A Passion for Running

Welcome to the home of Mark aka The Running Blogfather – a 40 year-old dad, husband and marathon runner who's beaten injury and is on the comeback trail!

hard way to end a week

passion for running category: running on Saturday, September 4 2004

Ouch. My ego took a real pounding today. The “running gods” decided it was time to teach Mark a lesson in humility. The result is that I can honestly say today’s 20 miler was one of the hardest runs I’ve ever had. Things started out fine. In fact, I felt better at the beginning of this long run than I have in several weeks. Hmmm…that reminds me of a maxim I’ve come to understand. First, a disclaimer: the following maxim applies only to me. At least I hope (for your sake) it only applies to me! Without further ado…

Mark’s Long Run Maxim: If it starts out difficult it will get better but if it starts out feeling great then look out cause it usually won’t last long!

Strange huh? I mean, you’d think it would be the opposite. You’d think a good start would mean the rest of the long run would feel good too right? Wrong. Well, wrong for me anyway. I’ve had several long runs that started great and ended with me feeling like crap and I’ve had others that started and ended the opposite way. I’ve even had marathons go that way. Two years ago in Victoria, I was on top of the world for the first half and then things went downhill from there. Last year in Kelowna, I started off feeling terrible and it completely turned around at 25km.

Why was it such a tough run today? Well first of all I ate nothing this morning. All I had was a bottle of gatorade and some water. I also did not fuel during the run. Yup. That’s right. No gels. No bars. Nothing. Guess what? I did that on purpose. No, I’m not crazy. Greg McMillan recommends it for LSD runs (I’ve read about it elsewhere too) so I’m trying it in hopes of becoming a more efficient glycogen storage and retrieval system. I also had three very hard runs this week. They probably caught up with me today.

So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised I sucked so bad this morning.

The good news? I stuck it out. It was a character building run and it appears I have quite a bit more character now than I did before. ;) More good news? The suckiness of the run was limited to leg pain. Meaning, I had no trouble cardio-wise. The heart and lungs were a-ok.

Of course, I wasn’t alone out there so I should probably go against my self-centered nature and mention something about Tom. He felt great throughout the run. He kept chirping and singing how great he felt ALL-THE-WAY-THROUGH-RIGHT-TO-THE-END-OF-THE-DAMN-FRIGGIN-RUN.

Damn friggin Tom (hope you are reading this buddy). Ok, I’ll get over it. I guess at least one of us deserved to feel good. Maybe it will be my turn next Saturday!




9 Comments

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Pingback by A Passion for Running » great way to finish the long runs

Saturday September 18, 2004 @

[...] n a left-right all the way to the last kilometer which we ran in 4:48. Do you remember my September 4th 20 miler? That was the one I didn’t fuel on. The one where I [...]

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Comment by Richard

Saturday September 04, 2004 @

I think that not fueling is something that needs to be worked up to – pushing your no-fuel limit out a little each time. Then again, I think that you were doing that already, although I might be wrong.

But that’s some great news that you finished it anyway. Just as a trip to the gym that leaves you fresh was probably wasted, your leg muscles are almost certainly figuring out new and creative ways to store glycogen as we speak. So while this would have been a crappy race, it was possibly a good training run. Or at least, will have a good effect.

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Comment by Dianna (Running Chick)

Sunday September 05, 2004 @

I had a similar long run experience on Friday Mark, so maybe those running gods were just feeling cranky this week. They used up all their favors on the Olympic athletes. They’ll be there when we really need them!

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Comment by Lara

Sunday September 05, 2004 @

I don’t know much about training, I’m just trying to stay upright – but I have to agree with Richard that it probably does make for a great training run (mentally and physically), even if it felt like hell.

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Comment by april anne

Sunday September 05, 2004 @

Sorry about the bad run, but you finished and that’s all that matters. Way to go!

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Comment by Jon in Michigan

Sunday September 05, 2004 @

Those pesky running gods. They spoil everything :)

Seriously though, I’d agree that the “no eating” plan probably takes getting used to. The fact that you did this on a 20 miler just blows me away. I can’t even DO a 20 miler! I’d need gatorade, snacks, gel, and life support!

Sounds like you pushed through a pretty tough run. Good job!

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Comment by Reba

Sunday September 05, 2004 @

Mark, I often find that when I’m doing something new, I totally suck in the beginning and you know, it seems to be an important part of getting to the goal. Not sure why, must be a ‘the way the universe works thing’ really. ~tilts head~ Heck, remember when you started running, everyone says ‘oh it gives you energy.’ Yeah, AFTER it drags your sorry butt into shape and stops making you want to sleep like a baby 5 extra hours a night. LOL Well, that’s what my very first running journal from 1988 says! LOL :)

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Comment by Mark

Tuesday September 07, 2004 @

Yeah, you got it right Richard. I was working up to the 20 miler. I haven’t fueled on a long run all season but this particular run really kicked my ass. Oh well, as you say I will likely reap benefits later (hopefully on marathon day)!

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Pingback by Run, Love, Live » Sunday, September 12th Run

Wednesday October 19, 2005 @

[...] right after lunch, I didn’t eat anything since breakfast. I guess I am following in Mark’s footsteps. Also, I took a walk with Grace in the backpack to watch [...]

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