Monday, July 4, 2016

Training week recap: June 27 - July 3, 2016

Happy July 4th to all of my American comrades!
Popping in for a quick hello and recap of my training week.

MONDAY - 10 minutes stationary biking, 30 minutes upper-body lifting
TUESDAY - Yoga class, run 3 miles
WEDNESDAY - Zumba class
THURSDAY - Run 3 miles on treadmill, 15 minutes lower-body lifting
FRIDAY - Rest
SATURDAY - Run 12 miles
SUNDAY - Rest

It was a pretty uneventful training week. The only item of note was my long run on Saturday morning. I mentioned here that I ran part of the Chicago Marathon course, which took me past a crowd of elderly Chinese folks doing tai chi in the U.S. Cellular Field parking lots. But let's talk a bit about other factors of the run.

In short, I just wanted to get the run over with so I could relax and enjoy the rest of the long weekend. Normally I'm not big on getting up before sunrise on weekends. However, the motivations change when the alternative is to slug through a long run in blistering heat and humidity. That morning, I set my alarm for 5:30 AM and got myself out the door as fast as I could.
Thankfully, weather was not a factor this day. The skies were overcast and the temperatures stayed in the mid-60s throughout the entire run. It felt quite nice!

The much, much, much bigger factor was fueling. As I mentioned here, I've been trying to be better about my eating habits, most notably my portion sizes. However, I am learning it's a very, very fine line between fueling properly to do a double-digit run versus eating too much or not enough.
Before departing, I ate a sandwich thin with peanut butter, plus a banana. Normally, this plus a mid-run GU is sufficient to get me through a long run. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until mid-run that my dinner the night before wasn't going to hold me over.

I started feeling hunger pains around Mile 7. Based on my intended 12-mile distance, at that point on the route I was almost 5 miles away from home. In the interest of hauling around as little gear with me as possible, I wasn't carrying any money, extra gels, food, or my phone. Definitely not my smartest decision, especially considering I've made this mistake before.
DERP!!!
I had little choice but to push through the remaining 5 miles to get home. As you might expect, those 5 miles were tough. Really tough. Thankfully my legs and the rest of my body felt comparatively fine, but it was hard to ignore my growling stomach. It was so loud that I was probably turning the heads of anyone I was passing on the sidewalk.

Of course I kept running by all kinds of street vendors, businesses, and restaurants emitting delicious aromas. Tacos, grilled meats, bakeries, you name it - everything smelled amazing and I wanted to devour it all. I felt like one of those cartoon characters that floats in the air towards the smell of food, e.g.:
When I finally got home, there has never been a time in my life when food tasted so good. I was so ravenous that you could have given me a plate of gruel with a big cup of sludge to drink, and I would have downed it all in a New York minute!

Note to self (again and again) that as cumbersome as it is to run feeling like a pack mule, it's better to be prepared than to run on empty. Either that, or I do need to stick with the smaller, more boring loop routes where I can stop back at home if anything arises.
Now that we've got that story of craziness out of the way - once again, happy July 4th! I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday and enjoys all of the fabulous outdoor festivities! I'm on my way out the door now. =)

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Linking up with HoHo and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap.

31 comments:

  1. Good job pushing through your hunger setback. I always hate races that have food vendors at the start, myself. Today before the 4th 5K I ran, they were selling mini donuts. Talk about torture!!!

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    1. Thanks Natalie! Ah yes - having the food wafting delicious aromas at the start of a race is pure torture. I have considered DNSing a race upon arrival and just digging into the food, LOL. Mini doughnuts would be really, really hard to resist!!!!!!!

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    2. Lol! As good as they smelled, I have 0 DNS on my record and intent to keep that as long as possible. The mini donuts can wait. :-D

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  2. Ugh! This always happens to me when I leave the house without food or $$. Why do I think I can overcome the need for fuel? LOL. Glad you made it home.

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    1. It's total Murphy's Law, right? The one day we don't have extra supplies or resources on hand is the one day we need them! Sigh. I hope the hunger disaster doesn't happen to you again in the future, it is not fun!!!

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  3. Great job! I usually run with a $20 in case I need an emergency gas station stop or (hopefully never!) cab ride home!

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    1. Thanks Lauren! I really should be more prudent about carrying emergency gear with me. $20 is a nice safety stash!!! Hopefully you'll never have to use it for a cab, indeed!!!!!!!!!!

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  4. I always run with my phone but never with money. The one time I did need it was when it was so cold outside that I could not finish my run. Luckily, I had the Uber app on my phone and was able to get a ride to my car. When I run by my house I joke that I must carry my Ventra bus pass in case I ever need it to get back home. Well, so far I've only had to use it once. I don't want to make a habit of it but I guess you never know when you might need it.

    Please take your phone with you. So important. :-)

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    1. Thanks Zenaida. Do you put your phone into a runner's belt? I only have one belt that is large enough to fit my iPhone, which is part of the reason I balk at carrying my phone around. But it's indeed a big safety net - thank goodness for Uber! I've thought also about carrying my Ventra card around with me, too. At the very least, I carry my Divvy key card so I can try to find a bike to bike home. =)

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    2. Yes, my belt has one pocket for my phone. I carry my house keys in my shorts pocket. Good thing about Divvy! You just never know. Running can sometimes be stressful right?

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    3. I get nervous about carrying my keys in my pockets if they are unzippered! My biggest fear is that they'll fall out. So I usually carry mine by hand. Paranoid!!! And yes, running can often be VERY stressful!!!

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    4. I understand. My shorts have a zipper and even then I find myself checking to make sure they're there.

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  5. Oh no!! to run 5 miles hungry is really hard! I bet that food tasted delicious after being hungry for so long! Did it affect you any other way? Did you feel weak? or dizzy?

    I hope this experience will help you be more prepared for future long runs!

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    1. Yes - normally 5 miles in training is manageable except when hunger strikes! You can't even IMAGINE how good the food tasted when I got home. I would have happily eaten a plastic spoon at that point, LOL. Thankfully, other than feeling hungry, the rest of my body was fine. No faintness, weakness, or fatigue. Just hunger. =)

      Yes - I've had to learn this lesson twice about not being prepared for long runs! Hopefully this time it will stick and I won't try to test my boundaries unnecessarily in the future!!!

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  6. I've definitely been there with the whole getting hungry on runs thing. Since I normally run in the afternoon, it can be pretty tricky trying to figure out when to eat an afternoon snack that won't bug me while I'm running, but won't leave me starving while I'm out on the run!

    Bethany @ Accidental Intentions

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    1. Argh - afternoon runs are SUPER tricky. I actually didn't know you were normally an afternoon runner, I know you train with CARA on the weekends so I thought you always ran in the morning! And I tend to err on the side of eating too much before my afternoon runs, LOL. Either way is not good, though!!!

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  7. When I went to a gym, one location was near a couple fast food places, and each morning I went I'd smell bacon. It smelled so good!

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    1. Oh. My. God. Bacon is the end-all, be-all of food that smells killer delicious! I can only imagine how that would turn out if my gym was near bacon scents, wow!!!!!!!

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  8. I'm glad it's been a rarity for you, it's so miserable that I wouldn't wish it on anyone!!! Running does help suppress my appetite for awhile, but after some time has passed - LOOK OUT, LOL. Pumpkin seeds are a great idea since they're so small, shelf-stable, and portable! I love the suggestion - thanks for sharing! And oh yes, I know that winter running experience of smelling everyone's cooking. It is pure torture! But it does motivate us to get home faster, hehe.

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  9. I have definitely been there with realizing I didn't eat enough the night before (this especially happens if I work the late shift the day before). I hate the feeling of running hungry. Having to smell food definitely doesn't help matters. Since I do so many evening runs I feel like the most common food smell I have is from grilling and a lot of times I just want to run over and invite myself to dinner. :)

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    1. Oh gosh, having to work the late shift the night before would make it really tough to get up early and do a long run! And I completely relate to smelling people grilling dinner, and wanting to just jump in and join the fun. =) If we act like we belong, they won't question us, right? =D

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  10. Like Zenaida said... please carry your phone! Mostly for safety reasons! I hate having all that stuff on me too, but it's crucial. I have a hipS-sister belt that I put my phone in, then have an extra gu (and money, and tissues, and chapstick, ha) in my handheld. But I am guessing you were running with nothing, and just using the water fountains?

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    1. This is going to sound horrible, but I'm more motivated to carry my phone while running for picture-taking purposes than for safety reasons, LOL. But hey, whatever works, right? A hipS-sister belt, eh? I've never heard of those - will have to look into them. I was running with a handheld water bottle that has a little pouch for my keys and one GU. In general, I am more comfortable carrying things by hand than wearing a belt, because I have issue with my belts riding up on me!

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    2. Yeah, if that's what gets you to take it ;)

      Yeah, I have to safety pin the hipS-sister to my shorts so it doesn't ride up. But that is where I put my phone since it's too big for my handheld and putting it in my bra messes it up!

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    3. Yeah, my phone is too big for my handheld and nothing good would come out of putting it into my sportsbra, as well. LOL. Good call on pinning the belt to your shorts - although, if I did that, I'd have to be careful using the portapotty. =D

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  11. Hope you had an amazing 4th of July!! I'm missing that 60's weather already haha

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    1. I hope you had an amazing July 4th, too! The 60s felt a little chilly when I was sitting at Millennium Park, but walking around it was perfect. =)

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  12. I adore the baby eating watermelon pic! It's rare I feel hunger on a run. I'm more likely to feel just sick instead. I don't like to carry stuff or wear belts and loop around my mailbox on long runs. But, sometimes I forget to put in an extra GU. I bet the smells were pure torture. Thanks for linking Emily!

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    1. Ah yes, I know the feeling of sickness during a run all too well, myself! The mailbox is a terrific tool for storing things - I just have to time myself so my mailman doesn't actually deliver the mail when I've got the box filled with GU, water bottles, et al. LOL! Thanks for cohosting the linkup with Tricia, as always!!!

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  13. I almost always run with my phone in an armband. When I think I'll need it I also tuck in a credit card. My aunt once told me that there are very few situations you can't get yourself out of with a phone and a credit card and I took her advice to heart.

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    1. Your aunt's advice about the phone/credit card combo being the ultimate lifesaver is so true! My phone actually has some kind of wallet setup where my card info is loaded into it and I can use my phone as my credit card, too. I haven't tried it yet, but it's yet another demonstration of how our phones are taking over the world!

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