Thursday, January 12, 2012

Achy Breaky Feet

Yesterday, I planned to do my long run for the week- 18 miles. I mapped out two different 9 mile loops (to keep things interesting for myself), strapped on my heart rate monitor, set a water bottle and blueberry GU outside the gate to my house, and off I went! I tried to keep my heart rate in the fat burning/aerobic zones (50-70%) and would slow down if my heart rate approached 160bpm. Folks, I was moving slower than a swimming sloth.

Leave me alone, lady! Can't you see I'm trying to maintain my target heart rate zone?!

When I finally made it home, my knees and feet hurt but I felt great! My heart rate was low, my breathing was easy, and I was excited to knock my second 9 mile loop out of the park. I devoured the GU and slammed some watered down gatorade and I was on my way! 18 miles?! NO PROBLEM!!!

Two miles later, I was finished. My feet felt like two crushed birds, delicate bones protruding sharply from feathers in my Asics GT-2160s. I hobbled my ass back home and wondered what the fuck had happened. Two miles is a long way to walk when it hurts to walk. When I finally got home and had a hot shower, I realized that I probably hadn't given myself enough time to recover from the 1/2M this weekend. 

Today, I feel... better than ever, actually! My feet and calves are just fine, and I wonder if the stupid long run was just what I needed to flush out the lactic acid (in my feet???). I went to a great spin class during my lunch hour today and I feel confident that I'll be able to handle the 18 miler when I get back from this weekend. Stay tuned!

2 comments:

  1. Cool! hitting those distance milestones is a great way to build confidence. You want to be able to finish those and still have enough left in the tank to go farther. You want to take one Gu every hour on the 45, so for an 18 mile run you should take at least 3. I take more because I hit it pretty hard and will hold a HR around 170-180 for the duration. Watch your fluid intake levels and electrolytes during the run, and you'll feel much better at the end.

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  2. Thanks, John! I'm trying to plan out my second attempt at the 18 miler for tomorrow... I may break it up into three 6 mile loops so I can get water/snackage more easily, but I am concerned that I will be tempted to call it quits after the second loop. We shall see!

    And congratulations on your PR this weekend!!! I was so excited when you posted your results!

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