Saturday, September 8, 2007

16 miles is long (understatement of the year)

So I did 16 miles today and it was a little rough. I'm still recovering from the mucus attack I suffered from earlier this week (which is why I'm running instead of SCUBA'ing this weekend). And, today's run was much warmer than usual. So, a little after the 15 mile marker, I began to cramp up really bad. I had to walk for about a 1/4 mile to loosen up and then began running again to finish the run.

Man, I am way sore. I never would have thought that going from 14 miles to 16 miles would be such an issue. I have a question, if you guys could give me your thoughts. Should I be stretching during my run? I'm currently not and I've noticed that towards the end of my longer runs I begin to get tight. Last week wasn't that bad, but this week...whew!!! Any advice would be helpful.

To add to the cramping thing, my damn Ipod caused me trouble about 5 miles in. The stupid thing started playing the same group of songs over and over. Every so often, it will start doing this crap. So, in an effort to correct it, I ended up resetting it, which, in turn, reset the timer, so I have no idea of my time for the run. I figure it was around 3 hours, but I'm not exactly sure. Anyone had the above experience with your Ipod? If you have, how do you fix it?

Lastly, it was so warm and I was sweating so much, that I actually had dried salt on my face after the run. I got home and cooled down in anticipation of the WVU-Marshall game. So, as I was sitting around, I noticed this gritty crap on my face....yep it was salt. Don't ask how I know :) Anyway, 16 miles is down the tubes for this week. Next week, my schedule is 5-8-5-16. Ohh and I get to do my second 16 miler at Auburn University. So I'll have a little different scenery.

Steph did her 5 miles and Winnie did her mile. So the family ran 22 miles today!!! And I broke into the 30s for my weekly mileage...woohoo!!!!

Weight: 160lbs
Exercise: Jason, running 16 miles today, 4 miles on Thursday.
Stephanie, running 5 miles.
Winnie, wiggling 1 mile.
Weather: 80 degrees, warm, humid.

6 comments:

RunToTheFinish said...

I am a crazy sweater and usually look like I just took a shower when I get done with my runs, so I try to think of it as a badge of honor to be all salt crusted!

I do not usally stretch during a run, probably because I find that to be more of a relaxing thing that I do when done. I have been through the cramps before though ... are you drinking enough, too much? Are you taking in anything during your 16 miler besides water? Are you pushing hard and maybe not breathing as well? There are a lot of factors that could cause it...

kara said...

"The stupid thing started playing the same group of songs over and over."
That would be enough to drive me insane!
Worse yet - mine just hung one day - no tunes to bring me on home.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the miles!

I am with Amanda - I am drenched when I am done and crusty - its an honor.

I don't do any formal stretching, but on the long runs, I usually change it up a bit during the runs. If I stay at the same pace, same movement, for hours, things get tight. So I speed up, do some strides, run backwards, shake things out. Anything to introduce a new movement to the run.

David H. said...

I've had some similiar things going on with the salt and freakin' iPod. I have a shuffle and it seems like it will often starting shuffling through select songs. And the higher in the teens you get, the more of a challenge this is becoming. The weather will get better soon, and I think that's half the battle.

Anonymous said...

Fellow crusters, unite! And yes, I always stretched during longer runs, I think every four miles? But beware, after you do it, you'll feel like you're running on moon boots for a minute when you restart.

Jason said...

The longer I think about, the more I think that I didn't hydrate like I should have. The temperature was warmer than usual and I think I just didn't take in enough liquid.

Amy and Binky, good ideas. I think I'll be loosening up this weekend as I run.

Kara and David, if I didn't love the other things about my Ipod, I think I'd throw it against a tree or something.