Since we were out late on Thursday night (I think I got home close to 1am), my Friday morning run didn't take place super early like normal (I try to get out the door between 6 and 6:30am for those longer runs). Ryan had a work beach day (rough life, huh?!), so he needed to be down in Encinitas around 9am. I needed to use the car (I had to go pick up our Color Me Rad 5K bibs in San Diego), so I figured I would just head out for my run after I dropped him off.
I looked at the Dumbo Double Dare training schedule (I hadn't been using it, but wanted to see when their last "long" run was) and last week was the final long run before the races, so I decided I would just do 8 miles (is it crazy that I used the word "just" with 8 miles - wowser!).
I started off super strong. The run seemed to be going GREAT!! My first 4 miles were 9:15, 9:03, 8:54, and 8:49 (who doesn't love negative splits?!). But then the wheels started coming off.
I think most of it was a mental thing. I was doing an out-and-back run, meaning I parked my car, ran 4 miles down the beach and then turned around to come back. In my mind I thought where I needed to turn around was a lot sooner (like at the 3 mile mark instead of 4 miles), so when I had to keep going I was sort of starting to struggle. When I turned around after my 4th mile I hit a wall. The sun was starting to get SUPER hot (not to mention I was running on the bike lane along the road and the steamy heat was radiating up from the black top as well as down from the sun) and I was just mentally DONE. {The later in the day you run, the hotter it is (DUH!).}
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| By the time I finished it was in the 80s and the humidity wasn't any better... |
I would have LOVED for my negative splits to have continued, but that just wasn't in the cards...Mile 5 was 8:53 (which wasn't as terrible as I thought it would have been) and I was already starting to get frustrated. Like 3 steps after my watch beeped for the fifth mile, I got a TERRIBLE side stitch. I tried everything to get it to go away (pinching it, taking deeper breathes, etc), but nothing was working. At one point I was thinking maybe it was like kidney stones instead of a side cramp because it was hurting so bad (but that was probably the dramatic side of me taking over at that point).
Instead of continuing along the bike trail I decided I would run through the campground. Although it is hillier, THERE ARE DRINKING FOUNTAINS! I was hoping my side stitch would go away if I got some water in my system (yes, I understand I was probably dehydrating and should have had water with me, but I totally forgot when I left that morning).
The first bathroom area I ran up to, I pushed the water for the drinking fountain, thinking it would be my saving grace... and NOTHING! No water for drinking... OH NO. At that point I thought I might just throw in the towel and walk back to my car, but I pulled up my big girl panties and kept on trucking (not to mention, it would have taken longer to get to my car, which didn't sound fun in the heat).
Thankfully the next bathroom area had working water. I didn't want to get another side cramp from having too much water sloshing around in my stomach so I took it easy. The water definitely helped with the side ache I had though - it went away shortly after wetting my palate. Unfortunately the water didn't come until about 6.75 miles into my 8 mile run. This means my mile 6 and 7 were in the 9:30 range (again, not terrible, but I was really hoping for negative splits throughout the run and when I saw my middle miles slower than my first couple it was like a punch in the gut (yes, again, I know I am being dramatic, but at this point in the run I just felt defeated)).
By the last mile I was feeling myself again and figured I wouldn't push it too hard, but would still try and finish strong. That eighth mile ended up being a 9:02 mile. Overall it was still a decent time for my 8 miles - 1:13:30 (which averages my pace around 9:11 per mile - a lot faster than my long run pace, but since it wasn't a "long run" I was hoping to feel a lot stronger at the end).
I HATE hard runs (and I HATE whining, so whining about bad runs is like a double whammy). And lately I have been having more rough runs than I would like. I know the weather is having a lot to do with it, but still it can take a lot out of you. The nice thing about having to go to San Diego after my run was I had a little cooling off period that I used to try and shake off the funk (after a bad run I am normally in a BAD mood).
When I picked Ryan up from the beach on my way back from SD he asked how my run was and I said "TERRIBLE", but I kept it together while I was telling him about it (seeing as I felt like breaking down between miles 5 and 7 to cry) and didn't get too frustrated recapping the run.
Hey, maybe one good thing about having more bad runs lately is I can shake them off a little faster ;)
Have you been having been struggling with difficult runs lately?
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