I figured that I would share some of things that caused me to have an absolutely terrible long run today in the hopes that I can learn from them, and others can learn from them as well. As I wrote all week, I planned out a pretty boring course since I can’t venture too far away from the house in case works calls, so I plotted myself out a 4.75 mile route that I figured I would do 3 times, then add a loop around my neighborhood for another half mile after that.

Here are some of the things that I FAILED to do in preparation for the run:

1. I knew it was going to be warm (starting temperature at 7am was 64 degrees) and I failed to drink water last night or this morning.

2. I didn’t bother eating anything before my run, although I had two cups of coffee (yeah, that was smart)

3. I didn’t sleep well at all, I was restless for about 2 hours, then once I did finally fall asleep, I got paged at around 5am, and couldn’t go back to sleep at that point. So I was really shorted on my normal sleep.

4. I decided to take a new supplement this morning that I bought, Spring Valley’s Fish, Flaxseed and Borage Oil and decided to take it right before my run, on an empty stomach with no fluids (like it recommends).

5. I never updated my music on my ipod shuffle from the other day, so the same music is still on as has been there for the past week, its getting boring.

So I made my first 4.75 mile loop okay, however I found that I just could not catch my breath, now take note that this is the same course that I generally run every morning, so there were no surprises or anything unexpected, and it should have been easy. I got back around and headed out for the second loop and felt real tired and just out of breath and pretty well dehydrated (although I had a 22oz bottle of water with me) .. I did okay until I realized that my math was wrong and that by doing 3 loops and an extra half mile, I’d only get in 14.25 miles and that I needed to stretch it to at least 15 miles to complete the goal. I decided to variate from the plan and add an extra mile (again, since I knew the course, I knew how to add mileage) on that loop, but found myself basically dead in the last mile.

I could feel like my heart was just beating out of control, and I could NOT catch my breath .. note that this is NEVER a problem any other time. I was scared for a moment that I was having a heart attack or something. Thankfully I made it to the end of the second loop which put me right at my house, and I called it quits for the time being with the hope that I would be able to finish up later on.

I got in the house, rested for about 10 minutes, got some water and relaxed then changed my shirt and hat and headed back out to get at least 3 or 4 more miles in. I felt pretty good heading out, until I got about 15 minutes in, which is when I turned around and had to walk part of it back, same thing happened.. out of breath.

So i’m not sure what component screwed me up today .. when I got back the second time, I checked my blood pressure and pulse using my home machine I bought, bp was 105/84 but my pulse was 124 (usually its really low after a run) .. I still could not catch my breath.

One thing for sure, I won’t take that fish pill again, or at least for awhile since I think that did me in. I always think that you can work through a couple of poor preparation points, but I think they just added up too much today. Thankfully I got in 14.25 miles anyway (part of it walking), but I did the miles and am hopeful that tomorrow will be better.

My advice once again is to PLAN ACCORDINGLY for the long run, don’t underestimate it, because it’ll turn out as bad as mine did today. I had memories of the bad marathons I ran, and how I struggled .. thats exactly what happens when you don’t prepare. Preparation is the key to being successful, believe me, I won’t forget it!

I did decide to pickup new shoes today, I’m still running in Mizuno Waverider 5’s which i’ve learned to like since changing over back in January. I also got a new ‘Life is Good’ chill cap and a new shirt .. its not often I spend money on running stuff, so I did. I was looking for a new water bottle with the handle that I can hold in my hand, I may have to order it online along with some other stuff.

Anyway, i’ve got to rest and get my body back to normal … I struggled today, it demoralized me a bit, but i’ll get it back…