Respect the miles

I learned an incredibly important and valuable lesson today! All week I have known that I was scheduled to run 10 miles today, and it hasn't concerned me one single bit. So I flippantly stayed up much too late Thursday night, got up much too early Friday, and then stayed up much too late again on Friday night. On top of that, I barely ate yesterday (Friday), eating only an egg and a piece of toast for breakfast, a McD's regular double cheeseburger for lunch, and 4 pancakes and a piece of sausage at the church Pancake Supper last night. So after staying up too late last night, I tried to sleep in a bit, but I still knew I had 10 miles to run, so I finally got up and ate 2 pieces of toast and a cup of milk, and then went for my run about 40 minutes later.

I knew I was in trouble when I was already feeling it in my legs at mile 3. Yes, it was quite a bit warm and humid today, but I really should not be bothered at mile 3. I'm glad I took all four water bottles for my fuel belt, and I made sure to take a gel for mid-run, but it was not a fun run. I just couldn't believe how bad I felt, especially considering how good I felt last week for the 10K. But the difference was that last week I was prepared - I ate well the day before, fully hydrated, and I also had plenty of rest. So, lesson learned. I will do much better next time.

Here are the splits:
Mi 1 - 8:55.57
Mi 2 - 8:55.05
Mi 3 - 9:09.56
Mi 4 - 9:28.37
Mi 5 - 9:46.51
Mi 6 - 9:56.71
Mi 7 - 10:03.19
Mi 8 - 10:12.56
Mi 9 - 10:28.92
Mi 10 - 10:26.37
Total = 1:37:22.81

You can see how bad I was lagging as the run went on. I promise it will be different next week when I have 12 miles scheduled for the long run.

As an end note, I really think I was dehydrated today. I was miserable during and after the run. When I got home I decided to try something I've read quite a bit about for after a long run: the dreaded ice bath. I got Jacob to go across the street to the church with me with a large cooler so we could grab some ice, and then I came back filled the tub with the cooler of ice, and I tried to get in. YIKES! Holy freaking cow, it was cold! If I do that again, I may get in the tub of water first, and then S-L-O-W-L-Y add the ice. I couldn't make it all the way in - too much. We went and ate at the Chili Cookoff here in town, and then had to go to Walmart, and I swear, by the time we got home I was barely coherent. I was just numb all over. I've never felt like that after a long run - granted, it's been almost a year since I've run at least 10 miles. As soon as we got home I laid down and rested for a little over an hour, and I have been a different person since. All of this contributes to my lesson of the day: Respect the miles.