins two times a week (four miles approx) and then a long run on the weekend. My goal is to train but maintain the health of my knees. I got to 9.5 miles three weeks ago, but it was a struggle. So, I repeated it the next week and it went better. Today I ran 10 miles. The first 5 miles were fantastic: felt good and relaxed, HR low, and breathing was effortless. Problem is, I hit six miles and it all goes down hill from there. Today, at the five mile mark, I stopped and took a water break and downed 2 packets of gel. That was about 48 mins into the run. Starting up again took some effort and then I couldn't get into my rhythm. My legs felt like I was hitting the wall. Not sure if this was a mental block, or I haven't got my nutrition right. Maybe I started out the run a little too fast, but it felt so good: maybe I spent my glycogen levels a little too fast? From what I've been reading, you don't need to take carbs in until the hour mark and I'm pretty good about getting them in at the 45-55 min mark. Any thoughts on this?


2007-09-21 7:47 PM
in reply to: #974983

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Melon Presser
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...

Someone asked nearly the exact same question at a Galloway seminar I attended (except it was for a slightly longer distance, 12 miles), and he suggested A) Get to the walk break sooner. If you're doing, say, a 4:1, try a 2min:30s instead, or even a 3:1. B) Slow down, especially in the first couple miles. It looks like you're just under a 10:00/mi pace; try 10:30 or 11:00 instead.

" Gellin' " was a different question, but that got asked too ... his answer was a lot stronger than mine, but let's just say I'm a total garbage can and I wouldn't eat two gels at once. It's probably not why you hit the wall, but that's some gooey mess sitting in your stomach where the blood's going instead of your legs. If you really feel like you need two on a 10-mile run, better to eat at say mile 3 and 6 with some good glugs of water. It's pretty concentrated stuff.

2007-09-21 7:48 PM
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...
A few things came to mind:

1) Slow down a bit on your first 5 miles, even if you already feel like you aren't going fast - since you want to build distance make that your focus

2) Instead of stopping for a water/gu break, do it 'on the run', just slow down to a walk but don't stop moving. stopping for few minutes can certainly make it harder to get going again - things start to stiffen up, it takes a while to get back in the groove, etc.

3) I'm not sure about the nutrition.. I've never timed mine, just taken it when I felt like I needed it, but I've been running a long time so maybe I can just 'tell' when that is now. Maybe (without stopping) take a gu at 30 minutes then 30-40 minutes later & see how that works. 1 mile is 100-150 calories, roughly depending on your weight & efficiency. You don't need to replace every mile's worth of calories, so it sounds like you should be doing ok already, but it can't hurt to change the timing some.

4) Drink the whole time.
2007-09-21 9:16 PM
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...

I've been running for years and this is my 2c:

TriAya and HelenS are right - those are great points, apart from that, you are simply not accustomed to running long distances. While I respect all those 16week programs (especially Jeff Galloways) it seems unrealistic to me that without few prior seasons of longer distances you would be comfortable doing 20k after few weeks, regardless of the nutrition. You will do it, but the body must gradually get used to this kind of effort! Few weeks is not enough. IMHO it's too much  to keep increasing the long run by 10% week after week, even with few easy weeks in between. In the beginning of the program it works, but later the added distance is simply too much. So if this is your first real running season (from your logs it seems you haven't really run that much) just slow down for now and walk more, eventually it will be more natural.

 

2007-09-22 2:05 AM
in reply to: #974983

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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...
I have to remember that I truly jus started running about 2/12 months ago. I find myself making great gains and of course I'm disappointed when I don't. Thanks for all your thoughts!
2007-09-22 8:35 AM
in reply to: #975105

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Cycling Guru
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...

It takes between 2 and 3 hours to deplete your internal glycogen stores ....... you are not physically "bonking" in that sense.  Your muscles/joints may not be adapted to the stress of longer running, but there is really no reason you should be crashing at 5 or 6 miles unless you are going too hard at the beginning and your heart rate it way high.

Slow down, relax and don't worry about the miles or the clock, just run or run/walk as the plan you are doing calls for and you'll get through this.  It really sounds like a mental thing to me, but I'm no sports psychologist.



2007-09-22 1:21 PM
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...

Daremo - 2007-09-22 9:35 AM

Slow down, relax and don't worry about the miles or the clock, just run or run/walk as the plan you are doing calls for and you'll get through this.  It really sounds like a mental thing to me, but I'm no sports psychologist.

I tend to agree with Daremo... and when training for a half mary awhile back I also got stuck at the 6 mile mark.  I knew it wasn't nutrition/hydration, though I did try changing that up with no improvement.  I run with music and my solution was to find a "mile 6 song"... something that completely inspired me to listen to at that point in my run.  Sounds silly but it worked. 

2007-09-22 2:47 PM
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Elite
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Subject: RE: I am stuck at 6 miles...
Hi, I am a noob to this whole thing as well. I found speed is huge for the I have no endurance problem. I can do 6.5 mph for like 2 miles and then bam im out of gas. I can do 6.0 mph for 2.5 miles then same thing. I can do 5.5 mph until well however long I have to run. For me, at least it is purely an endurance thing. I have only been running for 5-6 weeks and well, there is willpower and then there is... I have not enough base endurance to run the faster pace for longer distances. I just plugaway at it, next week I will try 5.6 mph and see how that holds for my long run. Just sharing my experience not anywhere near able to give advice at this point.
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General Discussion Triathlon Talk » I am stuck at 6 miles... Rss Feed