Highs & Lows

The real purpose of running isn't to win a race, it's to test the limits 

of the human heart ~ Bill Bowerman

It's been a roller coaster week of training. I've gone from crushing my toughest workout yet; feeling like there is nothing that can get in my way from achieving a BQ, to completely falling apart during my long run 72 hours later.

First, the good. Last Thursday's 7 miles at MP was one of the best runs I've had in the last two years. I felt strong, focused, and determined. My splits were:

7:02
6:56
6:51
6:54
6:51
6:52
6:31

I honestly felt like I could have kept going and run a ~1:28 half that morning. I was feeling incredibly confident with where my training was.

Then came the Sunday 16 miler.

In short, I completely fell apart after 10 miles. I'm not sure if it was heat exhaustion, dehydration, or some other root cause, but I have never experienced a run quite like that before.

Christine and I traveled to Michigan early on Saturday and the plan was to do a 16 mile out-and-back early Sunday morning. We did some Fourth of Julying Saturday evening - nothing too crazy - but ended up sleeping in a little later than we wanted to. We didn't get out to the trail until 10:30am.

The weather wasn't bad. It wasn't too hot or humid. Light winds. After having my normal breakfast (maple pecan & sea salt KIND bar), I did feel properly hydrated by the time we got out there. The plan was to take it easy throughout and run at a steady MP +70 to 80.


The first half felt OK. The trail was less shaded then I had hoped, but I wasn't too concerned. Shortly after the turn around 8 miles out, my pace initially slowed as I felt somewhat fatigued, but then had a nice burst of energy, and got my pace back down. After another mile or so, a second wave of fatigue came over me, but this time I just wasn't able to regroup. My pace slowed down considerably, and I felt helpless to go any faster. My pace slowed to 9:00, 10:00 then around mile 15 I was hovering at 12:00 minutes per mile.


Since I've never experienced heat exhaustion or dehydration before, I didn't really know what I was dealing with. At the time, I didn't think I was in any real danger - I wasn't seeing spots, or suffering from confusion. I just wanted to get the 16 miles over at whatever pace I could. I remember being overcome with a weird sense of emotion.

Near the end of the run, my father-in-law who was out biking on the trail pulled up to say hello. I'm not entirely sure what language my greeting was in. Later that night he said I looked pale and 'not well.' Once I got home, I dry-heaved quite a bit and then proceeded to curl up in a fetal position on the bed for the next few hours.. all while wearing a SUNDAY FUNDAY t-shirt. Good times.

I'm sure this has happened to a vast majority of long distance runners. But experiencing this kind of 'failure' during a long run, the longest run I've ever attempted, could not have been more dejecting. 
Talking over the run with Christine, I realized we only have four more true long runs left (17, 19, 20, 20). Four!

Looking back, I'm sure having those several beers the night before had a bigger effect than I thought. Also, I probably wasn't nearly as hydrated as I believed. Those factors in combination with a limited amount of shade near the height of the solar afternoon probably were my un-doing.

But, all you can do is look ahead.

On another note, Christine had a great 16 miler and has been never been more confident of her BQ prospects. The BAA announced the 2017 Boston Marathon registration dates this morning, so it all is getting a little more real. Lots more work ahead though.

Up this weekend is 8 on Saturday and 17 on Sunday. The humidity in DC this week has been brutal, even at 6 AM. The plan is to continuously hydrate all weekend and try to focus on having a quality long run. One change I am implementing is to switch to Gatorade instead of Gu. Hoping for the best!

-J