Lessons learned…

I decided to do my long run today – 18 miles to be exact, but I did not stick to my regular route which was flat and with only a gradual uphill climb. I chose a route with real “up”hills on it with steeper incline than my usual route. Good workout.  I’ve never tried grasping for breath every half-a- mile and today I did, especially on t he uphill part.

Luckily, the today’s weather was perfect for running  than the previous days. The past few days were deluge with icing and sub 40 temperatures. Today’s temperature was at 50 when I started and around 65 when I finished. In that temperature I thought that if I were not as zapped as I was I could easily have ran a marathon distance. But instead I had to stop at 18 for I was “drained”.

I had a light breakfast before I ran. I figured that I can just depend solely on the “goo” or “gu” to sustain me during the run and that that will be sufficient enough. I was wrong. It wasn’t sufficient. Halfway to the run, I realized that I should have gone to McD for the tried-and-true egg mcmuffins. I usually buy two, one to be eaten before the run and the other as I approach half way. This two-mcmuffins-plus-the ‘gu’ or ‘blocks’-in-between combination is what I have been accustomed to and this is  just fine for me. On my next run, I will be going back to doing the egg mcmuffins, that’s for sure.

I also started running today without using bandages placed on friction-prone areas on my toes. Bad idea. I started feeling the effect of my miscalculation on the tenth mile.  I thought about it prior to the run but decided not to as I was anxious to start my run. A simple process that doesn’t take but 5 minutes could have saved me in a lot of hurt had I done it. Right now, one of my small toe hurts especially when I wear shoes. It was a bad idea not to do the tape, if you ask me.

I surely learned two main things today – to always tape and to stick to tried- and-true methods of sustaining oneself. It was a good thing that it was just a “fun” run and not a marathon. At least with a “fun” run I  have a prerogative to stop whenever I  feel like it, in a marathon I will have to do 26.3 regardless of what other things I’m feeling during the ‘race’. Thank God it wasn’t a marathon!