12 Slow Miles

Well, it happened. I skipped a workout.

I was supposed to complete the NTC Beginner Get Lean Cardio Surge, a 45 minute workout, on Thursday. But it just didn't happen. I was dealing with some pain in my right Fibularis longus muscle, as well as some pain in my left Biceps femoris muscle.

Source: Wikipedia

I ultimately decided to just take the day off. I was already going to be dancing heavily that night at rehearsal, so at least I got somewhat of a workout in?

On Friday, I completed the Kara Goucher Pro-Running Stretches. Now, that's my kind of workout! It was 3 sets of 5 different poses, all held for 1 minute.

This is another one I did in my pajamas. It felt really good - lots of hip and hamstring stretching. I wish NTC had a stretch video for after long runs. I'm thinking I should probably just look one up on Youtube, unless anyone else has any suggestions??

On Saturday, I did my long run much later than anticipated. I had wanted to put an audiobook on my iPhone to listen to while I ran the slow 12 miles, but my iTunes was acting up and basically wouldn't play the audiobook on my iPhone once I had put it on there. It took about two hours (!) to figure out, but I ended up just listening to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets rather than starting with Sorcerer's Stone. You win some, you lose some.

I tried out some different fuel as well.

PowerBar Performance Energy Blends - Banana Bluberry flavor (80 calories)

I ate these along the trail to keep me going. (6 chews = 100 calories)

I really enjoyed the Energy Blend - it was tasty, and I had set it in the refrigerator so it was nice and cool when I drank it. If it had been room temperature then I think it would have been pretty nasty. The Gatorade Chews were really tasty as well - I almost like them more than my Clif Shot Bloks, but maybe because they were just easier to chew. Sometimes with the Clif Shot Bloks, it takes me several determined chomps to get them to be swallow-able. The Gatorade Chews were about half as thick as the Clif Shot Bloks, so that was probably why.

Zero Nike Fuel Points... WRONG.

I think, if you have easy runs coming up in your schedule, listening to an audiobook is definitely the way to go. My mind wasn't really on running, but more engrossed in the story. It's true that I started out too fast, and that my pace unwittingly quickened in the second mile, but ultimately it helped to keep my mind off of how much time it was taking to run.

I was pretty pleased with my average pace, 10'12''.

Recovery Drink

I drank about half of this bottle simply because it tasted so chalky that if I had tried to drink the whole thing I probably would have thrown up. Ugh. It was a chore to drink half of it. I really didn't enjoy it.

Running 12 miles was difficult. I hadn't run for that far since mid-May. I could feel it in my calves most of all - and I was acutely aware of my left hip, which has given me problems in the past. I feel like that has to do with me skipping one of my strengthening workouts, so I'm going to make it a priority to not skip any more!

This upcoming week is pretty lenient, until Saturday - 14 miles! I've never run that far in my entire life. Eep!

How was your weekend? Any suggestions for post-running stretches?