It's taper time, folks, and today was the last sort-of longish run before the marathon next Sunday. Two hours per our team training calendar. Being the last quality day, you'd think I'd want everything just perfect, but nooooooo....... let me be the poster girl for doing everything ass-backward. I survived and am in fine health, but let me break down what not to do (unless you want to carry a bucket when you run).
Rule 1: Carb-load the day before long runs; your body needs the stored energy to break down after about an hour's exercise. What Mona did: Yogurt and fruit for breakfast the day before, followed by Mexican for lunch (we'll get to that in a minute) and a grilled chicken salad at the airport for dinner. In my defense, it was a travel day, but still I could have tried to find a couple of slices of bread or some pasta somewhere.
Rule 2: Don't try any new foods the day before or the day of the long run. What Mona did: Tried a delectable new Mexican specialty called Machaca, along with a bunch of spicy salsa. I knew before I finished lunch I was going to regret that, but damn it was good!! If you ever get to Phoenix, go to Carolina's and order the Machaca mix burrito. Holy yum, Batman!
Rule 3: Eat something easily digestible before your run, including simple carbohydrates. What Mona did: Had my usual breakfast shake (good) only without the banana (bad - there were none in the house). The shake wasn't bad in itself, but the lack of the banana left me without a good part of my fuel.
Rule 4: Get out early, before the heat. What Mona did: Gave herself some extra sleep in time since she didn't get home until almost midnight the night before. It was almost 80 degrees and about 1000% humidity when I started and closer to 90 and 1,000,000% humidity by the time I finished. Blech.
As you can imagine, my run this morning was not the most comfortable experience of my life, but I felt like a ferocious beast for gutting it out and finishing the whole thing. The second mile was the second hardest part of the run, getting my body woken up and adjusted to the 2 hour time difference. I really felt the stress of travel in my neck and shoulders as well. Somewhere after about 1.3 miles breakfast was arguing with me and I was wishing for that bucked Tony Horton used to talk about in P90X. I fought it off and started feeling pretty good going into mile 3. Cruising along for the next 3 miles or so, a breeze picked up and the sun went behind the clouds. I gave thanks and carried on, sucking down Cytomax and water as needed.
During mile 7, a started to feel a rumble way down deep in my tummy. I'm sure Mexican food lovers know the feeling I'm talking about. I heard Coach telling us in practice, "Don't poop your pants!" So I dashed home as fast as I could. With that out of the way, I headed back out to finish up. This is where I ran into a quandary. In the marathon, that time would count. So should I could it toward my 2 hours? A quick clock check and the overheated sauna that greeted me as I walked back out the door both said yes, and I didn't argue.
I picked it back up right at mile 7 and made it to 8 right as the sun came out full force. Talk about brutal. I brought the pace down and seriously got into the Cytomax. Now I was feeling the effects of the dry desert air, the airplane air, and the lack of proper fueling. I sucked down a Gu. Why didn't I think of that before? That helped. The sun hid behind another cloud and on I went.
Mile 9. The Wall. Thanks to the Cytomax, it wasn't all psychedelic like Pink Floyd's wall, but it hurt all the same. Both sides suddenly cramped. I was looking around for that bucket again. Side stitches suck. I walked about a half mile trying to work it out. Coach's voice came into my head again. "Listen to your body!" "Don't be a hero." I looked at the time again, getting later. The sun came back out and started baking the sidewalk. Another little voice reminded me that I had nice cold cottage cheese and blackberries at the house. Then Coach popped into my head to say, "That last part of your workout when it gets really hard, think about that as the last 6 miles of your marathon. Push through it!" I turned the corner and jogged about another half mile to the house.
Almost exactly 2 hours. Pretty much a perfect storm of bad conditions. But I made it. Full on Beast Mode.
Until next time, start slow, finish without a bucket. :)
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