Saturday Long Run

Saturday, went for my long run on the trace - 8 miles. Complete. It's so much easier to run on the trace than around my neighborhood. For one, most of the run is shaded by the tall trees, so you don't have the sun beating down on you. You also don't have to worry about or avoid cars on the road. The occasional crazy biker, but no motorized vehicles. The road is a softer asphalt instead of the concrete pavement roads in my neighborhood. Plus, the roads in my neighborhood have a pretty decent pitch to them for drainage. The trace is flat. It's actually quite an interesting place to run too. I often see an assortment of wildlife. Like on Saturday I saw a red bird and almost stepped on a little grass snake sunning on the asphalt.

The run itself was a mixed bag. Friday night I was having bad stomach cramps. I had red beans and rice for lunch and it was either all the fiber in the beans or the pork sausage that killed me. I haven't been eating a whole lot of meat lately and when I do, it's usually chicken or fish. It could be part of my acid reflux problem too. I didn't even eat dinner because it was hurting so bad. I took some antacid and I just went to bed. I got up on Saturday morning and had my morning coffee and half a bowl of oatmeal. My stomach was still sore, I couldn't finish the whole bowl. But, I was feeling OK, so I decided to go out for my run before it got too hot.

I need to also prefice this with the fact that I bought a new fuel belt on Friday. It's a really cool pink one with a nice, padded neoprene belt made specifically for women. It fits like a glove. This being the first time that I had used a belt, I think I put it on too snugly around my waist. I think my diaphragm couldn't expand fully.

Anyways, the first four miles down were awesome. I was trucking and kept a nice, steady pace at 10:22. I stopped at four to drink my water and down my gel. I guess I just shouldn't have stopped because no sooner did I stop than the stomach cramps came back. Ack! I loosened my fuel belt and that helped a bit but the last four miles were not fun. I took it slow and easy determined to run the full 8. I had to walk a bit and the last four were a slow 11:30. It was a disappointing run, but I did it, so I guess I should be proud of the distance.

The nice thing is that STILL no knee pain and I'm not sore from the long run!! YEAH!! My legs are starting to get used to all the running again. My lower buttock/upper hamstring is still a bit tight, but I've been stretching it out as much as I can.