How many times have you run a 14 mile run before? If you are pushing your upper limit on the distance you've covered in a run, then it's not uncommon to start running into problems. It's your body telling you that what you're pushing it to do is hard! But that's only because you probably haven't asked it to do this kind of work before. As you keep on running, it will adapt over time as long as you don't push it to the breaking point.

Other than running workouts, important parts of a marathon training build up also include proper nutrition and proper rest and recovery. You can't make up a nutritional deficit or a sleep deficit only on the day before your long run, but you need to make sure you are in a positive state of health every day which includes good nutrition and staying in good hydration status throughout the entire week. You can do it -- good luck!

How many attempts have you made at 14? Usually glycogen stores don't deplete until mile 20 or so. Depending on your experience, you may just need to adjust to the distance. When you're first starting to run longer distances, at some point the long run becomes almost exponentially more difficult. For me it was when I ran 13 for the first time. Increasing from 9 to 11 was not that big of a deal and even 11 to 12 wasn't to bad but when I hit mile 13 wham! That was it. When that happend to me, I backed off my long run a little bit, just a mile or two for a two weeks and transfered those miles to my weekday runs so my weekly mileage was the same. After two weeks like that, I took another stab at going over 13 and it went fine.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by TwentySixOrBust:
My marathon training has progressed according to schedule, and I've been injury free so far...

My problem is that when I try to run more than 14 miles I hit a wall. That's about 2:20 for me. My legs just quit, like fatiguing on a weight workout. It comes on suddenly, from Ok to Stop in 200'. If I drop to a walking pace then my legs instantly sieze up and trying to get back to a running pace feels like I'm running barefoot (ie no elasticity or cushion in my legs at all).

My feeling is that it's muscle glycogen being depleted and that's pretty much the limit of what I can run right now without refuelling mid run. I drink constantly (camelbak) and I'm sure it's not dehydration.

Any ideas? I was thinking of putting gatorade in my camelbak instead of water next week...<HR>

This same question has been asked several times already; how many 14-milers have you done? I've been in this running business since I was in high school (12 years by now...oops, no, actually 35 years!); I've had many many many longs runs over 2-hours; I've gone up to 30 miles in 3:30 without a single stop; but then again, I just struggled to "jog" an hour yesterday because I was having a bad day (before that, I did two 1:30 in a row and felt fine, I swear!). I've gone up to 125 miles a week and had been a hard core runner; but regardless, I've had many "failure" run where I had to staggered home, walking.

I think we know too much today. Everybody is talking about "hitting the wall" or "glycogen depletion". We've got to be careful when someone says ITBS or PF or shin splint; quite often people don't have a clue what they are but it sure sounds cool if you have one--it's like now you ARE a runner!

One thing that jumped to my eye was your statement; "...If I drop to a walking pace then my legs instantly sieze up and trying to get back to a running pace feels like I'm running barefoot..." This is actually why I don't particularly like the idea of walking break. Once you slow down significatly or stop running; your heart rate invariably drops. As you start out running again, your heart would have to work its way up to beat something like 150 per minute. Until you get enough blood supply to your working muscles, it's only natural that your legs feel like lead. First time you get up to 2+ hours, you get tired. You even get a kink in your shoulders for carrying your arms up for over 2-hours! You want to slow down. Is it mental or physical or physiological? It could be any of these. When I'm having a bad day and thinking something stupid, it's hard to even get going. Every opportunity I get, I try to turn around and walk home. I don't think it's quite physiological. And, as I said, once you reduce your effort down to "plodding" or "stopping", your heart rate will go down almost immediately. Your body temperature will drop and your legs will stiffen up... It's hard to get going again. Is this what you're experiencing?

I'm not saying this is you; but all I'm suggesting is that there can be many different possibilities and we shouldn't just jump to conclusion. To prepare for the marathon, I personally don't like the idea of taking the energy gel during your training run. Why do you go for a long run (apart from getting used to pounding)? To get through this "wall" of overcoming glycogen depletion state. If you feed your body extra energy during training, it's almost defeating the purpose. I personally prefer, as someone else suggested, tweek your diet the night before (or a couple of days prior to your long runs) and train your body for that routine. Try energy gel, if you intend to use it for the actual marathon, in one or two of your long runs to work on "technique" of taking it during the run as well as to see if it's compatible to your digestive system. But other than that, train tough and pamper during the actual marathon.

I remember when I first started running, 3 miles would just about kill me. When I upped my mileage to 5 miles, the 3 miles seemed easy....it's just a progression building up to higher mileage. Yesterday I ran a 16 miler when 14 is what I had been running, and at about 14 miles I started to hit the wall, but made it home. Now the next time I up my mileage this coming weekend or the next, the 16 miles won't feel quite so bad.

I actually think a lot of it is mental, along with physical.

Gook luck and hang in there!

Tim

quote:<HR>Originally posted by QuickSilver:

Try not to drink too much water. A few sips to keep the thirst away is better than the possibility of hyponatremia. Having gatorade will definitely help. <HR>

This isn't ideal advice. It's very very difficult to drink too much water and hyponatremia is rare at best compared to the number of those affected by dehydration. Sips will not be adequet. You're not trying to prevent getting thirsty; you're trying to reduce the drop in performance as the body dehydrates.

You should weigh yourself before a long run and then weigh yourself afterwards, add in how much liquid you consumed and then look at the difference to determine how much weight/water was lost over the run. Convert that into a per hour or distance figure. Use that number and try to consume enough liquid that the water loss difference is less than 1-2%. Lose more than 2% of your weight in water and you will see a reduction in performance.


http://This message has been edited by littlewaywelt (edited Jul-23-2007).

Sorry, it seems my response has sent the discussion to a different tangent. The corrections to my post are well-taken. I hope TwentySixOrBust will be able to get pass the 14-mile wall, especially because of all your input (sans mine if need be).

Good luck TwentySixOrBust!

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QuickSilver
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I think therefore I run.