News & Tips•Aug. 21, 2022, 10:28 p.m. • 397
Reid Buchanan's Chicago Marathon Training (PART 1 - 10 weeks out)
I let Emmett write a brief recap the week before Boston 2021 (about a year ago) and never really followed up with it because that race sucked. I figured that if anyone does care then perhaps they would like to see bits and pieces leading into Chicago 2022 versus just a buffet right before. I am changing two things to try and solve a cramping issue in longer races:
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Hard long runs every other week. Given the altitude and terrain we never really pushed long runs faster than 6 min pace. I figured that perhaps my hamstring needs to be closer to race pace for an extended period without rest breaks like we would normally have for big volume workouts (3x5mi or 12 miles moderate then 10 miles at marathon effort)
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Maurten fuel only has sodium in it. This was kind of a no brainer to fix and I’m not sure why I never checked into it but Maurten was sending me free fuel so for my first two marathons I just used it. Now looking at the ingredients I realized that cramping can sometimes be caused by an imbalance in electrolytes and that is exactly what would happen if I’m fueling without Chloride,Magnesium, and Potassium. I therefore switched to Powerbar ISO active (purchased myself) to eliminate that as a potential cause of the cramping.
I won’t dive too deep into workouts besides general how I felt and what I thought of the day because unless you are in Mammoth Lakes you won’t understand just how tough the terrain is. The only flat place to run is the track.
If this does generate some viewership then I would regret not giving readers a deal on some supplements I will be using throughout this build up from Bub’s Natural. The collagen is huge for the damage high mileage does to the joints and the MCT oil is great for fat fueling runs or concentration in general as I am also in school right now and having to do work for that in the afternoons. Use the discount code RSRUN for 20% off at bubsnaturals.com
Week 1 - 108 miles total
Mon - Aug 1st:
Tues - Aug 2:
• AM:
‣ WU & CD
‣ 4xmile, 4xhalf mile off 90 sec
• PM: 29 min
Wed - Aug 3:
• AM: 69 min
• PM: 29 min
Thurs - Aug 4:
• AM: 70 min
• PM: 33 min
Fri - Aug 5:
• AM:
‣ WU & CD
‣ 18 x 1 min on 1 min off fartlek through rolling hills
• PM: 30 min
Sat - Aug 6:
• AM: 56 min
• PM: 30 min
Sun - Aug 7:
• AM:
‣ WU & CD
‣ 90 min at 5:25 ave
Recap:
Tough first week. The Tuesday workout was pretty subpar and I probably should have given myself more rest but I was comparing it to a workout I had done a few weeks ago at sea level and that was off a minute rest. Friday poured rain and so was basically a cross country hilly muddy fartlek which I enjoyed. Sunday was the first test with a long hard run and felt pretty smooth on green church road going out and back which is where that hard long run will take place from here on out. 108 miles by the watch for the week.
Week 2 - 111 miles total
Mon - Aug 8:
Tues - Aug 9:
• AM:
‣ WU & CD
‣ 10xK off 2 min
• PM: 29 min
Wed - Aug 10:
Thurs - Aug 11:
Fri - Aug 12:
• AM:
‣ WU & CD
‣ 4 x Lake Mary loops (2.2 miles) off 3 min
• PM: 30 min
Sat - Aug 13:
• AM: 68 min
• PM: 30 min
Sun - Aug 14:
• AM: 130 min easy
Recap:
Had a good week and hit paces I thought I should on the two workout days. Tuesday I felt good opening up a little bit after the hard long run Sunday a\nd then the Lake Mary repeats were very hard but I stayed steady. 9,000 feet is no joke and makes you suffer immediately into the interval. 111 miles on the week.
