"Embrace the Suck"

"Embrace the Suck"

My initial mantra to this weekend’s long run was – the less said about it, the better. 
And then I realized that I was missing out a valuable learning opportunity. While runs like these are dreaded, they are the ones that give a runner a list of what-not-to-do, and how-to-make-things-better.
So what went wrong?
  • Well. Rather hard to say. Because it just never fight right from Mile 1. 
  • I was having trouble keeping up, which was rather strange because I’m used to being up in the front/middle these days.
  • My legs wouldn’t pick up and run, HR seemed high from start (~170) and I was just ready to be D.O.N.E. 

What could’ve caused it? What did I do different/wrong?

  • Sleep – The whole week I’d been struggling with insomnia, going to bed at 2am and up at 8am. I’m most refreshed when I’m early to bed and early to wake up, so that might’ve caught up with me.
  • Friday Nutrition – Friday was a major festival for me and I did not eat anything(breakfast, water, snacks, …) until I had finished up prayers and such, which ended up being around 1pm. 
  • Pre Run Nutrition – I usually have a Almond Butter and Banana sandwich/bagel on the drive to get to the run. If I miss out on this, I have a Sports Beans pack or something similar. This run, I only had a banana; which had worked in the past for 6-8 mile runs, but 14 miles is a different beast.
  • Hydration – I haven’t observed it too accurately, but I have a feeling that my hydration is off. When we change routes and/or the water stop in between is missing,  I have a feeling that I start rationing water and drinking less. 
  • Tired Legs – Since I’ve been playing catchup on a modified schedule, I have been increasing mileage from 7, 9, 11, 12, to 14 this past weekend. Tempo runs and Track Intervals are back on schedule too. I guess there is only so much the legs can do!

I’m hoping to make those subtle changes and see how this weekend’s run goes. 
And – awaiting early to finish up the 15/16 miles so that I have my fallback week – at last!! 
HR stayed elevated all throughout. 

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