Pacing and Pooing
By kilax, April 24, 2009 8:09 pm
Today, I learned two things about my running:
- My pacing sucks: Jack*, Steven’s Garmin Forerunner 405, accompanied me on today’s 12-mile run**. WOW. I am a sporadic runner. My first few miles kept going back and forth between 8:00 and 9:15. Then my later miles were between 9:00 and 10:30! Boo! I still finished in 1:48:43, but I hate those positive splits! I am happy Steven will be wearing Jack during the race.
- I cannot predict my pooing patterns: I have a very real fear of having to go poo while I am running the half marathon. Today “nature called” around mile 5. I ran all the way to the public restroom (I was running in a Forest Preserve) and… it as closed for cleaning! Now, for me to stop running to go to the bathroom is a pretty big deal and I was looking forward to that relief. I think my sprint to the other bathroom made that one of my fastest miles! I wish I could figure out what is causing this (cutting out dairy has only helped a little bit). It seems so random. I will be really upset if I have to stop during the half marathon. I am the type of person who would not be ashamed to go in the woods (yeah, I said it!) but Steven would kill me if I did that. So I am hoping I will have an empty bowel that day!
Kenosha Half Marathon Weather Watch Day 2***:
Lame… see how much it has changed since yesterday? Why do I even look at this?!
*Steven’s GPS Car Garmin is called Jill, so I brilliantly named his Garmin GPS watch Jack. As in… Jack and Jill! Yes, Steven has to put up with my lame-ness on a daily basis. Poor guy!
**Yes, I know I should not be running 12 miles so close to my half marathon. But I HAD to get it in. Every day I had a long run scheduled it rained or snowed. So I watied until we had GORGEOUS WEATHER – today!!!
***I am posting this for my amusement, to see how much the forecast actually changes between now and race day!
Themocracy
Regarding #1: Me too! I have no sense of pace at all…I say my garmin helps me, but really it just reminds me that I should slow down. And then I don’t listen. Oops?
Regarding #2: Coffee gets things moving for many people, but I’m definitely not one to drink coffee before long runs. I find that if I eat soon early enough (about an hour-ish before running) and then give myself a little time before heading out, I can manage to go before I get out the door. Also, I haven’t eaten grapes in about eight years (sad, I know, I LOVE grapes) because they would cause, um, GI problems while running. Like, really bad. So it could just be a random food, or running gets things moving as well…both good and bad. Okay, enough of that.
Regarding the weather: I hope yesterday’s report is correct because I don’t really want to run in the rain!! Temperatures look good, however.
Do you have a time goal for the half?
Susan – Ha! I was doing the same thing with the Garmin. I didn’t want to slow down… until the end, apparently! I don’t drink coffee because it bothers my stomach so much, but I have read the same thing. And I didn’t even know about the grapes. Funny, I’ve had some every time this week! My goal time is <2:00... maybe 1:58? Do you have a goal time for the full?
I think that’s one of my nightmares as an adult–to really have to poo without a place to poo. (What kind of person am I to worry about that sort of thing?)
And I have a hunch that 99.9% of the curriculum at Weatherman School is teaching future weathermen how to be successful liars. I wonder too how anyone plans an outdoor wedding date when forecasts too far into the future are always so unreliable…
I’m also terrible at pacing myself, which is why I’m afraid of tempo runs. Some days “comfortably hard” is 8:30, some days, it’s 9:45, no good!
I also have the same fear, but I’ve been pretty good about getting my body on a schedule. Maybe try waking up earlier than normal the week before the race? That way your body has time to wake up and move things around.
If you read my blog, you know I had MAJOR pooing issues this past weekend during my race. This is not unusual for me. I have now started taking a probiotic, specifically to treat these kinds of issues. It’s called Align, you can get it over the counter at Target, etc. You can read more about it on line. I’m excited to see if/how this helps me. I’ll letcha know. Good luck. Nice job on the 12 miler, BTW.
Jen – LOL! I am the type of adult who worries about that too. I refuse to poo on the train and fear the day I have to use those toilets. IT IS TOO FUNNY that you ask about planning an outdoor wedding. My husband and I knew we wanted an outdoor wedding, so he made a master spreadsheet using past weather from Farmer’s Almanac for the dates we had in mind. We choose Sept. 1 (among several dates), because it had the best “rain” history, and it ended up being absolutely perfect! I always joke about “how lucky” we got with the weather, but Steven quickly reminds me that it was his spreadsheet.
Mica – My pace is the same way. It is SO WEIRD! I guess maybe it correlates to other things, like how tired we are, blah blah blah…? I was thinking of getting up earlier. Before my 10K, I woke up super early and did the Shred to try to get my body moving! I thought those jumping jacks would do the trick. I didn’t have a great poo or anything, but I didn’t have to go during the race!
Beth – Thanks for stopping by! I am going to check that out! We just happen to be going to Target today. Thanks for the tip! 😉 I am excited to hear how it works for you 🙂
I am always afraid of that in a race too!
Hey, if you are out and about today we are home doing nothing if you want to stop by and meet my puppy. I wil be dropping my son off at a birthday party around 3 and picking him up around7 but other than that we will be home. Let me know if you want to stop over for a minute.
You should be fine with doing a 12 miles a week before. You didn’t seem that worse for it? Was it an easy run?
I too am a sporadic runner when running by myself. And I LOVE positive splits /sarcasm. I can’t help but do them. 🙁
You’re fast! And you’re gonna blow past that finish line!
And that’s an awesome name for his 405!! Phil (RIP) was the name of my Garmin. Short for Pheidippides. 🙂
Wow 12 miles, I cant even begin to imagine running that far yet 🙂 Great job .
About the pooing issue, it’s so funny how you can go all day without going, but have to worry about it while running! Even when I take a really long walk (long for me) of 8-10 miles, I worry if there is a bathroom!
Damn girl, you’re cruising. I don’t care what you say about your “splits.” I’m at a mile and a half now and think I might be able to push it to 2 soon, but not nearly that fast.
tori – Thanks for inviting us over! I am so happy we came. I was having a shitty morning and didn’t feel like leaving my house (for other reasons) but I felt awesome after seeing you!
Lindsay – It was an easy 12 miles. I felt a bit sore this morning and really hungry today, then super tired… but I figure that is normal…? Why don’t Phil and Jack actually help us stay on track? I need it to beep at me or something when I go over/under my pace. But I guess I shouldn’t worry about it too much, right? And thank you 🙂 (for saying I am fast)
Scale Warfare – Thank you 🙂 LOL! You know all about the poo! I wish I only had to go on my non-running days. Wait, that would be only 2 days or so a week! Ha ha! I wish I only had to go before or after runs! 😉
kapgar – Aww, thanks 🙂 And just so you know, a few months ago I was bitching to Diane about how awful it felt to run at 5.5 mph. The speeding up is a recent thing. You’ll get there, if that is your goal!
The way I understand it (but I’m not doctor so don’t quote me) is that you are exercising more and raising your metabolism so your body is getting much more efficient at digesting food so it may seem like you are pooping more often. That would be because you ARE. So just realize that ahead of time and try to plan your before running meals accordingly. That’s all I got. Hope it helps.
teeni – Oh, you are definitely right. More fiber along with exercise really gets things moving! 😉
lmao!!! jack and jill!! no worries, i name everything!!! dc just goes along with it although he has started getting into it too… it is quite amusing!!!! i hope you don’t have to go during the race!!!
=^..^=
CourtneyInControl – Thanks for laughing at my lame joke! I like to call the GPS in the car “Jill” and refer to the watch as “Jack.” I think it’s kind of funny. And, when you are pissed off at it, it’s more fun to be pissed off at a name! Ha ha!
I may have mentioned to this already, but I heard that it’s best to stop eating at a certain time the day before a race day. I’m not sure what the cut-off would be or even if that work for you, but that’s my two cents. : )
Gina (Mannyed) – I haven’t heard that! I am going to look into it. Thanks. (Off to Runners World Website…)