The path was covered in snow. We still ran on it for a couple miles before i pulled the plug and we switched to the shoulder of the road. It wasn't that bad running on the snow, but I knew it was making me tired and I still had most the of the run ahead of me.
I also didn't bring any water. I haven't been that thirsty lately on the outdoor runs and didn't feel like wearing my fuel belt. That was a mistake because I certainly got thirsty.
When we got to the halfway point I nearly had a meltdown. I was tired. I was sore. I was ready to be done. This is pretty uncharacteristic of me. Paul was so surprised that he started to laugh at me a little. Not a good idea. He talked me out of my wimpy place, I changed up my music and we were off again. I told him I couldn't talk to him anymore because I had to focus. I needed to just shut my brain off and run. That's exactly what I did, for a while.
Then my hips got so tight I had to stop and stretch them. That helped for a bit but I had to stop and stretch again, this time it didn't help at all. At this point we were 8.5 miles into the 11 miles and luckily headed back to the car. I ran a little bit more but then had to stop to walk up a hill. My legs were that bad. Some of you might already know this, but hills don't bother me. At all. I eat hills for breakfast (maybe not, but you get the idea). Most days I wouldn't even call what I encountered yesterday hills, but they felt like mountains at the time.
Some of you also know how hard it is to get going again when you're tired and you've stopped to walk. Everything gets so tight and it takes a few minutes of running to get loosened up again. Unfortunately I never got loosened up again. At this point I was freezing and not sure how much more running I'd be able to do so I sent Paul ahead to finish the run and come back with the car to get me. First time I've ever done that and it hurt me a little, ok a lot. I alternated running and walking until he got there and ended up covering just over 10 miles.
I had to fight for way too many of those miles which leaves me wondering where I went wrong. This run should not have been hard. I'm definitely taking 2 days off, maybe more. I haven't quite worked through that yet. I had lots of time to think about it when I was sitting on the couch freezing afterwards but I just don't know. Seriously though, I had 3 blankets and hot tea and I couldn't stop shaking and my fingertips were numb. That's never happened to me before and I've run in colder temps for sure.
Post run refuel:
To cheer me up Paul made me French Onion soup. It really is a labor of love to make that soup. He cut up sooo many onions. My eyes were red and watering and I didn't go anywhere near them.
One of these is for the soup, one is to drink.
My contribution to dinner was the best cookies ever.
Just make your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe but instead of just chocolate chips you also add peanut butter chips and pretzels. I just break up the pretzels as I'm putting them in. Not too small of pieces though. It's really good when you get a bite of the crunchy, salty pretzel. Paul said these are the best cookies I've ever made. He is a reliable source so you better make them.
If you haven't been thirsty lately, there is part of your problem, you are not hydrated enough. Also, maybe you just need to really slow your pace and relax. I know it is hard when you have to run on a treadmill, and juggle because of needing someone to watch Lorelei, then decrease the distance and speed of your runs for a week or two, then see how you are feeling on your long runs. Also, think about what you have been putting in your body prior to runs that you struggle with. However, if you were that cold I am guessing either you were coming down with something, or you were a little to dry.
ReplyDeleteOh, and welcome to running, sometimes runs just don't go as well as we hoped for. The next one will be better!