Tuesday, June 16, 2009

No Sleep, Just Run

This may end up as a 100 mile week, but with the flight to London on Saturday morning I'll have to wait and see. From a training point of view, the best bit about London will be the fact that I may be able to sleep a bit longer than usual. But with 3 of our 4 children sharing the flat, this will not be assured by any means.

Sunday night turned out to be the worst night for a very, very long time. With the alarm set at 4:45 I went to bed at a reasonable hour, but ended up staring at the ceiling for many hours to come. I also felt really unwell with a few hot and cold flushes and a persistent cough; at one stage I had the sweat dripping off me like a leaky tap. Sometime around 1 am I had 3 scenarios in my head. One, get up at 4:45 and run 20 miles. Two, get up after 6 and run 10 miles. Three don't run at all, and even stay home from work. I really was feeling lousy. I did eventually manage to get some sleep, though I kept waking every few minutes throughout. I didn't need the alarm; I got up without. I really wondered if running was a good idea, especially with the rain coming down heavily at the time. But my HR was in the normal range, and since the bed was a lot less inviting than usual I headed out of the door a minute before 5am.

I felt awful for the first mile, but things improved. I was still unsure if I should congratulate myself for being hard-core or berate myself for being by far the biggest idiot around when the rain stopped and the sun rose above the horizon just as I was passing the 2-mile mark. The rest of the run was pretty much on autopilot. That usually happens when I run in very tired state (tired from lack of sleep, that is). I can go for miles without a conscious thought, and by the time I had the last of the big hills behind me I had already covered 12 miles. I did speed up for the next mile to about 7:07 pace with the intention of running one mile fast/one mile slow for the rest of the workout, but completely forgot about it after the first one and just kept on plodding along. I had a gel in my pocket but never even contemplated taking it. Before I really knew it, I was done. I had a few minutes and considered adding one more mile, but decided to err on the side of caution for once. While this was not my fastest 20-mile run by a long shot, it must have been the easiest. I told Niamh that I felt like I could easily have run a marathon today - before breakfast! There's nothing wrong with my endurance, that's for sure.

It was around mile 16 when I finally had a brain wave: coffee! That's why I could not sleep last night. Niamh and me had both drunk 2 big cups of coffee each on Sunday, and Niamh said that they each contained the equivalent of 2 espressos. As someone who isn't used to caffeine, this was bound to have repercussions. What a relieve: I'm not sick, just plain stupid. Another lesson learned, for the third or fourth time, I think. Maybe this time it will stick for a change.

Despite feeling so good after the run I was surprised by the sore legs later during the day. Apparently I'm not quite at the stage where I can run 20 miles without thinking twice just yet. Nevertheless, I decided to add a bit to today's tempo session. Last week's 2x3 miles had gone well, but after reading Jack Daniel's masterpiece got the nagging feeling that a few more miles at a higher effort wouldn't go amiss. I therefore added 2 miles to my usual Tuesday routine, and with the warm-up and cool-down a bit shorter I could squeeze 3x3 miles into the run. The road to Killorglin is reasonably flat but a few ups and downs are always part of the course, which is why it's difficult to compare the three segments to each other. I slowed down slightly on each of them but like to think that it was more a result of the terrain rather than me not being able to keep going. Anyway, I was happy enough that they were all at sub-7 pace, even with my tired legs from the day before. I can only imagine what I would be able to run on rested legs. That will have to wait.
15 Jun
20 miles, 2:37:19. 7:52 pace, HR 143
16 Jun
12 miles, 1:27:54, HR 150
incl. 3x3 miles @ 6:54, 6:56, 6:59

5 comments:

  1. 20 miles, 7:52 pace, 143 heart rate.

    Amazing numbers! My heart rate doesn't have a clue about how to stay down. When in endurance shape, I can do the 20, but the pace and heart rate - not a chance.

    Great job on the training and good luck on Dingle. My plans have changed and my trip to Ireland has been postponed for a year so I'll have to stay happy running in the USA this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. A couple of good workouts there. Those 20 milers can be a real chore. Great pace.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You did well considering the disrupted sleep. If you're a tea drinker, don't have too many cups of tea in the afternoon/evening too.

    Maybe don't squeeze a run in around the airport terminal or the guards might think you're a terrorist!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Caffine...only in the morning for me or else I'm awake at night, too. Great running, man!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Wow! You are great on that!Keep it up! Keep the fire burning! ; )

    ReplyDelete