I wasn’t sure how my body and mind would respond to getting back on the running horse — hey, there’s a thought: half-marathons on horseback — after a week away. Would my IT band and growly right calf simply say “Nope” and force me to limp home? Would my brain respond to speedwork with a “Nope” and spend the workout reminding me of how much I suck?
Turns out the answer to both of those questions was, mostly, “Nope.”
With one exception, the runs have gone well — but that exception was a big one. Last Saturday’s long run was so bad I decided during the middle miles I didn’t really even like running. The hardest part was not bursting into tears when I got home. Some of the crying would have been happy tears because I was finally done. Most of the crying would have been because every minute of the 2-plus hours was absolute misery.
True confession: I haven’t been strictly following the 13.FUN race plan. I’ve been shaving a mile or two off of the long runs because I can’t fit them all into my life. Saturday’s long run should have been 14 miles. I planned to do 12 and call it good enough. Had I committed to 14, I’m pretty sure I’d still be out there, balled up on the side of the road, rocking back and forth while whimpering.
My first mistake was planning to do my long run in the afternoon, which was pretty much the only time last weekend I could fit it in without breaking it up into smaller bits. I’m not a great afternoon runner. My biorhythms are such that all I want to do at 2 p.m. is nap or, maybe, have a cup of tea if a nap can’t happen.
Once I’d realized that it had to happen in the afternoon, I hoped it would be a cool one. We finally got our summer weather last week and, sadly, the heat and humidity hadn’t broken by Saturday and my hopes were dashed.
I did plan a little bit ahead, though. I knew I couldn’t carry as much water as I would want on my body and decided to just go to the high school track, where there is a water fountain. I was also having the kind of day where I just wanted to lose myself in my audiobook without having to keep an eye out for cars. And while I know some can’t stand the hamster-wheel-ness of the track, I love it, even for long runs, as long as I have something great to listen to.
(An aside: the audiobook in question is Ben Aaronovitch’s Midnight Riot. If you aren’t a big genre fan, you likely won’t like it. But if you love a great, wry fantasy detective story, it is bliss. Of course, I can think of another audiobook you might like…)
The first mile (of the 12) was rough. I pushed through anyway because the first mile is always rough. The second mile was, too. And the third. I gave up caring by mile four and just put my head down to grind them all out. My goal was to run sub-12 minute miles so that I could hit about 2 hours and 24 minutes for the whole shebang. Instead, I averaged 13+ minute miles and was out there for, conservatively, six years.
When I got home, I glared at all of the humans in the house and took myself to my room for a time-out, during which I stretched. Then I simply practiced my corpse pose underneath the air conditioner until I no longer wanted to sob or scream.
By Monday, though, I was ready to get back on the horse and ran a perfectly fine three miles, as called for in the plan. On Tuesday, I knocked out a tempo run that checked all of the boxes I needed to while I racked up four 10:45ish miles, which is a first for me. I’m doing my best to forget what happened on Saturday so that I can be where my feet are. But, oh, it’s not easy.
Before I forget — and because it’s speeding up faster than you might think — I’d love to organize a mini mother runner meet-up for Saturday, Oct. 18 for all of the mamas who are in Syracuse. Party planning, however, is not one of the clubs I have in my bag. So, this week’s question: does anyone know of a downtown venue in the ‘cuse that wouldn’t mind a gaggle of runners in it?
And if you’re interested in joining the gaggle, can you please email runmother [at] gmail [dot] com with Syracuse meet-up in the subject line? We’ll compile names/emails and keep you posted. Thanks!
As I am just starting day and haven’t really had time to finish my coffee and wake up my brain off the top of my head Kitty Hoynes in Armory (downtown) comes to mind. They have a running group that meets there every Wednesday so they’d probably be happy to have a gaggle of mother runners. I’ve never done it but here is their site if you want to take a look http://www.kittyhoynes.com/run.php. It may be busy that weekend and space if I remember space is tight on the weekends. Although my memory is from back in the days when I was single and would hit downtown no earlier than 10 on a Friday or Saturday night. HTH.
Thank you for this article this morning! I can relate to your awful run. (I haven’t yet had a great run after my last awful run, but I hope to!) I am struggling with a pulled hamstring, which was self-induced by pushing the leg presses (twice!) at the gym two weeks ago and then thinking I could run 9 miles the next day. I nearly couldn’t walk when I got home and had to pack the RV up for a weekend camping trip. I took a week off and hoped I could run a five-mile race coming up. My friend and I finished the 5 mile and not only could we WALK it all, but we actually RAN the sucker at about a pace of 10:41. Since then, I ran a short three-mile-maybe-I-can-get-back-to-the-13.fun-training-schedule run. Not bad, but the first .25 mile was hell. Two days later (last Wed), I thought I could run the 5 mile run required this week. This was the run like yours, although I didn’t talk myself into not liking running. I was mad at myself for pushing it two weeks ago and mad that I couldn’t rest and let myself heal. In fact, my over-compensating for my hamstring pulled a hip flexor, so now my left side is trashed. I love running – even though I just started this past January – and being sidelined is killing me and my psyche. Your post about the emotions of running, not running, and/or having a bad run are spot on and gave me some solidarity this morning. Thank you, and I look forward to my next good run. (PS I am listening to my body and not doing my scheduled 10 mile today. Maybe I’ll be up to it tomorrow . . .)
I think you are fabulous for getting it done. I love Martini Fridays for the down to earth humor and gritty inspiration! I look forward to my own miserably great long run coming this weekend in the sweltering summer goo. :-D
Don’t worry Adrienne, summer heat and humidity has a way of sucking the joy out of running! Never fear, fall is just around the corner and running will be good again!
You are a trooper! I cannot believe you did 12 miles in those conditions. It may have sucked, but I’d call that run a mental win. I’m also not an afternoon runner and I don’t think I would have even attempted anything over 6 in afternoon heat. Missing a long run is not the end of the world. Especially when you’ve covered the distance before. Be kind to yourself. You are doing better than you think.
I love reading your blogs. They always make me smile, and sometimes wish I could give you a virtual hug.
Adrienne, you gotta have these bad ones to appreciate the truly great ones. And I love your conservative estimate of elapsed time. Hahahaha!