Still Learning

It seems almost every time I lace up my shoes, I learn something. Sometimes it's hard to say that it is something new - I may be simply experiencing a truth I have read about and now having experienced it, I am able to internalize it. Said differently, some people only learn from their own mistakes and that is pretty much me. The horror stories of other people's mistakes, or the success stories of other people's wise choices are easy for me to take in, but it seems that I generally end up thinking that somehow I'm different.

Probably just arrogance on my part. At best, it's ignorance. This week I decided to do my long run from home. I knew the trail was still going to be in rough shape from the snow and cold of the week. And I guess I was just looking for a change. Really I think I was looking for that elusive good experience on a long run. I mapped out a new course taking advantage of an existing route for the first 5 and last 5 miles of the run. In the middle I put 7 miles of new road, taking me north of Colorado Springs in to the area known as the Black Forest.

Before getting ready to head out, I weighed myself. I try to remember to do this on long runs so I can check my hydration after the run. Then I strapped on my heart rate monitor (and gps), filled my hydration pack, grabbed a few Clif Shot gels and headed out the door. It was a lovely morning. Temperatures still in the 20's (F), but the sun was shining and I knew it would get much warmer on the nearly 3 hours I was to be out and about.

There were plenty of rolling hills, but I used my HRM to keep the effort at the right level. It was actually hardest on some of the uphills where there was a relatively steep section. But I did pretty good. And of course I got to stretch out my legs a bit on the downhills which felt good.

I love the Black Forest. Most houses are on 5 acre lots. It is very quiet. The elevation is up a few hundred feet from where I live so they do get noticeably more snow, but today the roads were clear and the views of Pike's Peak were stunning. I felt so good at the half way point, that I decided to go another half mile, giving me the potential for an 18 mile run.

I say potential because I was being cautious. I have been fighting a head cold all week and I didn't want to over do it and end up with pneumonia (like last May). That was the primary reason I had made the first and last 5 miles a route I knew well. It also meant I knew lots of ways to cut it short. I felt really good at the turn around. There were more uphills on the way back than I remembered, but generally I felt pretty good. I had to focus to keep my legs moving, but with my HRM, it was really easy to keep the run at the right intensity.

I don't actually know if I slowed down toward the end or not. My heart rate stayed where it was supposed to be, so I'm confident I got the endurance benefits I was supposed to from the run. So was this the good experience I had been longing for? Not quite. It was really valuable to finish on route I was very familiar with. I knew what was coming. I knew with 3 miles left to go, it was just a short run home. I had even run the last 2 miles of the route returning from the track after an interval workout with dead legs. All of this gave me confidence I was going to finish fine.

I guess I was hoping to feel better at the end. Better, as in stronger. Like I have been with my cruise intervals.

I headed in to the house to change in to dry clothes. In the process I did a quick weight check. And I was quite surprised. I had worked out a hydration plan based on monitoring my before and after weight when running out on the trail. Two good draws on the bite valve every mile generally keeps me close to the same weight I started at. And that's what I had done Saturday. But the result was quite different. I had lost about 3% of my weight. That's at least 1% too much.

Then I reflected on my normal trail routine. After completing the trail run, I usually have a sports drink in the car, along with a half liter Sigg full of water. And I generally consume both before getting home. And maybe a little more water before getting upstairs to the scale. That means I'm consuming probably 2.5 pounds of liquid before getting on the scale. Which means, I am most likely a little dehydrated on my long runs.

If you are able to learn from other people's experiences, I urge you to check your hydration. If you are losing more than 2% of your body weight, you need to take in more liquids. If while you are running, you hear sloshing in your stomach, you're drinking too much. It's a fine line, but a very important one to find. If you get noticeably thirsty, you're not taking in enough liquids and are most likely already dehydrated. You need to be drinking on a schedule not in response to thirst. Even knowing this didn't help me because I wasn't doing a good verification with my before and after body weight.

Maybe this is the reason I'm still looking for that good experience on a long run. At least I am still learning - that gives me hope. And something to try next week.