For long runs, fuel yourself with pizza, not kisses!

10-miles, here I come:
Today was my second attempt to hammer out my first double-digit training run. I'm supposed to log 10 miles this weekend as my long run. My first attempt at 10 miles was yesterday, but I wasn't completely committed to the outcome, and felt done after about 3 miles, so I gave myself an extra day to mentally prepare and tackle the long run.

I even started narrating this blog entry in my head as I went through the motions of getting myself out the door. I was going to write all about my pre-run preparation routine that I'm starting to make a regular ritual before the longer weekend runs. I want to try and prepare for every possible weather and physical obstacle that may pop up when I'm on a run in order to better mentally tackle any other walls that pop up for me. Before I got out the door, I even started mentally narrating the key points of the warm-up and stretching session I'm trying to incorporate into my longer workouts. I actually preach the importance of a warm-up and some form of stretching to clients, but as in most other things in life, I also tend to consider myself the exception to the rule and never do it for myself. Last time I visited my massage therapist, though, she gave me a little finger wagging when I nearly jumped off the table from an attempt to dig into my overly tight hips. (It's always easier to take advice in my own field of expertise from other people rather than myself :) ). I was even excited to plot my run on mapmyrun.com and add a link to my blog to visually show my route and my accomplishment.

Or not?
But I most certainly failed at my attempt to finish the full 10 miles. Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying that I failed as a person, nor am I calling myself a failure. I'm not ending my run today hanging my head and kicking myself for my shortcomings. I did, however, roll my eyes a bit and allow myself a significant back-of-the-head-smack to jog my briefly skewed logic and priorities. Finally, I let myself take on the mantra that I don't fail at marathon training, or at anything else I'm attempting to tackle, unless I don't get back up again. So all I really need to take away from today is a slightly rearranged set of priorities to get my head back in the game and then just let it go. 

But before I had failed at finishing the pre-planned 10 miles, after spending what felt like an eternity getting ready to go (I had to apply petroleum product to my feet and most of my body to prevent chafing, apply sunscreen, secure my hair so I wouldn't be distracted by whispies, load my water bottle's fanny pack with my phone, key, and personal info in case of emergency, make sure my ipod was charged), I started my warm-up and off I went! I didn't necessarily feel "on" today, or ready for a long run, but I had the same issue two weeks ago when I tackled 9 miles and ended up logging a very uplifting and successful 9-miler. I figured I would just take the run ten minutes at a time to break up the mental hump of taking on 105 total minutes of running.

After 17 minutes, I let myself take a small walking break. Three minutes later, I was running again. Definitely a slower start, but I didn't want to push my pace until the very end, if I even had any energy left in my tank. At 22 minutes, I slowed down again, taking another short break before starting back up again. After 25 minutes, I was at the Spring Creek Park and decided to take a full-fledged bathroom and water break. I was completely aware that today's heat could throw a bit more challenge into today's run, but wasn't really expecting it to stop me up three times within the first 25 minutes. I figured I just needed to cruise through to the hour mark and take it from there. I was planning on climbing up the 'A' again today, and I could see it in front of me throughout the entire run thus far. If I could just focus on getting to the top, I would have no problem cruising back down.

Change of plans:
After 45 minutes of feeling like I could only mentally push through five minutes at a time without taking a 3-5 minute walking break, I started to feel like the "off" feeling might not subside as easily I thought it would. Feeling like I'm not completely physically ready for a run isn't an uncommon sensation for me, but it generally dies down after ten minutes, maybe fifteen if I'm really in a funk. But after 35 minutes, I felt like I was completely running on empty and couldn't shake it.

There is definitely a difference between overall tiredness or general muscle fatigue, and the kind of exhaustion that starts in your chest and radiates outward. I kept trying to practice my yoga breathing to regulate my breathing to match my stride, but couldn't seem to take a deep enough breath.

When I started to get the chills, a cold sweat, and a bit of dizziness every time I started back up running or stopped to walk, I began to leaf through my mental library of hours upon hours of logged physiology lectures and coaching seminars. Remembering that cold clammy skin and chills was a sign of heat exhaustion, which can be more deleterious than heat stroke, I decided that getting home in once piece, preferably in an upright position, was more important than finishing the full 10. Dammit!

So rather than get down on myself, I started to go over my training over the last couple of weeks to find the factor that might cause me to feel like I'm running on empty and one that might allow me to be much more susceptible to heat exhaustion. And in doing so, I realized that I still didn't feel like I could take a full breath. Hmm, how could this be? And then a little red light went on ... ding ding ding! I got it! I'm hungry! And I can't take a full breath because my stomach is cramping so much from being so empty. How have I not noticed this until now??

A quick rewind to a little factor in my training: I've been spending the last couple of weeks acting like a twitterpated, love-sick teenager.
At first it seemed like the extra serotonin boost I was getting from being in the early stages of a fun relationship would carry over to help motivate my training. Actually, it did in a way. A couple of my shorter runs have been more bursts of sprints with short walking breaks, than full-on runs. This seemed to benefit my ability to take on 5 miles at a reasonable pace, especially when I could pace myself on the treadmill, so I let myself leave my head in the clouds, daydreaming and drawing hearts. I figured everything else would fall into place.

When I thought of this not-so-tiny detail, this is when I gave myself the back-of-the-head-smack :). So, Love conquers all: true or false? ... Until my walk back home in the middle of my ten-mile-attempt, I would have sighed, smiled, and responded "True!"  "MEH!" (That's the sound of the annoying game show buzzer sound). False!! At least it's false if you ignore everything else! When I'm spending time with Mr. Wonderful, I barely remember to eat and sleep, let alone fuel my body for the training I committed to or rest up for intense physical activity. After a weekend together last weekend, I got home and found that my "skinny jeans" were too loose. This didn't seem like such a horrible thing, but I let myself overcompensate with LOTS of pizza and red beans and rice. I figured I'd earned it with my training.

Another tiny smack to the head ... I've been taking on some serious rookie running mistakes! My first mistake: vanity. I'm a seriously vain runner. For example, I don't like to walk where people can see me (I'm a runner, not a walker or a jogger). I am also very vain about how I look when I'm running. I know that runners come in all different shapes and sizes, but sometimes I let myself revert back to my high school running days, where our racing daisy dukes showed far too much leg. A couple pounds dropped here or there tended to take my mind off how my shorts fit and helped me better focus on running the race. (Sheesh! No wonder high school girls have eating problems! ) At this point, dropping a couple pounds simply because I get distracted by a smile, or a laugh, or a touch of a boy didn't seem like that big of a deal. I was letting myself be vain.

Mistake #2: I let myself believe that I could get through physically demanding training with the energy that comes from being completely twitterpated (I can't think of a better word :)) and figured that I could always just mentally dig deep to get the actual fuel and physiological energy I needed when the time came. MEH! (annoying buzzer sound). I seldom give my body credit for everything it does for me, partially because of my vanity - I tend to get annoyed with the way my legs rarely take on definition. They have always carried me through, though, especially with a little extra meat to them, and by loading up on pizza and rice last week, I was able to power through some really great runs. It wasn't the excitement of Mr. Wonderful that powered me through - it was stocking up on food while I wasn't with him. Ha!

So now I'm pretty sure I've reorganized my priorities, and will definitely start paying more attention to fueling my body properly with the food I need to take on the long stuff.

That being said, I'm starving. Anyone up for a $5 Hot N' Ready Large pizza from Little Caesar's? Too bad ... Get your own :).