Harsh Run Clinic

Tuesday's run clinic was harsh.  I sort of know why, and after our guest speaker after our run, I know what I did wrong.  In order to get to Run Clinic, I have to be up by 430am, so I can catch the first train into work, so I can be on the first train coming home from work in order to make it back and be ready to go at 6pm.

I didn't sleep well Monday night, so I was really tired Tuesday morning.  I went to work and I ate my lunch early as I was hungry so it was only 1130 when I had my soup and salad.  I ate my veggies and hummus at 130 and left work at 330 to head for run clinic.  I also didn't drink a lot of water after 12 or so.  Last week I drank my water as usual and half way through our run I was dying to use a washroom, so I figured I would avoid that this week by cutting down on my water intake after I had lunch.

I was tired when I got to run clinic at 6pm and on the schedule was 1:2 for 5 and then .30:1 for 5 until we made our way back to our start point.  I started out all right, and did pretty good for the first three intervals but I started to get a cramp along my shin.  That was not fun.  It hurt like the dickens and every step hurt.  I struggled through the fourth interval stopping just short of the 1 minute to start walking as my shin kept cramping.  When we hit the fifth interval I only lasted about 30 seconds.  I couldn't do it.  Kobie who is the assistant leader was hanging towards the back and asked if I was all right.  I told her my shin was cramping for some reason.  She said immediately, you're probably dehydrated.  Listen to your body and walk the rest if you need to.  I didn't really want to I did the first couple of the 30:1 but then decided that I did indeed have to listen to my body.  The cramp that had started to subside came back full throttle.  I also had no energy.  It was like I was moving through molasses.  I couldn't seem to get my body moving no matter how hard I tried.  As the group looped around to keep going, I turned around and headed back towards our start point, I walked up and down a couple of times until I saw the group heading towards me and then I re joined them for the cool down walk.

When we got back to the Store, Yoshi, our guest speaker was there to talk to us about proper nutrition.  What he had to say totally made sense and I knew why my body had slowed down, it was out of fuel. I had not had anything to eat in more than 6 hours, and your body can't exercise that way.  You need to fuel your body with simple carbs about 2 hours prior to exercise and that will carry you through about 1 hour of intense activity.

So what did I learn from this weeks harsh run?

1) I need to eat a piece of fruit on the train when I'm heading home, my body needs the fuel to keep going.

2) I need to keep drinking water during the day, and if I have to make a pit stop on my run, oh well, I make a pit stop.