Friday, January 20, 2006

solo long run

well, the weather here in eastern washington state is gorgeous today...but i did have to battle 1000 mph winds! well, yahoo says up to 20 mph. i do believe that's at least how strong they were. one way that was okay. on the way back, tho, something to be desired. i wasn't starting at a place where i could make the decision to go the opposite direction. and, per usual, you don't really know you're going to struggle w/ wind issues until you are actually facing it. at least that's MY limited experience.

i wore a FANNY PACK for the first time in my not-so-young life. are you impressed? horrified? well, it was outta desperation. i can't really see running loops around my car. at least, today, that did not sound like fun. so. i had a vanilla bean GU packet to try out. i had my cell phone. and per a convo w/ running group the otra dia, i brought my ID. my van key. some raisins and trail mix. and my ipod. which for most of the run i actually KEPT in the fanny pack. cool.

it was so incredibly windy where i started, that, against better judgement, i pulled out the sweatshirt and wore it. it was apparent almost from the start that was a BAD choice. was hot from 1/2 mile! ugh.

happily, tho, i was listening to a book on cd: sue grafton's "s" is for silence...pretty good. so it was mind consuming.

i knew of 2 people's houses within the first 3 miles of my route. of course, since i started later in the a.m., i had had enuff coffee to necessitate an early-run-pit-stop. woe is me. i had tentatively planned to hit some gas stations that i know of in that neighborhood. i figure i sometimes buy a pop in there, surely, i could stop in, use the toidy and get a gulp of water. (the only thing the fanny pack didn't carry. coulda. but that woulda been bouncier. i opted for not.) (AND BTW i did NOT wear that fanny pack on my FANNY.)

since i had my cell phone i tried both of those peops' houses. neither home. well, i knew of another, about 1.5 miles away. so i called them. at this point i was wandering around in a cul-de-sac trying to shade my cell from the voracious WIND. i heard my garmin beep. it alerts me at each mile. while asking my friend, on the phone, if i could come to their house for a pit stop, i heard the garmin beep again! i looked down. TO MY HORROR i read "distance alert" again!! WHAT? at that point i was at only 2 miles. after it stopped SKIPPING it read about 2.5 MORE than i'd yet run!

what is wrong w/ that picture? HAS ANYONE OUT THERE HAD THIS PROBLEMO? why, oh why did it do that? amber, i remember once you said your garmin had added like .11 miles to your mileage i think. did you ever figure out why?

well, not only did i have to do MATH the rest of my trip...now it's in my garmin FOR LIFE. my history totals reads 145.3 miles. so forevermore i'll look at that and go, oh yeah, MINUS 2!! eek!

well, one of my new 'resolutions' (not new year, just a resolution) is to shorten my posts. not off to a good start am i? well, LONG runs need LONG posts, don' t they? i mean!

went up to my friend's house, went potty, shed the sweat shirt. back on the windy way.
down to a BAKERY run by a CHURCH at the turn-around point. our little homeschool co-op had a field trip there recently. i knew they'd give me a cup o' water. i was planning to take my GU.

oh.my.gosh. imagine: your toothPASTE is flavored vanilla bean and is clear. you open your mouth and squirt enuff of the thick stuff in there to fill it up. now imagine swallowing. are you there?
it tasted fine. but there is SOMETHING about having a mouthful of GOOOO and then trying to swallow it which does NOT come naturally nor does it FEEL good, NOR DOTH THE THROAT react well to the human trying to force it to do just that.
UGH-A-LUG!!

but i forced it down. the nice lady, frances, gave me a glorious cup of ice water! that helped.

then i was off again, back the way i'd come. now, that stuff was kinda thick in my throat. i got out a 1/2 stick of minty gum and tried to chew on that a bit, AGAINST the wind..so i'm also having to really concentrate on breathing. i'm moving especially slow.

so, the test was: did the GU really help? i just don't know. i think the water did. but the going was just SO SUPER-SLOW i cannot tell for sure if the carbs in the GU helped my "running."

close to the finish line, and in doing my mathematical equations in my head, i figured i'd better start zig-zagging to get in the appropriate mileage.
up one street, down the next, up the next, down the next and so on until i had run for 2 HOURS and 14 minutes (some walking and stretching, pottying, and the GU eating) ... and had gone 11.2 miles. (actual) BECUZ of the mix-up, i'm gonna load the kids up in the van and go do the mileage! oh well for gas prices, eh? when you've run for over TWO HOURS, you WANT (no, NEED) TO KNOW THE ACTUAL MILEAGE! =) and i'll p/u my sweatshirt. my sweat shirt that has a screen print on it of my GRANDPA JUMPING over the high-jump pole! my world-record-holding grandpa! so, no, that sweatshirt wasn't disposable. =)

so! tho i was incredibly slow. tho it was lonely. tho i am hacking and sore. IT IS DONE! yeahoooo!

for those of you who worry about my legs...my constant complaining is why, i know...i do have an appt w/ a SPORTS medicine general practitioner on tuesday...and guess what? he's a runner!

i will keep you posted.

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Congratulations on finishing the run. Thanks also for the comment you posted. I can't give advice but can tell you what I do.

I've tried running with others and have enjoyed it in the past. The challenge is to find someone who is at about your endurance level and speed. Unfortunately, I usually feel like I'm holding others back. And I really enjoy the time alone. Besides I've found that people give me this "are you an idiot" stare when I invite them to join me on a 10 p.m. run. But you are probably right. I should check out a running club and make some running friends here locally. A run once a week with other human beings would be a nice change of pace.

I wear a "Camelback" (got mine on sale for $i5) that goes on like a back pack to carry up to 1.5 liters of water on the long runs. It's fairly comfortable but the plastic lining makes the water taste funky. This last week I took a Power Gel at the 5 mile turn-around. It was like eating clear chocolate pudding. Yuck. But I find that it really helps. I'm more energized towards the end of the run when I need energy the most.

Glad your doctor is a runner. That's really important. I changed doctors when the old one's solution to my aching knee was to stop running.

I found (through trial and error) that my knee pain was related to pronation problems and trying to build up mileage too fast. The pain went away once I put some insoles with good arch supports in the shoes and got on a reasonable training schedule.

I'm training for the Little Rock half marathon. There's a question as to whether I'm going to make it. I have a daughter in highschool and another in college and thier spring breaks are not the same week. Since I work on Sundays there's a family debate about how I should spend one of the few Sundays I have off each year. I have until the end of the month to decide.

12:10 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Nice job kt! GU is an aqcuired taste for sure. The one tip I can give you for future GU usage is that you are always supposed to wash it down with water, just like you did, and not gatorade, or sports drink. Don't ask me why, but that's what the experts have told me when I asked in previous experiences.

BTW, since I do not have a Garmin I often rely on driving the course to check mileage. I have numerous routes that I have measured that way so I can figure my mileage out accurately.

5:55 PM  
Blogger Sarah Elaine said...

Rock, on grrlfriend!

Do let us know how it goes with your new sports med pro, OK?

6:29 PM  
Blogger Lucky number 7 said...

Hey congrats on the long run. Those are tough by yourself!! There is a way to track your mileage on line. I will post in on my blog for you to check out. It is totally cool and my friend masoman uses this all of the time!! (GMAP). Anyway you certainly add me to your links! I have been very inconsistant with my blogging so keep checking in!!

7:46 PM  

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