Monday, August 3, 2009

Any Number of Things Could Have Gone Wrong

When something goes wrong a run, any good runner will start to analyze their recent routine – sleep, previous workout, nutrition, and pacing – to see what the cause might be. While I do believe that the right reaction to a bad run or race, is to move on and not dwell; I also think it is good to try to learn from the mistakes made leading up to, or during, the run.

On Sunday morning, I set out for a two-hour run. I didn’t have a set mileage goal in mind but rather I knew I wanted to get some “time on my feet.” I headed toward the Mount Vernon bike trail to run for an hour along the Potomac River and then turn around and make my way back home by the same route.

I took my time as I made my way along the bike trails, enjoying the smell of fresh rain that had only recently stopped and playfully avoiding the puddles. I was feel very good about the run and as always, I enjoy the scenery along the route – DC and all the monuments across the river.

I hit the hour mark and turned around to head home. About halfway home, about 1 hour 30 minutes in to the run, the wheels started coming off; my legs were feeling unusually tired and I was breathing harder than usual. Climbing one of the hills, not far from the top, and with only a little over 2 miles to go I had to do something I’ve never done before – stop and walk.

I’ve walked during my runs before but it is usually for a good reason – drink water, eat food, something started to hurt or it was planned – but I’ve never just not been able to make it. I can always muster enough strength to make it to the top, get to the next light pole, etc. This time was different. I just couldn’t go anymore, I just had to stop and rest.

After walking for about 5 minutes, I took off at a slower pace and I finished out the run; ecstatic when my Garmin beeped that final hour was finally over. During this 2 mile trudge I started to analyze just what could have gone wrong.

Sleep
I was up later than normal on Friday, not getting to bed until after midnight so I made the decision to move my weekend long run to Sunday morning instead of my normal day of Saturday. I took a short nap on Saturday and went to bed at a decent hour that night so I didn’t think it was lack of sleep that had caused the bad run; however, maybe the late night on Friday had affected me more than I thought. Maybe I didn’t sleep that well on Saturday. Sleep could have been a contributing factor but I really didn’t think it was the culprit.

Previous Workouts
Thursday I had done a hard strength training workout and even through Saturday I was feeling some residual soreness in my legs. However, due to a commitment at work, I decided to skip my Friday run and take a rest day. With two days of near complete rest, I know that Thursday workout couldn’t have been the reason I had to stop during Sunday’s long run.

Nutrition
Ah, I think we are on to something here. I haven’t been making the best choices when it comes to food lately; I knew that, so lack of quality nutrition can definitely sink a run. In addition to that, I didn’t have a big dinner Saturday and I only had a banana before heading out for the run on Sunday. I had simply run out of fuel and as I was running up that hill that is exactly how I felt, like a car running out of gas, I just couldn’t go any further.

After my run had concluded, as I walked home in the rain, I did this quick analysis and felt confident that I had determined the problem. I could learn from these mistakes and move on.

However, when I got home and plugged in my Garmin to download my paces from the run, I discovered a much more glaring error.

Pacing
I wasn’t paying attention to my pace during the run. I was running by feel and I was feeling good. I knew I had to take it easy and slow to last the entire two hours and I thought I was. Before I crashed on mile 9, my pace for the most of the previous miles was closer to the 10:00 minute/mile range, way too fast for a long run. I should have been in the 10:30 range and as a consequence, I had to stop and walk and then plodded through the end of the run at 11:00 minute/mile pace.

Running at a pace much faster than I should have been coupled with the lack of fuel and probably dealing with a slight lack of sleep, I just couldn’t hold the pace on the long run and that is why I had to stop and walk.

Lesson learned.

Daily Dozen
Strength Training @ lunch hour
3 miles easy after work

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