Recipe For A Bad Run

How to ensure a bad run:

1. Do an intense leg workout two days before your long run
2. Work late / get home / binge on unhealthy foods made almost entirely of cheese
3. Stay up late writing
4. Do not drink enough water
5. Get up after 4 hours of weird dreams and go running in 16 degree weather

At least I was prepared for the run. I remembered my headlamp and my glow armband. I brought fuel. I wore my compression socks and enough layers to be comfortable. I didn't forget the body glide. I was ready for an early morning long run.

As I am sure you can guess, it didn't go well.

My legs were heavy. Even walking to warm up was a struggle. When my quads feel like lead, I know I am in for an unpleasant run. My shins joined the party, and I spent the first two miles dealing with a burning pain in my shins. I kept stopping to stretch my quads. It would help for a while then the pain would come back. It was brutal. I walked a lot.

Then I hit the magic time around 3 miles when my body accepts that I am running and everything loosens up. Unfortunately, this only lasted a couple miles, but it was nice to get in some longer stretches of running. Honestly, I was thrilled just to have the shin pain gone.

Around 6 miles things got difficult again. My legs felt heavy again, and I struggled. I feel like I handled it better than I have in the past. I ran as much as I could, and I stayed positive. I think a good attitude is going to be important for the half - especially on the beltway.

I had less than 8 miles when I finished. Normally, I am fine with doing a little less, but it was bugging me as I got in my car. I am training, and I need to push myself. Yes, my run sucked, but that's really when the most progress is made. I parked my car and ran another small loop around town. I ended up doing 8.6 miles in total.

The last loop was terrible. I ate some fuel before my second loop, so my energy level was good. My legs were not. They weighed 1,000 pounds each, and my running was more of a shuffle. My legs, which had been numb from the cold, were starting to ache. I didn't want to be running anymore.

This is why I love a bad run. Even during the worst of it, I know that I'm making progress. I'm getting stronger. I haven't pushed myself in a long time, so while I was hurting and struggling, I still felt like I was successful. My bad run was a good run.