Day 5: First Long Run

"Run like Hell and Get the Agony Over With"

Required Distance: 6 Miles
Distance Actually Completed: 71/2 miles
Location: Rock Creek Park
Problems: First Blisters/Annoying Shifting Gear
Good Things: Found new running application that is awesome on my iphone to track my runs
Moment of Pride: The fact that I ran at all considering how hungover I was.

First long run of the training program. It was hard, but not as hard as I thought it would be. I ran the first half -- 3.17 miles to be exact, without stopping. Then I felt like I could keep running but all the experts say that you should stop and take a walking break (if you need walking breaks) when you can take them by choice and not when your body is just completely exhausted and you have to stop. I'm not sure what the theory is behind this. Maybe if you allow your body a short rest before it desperately needs one you can continue to work and work harder for longer? Because you haven't entirely exhausted yourself yet by taking rest in advance? Just a guess.

Tip of the Day: Practice with your Gear
So...I have a water belt with four neon yellow little water bottles attached. I didn't need all 4 bottles on my run. I saw lots of people just carrying one water bottle in their hand on their runs passing me by out there and thought, wow I have a lot of water. But...I figure as my long runs get REALLY REALLY long I will need all four water bottles and may even be putting some combination of Gatorade/water in the bottles to keep me going. So I figured it would be good to just start running with most my runs with all four bottles to get used to it. And it is awkward. For some reason the two water bottles on my right side stay put but the two on my left kept sliding around my left waist to the front. And no matter how much I pushed them to the middle of my back they kept sliding front. It was obnoxious. But you have to see how your body is going to respond to any equipment/gear you want to use and get used to it. So I just started automatically pushing the bottles back towards the left/behind every so often and tried to forget about it. Eventually I did. Must be like Andy Roddick, how he adjusts his t-shirt EVERY SINGLE POINT HE PLAYS. I watch him and think, wow, he really needs to get a more comfortable t-shirt that he doesn't have to adjust constantly, but by now its probably a part of his focus, routine and habitual movement so why mess with success?

I also used this MapMyRunApp on my iphone. It gives you a GPS map of where you are and whats around you, times, distances, current minute per mile pace, average minute per mile pace, etc. I loved it. Of course my phone wasn't charged so at 5.88 miles my phone died without saving any of my information so I can't tell you how fast I was going but I do love this app. You can get it at MapMyRun.com or using your iphone app and searching for it.

Blisters, Ugh.
Well I knew they were coming. I knew. First long run, first two blisters. I got one on my back right heel which was relatively small and despite it sort of naggingly making me aware of it during my run it hasn't hurt since and looks like it'll disappear soon. The second is very very painful and on the top left of my left foot and is very raw. It hurts so bad that wearing flip flops and walking around is painful. I put some neosporin and a band-aid on it, which helps, but not entirely. I think I'm going to have to do blister research because I'm a baby when it comes to pain, blisters, being uncomfortable so I need to figure out how to keep blisters at bay. If I got them at 6 miles I'm probably going to get them every week for the next 17 weeks. Not fun.

The Hangover Cure:
I got home around 4 am the night before. It was my friend Shayna's birthday and I was at 2 bars, 1 comedy club and finally a dance club/bar. I spent all night putting toxins in my body, dancing, sweating and then getting a terrible nights sleep. I woke up completely and utterly dehydrated. But skipping my run never entered my mind. After 6 hours of sleep (from 4 am to 10am) I woke up Saturday morning and just started chugging water. I also managed to eat about half a bowl of oatmeal. Then I put on my running clothes, shoes, water belt, got my iphone/music and headed out the door. And I told myself, if you have to walk after a mile that's fine, or two miles, fine...but I pushed myself to 3.17 miles before walking and I ended up doing a walk/run for 71/2 miles. The extra mile and a half past the 6 mile required distance was really by accident because I miscalculated the distance of my running path but regardless it didn't feel too bad (even tired and hungover) and I got it done. So even if you've been out drinking the night before...still...

Come Run With Me.