My Longest LSD Run

Google ‘LSD’ and you’ll likely be led to ‘lysergic acid diethylamide’, the psychedelic effect-inducing but non-addictive drug popular among the 1960s counterculture generation, as being the word’s definition. In fact, I had known no other meaning of this acronym until after I took up running. 

For runners, LSD has a completely different meaning. It stands for Long, Slow, Distance running, an aerobic-type endurance training method, first conceived by Ernst van Aaken and later on promoted by Joe Henderson as an alternative to the PTA or Pain, Torture, and Agony training approach.

Nowadays, LSD runs are at the core of most marathon training programs.  They involve running progressively longer distances over a period of several weeks, culminating in a very long run, approximately 3 weeks before the marathon date.  Usually done during weekends, the longest LSD run can vary in distance from as short as 28 kilometers (K) to as long as 37 K, depending on the training regimen being followed.  The idea is to condition the body to being on both feet, either running, walking, or both over long distances for extended periods of time, teach the metabolic system to begin to use fat reserves efficiently when the glycogen supplies are exhausted, and develop the mental toughness that is as crucial as the physical toughness for finishing a marathon.

Last weekend was my schedule for completing my longest LSD run- a 28K or 3hr 15min whichever-came-first routine according to our marathon training program.  My original plan was to join a 16K race and run the race course twice for a 32K total distance.  I ditched this idea, however, in favor of a potentially uninterrupted LSD run, the total distance of which was mine for the choosing, and instead joined our training group at the marathon site itself. The plan then became running 32K at a 7 min/K pace, 6K longer that the longest LSD run I had ever completed before, making this run truly unexplored terrritory!

And what a memorable LSD run it became for marathoner-hopeful me! I found out in midrun that one completion of the long route could only net  14+K in total distance so I immediately decided to do the route twice in order to log 29K and then supplement the run distance by doing a couple of loops around a picturesque manmade lake in the training site.  Amidst sweltering heat and humidity, even as early as 8 AM, I ended up completing 32K in 3hr:41min:42sec, including walking breaks to hydrate and dehydrate, and of course to document the experience for posterity.  Average pace was 6.56 min/K, allowing me to complete 8.7 km/hr and burn 2197 calories for the total distance.

A few reminders for the adventurous in you are in order here.  When you do your LSD runs, prepare and equip yourself well.  For example, I didn't know that the hydration points would be gone by the time I would do the second long route. Good that I carried enough water and sports drink in a hydration belt or I surely would have been dehydrated otherwise.  With the sun baring down on you, a visor cum hat to reduce sun exposure and possible heat stroke and a pair of sunglasses to reduce the glare become non-luxuries.  Sunblocks for the onion-skinned and anti-chafing balms or plain vaseline come in handy during long runs to reduce bodily harm in sensitive areas.  Carrying enough glycogen level-boosting gels and taking them at the recommended time periods or run distances will help one complete the distance.   Hydrate at those strategically positioned hydration points every 20 minutes, if possible.  And use the portalets, as I did during midrun before embarking on the second long route! Finally, listen to your body and run at a comfortable pace, preset in and aided by a GPS watch, if possible. 

Running at 7 min/K, at about the 24K mark I encountered six fellow runners including Mystic Waters with similar 32K goals in mind. I felt quite good up to the 28K mark and told The Bull Runner so when she kindly checked on those still running the route. Then, all of a sudden, I began to feel symptoms of leg cramps which, after doing some toe curls, thankfully subsided.  At the 30K mark, I began to be mindful of signs of the dreaded wall.  Luckily, none came and when it was all over, I still felt good albeit a bit sore on the legs and lower back.  To assist in the recovery process, I hydrated well, got a massage, and ate lots of carbohydrates and protein later in the day.  The following day, almost everything was back to what they were before this longest of LSD runs to date. 

With taper time coming up in the next three weeks, designed mainly to maintain my current fitness level, I believe I should be ready for my first marathon!

So mentally ready in fact that I dared myself to push my limits once more by registering for a second marathon in Kuala Lumpur roughly 30 days after my first.  Maybe I'm making a mistake here, jumping over the Golden Gate Bridge in San Fran just to see if it can be done, to use the cliche'! But this storyline, just as this longest LSD run, would altogether be worthy of another blogpost!