The Rituals of the Long Run

"To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift."- Steve Prefontaine

Legendary long distance track runner who held seven American track records

Yes, this would be my house.

It is becoming that time of year when the mileage starts ramping up and long runs become part of the Saturday morning ritual.  My definition of a long run is anything over 8 miles.  The reason why 8 miles consists of a long run is because if something is going to go wrong in a run, it is really going to hurt after an 8 mile run.  

Today, I thought I would share with you my Saturday morning long run ritual.  

The day before:

1) Drink lots of water.

2) Don't eat: buffalo wings, hamburger, pizza, lots of salad, beans, Mexican food, water infused with blackberries (that is another blog subject).

3) For dinner eat 4 oz. of spaghetti and meatballs, glass of wine, one piece of chocolate.

4) Lay out running clothes, which includes favorite jog bra from 2009, favorite wicking panties that say on the inside of the waistband "I see London, I see France…", favorite socks which were bought at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon last year, Moving Comfort tights, favorite race t-shirt that stinks so badly no matter how much you wash it because you wear it every Saturday for a long run.  It gets out of the drawer on its own.

The morning of the long run:

1) Wake up 90 minutes before run.

2) Strip down naked.

3) Slather Body Glide on every surface of the body that has ever encountered a chafing incident- bottom of the feet, inside the thighs, under boobs and triceps.

4) Put on clothes.  Wear socks inside out so that the stitching across the toes do not cause any blistering.

5) Drink 1.5 cups of coffee, no more, no less.

6) Go #2.

7) Eat a Luna Honey Peanut Pretzel bar.  Wash down with water and 1-2 Endurolytes.

8) Prepare the fuel belt: fill up water bottle with water, make sure there enough Endurolytes, put nutrition in zip lock baggie and make sure asthma inhalator is in fuel belt.

9) Put on heart rate monitor and Garmin.

10) Go #1 one more time…

11) Put on hat, gloves, coat and sunglasses, if needed.

12) Ready to run!

During the run:

I cannot tolerate Gatorade or any other type of sports drink.  I either gag from the taste, or it gives me gastric distress.  This is why I take Endurolytes to maintain my electrolyte levels so I won't cramp.  At mile 4, I eat one date.  I then alternate every 2 miles between an Endurolyte and a date.  I used to take e-Gels instead of alternating between salt tablets and energy gels…until they made me sick.  I then switched to Hammer Gels.  My favorite flavors were apple cinnamon and raspberry…then they made me sick.  This year, I am trying dates as a nutrition supplement.  I will let you know how that goes.

After the run:

After being injured last year, I have concocted a stretching routine that I use.  

1) 20 heel drops, 20 squats, 20 donkey kicks, 20 fire hydrants, 5 second hamstring stretch, 5 second quad stretch.  Do 3 sets of these.  I change up this routine on a monthly basis.

2) Foam Roller

3) Stand on head for 3 minutes.

Long run and stretching are finished!

Post run nutrition:

Egg sandwich on an English muffin.  

What are your long run rituals?