Official Run Specialty Shop

ABOUT THE STORE
MARATHON ESSENTIALS
ENERGY REPLENISHMENT
TRAINING FOR PACE

IF THE SHOE FITS is the Official Running Specialty Store of the Frederick Running Festival.  It is located at 1507 W. Patrick St. and carries a great selection of shoes, apparel, socks, accessories, including energy gels. We provide a free gait analysis and personalized fit for your running shoes.  Several of our staff at IF THE SHOE FITS has marathon experience. We would be happy to help you as you prepare for the Frederick Running Festival.

Energy Replenishment and Hydration: Nutrition is a component of marathon success!

One of the best pieces of advice regarding marathon training and consistent preparation for a successful marathon is to eat and hydrate intelligently. Having an informed energy replenishment and hydration game plan going into your marathon/half-marathon is only possible if you are practicing and adapting during the training period. You need to train your digestive tract to manage food and fluids while running. Following are tips to help you develop this aspect of your training.

1)Consistency in nutritional intake! Endurance athletes need adequate quantities of nutrition on a regular basis for maximum functioning of muscles. Sports nutritionists recommend 55% carbs, 30% fats, and 15% protein on a daily basis for distance runners. Carbo-loading needs to happen not just the night before the marathon, but rather during the months prior to the marathon. Total body energy requirements during sustained exercise increase 10-20 times above resting values.

2)Be selective! Make sure your food sources are good quality calories that provide nutrients, not junk calories (ie: almonds or another nut or seed instead of potato chips). Plan to consistently eat nutrient rich foods.

3)Pre and post long runs! Absorb adequate amounts of carbohydrates and hydrate ahead of your run. Plan to replenish carbohydrates within the first hour of completing your long run. Incorporate some protein for muscle repair. Continue to hydrate too!

4)During long runs! Use a variety of energy replenishment products along with water and sports drinks to determine what produces the best results for sustained energy. Figure out which specific energy replenishment products or foods agree well with you and are absorbed quickly to give your muscles the fuel (glycogen) they need. Some individuals use real food in the mix with great success. Examples: graham crackers, gummy bears, orange slices. Make sure you try the sports drink and energy gels that will be offered on the marathon course during your training.

5)Drink on the run! On long runs, decide if you will stop running while taking in fluids or whether you can drink and run at the same time. Train with a fuel belt to keep fluids easily accessible.

6)Trust your thirst level! Conventional wisdom in the field of running a marathon maintained that the feeling of thirst meant one was already too dehydrated (2% dehydration is typical and will not endanger the trained healthy runner). In more recent years, there are some sports research experts who found through their research with endurance athletes that thirst is actually a very accurate signal of when one needs to hydrate.

7)Frequent replenishment! It is better to hydrate and refuel more frequently during distance training. Experiment to see if you respond better to 20 or 30- minute increments for replenishing energy. Hydration will need to be more frequent on hot-weather days and/or for individuals who perspire profusely

8)You are an experiment of one! Get as much information as you can on these two subjects and then put them to the test while you are training. You can become your own best expert in order to give your body what it needs to perform successfully. The specific products that work for someone else may not work for you.

If the Shoe Fits carries a full-line of energy replenishment and electrolyte replenishment products as well as fuel belts. Several staff members would be happy to share their experience as it relates to running a marathon.

Training for Consistent Race Day Pace

Mental and physical preparation for your event running pace can be practiced while you train. One of the common errors on marathon day is to go out too fast. Your legs are fresh and the adrenaline is pumping when you cross the start line. Experienced long-distance runners know that you risk early depletion if you start your marathon at too fast of a pace. Whatever time is gained by early fast miles will be paid back during the last 10K with a double or even triple slower time. There are some strategies you can use to both physically and mentally prepare to start your event conservatively and maintain pace over the miles.

-Discipline yourself to run the first two miles of your long run at your warm-up pace. You can mentally prepare for ‘holding back’ by imagining the excitement you will feel on marathon day.

-Build some endurance and variation by alternating pace during your long runs. Following are some ways you can do this.

oTwo miles at an easy pace (one minute mile slower than marathon pace), followed by two miles at marathon pace. Attempt to maintain this variation throughout your long run.

oDo the first ten miles of your long run at an easy pace and then increase to marathon pace for the last 8-10 miles of your long run (for a half marathon, split the distance in half)

oAlternate pace of long runs; one week run your entire long run at an easy pace. The following week do your long run at marathon pace after the first two easy miles.

-In addition to alternating pace, try to finish the last two miles of your long run at an even faster pace than marathon pace. This will help you determine if you have enough stamina left to increase your output.

-Moderate your pace during any phase of your long run if you find you are fatiguing too quickly. This teaches you to stay in tune with pace as it relates to your energy level and your capability to finish the distance with ‘enough fuel left in the tank’. Remember that you will have your good days and your ‘not so good days’.

For most people, even pace (even splits) on marathon day equals best performance. In order to figure out what your target pace is, record your long run results. Log the total time and distance, figure out your average minute mile pace and record your stamina level during the long run and during the last two – three miles. Based on this data, you can target a consistent even pace for marathon day in order to finish well. The Garmin Forerunner is a good piece of equipment that can give you instant pacing and distance information during and after your runs. You can check the selection at If the Shoe Fits. Finally, practice running at least one, maybe two of your long runs at this even pace. You will now be more in tune with your personal pace capability and better prepared to more accurately plan and adjust your pace on marathon day.