In Medias Race

Usually, I have one strong run and one run where I almost stop on the pavement and call an Uber to take me home and vow to never run again. My off runs usually happen when I have been busy the day or two leading up to the un and have not been hydrating or eating well. I am sluggish, achy, and usually hit a wall early on in the run. I had been fortunate that this has never really happened on a long run. Saturday of week 3 was a great run. I P.R.ed my 5 mile time and felt amazing.

Bravo me! Our long run was the following day. It was supposed to be an easy 12 miles into downtown OKC and back. For breakfast I ate half a peanut butter sandwich and drank some coffee and felt good on my way to our meeting spot. The first sign of trouble was misplacing my headphones. I am weirdly superstitious about what I listen to while I run. Even when I am chatting, I like to have music on because it distracts my mind from everything else around me. I began to worry how I would mentally focus for 12 miles. As we got going and I took that first cool sip of water, I realized I forgot to add Nuun (an electrolyte mix). No headphones and no electrolytes. I should have immediately turned around. I felt great the first 6 or 7 miles. I ate my first gel pack around mile 4 and planned to have the second around mile 8. I quickly realized that this was not enough fuel. We started at 6:00 am and by 7, the sun was beating down on us. The temperatures were in the upper eighties without a cloud in sight. I don’t recall a breeze, and our course was mostly exposed with little shade. Around mile 7, the heat started to get to me. I remember running past the Federal Courthouse and it suddenly felt as if all the glycogen in my muscles vanished.

Each step was a struggle. We hit a water stop around mile 8. At this point I was relying on my watch comfort. I could look down and calculate the minutes left. Halfway done; 7/12 of the way done; 2/3 of the way there; a little over a 5K left, etc. Then bam, my watch quit working. From that point on the miles felt twice as long, and I could not gage how far we had traveled. I needed more electrolytes. Exhausted, I finished the run, but the last two miles were touch and go. I was incredibly discouraged. Maybe, I made the wrong choice and I could not do this? I had certainly underestimated my body’s reaction to the heat. I went home feeling defeated and exhausted.

Rest brought an improved perspective. I realized later that I needed to pay more attention to my pre-run meals, my hydration the day before (did I mention the Saturday day-drinking…), and proper fuel while running. I know this of course, but when it was cooler, I was able to get by with less. The loss of electrolytes wreaked havoc on my run and I am going to need more to run in these temperatures. It was a good lesson to learn now, rather than in the actual marathon. I need to take the heat seriously and to be better prepared. I also realized that these runs are not just about training your muscles and getting you mentally prepared. They are also mini trial runs (pun intended) to test out what works and what doesn’t. When I looked at it this way, the run no longer felt like a failed attempt. Here is to better preparation ahead. What is your favorite run fuel?