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| My running partner Chuck (left), me and two BoMF volunteer runners! |
Saturday morning I got up bright and early to join my friends at Back on My Feet for a long run. I rarely ever get out for Saturdays because I hate getting up on the weekends. But, I knew I needed a change of scenery and that they are always in need of runners.
It was ROUGH. But I got it together and joined them for our 7am meet up at Union Station. The day was slated for 11 or 16 miles, depending on if you were training for a half-marathon or a full marathon. I wasn’t sure which I would do but everyone was doing 11 miles so I went that route.
I did 14 last weekend and am slated for 16 next weekend so 11 was actually the right distance. About 12 of us started off together down the National Mall. It was super busy because Saturday was the 50th anniversary of the Martin Luther King, Jr. “I have a dream” speech and part on Washington. Pretty cool to be near all of that, though it was still pretty early.
Eventually, most of the crew sped up but I stayed with one of our resident runners, Chuck. At first, I was thinking this would be a very long 11 miles but he kept up his pace and it was kind of an out and back, which always makes things go faster for me.
It was a beautiful day, not too hot, and the sun was shining. I felt pretty good and it was cool to run with him as he trained. I am always impressed with Chuck because he runs really well even though he is a little overweight. He is a former football player so has done a lot of athletics in his life.
We chatted a little about his kids and I can tell he loves them a whole lot. He had a lot of pride telling me about his son, who is at football camp right now and about to enter high school. He also told me about his other two kids, one of them a girl who I confirmed is a daddy’s girl 🙂
We finally ran it back in clearing 11 miles with a smile. Success!
Despite a good 11 miles, the day was an example of how NOT to refuel after a sweaty long run. Normally I’m straight to electrolytes and protein. But Saturday I had brunch with a friend right after and dug into nothing but sugar. A few ours later I had french fries as a snack and by 4pm, I was seriously hurting. No energy, headache, bad mood, weakness.
Friends, take my advice, get your Nuun, your chocolate milk, your protein shakes and plenty of water after those long runs. It means the difference between feeling totally normal and feeling completely spent all day long. I seriously paid for my bad post-fueling decisions!