Rookie Mistakes...

Every Saturday I do my long run in preparation for the St Jude Half Marathon on Dec 6. Lately I have been heading out to the Greenline to do these runs because my neighborhood is getting old. My goal Saturday was to run 11 miles in 1:55, but I really set myself up for problems.

Saturday morning I invited two friends of mine to run with me. I usually do not like to run in groups, but I have been trying to branch out more and letting people push me further and faster. I find that running with a group makes it harder for me to stop and walk a bit when I am with others. Maybe it is an ego guy thing...

So Saturday I woke up at 6:30 and got ready to meet the guys at 8 AM for 11 miles. One thing that always messes with me is running in the cold because I am always afraid I am going to over dress and get hot. Saturday morning it was 34 degrees here in Memphis, so I really had to start digging out some cold weather gear. So after about three different running clothe changes I finally felt like I had a good combo and heading out to meet the guys. I had my fuelbelt, gloves I could ditch and glasses and I was ready.

The run started off really well. We were all having a good time talking and before I knew it, we were at the 5.5 mile turn around and we started heading back. I was having no issues and I was on my pace I wanted to be on...until about mile 8ish.

Then I realized that I did not eat anything that morning before my run. I had no fuel. And instead of realizing that and hitting the GU I had in my fuelbelt, my focus became about just finishing. Around mile 9.5 or so, I could feel my calf twinging, that good ol calf cramp was coming, but I wanted to keep going. I wanted to hit that 1:55. My running partners slowly inched away from me, leaving me to run alone (which was totally cool!) I could sense that my running gait was changing, but I kept trucking along, and finished in 1:54:33. Right on Target.

So here are my rookie mistakes I made, and I should know better:

1. No food before the run. This was extremely stupid of me and I know better. I had plenty of time to grab a bite before my run and for whatever reason, I didn't. I know this effected me in a bad way!
2. No water at all. While I had two bottles around my waist, I never went to them. After the run I did drink water, but I never had a swig. Now granted it was cold and I don't think I needed as much water as I would on a hot day, but going two hours without water is just stupid.

I am not sure what I was thinking, because we all talked about water stations and gels and how we would use them on race day, but I never even thought about it. It kind of sucked, inviting people to run with you and then being the one that got dropped, but it was a good reminder for me to fuel up before and during a long run. I won't make that mistake next Saturday. Saturday is another 11 miler!!!