It Builds Character, Right?

I wasn't expecting great things from today's 13-miler. I'm doing the Sugar-Free Challenge, so there are certain sugar-heavy foods that I might consider as fuel for a long run that are off-limits. Even without that factored in, my legs are still tired from the Bolder Boulder and Wednesday's Mt. Sanitas run.

But marathon training is underway. No excuses.

Since my McMillan plan hasn't arrived yet, I'm following the FIRST program for now. The pace for today's long run dictated by my race performance in the Bolder was 9:47/mile. I figured I could do that even with no sugar and dead legs. And I would have--I was even doing better than that. And then came....

....the Dreaded Trots.

They were the worst yet. I won't go into too much detail, but suffice it to say that I found out what Shut Up and Run means when she says "shart." The little outhouse on McIntosh Lake came just a bit late for me. And when I emerged from there, having cleaned up as well I could, I still had four miles to go. Those four miles (all on city streets, with me just concentrating on one foot in front of the other and not on what the drivers on the road might be seeing of me from behind) were slower than they would have been had my intestines not just firmly shared with me that broccoli, asparagus, tofu and brown-rice stir fry would be a better POST-run dinner than PRE-run.

When I finally got home (thank goodness Dan had taken the kids out to ride bikes) and made a beeline for the laundry room, then the shower, the Garmin told me I had done the run at a 10:17/pace. I'll take it, considering it includes about six minutes in the outhouse and some walking/waddling while I learned how to move as fast as possible in dirty shorts.

Lesson learned. It's back to my low-fiber and safe white pasta dinner on every pre-long-run night between now and September.

YUCK YUCK YUCK!!!!