Rules of a "Long Run" and Nature's Shot Blok

As I shared with you last week, I sorta sabotaged my long run on Monday by leaving too late in the day and not hydrating nearly enough. So, I completed an 8 miler on Wednesday and re-tackled those 10 miles today. What is that saying again? Some lessons die hard. In one ear and out the other. Allison is lazy. Oops, that last one is personal.

You guessed it, my lazy behind didn't get out of the house until almost 8:30 a.m. This still seems fairly early to later risers, but it is in the red zone for the majority of runners/athletes. Pretty much everyone I saw on the trail were on their way back to their clean showers and cold water. I, on the other hand, was feeling courageous...until mile 5. I had woken up this morning at a legit time- by 6 a.m. with the goal of being out the door by 6:30. 

MISTAKE 1: Hit the snooze- this let my body think it was allowed to be sleepy.

MISTAKE 2: Ate breakfast (not the error) then ate a second breakfast (the error).

MISTAKE 3: Drank a lot of water in a very short amount of time right before I left. 

MISTAKE 4: Used a short walk with my dog as a warm-up.

MISTAKE 5: Hurried my stretching since I was running late.

MISTAKE 6: Did not bring any fuel or water (do not have handheld water bottle).

So, there are probably more, but these were the big ones. I want to preface that today had heavy humidity with a high of at least 90 degrees. 90 with humidity can be ugly around here. Silly enough I decided to try a sub-9 min/mile for my long run this week. Duh. I last for about 4.5 miles till my pace slowed. At my halfway point I actually walked for a bit to regain some energy, or rest would be a better explanation. I was drenched in sweat and feeling pretty sore. Oh, and I forgot to mention my running stunk last week. I only ran once more after Wednesday and it showed in my form and strength today. I was so determined to finish those miles that I walked for a few seconds after each mile even just to trick myself into thinking it would help. I drank as much water as I could at the only drinking fountain- which I knew would hurt in my stomach when I ran, but at that point I didn't care. I trudged along telling myself the more I run the faster I will get "there." I still managed to smile at those who passed by, probably looking ridiculous. I am sure the bikers who saw me thought they might read in tomorrow's paper about the girl who passed out on the trail telling the paramedics that she needs to finish her long run. 

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Within the last 3ish miles I saw an older man on his bike up ahead. He kept stopping, but I couldn't tell what he was doing. Then when I got closer I saw he was picking berries off the trees lining the path. When he kept going I came up to the trees and picked some berries like someone was coming to steal them from me. Even though it was only a few it was a natural high that my body needed. I felt like I had a little more energy to get me to my finish line. Like I said, my pace slowed, but I was not worried about that anymore. My goal was to keep running and complete my goal. I was also getting a nasty stitch/cramp so I slowed my pace a little more to ease that up some.

I ended my run at a 9:18 min/mile, faster than I thought I would accomplish. It was a rough run, but it felt so good to not give up. Let's just hope next week we all get to read how I learned my lesson and got up early, prepared for a solid long run.