Long run - 1/30/2005

Sunday 1/30/2005

On my training plan (as I prepare for the Buffalo Marathon on May 29th), today was my long run of 8 miles. Since I did 7.5 last week, I wasn't too worried about pulling this one off. But, since I was not at home, I was concerned about my routine and making sure that I ate at the right time and drank enough water. If I mess up my timing with eating and running, I'll find myself out on the road with some GI issues. Yesterday, with a scheduled 3 miler, I didn't worry too much about it. I woke up, went to the bathroom and hit the pavement. With a short distance like 3 miles, I figured that I could get out and back no matter what. Empty stomach, lower GI cramps, thirsty, tired, whatever -- 3 should be an easy distance for me to pull off at this point in time. That turned out to be true but by the time I showered, I really needed to eat. You'd think that as much as I weigh, my body could find a way to draw on the reserves more efficiently that it does.

But, it's been awhile since I've been up at these distances with any regularity, so, like I said, I was concerned. Plus, being away from home normally knocks my constitution out of whack a little bit even without the prospect of a long run scheduled. So, I tried to stay hydrated all day on Saturday and throughout the night. In the morning when I woke up, I had cereal with milk, orange juice and coffee. Then, for the next 3 hours, I had a couple more cups of coffee along with as much water as I could while I tried to take care of some work on the company laptop. I was attempting to come close to the weekday work routine as possible (that's when I run at lunch). I ended up coming pretty close with the nutrition, hydration and (possibly most important of all) waste removal ;-)

I got dressed and applied some vaseline to a couple of areas that have been bothering me due to some friction issues. I wonder if I would have some of these same friction problems if I weighed less than I do. Maybe someday I'll be lucky enough to find out the answer to that question. Anyhow, the sun was shining like it was the middle of summer. There were no clouds in the sky. Just a totally beautiful deep blue. Even though it was below freezing, the thermometer on the side of the house where the sun was beating down and radiating off of the siding was in the 70's. So I knew that I'd get very warm out running and I dressed accordingly: compression shorts, long pants, tee shirt, outer shell, ball cap, sun glasses and gloves (that I did not end up putting on). I also decided to try to start thinking about nutrition and hydration during the long runs. So, I put on my water bottle belt - the one with four small water "grenades". I filled one with water and the other three with some slightly diluted lemon lime gatoraid. I also took along some gels. My plan was to drink at each mile and take a gel at the 4 mile (halfway point).

So, I started out and even though I was running into the slight breeze, the sun was totally canceling out the effects of the cold. I thought I'd slip on the gloves but instead I just pulled my hands up into the sleeves of the shell and I was fine. At the first mile mark, I took a hit of the gator aid and was immediately reminded of the fun I had last year at the Buffalo marathon. It's funny how that experience has stuck with me and is rekindled by the fist sip of lemon lime gator aid. As a matter of fact, here I am sitting here over four hours later and the thought is still making me queasy. I've really got to solve this issue soon. I'm thinking I gotta stick with straight water. That part is an easy solution. However, at the halfway point when I took the gel, it was the same story. All the nausea that I experienced in the past with gels returned. I finished the package but it wasn't pleasant. Again, it's killing me just sitting here and typing about it. I'd better move on to something else before I hurl on the keyboard.

I ran down the road that my in-laws live on. It is a nice road to run on with a nice wide shoulder but the speed limit is 55 and it gets a decent flow of traffic. I don't think most of the people driving on this road are very familiar with seeing runners on it so they don't really think how nice it would be if they gave a runner just a little bit more room on the side. Last summer, the road was rebuilt and it feels like the shoulder is more level than it used to be. There is still an angle as it slopes away from the road but it is nice and wide, except for the bridges that cross over a couple of creeks. After almost a mile, I turned off of this main road onto a smaller road. This is also a nice road to run on but there no shoulder, the speed limit is 55 even though it seems like it should be slower and cars use it to go from one main road in the area to another (the one I just turned off of).

This smaller road has a small creek running next to it for a short distance right near the intersection where I turn onto it. A flock of ducks seem to have taken up residence on the water. As I approached them they were spooked and loudly went airborne. That scared the hell out of me as I wasn't expecting a dozen or so ducks to suddenly fly up next to me. Just about a half mile further down the road, there's a horse ranch. As soon as I can see the horses, I realize that they seem to be looking at me. I don't know if they've picked up on something unusual happening (me running down the road) or if it is a coincidence but they seem keep their eyes on me as I approach them. Along the shoulder of the road where I am running, there's lots of horse manure so I'm sure that someone already enjoyed a nice ride on their horse in the sunny winter day. It's kinda nice knowing that I'm not the only one out here taking advantage of this great day.

I end up joining up with the other main road in the area for about a half a mile before heading off up the hallow on another smaller road with little or no traffic. It's a very beautiful area with many dairy farms and on this nice winter day there are a few people out getting some things done around the house or barn. Out on the busy roads there were alot of cars from Ohio and Ontario. I imagine that they are skiers in town to ski at Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, just over the hill from where I am running.

I keep looking at my Garmin GPS and I'm sure that it is giving me false readings. There is no way that I've been able to cover the distance that it claims I have. But, not having any other measurement of distance, I rely upon it but plan on double checking with the vehicle later in the day. All of a sudden, I'm at 4 miles so I turn around and retrace my route back to the starting point. When I get back I'm very confused because the GPS does say 8 miles (kinda validating the reading I had at the halfway point) but, again, there's no way that I could have done that distance in that time and feeling that way. When I get in the house, I describe the pretty simple course to my father-in-law and ask him to guess the distance. He actually guesses pretty close to the GPS measurement. How can that be? So, I validate it yet one more time with the mini-van and sure enough, he's right on and so is the GPS!

The point of that whole, long, story is that it was such a beautiful sunny day in a beautiful location that everything came together for a wonderful run. I'm treating this as a sign of good things to come on this path to the Buffalo marathon.