Rain, Dark, Coyote and 13.1 Miles
I realize it has been a bit quiet on my blog, but let me just say, the beginning of Fall 2013 has been anything BUT quiet. O.My.Goodness….to say that I have a lot of plates spinning is an understatement! But, before we get too far down the road, I just had to write about my epic 13.1 mile run earlier this week. (Okay, this post may be more for me than for anyone else. But, those of you who are runners, you may gain some tips from my experiences.)
I started out before the sun was up . . . 5:50AM to be exact! And I had a long talk with God about the fact that it was raining, it was dark, and I was just convinced that if there were any “bad guys” out there, then they probably wouldn’t be out at this time of the morning, especially in the rain. Okay, let me say, when I started out it WAS NOT raining, and my handy dandy Weather.com app said it wouldn’t rain until 10:00AM. Five minutes after I started it began to sprinkle. I guess sprinkles don’t count as rain.
I was still confident there would be no bad guys, or CSI moments out there. So, I started out, made my first turn and then something four-legged popped up out of the first little ravine. It was a coyote . . . YES, A COYOTE (that was no dog!). I stopped . . . he stopped . . . we looked at each other and he kept going across the street and down the ravine on the other side. I just kept thinking, “Please be full from eating for the night. Go find yourself a place to sleep. I hope this pepper spray works on animals as well as humans.” I don’t even remember which thought came first. They all just came at once.
So far, only a coyote has made me pull my pepper spray and seriously consider turning around. I am glad he moved on, I kept on, and, in the end, it was a good run where I learned a lot.
Pre-run nutrition is important. I have been experimenting with pre-run nutrition and I think I have found what works best for me. I ate 1 banana and drank 1 cup of coffee 30-minutes before I ran. It was just enough and I felt better at the start of this run than any other.
Hydration and nutrition during the run is a never ending experiment. The last time I did a long run of 12.5 miles, I ran out of water even though I wore a waist pack with two water bottles. So, for this run, I also carried a handheld bottle. The ones on the waist pack had NUUN electrolyte tablets in them. What I learned is that after 40 minutes, I needed to switch from pure water to the electrolyte water. The only exception was when I ate a GU Energy Gel. Then, plain water made them go down better. Speaking of GU Energy Gels, I took three with me and ate two. I ate one at 4 miles and one at 8 miles. I think if it had been hotter, I would have eaten the third one at 12 miles, but because of the rain, it was a little easier run. And the official flavor rank now is: First Place = Outrageous Chocolate, Second Place = Espresso, and Third goes to Peanut Butter.
Rain and electronics don’t always go together. Because it was raining and because it was so dark, I started my NIKE GPS app, but did not play music or put the earbuds in my ears. They stayed in my running waist pack. I even wrapped my iPhone in a ziptop bag just so it wouldn’t get wet. Obviously, since it was raining, I wanted to protect my phone. But also, because it was dark and rainy, I needed to be more alert to my surroundings so I intentionally did not play music. Honestly, I really didn’t miss the music. What I did miss was the time and distance updates that voice gives me on the NIKE GPS app, but I made do.
If it looks like rain, take a hat. I almost turned back to the house to pick up a baseball cap, in case it rained. But, as I said, weather.com said it wasn’t going to rain for a couple of hours. Next time, if it looks like rain, I will take a cap. Because I wear glasses when I run, If I had a cap on, it would have protected my glasses from rain spatters and wishing they had built-in wipers. But even if I didn’t wear glasses, just protecting my face from the rain would have been helpful.
Post run recovery means stretching and nutrition. The last mile of this run was the toughest because my calves started aching and getting tired. I had to walk around a good 20 minutes just to calm my muscles down. I followed that up with some significant stretches. If I don’t stretch, I will feel it for several days to come. After a long run of 8 miles or more, I have discovered that if I drink P90X Results and Recovery within 30 minutes, it makes a tremendous difference in muscle recovery. I don’t do P90X, but I do like Beachbody’s products. The P90X R&R tastes a little like an Orange Julius. Then within an hour, I eat something that is a combination of carbs and protein. What works best for me is a healthy, homemade egg McMuffin. I use Thomas’ Triple Health 100 calorie English muffins, a poached egg, Canadian bacon, and a sprinkling of cheese. It is just what my body craves and is the final piece to the recovery process.
I can’t believe I actually made the full 13.1 miles. It was all I could do to drag myself out of bed on Labor Day. I understand now, more than ever, that these runs are as much mental as they are physical. I have one more long run in a couple of weeks until the Tower of Terror 10 Miler. Then after that it is on to the Harbor Half. I actually think I can do this!
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