July 2008....
In the middle of the swamp sits a large dead tree. With silent wings a bald eagle lifts from its perch and with one beat of his massive wings he glides across the blue sky. Free and powerful, he rules the land below him. A twist of his tail puts him into a bank and he descends at an amazing speed the prey below has no time to react to the impending assault.
My pace picks up, my prey is at the end of this trail; a fresh pair of socks, dry shirt and a cold Gatorade. I?m a runner and today I learned a valuable lesson about what it takes to survive a long distance run.
I got up Saturday morning with too many things already on the schedule. With all of the other commitments I was not going to get to run until around 2 in the afternoon. I usually look forward to runs but today it was going to be hot, in fact by noon it was around 80 degrees and the weather man said the high could reach 86. I was feeling cocky though, I am getting towards the finally weeks of my marathon training and only have a couple more long runs to do. Today is a twenty-one miler and I have a plan that will help me through it. The plan is simple; fill my camelpak with Gatorade, stretch real well before the run and the key to a successful run will be to jog at an easy pace. The main thing I must do is not worrying about how long it will take to finish. I am a young 43 old man and in good enough shape. I smile to myself; I will be able to accomplish this with no problem. After today, I can start reducing my distance as race day approaches and proudly say that I have finished my first marathon.
There are only eight parking spaces on this end of the path and today all eight spots are available. The summer heat and the fact that there is no shade for two miles on this side of the park has made the wiser people go some place else for their outdoor activities. The smart ones sit indoors, secure and comfortable with their air conditioners running at full blast. I?m not smart, I am outside and challenging the sun to do its worse. The sun acknowledges my challenge and clears the sky of all clouds, not a spot of shade for the to provide even the hint of relief for this running man.
I climb out of my truck and taking a deep breath, I shake my head. The afternoon sun has made the asphalt path radiate heat. The heat is a reflection of the scorn that the sun has towards this man who dares challenge it.
The path is three and a half miles long; even though it is short; it has ever-changing scenery, for almost the first mile you run with a creek to your left and a swamp on your right. The swamp is full of geese, ducks, blue herons and recently a bald eagle has taken up residency. After that the swamp side changes to a wheat field for about three quarters of a mile that?s where you have to cross a road and enter a park. The park is nice, it has baseball fields, several multi-purpose fields where youth leagues play soccer or lacrosse, a small lake, pavilions and a playground, all which are empty today. This section of the path is short then the asphalt turns to crush limestone and you enter into small woods. On a day like the one today, you wish the woods were thicker but some how when they cut the path they were able to eliminate much of the shade and on a day like this one you are craving shade. The woods open into a large field that has been partially flooded to make wetlands. The path loops all the way around this area but about 2 tenths of a mile before it connects back to the woods they have marked the 3.5-mile spot. I use this spot to turn and head back the way I came. This gives me a nice 7 mile run that is usually very enjoyable.
Today I can honestly say that I enjoyed the first mile; I look out in to the swamp and see the eagle high in the old dead tree. I wonder if it is watching me, if it considers that I might be worth the effort to snatch off the path and carry me to the nest to feed his young. Sweat begins to form after the first mile and I start to hit the Gatorade. Just a little, I have a long day and as the run progresses I know I will need to rehydrate. I admire the sites as I run but something occurs to me, there isn?t a lot of movement in the swamp. All the wildlife seems to have found cooler places to spend the day and they aren?t the only things missing. No one else is using the path; usually there are a few bikers, walkers and even a couple of runners. Today I am the only thing that dares to be out on this hot, humid summer day.
I finish the first 7 miles at a respectable time but I feel hot, not the right kind of hot either, my temperature seems to be higher then normal. I stop in a little bit of shade and stretch, I sip out of the camelpak and let myself recover then head back into the sun. I reach mile 8 and things start going south for me. I change my pace to a slow jog, after another half mile I walk for short distance. I finally come to the woods and the limited shade but my run has changed to walking with only short stints of jogging. By the time I turn around at the ten and half mile mark I am reduced to walking and the hose of the camelpak is permanently affixed to my mouth. When I reenter the woods, I am almost completely out of Gatorade and my calves have begun to cramp. I stop and stretch against a tree, trying to get the legs working again enough to get me back to my truck.
A feeling of dread over takes me as I limp out of the woods and back into the sun. I have just shy of 2 miles to go and I have no idea how or why my body has shut down. I?ve run in hot weather before and even in full sun. So what has changed? Why am I feeling like I might die before I reach the end of this path?
The human body can endure a great amount of stress until something gives out. The cramps in my legs can be attributed to one thing or a combination of things; dehydration, electrolyte imbalance, or just plain old muscle fatigue. True, I had a Camelbak of Gatorade and I thought that would keep me well hydrated and maintain the correct electrolyte balance. However, what I failed to mention earlier is that the Gatorade was from the powdered mix, so I?m not sure if it is the same as what you buy in the bottle. Also, I made a couple pre-run mistakes. I did not properly hydrate before going out for my run. As little as twelve ounces of water about 30 minutes before the run would have made a huge difference. Also a high carbohydrate meal four hours before would have supplied my body fuel that it would need on day like this. According to Active.com, you should consume around 1000 calories and 80% of those should be from carbohydrates. Active also points out that it does not matter if you are consuming fast burning carbs or slow burning carbs. Your body?s glycemic level will not be affected if consumed four hours before. If you can?t eat a high carbohydrate meal four hours ahead of time but much sooner, then you will want the fast acting carbs. Studies have shown that there is a benefit between the two, but only when consumed close to the time you workout. (Fitzgerald)
The reason for a high carbohydrate diet prior to a long run is carbs make an excellent fuel source. To generate this fuel the body takes carbohydrates and breaks them down into sugar; this sugar is provides energy for current and future activities. What it isn?t needed at the moment is stored in the liver and muscles as glycogen or as fat if your liver and muscles are already full of glycogen. This means that if your have limited activity and a high carb diet you body fat percentage will be a bit higher then it should be and the opposite is true; if you are very active and have a very low carb diet then your body fat will be much less. But, if you are a person that is very active such as a marathon runner or your body composition is ectopmorphic then your glycogen and fat reserves may be too low and your body will start using protein for fuel. That may explain why some long distant runners are rail thin.
For each gram of carb that is broke down four grams of calories are created for energy. By carb loading we over fill the stores of energy which when maxed out gives enough energy for the long distant run. But it is impossible to have enough energy for something like a marathon. Therefore, if you don?t want to suddenly find yourself in the shape I was that day you must train to refuel your system during the run. I had never really focused on keeping my glycogen levels up during a run, I always focused on the pre-workout carb load. Sports drinks and products like GU are needed to keep the body fueled up and functioning. The lesson I learned from this experience is to properly plan so I have more then enough fuel in my body. Also I need to train to fuel the body on the run and not wait till it is too late, better to have too much fuel waiting to be used then not enough.
Reference:
Fitzgerald, M (ND) The Pre-Race Meal, retrieved on February 14, 2009 from
http://www.active.com/story.cfm?STOR...O=0&SIDEBAR=13
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