Image courtesy of pexels.com
W is for (hitting the) Wall in the Running ABC's
Experienced and non experienced runners have all been there where you reach a sudden overpowering of major loss in energy which is caused by depletion of glycogen stored in the liver and muscles. Just remember that not everyone will hit the wall, even if you are running a marathon or ultra distance race, but it is usually in these longer distance runs is where hitting the wall comes more into play.
From our understanding of how the body uses both carbohydrates and fats as fuel for exercise, we need to remember that different types of exercise will utilize different fuel sources. As we stated above the research is pretty clear that hitting the wall is when our muscles and liver is depleted of glycogen, a major form of stored carbohydrates in the body.
We can theoretically calculate how long we will be able to run for until we hit the wall from Benjamin Rapoport's research at both Harvard and MIT. In 2010 he created a formula to calculate how much energy per kilometer a runner takes to move, which basically broke down to one calorie per kilogram of body mass, per kilometre of running. This would mean that for me to run(67kg runner) a marathon, it would take 2881 calories. This is then complicated because we all utilize a mix of both fats and carbohydrates when we exercise, but the ratio of that changes depending on the speed we are running at.
So then how do we reduce the likelihood of hitting the wall. It all comes down to preparation and training.
1. Train And Race with Carbohydrates
If your body utilize more carbohydrates than fat to fuel itself, you will most likely not be able to store enough carbohydrates in your muscles to make sure you get through a full marathon and will need to add supplemental carbohydrates as you run. The high amount of sugar in an energy gel could mean that it will cause stomach issues while you run, so you may want to try one energy gel every 45 to 60 minutes.
2. Train Your Body To Burn More Fat
The second way you could limit hitting the wall is to try and train your body to utelise more fat as a fuel while you are running. If you are willing to take the time to do so, you can train your body to use predominantly fat as fuel even when performing higher intensity runs. The reason why this limits your chances of hitting the wall is because the amount of carbohydrates you can store is much lower the amount of fat your body has stored even for the leanest of athletes.
I think the real idea behind limiting your chance of hitting the wall or limiting the effect is to make sure you are prepared for your race with consistent, specific training.
If you missed any of the previous five posts, you can see them at the following link:
@run.vince.run/in-the-running-abc-s-r-is-for-recovery
@run.vince.run/s-is-for-stretching-in-our-running-abc-s
@run.vince.run/in-the-running-abc-s-t-is-for-training-mask
@run.vince.run/in-our-running-abc-s-u-is-for-ultramarathon
@run.vince.run/in-our-running-abc-s-v-is-for-vo2max