5K Training

But not in the way you think!
This drinking malarkey in races has made me think about how I can overcome problems that may arise... after all, it was nearly 9 miles (if my recollection serves me correctly) before I got a drink in Marrakesh, and there was no water stations from 6-13 miles in Fleetwood... a recipe for disaster for me!
So, I did something today that I normally avoid because it makes me need the loo during a run... I drank about 200ml of water before I left the house. I had a bottle which takes about 700ml... this normally only lasts until about 9 miles then I run out.

So, the plan was to treat today as if it were a race and I could only drink at 5K points. Of course, if it was too much I would drink earlier as this is my first attempt at this sort of thing. I normally sip water for most of the run and have no restrictions (until I run out of course), so I had to take it easy today.

The first 3.1 miles went by uneventfully and I didn't really feel the need to drink much here (only maybe 100ml). The "walk demon" was with me for the whole run today (as per usual) and at about 4 miles I really wanted to walk but I ignored it and carried on. For some reason todays route I find mentally difficult... especially the 5-6 mile point. It's flat, but it's very open and if it's windy it kills you but if it's windless it's so hot and uncomfortable. Today was a mixture of both, odd gust of wind but mostly boiling hot. I promised myself a good long walk with lots to drink if I could just get to the 6.2 mile point. It was very difficult, but I did it and unfortunately felt so wiped out that I ended up walking a good half a mile trying to recover. My legs just felt like lead today (they felt like this yesterday too and I couldn't for the life of me get any speed going on the exercise bike).

I drank a lot... maybe close to 300ml, then started to run again. The first few steps were really hard and I found myself wondering why I put myself through all of this when I'm clearly no good at it. How on earth am I ever going to run an ultramarathon? Negative thoughts aside, I got to the point where I was feeling comfortable again and despite the 7th mile all being uphill I felt fine throughout. It was the 8th mile that I started to suffer, even the lovely downhill felt hard. My legs were just really tired and I wondered if last weeks run in the wind had anything to do with it. I didn't wait for the next 5K here, but drank my water just before 9 miles and walked up the steep hill. I got to the top and started to run again, only stopping very briefly once more to finish off the 150ml at about 9.5 miles.

So, although really knackering, I finished todays route 15 seconds a mile quicker than I've ever ran it before. The Garmin showed a very consistent pace for the first few miles (around 10.25mm) while I was running and the 3 walk breaks obviously slowing me down considerably, plus a slower couple of miles at the end.
I detest this route... but one day very soon I'm going to run the whole thing with my XL vest on. One point during the run I actually started to slow to a walk and I wasn't even tired, so I'm a habitual walker and it's going to stop!

*Post edit I have just read after a bit of googling, that a few factors make you able to drink less during running... of course there are the obvious ones like your sweat rate (mine is quite high I think) and the weather. Other interesting ones were that you are likely to drink less the leaner you are and the fitter you are. That's good... gives me hope I will improve in future!