12 miles, I respect you.
Summary of this week: ITB stretches, getting over being sick, porta-potties, experimenting with fuel, getting blisters, chafing, lack of daylight.
The ITB hasn't been crazy, but my 10 miler two weeks ago aggravated it- causing some walking. I was trying to figure out who to see or what to do with the ITB, when I had an aha! moment. One of my friends from college is an athletic trainer at a local university- why didn't I think of this sooner!
So, I asked him how to fix my ITB woes. He had me come in to assess what was happening, and by assess I mean tons of one-legged squats and lots of balance - no thanks. After this it was determined my ITB is crazy because my big ol' hips are weak. Now in my mind big = strong, so big butts are muscle, wide hips are strong- you get the point. Apparently this is not the case, and a lot of women with "bigger" hips, have big, weak hips. Really!? How is this possible, God clearly is playing a trick on me, this is not cool. I have 40 glorious inches of weakness, great..
So I left with some good stretches and ways to strengthen the hips, and haven't had pain this week, yet.
I did yoga twice this week at work and ran my 3 mid-week runs. The 3 milers were ok, I ran them in less time than I did when I started this adventure. The 6-miler was tough, but I did it.
This all was leading up to my run of the unknown today: 12 miles. I've run 12 miles once in life- and that was my half-marathon in May. This was proof in itself running is mental, because boy I really freaked myself out on this one.
I woke up at 5:45 thinking I could start running by 6:15. Another thing I didn't take into consideration was daylight. I woke up to complete darkness- and then wasted 45 minutes getting myself ready.
I filled my Camelbak, grab my gps watch, ipod, and cooler filled with drinks and ice (which I conveniently spilled all over the floor before getting it in the cooler- sorry downstairs neighbors). I got to the park as the sun was rising..it was beautiful. :)
I started running and within the first two miles realized I overhydrated and needed to find a glorified porta-potty. Now I've been running for 5 years, and never had this issue, but for some reason twice in the past week I've been running to the porta-potties. There is a fine line with hydration and running, and I clearly have no clue what it is.
I also let my watch keep going, because if this happens at the marathon I need to be realistic with my time "goals"- aka finishing. I then continued on and honestly struggled a whole lot. I kept needing to take walk breaks to breathe- I really think that cold virus is still lingering in my lungs. I don't normally require breathing breaks, usually knee pain starts my walking. So this started messing with me because my goal time for today was 2 hours flat, yea that didn't happen.
I also was using new fuel today, which was recommended by the guys at EMS. I like Gu, but it starts to become sickeningly sweet after 2 plus hours. I would add a picture, but my computer is acting crazy and I just don't have the patience. I used Honey Stinger chews in pink lemonade for today's run. The verdict: they taste good, but I found myself needing one every mile- and having to dig the bag out of my camelbak 12 times during the run became quite annoying. Need a new fuel source.
Today everything just seemed to happen, not the way I would have planned. I'm a total planner so again, this messed with me. I had mild blisters on my big toes from my 6 miler during the week, which became full on blisters today. Ouch! I also experienced for the first time ever chafing, and it wasn't my thighs. I guess since my shorts ride up I always expected to have thigh chafing, nope not today. Between the tank top I was wearing, my camelbak, and my iphone case my underarm is raw. Definitely investing in some moleskin and bodyglide for future long runs.
And last but not least I was sweating like a pig. I'm fair skinned so I immediately turn bright red upon any physical exertion, and usually sweat a lot. Today I was dripping, and I don't drip. I got home and looked like I had taken a shower, my thick hair was drenched- every last piece of it.
So after just waking up from a nap and showering I can say I'm still excited for this marathon. During today's run I questioned why I was doing this, as young high school and college girls pranced by me looking like gazelles with no sweat to be seen. I'm doing this for me, and nobody else- and that in itself is fulfilling.
Week 7 of 18 complete! 11 weeks to go- time flies when you're having "fun"! :)
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