I BONKED !
Yesterday's run was to complete my week's running. After a strong 10-miler last week, I decided to shoot for 11.5 miles - the longest I have ever run. I started my run at about 7 am and it was already pretty hot. At about 3 miles, I could tell it was going to be a hard run. My legs felt a bit sluggish and the sun bearing down made the heat difficult. I took in a powergel at about 5 miles and immediately felt nauseous. It went away after a minute or so but I was wondering if I would need to call my wife to come get me only about 2 miles later! I decided to tough it out to the end, even if I had to slow my pace or even if I had to walk. At about 9.2 miles I started feeling very nauseous and my camelbak was dry. I came to a hill and walked for about 3 minutes. I felt a little better and began jogging again but when I turned into my neighborhood and knew I was at 10 miles, I decided it was time to stop. I walked the rest of the way to my house.
I am not too disappointed with the effort, even though I really HATE bonking and not completing a planned run. At least my week's totals were a mile further than last week. The 10 miler this week though, felt much tougher than the one last week's. I think the main reason was the heat. It reached 92 degrees during the run and there was no wind and not a cloud in the sky. It felt MISERABLE out there and only contributed to the miserable run. But there were a few other reasons as well:
1. My work scheduled did not permit me to do a moderate run on Tuesday so I had to rearrange my runs. My last off day was Tuesday so my legs felt sluggish despite the easy run the day before.
2. The week before I had a perfect pre-race evening meal with pasta and marinara sauce and a green salad. This week I ate sushi, which I don't think had as many carbs. I rationalized it by eating a half of a box of Sugar Babies at the movies.
3. We watched Pirates of the Caribbean Friday night (which was TERRIBLE by the way) and stayed up until past midnight. I know this was a really bad idea the night before a run.
4. I forgot to eat breakfast or anything. I was so focused on getting out of the door as soon as I could, I didn't eat anything. My online log says I burned off 1400 calories during the run so a powergel was probably not enough. Any advice from Phil or Terry on eating before a really early long run? :-)
5. Lastly, I think my camelbak has a leak. It dripped on the back of my legs the first half mile and seemed to run out too quickly. I am going to examine it sometime this afternoon because aqua is definitely important!
I will try to correct some things and go longer next week. I am actually still on track with the plan, despite not meeting the revised goal of a 11 1/2 miler. I hope everyone else's weekend runs went better than mine!
posted by Shane (mississip) at 5:41 AM
3 Comments:
Shane .. you THINK it was the heat? My god man, trying to run in this heat is murder. Don't over analyze it. I've bonked once a week for the past two weeks, only I've crapped out at 3 miles, not 10. Running 10 miles in these conditions is nothing to sneeze at.
As for eating before running. My buddy Mike eats a light breakfast before his morning runs. I can't do it, my stomach won't handle eating then running. On my daily 7 mile runs, I don't eat a thing before the run and try have a bowl of cereal (the store brand Grape Nuts) with non-fat milk and couple of pieces of fruit following. Before my long runs I eat a power bar as I'm getting my water jug set up. I seem to be able to digest the power bar OK and I tuck a Gel Pack in my shorts just in case I need it. With the temperatures as high as they have been the last several weeks, I've adjusted my long runs so that I can stash a large thermos of water along the route and come back to it every 5 miles or so to stay hydrated. Running with a Camelback is more than I can handle.
So, the message is ... don't over analyze the situation. It's HOT and HUMID. You'll have bad days. If you're still having this problem (as if running 10 miles is a problem) when the temp is 55, we'll talk more.
Nice run overall, I'm impressed with your progess.
10:26 AM
Shane,
Don't worry about the "bonk". You couldn't have planned failure any better than you did! Heat, bad diet, lack of rest. GEEEEZ, I thought you knew better.
First, you said your last rest day was Tuesday. Personally, my body starts wearing down if I run more than 4 days a week and I know that 5 is my max. I ALWAYS take a day off the day before my long run. Plus keeping late hours the night before was a no-no. Of course your body rebelled.
Sushi for dinner? How about zero carbs. Truthfully, I am not sure about the carbs but my suspicion is that the meal was probably more protein than carbs. You've studied this running thing long enough to know better. If "she who must be obeyed" has to have sushi, boil you some noodles before you go out to dinner. My gosh man, you need FUEL!!!
And the heat . . . well, there is not much you can do about that. I can't remember if you stated when you started. However, you said 92 degrees. I know that 92 comes early in Tupelo but my guess is that you were out there late morning to noon time. I run in the heat when I HAVE TO DO IT, but on the weekends you have to start early. I know it is tough to crawl out of the sack at 5:00 am on a weekend morning but it will help you survive the long run and the heat.
My thoughts about camelbak . . . is it worth carrying the extra couple of pounds of water with you? I am not sure but it is not something that I would do, especially if I know I could set water out ahead of time or change my route so that I could zip into gas stations for water. I only carry water if I know that I am in the middle of nowhere like on a trail run.
All said and done, you did good to get your 10 miles in considering all the things you had going against you. Keep your chin up and think about it this way-had you eaten a real meal, gotten the rest your body needs, and ran in 75 degree heat you probably could have gone 15. Don't call this a bonk, call it a lesson learned and move on. Do not alter you schedule-if you are scheduled for a 12 or 13 this weekend, do it.
Jim
5:13 AM
Yeah I made several mistakes and hopefully I learned from them. I will give it another go this Saturday but will shoot for an hour earlier start! I will let ya'll know how it goes!
6:19 PM
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