A new PB in distance in Utah!

I completed my 14-mile long run today. I've been in Utah for 13 years, and this run was a new personal-best for distance in Utah. When I first moved here I did long runs of 11 - 12 miles, but I don't think I went as far as 14. When I lived in Massachusetts I did 15 milers year around. I'm hoping I can maintain long runs of 13-15 miles year around here, too.

I could tell when I got up this morning that I was tired. My wakeup HR was up to 50, and I didn't have that "spark" of energy that indicates I'm in good shape. I was surprised that I was tired, because I've had good sleep the past few days (8 hours last night). However, on Wednesday night I didn't get enough sleep, and that probably was the cause of my being tired this morning. I've noticed in the past that there frequently is a 2 - 3 day delay in my feeling the effects of insufficient sleep. I decided not to abort the run but to do a lot of walking during the run. Instead of walking breaks every mile, I took them every half-mile, and a few times more often than that. Had I not done the extra walking, I would have had to abort the run.

I didn't have a problem with diarrhea during the run. I drank water on the way out and a combination of water and Gatorade (small swallows from each bottle) on the way back. Hopefully, my body is getting used to the Gatorade.

Another thing that made me tired during the run was the rototilling I did before I ran, and the moving of 45 bags of cow manure from my son's truck to the back of my yard. Each bag only weighed about 20 pounds, but it all adds up. Also, the rototilling only took about 15 minutes, but that took some energy, too.

I saw the red fox that I saw last week, in the same place, too. This time she ran about 100 yards out into the field and hunkered down in the grass and watched me. After I passed the grove of trees from which she ran, she returned to the grove. She probably has a litter there. She is a beautiful animal. Long red tail with a white tip. On my way back, I passed the grove of trees, but she didn't run out. Maybe she has figured out that I'm ok.

[later in the day] On my Wednesday run I saw a farmer's wife and kids getting their irrigation ditch ready for canal water. They had a "ditch plow" that was pulled by a horse. The kids were riding on the plow to give it weight. The plow cleaned out stuff from the ditch. Today I saw a different farmer cleaning out the filter that is at the head of his irrigation ditch. He said the canal will have water on Monday.

Training Graphs

Wakeup HR dropped a point

I got 7+ hours of sleep last night, and my wakeup HR was 46 this morning. It has been in the high 40s a lot lately, and I think that indicates my body is getting stronger. I know I feel stronger. I'm looking forward to my long run tomorrow.

Training Graphs

Wakeup HR was 47 again

Even though I only got 5 1/2 - 6 hours sleep last night due to working late, my wakeup HR was 47. The effect of the sleep deficiency will hit me in a few days unless I can offset it with extra sleep for the next few days.

Training Graphs

A good 10 miler

I added a mile to my medium run and went for 10 miles. I felt good before, during, and after. I've been getting good sleep during the past week, and my body is finally reacting to that sleep. It was a beautiful day for running: mid 70s (F), sunshine & clouds, dry air -- a great day. No water in the canal, yet.

If I feel fine on Saturday, I'll add a mile to my long run and do 14. Then, next week I'll add a mile to my rest run for 5 and a mile to my long run for 15. That will give me 30 mile weeks, running M, W, Sa for 5, 10, and 15, respectively. At that point, I won't be adding more distance for a while so my body can get used to the new mileage. My friend, Bruce, from Las Vegas and I are planning on running the Great Salt Lake Half Marathon across the causeway to Antelope Island on August 19. After that, I'll add a fourth day (Tuesday), beginning with 1/2 mile and slowly build it up to 5 miles.

I carried both water and lemon-lime Gatorade on this run. I forgot to eat some food before I left, though.

The only disappointment on my run this morning was the diarrhea attack when I was about 2 miles from home. I tried to hold it in, but it came out anyway, and my shorts were quite a mess when I got home. At least, it didn't leak out and run down my legs :)

[later in the day] I was reading a web site about marathon training, and the site said not to try new things during the race but to try them during training runs before the race. The site gave the example of eating food or using sports drink. It gave several effects of food/sports drink that could occur, including diarrhea. Today was the first time I've drunk Gatorade during the run, and maybe that was the cause of my diarrhea. I'll continue drinking it and see what happens.

Rest runs are great

I ran an OK 4-mile rest run today. I could tell that I wasn't fully recovered from my 13-mile long run on Saturday, but I did OK. We had a lot of rain during the night, and I expected the canal road to be muddy, and I ran city streets.

Training Graphs

Summer is here and it's not June 21 yet

It was hot when I ran my 13 mile run this morning. Well, actually it was only in the mid 70s (F), but it was hot in the sun and most of the canal road is in the sun. I saw another red fox. It was running through the dry canal, and then it took off through a field. It was about 200 yards from me when it stopped and looked back at me. As it ran through the field, it stopped several times and looked back. It was a beautiful animal to see.

My wakeup HR was 50 but I felt tired and did extra walking and ran slowly. I had a quart of water with me, and I took a swallow every mile. The last two swallows were taken 1/2 mile from home. Before I left, I ate a banana and a slice of dry toast. I carried an apple and ate it at the turn-around point. I've been reading about the importance of replenishing salts during the run, and I'm thinking I'll take sports drink with me as well as some water. I've never used sports drink before, so when I got home I drank 12 oz of Gatorade that my son gave me -- it tasted pretty good.

A few comments on why I felt tired this morning before and during my run. I was tired last week due to not enough sleep. I did better Thursday night and Friday night on getting sleep, but it takes my body a few days to catch up with the sleep. Another factor is that on Thursday, while rototilling my garden, I tripped and fell backwards. With nothing to break the fall, my shoulders and back hit the grass covered ground pretty hard. It took me about 10 seconds to catch my breath before I could get up. Meanwhile, the rototiller continued moving and went through my wife's flowers. Fortunately it went between a rose bush and some tulips and didn't do much damage to the flowers. When I got up from the fall, I felt no pain anywhere, and I continued rototilling for another hour. When I went to bed that night, I could feel some tenderness when I lay on my back, and I had to sleep on my side, which I normally do anyway. That tenderness when I'm in bed is still there, and I expect that "injury" contributed to my tired feeling. The good news is that I don't feel any tenderness when I'm up from bed. My wife rubbed my chest and back this morning before I ran, and I didn't feel any tenderness, so the "injury" is internal somewhere. Hopefully the "injury", likely a bruise, will be healed in a few days.

If all goes well next week, I'll complete week 16 of my marathon plan by adding a mile to my medium run and a mile to my long run. The following week, which will be the last I do from my marathon plan, will have a mile added to my rest run and a mile added to my long run. That will give me 5, 10, and 15 miles on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday, respectfully. After that, I'll level off on adding distance and give my body several months to really get used to the 15-mile long run. At some time during the Fall, I'll add a fourth day and slowly bring it up to 5 miles.

Training Graphs