Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Tuesday - 15 miles

Avg. HR 148, climbed 1700ft., and felt terrible almost the entire time. This was a disturbing surprise. I felt my age. I felt sick and rusty. I took three days off, which was really a bad deal. I knew it. I could have mustered 60-65 miles for last week but ended up with 50. Even on those days off, I can't just sit on the F'ing couch! I need to get work done in other ways. Stretch a few times daily, hydrate, eat like my life depends on it because it does (ChuckieV)! I did none of these things. Sure I didn't camp-out at McDonald's, but I wasn't very vigilant. An off day should be spinning lite, swimming, or running 3 F'ing miles, at least. Do some core work and stretch!

So today, I thought a good run was in the tank. I'm rested and ready to go. A few months ago running meant constantly checking my HR monitor; since my fitness was so poor, I had to keep things in check. But lately this hasn't been the case. I can pretty much run according to PE and the data is fairly consistent with my diet of MAF appetizer and Aet main course. Today, I start out on a little trail and sure I might have been running a false flat, but my HR, especially for early in the run, was pretty high. Let's keep in mind that I was very indecisive about the run today. Didn't know what I should do. I have a little too much time on my hands. So what did I do? I grabbed a coffee and headed for the trail. Was my elevated HR early on because of the americano? I think I'm in a kind of chronic dehydration mode. It's not acute, but just sorta behind the scenes if you know what I mean, which brings me back to those days off. I am not taking the training serious enough. I needed to be slapped around by my coach, which I don't have. Time to wake the F up.

The elevated HR caught me off guard. What was going on? Am I getting sick? Anyways, I decided to just dial it down and do about 12 miles (or should I pack it in and run later?? - the indecisiveness was abundant). But the HR still was a little high. My pace was MAF but my HR was Aet and above. It SUCKED. Oh well, tough it out. I turned it in to a longer run. But my next challenge was my left knee and my legs in general. I was sore. I'd stop and stretch and rub and then onward. At some point, mile 11?, I decided to pick things up. I actually hid the monitor beneath my sleeve just to shield my eyes from the mess. Picking up the pace, as I suspected, alleviated some of the pain I was experiencing in my knee and legs. Reminder: slow can mean more pounding on the rig; quicker can mean lighter and more fluid, i.e., easier on the rig. Anyways, I made it back alive. Over two hours without any hydration or gels, etc., which is going to change on these longer runs. Today I'm afraid my chronic dehydration merged with my acute dehydration. Not a pretty site all the way around.

Got home and stretched and then went off to my. . . physical! And that's the other reason I was feeling my age today. I think that's been stressing me out a bit. I turn 40 next Dec.; I'm getting old. You know the health concerns that accompany that process. Cancer runs pretty solid in the family. I have a thyroid issue. Bloodwork, etc. etc. Last week I recall my resting HR being very low 50s high 40s. I've been feeling good. Sure at the physical I was post run, but my pulse was 76. The moral of the story is I had a bad day. I stretched and iced and I'll do both again later after my spinach feast. I have to get serious. My life is on the line.

Update: Lucho explained a lot of today's misery. But I'm still getting old.

2 comments:

  1. Two names to remember when you think you are getting old:

    Bernie Boetcher
    Matt Carpenter

    Don't subscribe to any of this getting old crap. It will get you nowhere.

    Plus it is much more fun to take the scalps of younger tykes.

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  2. yeah, sometimes a couple of days completely off can make you feel pretty crappy!! and it's not age!

    however, you really need to start carrying some liquid nutrition(or water at least) with you on those long runs, especially if you are already dehydrated when you start cause that will elevate your HR and lower your performance.

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