#slowrunners

The countdown is getting real for our October 18th race. Only three-ish more weeks of training and we taper. I’m excited, but also pretty nervous. We are going to be hitting some major miles in the next few weeks, thought I won’t be doing as much as my husband, and some serious soul searching to determine if I’ll be able to do a 30K + 20 more in March. 

Last weekend we headed up the hill to one of our favorite trail running spots in Cool, CA. The goal was a 13.1 miles time trial, but I punked out at 12.77. I KNOW, I KNOW. But I was tired and also out of water, so eff it. I’m not running an ultra, did I really need that last .4 miles? Naw. 

Our weekday training got switched up a little with a 10K on Tuesday as our long weekday run, which I completed in a personal record breaking 1:13 EVEN AFTER being stung by a BEE on my REAR. For that 10K, I also tinkered with listening to a podcast, which really helped me take my mind off the bee sting.

The sting made our 400m repeats Thursday a bit uncomfortable, so I only did 6 instead of 8. When will I learn not to consume a bunch of food before running? Not this weekend, evidently, because I ate a full breakfast before 5K repeats (same park as the bee sting, gosh help me) and paid the iron price. My second 5K, my whole left side lit up with a side ache so severe I could hardly maintain a steady walking pace. Fortunately, between 2 & 3 we took prescribed two hour break before attempting another one. My side still hurt, but I alternated between quick run and walk breaks, gradually running more until I could run an entire kilometer without stopping. It was slower than my first, but really, that’s not so surprising considering. My effort was rewarded with negative splits! Never have I ever, y’all.

Side bar: 5K repeats are no joke. Since we have run six+ miles at a time, I figured it wouldn’t be that hard, but as soon as I started that second run, yowza, I was hurting. Good training for tired legs.

Our training is about to ramp up the volume on the weekends, whereas weekdays are a bit different than usual. Fall is JUST beginning to settle in here, which is great, but we will have to delay most of our autumnal celebrating until after the race and weightlifting competition, because these long runs and recovery will take up most of our Saturdays. The next few weeks also introduce SUNDAY RUNDAYS! In addition to our Saturday long runs, we’ll be training on tired legs Sunday’s as well, but it looks like mostly 5K repeats, which we can do at a nearby park instead of having to drive into the hills.

This really emphasizes how soon the race is and that we need to buckle down nutrition, rest, and mobility. I’m still trying to find the magic food to eat on long runs that doesn’t make my blood sugar bottom out as soon as I’m done and also does not lead to blowouts or accidents on the trail. When I’m done running, I have a really hard time eating much, even though I know I need to, and often fall asleep very shortly after finishing, sometimes feeling faint or getting the shakes. Any insight into this is greatly appreciated.