Train your brain

Well we are getting down to the last couple long runs before the race. If you haven’t done so yet consider going beyond 13.1 miles on your last longest run you have coming up. By doing this it will teach your mind that you are not going to die if you go that far. Your brain does everything it can to make sure you do not run out of glycogen and other essential nutrients to keep you alive. While your body is good at this, it keeps many more calories in reserve than you could possibly use in 13 miles. On average you use about 1400 calories in 13 miles and there are 3500 calories in a pound of fat so I think we will make it, but your mind needs to know that. So to get beyond 13.1 and reduce the chances of injury I recommend doing the run/walk method. It is pretty simple: run 10 minutes at 1 minute/mile slower than your race pace then walk for 2 minutes. Repeat this until you reach 14 or so miles. By doing the run/walk you should not feel to sore the next day and be ready to run. If you want to know more about this theory I recommend the book “Brain Training for Runners” by Matt Fitzgerald. It is an excellent read that you can apply to just about any aspect of your life.

Good luck & see you soon!

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Have a training or general fitness question for Terry Sullivan, or his team at Mainstreet Health + Fitness? Email them at info@mainstreetbfit.com and perhaps your question will be our next Fit Tip of the Week! Terry is a great resource, and we thank him for sharing his knowledge with the Get It Dunn community!