Week 9: Twelve miles

3:56 hours, 2:3 minute run/walk ratio for 10 miles, walk 2 miles

Well, there are good runs, and there are bad runs—and then there are really bad runs. I don't know what was wrong with me today. I got up at 6:30, headed out to run a little before 8 am, and felt fine for the first three miles, then I just totally lost it. I'd run out to Tucker on Valley and was heading back for mile four—which is always a hard mile, anyway, and I ate my first GU, thinking I'd try one every three miles this time and see how it worked. My stomach went wonky, but not too bad, but I was feeling so tired by the time I got back past Curry that I couldn't face the thought of running back to my truck, then turning around and doing it all over again.

So, instead, I turned down Snyder to do a few miles around the track at the junior high school. I figured the run down Snyder and back from Valley to the track would be approximately a mile, so I'd do some odd number of miles on the track, then finish up on Valley and Dennison.

I was pleased to find that there were water fountains on either side of the track, plus the men's bathroom in concession stand just outside the stadium was open. (The women's rest room was locked, but the men's was open. No problem—I'll use the men's. There was no one else around, so it didn't matter.) So, the question of where to fill my water bottle and use the bathroom during long runs is answered.

And it turned out I really needed the bathroom today, too. My stomach continued to give me problems, and I had to stop twice to run up the hill to the rest rooms. I stopped my chronometer while I was taking a break, mostly so I could use my split time to count laps, so the 3:56 hour total doesn't even include two bathroom breaks.

I also had a lot of trouble keeping up the 2:3 minute run/walk intervals, even on a soft, level track. I stopped early on a few run intervals, and skipped a few altogether.

I assumed the track would be exactly one quarter of a mile around, but it was taking me 19-20 minutes to do four laps, so either it was slightly more than a quarter of a mile, or I was running really slowly. I suspect it's a quarter mile only on the inside lane, and I was running in the middle, so as not to get in the way of a few other people who were using the track today. But I don't know. I should drive to the school and see what my time is on my first mile, which is always around 16–16.5 minutes.

Eventually, I realized that I was not going to do anything but head back to the truck once I finished at the track, so I went ahead and did five miles there, which, along with the five miles I'd done before I got to the track, made ten miles altogether, and then it would be two more to get back to the truck, for my twelve.

As I was finishing my final lap around the track, I stopped at the water fountain to fill my water bottle, and squatted down for a brief rest, which turned out to be a mistake—I got dizzy when I tried to stand, staggered a few steps along, then fell back to the ground, and had to rest and drink some water before I could get up again. I decided to walk the rest of the way from there.

The final two miles were hard, even just walking. I stopped again to rest in the shade of a little brick shed that's about halfway up Dennison. This time, I had an even harder time getting back up. It took me at least five tries before I was finally back on my feet and could finish walking to my truck. At that point, I couldn't care less about my time, I just wanted to get to my truck and go home. The final mile took 29 minutes, including the stop.

I came home and had a protein drink with crushed ice in it, yum! And I feel better already. For some reason, my stomach was off today, and it sapped all my energy. Also, I don't think the GU is really agreeing with me. I wonder if some pieces of Power Bar or something would work better? Or Gatorade instead of plain water in my water bottle? I need something to keep my blood pressure up, as well as my energy.

Anyway, my average time was over 19 minutes/mile today, even subtracting about five minutes for that final rest. I guess the best thing you could say about it is that I got it done.