Last Run: Monday, 9:25 a.m.
Distance: 5.9 km
Duration: 50 minutes
Pace: 14-minute mile
Ratios: Four 3-and-1's, Two 1-and-1's, Remainder 2-and-1's
Favourite Song: Knock You Down - Keri Hilson ft. Kanye West. The beat was amazing and hit me deep inside - I noticed my stride getting longer and my pace improving with this song. Of course, the song is about love, but some of the lyrics were well placed for my run too. "Just get back up when it knocks you down, knocks you down"
Can you believe it? Last Saturday I ran for 50 minutes on my distance run - in complete shock that I actually did it. Last night I ran 60 minutes, my longest yet, and then woke up this morning and ran the equivalent duration of last Saturday's shocker. Unbelievable.
I'm a little disappointed with today's run, I was hoping to be able to cut the 1-and-1's out by now, but I suppose when I was planning that, I was still only running for 40 minutes. Not to mention, it got really hot at the end of my run! It's not encouraging when you hear the heat bugs starting to buzz in the trees just as you reach the bastard hill.
Today I decided to experiment a little though. I'm starting to get up in my runs, like, to the level where you should consider having a running belt and not a fanny pack that is falling apart.
This is also the level where GU becomes a consideration (we'll cover that in the future, when I start indulging in the runner's delicacy), and BodyGlide becomes a desperate necessity to avoid chaffing - from your sports bra, your fraying fanny pack, your running shorts, your headphone cord. Yes, it's the level where anything that touches you during your run could cause chaffing.
Okay, firstly, I am trying to do this marathon thing as cheaply as possible - so replace BodyGlide with Vaseline. Apparently it works the same for 1/10th of the price.
So, I've been experiencing discomfort from my left arm during my runs lately. Not yet chaffing, but I'm sure it's not far away. Obviously a combo of sweat and friction. Before I left today, I decided I would try Vaseline-ing her up and seeing how I made out. I thought I would try to swing my right arm a bit without the Vaseline and compare the feelings in both arms.
Now, if you're wondering why only one arm is bugging me, it's because since I run with a fanny pack and not a running belt, I carry my water bottle in my hand. Generally speaking, it's always in my right hand because my watch is on my left wrist and it gets awkward trying to look at my watch with the weight of the water in the same hand. Either way, I find my right arm doesn't swing the same way because the water bottle generally holds it in place.
And the results of the experiment:
At first I thought it wasn't even worth it. I didn't notice anything except my inner arm feeling particularly gooey and un-nice. I even tried switching the water carrying hand to see if my right arm would stick to my body or feel any pain, and there was nothing.
I shrugged it off and figured that was the conclusion of my experiment. Slight discomfort under both arms, goo-iness under my left arm, the end.
Then, I turned out of the tree covering of the trail and started to head up the mini-bastard hill. The sun hit my face, and despite already being sweaty, I think in that moment I sweated out 10 times as much as I had the entire run. I got to the top of the MBH and was in a walking break so was able to notice the sweat sliding down the inside of my left arm.
Hmmmm.
I started to run up the bastard hill, swinging my left arm probably a little more than usual. Okay, so yeah, I severely exaggerated the motion. Then I switched water bottle hands and did the same with my right - like twice before telling myself that was a bad idea. I switched the water bottle back again and swung my left arm a few more times. Then smiled smugly to myself.
The Vaseline did it's job, as my left arm glided across the side of my body like a goose's wings over a lake. My right arm nearly created skid marks.
Of course I needed a lot of sweat to notice it doing it's job - but at least I know for the future.
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