Of things learned, and then forgotten.

I ran today. It went terribly. Oh, the first part of the run was good. You know, the first half, the part where you run as far as you are going to be from where you are done. That's the beauty of the out and back, you have to run back.

It's also the pain.

I started the run around 11:00 AM. I went down to Santa Monica with Charrissa and we met up with Eve. It was a beautiful day, as soon as we got there we started stripping off layers. It's January for god sake, we should need layers. I had an 8 mile run. 4 miles of warm-up and sub-tempo pace and then descending pace on three of the 4 miles back with a 1 mile cool down.

I should have figured something was up when I was about to start and I realized that I was thirsty. Oh, there's good news.

I felt good at first, easy miles, had to hold myself back to keep my pace where it was supposed to be. Then at about mile 3.5 everything fell apart. Just before my turn around the wheels came off. The respiration rate shot up, the legs felt a bit wooden, and I was no longer having much fun. It no longer felt as though I was running with a tail wind, it felt just the opposite.

At the turn I did stop for a second and get a drink from a fountain, my second stop, but at this point I think it was already over.

Post run analysis: I ate about 1700 calories yesterday, didn't drink enough water, and had dark urine when I woke up. That sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially when you combine it with a rough bike ride spent mostly in zone 4 two days prior. Not a good idea, not a good time.

Positive observations:

1. I don't suck. Well, I do, but mostly because I can't seem to remember simple things like, "You should not be dehydrated before you start running and you should probably eat enough that you don't bonk." As for the not sucking, well, I felt great and ran well until I ran out of calories and fluid.

2. My new shoes rock! They are like strapping pillows to your feet. I felt no pain, and for the first time in a bit my Achilles didn't hurt at the end of my run, good news.

3. It was 72, sunny, and beautiful. What a great run in Santa Monica. This is one I won't forget for a while. Oh, don't worry, I will likely forget the lessons. That seems to be what I do.

Ok so lets have some beer then...

Here is the workout on TrainingPeaks.