Saturday morning was the Run Jane Run up in South Bend and I pushed through it and finished my first race...a 10k! Every part of that race was great, especially since I was running with Kaity (my marathon buddy!), but ohhh man...today, I am feeling the after shock through out my WHOLE body. I didn't even know it was possible to be this sore after running. My shins, calves, quads, even my triceps are sore and I'm not really sure why considering, up to this point, my training has me running farther than 6.2 miles. I've tried to tell myself that I will get through my run tomorrow morning, but at this point I'm not sure my shins will let me. Tomorrow may just be my first rest day because in NO WAY am I going to sacrifice my body, my upcoming runs and the progress I've made just to get a dinky 3 mile run in. At this point I'll take the guilt of missing out on a training day rather than the guilt of having to stop training altogether and miss out on the marathon all because my shins are sawed to the bone. So rest day, here I come...maybe.
It doesn't feel like it during the run, but once you cross the finish line that feeling of accomplishment engulfs itself through your whole body and all that pain and gasping for air doesn't seem to matter so much. All you keep thinking is how far you've pushed yourself to make it to here and that if you've made it this far there's no sense in turning back now. And THAT is what I absolutely love about running. I didn't think I ever had it in me, but I do, and as I saw my finishing time of 59:38 (11th overall) thats all I could keep thinking. Don't get me wrong, I am utterly ecstatic with that time, but there's always room for improvement.
With all that said, I am so pumped for the Columbus half marathon I'll be running in October...I even managed to convince Kaity to run it with me so I'm set! I've realized that there's nowhere to go from here but up and I'm ready. Gotta start mentally preparing for my first double digit run on saturday. 10 miles...WOW!!
Speaking of 10 mile runs...I need some help/advice for what to do in terms of replenishing my body with the electrolytes/sugars it needs so I don't collapse. At this point, and especially when I'm running for longer than an hour, I know I need something, but I'm not sure what that something is. I've heard of those energy gel's and whatnot and I was even told you can just drink Gatorade during the run and you'll be fine, but it'd be nice to hear what everyone out there uses and when they start using it during the long runs. I just want to make sure I'm doing this right and don't add another injury to the list. Thanks!
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4 comments:
i hope you did take a rest day! you MUST take a day off after a race! you ran that much faster than your normal training runs right? Its a speed workout and your body need to recover! otherwise you are at a higher risk for injury!!!
as far as replacing electolytes, any sports drink will suffice. during long runs you should be doing this every few miles or so, about 6 oz will be fine. gels are great too and should be taken about every 45 min to 1 hour of running, but not for electolye so much but for the calories to keep you going!!!
Congratulations!!! You were a runner before this race, but I guess it is now official.
Great job!
Goodness gracious... we rock at life!
Well, I'm the last person in the world to claim to be an expert (unless it's an expert on chunky out of shape runners since I am one) but here's my two cents on nutition. If my run is going to be around two hours or longer, I use gel. I generally use one about 45 minutes or so in and another one every 45 minute to an hour while running.
You should probably experiment to see which, if any, of the gels you can stomach. My wife, for example hates the taste and texture of almost all of them. The only variety of Gu I've found that I like is chocolate. (It's got some kind of name like Chocolate Blast or explosion or something like that.) Power Bar's product (quite originally named PowerGel) is sweeter and I like most of the flavors of that I've tried.
Several companies are selling little chewy things similar in texture to Gummi Bear candy. I found the orange flavor from Clif (Clif Shots I think they called them)to be one of the most disgusting things I've ever eaten. My seven year old thought they were great though when I gave the rest of them to him, so opinions my differ. :)
Anyway, good luck with your running and I like your blog.
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