Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Wednesday Workout Update

I am happy happy happy to report that I did not experience any stomach issues after my 10 mile run on Saturday!!! Woooohoooo!!! What a relief - not only was I getting sick of feeling so crummy for nearly two days after each long run, but I was getting a little worried that something was wrong with me. Nope - apparently I just needed to change up what I was eating and drinking.

So, what did I do differently? Well, I had a plain bagel for breakfast on Friday, then most of a banana. Clif bar and rice crackers for lunch, protein shake for a snack. White pasta with marinara sauce for dinner. I deliberately did not have a lot of fiber, veggies or fruit. NOT my normal diet, to be sure.

On Saturday, I had a bagel before my run, and carried coconut water with me in my new handheld Amphipod water bottle (trying to avoid another gut-shot chafing incident). I refilled the bottle twice on the run with water and ate two Clif Shot Bloks during the run. No Gatorade or Powerade afterward. Post run, while relaxing in a lovely ice bath (brrr!), I drank a bottle of Athlete's Honey Milk that Coach Erica had given me. About an hour later, with my stomach still doing surprisingly well, I had some good old fashioned Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup and another bagel. And for the first time in three weeks, I got my weekend back! What a relief to not be so sick after a long run. I have to give major props to my guru Helen, who has been working with me to figure out what needed to change in my diet leading up to Saturday. It worked!

Oh yeah, and about that run...10 miles. Dang. That is still a long distance to run! I had a couple of goals for this run. One was to beat my "devil mile" as I've been calling mile 6 - that bugger killed me during my last two runs. I've had to walk most of it, and I didn't want to do that again. I downloaded a few new (ok, really old, but new to my playlist) songs* and put them in where I thought I would hit mile 6, which turned out to be right. I powered through it, even though it was on the long, long uphill portion of the run. Victory! Glad I beat that thing. My other goal was to run slower than a 12 minute mile - I've been told that since my race pace seems to be a 12 minute mile, my long run pace should be slower. This helped get me through - I walked for one minute at every mile (while drinking from my water bottle), and I didn't have to do any extra walking until miles 8 and 9 - I ended up with a 12:45 average pace, which was good as I was aiming for 13:00. Hopefully doing this will carry me through 2 additional miles next Saturday, when we have a 12 mile run on the schedule!

Oh, I almost forgot to tell you the most amazing thing about that run that I totally missed! I was told after we were done that while I was running through the neighborhood where I saw a deer a few weeks ago, THREE DEER were following me for quite a while! On the sidewalk!!! The man who I kept trading places with during the run was behind me, and he said that I ran by a clump of bushes and then the deer - a mama and her babies - stepped out and started walking behind me! He crossed over to the other side of the street and got to watch them - said they followed me for quite a while. I can't believe that I missed it! :( And funny - I didn't even hear their hoof beats, and I don't use headphones (my iTouch has a speaker). Talk about being in my own world! Anyway, I just think this was so cool.

For Monday, a 40 minute easy run was on the schedule. I met up with Jenny, who is coming off of being sick (she's still not 100%) and hadn't run for two weeks. Which worked out fine, because this was basically a recovery run for me. We ran through our park, then headed off down the road where the sidewalk is nice and wide...although there are a couple of good inclines, it's a pretty sweet place to run. Then we turned up a different street, which was fun - even ran by a pasture with cows! Eventually we figured out how close we were to the park, and while crossing the four lane road to get back there wasn't easy (no signal or stop signs), we made it, and I'd do that run again. The other cool thing was that I felt great during this whole run and could have kept going - a first for me! I didn't, because I am following the schedule that my running club has set for us, and hopefully will avoid injury this way.

Tuesday we had speed drills. We met up at the newest high school's track, which is open to the public, unlike this one. We warmed up with a mile run, then did sprints of 30 seconds, followed by 30 seconds of walking, for a total of eight times. Surprisingly, it wasn't bad. I had Ricky Bobby programmed to alert me every 30 seconds, and the sprints were over with pretty quick. I got to run with my half homies, Julia and Erica, and it was fun to catch up with them. We were supposed to finish the workout with a one mile cool down run, but after 3/4 of a mile we called it a night.

Today another 20 minute easy run is on the schedule, but since I ran hard last night, I'll just do some cross training. Tomorrow is run with Matt, and Saturday will be my longest run to date - 12 miles! That ice bath is gonna feel mighty good! And I have to say that most of you cracked me up with your horror of the thought of taking an ice bath, but I'm telling you, it's worth every shiver! Here are a couple of articles about why an ice bath helps with the recovery after a long run.

Chafe of the week: inside upper left arm. Which is weird because I wear my iPod (iTouch, whatever) on my right arm. And I've worn the shirt before, but not for such a long run. Geez, do I need to bathe in Body Glide before I get dressed?
Again, I have no shame...



* new (old) songs are: Crocodile Rock/Elton John; Don't Go Breaking My Heart/Elton John & Kiki Dee; September/Earth, Wind & Fire; Already Gone/The Eagles.

20 comments:

  1. yay!! my post. I can now go about my morning.

    we have so many deer around here as well and they are SO FEARLESS.

    Terrifies my child (ok and me :)too many stories of deer running through bigbig windows because they dont realize that they are, well, WINDOWS).

    and hells to the yes about the body glide
    but im a woman who gliiiiided her feet before she socked em.

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  2. Woohoooooooooo what a great run Saturday. I'm so happy for you that changing your food and drinks helped this time and you weren't sick. I can imagine your relief.

    I still walk during my long runs. I walk for a minute every 2K which is at 1.2 miles. It helps me to finish and not be exhausted at the end of the run. I don't consider that as "cheating" or not being a real runner because I never stop during the run and at a distance of 10K I walk only 4 minutes of the 70 minutes I'm running.

    Have fun on your run today. I'm so impressed with your improvement on the running front. You've passed me in our progress of becoming runners :)

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  3. Oh those songs take me back!
    I am so happy your tummy survived! Bagels crack me up, it is always my go-to food when I feel crappy.
    I love that your group is so cohesive and doing track runs etc. Really great stuff.

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  4. You are doing great. Pushed through that 6 mile and you moved on. Without tummy problems. Good! Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com

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  5. Who knew that carbs could be a miracle fitness boost? And way to go eating those 10 miles!

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  6. Oh the chafing. I've had it show up in the weirdest places. It's got something to do with sweat and rubbing and you'd think you sweat the same places all the time, but I guess not. I've been known to Glide any and every spot I even thought would chafe!

    As for the tummy and carbs, glad it all came together for you this time. By the time you do your race, you'll have it down pat!

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  7. Sounds like you've found just the right combination of foods and drinks to keep your stomach problems at bay. Loved your story of the deer. I once saw a red fox on my early morning walk through a corporate park near my house. I think he was more afraid of me!

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  8. Everytime I read about how running has become a part of your everyday life, I just sit in awe.
    How did we get here? From the condition our bodies were in not so long ago?
    Way to go! You're my hero! :-)

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  9. Do you have a running name yet? Because Deer Whisperer sounds pretty good to me!

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  10. TWELVE miles! WOW! You are amazing. One of the things I've discovered when I was running, was that I like running outside to see what's around me. Nature, animals. Cool with the deer. I hope to start training again next week. I ran in the parking lot to my car with the girls because they wanted to last night and It felt great, no pain. I think I'm finally getting back on track for good.

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  11. So glad Helen was able to give you some tips so you could enjoy the rest of your weekend!

    10 miles - you are a rock star sister! :D

    You gotta show the injuries - it shows how bad ass you are! :D

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  12. congratulations! I always have that chafe on my right side coz of the old ipod armband I used to wear. Changed it already. I used to use body glide but for some reason, a dollop of petroleum jelly works better for me =)

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  13. Wow, 10 miles, that's amazing! 10 miles is just in my dreams right now. I've only just got up to running 8k which I work out to be 5 miles, so I've a long way to go lol. I'm plagued with a calf problem so having to increase my distance VERY slowly, but I'll get there in the end. Working up to 10k and hoping to do my first 10k race next Spring.

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  14. I have only chafed once during a run (we will not mention the years of thigh chafing as an obese person...). That was from my arm band of my mp3 player. It was rubbing on my loose skin. Gotta love it!

    Great job on figuring out what your tummy needs. I have occasionally gotten nauseous when fueling during or after my really long rides near the end and not fun. I do better with less liquid and more protein.

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  15. Yes, I remember you too! The lady who spells her name correctly. ;) I can't believe you've lost 100 lbs. That is completely amazing. Congratulations, you look fantastic, and I'll bet you feel even better. I'm going to start working on losing my extra 100...um...after the holidays. Yeah, that's it. :D

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  16. At least you are chafing from exercise instead of chafing from sitting on the couch and walking to get snacks out of the fridge.
    Exercise chafing is an honorable chafe.

    And yes, you have no shame.

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  17. So glad you are feeling better Shelley!!!!

    Jennifer
    http://wecanlosethepounds.blogspot.com/

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  18. The mileage you are getting in such a short time is just amazing to me.

    I love the image of the deer following you. What's wrong with that man? Didn't he know you needed photos for your blog LOL?

    I dunno about the food changes though. Don't sound that appetizing to me. Where's the froyo?

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  19. Hey you! I'm back! Finally! (right?)

    The thing for 10 miles, for me, is ... well, it's TEN MILES. Like double digits. For whatever reason, ten is my devil mile. If I can get through that...I can make it through anything!

    Would you believe I still have never ever tried an ice bath!?

    Oh, and we're trying to keep a 12-13min pace on our long runs too. :)

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  20. A "twenty minute easy run" -- did you ever think you would say such a thing? Look at how far you have come, and just in the short time (comparatively speaking) that I have been following your blog!

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