I learn by experience. Something has to happen to me once (or several times) before I believe. Most of my running "rules" stem from some bad experience in a long run or race. These are "rules" that are I'm sure are all in 100 books but I need to try and fail before it sinks in. A couple that come to mind: 1) Don't drink all-you-can drink diet cokes the night before a race (Grandma's Marathon 1991) 2) Don't wear cotton socks in a marathon (Chicago 1999) 3) Do bring an extra pair of underwear to Junior High away trackmeets (Antigo,WI 1986) 4) Don't put 5 Gu's in the back pocket of your racing short without wearing a jock strap (Rocket City Marathon 2005) 5) Don't eat cabbage salad the day before a long run (Mtn Masochist training run in Eva with Jon) 6) Do skip a 50K trail race if 3 days before you are shaking and shivering in bed with a fever and the flu (Mtn Mist 2004) . The list could go on and on. The common thread is that they all evoke a very vivid memory and lesson that most of the time I heed. #1,#2,#4, and #5 were all lessons learned on first experiment.
Now for today's lesson . Our family life is pretty hectic- a 5 year old and a young son with health issues. This makes it challenging to fit in runs, especially long ones. What I like to do is to tell my wife, I'd like to run 3 hours when would you like me to do it? It wasn't until we were sitting down for lunch that we finalized the plan. On this Saturday, my long run will start in 2 hours. So what would be the ideal thing to eat before a long run with little notice: a banana, clif bar, small turkey sandwich, soup? Those sound intelligent now but I chose to have two huge helpings of week old chicken lasagna and then a couple heaping spoonfuls of peanut butter with chocolate chips mixed in. When I hit the road at 2, I was feeling fine for the first 3 miles then my digestive system started to complain big time. I won't go into great detail but this run did test my encyclopedic knowledge of Decatur public and semipublic restrooms. The low point was when I found a porta-potty at the marina, sat down, and then got huge splashback from below. That will wake you up. The best I could hope for for a blue stained rear end. That was a new one for me. I kept moving though and got in 18 miles in 2:55 (including all the stops). The bright spot is my legs felt fine.
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