#blizzard2016 long run

Last week, as I was following the weather reports on the approaching Snowzilla Jonas and the minimum 18" that were forecast for my area, I was thinking (dreading?) about the upcoming Sunday 18-mile run that will have to be done on the treadmill. Here's my preparation the night before (4 dates @ at Miles 5 and 10; PowerGel at Mile 15).

The previous longest distance I've run on a treadmill was something like 13 miles, so I wasn't totally sure I could go the distance. The NordicTrack goes erratic when the duration exceeds an hour and sometimes just stops. Maybe the programmer didn't think anyone could handle the "dreadmill" for more than 60 minutes and left out the "if (duration > 60)" part. Anyway, that was partly why I reset it every 5 miles, each time taking about 10 seconds, while my cell phone stopwatch continued. Thus breaking the 18 miles into four parts, 3 x 5 miles and 1 x 5K, helped somewhat the mental aspect of the run. At least, "dreadmill" became just treadmill.

Still, 18 miles on the treadmill was a lot tougher than 18 miles on the road! This was so, even though I didn't simulate the hills of my usual long run route and kept the treadmill level for the entire run. And, I didn't carry the water bottle. To break the monotony, I made full use of the WBS (Work Breakdown Structure) applied to running (see Running WBS, Intestinal runs, and Running WBS (2)). Starting with the 18 miles in four parts and Miles 5, 10, and 15 being fuel+water breaks, I further broke the run down with water breaks every 2.5 miles and then individual miles of each 5-mile segment, as follow:

Mile 1: Warm-up, getting into the rhythm (even after the first 5-mile segment).
Mile 2: "Historical," especially the second 0.5 mile. The NordicTrack shows distance with three decimals (i.e., 1.xxx). So, 1.620 would be Pilgrims at Plymouth; 1.776 would be Declaration of Independence; 1.860+ would be Civil War, etc. Once the distance gets to 1.900, the historical events get more personal (birth years, high school, college, work, etc.).
Mile 3: Water break at mid-point.
Mile 4: Toughest mile of the five!
Mile 5: Fuel intake starting at ~4.500; first date until ~4.700; second date until ~4.900; third date just before 5.000 then water; fourth date just after resetting the treadmill for the next 5-mile segment (more on this later). At Mile 15 (end of third 5-mile segment), PowerGel starting at ~4.500 and mostly finished just before 5.000 then water; last bit of gel just after resetting the treadmill for the final 5K segment.

Beyond the individual miles, there were the individual tenths of a mile. And, ultimately, there was the present moment and being mindful of it, so that, as I ran, I knew I was running. I knew whether or not I was relaxed; I knew on what part of my soles I was landing; I knew whether or not I was breathing properly. Ultimately, being mindful makes running on a treadmill not that different from running outside.

Back to why that fourth date just after resetting the treadmill and starting the next segment. I didn't take water after the fourth date, so the sweetness lingered in the mouth. I'm still testing the results from Chambers et al. (2009), who showed how rinsing the mouth with a carbohydrate solution without swallowing affected performance. For the same reason, I took that last bit of PowerGel at the start of the last 5K segment.

Another thought occurred to me during the run, as I was looking at the open container of dates. Usually, on an outside run, the dates would be in a plastic bag and out of sight in my hand. On the treadmill, those dates were staring at me. Could there be some biochemical effect (on performance) from the visual cues of dates? :)

Anyway, what was the result of 18 miles of mindfulness? An average pace that's just one second slower than my current marathon PR pace set at Harrisburg.

Oh, if I could only maintain this kind of pace in an actual race--overall even and progressively negative! Of course, using the treadmill as a pacer did make this part of the mental aspect easier. For the past couple some years, my GMP of 8:58 would not have been enough to actually get into Boston. I would have needed about 8:51. So, for the current 16-week training cycle, I've been using 8:30 as a stretch GMP on which to base my long runs.

In case I've gotten you all eager to jump on a treadmill, here are some treadmill workouts. :)

As for me, after this #blizzard2016 long run, I went outside and did 8 x 1 hour core exercises--of the non-standard kind.