I have a confession to make. I've been slacking terribly at my running. This is hardly the time to slack too. I'm looking at just over a month out of the marathon. Tomorrow is an 18-mile run and I'm so scared because of how little training I've done lately. I do have some excuses for why I've been such a loser but really, it's my fault.
Now, this is a blog about running, so I should be writing about the real aspects of running, correct? The good and the bad? Well, this definitely falls in the category of bad. I encourage you to skip ahead to my part about Sioux Falls if you are uncomfortable reading about bodily functions.
Last Monday, Michelle and I went out for a 16-mile run. We went after work. Mistake. I don't think I will ever, ever run that far after work. It was no fun at all. That wasn't the worst of it. Lately on my longer runs I've been having some serious GI issues, and Monday was no different. Apparently this happens to Michelle too. What a pair we are. We hit the mile 14-15 point and it all started going downhill. Stomach cramps and a very uncomfortable urge to find the nearest bathroom...fast. Luckily, we both made it through and made it home but it's been a close call on a couple of runs for us. My issues were so bad, I called in sick to work on Tuesday morning. Ugh.
This got me a little worried because if I can barely get through 16 miles, what the hell is going to happen when I have to add 10 more to that? I can't be stopping at every mile just to use the john. I'll get picked up by the sweep truck for sure! It's been very distressing to say the least.
So, I did what any 21st century athlete with a problem does. I Googled it. Typing "running" and "diarrhea" into Google was kind of scary because I wasn't sure what would come up, but it was very very helpful. Mostly it was helpful because I found that my problems have a name. Runner's Trots. That just sounds like it's going to be something terrible. So, with Google I began my research. Turns out this is a fairly common problem with runners and there is a lot of information on the web about it. This probably has to do with the fact that up to 50% of runners, or extreme exercisers have this problem. Good, I'm not even close to being alone. I'm not weird. Whew. That's good. So, I've found ways to combat it. Namely, staying hydrated.
I've been very afraid to do any long runs lately because of this phenomenon. Well, armed with my new info and a box of Immodium, I'm going to tackle this week's long run...18 miles. I'm scared to death because that is sooooo far! 18 miles?! What? 16 didn't sound so bad but 18 sounds like forever. It's going to take almost 4 hours to complete, when we include driving time to drop our cars at the start and finish of the route.
So, besides the runner's trots, I've had some other excuses. Lame ones too. I've really gotta get myself past these hurdles. It's not helping me out in any way to be lazy and to find excuses to not run.
I spent a few days in Sioux Falls last weekend. Now, I'm not really fond of running in Sioux Falls right now. The only good place to run, the bike trails, are under some massive construction, especially on the side of town where my parent's live. Terrible excuse I know. But, part of my time in Sioux Falls was for work. There's an MS Society chapter office there and I had to conduct a training. I had spent a lot of time prepping for this training and was massively stressed out and tired. I also was planning a baby shower. I was just plain tired. Running did not sound good. So of course I wimped out of going for runs and completely ran out of time to go for a run I'd scheduled with a friend. Hmph.
That brings me to the next lame excuse. This summer is really wearing on me. Now, summers are always busy for me and I knew that going into this training. I figured I could do it. I will not lie. It's been very hard. Working extra hours and being on events has not helped me at all. I'm completely zapped of energy by the end of the day and there's no possible way I can get out of bed early enough to run as far as I need to. I've just felt so blah.
Lastly, as these runs have gotten longer in mileage, they have also gotten longer in time. What used to be a quick 30-60 minute run after work is now an hour to two hours. Suddenly, my evening and my time home is gone. It feels like I'm never really relaxing. I get up, go to work, go for a run, then go to bed. I repeat that 3 days of the week. Then one day on the weekend I have to block off nearly 4 hours for a long run. Maybe the key here is that I just need to run faster. I guess there's a thought.
But, I'm really going to need to turn it around. 18 miles tomorrow. Whitney, get your shit together. I figure even if I have to stop a bit, I must, must, must get out there and get in the mileage. I plan to meet Michelle at 8 a.m. tomorrow. While I'm very scared, writing this entry has made me feel a little better about it. On that note, I just realized that I'm short on GU gel so I should get going to the sporting goods store to get some.
I'll be sure to provide a full report post 18 miles.
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