Yesterday I woke up and just didn’t feel like running so I didn’t. I went one mile of my planned 10, heard the one mile beep on my Garmin, looked down saw the time and just stopped running. I walked back to the house. Today I woke up and couldn’t wait to get out the door. I did 6.5 miles and would have kept going if it hadn’t been time to get ready for work. In fact, as I got closer to the house I made the decision to pull a double today and run during my lunch break.
So what was the difference?
The weather was about the same both mornings – high 60s/low 70s with gross humidity. I got about the same amount of sleep both nights prior to the runs – 7.5 hours-ish. However, dinner the night before may have had something to do with (or, everything).
Monday night was happy hour at a bar where my husband and split a plate of (yummy!) nachos, sliders and a pitcher of beer. Although this doesn’t happen often and isn’t a dinner I am particularly proud of, I have done it plenty of times. I woke up Tuesday morning feeling drained and completely apathetic toward running.
…and my “run” reflected that feeling.
Tuesday evening we had breakfast for dinner (three pancakes and three sausage links), a bowl of baked swiss chard chips and a slice of Tomato Soup Cake. While not a gold star dinner, it beat the pants off the previous night’s bar food nosh-fest. This morning I woke up and felt good.
…and my RUN reflected how I felt.
It is a lesson I learn over and over again: Eat bad, feel bad. Eat well, feel well. It really isn’t rocket science but constantly need to remind myself.
I recently read a forum post about the idea of “eating to run, not running to eat.” In other words, runners often say they run so that they can eat whatever they want without gaining weight. When you are running 50 miles a week, a Big Mac isn’t going to push the scales up. However, we runners also pay excruciating attention to our on-the-run nutrition and fueling. We have fueling plans and hydration plans for races – specific miles to eat gels, alternating Gatorade and water at aid stations, packing gummy bears and orange slices. I would make sense to apply the same passion and interest to our pre-run nutrition as well.
Lesson Re-Learned: Eat to Run (and not the other way around)
Daily Dozen:
6.48 miles @ morning run
Planned, 2 mile run/walk hill intervals on the treadmill & stretching @ lunch break
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label food. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
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
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
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Bad Eating/Good Running
Bacon Cheeseburgers w/ fries! Doritos! Burger King Chicken Sandwiches! Soda!
These are the sort of things I’ve been including in my food choices lately. I’m not saying there isn’t room for these things in my “diet” but they aren’t the types of good I want to include in my eating habits on a regular basis…and they’ve become much more common in the past few weeks. It is time for a change. I want to rededicate myself to more healthful foods. Foods that not only taste good while I’m eating them but foods that make me feel good after eating them; the above examples are not it. I begin today.
On the other hand, my running has been phenomenal lately (I really doubt the two are related…wouldn’t that be fun if eating Oreos made me a better runner). I’ve been so pleased with my pace (10:00 to 10:30/mile without focusing on pace is feeling easy) and how my body has been reacting to training.
My long run last weekend was a ten miler. I felt great the entire time, I was cruising up hills and since it was a step-back week in my marathon training schedule, I decided to just go with the flow and run at the pace that felt most comfortable. I held a near-steady 10:00 minute pace the entire time. When I got home and checked my Garmin, I almost couldn’t believe it. It felt wonderful.
I took the plunge and signed up for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT and I could not be more pleased with how my training is going so far. When things go well, it sure feels good!
Today’s Daily Dozen
3.5 mile Run
Maybe a walk tonight after dinner
These are the sort of things I’ve been including in my food choices lately. I’m not saying there isn’t room for these things in my “diet” but they aren’t the types of good I want to include in my eating habits on a regular basis…and they’ve become much more common in the past few weeks. It is time for a change. I want to rededicate myself to more healthful foods. Foods that not only taste good while I’m eating them but foods that make me feel good after eating them; the above examples are not it. I begin today.
On the other hand, my running has been phenomenal lately (I really doubt the two are related…wouldn’t that be fun if eating Oreos made me a better runner). I’ve been so pleased with my pace (10:00 to 10:30/mile without focusing on pace is feeling easy) and how my body has been reacting to training.
My long run last weekend was a ten miler. I felt great the entire time, I was cruising up hills and since it was a step-back week in my marathon training schedule, I decided to just go with the flow and run at the pace that felt most comfortable. I held a near-steady 10:00 minute pace the entire time. When I got home and checked my Garmin, I almost couldn’t believe it. It felt wonderful.
I took the plunge and signed up for the Vermont City Marathon in Burlington, VT and I could not be more pleased with how my training is going so far. When things go well, it sure feels good!
Today’s Daily Dozen
3.5 mile Run
Maybe a walk tonight after dinner
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