{"id":938,"date":"2020-07-23T23:50:37","date_gmt":"2020-07-23T23:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/?p=938"},"modified":"2020-07-23T23:50:37","modified_gmt":"2020-07-23T23:50:37","slug":"strange-stuff","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2020\/07\/23\/strange-stuff\/","title":{"rendered":"Strange stuff…"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For the majority of my runs, I don\u2019t have a regimented routine prior to going out the door. I do have a pre-run routine for longer runs and hot-weather runs. Last weekend, I was heading out for a hot-weather run and I prepared just like I have for the other five or six that I\u2019ve done this summer. In fact, the evening and morning leading up to it I hadn\u2019t done anything different than usual.

This is why I was unpleasantly surprised when less than halfway in, I did not feel normal. My legs were starting to feel oxygen-deprived and my stomach was churning a little. This was a run where, once I hit my turnaround, I have two opportunities to take a shorter route home. As my regular readers have gathered, I\u2019m a bit stubborn when it comes to running. When I came to the first turn-off where I could have gotten home quickly, I was not feeling any better and my Gatorade was soup-hot and running low. Yet, I figured I could power through and so I continued on with my normal route.

Right after this junction, I got into a section of the route that involves a decently long uphill and about halfway up this, I was regretting my decision because I was feeling worse. I told myself it was all mental and drained a bunch of my Gatorade while wondering whether I would get to the top.

I did crest the hill and this got me to a portion of the run that was downhill and flat. By the time this easy part was completed, I would be at the second junction where I would have another opportunity to either cut the run short or continue on. I reached it and though something deep in my brain told me the smart thing to do was to peel away into the shorter route, I forged ahead. I had another short climb coming up but it was the last one and surely by the time I hit the top, I would get a second wind and cruise home.

I was wrong. When I got to the top, my legs were still feeling weak and my stomach was at a bad spot. I was thinking I was either going to have a major GI-problem to deal with, or my legs would just get to a point where I had to stop for a while, or both. I was out of shortcuts home so there was only one thing to do. I motored, or maybe sputtered is a better descriptor, ahead.

As I headed down the sun-baked streets and wondered just what I had been thinking, I found myself settling into a pretty easy trot with the plan being to finish while still standing. Roughly a half mile from home, while there wasn\u2019t even a trace of a second wind coming on or even a gentle breeze, I knew I would get to my driveway in decent shape. There would be no surge over the last quarter mile, or even fifty yards, but I would finish on my feet while running at a somewhat respectable pace.

The run did a couple of things for me. It reinforced that strange stuff just happens sometimes. I hadn\u2019t consumed anything the day before or in the few hours leading up to the run that was abnormal, I had slept decently well the night before, and I had an appropriate level of coffee and breakfast in my system. Nothing on the surface could explain it. It\u2019s another good reason to enjoy solid race performances or training runs and not take them for granted because it doesn\u2019t always work that way. And, if something like this does happen, just keep trucking on the next run. And, strange things can happen in both directions, like an unexpected, good race performance.

This shouldn\u2019t scare off any new runners. In fact, it should be encouraging. Things don\u2019t always go exactly according to plan. It\u2019s frustrating, but you can bounce back. When I got home on Saturday, I had a text from a friend of mine who had planned on a time trial that same morning. He told me he\u2019d bailed halfway through because he just wasn\u2019t feeling it and something was just off. Maybe the stars just weren\u2019t aligned for runners this past weekend.

For the first time in several months, I have a running food review!

Running food review (note–gels, bars, chews, and other items affect everyone differently. Try them on a short run before using them for a key training run or race): Skratch Hydration Lemon Lime:<\/a> The first time I got \u201clemon lime\u201d it was a green Skratch package but it was green tea flavored. That will surprise your taste buds. This time, I actually got lemon lime, it tasted like lemon lime, and it was wonderful. Even better, I used it on day when it was 99 degrees. My stomach was a little funny during the first mile but after drinking some of this, I actually felt better and I felt good through the whole run. (It was obviously not used on the run I described in this week\u2019s post.) Good stuff in this package.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the majority of my runs, I don\u2019t have a regimented routine prior to going out the door. I do have a pre-run routine for longer runs and hot-weather runs. Last weekend, I was heading out for a hot-weather run and I prepared just like I have for the other five or six that I\u2019ve … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Strange stuff…”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9W0ku-f8","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":192,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2018\/06\/21\/summer-running\/","url_meta":{"origin":938,"position":0},"title":"Summer running…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"June 21, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Untamed running. It's the first day of summer and true to my untamed running nature, I run in hot weather. Maybe it's the challenge, maybe it's the enjoyment, or a combination of the two. This post will describe how I prepare myself before, handle the heat during, and recover from,\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/untamedrunner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180621_122426.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/untamedrunner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180621_122426.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/untamedrunner.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/20180621_122426.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1410,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2022\/07\/22\/heating-up-melting-down\/","url_meta":{"origin":938,"position":1},"title":"Heating up, melting down…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"July 22, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"With the blazing temperatures sweeping across the country, a post on hot weather running seems appropriate. Links to my past posts on this, which include my preparations and experiences, are at the bottom of this one. And, while I am still using the strategies and methods from those, I also\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":926,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2020\/06\/25\/warm-times\/","url_meta":{"origin":938,"position":2},"title":"Warm times…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"June 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We\u2019re into summer temperatures and here\u2019s a link to a previous post where I discuss my preparations for running when it\u2019s excessively warm outside.I love running in the heat but the funny thing is, so far this summer I\u2019ve only run a few times when it was blazing hot outside.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1846,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2024\/10\/01\/the-10-miler\/","url_meta":{"origin":938,"position":3},"title":"The 10 Miler","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"October 1, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Last October, I signed up for the 2024 Virginia 10 Miler which was held this past Saturday, the 28th. This is a somewhat legendary, 10-mile road race in Lynchburg, VA, the town where I grew up. The winning times have been under 50 minutes, or sub-5 minute mile pace. It\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":848,"url":"https:\/\/untamedrunner.com\/index.php\/2020\/01\/23\/bring-a-toothbrush\/","url_meta":{"origin":938,"position":4},"title":"Bring a toothbrush…","author":"36jonraessler50","date":"January 23, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Wind is one of the toughest opponents that a runner (or any athlete) can face. 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