Monday, August 4, 2008

Oh yeah!!!!

It certainly wasn't an effortless glide, but we did it. We conquered the first double-digit run!

We had planned on getting out the door around nine in the morning, simply because the humidity was supposed to be astronomical early in the morning. Unfortunately, what made the humidity disappear was the hot sun, apparently. By the second half of our run, even though it was less humid, the sun was close to directly overhead and it was pretty blistering hot. Around mile 7, things started to cramp up, we're still trying to work out this whole hydration thing, and we were getting just plain tired. We started saying things to each other like, "there's no way we're going to be able to do the whole ten miles." We had ingested some delightful (gag me) sport beans at mile 5 and thankfully, they (and the gatorade) started to take effect around the beginning of the eighth mile. Huge difference. We just kept going. We were slow but on we went. We altered our path a bit to keep us out of the direct sun, and our ten miles ended at the front door of the Y. How fortuitous! The air conditioning felt great, as did the ice cold drinking fountain. The lady at the front desk said, "wow...did you guys run here?" "Yes, Ma'am! Ten miles!"

We walked back almost a mile to where we had parked the car, went home & showered, grabbed the little darling, and all headed out to eat lunch. Yikes, did I ever EAT! I wolfed down a mini greek salad (light dressing, of course), a chicken kabob, a baked potato, and enough iced tea to float an ironclad. I could have gone on eating all afternoon, but I didn't. We headed to the Y with Carrie and floated around in the training pool. Let me tell you how good that felt. Hardly anyone was there.

Today, my legs feel the most exhausted they have yet, but my hip is fine, Jim's feet are fine, and we're looking forward to next week's long run. We've got to figure this whole hydration thing out. I have to figure out some quick energy source that doesn't gag me with sweetness. It really isn't fair that we can't just burn all our body fat for these long runs.

It wasn't pretty, it wasn't fast, but we did it!

6 comments:

Wendy said...

Yeah! YOU DID IT!!

I'm with you on the energy sources. I was reading (I think in the new Runner's World) what the elite athletes use...one said Twizzlers so I am going to try that this week. You just need quick sugar, it doesn't have to be runner-specific.

Congrats again on the double digits!

SueBob said...

Wow 10 miles!! Congrats!!

You should experiment with different foods that you like. I have heard of people using fig newtons or those snack bar things...even a handful of regular jelly beans if you like those better.

Jenn said...

Congrats! I've tried the sports beans with caffeine and they're not bad . . .and they work too!

I'm not hydrating enough either.

Anonymous said...

Congratulations!! It´s never about making it look pretty, or fast, it´s about getting to that finish line, and you did it!!!

About the hydration, I´ve read that you have to start drinking fluids early on the run, and keep drinking a bit every 2 miles or so. So remember to start drinking early instead of when you get thisrty... to avoid getting thirsty

Anonymous said...

i like the sports beans too, and I've been having good luck with the powerbar gels. My brother in law can't do Gus, of any kind. He eats smarties, and if my sister meets him somewhere, gives himi peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.

I had twizzlers during the crazy trail race in July, and they were AWESOME!

Oh, and I agree with the Alien about the fluids.

I like Endurolyte pills - they are made by Hammer Nutrition.

Anonymous said...

so glad to hear that you liked the Endurolytes too. It's funny - there isn't much more in them than you would find in Gatorade but somehow they help, maybe it's the fact that it's so concentrated. I think if you sweat a lot like me, you'd have to drink yourself into oblivion, otherwise, to get the nutrients back into yourself. Anyway, I am glad that they worked out for you both.