A Running Journal Post

I meant to record this post on Saturday after my 16.3 mile run. But I had shopping & house cleaning to do. Then I meant to record it on Sunday. But I went to the emergency room instead. On Monday I totally forgot about posting about my run. Then it was Tuesday and Katelyn left the laptop at school. And my friend Jessica posted about her running so I felt like a total copycat. Today it is Wednesday and I decided I need to just go ahead and post about last week's run before this Saturday's run--so I can remember the lessons I learned.

First up, addressing and fixing a problem that occurred on my 15 mile run two weeks ago. Body Glide is a wonderful thing and for any run longer than 5 miles, I use it religously under by bra to prevent chafing "the girls". But two weeks ago, I noticed that other unmentionable areas had rubbed together and let's just say, the shower after the run was very ouchy! Anyway, I didn't want a repeat incident on last week's run so I was thinking about what I could use. I have used Body Glide on the inside of my thighs before, but that wasn't the area of concern. It was a little higher and not super accessible to Body Glide. Bag Balm! I remembered my jar of Bag Balm. A smidge of Bag Balm applied to the "sensitive areas" worked like a charm.

Next, a lesson in compare/contrast. I felt awesome on the 15-mile run two weeks ago. I was even singing out loud along the way & my running partner said I was in a goofy mood. And I was. Last week's run was not so awesome. So here are a few things that I think made the difference between the two runs:

• two puffs of my albuterol inhaler before my run 2 weeks ago; only one puff last week.
• took one salt packet at mile 9 on my 15 mile run; forgot my salt packet last week.
• did my speedwork and tempo runs 2 weeks ago; missed my tempo run last week.
• ran at a 9:10 pace 2 weeks ago; last week was an 8:50 pace for the first 10 miles. That was a little fast for my liking but that was what the gals I was running with were running.

What I learned: 1) I need to take both puffs of my albuterol inhaler & probably need to start on my allergy medication; 2) do the salt!; 3) don't miss the mid-week tempo run, even if my running buddy can't make it; 4) find new girls to run with--just kidding. I like running with this group. I just need to remember to keep my own pace.

Final lesson from last week: I definitely run better if I have someone to run with. I had to go 17 and the gals I was running with had 14 so the last few miles I was on my own. After they dropped off I felt like the run got so much harder. I don't run with music so I was left to just listen to my breathing & think about how my knee was starting to hurt & worrying that maybe it was my IT band acting up again & I really didn't want that to happen because it would totally derail my running. Maybe the last few miles would have gone better with music. Or maybe I just need to be mentally tougher.

Oh and the trip to the ER? No big deal it turns out. I had noticed some chest discomfort on Saturday afternoon. It got a little worse on Sunday afternoon, my left hand was tingly & I was feeling a little nauseous so I went to get it checked out. The EKG was fine so I left AMA without being seen by the doctor. I haven't had any problems since. Here's what I decided it was...I swallowed a lot of air while running & it got trapped causing the discomfort. Nausea is how I always react to pain and discomfort (I learned that lesson from dealing with kidney stones). The left hand tingling probably was most likely due to some carpel tunnel swelling from wearing my Garmin on my left wrist. Just wish I had thought of all that before I paid my ER co-pay.