What I learned to NOT do during a long run

8 miles
11:30 pace

BLAHHHHHHH!  11:30????  On an 8 mile run????  Had I completed the 14 miles I was supposed to do, 11:30 would have settled well with me.  However, my hip & ankle were killing me.  My endurance felt great, but my body parts were telling a totally different story!  I'd rather be safe than sorry.  I've signed up for multiple races this spring, and I fully intend on participating in all of them.  If it means I have to back off & not complete a few miles due to an ache that could go from bad to worse in the blink of an eye...then so be it.

Here's where we went wrong with this run.  We thought it would be fun to do our mid-week 4 mile loop 3 1/2 times.

Pro: I started off in a black shirt, but was able to change into a white shirt at mile 4.  Can't do that when you're doing an out and back.

Con: While I was in the house changing, I might have hung out drinking too much water in my kitchen instead of getting back out there in a timely manner.  This caused some major bladder discomfort around the 7 mile mark!

Pro:  We didn't have to wear FuelBelts since we were running past our house every 4 miles.


Con: I hid a bottle of water in the woods so we could have a sip if need be at the halfway mark.  Since we bailed on the run, I had to go back into the woods later on that day & fetch my bottle.

Pro: I could feel some wicked blisters forming on my feet so I stopped by the house to lube up my feet with sportslick.

Con:  While I was in the bathroom lubing up, my poor hip started to stiffen.  A lot.  I was only in there for a minute or two, but it sure was getting stiff.  Same with my ankle.  About that time, Kent came in the room & said he was ready to stop.  He wasn't feeling well those last couple of miles.  My aches and pains were getting worse as the miles climbed higher. I agreed to stop.  I wasn't ready to stop, but my hip and ankle sure were.

What did I learn during this run?  Being close to home can be a help, but it was more of a hindrance for me.  It's too distracting.  Too easy to quit.  In a way, I'm glad we stopped.  There's no telling what kind of damage I would have done to my hip and ankle had I pushed it another 6 miles.  On the other hand, I didn't complete one of my marathon training long runs.  Kent said we will do it next week instead.  In the grand scheme of things, it won't matter.  I would rather be flexible vs. being obsessive and weird about running.  I do this (running) because I love it.  Not because I have to.


{the good} It was a gorgeous, gorgeous day!  You would never have guess it snowed Thursday morning.  For the first time since our trip too Maui, we ran in short sleeves & shorts!


{the ugly} The aches and pains.  I'm so careful & cautious, but that does not make up for the fact that I'm an injury prone person.  I can stretch, ice, rest, wear all the right gear, ease into the mileage, etc....but that will never stop the injuries from coming.  That makes me sad.