This whole half marathon training thing is such that I’ve got things quite figured out for myself. Actually, I’m sure that there are a couple of discoveries that are still out there waiting to be found, but for the most part I have a good sense of what I need to do and when I need to do it in order to get good performance out of myself. Once in a while though, I need something like a small kick in the pants to remind myself to stay vigilant.
So, last night I ended up getting caught up with various distractions. Next thing I know, 1 a.m. came and I knew that even if I couldn’t get some proper sleep I’d need at least a few hours down. I totally forgot my usual routine of drinking a couple of glasses of water prior to heading to bed. I do that to help me stay hydrated. Anyway, I set my alarm to use the radio at 6:15 am. I had by iPod docked there earlier, but I decided that radio would serve me better for a wake up call. Morning came. When I took a peek at the clock I was shocked to find out that it was already 7:30 a.m. I had half an hour to go to the bathroom, get my gear on, and head out the door. Somewhere in the rush, I completely neglected to eat something. Usually I have a piece of toast with some sugary spread of my choosing on top. This time though I was running on empty.
After all of these misfires, the run itself just didn’t feel great. I was running somewhat normally, but I just felt like something was a little bit off. I became hungrier earlier. I went through my bottle of water pretty quickly, forcing me to conserve my fluids for the last few kilometres. My hips were aching earlier than they really should have.
All in all, I should have known better. Yes, I should have done all of the necessary pre-measures to prep myself for being out there for more than two hours. At the very least, now that I’ve done this I’m more likely to be more careful.
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