Time: 7am, approx. 2 1/2 hours
Meal: Protein Shake - Myoplex (1 package) in 15 oz. of rice milk
Distance: Approx. 13.5 miles
I can't believe I ran for 2 1/2 hours this morning! The distance I covered was more than that of a 1/2 marathon...am I crazy or what? Waking up was hard to do (isn't there a song about that? No??) but I actually felt raring to go when I left my house at 6:45. The only mistake I think I made was drinking (almost) the entire protein shake that I made. 15 oz is a lot to swallow (literally), and I think it weighed me down a little during the run.
It only took about 5 minutes for me to feel the discomfort in my knees (usually I don't start feeling it until at least 20 or 30 minutes). I'm trying to concentrate on improving my posture (literally standing up straighter during the run) and landing heel to toe rather than landing flat or on the balls of my feet. I found this to be quite a challenge, and realized that I'm resisting the heel-toe land because I am afraid of hurting some other part of my leg (I could really feel it in my hamstrings). What I am realizing is that my hamstrings are weak so I am overcompensating with my quads, which has been causing the knee pain. Amazing how this all comes together, huh? Anyway, I have the most trouble with poses that require hamstring strength during my yoga practice. The last couple of weeks I have just skipped these poses, but I'm beginning to think maybe I should be trying a little harder so I can strengthen that muscle in my legs.
It took some time to get used to, but I felt pretty good about my posture and focused on the heel-toe land by about 45 minutes into it. While I was still aware of discomfort in my knee, it wasn't nearly as bad and I started to become aware of the rest of my leg muscles which, at the time, seemed like a good sign that I was using them equally.
At about 50 minutes I ripped open a Cliff Goo Mocha and sucked it into my mouth. Yeah, remember a couple of entries ago when I explained how much I hated Power Bars? This disgusting paste touched my tongue and instantly reminded me of everything I hate about them. It encompassed every excrutiating detail of why I think they're so terrible and, for a minute I continued to jog along while still holding it in my mouth trying to figure out what to do. I really wanted to swallow it - I knew I needed the energy, but every time I tried I instantly gagged. I had no choice, it was so disgusting I had to spit it out. A runner behind me (who had no idea what kind of ordeal I was going through) just happened to see me spit a huge blob of brown goo into a patch of weeds - apparently she thought I had vomited (I might as well have) because she stopped to make sure I was alright. Lucky for me, the next water stop was only minutes away so I could rinse my mouth and try again with my second Goo pack, a Hammer Gel that was apple-cinnamon flavored. Still, not good, but at least I could swallow it! The biggest problem here was that I was only 1 hour into the run and had used up the last of my goo packs...which slowed me down at the end of the race.
By the time I turned around at 1:15 my legs were really hurting me. Whereas, before, I could pinpoint areas that were sore (the sides and tops of my knees, the middle of the back as well as the insides of my thigh) I couldn't differentiate at this point. The only way I can describe the way my legs felt is that it was like having the flu from the waist down. I could tell my pace had slowed quite a bit, as people who were quite a ways behind me began to pass me at about 1:30 - 1:45. I always want to be the best I can be and in some group cases like this I have a tendency to get competitive, but I've really been getting over that lately in the effort of making sure I'm taking care of myself.
For the last 45 minutes, I had slowed down to warm-up pace (mostly because my body just couldn't go any faster). I kept visualizing being back in the parking lot and stretching these poor legs of mine. Despite all this, I realized how great it was to be thinking "Wow, only 45 minutes left, whoo-hoo!" It would have been easy to think of 45 minutes as being a long time but I'm glad my attitude continues to be upbeat.
I made it in 2:35, which was a little over 11:30 minutes per mile. This was a full minute-per-mile slower than last week but I'm certain it was the last hour or so that dragged that down. All things considered, I am ecstatic that I finished and that the leg pain improved greatly once I began to stretch (man that felt GOOOOD!) One woman even told me I was her inspiration! Yeah, I know, I couldn't believe it either but she said she could see me ahead of her during almost the entire run and I helped her to keep up her pace. That was a nice compliment, especially because I was feeling sort of disappointed that I had to slow it down so much.
In sum, the best things I learned were that I'm confident I will get better at the heel-toe land with more practice, which will improve the strength in my hamstrings (and I should also make sure I'm working on my hamstrings in my other training like Yoga), a second goo pack would have helped me a lot at around 1:45 for that last 45 minutes, but the GU brand (espresso) is my favorite and the remaining mocha Clif shots in the world should be protested against and thrown into a pit of hot, molten lava. :-)
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