Sunday, October 12, 2008

Tough weekend of running.......

I went out Saturday expecting to run 13 or so miles in Lebanon Hills, made it about 11 and then called it quits as things weren't right. I felt good at the start, I pushed it around mile 3-4 and then hit a wall. I was completely spent, my joints hurt, so I ended it early, figuring my long run on Sunday was more important.

So today, I wanted to run 5-6 hours in Murphy Hanrehan, my plan was to run 4 loops. I also wanted to sneak out onto the 2 miles of the Surf the Murph that I hadn't run so I would have a feel for the whole course. In my past runs at Murhpy I have run on the inner side of the course. For those that know Murphy, I start at the Park entrance and run down to 11, then 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, back to 9 if the gate is closed for 4, cut through just a bit past 9, onto 4, then 3 and 1 and back to the entrance. I think this loop is around 6 miles (give or take a 1/2 mile). I also will shoot down each open section or paths, marked or not just to see where they lead which adds a bit more distance. What I have been doing is noting the other paths on each loop and then I explore one of them on each subsequent loop (that's how I found the short cut back to 4).

I arrived a little after 8 and wasn't too sure how I was feeling, things didn't seem right but I couldn't really pinpoint anything. I then noticed that I had forgotten my good socks, great, I want to run 22+ miles and all I had were some old socks so I was worried about blisters. As I got out of the car, I heard a boom, boom, boom, as I switched to my red hat, I thought, they don't allow hunting in Murphy do they?

The first loop went fine with no issues. I was paying close attention to my HRM as I wanted to keep my HR below 125, preferably 120. It went well, I felt like I was hardly moving and even on the hills I kept it below 140. I checked my Ipod+ and it said my pace was 11 something so I figured I was going to be fine. I ended the first loop after 1 and 1/2 hours (Ipod+ said 5.9 miles) so I was moving nice and slow if the + was accurate so I thought 3 more loops, 6 total hours will make for a good day. I decided to put my gaiters on to keep stuff out of my shoes as I had picked up a few small things and didn't want to get blisters started. As I bent over to put on the gaiters, I felt light headed, not good. I thought to myself that I might be on the verge of getting sick, my daughter has been sick and that's about the only explanation I had for the Saturday bust and now feeling light headed.

I headed out anyway and just didn't feel right from the start, my joints were hurting and my left hamstring felt real tight. I thought maybe my blood sugar was just off so I ate some sport beans, they tasted very good, maybe they would help. I was using Endurolytes (E-Caps) for this run and I was wondering if I needed more salt. I have yet to figure out my hydration as it relates to S-Caps or E-Caps or anything. If my hands swell (which they always do) should I take in more S-Caps or quit drinking Clif Shot Electrolyte? I only drink electrolyte (no plain water) for all of my training and my races this summer, and I think it has worked as I haven't gotten sick. In the past I would over hydrate or under hydrate and would get a sour stomach or have other issues but since I just started drinking the Electrolyte no real problems. I have read Karl King's info on hydration and although it makes sense I still can't figure it out. Within a 1/2 hour of running, my hands start swelling, I can tell as my wedding ring is normally loose, a 1/2 hour in, it's not loose. The other thing that tells me how much swelling I am having, is I look at the veins in my hands, the veins disappear when I get real swollen up. Usually my stomach turns south if I get that swollen up as well.

Anyway, back to today's run, my HR was higher even though I didn't think I was moving that well. I just plodded my way along and by the time I got to the top of the hill by marker 7, I felt spent. I checked my HR and it was at 140, as I ran down the hill at marker 6, my joints were hurting, my calf was tightening along with the hamstring. I kept going and a 1/2 mile or so later, my lower back started hurting. I decided to walk for 5 minutes to see if I could loosen things up. I resumed running, same thing. How the blank was I going to make two more loops? I decided it must be my shoes, I was wearing my Vasque Mercury's and decided I would switch to my Asics (2120's) or my Nikes (Air Structure Triax that have screws in them). I laughed to myself about how could it be my shoes, I thought it would detract me if nothing else. As I continued on, I kept thinking I need to do at least 3 loops today. I came upon the closed gate at 4 and headed up the hill to 9 and I had to walk and this is hardly a hill :-( and again I felt spent. I took my short-cut and got onto 4 and decided I might be done if something didn't change quickly. Instead it got worse, I was getting a bit light headed, not real bad but definitely not right, I felt kind of disoriented which at Murphy could become a problem. I kept thinking I was kind of zigzagging and then I turned an ankle, not bad, but enough to make me think it was time to pack it in. When I start misstepping and then have ankle rolls, my coordination is usually about gone. If I was on loop 4, fine, I should be tired, but at mile 9 or 10 no way.

So I got back to the car, looked at my watch ~3 hours+ just a little over 12 miles and decided I had to call it a day. I expected to be at 15 miles in 3 hours not a little over 12, oh well, some days you got and some you don't but 2 in a row? So the plan will be to get a good night's sleep, get some weekday runs and then try to go long next weekend. Not good, Surf the Murph is less than 3 weeks away...............................

1 comment:

SteveQ said...

I've had serious issues with hand swelling and have tried everything; some people are prone to it and nothing helps some of them, including me. First, make sure you're not dehydrated, then try lots of salt, then wear tight gloves even in hot weather... if you find something that works, let me know!

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