I did a long run today and it was miserable. I figured I should post my thoughts on it so maybe I can learn from my failures. Though now that I think about it, this run wasn't really a failure. I did complete an 18 mile training run in hot weather. How many people can do that? :-) Now I feel better.
Stony Creek Metropark 18-mile training run - 3 loops on the paved hike/bike path around the lake.
First loop went pretty well. First mile was 8:20ish and second was 7:40ish. The next two were in the 7:30s, but I still felt good. Finished that loop okay. The only problem was the Fuel Belt bugging my GI system. I took off the belt, consumed a gel (Accel) and drank some Gatorade. I decided to simply hold one of my small Fuel Belt bottles for the next loop which I wanted to do at around 7:15s.
I started out loop 2 feeling pretty good and feeling pretty fast. I finished the first mile in 7:20-something, slower than I thought I was going. The second mile was also in the 7:20s but included the big hill. Kept up the effort into mile 3 but crashed hard in the middle of it. Ugh. Tried slowing the pace, but that didn't help. I ended up walking. I continued to run/walk until I reached Babylon (the brook). I was feeling icky - my hands were sticky, my face was sticky and I needed chapstick. At the brook I washed my hands and face in the water and rinsed off the sticky bottle. There was nothing I could do about my lips, but I still felt a lot better. I sat down and rested a little while - maybe 5 minutes at most. I then continued on at a slow run and was able to finish the loop.
I contemplated stopping after those 12 miles, but realized I shouldn't. Even walking the final loop would be better than quitting. I downed a LOT of Gatorade (I must have been very dehydrated even though I was drinking regularly), took another gel and rested a bit. I swapped out the small Fuel Belt bottle for a large Camelbak bottle once I realized how dehydrated I had become. I took off at a walk.
I didn't think I'd be able to run for a while since I drank so much, but the fluids absorbed super quickly! I made myself walk the entire first mile and then started running again - slowly. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would! I was able to continue running until I got to the new drinking fountain at about mile 3.5. I was almost out of Gatorade anyway, so I dumped out what was left and refilled with water. I ended up squirting about half the bottle on my back, so had to refill again! I drank a LOT of water (it was nice and cold!!) and so had to walk again when I took off. I walked for about another mile and then started running again and finished the loop feeling pretty good!
This was a TOUGH run. I'm glad I pushed through and at least did 18 of 20 miles I had originally intended. The heat got me. I wonder if running my "easy" run two days ago MUCH too quickly (big surprise) also left me with too little energy for such a hard training run. I also think I may not have drank enough yesterday while sitting around in the heat at Lumberjack. Lots of factors. Who knows what really happened. May also have just been a bad day.
First loop went pretty well. First mile was 8:20ish and second was 7:40ish. The next two were in the 7:30s, but I still felt good. Finished that loop okay. The only problem was the Fuel Belt bugging my GI system. I took off the belt, consumed a gel (Accel) and drank some Gatorade. I decided to simply hold one of my small Fuel Belt bottles for the next loop which I wanted to do at around 7:15s.
I started out loop 2 feeling pretty good and feeling pretty fast. I finished the first mile in 7:20-something, slower than I thought I was going. The second mile was also in the 7:20s but included the big hill. Kept up the effort into mile 3 but crashed hard in the middle of it. Ugh. Tried slowing the pace, but that didn't help. I ended up walking. I continued to run/walk until I reached Babylon (the brook). I was feeling icky - my hands were sticky, my face was sticky and I needed chapstick. At the brook I washed my hands and face in the water and rinsed off the sticky bottle. There was nothing I could do about my lips, but I still felt a lot better. I sat down and rested a little while - maybe 5 minutes at most. I then continued on at a slow run and was able to finish the loop.
I contemplated stopping after those 12 miles, but realized I shouldn't. Even walking the final loop would be better than quitting. I downed a LOT of Gatorade (I must have been very dehydrated even though I was drinking regularly), took another gel and rested a bit. I swapped out the small Fuel Belt bottle for a large Camelbak bottle once I realized how dehydrated I had become. I took off at a walk.
I didn't think I'd be able to run for a while since I drank so much, but the fluids absorbed super quickly! I made myself walk the entire first mile and then started running again - slowly. It didn't hurt as much as I thought it would! I was able to continue running until I got to the new drinking fountain at about mile 3.5. I was almost out of Gatorade anyway, so I dumped out what was left and refilled with water. I ended up squirting about half the bottle on my back, so had to refill again! I drank a LOT of water (it was nice and cold!!) and so had to walk again when I took off. I walked for about another mile and then started running again and finished the loop feeling pretty good!
This was a TOUGH run. I'm glad I pushed through and at least did 18 of 20 miles I had originally intended. The heat got me. I wonder if running my "easy" run two days ago MUCH too quickly (big surprise) also left me with too little energy for such a hard training run. I also think I may not have drank enough yesterday while sitting around in the heat at Lumberjack. Lots of factors. Who knows what really happened. May also have just been a bad day.
Tough run; I only had a couple training for Bayshore, and I think that I'd have done better if I had more. Not that I enjoy them, but learning to persevere through them is key.
ReplyDeleteWay to hand in there, Paula!
OUCH! You better than me, I would have gotten in the car and went home. The heat and humidity takes it's toll on you.....
ReplyDelete