The 50-Mile Experiment

Noah finishes 50 miles.

On July 4, one my athletes, Noah Moore, completed the Qu’est-ce que c’est? 12-Hour Run. Noah has made some remarkable progress in the last few years, having lost nearly 100 pounds and turning into an accomplished runner. I love working with Noah. His enthusiasm is contagious, infecting those around him. This enthusiasm has also changed his family’s approach to health and fitness.

When running his marathons, Noah has struggled with finishing well. He starts out great and by the time he hits 20 miles, he’s crumbling. We started our coach-athlete relationship as he was tapering for his first marathon. He was very dissappointed in how he finished the race. His refueling was good - he just cramped badly in the final miles of the race. The same thing happened to him in the 2009 Marine Corps Marathon.

As we began looking at training for this year’s Monumental Marathon in November, we reviewed last year’s training and racing. We agreed that our plan of attack would include several 20+ mile runs. Noah recovers well and I felt that going the longer distances would not only help improve his time but that his body would also adapt well to going longer. Now, as a result of his 50-mile run, I think he’ll finish faster but that going longer will only help minimally in the cramping department.

Every runner is an experiment of one and Noah is no different. We talked through a plan for his 50-miler that included fueling and hydration. I couldn’t crew for him the whole day but he did have someone there in the morning while I was a work. He had everything in place. I met him before the race, snapped some photos and headed to work with a plan to return that afternoon.

When I returned, Noah was past the marathon mark, at mile 27 or 28. When he came through the checkpoint (The run course was a one-mile loop.), he was not in great shape. I could tell he was having problems forming thoughts - he was a bit goofy. As he took off for the next loop, I started asking his crew about what he had been eating, his rest, and his hydration. Based on that information, I was certain he had not been drinking enough.

Next time Noah came through, I took his water bottle and filled it 3/4 full of Bana and topped it with Powerade. I made him stop long enough to drink about 2/3 of the bottle and then sent him out again. The next time in, I made the same concoction and this time made him sit down. I told him he couldn’t go out again and until he drank most of the bottle. When he finished half the bottle, I topped it off and sent him out again. By the time he came back, I could tell he was feeling much better. Noah later admitted that, in his delirium, he thought I was trying to drown him. Seriously. Dehydration can really do you in - people talk about the physical aspects but when you’re losing electrolytes as well, you don’t think properly and muscles don’t work well.

By the time Noah finished 31 miles (50K), his family had arrived and he had made a 180 degree turn around. He was lucid and feeling good. He was weary but wasn’t cramping. From that point forward, Jen, his wife, Peyton, his son, and I worked together to ensure he was staying well hydrated. He eventually finished 50 miles by the cutoff time.

The following week we reviewed some of the things we learned. I made mention that in the Marine Corps Marathon that I drank at least one cup of water and one cup of Powerade at each water stop. He admitted that he did not drink at every stop and only drank two cups at a couple of the stops. We have similar sweat rates in the early morning heat and humidity - about 64 ounces in an hour. Folks who sweat heavily cannot replace everything they lose in an hour, so having a good hydration plan is essential.

We also realized we would have never learned that it was electrolytes and hydration that was the issue in his marathons. Only when he recovered quickly once he started drinking well did we learn what the real culprit was in the poor finish in the marathon.

Lessons Learned

• Create a hydration and fueling plan.
• Follow the plan. Don’t abandon the plan because you start out well.
• Account for fuel, fluid, and electrolyte loss.
• Practice the plan. You need to know what works.

WCIV Channel 4 Profiles Bridge Runners

If your browser won’t display the video, you can find it here: http://cfc.wciv.com/videoondemand.cfm?id=61396

Palmetto 200

The Palmetto 200 is a new race for South Carolina. It’s a 200 mile relay race from Congaree National Forrest, near Columbia, to Folly Beach. Teams can range from 4-12 and there are two divisions: Ultra Teams (4-6 runners) and Relay Teams. My friend, Jeff, and I are putting together two teams. I’ll keep you informed about the training and what we’re doing as we move to the race start on April 30.

In general, for a 12-person team, the race organizers suggest that runners be trained for a half-marathon and work on the speed for a 10K. I see the biggest challenge in getting runners who aren’t used to big distances or 2-a-day workouts to work on dialing in their nutrition. There is some experimentation needed in putting in a 10K race effort in the morning and then putting in the same kind of effort twice in the next 24 hours.

Big Hairy Goals

Are you ready for Cooper River Bridge Run Training?

I love big hairy goals - the ones that are so monstrous that they can be downright scary. Besides tackling them myself, I love helping others attain theirs. A new athlete, David, contacted me a few months ago after looking at the Charleston Running Club’s website. He saw I was coaching our Couch to 5K clinic and decided he wanted to take part.

Couch to 5K is not a big deal for most people but David was and is a big guy. He decided it was time to take off the excess weight. By the time I met him in the beginning of November, he had already dropped over 30 pounds. As of this week, he’s dropped 61 pounds. And he is still a big guy and has a long way to go.

One of the things he shared with me is that he wanted to do the Cooper River Bridge Run and he wanted to raise money for the YMCA in his hometown for a program that gets kids active. I understand that feeling. David wanted to time himself at the beginning of his training and compare it to his actual bridge run time. Yesterday morning, we set out to see what his benchmark was.

We couldn’t have picked many mornings that would have been colder. My friend Steve and I parked our cars downtown and then had my friend, Allan, drive us to Mt Pleasant. We met David and started towards Charleston. He started out very quickly and didn’t run very far before he started walking. We talked some more about pace and what that should feel like. At one point, coming off of the bridge and into Charleston, he ran for over 15 minutes - the longest such period of continuous running since David left high school. Eventually we finished the 10k in 1 hour 58 minutes and 2 seconds. He was very happy to be done and when I took him back to his car, he was on his way to buy new running shoes.

Cooper River Bridge Run training begins January 9. More information.

Marathon and Post-Marathon Report

Charleston Runs Marathoners - We missed a few at our post-race dinner.

Everybody at Charleston Runs arrived at the start line healthy. We did have one runner with a nagging knee issue but she was able to complete her training. Some of our athletes ran much faster than they expected; some were dissappointed with their performance. I’ve spent time with most of them, reviewing their training and what we might do differently the next time. All had a great experience and all are looking at the future.

Yesterday, a few of them did the Turkey Day run here in Charleston. One of them set a new personal record for the 5K distance. This was after a month of standing down, no track workouts, and even multiple days off. Amazing what recovery can do for you!

Four out of Seven

Seven Charleston Runs athletes entered the Carolina Children’s Charity 8K this weekend. FOUR of them walked away with hardware. All were age group awards - one first place, two seconds, and one third. I don’t know who was more excited - them or me.

Do You Need a Coach?

The NY Times recently explored the topic of how coaching can help athletes of all abilities.

…training, if done right, is the ultimate performance enhancer, with effects that can dwarf those of illegal drugs, like the blood-boosting drug EPO, as well as legal stimulants like caffeine. Still, it seems, too few amateur athletes take it seriously and fewer still do it right. Exercise physiologists and coaches say most people who want to run, swim, cycle or row faster or improve in almost any sport do not appreciate what can be accomplished with training nor how to do it.

Read it all.

Hell Hole Swamp 10K Gator Run

I’m sad to say that my athlete didn’t do as well as we expected. The day was not hot and there were about 100 people in the field. There were three things that contributed to not meeting his goal time of 50 minutes.

• Road Surface - 4 of the 6.2 miles were run on dirt/gravel roads. Maintaining a smooth stride is not possible.
• Preparation - As a coach, I didn’t have the athlete running as fast as maybe I should have. However, I don’t push athletes beyond a level that hasn’t been demonstrated.
• Pacing - The athlete started out running a 7.45 first mile and his goal was an 8 minute mile. He never really recovered and wasn’t able to adjust his pace adequately.

Obviously, we can’t do anything about the road surface, it is what it is. Preparation - we’ve already begun addressing this for the next race. I’m pushing him a little faster in workouts but not so fast that he’ll break down. For me, it means carefully monitoring his workouts and races. The pacing will come with race experience. He was very excited and the field was small which meant he ran his own race most of the way.

Refining Pace

Today’s workout was for my athlete running the Hell Hole Swamp 10K Gator Run tomorrow. The day before the race the only thing we’re working on is race pace. This is a chance for the athlete to listen to his body and to concentrate on breathing, leg turnover, and form.

The workout was 5×400m and 2×800m at race pace. If he was having problems dialing in the pace we would have continued to do 400m repeats and if he was really off we would have cut it down to 200m repeats.

This is the value of a coach. A coach can read what’s going on with an athlete and make on the fly adjustments to a workout. Personally, for me, when I set out to do my own workout, I write it all down and go for it. I don’t make adjustments to the plan - On one hand, it’s good that I follow the plan through to the end. On the other hand, if I’m doing well, I’m not really objective about ramping  up the workout and if I’m sucking wind or off in any way, I’m not good about changing the workout.

More Half-Marathon Results

My athlete training for the More Half-Marathon in NYC on April 26 didn’t record a score for the race - and neither did anybody else. The temperature at race time was 92 degrees so the organizers cancelled the full marathon and didn’t score the half-marathon. My athlete told me she crossed the start about 5 minutes after the gun and crossed the line in at 2 hours 2 minutes. And this was in the heat. She was justifiably proud of herself. She’s 52 and ready to qualify for Boston when she runs the Marine Corps Marathon in October.