The Saturday of Easter weekend, my dad joined Z and I on our long run {LR} that morning. Sadly, within the first 0.5 miles my dad stopped and had to catch his breath. We quickly remembered that his body is used to running at sea level and we jumped into a moderate pace at 4,862 ft above sea level. That'll take your breath away. Three miles into our run, he turned back, giving him a good 6-mile run. Z and I were scheduled for a 9-mile run, so we kept going.
He wanted a picture in front of the Tetons...those mountains wayyy back there.
We felt awesome during this run. No tired legs, no distracting mental battle, no intestinal or stomach issues, no dehydration, no bad weather, no fighting to keep our desired pace. The last half of our run I decided to blast pandora on my phone. I put it to the 'Club/Dance Radio' station and we ran home to some techno and other upbeat dance songs, ignoring the glances of people outside their homes who could also hear our blasted club/dancing music. This was a good run.
Fast forward a week to this past Saturday when we only had to do 6 miles. After eating Costa Vida and going shooting, we went for a run. We drove out {imagine that} to the loop we wanted to run, starting our run at almost 3pm. It was warm enough to wear shorts and a tank top, about 55 degrees. Within the first mile, I knew it was going to be tough. By the second mile {in contrast to our previous week's LR}, my legs felt kinda tired, there was definitely a distracting mental battle, I was definitely dehydrated, and I was definitely fighting to keep any pace once I realized our original 'desired' pace was out the window. What is wrong with me. Conveniently, Zuriel was feeling just as junky as I was. I wanted to stop, but knew I needed to keep that to myself. Honestly, 75% of the run, I was wishing I was walking. Running isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Especially when you really, really want to stop. By the last couple miles, my stomach was getting just as worked up as my mental battle.
It's funny how temperamental running can be. Although we can just have our 'bad days', more often than not, minor details of the day(s) leading up to the run affect it more than you'd expect. As I was getting through those miles, I thought of how I hadn't had enough to water in the last 36-ish hours, I thought of how there might not have been enough down-time between my rice and bean-filled chicken salad and the time we started running. I remembered that my body has been used to running in temperatures between 8 and 40 degrees for at least the last 6 months, so my body will be sensitive to running in almost 60 degrees. I thought of how I had pushed myself pretty hard for two runs wednesday and thursday and couldn't get around to my run on friday. My body probably needed a good recovery run that day before I tried pushing myself hard again on Saturday.
But what's great about the junky run I had, is that 1) I finished it despite my uncontrollable desire to stop and 2) I was reminded about what I needed to be careful about if I'm going to expect a good run, especially with warmer weather coming. The longer I've been running, the more sensitive my body is to ev-er-y-thing. Especially while training for a marathon. And especially food, curse my sensitive stomach. It's mostly a good thing.
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-Ever had a junky run and realized afterwards that you probably could have prevented it if you were a little more careful with your eating/hydration/sleeping/training?
-Ever read stories about junky runs and are glad you don't run?
Ha yeah I used to...and sometimes I still do...I'm half-joking...
Fast forward a week to this past Saturday when we only had to do 6 miles. After eating Costa Vida and going shooting, we went for a run. We drove out {imagine that} to the loop we wanted to run, starting our run at almost 3pm. It was warm enough to wear shorts and a tank top, about 55 degrees. Within the first mile, I knew it was going to be tough. By the second mile {in contrast to our previous week's LR}, my legs felt kinda tired, there was definitely a distracting mental battle, I was definitely dehydrated, and I was definitely fighting to keep any pace once I realized our original 'desired' pace was out the window. What is wrong with me. Conveniently, Zuriel was feeling just as junky as I was. I wanted to stop, but knew I needed to keep that to myself. Honestly, 75% of the run, I was wishing I was walking. Running isn't always sunshine and rainbows. Especially when you really, really want to stop. By the last couple miles, my stomach was getting just as worked up as my mental battle.
It's funny how temperamental running can be. Although we can just have our 'bad days', more often than not, minor details of the day(s) leading up to the run affect it more than you'd expect. As I was getting through those miles, I thought of how I hadn't had enough to water in the last 36-ish hours, I thought of how there might not have been enough down-time between my rice and bean-filled chicken salad and the time we started running. I remembered that my body has been used to running in temperatures between 8 and 40 degrees for at least the last 6 months, so my body will be sensitive to running in almost 60 degrees. I thought of how I had pushed myself pretty hard for two runs wednesday and thursday and couldn't get around to my run on friday. My body probably needed a good recovery run that day before I tried pushing myself hard again on Saturday.
But what's great about the junky run I had, is that 1) I finished it despite my uncontrollable desire to stop and 2) I was reminded about what I needed to be careful about if I'm going to expect a good run, especially with warmer weather coming. The longer I've been running, the more sensitive my body is to ev-er-y-thing. Especially while training for a marathon. And especially food, curse my sensitive stomach. It's mostly a good thing.
-----------------------------------------------------------
-Ever had a junky run and realized afterwards that you probably could have prevented it if you were a little more careful with your eating/hydration/sleeping/training?
-Ever read stories about junky runs and are glad you don't run?
Ha yeah I used to...and sometimes I still do...I'm half-joking...
3 comments:
Nat! You are so pretty...even after running! Amazing! You always did inspire me with your incredible athletic ability and your dedication to being healthy! You totally inspire me! Love ya!
i hate junky runs, but they're really important. i always know i'm going to have a good race when i have a super junky run just a few weeks beforehand... it's like i've got to get it out of my system before i can run free...
p.s. high five!! are you doing the utah valley half????
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