I normally look forward to my long runs on Saturdays. Today, I was grateful it was a cut-back week long run of 9 miles; down from 12 last week. Some days are just mentally harder than others
I know that part of my mental block had to do with the temperatures again. I decided to start my run about an hour later to allow the temps to warm up out of the low 40’s. I wasn’t concerned with running in the cold this time. Instead, I was hung up on the huge temperature swing between my start and projected end time. The start of my run was to be in the low 40’s and finish in the low 60’s. That was going to require a lot of layers.
Starting an hour later allowed it to warm up to 48 degrees and by then it was mostly sunny. I left my gloves in the car because I figured it would warm up pretty quickly by that point, which it did. My hands were only cold at the beginning of the run but I warmed up pretty quickly.
Fueling and energy on a shorter long run
My plan was to start fueling a little earlier than I typically do so that I could get in two gels within the 9 miles. However, at mile three, where I had planned to take in the first gel, I just couldn’t stomach the idea of a gel yet. Therefore, I only took in one gel over the course of the run at mile four and a half.
My energy had picked up but my mood was flat the entire run. Maybe it was in the air. I felt very introverted on my run and found myself looking at the ground ahead of me more often than normal. I would wave or nod at runners as I passed them but I noticed many more than normal were in a similar self-induced zone and didn’t make eye contact as they passed.
The best part of my run was that I got to listen to quite a bit of my Harry Potter audiobook and felt drawn into the story. It really helped to focus on the story and not the challenging run. On a recent podcast, the guest speaker was offering ways to motivate yourself to run and one of the suggestions she gave was to save an audiobook or podcast for running only. I guess I figured that one out on my own already.
I thought that my heart rate and pace would be way off from my goal but at the end of my run I found that I’d actually run a little faster than my conversational pace.
Oops. Naughty, naughty.
That’s not the goal of a conversational pace run but hey, I made it though and my heart rate was well within my zone 2 range even at the slightly faster pace. My cadence averaged out to 179, so it really seems to simply have been a mental challenge today over a physical one. If someone were to look purely at my numbers they would think was a run like any other Saturday.
Recovery
Immediately following my run and cool down walk I drank a Skratch chocolate recovery drink and ate a Bobo’s Peanut Butter and Chocolate bar. Have you noticed a pattern yet for my post run snacks? They nearly always included peanut butter! It’s kind of my thing.
Once at home I showered and went about my day without too much need for heavy recovery tactics such as foam rolling or feet up the wall. My body felt fine. However, I continued to drag mentally. As I was working on the computer I kept feeling really tired and had trouble keeping my eyes open. I finally remembered that it’s Saturday and I’m allowed to take a nap, so I took advantage of that luxury and caught an hour and forty-five minutes of blissful, wonderful daytime sleep.
It’s amazing what a good nap can do for you. Although I’d gotten decent sleep the night before, I think my poor mood and low energy levels may have been coming from a sleep deficit over the week. It’s a real challenge to get enough sleep while working and marathon training. I’d say that’s probably the biggest challenge I’ve faced so far, besides figuring out how to dress for swinging temperatures.
I’m hoping for renewed energy next week as my mileage picks up again and we head straight into the holiday season. Send snacks.
Workout
- 9 mile long run at conversational pace