by Adolfo Salgueiro | Dec 12, 2023 | Article, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
If you ran a marathon or know of someone who has, most likely you’ve heard about “hitting the wall”. And if you ever wondered why they call it a wall, imagine yourself running and hitting one. Head-on. Yes. No exaggeration. You may hit it because you ran too fast and burned out, because you’ve consumed your body’s main fuel source, carbs, because you got dehydrated or a combination of those.
What is left after such an encounter is yourself trying to finish your race or run in a depleted state. A failure after a hard cycle of hard training.
Just like this, but without the benefit of the padding
Meeting with the wall is not always a physical process. Sometimes you may be mentally fatigued, or unprepared for the task at hand. In his book The Runner’s Brain, Dr. Jeff Brown states that “your brain is a pretty awesome organ, but it\’s no magician. If you didn\’t train properly or if you starved yourself for a week, you\’re asking to hit the wall no matter how great and powerful a mental organ you possess.”
But if you have trained with diligence, most likely hitting the wall will be a physical rather than a mental event. In general terms, your body doesn’t have the resources needed to run a marathon. Yet, thousands upon thousands of runners complete one or more every year. How do they do it? They fuel and hydrate their bodies during the race, and they’re mentally prepared for the challenge they’ll face.
If you are not intentional about your fueling strategy and plan to depend on whatever they’ll serve at the race, you can’t be surprised when you start having issues. We’ve all seen someone jet-puking fluorescent green liquid, not unlike the girl from The Exorcist, because they overdid it with the Gatorade.
Of course, there is always the possibility you started too fast and exhausted yourself beyond recovery. That would be an error in strategy which will also lead you to the wall. But that is another issue for another day. Not the one discussed in this post.
In a recent interview, legendary ultrarunner Scott Jurek was talking about the importance of fueling your body for a marathon and stated: “Rather than how do you deal with the wall at mile 20, don’t let the wall happen at Mile 20. Yes, I know it is easier said than done. But when you are out there tomorrow [in your race], if it is the muscular fatigue thing, you probably went too hard, but it is usually the lack of carbohydrates.”
HOW TO PROCEED ONCE YOU HIT THE WALL
Yet sometimes you’ve prepared yourself physically, mentally, and fueled properly but still hit the wall. What to do? In “The Runner’s Brain”, Dr. Brown talks about choosing between four wall-busting mental strategies so you can deal with the issue at hand. Read again: Deal, not overcome.
INTERNAL ASSOCIATION: A total focus on how the body feels while running. Tuning into the contraction and relaxation of your muscles, the mechanics of your arm movement, your breathing, your heart rate, and so on. Internal association\’s boundary is your skin, and your focus stays inside of it.
INTERNAL DISSOCIATION: Doing just the opposite yet staying inside of yourself. This strategy distracts you by hitting the mental replay button on a great song, thinking of upcoming projects, or counting your steps. Runners around you may be surprised to learn that you weren\’t thinking about running.
EXTERNAL ASSOCIATION: Your focus is outside your body and outside the act of running itself, yet you keep track of important aspects of your run. You may pay attention to jockeying for position in the race, negotiating water stops, split times, etc.
EXTERNAL DISSOCIATION: means focusing outward but on events or stimuli unimportant to the race itself. You may focus on the scenery, cheering crowds, flowers, counting the number of times someone along the route yells the name written on your bib or someone dressed in a weird running outfit.
It would be easy to finish this blog post stating that I wish you never have to figure out if it really feels like hitting a wall, but if you keep training long distances, you will eventually figure it out yourself. It is inevitable. The key is to learn from such an experience, so it doesn’t happen again. It is only then that hitting the wall won’t be a checkmark in your loss column.
What is your experience hitting the wall? Let me know in the comments.
by Adolfo Salgueiro | Nov 14, 2023 | Article, Coaching, Reflection
By Coach Adolfo Salgueiro
A year ago, Grace P. had never run before. I am sure she tried to catch a bus or get refuge from the rain at some point, but never what we picture when we think of a runner.
She is friends with my wife and on a fateful October day of last year, we were invited to a small gathering at her house. I wasn’t too keen on spending a Saturday afternoon with people I don’t know but there are certain sacrifices a husband must make. Grace’s husband was wearing Brooks shoes, so to make small chitchat I asked if he was a runner. “I only run when Grace wants to hit me”, he joked back.
Still looking strong and happy at mile 18 of the Marine Corps Marathon.
Then my wife stated that I was a running coach and Grace jumped in saying something along the lines of: “I’ve always wanted to run, but I can’t get very far without getting tired. I see my neighbor running all the time, but I can’t run like her”. So, I told her I was the head coach for the City of Tamarac Run Club. “If you are at X park at X time on X day, I will get you running”. And she showed up. And kept on showing up. Last October 29th, she became a marathoner.
Three or 4 weeks into the training, on a cold and rainy night, everyone bowed out of the run through our chat. Except Grace. So, I showed up. She was scheduled to run three miles and at two, in the midst of a downpour, I told her it was OK to cut it short. With a huge smile, she told me she was completing her workout. And she did.
That was the specific moment when I realized that she caught the running bug and that she had the talent and drive necessary to achieve great things in this sport. Her training improved so fast that in less than two months of running, she skipped the 5K and went straight to a 10K race, in which she ran 1:00:13. A month later she ran her first 10 miler and another month later her first half marathon in 2:18. Within another month she set two more PRs in the distance, finishing the season with 2:05. That is a minute per mile faster than six weeks earlier. Now she wanted a marathon.
The story escalated quickly from there. As her coach, I wanted to make sure she recovered properly. That she took the necessary time off, that she began a strengthening program, that she learned about nutrition, hydration, recovery, etc. She even took to learn about the story of women in running by reading Marathon Woman, by Kathrine Switzer, who she learned to admire.
While in DC, Grace had the chance to meet and mingle with the one and only Kathrine Switzer
Then, as the hottest month of July in recorded history dawned in South Florida, Grace and her training partner Luis D. started their marathon preparation. It was brutal. More than once they had to take to the streets at 5 AM under 85-degree temperature and 100% humidity. Yet, they persevered. They kept going until one day… Voila!!! It all kicked in and new distances beyond 13.1 became not only possible but she thrived on them. I can recall her finishing her first 15-miler hooting and jumping with a big smile. Yes, I know. Totally crazy!
Sure, there were setbacks. And those were important, too. There was one time she hit the wall and had to finish walking. In the midst of her disappointment, I taught her to learn from it. To take it as an opportunity. She had progressed so fast she hadn’t experienced much failure. Another time she tried a new gel and it backfired badly. She had to use one of her lifelines and phone a friend to pick her up. She was upset but I told her it was important to learn that this brand doesn’t work for her, now, instead of at mile 22 on race day. And she persevered.
Marathon day arrived on October 29. Grace was ready and excited. But the weather wasn’t as cool as expected. Her training partner was dealing with a leg issue and dropped off the pace from the very beginning. There was a ton of traffic at the start and her first 5k was off by over a minute-per-mile slower than planned. So, she adjusted to her circumstances, picked up the pace to what she trained for and maintained it until Km35 (Mile 22), where she slowed down a little bit. The last mile was very tough, yet she persevered and did not walk at all, finishing in a solid 4:39:07. This, I remind you again, was someone who told me a year ago she wanted to run without tiring, like her neighbor.
Coach Adolfo, Grace and Norvin (Grace’s husband), on our way to the startng line of the MCM races
If this wasn’t enough of a story, her husband caught the running bug, too. He started walking, then run/walking, and then pursued loftier goals as he felt better and stronger. He lost over 20 Lbs. and started fitting into clothes he hadn’t worn in years. And if that wasn’t enough, he ran the Marine Corps 10K without stopping in a time of 1:16. Now he is eyeing his first half.
From the coaching side, not only it has been a treat to coach a runner as talented and dedicated as Grace P., but she has also become an integral part of our Saturday running group. Moreover, she and her husband have become close friends with my wife and I, which has been a great addition to our lives. Running is the gift that keeps on giving.
Not everyone possesses the hidden talent and drive that Grace demonstrated. Not everyone aspires to become a marathoner. However, everyone has the potential to make the most of their physical capabilities. Just like Grace, it begins with showing up at the park on the appointed date and time, embarking on a personal journey whose destination remains unknown. Who knows where it may lead you?
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