It felt good to take it easy. The first three days all I did was replay the race in my mind and constantly try to figure out how to make changes. I talked with anyone who would respond to find answers. Thanks to Carson Christen and Brian Conkey to name a few who have offered me some nutritional advice. I have begun reading on Google Scholar and have become very fascinated with the book Thrive by Ironman Pro Brendan Brazier.
Today I made a decision to get out a run in the middle of the day. I realized I need to practice running in the heat. Today was around 95 degrees when I started. It was sunny and hot much like Racine. I also took my Endurolytes about an hour before the run and brought along a GU to take about halfway through. I had a new test to see how I would respond and was excited to test it out. I have to figure things out soon with some races on the horizon and with Bix 7 this Saturday.
I took off at a good pace
It felt good to be back to running and training. The first mile I started slow, but gradually picked the pace up to end with a 8 minute pace. I was feeling great. I decided to pick up the pace to around the pace I need to be at for Bix 7. I had a goal of running in 49 minute range so I thought today I want to run around 7:15 for as long as I can knowing that come Saturday the back stretch of the race I will have to run sub 7:00. Mile 2 I was on track with 7:16, mile 3 was good as well with some hills mixed in I was at 7:23. Moving into mile 4 my stomach really started to give me some GI distress and I was starting to get hot much like Racine. I was good with 7:53 as I had three rolling hills that taxed my legs pretty good. I misjudged the water fountain thinking it was at mile 3.5 when it fact it was at 4.6. I started to hit a slight wall around mile 4. I had to stop to hit up the bathroom. I also decided to get some water and take my GU. At that point I was at mile 4.6 at 35:18. Not too bad, but I knew that I was done. I had some slight dizziness and knew to tame the running back to avoid what I went through a week ago. I became very frustrated to say the least.
Mile 4.6 - Mile 6 was tough. I had to really drop the pace back. It did not help that I had to start this portion of the run going up a rather large hill. I held on as best I could through mile 5, but my body started to get very hot, then I started to get some slight chills and just became more and more frustrated.
I made it to mile 6 where I forced myself to stop and walk. I was mad. How can I not run 7 miles? My self doubt kicked in big time - You can't run, you are weak, how am I going to do Bix when I can't even run around Bettendorf? My mental wall is quite large since Racine. I don't know what is going on with my body and why I no longer can spit out miles like I used to.
I made myself walk for 10 minutes and during that time I reflected on things that have changed since I last felt good running. I think my last time I felt great running when I could run low 7:00 minute miles like nothing was back when school was in session. I was able to recall three things that have changed since then.
1. I no longer carry around a gallon jug of water that I used to drink 1-2 times a day. I am thinking that perhaps I am not drinking enough. I think I am, but I need to go back to the jug to measure my water intake. Too much garbage liquid like coffee, diet pop, juice, and milk. Back to the basics of what works.
2. Eating routine. At school you have certain times you can eat. This works well for. Now I eat whenever with no rhyme or reason. Time to implement a schedule again.
3. Creatine - I always put creatine in my recovery shakes. I no longer do and perhaps this was something that helped. Time to bring it back as well.
I checked my HR at the end of 10 minutes and I was still way past 100 BPM. I need to find my HR monitor strap so I can chart my HR in the mornings, before and after workouts. When 10 minutes was up I made myself run 1 more mile. I had to do this to help slowly break down this mental barrier I have in which I no longer believe in myself when it comes to running.
I ran it slow to play it safe, but I made myself keep running. It was a big moment for myself.
In reading Thrive.....
I have started to see some trends in what I am eating and what the author considers poor food that causes stress. I won't go into detail here in this post as my thoughts are enough for a post by themselves, but I need to alter my eating AGAIN. I need to find out what is causing me to fall short of my goals.
Today was not the results I was hoping for. However, I did practice running in the heat(which I have always struggled with big time). I did discover three things that have changed since I was running effortlessly. I have some new things to try out.
Starting today I am going to create a paper journal where I am going to record my food intake(looking for food that leads to ill results), water intake, stress factors, HR, mood, and how I felt during my training. Something is off. I need to find out what it is as it is affecting my training which affects my achievement of goals.
Back to the drawing board to dial in some changes. Be on the lookout for me documenting my journey to finding the missing link and also my thoughts and ideas learned from Thrive.
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