http://www.strava.com/activities/134447715

Saturday morning long run… got lots of Strava kudos… but the thing is – it was actually pretty horrible.

I carry my Car2Go card in my pack on these runs as my eject handle. Even though I’m on trail most of the time, I cross through downtown twice and in an emergency I could find a car and drive my sorry ass home with my tail between my legs.

Right from the get go things were off – my legs were really tight from my run Friday and I started way slower than I normally do. I got up early with the plan of getting out the door early; had a piece of toast and a glass of water and then filled my bottles and shoved off. Right away I had some stomach issues – mostly just from pushing the schedule. My system wasn’t quite ready.

When I got to Lower Macleay at mile 7 I had an espresso Clif shot and drank some Tailwind. So doubling down on Tailwind – that was the only gel I ate the entire time. I drank 3 bottles of Tailwind and was calorically set for the entire run – 2 big thumbs up for that – it’s working for me.

So… first the horribles:

• HRM strap was super irritating. My top pack strap was rubbing it and causing it to rub my chest – I considered just taking it off… then decided to leave it for a few miles and then decide. I must have forgotten about it.
• Gloves off by mile 7, but then I put them back on, then off… kept doing this for a while. Maybe it’s just Spring weather and I’m being fickle – but I always get cold hands …or hot hands.
• Serious shorts issues. I wore my Pearl Izumi Fly Shorts that I love for so many reasons – gel pockets on either side (although I lost a raspberry Hammer gel that fell out of a pocket). The zippered back pocket for a keycard. They’re great for runs up to about 10 miles… after that the chafing starts. I needed Neosporin Saturday night. I’ve got to figure out what’s up b/c that kind of chafing will take me out of a 50 miler. *I had body glide everywhere and it didn’t help.
• My legs didn’t really feel warmed up until about mile 12. They were tight the entire time, so my stride was really short (or felt like it).

The goods

• Tailwind rocks… which means I could leave some food behind and lighten my load.
• Finally started to feel okay / better around mile 17 – I guess that’s good.

Some changes

• Immediately when I walked into the house… I dumped the contents of the ice machine into a bowl, filled up the bathtub to my waist with cold water, sat down and then dumped the bowl of ice in – I took an ice bath. I managed it for about 20 minutes. All the blood from my arms and legs pulled back into my core… then I got out and stood in the sun for a little while to warm up, then took a hot shower.  The effect the next morning was noticeable.  It’s kind of like flushing the toilet. All the lactic acid and junk that’s in your muscles gets flushed as the muscle contracts from the the cold – then warming up circulates the blood around and transports oxygen back into the muscles. I’ll be doing more ice baths after long runs this summer.
• I ordered some new shoes. My form is falling apart at 20+ miles and I want some more stability when that happens. I’m going to try the Pearl Izumi Trail M2. I love the weight of the Pure Grit’s, but the support is lacking later in the (long) runs and I’m feeling the trail a little too much in my forefoot with no rock plate. I want to try something with a little bit more cushioning.

If you never have a bad run, how will you ever know when you’ve had a great run?
Tru dat. It was a good learning run. I felt like shit, but it got better … and then it was over.

Some say that running is the most apt metaphor for life 🙂