Sunday, October 26, 2008

Bonk

I went for a run on Friday afternoon and it was a pretty good run.  It's the longest run I've done in a while.  I went 4.64 miles in about 56 minutes.  Pretty good for me considering I completely bonked in the middle of the run.  I had some dry cereal before I went but I completely underestimated how hot it was outside.  We've had a real Indian Summer here with temps in the mid 80's.  I started out feeling really good.  I was trying out a new workout I downloaded from iTunes, the Intermediate 10K workout.  After the first 10 minutes you do 10 minutes of speed work.  So you run for 1 minute then rest and repeat that 5 times.  Well I don't think I ate enough or drank enough water before I went running because those completely took it out of me.  I finished them as strong as I could but I couldn't do the 8 minutes of endurance after that.  I tried but my legs felt like lead and my back was fatiguing.  I had to stop and walk and stretch a few times.  I opted out of the workout at the 30 minute mark and proceeded to jog the rest of the way home.  It was really more interval workouts because I would run and then have to walk, I think I was able to run 3 or 4 blocks then I'd have to walk again.  I started to get hungry during the speed workout and that's where I think I was having the problem.  Bonking is basically when you hit a wall and your body literally can't do anymore because you are deficient in energy.

Mentally I felt bad about it but it was still a solid hour of hard work and a good learning lesson.  I didn't run yesterday or today because I've been lost in a sea of crap called my room. I am trying to get stuff slightly organized so I can spend tonight and tomorrow focusing on the GRE.  I plan on running tomorrow morning and maybe before the GRE as well on Tuesday.  If not Tuesday then defiantly on Wednesday and Thursday before we leave for Colorado.  

As I've been going through my stuff I've come across a few things that have thrown me for a loop.  I found a magazine clipping from my Freshman year in College and it is oddly very appropriate so I thought I'd share what it says, 

At first it was "There's no way I can run 3 miles." Then, 'There's no way I can run 10." Now it's "There's no way I can run 26.2." And really, there is

I don't remember where I got it from but it's from an ad.  I think it's very fitting because I don't know how we're going to do this but I'm excited to get to where we actually do it!

3 comments:

Jocelyn said...

that's pretty awesome! You should be proud. I'm glad you found that you can run again! Once you get to CO you probably will hit another wall, but remember, its more mental than physical! :)

shannon said...

Oh no! Sounds rough lyds. Bonk is a funny word. I almost wonder if you should just focus on endurance on your running days rather than speed work and everything else all at once?ignore the training podcasts and just run! Get yourself to the point of consistency in your running then start doing sprints and lunges and the sort during your runs to improve on your speed and efficiency.you don't want to wear yourself down before you even officially start training for the marathon!
And when you go from CO's thin air to san diego's air I think you will have a major advantage so focus on that instead of the inevitable wall you'll it when you get there.. You'll smoke us all come May!

Good luck on the GRE!!
Xoxoxo

Jocelyn said...

When I first read shannon's comment I thought she said something about you smoking...as in cigarettes...I was like "whoa, what?" Then I reread it and gave a huge sigh of relief. Training and smoking would not be good! Although it would be entertaining to watch someone smoke and run and the same time.