I wish I had kicked off September with a kick-ass run. It would have been a great way to set the tone for a month that should bring some nice running weather. But that’s not the way it happened.
I went to bed early and was ready to get up when my alarm went off at 6:00 on Saturday, but I did not have any energy as I pulled on my running top and squeezed into my compression shorts. When the humidity hit me as I opened the door to take my dog out, I knew it was going to be a rough run.
https://twitter.com/Got2Run4Me/status/241847298676633600I ate my usual pre-run breakfast (a Kashi multigrain waffle with a drizzle of syrup), filled my water bottle with ice and Gatorade, and headed out. Since I knew I was going to be slow anyway, I decided on a hilly neighborhood route and stretched it out to 9 miles.
I never felt miserable, but I never felt good. As I hit mile 5, I thought that I could easily stop right then and crawl back into bed–or stretch out on the cool basement floor under a fan. Instead of motivating myself with thoughts of Starbucks, I visualized taking an ice bath when I got home. As I rounded the last corner, I had my plan:
- start coffee maker
- foam roll and stretch
- run cold water in bath tub
- fill travel coffee mug and carry full ice maker bucket upstairs
I’m not sure I had enough ice for the full effect, but it felt good–mMaybe the fact that it felt good means that I definitely did not have enough ice?
I don’t usually drain my water bottle, but I sucked down the last drop.
My Garmin told me just how slow I was. I had a few sub-10 minute miles, but this 10:03 average shows that I had more miles that were significantly over 10 minutes. (I usually average in the 9:30 – 9:45 range.)
I don’t regret this run. I’m glad I got the miles in, and maybe this slow run was what I needed for a change–at least my ITB felt OK and I didn’t get any new injuries.
How was your first September run?
![The Ultimate Coffee Date](http://got2run4me.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Ultimate-Coffee-Date.png" "The Ultimate Coffee Date")
**tiptoes away*
🙂
My first run of the season was a great one! Yay! I've never taken an ice bath…the thought of it scares me a little! Brrrr!
I've definitely had those runs where I don't feel great or sucky. I just feel, which isn't a bad thing once in a while! 🙂
Have a nice day!
So brave of you to take an ice bath. I put my feet in bucket of ice yesterday and couldn't even breathe, it hurt so bad!
Sept. 1 was officially "Long run suck day." I didn't detail it in my post, but I put down two bottles of water of that same size on Saturday and I could have used more. That was after my normal pre-long run hydration in the couple of days before. Time to move along from the suckiness that was this weekend!
Hello Coco!
I so enjoyed seeing you take an ice bath, LOL!
I am a wife and mother to our 10yr old daughter. I used to be a social worker but after 15 or so yrs I decided to put my health 1st.
I'm now a certified group fitness instructor teaching weight classes for women.
My run this morning was an average 10:15min mile for 4.49miles for 52:31mins. I look forward to improving my time to at least a 9:30minute mile.
Thank u for sharing ur running experiences and I look forward to reading more!
Sayida
It's never too late to start taking care of yourself. I was in my 30s when I started to figure out all this health and fitness stuff. It sounds like you are off to a great start with running.