it’s just 5 weeks until the chicago marathon which means i just have a few more long runs before tapering down on the last 3 weeks before the race. my last three long runs have been 16 milers. i posted about one here and the rest i ran on vacation in maine. i’ll possibly maybe get around to posting about them if i have time. generally speaking they’ve gone alright for LSD ( long slow distance ) runs where the goal is to just make it through the run at about a mile or two per hour pace slower than your 10K speed ( usually when i get in trouble it’s because i try to outpace my LSD speed and start to run out of gas ).

so today was my 18 miler and i started it with my usual, favorite pre-run food, stonyfield oikos organic greek yogurt. it makes for a great post run snack but i’ve also found the extra protein and modest carbs make for an awesome, easily digestable pre-run snack that keeps giving the gift of energy along the way ( in addition to a mocha clif shot for longer runs ).

that’s all well and fine and the first 12 miles felt excellent, but then the gas ran out of the tank and the last 6 miles were a tortuous reminder why having a dinner of more than a couple of beers and pretzels ( and nothing else! ) is not a way to get prepared for longer long runs. one or two beers is fine as long as they’re not consumed on an emtpy stomach. 3 or 4 not so good. especially when only chased with pretzels.

while it was a fun going away party for a co-worker – lesson definitely learned. as powerful as stonyfield organic greek yogurt is, it’s not enough to counteract ill effects of even modest amounts of beer 🙂