running: the dawn

I had a bit of a love/hate relationship with my run yesterday.  I think that it’s my longest mid-week run to date at 11 miles.  On the one hand, it felt solid and good to be able to get out there and throw down double digits on a Wednesday.  Conversely, I was surprised at how much it wiped me out.

The timing of long mid-week runs is tricky for me.  I am done teaching on Wednesdays by 1:30, so I usually don’t eat lunch until after then.  Yesterday was more complex because I had to go to an eye appointment at 2:00 which pushed lunch back even later.  Since I didn’t eat until after 3, I wanted to wait for the food to settle a bit before pounding out my miles.  I finally headed out sometime after 5.

Also, I seem to be having trouble with my pacing lately.  My schedule calls for my easy runs to be paced between 9:40 and 10:10 minutes per mile.  I tried to monitor myself and slow down when necessary, but there seems to be an internal mechanism that pushes my legs faster than I can control.  Mr. Dawn doesn’t see the problem with this, and granted, I prefer to be too fast than too slow…but I’m trying to stick to my training plan so that I can see what changes to make for next time.  I know it seems silly, but I really am trying to stick to my plan.

The miles themselves were pretty good.  I had not done a good job in picking my clothing however.  It was pretty cold in my house while I was getting ready, so instead of using my arm warmers I opted for a fleece.  This turned out to be too warm for the first half of the run.  I ended up taking it off and tying it around my waist which then just annoyed me.

The good news is that I was able to use the last of my nasty strawberry-banana gu.  Yes, it is as gross as it sounds.  But, its gone now and I don’t have to worry about pulling that out during my long runs.

By the end of the run I had completed the 11 miles with a 9:25 average pace.  Still too fast for my goal, but I felt calm and relaxed the whole time, so I’m just going to go with it.

I was not prepared for how I would feel once I got home.  I wasn’t sick or in pain, but I was exhausted.  I felt completely depleted.  Lethargic even.  I don’t think I was dehydrated because I’d taken my handheld water bottle AND I found that there is water available in a cemetery that I love to run through.  I took two gu’s so I wasn’t lacking in electrolytes or calories.  It’s very strange to me.  After I showered I wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed and go to sleep and it was just 8:00!  Now, I am a good sleeper.  I could sleep almost anywhere at anytime.  I can fall asleep even when I’m not that tired.  But this was different.  Not just tired or sleepy, but wasted.  Completely worn out.

I forced myself to drink some nuun and then I stretched out for a half an hour before crawling into bed by 9:30.  As I lay there I wondered, “what is going on with me?”  Maybe it was the fast pace.  Maybe I didn’t eat enough during the day.  Who knows…

I feel 100% better today.  I’m going to take the day off of running, but I might spend some time doing some chin-ups on my new pull-up bar.  Or at least attempt them.  I’m pretty sure I still can’t do any real ones….