Question for experienced marathon runners…THE WALL

runningthistown:

I’m doing a marathon in exactly one month.  It’s my first time, and I keep hearing about hitting “The Wall” after Mile 20.  Any suggestions on how to avoid this. Currently I drink water and eat a pack of sharkies at mile 13.  Any other suggestions to avoid this?

During my first marathon I never really hit “the wall” because I had injured my achilles the week before the race. My “wall” came at the point when I could not ignore the pain and shut down to a casual jog, probably a little before the 15 mile mark. Later I probably hit a different mental wall of boredom from running slow, but I still finished.

From experience and things I have read, I would recommend eating more during the race; I was eating Clif Shot gels and planning on one every hour about, similar to the recommended (did the same during long training runs). Drinking something other than water at points during the race will help keep the muscles alive (my own preference has been nuun for long training, but at the race I drank what they had). Anyone out there more experienced feel free to add any input.

semi-related: Does anyone use “bonk” in running? I know it is more of a cycling term for it, but it is so much more fun to say.

via runningthistown

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   never really hit “the wall” because...had injured my achilles the week before the race. My...

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