Monday, September 08, 2008

In Good Times And In Bad

So.. I had a really bad run on Saturday. It started out OK, but I started feeling nauseous in mile 3, which NEVER happens unless I'm racing my rear off in a 5K or something.

I saw my friend Sarah's dad Bill (well OK - I guess he is sorta my friend too!) right around mile 4, he was coming out of the tunnel as I was going in. I stopped running to chat for a few seconds. After that I never did get my mojo back - it's like my rhythm got screwed up or something.

I stopped for a Gu and some water when I turned around at mile 6.75 and walked for a while. I ended up walking again at mile 8.. and again at 8.8 - what the heck? I walked back through the tunnel and forced myself to run again. I thought I would run 4 miles, then walk the last half mile or so. Wrong again!

From mile 11 on, I kept trying to jog, but would only make it a minute or so before running out of juice and walking. When I would jog, I looked down at my Garmin to discover I was doing a 13-minute mile pace! I felt utterly defeated, and completely wasted. I did my 13.5 miles in a pathetic 2:50. UGH! So much for trying to get that done in my half goal time of 2:30.

I know everyone has bad runs sometimes. But I did learn a few things.
  1. Do not have two martinis, a glass of wine and a Bulldog the night before attempting 14 miles.
  2. Do not catch my son's stomach bug the day I attempt 14 miles.
  3. Eat a breakfast consisting of more than a slice of toast and 1/3 cup orange juice before attempting 14 miles. HELLO?!
  4. When attempting 14 miles, REAL Powerade is a better idea than Powerade Zero. HELLO?!
  5. Bring more fuel than I think I need when attempting 14 miles. One Gu is not enough, especially on almost no breakfast. I was ready to gnaw my arm off at mile 11.

Darien had an awful stomach bug Thursday (poor kid was barfing in the bathroom at Taekwondo!) which kept him out of school on Friday, and I think I caught some of it. I felt just horrible all day Saturday and most of Sunday. We still went to the ATA picnic on Saturday evening though, and had a blast! I even rode the rides at the amusement park on a queasy stomach and did not hurl. Neither did Darien.

Here is Mason on his first day of preschool last week!



I stole this from Maria's blog, I need it.

6 comments:

*Lissa* said...

You can't be a wonder woman all the time, although I do think that is a fantastic time. ;o) Shake it off and let it go, next time will be better! Keep up the hard work!

Unknown said...

Elph, you will have good days and bad days, but at least you got out there and finished. Shit though, your bad days kick my good days ass LOL.

Yasmin said...

I'm sorry it sucked. It happens to all of us at one point or another.

You did power through it. Also, is your watch set for ave pace or current pace? You may have been seeing your average pace which included your walking!

Karin said...

Just think -- even walking that far would be a major accomplishment.

Shake off the bad. As a previous poster suggested, prolonged training always brings highs and lows (just like anything!).

Tammy said...

I agree with what the others said...
Don't let one bad run get you down. Better to get the bad run over with now rather than race day.

Kelly said...

We all have bad runs Jen! Don't let that take away from all the hard work you've done.