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August 25, 2004
Monday's Looooong Run
The Long Run
Even though I was out until almost midnight on Sunday night I managed to get up at 5:15 to do my long run. Fortunately, my things were already prepared so I did not have to get up earlier. My friend from DE had given me a great recommendation to try doing my long run on the new Farmington River trail that runs from Cheshire to Hamden. This was a terrific suggestion. I had told her that I wanted to run on a bike path to practice running on the roads for my upcoming 100k race. I was wanted to be in an area where I could see how far I had gone. I parked the car at the start of the trail head in Cheshire and planned to run to Hamden and back (11 miles out and 11 miles back) and then I was hoping to add on another four to six miles depending on how I felt.
The first three miles of the run were measured out in kilometers. I started the run at 6 a.m. and was surprised to see many people out on the bike path. People were hiking, jogging, roller bladding. It was awesome to see so many people using the trail so early in the morning.
My legs felt stiff during these first three miles and my stomach felt a little unsettled. I was not happy with how I felt but I figured I was just warming up and was bound to feel better.
After three miles the trail was measured in miles, every 0.1 miles was marked. This was pretty intense. My goal for the run was to maintain an even 8 minute pace so that I could become familiar with that pace. I am going to try to maintain an 8 minute pace in my upcoming 100k race for as long as possible. I told myself I would only check my splits every mile. Of course, I could not control myself and checked every half mile. At first I was annoyed by my obsession but as it turned out it made the first half of the run go by very quickly. My mile splits for the first 11 miles ranged from 7.30 to 7.55. The pace felt relaxed and comfortable. My body did not feel great but I was still optimistic that I just needed to warm up some more. There was a lot of shade on the trail and any roads that we had to intersect were well marked. I was very impressed with the well groomed pathways. Along the side of the pavement were small dirt trails that were wide enough to run on and some trails meandered down to the river. There were also several benches along the trail. I stopped twice to stretch out my hamstrings as they were pretty tight.
Once I arrived at the end of the trail in Hamden I turned around. I decided to try to run very relaxed, staying as close to 8 minute pace as I could. This pace seemed very easy and I was getting bored. I also began to have stomach cramps and I could feel the one bloody mary I had the night before. I could not relax my stomach and felt very ill. I felt uncomfortable and was counting down the miles to go. I was feeling very negative which hardly ever happens on a long run. I began to think that I might be sick. I blamed the bloody mary but I am sure it had nothing to do with my feelings. I told myself I would stop at the car which would give me twenty two miles and that relaxed me a bit. The last three miles were really tough, I was not engaged and my stomach was really cramping. I finished the run and was really beat. I was sad about my lack of interest in the run but really happy that I finished the run. I vowed never to drink a bloody mary again because that was an easy excuse for my stomach problems. I have never felt so uncomfortable in a run before.
For the rest of the day my stomach would not relax. I never rejected food but I never felt at ease. I decided to drink a lot of water and rest as much as I could. I convinced myself it was a one day stomach bug and I would be fine the next day. By the evening I was feeling better and looking forward to a run on Tuesday.
Posted by mary at August 25, 2004 12:39 AM