Wall hitting prevention ideas?

[BigMalc]

Hi there,

Just thought I would give an update on my running exploits and (again!) ask for advice. Context first.

T2 7 yrs, 2yrs ago went onto byetta and at 19stone plus decided to pull my finger out and starting running.

Been going really well, 4 half marathons done, PB 1:58:30, 10k PB 50:55, so all cracking, latest bg result 7.2 (best ever) and weight loss best part of 4 stone - yippee.🙂

So trying to push myself further I did the Oakley 20 yesterday. Did the sensible eating and nutrition staff like I do for halfs (inc jelly babies on the way round), but having gone deliberately slower than often to start with I got to about 9m and started feeling a little off, got the half marathan mark at 2:10 but then really hit one wall after another with my final 5 miles taking 70 mins.

Afterwards had all the classic signs of being in a hypo even though I dont go into these except on v rare occasions - I guess that was one!😱

My question is how do other folk deal with nutrition during longer than half marathon races - are the gels any good (even though they taste awful)?

Cheers for now

Dub

 

[Northerner]

Hi Dub, many congratulations on all your successes - those are some great times! 🙂 You've come such a long way, and I don't mean just miles! 🙂

How many training runs have you done beyond 13 miles before you tackled the 20 miler? It does sound to me like the classic 'hitting the wall', which I used to regularly experience long before I was diagnosed with diabetes. Basically, what happens is that your body has run out of the more readily-available source of energy, which is the glycogen in your muscles, and much of the glycogen stores of your liver, so your body begins to convert fat as a source. It is this transitional period where you feel (often quite suddenly) exhausted, before the mechanism gets working and you get your second wind. How soon this happens is, to a large extent, down to how often your body has had to contend with this in training, and is also partly a mental thing. The more often you have done long runs, the better you will be and the later and shorter the transition will be. If you watch elite athletes (apart from their basic speed!) one big advantage is that they are used to running well within themselves and also put in a huge mileage with many long runs in the 20+ mile region. Their bodies have adapted well, so the Wall tends to come late in a marathon (if at all) and tends to be brief unless they have pushed themselves too hard. The same is true of us lesser mortals - you can adapt with training, it's all about miles in the legs!

There's also evidence that, as your abilities improve, you become more efficient at using the energy at your disposal. Many people try to stave off the point of hitting the Wall by having fruit, bananas, sweets, energy drinks or gels - again it's something you need to work on in training, trying different things and finding what works well for you. Worth testing every half an hour on a long run to see what is happening to your blood sugars and pre-empting a fall too low. I have found that I need something like 10g of sugar after 7-8 miles and this will keep me going for a further 4 or 5 miles until I will need something else. But we are all different in this respect - some people will top up more regularly and others less.

Good luck with your future ambitions, and really great to hear how well you have been doing! 🙂

 

[Julia]

Hi BigMalc,

Firstly congratulations on your running exploits and massive weight loss! Amazing and very inspirational!

"Hitting the wall" (or "bonking" in cycling terminology!) is very common in non-diabetic people. There's loads written about it and all sorts of opinions on carb loading etc. I agree with everything Northener has written, but I don't think there's any magic answer.

I find that physical exhaustion and feeling hypo can easily be confused. I thought I might have been hypo at the end of a half marathon race two weekends ago, but when tested I was in the 11s, but seeing as it was a hot day and I just got a pb, I think I was just physically tired! Equally I think many non-diabetic people can be slightly hypo when hitting the wall. There was a post about this a few months ago with the title "bonk training".

If anyone has any top tips I too would be really interested to hear them. I do not eat masses of carbohydrate before a long race, as I find it harder to keep my blood glucose levels under control and think that is probably more important than cramming in loads of carbs.

Good luck with your running - what's next on the agenda?

Julia (bit tired, just got back in from a 19.5 mile training run)

 

[BigMalc]

Cheers guys, I think you are right about the wall, my jelly baby approach wihch works for 1/2marathons is clearly insufficient.

Training wise, i had only done the one 16m above halfs, and was clearly undercooked for it.

Next plan is for the 10k season over the next couple of months and trying to reduce that PB as often as possible, so will not be doing longer stuff till the peak summer so will look for the odd half through the year and try to find a 15-20m for the autumn i think. Just need to do many more in that range before thinking about stepping up further. - Practice makes perfect, or at least makes it possible!

 

[Northerner]

Great stuff - sounds like you're really into it! 🙂 Hope you can smash that PB in the coming months - keep us updated! 🙂