LM warmup (10 reps), 9.01 miles in 1:06:06, 7:20/mi w/ 3 mile warmup, 2 x Strides/Drills, 3 Tempo miles in 6:53 (uphill), 6:31 (flat), 6:08 (downhill), 3 mile cooldown. 1 mile walk w/ dogs, PU/SU/Leg ladder (7/7/4) & stretching. Sunny and warm (67F). A bad run I won't be able to forget soon enough. Forgot to grab my HRM strap...would've been nice to see what my HR was doing during the bad times. The warmup was okay, nothing special. Felt a bit tired during the strides/drills, but nothing too off-putting. Then the tempo started and within about 2 minutes I knew something wasn't right. Initially supposed to be 5 tempo miles, 1 uphill, 1 flat, 2 downhill, & 1 uphill with 2 180s, I barely made the crest of the hill when I had to take the first of the unscheduled breaks for about 10 seconds or so. I had my breathing under control, but my legs were weak and feeling weaker by the step, my shoulders were quickly getting tired and I just didn't feel quite right. Off I went on the flats thinking things would improve but then didn't. The legs were getting more wobbly by the stride with both quads and hamstring complaining loudly, and I still didn't feel quite right. Considering that I ran a 6:31 on the flat when 2 weeks ago I averaged in the low 6:10s over 4 miles, I'm guessing something wasn't right. After another 10 sec rest break just before the 2nd mile mark, I decided to just try to get thru 3 miles at tempo effort, whatever that might be and to pack it in. The downhill was a bit kinder, but I still had a lot of trouble not dropping to a walk throughout. Even the last 3 cooldown miles were tough.....I'll admit to 2 short walk breaks on that section. Arrived back just in time to make a sudden bathroom pit-stop, which made me realize my blood had probably been getting diverted to my gut for some reason. Not sure what I might've ate that would've done this. Found myself feeling queasy for a couple of hours afterwards too...took a S! Cap to see if perhaps I was needing some electrolytes (after downing a Gatorade G2 immediately after the run) and that did seem to help. So, I'll chalk this up to warmer weather than normal, not being fully recovered from the past several days workouts, possible electrolyte imbalance, and perhaps something I ate. Fortunately, the ability to run 4 miles at Tempo pace is wholly unimportant right now so I can probably let this go without too much residual guilt. My saturday plans have changed. Decided to try to find some info on the trails I'd intended to run (White River 50 course, part 1) and discovered they're all listed on the Forest Service's website as "Snow". The one snow gauge I could find in the area said it had 80+ inches of snow currently. Wow. The more reading I did, the more I realized the chances of running those trails before mid-June are slim to none. So I went and found another really nasty route up near Ashford that gains 4200+' over the course of 24 miles.
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